We haven't sent out a patch update in a few months, and that's because we've been cooking up a big one, including the all new Combat Arena, new enemies and a huge overhaul of many of our combat and RPG systems! Today's update addresses a lot of issues and - more importantly - makes the game an overall much better experience. Only through your diligence in providing constructive criticism, praise, and bugs, can Early Access be of any use to us, so for your patience, and continued enthusiasm and support, we thank you.
Character Progression
The first, most apparent change is a complete overhaul of every character(!). We were never happy with our characters in our first release, and it was clear that they didn't all feel as unique and compelling as we initially planned. We've changed that today with a complete overhaul of powers, progression and economy. Now, every hero is replete with a stunning arsenal of useful powers and unique tactical options.
Complete overhaul of progression, including some new powers, a ton of traits and skills, new recipes for crafting, and streamlining of the progression pages.
Combat
We took a strategic step back on the 'Engagement' system. It was an interesting idea, but never came out the way we had hoped. Some powers can still cause engagement, but it's a special event now, instead of a penalty for every melee attack ever. This should open every character up for much more interesting tactics, and allow you to be more reactive in battle. You'll have more choices moment to moment in every battle.
Only 0-energy 'farmer' powers grant energy for attacks now. 3 for a miss, 5 for a hit, and 8 for a critical. Simple.
Exploration & Skills
We took a mulligan on loot! Containers now give recognizable types/amounts of loot, have a random chance of being locked or trapped (better work on those skills!) and should work more consistently in and out of combat. Oh, also enemies drop loot too now. For the ruined friendships we're about to create from all this stolen loot, we're sorry.
Oh, and speaking of skills, we've streamlined these a lot. Every hero now has 6 (except silent thorn, who stole an extra one) and they correlate with base attributes.
Status Effects have been simplified as well. When looking at a power description on handset, teal text can be tapped to get more information.
Crafting and Gear now works better. We're still in the process of working out some interface challenges, but expect to pick up and craft a lot more gear and have it be actually useful.
The new Bloodguard Commander now in the Combat Arena
Enemies
Enemy difficulty and placement have been tuned to compensate for all the great stuff up there, so don't think this is going to be a cake walk now.
New enemies including the massive Bloodguard Heavy and Bloodguard Commander, the venomous Collectors and Corrupted Harvesters, and grand-daddy of the Arboleks, the Arbolek Spine Tyrants to menace you in Campaign and Combat Arena.
Combat Arena
We're also happy to introduce the Episode 1 Combat Arena! This is a survive-until-you-don't wave scenario independent of your main campaign that can be accessed on the main menu. Choose any hero, experiment with high-level power strategy. Try to get more kills than your allies, and work as a team to live longer. Everyone starts with a power load-out at Level 6 with more Renown and Resources to spend.
The new Bloodguard Heavy Soldier in the Combat Arena
As we get ever closer to a 'Full Release' we hope all of you who've been with us since the early days jump back in and let us know what you think of the new balance and progression!
And that's not all! We've fixed a bunch of stuff that we're sure was an enormous bother. You can read up on all the patch notes here
- Scott Penner, Lead Designer Eon Altar
WARNING! Your previous save games will work, but since we've rebalanced resources significantly, you may end up with fewer resources than intended. Powers that no longer exist, or which have moved and are no longer unlockable will be refunded for their original purchase price. However, it is strongly recommended you do not use those saves.
WARNING for our Lead Programmer! Image of Spider ahead!!!
Muran the Battlemage vs. a Corrupted Harvester
Early Access - Update #3
This update contains a lot of bug fixes that have long plagued us as well as a couple of little polish pieces, and will smooth out and stabilize everyone's experience.
Core Game issues addressed in this release:
Load Screen Images now change based on what level you're in
In Combat the Engagement Lock icon and Target Pennant now persists between turns so you can always see who you're engaged with
Enemies no longer 'Pop' up after dying
Getting hit by DoTs while in Exploration can no longer stall the game. There were rare issues where being affected by a DoT while interacting with Quest Items could stall those quest flows.
There was once a Crossbowman in Level 3 who had unlimited health. No more. This far, no further.
Lots of navigation and collision fixes throughout Levels 2 & 3
This Update also comes paired with a Controller Update! The Android version is available today, and the iOS update will release as soon as Apple approves it, within two weeks of this announcement.
Controller-specific issues addressed in this release:
Load Screen images now change based on what level you're in.
Disconnecting while dialogue or tutorial is up no longer causes the handset to get stuck on the dialogue or tutorial.
Controllers now make a sound when your turn comes up in combat.
Accuracy calculations on powers preview are now more accurate.
Note: Your old iOS Controller still works with this update, but there is a known issue where the Controller will show incorrect information on level select. This is harmless and will go away as soon Apple approves the update!
What's Next?
We're hard at work on a bunch of new updates that didn't make it into this patch. They were close but we wanted to get these bug fixes out before any more time went by. Our next Feature Update is looking like early December, and here's what we're cooking up for that one:
Powers Progression Overhaul! Lead Designer Scott Penner has been hard at work on a revamp of all the powers to make the trees more focused, balanced and fun. It's also reconsidering how we're approaching the 'Engagement' feature, so you'll see some changes in how we approach combat strategy soon
Combat Arena! You'll be able to try out a characters full ranges of powers in the all new Combat Arena, hidden under the 'Coming Soon' button on today's update.
Lore! Collect and read lore throughout the world! Eon Altar's rich history comes from over 15 years of development by designers Scott Penner, Lukas Reynolds and Joey Wiggs and you'll be able to dig deep into that wide world.
Personal Quests! While we've had individual quests in Early Access already, they've never been everything we want from them. We're very close to being able to give each player private notifications for their own quest lines, and are working on excited content to let you compete with your fellow teammates for Resources and Renown.
Lots to look forward to, and lots of work for us! Until next time!
Edward J Douglas, Project Director Eon Altar
Early Access - Update #2 with Trading Feature!
We have a new update, not only for the Core Episode 1, but also our Handsets, so get them and give them a go!
It took a bit longer to get this update out than we hoped (found a nasty little bug at the *very last minute* right before we were about to ship out, yikes!) but we're live now.
As before, our focus is all about getting the core Eon Altar experience working as great as possible before we can consider it a 'Full Release' and start to roll out new episodes. So what's in store this patch? Well we have a new feature we're very excited about - Trading! You can now trade resources with all your fellow team-mates / friendly-fire victims. In addition, lots of little fixes to make the UI feel smooth, more intuitive and more bug free. And as always, bugs, bugs, bugs!
**Word of warning, you'll need to update both your Controller and PC version at the same time for this one!
Here's the full patch list:
Core Game issues addressed in this release:
· NEW FEATURE: Trade has been implemented! Just talk to your patsy…er, friend who you want to request resources from, choose ‘Request Resources’, and away you go! The target can decline, so maybe you should consider offering snacks.
· If you’ve decided that you no longer want a specific character in your party in later levels, total party kill (TPK) should now actually work, rather than just leaving you to stare at your corpse all day long. The difficulty level should also appropriately be set to the number of currently active players, rather than number of characters you’ve had participate in the campaign so far.
· Enemies with multiple attacks in a round should no longer cause the game to stall when you encounter them again after they TPK’d you mid-action.
· You should no longer get engaged with an enemy at a distance after getting TPK’d in melee or teleporting/blinking from melee and attacking them at range later.
· Unequipping gear mid-action should no longer stall your character.
· If you’re standing on an interaction node (like a chest, or dialogue), you should be able to activate it without having to step off it first.
· When using the movement marker, unsnapping your current target should clear the target/power wheel on the controller.
· When using the movement marker, snapping to a new target (without letting go of the movement marker) should now show the power wheel on the controller so you can see what actions are available without confirming your target.
· In the Prelude, the camera operator has gotten more training in and should keep up with the party better.
Controller-specific issues addressed in this release:
· The server selection screen now displays a Searching indicator so you can tell the controller app isn’t hung.
· Changing your network while on the server selection screen no longer requires a reboot of the app to find servers.
· Voting should now correctly report which choice you made. The most obvious example of this issue is the vote by the gate in the Prelude.
· Quest and Gear menus should now work correctly if they had been previously opened that session and get updated later.
· Swapping characters in a single session will now correctly show the new character’s ability/upgrade trees.
· Crafted items that only require one resource type now show that resource type instead of showing 0 Godstone.
· We no longer display the character level in the level lobby screen. Longer term we’d like to fix it, but for now we’re hiding it as it is erroneous.
· Upgrade/Ability menus should no longer be mysteriously entirely locked. You can get an upgrade, and you can get an upgrade, and YOU can get an upgrade!
· The Power Wheel should now get the hint that the party's over, and leave when it's not required. It should properly show when you can execute actions against a target, and go away when you have nothing targeted.
· Loosened timing for tapping powers to execute. You no longer need the lightest touch in the land to shoot that fireball.
· Power previews should now stay up when powers are pressed and held, even after letting go. You can dismiss the power preview by tapping it, or executing a power.
· Touching the movement marker should now clear your target, rather than leaving you in a strange state of what do you actually have targeted?
· When the power wheel is active, changes to the power's availability will cause the powers to update themselves in the wheel without requiring a full wheel refresh. For example, Muran using Transference to give another player Energy.
For all of you who've played through, suffered through the bugs, given feedback and even played again, we can't thank you enough! Seriously. It means the world to us. All the feedback we've gotten tells us we're making something new, innovative and truly worth doing, so thank you all!
What's in the works next? Lead Designer Scott Penner and Lead Programmer Joey Wiggs just finished up what we call the big 'Balance Summit' to talk about the world of combat - what's working, what's not, what we can do better. Scott is hard at work on a big new balance pass that's sure make all your characters feel much better, a lot more useful in all combat situations, in both multiplayer and single player, as well as feel even better when you get into Episode 2 and beyond. I'm sure Scott will discuss is more detail in an upcoming blog post, but one of the big things we're changing is how we treat 'Engagement' and what that means to both players and enemies. Exciting stuff! But that's still a few weeks away.
Until then, keep the feedback coming, tell all your friends about us, and keep on questing!
Edward J Douglas, Project Director Eon Altar
Early Access - Update #1
Hi All,
Thank you all so much for your feedback and support in our first few weeks! Our first update is out!
Update 1 has a whole host of little bug fixes making the game much more stable, and quests clearer. Some of the big ones:
Quest Pendants help lead towards next objectives in Critical Path Quests
Reconnect Stability much improved
Camera keeps characters on screen better
In Level 3 Captain Jormund won't accidentally join combat before the boss fight.
Tons of little fixes, polishes and improvements that we've found internally and from feedback from all of you!
For full list check out the Patch Notes on the Eon Altar forums.
We are working hard on the next update for both Core & iOS / Android Controller, which should land in the next few weeks. Looking like we have a new feature for the next one!
Please keep the feedback coming and we'll continue to improve the game with every update for all of you!
