We’re happy to bring you yet another HotFix for last week’s v.0.999 major update! Like the last one, today’s patch brings even more performance optimization, fixes and improvements! Read through for the complete patch notes.
Note: All previous v.0.999 save files should still work fine! ːsteamhappyː
V.0.999 HOTFIX 2 - PATCH NOTES
Performance Improvements
We’ve made some new changes to the World Generation that should once again cut down loading times by about 40%! Huzzah!
New Content
The final challenge... (!)
Bug-Fixing
Fixed an instance where a wound would not get applied correctly when simulating combat.
Fixed missing sprite ressources on game Start.
Filled missing description in the “Easy Pickings” Quest.
Quality of Life (QoL) and User Interface
Added new End-Game Objectives to guide players through the last specific steps of a campaign.
When clicking a selected Party’s “Portal” Action button on the World Map, camera now centers out to offer a better perspective.
Fixed an issue where clicking on a Map Quest Marker containing multiple quests would always display the first quest.
Quest Panel : Improved the Tooltip information in Quest Infos – Landtypes.
Quest Panel : Improved the Tooltip information in Quest Infos – Scouting.
HUD Top Bar : Improved the Tooltip information for all Top-Bar ressources.
HUD Action Bar : Improved the Tooltip information for all Action Bar buttons.
Resolution Panel : Level-up Bottom bar now should now refresh at the same time as a character levels-up.
Various Improvements with the Random Encounter Panel content formatting.
Misc
Improved some Character Rigs and Sprite Allocations
Corrected white sprites in Credits Scene.
Corrected various in-game Typos.
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That's it for now! We hope you had a great weekend and that you’re enjoying all the changes brought by last week’s meaty update.
We’ll be back soon with more news and updates! Until then, don't hesitate to reach out to us here or on the Community Forums with your feedback and questions, it's always a pleasure for us to hear from you and to answer to everything as best we can.
- Best regards from the whole ManaVoid Dev Team
v.0.999 HotFix 1 Released!
Greetings friends and fellow managers!
We're already following up on the recently released "Epic Update" (Patch v.0.999.0) with a small HotFix. It should already be available, so make sure your game is updated before launching!
Note : All previous save games should still be compatible. ːsteamhappyː
HOTFIX 1 - PATCH NOTES
Performance Improvements
Significantly improved loading time when starting a New Game or Loading an existing Save-file. This should be especially noticeable to players running the game from a standard HDD, although SSD users should also see a reduction in loading time.
Bug Fixes
Fixed a Combat bug that would sometimes prevent an enemy from dying when fatal damage was dealt by an action other than a basic attack.
Balance Changes
All recruitment campaigns now offer more candidates than previously.
Trading block now offers more candidates than previously.
Misc
Improvements made to various UI panels.
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That's it for now! We should be back with yet another small Hotfix on Monday (Dec 5)! Until then, have a great weekend everyone!
ps : As usual, don't hesitate to reach out to us here or on the Community Forums with your feedback and questions, it's always a pleasure for us to hear from you and to answer to everything as best we can!
- Best regards from the whole ManaVoid Dev Team
Patch v.0.999 now LIVE!
Greetings friends and fellow managers!
Just like we said in our last update this is a major update containing a bunch of new features, content, fixes, balancing, and more!
Since we are pushing so many changes to the game, all previous save games won’t be compatible with this version of Epic Manager.
Although the game still contains some placeholders here and there, we are very happy to report that all the main features are now in place.
This means we are putting the final touches to the game, gathering last minute feedback on any issues you guys report, and getting the game ready for its official release.
Let’s jump right into it!
*NOTE* The following notes are by no means an exhaustive list of everything new in this massive patch, but rather a more concise keynote of the major changes.
Difficulty Settings
Here it is folks! By popular demand we created difficulty settings for Epic Manager. Now, newcomers wanting to familiarize themselves with the game, without having to worry too much, will be able to, while more advanced players will be strongly challenged by our Hard difficulty setting! Now, choose your destiny…
New Prestige Classes and Combat Skills
On top of the 16 Basic Classes already present in the game, we added 13 new Prestige Classes. You will have to experiment with different builds to find out exactly what career paths will open these opportunities, but the potential rewards are worth it! Will you be able to unlock the famous Shovel Knight, the sneaky Stalker, or the feared Bardbarian? Each of the 13 Prestige Classes can use 2 unique skills. That’s 26 new skills added to the game on top of the 32 adventurer skills already there!
Adventurer Trading Block
After unlocking it in the Research Panel, players will now be able to trade adventurers with other agencies from their current league. Teams will have potential candidates on a trading block and a series of specific demands. Meet those demands to lower the cost of the transfer and build your dream team! Make sure to keep in good terms with your rivals to get the best deal possible.
Merchant - Alchemist
Two new merchants are now available to be unlocked in the Research Panel. The first one is the Alchemist. This weird fellow can help you add and remove traits for your favorite adventurers.
Merchant - Enchanter
The second new merchant is the Enchanter. This magic-wielding merchant can help you tweak the special effects of Kits and Accessories so your adventurers are always well geared when the rumble begins.
Skill Quests
To mix things up a bit, some Quests (about 10 to 15%) can now be resolved using a series of Skill Checks reminiscent of having a skill tested in a D&D campaign.
Ironman Mode
For those of you who don’t find the game challenging enough, we added a new Ironman mode. With this option ticked from the beginning of your campaign, you will not be able to manually save your game. You are stuck with the consequences of each action, so tread carefully.
New Recruitment Campaigns
We created new campaigns and tweaked the existing ones so players could access the entire scope of character levels and Epicness easily. These campaigns will be unlocked as your Agency gains in levels.
New Enemy Race - Lizardmen
A new end game enemy race joins the fray! The lizardmen are here and they’re a mean bunch of hard-hitting cold blooded killers!
New Unique Enemies
Meta races and human unique characters have been added throughout the game! Each one has a unique set of skills and with our new enemy AI, managers better be prepared!
Final Boss Fight
The bravest players who actually manage to finish first in the last leg of the game will be presented with a new challenge: an epic new final boss fight! Should you prevail against this unique foe, you’ll be rewarded with the “real” ending which comments on your accomplishments during your campaign. Good luck!
New Random Encounters & Quests
As promised we created a bunch of new random encounters and a series of new storylines and miscellaneous quests to make sure there’s enough content to cover the entire span of a campaign. In fact, it is impossible to see the entire content of the game within a single playthrough! In total, we added over a hundred new stories for you to discover.
Integrated user Created Content
Some Kickstarter backers had the opportunity to create some in-game content with us. It’s with pleasure that we integrated unique adventurers, random encounters, quests, and more in collaboration with them. Their creations are now available for all to enjoy.
Game Balance Rehaul
All enemy race stats have been revised and the general game progression was revised. According to the feedback we gathered during the Early Access, we made the game progression faster and combat tighter. Let us know how the game feels for you in the comment section below.
Improved Enemy AI
Enemies will no longer be as passive as they tended to be before. Beware as changes we made to the AI strongly affect the deadliness of the combat.
Quest Simulation Balance
We made some changes to the balance of the combat simulation. We made sure there was always a chance to succeed or fail a simulated Quest. At the same time, we tweaked the simulation to better replicate success chances and added some feedback.
Faster Combat Animations
In order to make the general game feel faster we accelerated all combat animations and enemy reaction times. Over the span of an entire campaign, it ends up making a difference.
Added Combat Feedback
New Combat Icons show Contextual Racial Traits, Landtype Traits, and God alignment Trait bonuses.
Updated Combat Tooltip.
Added Feedback when no legal target is available.
Multiple Minor Bug Fixes
We corrected a bunch of minor issues like animation clipping, dodged attacks still landing, HP and XP bar refresh rate, Kit sprites, tooltip issues on level up, portal destruction cost computation, different renegotiation fringe cases, negotiation chances shown VS what was under the hood, locked contract termination, stats effects calculation, Font and Text issues, UI fixes on different panels, fixed some broken random encounters, and many other minor things. If you see something that does not seem right, please leave us a comment and we’ll happily look into it as soon as possible.
Multiple Typos Corrected
We went over our tables of random encounters, quests, and other text-heavy documents to purge the typos reported and those we could find during our multiple playtest sessions. Hopefully, we got them all, but feel free to let us know if you spot something we missed.
Remastered Soundtrack and SFX
The hard-working guys at GeekSound Factory remastered most tracks from Epic Manager’s soundtrack and pretty much all SFX in the game. They’re just awesome like that!
Multiple UI Panel Visual Improvements
Simon went over multiple panels, basic adventurer classes, and other visual elements of the game during the last months to make everything look beautiful. He also created new hairstyles, beards, and skintones for the adventurers of Astraeus.
In-Game Manual - Epicopedia
The in-game manual is still a work in progress. We are uncertain exactly what format it will take in the end, but most of the content is written for it. More on that later folks.
A small list of Cheat Codes
We added a “Cheat Code” button to the Main Menu of the game. We still have to implement the codes themselves so it’s a bit of a tease, but the wait will not be long.
Official Release
We will take a few days to see how you guys like the game with its latest balance and new features and to make sure nothing is broken. From there, if everything goes smoothly, the full release of the game should come pretty quickly. Of course, we will get back to you with detailed information and a date when things are settled.
As always, thank you all for taking the time to read this and don’t hesitate to reach out to us with any comments, questions or feedback you might have. It’s always a pleasure to hear from you!
Until next time friends,
- Best regards from the whole ManaVoid Dev Team
ːsteamhappyː
News from the front!
Greetings friends and fellow managers!
It’s already been awhile since our last patch in September, and you might have wondered what our team was up to. Well, we’ve been very hard at work for the past two months here at ManaVoid HQ, working on the next patch which will be the biggest one Epic Manager has ever received!
Following v.0.2.7, our original plan was to add a few mechanics and push a new patch some weeks later, but as we were adding said features, mechanics and contents (plus your very crucial feedback that we read every day!), we realized that going at this piece-meal would be more difficult than intended, considering how many of these new systems were going to be intricately working with one another. And so we finally decided on a new approach, to aim for a massive update instead of many small ones.
TL-DR: We’re happy to report that this “Mother of all updates” is almost ready! It should roll out at the end of November, and the patch notes for this single update will be longer than the ones from all previous updates combined! :D
We’re going to finish up all of our new mechanics, features and contents in the next few weeks, and we are then going to test and balance the game extensively until we are sure the build is stable and fun before releasing it to you.
Here is a quick look at (some) of what the next patch will be adding to the game:
Unlock New Advanced Merchants:
Unlockable through the Agency Research Panel, players will now be able to visit two new merchants in Astraeus, the Alchemist and the Enchanter!
The Alchemist
Will be able to add and subtract traits for an adventurer. The more traits an adventurer will have, the more it will cost to add a new one. This should add a new flair to the game when people want to min-max their best/favorite characters.
Enchanter
Will be able to add and modify an item’s magical properties. The more properties an item will have, the more it will cost to modify it. This should also add a new flair to the game for players who like to min-max their equipment.
Adventurer Trading With Other Agencies
We’ve added a new Scout Action in the game, called the ‘Trading Block’, that’s unlockable through the Agency Research Panel. It can always be visited by the player on any given turn. The trading block showcases four adventurers who are on ‘Waivers’ by an opposing agency. In exchange for gold and/or one of your adventurers, you can buy/trade for the adventurer put on waivers by other agencies.
Each adventurer on the trading block is accompanied by a series of ‘Wants’ from the agency that put him up. If you have an adventurer that meets those ‘Wants’, the agency will trade him one for one and ask for no gold. If you have an adventurer that meets a few of the agency’s ‘Wants’, then the price will be reduced, but there will still be some gold to pay in exchange for the trading block adventurer’s contract.
Oftentimes, the adventurer on the trading block will be slightly better than some in your agency, so it does become an good strategy to have a look and see what is available on trading block every few turns. Also, if an adventurer starts getting too many wounds and/or negative traits, trading for him on the block might be a way to save some time and money on a useless contract.
Skill Quests - A new alternative to Battle Scenarios
We’ve transformed/added many quests so they could become ‘Skill Quests’. These quests work much like a Skill Check does in random encounters. When approaching a Skill Quest, the player will have a series of dice to throw that is associated to a specific adventurer (or party) and of a specific type (Combat, Agility, Arcana, Charisma).
Scouting the quest beforehand will give you an idea of what kind of stat types will be required to accomplish the quest, giving the player an opportunity to build up a party that is more centered towards those skill-sets instead of straight up combat.
We hope this will give the player a new way to build parties, approach quests and ultimately diversify the way quests can be completed in the game.
Difficulty Settings
You asked and we’ve delivered! We have added some difficulty settings that will alleviate a lot of the stress and difficulty brought on by the current league elimination mechanic. The current game’s difficulty would be what we consider the ‘Normal Mode’ and there would be an ‘Easy Mode’ where agencies generate about 25%-50% less fame per turn and a ‘Hard Mode’ where agencies generate about 25%-50% more fame (for the pros! :D).
We know many of you have asked for a casual/infinite mode where elimination wasn’t important and we believe our easy mode will scratch that itch for those of you who don’t want to be stressed by time in the game. Our internal tests with an infinite mode weren’t very conclusive, the game is fun because of the short-term and long-term goals that the player needs to manage around to succeed. When we take some of those away, the game loses a lot of its fun-factor.
Also, narratively, the quests can hardly be story-lines in an infinite mode and although it is possible to generate quests procedurally, those quests would have pretty generic writing and would end up feeling repetitive after a few dozen turns.
Prestige Classes
We have (so far) added 12 new prestige classes in the game to go EVEN FURTHER BEYOND! Prestige classes work a lot like the class system did in Final Fantasy Tactics. By mastering certain classes, it will unlock the recipe to choose a new prestige class! Prestige classes have active skills that are better than what you can find with basic classes and have a slightly higher stat gain. For example, the Bardbarian’s Crecendo of Fists drains the adventurer of all of his AP, but the damage output is directly linked to how much AP was used.
Some Prestige Classes take two basic classes to unlock, but the better ones take three or four! We hope this mechanic will add new short-term goals for players to explore different classes and figure out how the game works. This mechanic also becomes a consideration during the recruitment campaigns and gives added value to adventurers who have less conventional class builds. A bard and a warrior might seem like a weird combo, but when they become a Bardbarian all hell breaks loose!
More Quests:
We’ve added a good number of new quests to the game, mostly endgame quests that wrap up the faction storylines and allows parties to do quests all the way up to threat level 10.
More Random Encounters:
We’ve added a bunch of new random encounters. Some players were reporting that they were seeing the same random encounters pop-up too often, this should mitigate that.
New Recruitment Campaigns
We’ve added about 10 new Recruitment Campaigns that now allow the recruitment of specific class types, lower level adventurers with higher epicness levels, etc. This should allow a wider array of deployable strategies, particularly in the mid-game, for the player. The management of class types and epicness levels will also be important for the new ‘Prestige Class’ feature, which we will touch on a bit later.
User-Created Content
When we launched our Kickstarter back in 2014, a bunch of our backers chose reward tiers allowing them to make their mark in the world of Astraeus through the naming of adventurers, writing of quests and random encounters, designing of prestige classes, items, etc. We have been collecting this information from our backers for some time and have already begun implementing it in the game. Some of the adventurer names and bios are pretty funny, make sure you give them a look when you see that an adventurer has been created by a member of the community.
New Boss Fights
We’ve added several new bosses to the game to keep things intriguing and to punish players who don’t scout their quests ahead of time… Hehehe...
New Enemies: Lizardmen
We’ve added a new endgame monster race, the Lizardmen! You will have to discover their strengths and weaknesses on your own, but these swamp dwellers are nothing to mess with!
Final Boss
Won’t say much about this, except that he/she/it will be there, waiting for you at the end… :D
Endgame Narrative / Scoreboard
We’ve added a sequence at the end of the game that explains the narrative of what happens to the factions you’ve helped more than others throughout the gameplay. If you read the storylines and are interested in the game’s lore (some people care, we swear!), we hope this will give you the closure you need for having helped out all of those factions!
Also, we’ve added a fame multiplier that will be impacted by the trophies won each trimester and will multiply the total fame gained throughout the game at the end. This will give the player some form of a “High Score” that we will be linking to Steam achievements somewhere down the road.
We have done a TON of work on balancing the game’s values for adventurers, monsters, contracts, traits, combat, etc. in light of what was said on our forums, the Steam discussions and the game’s new features and content. The rehaul is quite intensive and it’s why we want to test the game thoroughly before releasing it to the public. We’ve also fixed a bunch of typos and bugs! We will explain all of the changes in the patch notes on release. Also, we changed this:
AP Rehaul
The backend for AP Regeneration is now decimal based. This allowed us a MUCH better flexibility when linking the charisma stat to AP Regen. It used to be 1 AP regen per 400 Charisma, it’s now 0.1 AP regen per 40 Charisma. This means that a character with 200 Charisma will still generate an extra AP every two turns, which is actually a pretty significant factor in combat.
Quicker Combat Animations
A lot of people on our forums and Steam discussions mentioned the lengthy combat animations, so we’ve shortened them! Combat should go about 50% faster than it used to.
In-game Manual: Epicopedia
We are adding bunch of information on each mechanic that will be linked to the Epicopedia button in the top right corner of the world map screen. Our game is pretty complex and has a ton of interwoven mechanics that can take a significant amount of time to understand. Some people like the crash and burn method, but a lot of people like to read and understand everything before making the first move and they will now be able to do that!
That’s about it for the big pieces coming up in the next patch! Of course, there are MANY other changes and improvements that weren't listed above, and we'll make sure to have an exhaustive list of all patch notes when the update is rolled-out!
As for the timeline of it all, it really depends on how quickly our in-house tests feel right. Although we don’t foresee any big problems, this is game development and you never know… ;)
Finally, let us take some time again to thank all of your for your continued encouragement, support and precious feedback! Also, a special thank you to everyone who keeps writing on our forums and Steam discussion pages, you're awesome and it's always a pleasure for us to read from you.
We still do try to answer to every post and comment, although we're concentrating pretty much all our efforts these days into making sure the next patch will come out as soon as possible.
Until next time friends, stay in touch!
Best regards from the whole ManaVoid Dev Team
Patch v.0.2.7 now LIVE!
Greetings friends and fellow managers!
We’re back today with a fresh and important update containing a feature that has been requested by many players since Epic Manager’s Closed Alpha Release - the ability to simulate (auto-resolve) battle scenarios!
Today’s update also brings forth many bug-fixes, balance changes, pacing improvements and other various interesting tweaks. Make sure to read the patch notes below for the complete list of changes!
We’ve also included a few words on our development roadmap and upcoming features at the end of this update, so stay with us ‘till the end if you want all the juicy details! ːsteamhappyː
As from v.0.2.7, and whenever attempting to complete a combat quest*, players will now be able to choose to enter battle and control their troops directly, or to use the all-new Combat simulation interface and auto-resolve the scenario.
*Please read the “What’s Next?” section at the end of this update to learn more about the upcoming different quest types!
How the new Combat Simulation System works
The new combat simulation system takes in account a wide (and growing) variety of factors, ranging from the levels of adventurers in a party, to their “preparedness” (influenced by equipment) and more.
Some degree of Luck will also be involved in Combat Simulation, as your party’s rating (influenced by factors such as those described above) will ultimately determine your odds (DC) of obtaining a Critical Failure / Failure / Success / Critical Success while throwing a good old D20.
Any result other than a Critical Success may lead your party members to obtain wounds, and obtaining a Failure or Critical Failure will require you to throw an additional dice for each party member (saving throw) to determine if this character survives the encounter.
Scouting Quests is now more important than ever
Scouting a Quest will now also fully reveal the odds of successfully auto-resolving a battle scenario. The % values of all outcome types (Crit. Success / Success / Failure / Crit. Failure) will be displayed as a mouse-over tooltip while hovering over the “Simulate” button.
Things to keep in mind
Party members will not use any consumable items while auto-resolving combat.
It is impossible to flee from an auto-resolve attempt. Should you decide to simulate a battle scenario without scouting the quest before hand to make sure you have a high enough chance of success, be prepared to face the consequences if you miss your dice-roll. Remember - scouting is your friend.
While our team did its very best to balance this new system in a way that accurately represents combat difficulty, keep in mind that we will continue to fine-tune the values in upcoming patches and, as always, we’ll be very attentive to player feedback in order to direct our future balancing efforts.
*Make sure to exit Epic Manager and Restart Steam to get the new version. Top-Right corner of the Main Menu should now read : Alpha Build v.0.2.7*
*While old save-games are still compatible with this new update, we HIGHLY RECOMMEND STARTING A NEW GAME to make sure you receive all bug-fixes and balance changes.*
New Features
[NEW MECHANIC in v.0.2.7] COMBAT SIMULATION : It is now up to the player’s choice whether to enter combat scenarios and control their troop directly, or to auto-resolve them entirely.
Game Pacing and Meta-Balance
[CHANGED in v.0.2.7] Accelerated Party Movement sequence on the World Map.
[BALANCED in v.0.2.7] Deployed Parties can no longer be ambushed by enemies while using the “Camp” order. This should remove the case where players would camp to heal wounds, but end up gaining them back (or even more) immediately by being ambushed on the same turn.
Map Improvements
[ADDED in v.0.2.7] Added new “Portal Towers” to all populated areas on the World Map. These towers now light-up with blue flames when a portal is active at that location.
[ADDED in v.0.2.7] Added a moving Cloud Layer to the World Map.
Bug-Fixes
[FIXED in v.0.2.7] Fixed an issue preventing players to Terminate and/or remove adventurers from parties during the opening 6 turns, when skipping tutorial.
[FIXED in v.0.2.7] Re-worked Warlock’s Hellfire damage calculations.
[FIXED in v.0.2.7] Fixed an issue with Elemental Missile and Unique Enemy Characters.
[FIXED in v.0.2.7] Fixed an issue where Human Unique Characters always had a “null” 3rd Combat Skill.
[FIXED in v.0.2.7] Fixed incorrect Tooltip information in the Monk’s “Defensive Stance” Skill Description.
[FIXED in v.0.2.7] Fixed an issue that would sometimes arise with an adventurer’s equipment, after re-negotiating that character’s contract.
[FIXED in v.0.2.7] Party Disbanding should now work properly in all cases, even when on a location without an active portal.
[FIXED in v.0.2.7] Fixed a game-breaking bug that would sometimes appear in Trimester 1 of the Gold League.
[FIXED in v.0.2.7] Contract Termination should now properly consider all contract conditions (such as Locked or Champion) in all instances.
Balancing
[BALANCED in v.0.2.7] Warlock passive skill mods now give +25% (stacks), instead of +50%.
[BALANCED in v.0.2.7] Warlock Blood Offering now gives +3AP, instead of +4AP.
[BALANCED in v.0.2.7] Tweaked Quest Prospection algorithm to distribute Threat Levels on a normal curve.
[BALANCED in v.0.2.7] Frozen characters now have a 0% chance of dodging.
[BALANCED in v.0.2.7] Captain’s “Rally” Skill is now single-target instead of AOE. AP cost has been reduced from 6 to 4.
Audio
[FIXED in v.0.2.7] Alt-Tabbing in and out of the game should now longer cause issues with audio playback.
[FIXED in v.0.2.7] Battle Theme Song should now loop correctly.
UI
[IMPROVED in v.0.2.7] Removed “Fuzzer” behind Quest Prospection / Recruitment panels, in order for the HUD’s Top Bar ressources to remain visible when performing these actions.
[IMPROVED in v.0.2.7] Made a series of minor visual changes in the Staff panel.
[IMPROVED in v.0.2.7] Added new “Contract Status” visual indicators to the Roster panel’s List View Mode.
[IMPROVED in v.0.2.7] Added new visual cues to differentiate empty Kit/Accessory slots in the Party Panel / Character Sheet (Basics) / Character Sheet (Equipment Tab)
Misc
[CORRECTED in v.0.2.7] Fixed various typos reported by community members.
We’re already hard at work on many (many!) cool new features that will progressively make their way into the game over the course of the next updates. Here’s a non-exhaustive list outlining some of the changes you should be expecting in the near future.
User-Created Content (Kickstarter Rewards)
As you’re reading these lines, we’re putting the final touches to a series of Google Forms we’ll soon be sending to Kickstarter Backers who are eligible to creative in-game rewards. We expect these forms to ship out later this week or early next week.
User-created contents coming soon to Epic Manager :
Unique Adventurers
Random Encounters
Quests
Unique Items
Prestige Classes (About 10 will be created by Kickstarter backers, and around 6 more by the ManaVoid Dev Team...did I hear “Indie Guest Stars”?)
Location Naming
New Deities and special effects!
All Kickstarter backers with creative rewards should expect to receive an email from our team very soon - so make sure to check your mailboxes from time to time! ːsteamhappyː
New Merchants - Alchemist and Enchanter
Two new merchants will soon be opening their shop in Astraeus - and they mean business!
The Alchemist will allow players to purchase powerful potions with the ability to grant and/or remove character traits from adventurers. Rumours around the Tavern have us believe that the fabled Alchemist can even remove permanent wounds… for a price, of course!
The Enchanter can be described as part genius, part wackjob. It is said his long pilgrimages have brought him an uncanny wisdom and knowledge of equipment pieces. It is also said that the vapors from his many late-night experiments have left him… somewhat eccentric. Give him an Equipment piece (Kit or Accessory) and a bit of Gold, and he’ll get to work transmuting the item’s special properties into, well, different properties! Veteran managers have reported that this process is *relatively* painless, but that results seem to vary! :)
Skill Quests
We’ll soon be transforming some existing quests (and adding new ones) with a fresh new twist! Without giving too much away, let’s just say that these new “Skill Quests” will NOT involve battle scenarios, and will require players to carefully plan the composition of parties they send on the field to undertake them.
Difficulty Settings
You’ve asked for it! We’ll be implementing new difficulty settings in an upcoming patch. These global modifiers should please those looking for a smooth ride, or one heck of a challenge!
More than 7000 managers have already ventured into the world of Astraeus, and we expect many more to join the fray as we slowly pave the way towards the 1.0 release of Epic Manager.
Our whole team would like to say a huge THANK YOU to each and every one of you for your continued feedback and kind words. One thing is for sure, none of this would’ve been possible without the involvement and support of our ever-growing community.
Rest assured that we always have been, and remain, fully dedicated to making Epic Manager the game YOU want it to be.
As always, don’t hesitate to reach out to us with any comment, question or feedback you might have. It’s always a pleasure to hear from you!
Until next time friends,
Stay tuned and, above all, stay EPIC!
- Best regards from the whole ManaVoid Dev Team
ːsteamhappyː
Patch v.0.2.6 now LIVE!
Greetings friends and fellow managers!
We’re already back with a new update! Today’s patch v.0.2.6 brings multiple bug-fixes and balances changes in response to the community feedback we’ve received since last Friday’s v.0.2.5 release, as well as a new “Portal Recycling” Tech Tree research item that will allow you to remove / replace portals you’ve already activated on the World Map.
We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all players who have provided us with feedback and suggestions over the weekend! Rest assured that your input will continue to drive our development efforts, and that making Epic Manager the game YOU want it to be is our utmost priority. ːsteamhappyː
Patch Notes - Alpha Build v.0.2.6
*Make sure to exit Epic Manager and Restart Steam to get the new version. Top-Right corner of the Main Menu should now read : Alpha Build v.0.2.6*
*While old save-games are still compatible with this new update, we HIGHLY RECOMMEND STARTING A NEW GAME to make sure you receive all bug-fixes and balance changes.*
New Features
[NEW MECHANIC in v.0.2.6] PORTAL RECYCLING : After purchasing the 4th Agency Licence, players will now be able to research the “Recycle Portals” ability. Recycling portals currently costs 1 scout action, and some gold.
[ADDED in v.0.2.6] Added the “Recycle Portals” research point to the 4th level of the Tech Tree.
Balancing
[BALANCED in v.0.2.6] Increased the Maximum Salary Cap increases with most Licence Levels, and in particular for the Licences that unlocked new parties.
[BALANCED in v.0.2.6] Slightly reduced the difficulty (AI Agencies’ Fame Gains) for the Silver League, in response to player feedback to the changes made in v.0.2.5.
[BALANCED in v.0.2.6] Wounds should now be harder to obtain, especially when dealing with level-appropriate content in the Early Game.
Bug-Fixes
[FIXED in v.0.2.6 - HOTFIX 1] Fixed an error preventing players to "Scout" Quests before turn 6, when skipping the Tutorial.
[FIXED in v.0.2.6] Fixed a database error that caused a game-breaking bug when loading pre-v.0.2.5 saves.
[FIXED in v.0.2.6] Fixed an error where loading a game on Turn 1 (after skipping tutorial and saving right away) would cause the player’s initial 750 gold treasury balance to disappear.
[FIXED in v.0.2.6] Fixed an loophole allowing players to purchase a portal for 0 Scout Points during Turn 2, when skipping the Tutorial.
[FIXED in v.0.2.6] Fixed an error preventing the use of the “Save and Quit” button before Turn 6, when skipping the tutorial.
Random Encounters
[NARRATIVE CHANGES in v.0.2.6] Changed the “Special Hints” in some Random Encounters that were misleading players, and leading to frustrating and unpredictable negative results.
UI Fixes and Improvements
[FIXED in v.0.2.6] Updated incorrect requirement listings for some Tech Tree items (more specifically - “Agency Level” requirements to purchase new Licenses.
[ADDED in v.0.2.6] Added some Scout Dialogues that will explain new mechanics when unlocking them from the Tech Tree (ex: Agency Champion).
Misc
[FIXED in v.0.2.6] Various improvements to the availability / location of some recurring Quests on Cities, Capitals and Villages.
Thank You!
That’s it for now! Once again, a big THANK YOU to everyone who reached out to us with feedback during the weekend - we hope you’ll enjoy the changes made today.
Starting tomorrow, our team will begin work on some exciting and upcoming new game mechanics! Since these will require quite a few days of work, and considering we also have to prepare our booth for the upcoming Montreal Dreamhack Convention - http://montreal.dreamhack.com/ - we expect the next patch to come somewhere next week.
In the meantime, don’t hesitate to contact us with questions, comments or feedback, both here on the Steam Discussions and our Official Community Forums ( http://forums.manavoid.com ). Have a great evening, and see you soon!
Best regards from the whole ManaVoid Dev Team
Patch v.0.2.5 is now LIVE!
Greetings friends and fellow managers!
It’s already been a week since our last update, and we didn’t want to leave for the weekend before rolling-out a new patch, so here it is!
THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to reach out to us with feedback. Most of the patch elements listed here are a direct consequence of the notes we took of your comments in the past week! It’s always a pleasure for us to hear from you, and we hope you will continue to do so in the future! ːsteamhappyː
Patch Notes - Alpha Build v.0.2.5
*Make sure to exit Epic Manager and Restart Steam to get the new version. Top-Right corner of the Main Menu should now read : Alpha Build v.0.2.5*
*While old save-games are still compatible with this new update, we HIGHLY RECOMMEND STARTING A NEW GAME to make sure you receive all bug-fixes and balance changes.*
New Features
[ADDED in v.0.2.5] The early-game Tutorial is now completely optional! At the end of the Rookie Draft, players will now be able to decide whether they want to skip the tutorial or not.
Choosing to skip the tutorial will also let you save your game as early as Turn #1.
[ADDED in v.0.2.5] The first (WIP) version of the Epicopedia, Epic Manager’s in-game manual, has now been added and can be accessed by clicking on the purple “?” on the top-right corner of the game’s HUD.
Today’s patch brings only a very (very) barebones version of the Epicopedia. It will receive much love and attention in the upcoming days. We expect next week’s upcoming v.0.2.6 patch to feature a much more polished version of this new tool.
Bug-Fixes
[FIXED in v.0.2.5] Character Traits that affect AP costs in Combat will NO LONGER appear in draft Candidates. These can now only be acquired / lost through Random Encounters.
This is to circumvent players having to “re-roll” (restart) the Draft multiple times until they found an adventurer with an AP-buffing trait.
[FIXED in v.0.2.5] Fixed a bug that would sometimes cause the unlocking of the 3rd party to cause a NullRef() error.
[FIXED in v.0.2.5] Unlocked yet undeployed parties will no longer cause the “Party Awaiting Action” Prompt at the end of each turn.
[FIXED in v.0.2.5] Removed contract negotiation loophole that allowed players to hire adventurers for only 1 gold.
[FIXED in v.0.2.5] Fixed erroneous calculations with the Warlock’s “HP Sacrifice” and Damage output values.
Balancing - Combat
[BALANCED in v.0.2.5] Combat Consumables with a “Slowing” effect will now impair the enemy’s Initiative a lot more than before.
[BALANCED in v.0.2.5] The Thief’s “Pickpocket” ability will now deal damage (1.25x basic attack) on top of stealing gold.
[BALANCED in v.0.2.5] The Thief’s “Pickpocket” ability will now yields 50% more gold.
[BALANCED in v.0.2.5] Warlocks will no longer be wounded when performing “HP Sacrifice” skills.
[BALANCED in v.0.2.5] Ranger’s “Exploit Weakness” will now only debuff enemy Physical Resistances (as opposed to “All Resistances” previously).
[BALANCED in v.0.2.5] Monk’s “Offensive Stance” will now only buff ally Physical Damage (as opposed to “All Damage” previously).
[BALANCED in v.0.2.5] Monk’s “Defensive Stance” will now only buff ally Physical Resistance (as opposed to “All Resistances” previously).
[BALANCED in v.0.2.5] Reworked and increased Adventurer “passive Resistance bonuses” to help with the later stages of the game.
[BALANCED in v.0.2.5] Slightly nerfed AOE Spells and Skills to make the late-game combat encounters more fun.
[BALANCED in v.0.2.5] Slightly reduced “Starting AP” and “AP Regen” modifiers for high-level characters (both Adventurers and Enemies).
Balancing - General
[BALANCED in v.0.2.5] Changed XP values for some high-level enemies.
[ADDED in v.0.2.5] It is now possible to Terminate the contract of any adventurer regardless of his current deployment status. Previously, an adventurer needed to be benched, or in a Party currently standing on an Active Portal to do so.
Signing a “Locked Contract” still prevents termination.
[BALANCED in v.0.2.5] Some quests from the “Thieves Guild” Faction should no longer always appear on the Guild’s “HQ” node.
[BALANCED in v.0.2.5] Increased the Fame gain of AI Agencies in the Gold League.
[BALANCED in v.0.2.5] Reduced the Fame and Gold yields for all quests of Threat Level 4 and above.
UI
[ADDED in v.0.2.5] The “Adventurer Infos” (displayed at the bottom-left corner of the Combat HUD) now also includes the target’s list of Active Skills. This is very useful when deciding which of your allies to target with an AP buff or the “Command” skill.
[IMPROVED in v.0.2.5] The “Adventurer Infos” (displayed at the bottom-left corner of the Combat HUD) now correctly refreshes at the start of each Combat Turn.
[FIXED in v.0.2.5] Fixed a UI Canvas error preventing players from using the “Lock Contract” functionality.
[FIXED in v.0.2.5] Using the “Elemental Missile” Skill in combat will now properly close the Consumable Panel.
[ADDED in v.0.2.5] Tooltip will now also display the current AND previous classes of an adventurer when hovering over a portrait in the bottom bar of the main HUD.
[FIXED in v.0.2.5] Mage and Witchdoctor Primary/Secondary Stat icons will now display the proper icons during the Draft.
[ADDED in v.0.2.5] Added a new visual indicator to show that Focus/End Turn actions can be executed using the “SPACEBAR” Hotkey in Combat.
Audio Fixes
[FIXED in v.0.2.5] Scout Dialogue SFXs are now properly linked to master SFX volume setting.
Quality of Life
[ADDED in v.0.2.5] When negotiating a contract, players can now hold “SHIFT” to increase / decrease the offered Salary by increments of +10/-10.
The next few steps
As you can see from the patch notes above, today’s update concentrates mostly on bringing needed balance changes and bug-fixes, as well as making the tutorial completely optional, which was a feature requested by many community members!
Next week should bring a new patch of a similar nature, as our team will also dedicate some time to prepare our booth for the upcoming Montreal Dreamhack Convention! This will be ManaVoid Entertainment’s very first gaming Expo, and we’re very excited! http://montreal.dreamhack.com/en/
Once we get back from Dreamhack, we’ll start focusing all our efforts to the introduction of new content and features to Epic Manager! More details on that front will follow very soon :D
Thank you!
Once again, we wish to express our most sincere thanks to all Epic Manager players, for supporting this project and putting your trust in our small Dev Team. Your continued participation really means the world to us, and we’re always happy to correspond with you and to get your feedback! To put it simply, YOU are awesome.
As always, don’t hesitate to reach out to us here on the Steam Discussions or our Official Community Forums over at : http://forums.manavoid.com
Best regards from the whole ManaVoid Dev Team
First 72 Hours of Early Access + Patch 0.2.4 + More!
Greetings friends and fellow managers!
So much has happened since the Early Access launch on Monday! We’re extremely happy with the way things are going so far, and we’d like to take this opportunity to welcome all new players to the game, and also to thank each and everyone who has reached out to us so far with feedback, questions and bug-reports!
Now that the dust is starting to settle (a little), we thought it would be the perfect time to reach out with this first official Early Access update, and the new v.0.2.4 Patch!
The last section of this update also covers *some* of the main things we’ll be prioritizing in the next few days/weeks, so read ahead for all the details.
Early Access launch week - What we’ve been up to
As most of you might have guessed, it’s been a pretty hectic (and fun!) week here at ManaVoid HQ, especially since there’s only 4 of us and 24 hours in a day! In a nutshell : Moral is sky-high, could use more sleep. :D
Here’s a non-exhaustive list of the things we’ve been working on during the past few days.
Analyzing and processing Feedback...and lots of it! More than 140 people have already filled out our “v.0.2 Feedback Form” (accessible through the game’s main menu). Add this to the hundreds of reports we’ve also been receiving here on Steam, on our official Forums and by email, and you’ll understand that we now need time to process everything and to outline the most popular topics.
We try to be as methodical as possible in our approach, and we’ll be focusing short-term development priorities on addressing the issues in order of overall importance and feasibility.
Community support We take great pride in being as reactive as possible whenever interacting with the community! We try to read and respond to everything, and it’s always, always a pleasure for us to hear from you, so don’t hesitate to continue reaching out with questions, bug-reports and feedback!
Twitch “stalking” Thanks to all the amazing streamers who have been producing Epic Manager content on Twitch / YouTube this week! Our team spent many hours following live broadcasts on Twitch especially, participating in the channel chat rooms and answering questions as best we could.
Promo and Marketing Lots of time has also been dedicated to getting the word out there, on every platform we could think of. Promoting Epic Manager is an ongoing process, but we’ve put a lot of efforts on that front in the days leading to / following the Early Access Release.
Working on the game With all the above going on, we still found some time to work on the game! Most of the improvements contained in v.0.2.4 are things reported by the community during the first 72 hours of Early Access - thanks again for all the feedback, and we hope you’ll appreciate these changes.
Introducing v.0.2.4
As you’re reading these lines, we’ve just rolled out v.0.2.4! Restarting Steam should insure your game is updated automatically, and you can verify this in the upper-right corner of the game’s Main Menu!
Thanks again to the people on Twitch who playtested this version yesterday - some of our team members followed you late into the night and were able to correct issues while they were being reported live on your stream (and that was an awesome experience!).
We dedicated a big part of the week to community support and promo activities, so time spent on development has been way less than usual.
We’re now back in full effect on that regard, and new patches will keep rolling in at a steady pace from now on! Nevertheless, we wanted to make sure to push a first Early Access patch before the end of the first week, and here it is!
Patch Notes - Alpha Build v.0.2.4
New Features
[ADDED in v.0.2.4] You can now rename your adventurers! Simply open the Character Sheet and click on a character’s name to edit it to your will!*
*For legal purposes, adventurers are required to have a First and Last name. :)
[ADDED in v.0.2.4] The Gold League is now open! This will add another 50 turns to the current campaign, as well as a new Ladder on which to compete when you finish Silver!*
Bug-Fixes
[FIXED in v.0.2.4] Fixed a game-breaking issue with the TrimesterVeteransRefresh() causing an infinite loop when Agency roster was empty, at the start of a Trimester Ranking sequence.
[FIXED in v.0.2.4] Fixed a game-breaking bug in some Resolutions caused by the GiveRewards.ApplyEconomicEvent() method.
[FIXED in v.0.2.4] Fixed an error with Recruitment / Contract signature that would sometimes prevent the player from hiring further adventurers.
[FIXED in v.0.2.4] Removed an error with the HUD Action bar that allow the use of unresearched actions (like merchants, intrigue and staff) when starting a new game from a previous campaign where these points had been researched.
[FIXED in v.0.2.4] Fixed a rare instance where the combat “Tutorial Report” would appear twice.
[FIXED in v.0.2.4] Fixed an issue with some quests from the Ironmark brothers not unlocking further quests properly.
Balancing
[BALANCED in v.0.2.4] Reduced the Gold cost of the “Appeasing Gift” Intrigue Action by 50%.
[BALANCED in v.0.2.4] Ambushes will now yield Gold and Item rewards, and not just XP.
[BALANCED in v.0.2.4] Chance of obtaining Equipment Kits as rewards has been increased in all resolution.
[BALANCED in v.0.2.4] The maximum potency of “Physical Resistance” enemy skills and spells has been reduced to 75%.
[BALANCED in v.0.2.4] Slightly lowered the base damage of the Warrior’s “Charge” ability.
[BALANCED in v.0.2.4] Slightly lowered the base damage of the Mage’s “Magic Missile” ability.
[BALANCED in v.0.2.4] Bonus XP for the Agency’s Champion has been increased from 5% to 20%.
Narrative
[MODIFIED in v.0.2.4] Changed the names of some Storyline Quests, in order to clarify their role in a larger narrative arc and to guide the player towards higher tier quests.
UI
[ADDED in v.0.2.4] “Stats” sub-panel of an adventurer’s Character Sheet now also displays that character’s starting Action Points at the beginning of a battle, as well as his AP regen rate per turn.
Misc
[TYPOS in v.0.2.4] Corrected a few Typo errors that were reported by the community.
What’s Next?
Continued iterative Balancing and Bug-fixing
As more and more player reports come in, we’ll continue to tweak the game’s balance and to resolve the remaining bugs. This process is continuously ongoing, and directly driven from community feedback!
Tutorial and Help Systems
We're aware that the current tutorial is both incomplete in some regards, and that having to go through it (in its current form) in the beginning of each campaign drags the early game.
We'll definitely be improving this aspect of the game shortly - allowing players to bypass the tutorial completely and (re)introducing temporarily deactivated help features like the "hints" panel and the "Epicopedia" (in-game manual) are some of the main things we'd like to tackle first in regards to this matter.
More Content
With the opening of the 3rd year (Gold League) in v.0.2.4, we’ll soon be looking into the creation of more Random Encounters, Quests and Events to increase variety all-around. New prestige classes, enemies and merchants are also coming in a not-too-distant future!
This is just the beginning
We’ll be back next week with another Patch/Update combo and by then, we should have a more detailed outline of the order in which we want to tackle the growing to-do list!
Again, we wish to express our most sincere thanks to all players for supporting this project and putting your trust in our Dev Team. We’re super excited about the future, and working as hard as we can to make sure Epic Manager is worthy of your time and attention.
As always, don’t hesitate to reach out to us here on the Steam Discussions or our Official Community Forums over at : http://forums.manavoid.com
Best regards from the whole ManaVoid Dev Team
Early Access NOW LIVE + Patch v.0.2.3.1 Released
Greetings friends and fellow managers!
It is with an immense pleasure that we can now announce that Epic Manager has officially released on Steam Early Access!
We wish to express a warm welcome all the new players who will be discovering the world of Astraeus for the first time today, and to sincerely thank all of our incredible community members who have been supporting this project since the very beginning!
We're very excited about today's launch, as it marks a very important milestone for our small-but-dedicated four-man team!
Lots of cool things are still to come in the upcoming days and weeks, and rest assured that we will continue to depend / heavily rely on Community Feedback to determine the next development priorities, as we have always done since the very first Closed Alpha Release.
Once again, welcome to Epic Manager, and thank you! ːsteamhappyː
We're eager for your Feedback! Join the discussion!
We're always very happy to receive player feedback and interact with our growing community! As always, don't hesitate to reach out to us here on the Steam Discussions, or by joining our Official Community Forums over at : http://www.forums.manavoid.com
Alpha Patch v.0.2.3 (Hotfix 1) Released
We've made a few balance changes and fixes over the weekend and we wanted them to be in the game prior to launching today. This hotfix is now Live and comes with the following patch notes :
UI FIXES
- [FIXED in v.0.2.3.1] Removed obsolete Text boxes for Class and Current Party in Level-Up Panel.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.3.1] Fixed an ordering discrepancy between 'Warning' Panel and Settings Panel.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.3.1] Fixed dissapearing sprite for a signed adventurers 'Second Skill'
TOOLTIPs
- [ADDED in v.0.2.3.1] Added 'Bleeding' value in Combat Tooltips.
- [ADDED in v.0.2.3.1] Added 'Chance of Success' value Tooltip in Contract Negotiation.
TUTORIAL
- [ADDED in v.0.2.3.1] Added a new scout prompt that outlines how Fame is lost when the Agency enters a negative treasury balance.
MAP
- [ADDED in v.0.2.3.1] Added a few road segments to the Map's Eastern quadrant.
MISC
- [ADDED in v.0.2.3.1] Report Panel scrollbar now properly sets to '0' position by default when entering Report.
Welcome to Astraeus
Thank you for taking the time to read this update and for being a part of this project! One thing is for sure, none of this could've been possible without the incredible community support we've received so far!
This has always been a project "by gamers, for gamers", and we plan on staying true to this design philosophy in the upcoming months, as we polish the game and add more content on the road to full release!
We are very excited by all the cool things still ahead for Epic Manager, and we hope you are too!
- Best regards from the whole ManaVoid Entertainment Dev Team
All Closed Alpha Patch Notes
*With the upcoming Early Access Release, we thought it would be a good idea to paste the complete list of Closed Alpha Patch Notes. All these updates were made to the game following the first Closed Alpha Release, on June 8th, 2016.*
Closed Alpha v.0.2.3 (July 21, 2016)
Bug Fixes
- [FIXED in v.0.2.3] 'Generalist' Trainer effects now compute normally.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.3] Fixed a bug with ParseTraits() in Random Encounters
- [FIXED in v.0.2.3] Fixed an odd case that would sometimes cause a Quest Prospection Campaign to return 0 results.
Combat UI Improvements
- [ADDED in v.0.2.3] Hovering over a 'Skill, Basic Attack or Item' button will now cause the Action Point bar to visually indicate how many APs will be used by performing this action.
UI
- [FIXED in v.0.2.3] Tutorial text box contents should now display properly.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.3] Resolution panel will no longer duplicate the 'The Party Heals 1 Wound' visual reward.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.3] Fixed various UI elements in the Resolution Panel.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.3] Various improvements to the 'Contracts' Info-Window contents and UI
- [ADDED in v.0.2.3] 'Staff Point' ressource indicator added to the staff panel.
- [ADDED in v.0.2.3] Added a 'Nothing Happens' Visual Reward to the Resolution Panel.
- [ADDED in v.0.2.3] 'End of Trimester' Report will now show if any Agency Hatred was gained from the player's rank.
Balance Changes
- [BALANCED in v.0.2.3] Reduced the gold lost on one of the resolutions from the 'Have a Ball' Random Encounter.
Misc
- [ADDED in v.0.2.3] Added an auto-cleaner for obsolete save files.
QoL Improvements
- [FIXED in v.0.2.3] It is now possible to scroll contents with the mouse in the Resolution Panel.
Closed Alpha v.0.2.2 (July 20, 2016)
Display Fixes
- [ADDED in v.0.2.2] Added a Fail-Safe on application opening to prevent game from starting in 0x0 resolution (this fixes the issue created by the last v.0.2.1 patch).
Performance Improvements
- [OPTIMIZED in v.0.2.2] Improved "GiveRewards" method performance by over 60%. This will effectively remove the small lag spikes experienced when completing Objectives, accessing the Resolution panel and at the beginning of a new turn.
- [OPTIMIZED in v.0.2.2] Decreased initial game Load Time.
Bug Fixes
- [FIXED in v.0.2.2] Fixed a loophole allowing to 'EndTurn' using Keyboard although League Trimester sequence was still running.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.2] Fixed an issue causing an adventurer's second skill button (in combat) not displaying any sprite.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.2] Fixed a game-breaking exception caused by Thief combat animator in some very specific scenarios.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.2] Fixed Skillcheck choice in "The Rope Bridge" Random Encounter.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.2] Fixed erroneous Special character choice portrait in "The Rope Bridge" Random Encounter.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.2] Fixed a Dictionary Exception thrown in certain circumstances by the "ParseTraits()" method when no trait could be found in party members.
Combat and Skill Fixes
- [FIXED in v.0.2.2] Fixed problems with Blood Offering's modifying of APs in certain specific cases.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.2] Fixed an exception causing negative AP-regen bonuses in specific cases.
UI Fixes
- [FIXED in v.0.2.2] Eliminated agencies now properly display a value of "---" Fame, instead of "-1".
- [FIXED in v.0.2.2] Fixed "Contracts" Info-Window panel not auto-retracting on Turn End.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.2] Fixed "Contracts" Info-Window panel not refreshing upon new contract signature.
Balance Changes
- [BALANCED in v.0.2.2] Made some minor changes to Intrigue rolls, odds and values.
Misc
- [TEMP. Removal in v.0.2.2] Temporarily removed the "Hints" Info-Window, ahead of improvements.
Closed Alpha v.0.2.1 (July 18, 2016)
Bug Fixes and Optimization
- [FIXED in v.0.2.1] Optimized certain SQL queries, build settings and overall code to improve in-game performance.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.1] Fixed issue on Save/Load that would cause values to not refresh when loading another game with the same Agency Name.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.1] Fixed issue in Combat that would cause the enemy to go into an 'IDLE' loop in his animation during AoE buffs, crashing the game.
Display, UI and Misc Fixes
- [FIXED in v.0.2.1] Druid 'Nurture' tooltip showing wonky information.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.1] 'Use Item' tooltip didn't show AP Cost.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.1] Tooltips for damage type and resistance type traits now show the correct 15% value they give.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.1] Added tooltip to 'Unscouted Quest' panel hiding monster information in combat.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.1] Calendar now shows current week and trimester in the Top Bar.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.1] Can now skip splash screen logos.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.1] Adventurers and Enemy Combat Boxes were resized to reflect new positions/sizes of combatants.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.1] Recruitment Campaigns getting unlocked with the right licences.
Balance Changes
- [FIXED in v.0.2.1] Moved the initial roster size back to 4 adventurers.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.1] Nerfed potency for healing spells that would cause some fights to last too long.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.1] Overall pass was made on combats to better disperse buffers / healers /damage dealers. #MoreFun
Closed Alpha v.0.2.0 (July 14, 2016)
v.0.2.0 - Major Changes
- [ADDED in v.0.2.0] An entirely new system was added to the game : Agency Intrigue. Intrigue actions are made using Scout Points* and are used to affect other Agencies in your current league. Using these actions and getting ahead of the pack (by climbing league rankings) will cause other agencies to gain "hatred" towards you and, in time, they will themselves use the different Intrigue actions against to hinder your progression.
*You will first need to unlock Intrigue by spending a Research Point in the brand new Tech Tree, once your Agency levels-up!
- [REHAULED in v.0.2.0] The Agency Research Panel (Tech Tree) was completely revamped! There are now 10 licenses instead of the precedent 7, and licenses now passively provide the player with every "Critical" upgrade, such as :
All other "Minor" Points are now solely spent toward specializing your Agency. This should help player progression a lot and make the progression curve feel more natural.
- [REHAULED in v.0.2.0] When on the map, parties can now ALWAYS use the Teleport action. If they're not currently on an Active Portal, the move will cost Gold to the agency based on the party's average level.
- [REHAULED in v.0.2.0] The Agency Champion mechanic has been changed. It is now unlockable via the Tech Tree and it provides the champion with a passive stat bonus. The champion's salary now remains part of the Agency's total.
- [REHAULED in v.0.2.0] Staff members are now unlockable from the Tech Tree. Also, they do not cost the player any gold per turn. Instead, managers have a number of points to allocate to the Staff members, akin to what can be found in worker placement board games. The pool of available points and the power level of the Staff members can be also be improved via Tech Tree.
- [REHAULED in v.0.2.0] Opening new Portals no longer costs gold. Players start each new campaign with a number of available portals to open, and gain new ones by unlocking corresponding researches in the Tech Tree.
Bug Fixes and Optimization
- [FIXED in v.0.2.0] Fixed the trimester/end of year panel stat tracking issues.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.0] Fixed some issues with the refresh rate of HP bars in combat.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.0] Fixed a bug with the amount of items given by quests.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.0] Fixed a bug with traits attribution during resolution of encounters.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.0] Fixed a bug causing visual elements to appear twice in the resolution panel when Player flees.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.0] Fixed tool-tip issues on the contract window.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.0] Fixed a bug causing adventurers to be offended by contract offers too often.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.0] Fixed the bug causing the screen to go black when the intro sequence finishes.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.0] Cleaned some minor display issues during the tutorial sequence.- [FIXED in v.0.2.0] Various other minor bug-fixes across many systems.
Display and UI Fixes
- [ADDED in v.0.2.0] Game now launches in 1920x1080 windowed mode. We added a "Settings" button to the main menu and a section in the general game menu to allow players to change resolution, window mode, and audio volumes as they wish. This should allow players on higher resolutions who were experiencing display issues to play the game in windowed mode properly. - [ADDED in v.0.2.0] Game now natively supports four 16:9-based resolutions, with many more still being compatible by running the game in one of the 4 native resolutions in Windowed mode.
- [ADDED in v.0.2.0] Added a count on party's pathways on the world map to allow players to know how long (in turns) it will take to reach a destination.
- [ADDED in v.0.2.0] Added an entire panel to show players the length of all their current active contracts at a glance. The panel even shows how much Gold the Adventurer would want if you were to renegotiate them today. This should hugely improve the ability of players to plan their budget and manage the salary cap.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.0] We upgraded the Loading screen. Hint text should be more useful and displayed neatly.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.0] Improved the Top bar and the Action bar of the main HUD.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.0] Character Sheet and Roster missing info is fixed.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.0] Fixed the bug causing the damage shown on skills during Level up to be 0.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.0] Fixed damage displayed on AoE attacks to allow for each target to show its own damage received.
Combat Improvements
- [ADDED in v.0.2.0] Linked characters on the field with their portraits in the Initiative bar of the combat HUD for better player Feedback.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.0] Fixed a bunch of little tool-tip issues in combat.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.0] Fixed further instances of enemies falling in an infinite loop in combat.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.0] Fixed an issue allowing enemies to stack buffs when they shouldn't.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.0] Fixed minor dictionary issues with adventurers and enemy skills.
- [UPGRADED in v.0.2.0] A pass was made to review the combat composition in an effort to provide better suited enemy parties.
Balance Changes
- [ADDED in v.0.2.0] Adventurers on the player bench now cost only 50% of their normal salary each turn.
- [ADDED in v.0.2.0] Starting AP in combat for the very first round is now affected by the Agility stat more relevant.
- [UPDATED in v.0.2.0] Many systems have received various minor balance changes.
Misc
- [UPDATED in v.0.2.0] New Epic Manager Logo!
- [ADDED in v.0.2.0] Players are now prompted with an Event when they change reputation level with any Faction.
- [UPDATED in v.0.2.0] The Main Menu of the game received some love and was updated.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.0] Fixed some text field issues on the level up screen.
- [ADDED in v.0.2.0] Various fixes in the in-game Credits.
- [FIXED in v.0.2.0] For character negotiation, adventurers now suggest an amount that conveys 100% success rate. Contracts details are also now maintained if the offer is refused by the candidate to accelerate the negotiation process.
Closed Alpha v.0.1.6 (June 23, 2016)
CONTENT
- [ADDED in v.0.1.6] Settings - Added Music and SFX Volume change to Settings Panel.
- [ADDED in v.0.1.6] Hotkeys - Added Hotkeys to Combat and World Map to accelerate combat and better player usability.
- [ADDED in v.0.1.6] Camera - Added Camera locks and tweaks to better player usability.
- [ADDED in v.0.1.6] Random Encounters - Added 24 new 'General' Random Encounters that can happen anywhere on the map.
- [ADDED in v.0.1.6] Random Encounters - Added line breaks to Random Encounters to alleviate text reading.
- [ADDED in v.0.1.6] Contract Negotiation - Default is now 24 Weeks instead of 12.
- [ADDED in v.0.1.6] Contract Negotiation - Default negotiation values will now show exactly what the adventurer wants with 100% Success Chance.
- [ADDED in v.0.1.6] Contract Negotiation - When contract is refused will now change the success chance to reflect added adventurer greed without changing the original offer.
- [REHAUL in v.0.1.6] Agency Champion - The Agency Champion will now be considered in the agency's salary cap, he will instead have an added XP gain % from quests. This mechanic will be unlockable in the new Agency Research panel coming in the next one or two weeks.
BUG FIXES & OPTIMIZATION
- [FIXED in v.0.1.6] Quests - Rewards being regenerated on load game for active quests.
- [FIXED in v.0.1.6] Quests - Fixed not being able to cycle between Quests on a same node.
- [FIXED in v.0.1.6] Combat - Added a failsafe to reboot enemy turn when he fell into an idle state, thus breaking the game. (Temp Fix while we figure out why enemies using AoE spells fall into this state in the first place...)
- [FIXED in v.0.1.6] Skill Checks - Skillcheck percentages are now calculated correctly. (They were off by 5%)
- [FIXED in v.0.1.6] Optimization - Fixed multiple GameObjects being instantiated during Combat, slowing down computer as gameplay went on.
- [FIXED in v.0.1.6] XP Gained - Fixed error in XP calculation when adventurer had traits and other effects that added bonus XP %.
DISPLAY AND UI FIXES
- [REHAUL in v.0.1.6] Combat - New Visuals for Tombstones upon combatant death in Combat.
- [FIXED in v.0.1.6] Cursor - 'Targetting' Cursor now appears when targetting allies with skills.
- [ADDED in v.0.1.6] Critical Hits - Added a visual feedback when a hit does a 'Critical Hit'
- [FIXED in v.0.1.6] Typos - Fixed Various Typos in the game.
- [FIXED in v.0.1.6] Quests- Fixed First Faction Quests not appearing as 'Storyline' Quests on the map. (Orange marker instead of Blue marker)
BALANCE
- [REHAULED in v.0.1.6] Combat - Starting Stats and Stats on Level-Up have been rebalanced to make adventurer progression and combat feel better in the early game.
- [REHAULED in v.0.1.6] Combat - Starting AP is now derived from the Agility Stat and APRegen has been tweaked to reflect the Stat changes.
- [REHAULED in v.0.1.6] Combat - Many Skills and Skill Passives have been changed. Particularly Buff/Debuff skill effects have been nerfed.
- [REHAULED in v.0.1.6] Combat - Enfeebled Status Effect now does -15% to all damage instead of -2 AP. This added useless length to the combat.
- [FIXED in v.0.1.6] Merchants - The price for Kits in the Blacksmith has been reduced.
- [FIXED in v.0.1.6] Loot- More Kits will drop as loot from Quests.
- [FIXED in v.0.1.6] Contract Negotiation - Reduced Fame Gained from Quest Signing and Renegotiation.
- [FIXED in v.0.1.6] Contract Negotiation - Reduced Fame Gained from Quest Signing and Renegotiation.
- [FIXED in v.0.1.6] Quest Prospection - Higher Threat Recurring Quests now appear a bit later in the game.
- [FIXED in v.0.1.6] Random Encounters - Reduced % Chance of Ambush and augmented chance of landtype / general encounters.
- [FIXED in v.0.1.6] Recruitment Campaigns - Lowered Prices for the campaigns significantly.
- [FIXED in v.0.1.6] Fame - Losing Fame will now longer remove agency's current fame (Agency XP), only the agency's current league fame.
- [REMOVED in v.0.1.6] Events - Random Traits being obtained on turn start have been removed from the game.
Closed Alpha v.0.1.5 (June 17, 2016)
MAJOR REHAUL - Quest Prospection
- [REHAULED in v.0.1.5] The Quest prospection Panel was completely rehauled to allow players to see the location of the Quest on the WorldMap when deciding to add them to their Quest log. This rehaul includes some new visual assets, new and updated usability and other QoL improvements.
BUG FIXES & OPTIMIZATION
All-in-all, we shaved about half the loading time and almost all the latency during turn execution. More optimization will be done in the following weeks!
- [FIXED in v.0.1.5] Optimized SQL Queries on NewGame/LoadGame.
- [FIXED in v.0.1.5] Fixed c# variable declaration issue that was causing lag issues on scene load.
- [FIXED in v.0.1.5] Removed redundant method on map generation on load.
- [FIXED in v.0.1.5] Fixed a game breaking bug in ambush generation for level 11/12 Giant:Jotunn.
DISPLAY AND UI FIXES
- [FIXED in v.0.1.5] Quest "Making Way for New Blood" - Ulrich von Meester is called Ulrick at the end of the text.
BALANCE
- [ADDED in v.0.1.5] Combat - It is now possible to Dodge any damaging skills in the game.
- [ADDED in v.0.1.5] Combat - it is now possible to do critical hits with skills.
- [ADDED in v.0.1.5] Raised starting stats for adventurers and lowered the progression per level a bit. Also raised the base stats gained and significantly lowered the secondary + primary stats gained.
- [ADDED in v.0.1.5] Added/Balance: Adventurers now gain a base resistance to physical based on Combat and a small resistance to arcane and elemental damage based on Arcana stat.
MISC
- [FIXED in v.0.1.5] Fixed some Names in the Credits.
- [ADDED in v.0.1.5] Added: Feedback - Critical hits now have a specific visual feedback.
Closed Alpha v.0.1.4 (June 15, 2016)
BUG FIXES
- [FIXED in v.0.1.4] Fixed combat 'Stun' Effect lasting two turns instead of 1.
- [FIXED in v.0.1.4] Fixed abandoned quests not making the Agency lose any Fame.
- [FIXED in v.0.1.4] Fixed a bug with a Random Encounter in "The Woodlands of Wood"
- [FIXED in v.0.1.4] Consulting previously completed quests in the Quest Log will no longer lead to a loss of Fame.
- [FIXED in v.0.1.4] Naming your agency to something similar to the name of an existing AI agency will no longer cause issues.
- [FIXED in v.0.1.4] Static DB is now cleared and refreshed when the game's executable is opened.
- [FIXED in v.0.1.4] Fixed a loophole in the bottom bar allowing players to edit a party's roster even if deployed on non-waypoint location.
- [FIXED in v.0.1.4] Fixed bugs and weird behaviors when using Out-of-Combat consumable items.
DISPLAY AND UI FIXES
- [FIXED in v.0.1.4] "Frozen" combat status now displays correct visual feedback while active.
- [FIXED in v.0.1.4] Fixed an issue where failing a contract negotiation could lead to the appearance of a misplaced fuzzer layer, preventing further interaction.
- [ADDED in v.0.1.4] Improved information given by "Quest Threat Level" Mouse-over tooltip.
- [FIXED in v.0.1.4] Clicking on another panel while recruiting new adventurers would lead to the Recruitment campaign to close and the Scout point being lost.
BALANCE
- [BALANCED in v.0.1.4] Tweaked Quest prospection algorithm to make higher level quests more available.
- [BALANCED in v.0.1.4] Tweaked the first quest of all Minor Factions to threat level 2. (Making them show up sooner in the early-game).
- [BALANCED in v.0.1.4] "(...) Grass is Greener" quests now include Veteran enemies.
- [ADDED in v.0.1.4] More recurring quests for higher Threat Levels.
- [BALANCED in v.0.1.4] Reduced the amount of Fame gained by AI Agencies in the first 2 trimesters of the Silver League. This should smooth out the difficulty curve while transitioning from Bronze to Silver League.
- [BALANCED in v.0.1.4] Tweaked amounts of XP gained in Ambushes.
MISC
- [FIXED in v.0.1.4] Fixed combat tooltip erroneous feedback where 'End Turn' button would stay marked as 'Focus' after an action was taken.
- [FIXED in v.0.1.4] All opened UI Panels will now close when pressing on "End Turn".
Closed Alpha v.0.1.3 (June 13, 2016)
PERFORMANCE FIXES
- Removed Redundant SQL Queries while generating Fame for AI Agencies each Turn.
- Give rewards process performances improved.
BUG FIXES
- Fixed errors with the Combat system resulting in fatal errors with many skills and spells.
- Fixed game breaking bug in combat. If AoE killed 1 Adv but not all party, it would send the combat in an idle loop.
- Fixed bug where Mages in combat would cause the state machine to stay idle in an infinite loop.
- Fixed Erroneous DB entries that prevented players from Hiring Agency Staff.
- Fixed Rdm enc "Ask the goblin if he's alright" that would stay idle and break the game.
- Fixed a bug where 'Eliminated' Agencies would still gain Fame and possibly continue climbing the League Rankings.
- Fixed a bug allowing players to Equip Kits/Accessories to 'Unsigned' adventurers, causing a fatal error.
- Fixed a bug where failing to buy a new Waypoint due to lacking the necessary Gold would still use up a Scout Point.
- Fixed a bug with the Fog of War computation, visited locations did not register properly.
- Fixed bug when starting a new game values were not reset to 0.
- Fixed a bug where the Gold and Fame values displayed on the TopBar would not refresh when exiting to MainMenu and starting a new game.
DISPLAY AND UI FIXES
- Fixed an issue where Quotation Marks weren't displaying in resolution texts.
- [0.1.3 HOTFIX 1] Fixed an issue where "Fame to Next Level" Value in Agency XP Bar displays wrong value when starting a new game.
BALANCE
- Modified Initiative Calculation to include a bit of randomness to the turn order each round.
TYPOS
- Continued to fix many typos reported by the Community. Others are still out there, so keep reporting them!
- Fixed 'Resources' Typo in Basic Tutorial p.3
- Fixed 'Unused' Typo in Basic Tutorial p.5
- Fixed last line of text being hidden behind buttons in p.4 of Combat Tutorial.
- [0.1.3 HOTFIX 1] Goblinophobe reads - gives a 10% damage bonus against Goblin. (should be a negative trait)
MISC (Mostly feedback and QoL issues)
- Game now Automatically saves every 6 weeks, creating an Autosave save file that can be loaded by the player.
- New "STATS" Panel added to the character sheet, allowing players to see detailed information about an adventurers Bio / Traits / Extra Infos (Initiative/Dodge Chance/Crit Chance)
- Added Descriptions to Party Action ToolTips while navigating the world map.
- Bottom Bar Party Holders now have adventurer ToolTips that show adventurer name, level and class.
- End of Trimester Theme started with too much percussion. Now starts with a more festive loop.
Closed Alpha v.0.1.2 (June 10, 2016)
PERFORMANCE FIXES
- Notably improved performance when refreshing the Fog Of War (on the first deployment + at the end of every party move).
- Improved performance at the end/beginning of every turn by eliminating a lag spike caused by bad SQL Queries when updating the Fame value of other agencies.
BUG FIXES
- Fixed the size of all Temporary Zombie sprites. These enemies should now display properly in combat.
- Fixed a bug with a Random Encounter's resolution that caused the game to stay stuck on the resolution panel.
DISPLAY AND UI FIXES
- Fixed an issue where Quotation Marks weren't displaying in resolution texts.
ACCESSIBILITY
- Added improved visual feedback on the Agency's XP bar when your agency gains a new level.
TUTORIALS
- Fixed a tutorial loophole that allowed players to spend their scout point on something else than prospecting new quests when the latter was the turn's objective (leading them to be unable to finish that turn).
TYPOS - Continued to fix many typos reported by the Community. Others are still out there, so keep reporting them!
Closed Alpha v.0.1.1 (June 9, 2016)
PERFORMANCE FIXES : New 32-bit and 64-bit versions!
*64-bit version of the game is still experimental. If the executable crashes on launch, simply continue using the 32-bit version for now.*
