I wanted to share my thoughts about changes to the health recovery in the game.
As I already stated here and there, I'm not 100% happy with how the current health recovery works. I agree with your feedback that it can lead to an inflationary use of consumables (medicinal herbs), especially early on in the game.
Reik should not require to consume loads of medicinal herbs in and outside of combat. Even though I showed that you can play through the first quest without using any herbs at all (and with only reasonable stops at the bonfires ;)), I agree that the current healing/recovery system is not ideal.
So with your feedback in mind I thought about how the system can be changed to make it feel less tedious. Here's what I came up with so far:
You will always regenerate up to 50% health when out of combat.
Med herbs will heal 25% instantly when consumed and will slowly (10%/turn) regenerate up to 100% when out of combat. This effect will last for around 200 turns. You won't be able to consume a new med herb while the effect lasts.
Recovery herbs will regenerate 10% health for 10 turns, in and outside of combat.
The current health potion stays as is.
New small variants of potions will be added for health, stamina and mana: They recover 25% instantly and 5% for 5 turns, in and outside of combat.
More herbs and a few small health potions will be available during the start of the game. Even though you won't require that much med herbs anymore, since you can only use 1 every 200 turns.
So on the bottom line: You will get a steady health regeneration outside of combat, BUT you will most likely get less instant heal for free (potions don't grow in the wilds ;))! I hope that these changes will make the combat and resource management more interesting. Please know that these ideas are all theoretical and I have to actually implement and test them first.
And please share your thoughts in the comments and let me know if this feels like the right changes to you. Thanks everyone! :)
Cheers
Felix
Patch 0.12.2
Fixed a bug where the effects of Icy Pillar were not applied correctly on enemies.
Fixed a bug where the drowning damage from water tiles was not applied correctly on enemies.
Patch 0.12.1
Fixed a bug with the persistence of objects like chests and enemies near previously cleared bonfires.
Please note: After this patch those objects may still appear, but after you loot / defeat them once more, they should stay disabled.
Sorry for trouble. At least some of you now have almost infinite amounts of learning points and upgrade orbs to mess around with... 🙈
Update 0.12.0 - Achievements and Game Statistics
Hey everyone!
The next update for Of Blades & Tails is here and it implements Achievements and an all-new Statistics screen.
Changelog v0.12.0
Achievements
17 Achievements have been added to the game. A full list can be found here: https://steamcommunity.com/stats/1768780/achievements
There are Achievements that will unlock as you play, some require a bit of grinding, and others require you to collect legendary items. There is also a combat challenge "Fearless Rookie", for the bravest foxes among you.
Please note: Achievements that are related to player level, quests, or defeated enemy count will unlock once you continue any existing savegame. Others require you to repeat a specific action, even though you may have done so already.
More Achievements will be added in the future!
Game Statistics
20 Statistics are now tracked per playthrough.
Number of turns passed
Distance travelled
Spots discovered
Number of own defeats
Defeated enemies
Biggest enemy defeated
Hunted wildlife
Most used weapon
Skill execution count
Most used skill #1
Most used skill #2
Most used skill #3
Highest outgoing damage
Highest incoming damage
Destroyed containers
Looted items
Gathered herbs
Used items
Highest fortune (coins)
Coins spent
You can find the Game Statistics under your Character tab and then the third icon on the left.
Balancing
The skill Block in the Shields talent line now reduces 90% of the incoming damage (instead of 50%). This should make it much more useful, even though it still costs 1 turn.
Savegame Compatibility
Savegames from version 0.11.x are compatible.
What's next
I already started working on a new side activity: Treasure Hunting It will introduce fragments of treasure maps, that you can find or buy at specific NPCs. Once you have a minimum amount of those fragments you can put them together to a map that gives you a hint on where in the world a treasure chest is buried and waiting for you. Then you grab your shovel, try to find that location and start digging in the right spot... where you hopefully will find treasure and new loot ;)
Once I have more of the base mechanics ready, I will share it with you here in another preview post.
Until then, take care everyone and enjoy your holidays!
Felix
Patch 0.11.1
A problem has been fixed that caused the game to crash on Linux/SteamOS and macOS.
Update 0.11.0 - Stealth and AI improvements
Hey everyone!
The first content update is now ready and I'm excited to share all the changes that come along with it.
If you want to learn more about the new Stealth mechanics and improved enemy behavior, please read the preview post.
In addition to that, Of Blades & Tails is now on a 15% discount during the Turn Based Fest!
Changelog v0.11.0
Talents & Abilities
A new talent line has been added: Stealth Including 3 active skills and 4 perks.
Added a skill that can distract enemies and force them to change their position.
Added a skill that allows to become invisible for a few turns and lose enemy attention.
Added a perk that reveals the line of sight of an enemy.
A new Visibility stat has been added to the player.
Enemy AI
Enemies can now enter Alert State if they get distracted by something or get alarmed by a nearby ally.
An enemy will no alarm nearby allies if they enter combat state. (No more sniping a single enemy from a far without consequences ;) )
All enemies now belong to one of the following factions: Bandits, Insects, Plants
Insects and Plants will now attack Bandits and vice versa if they encounter each other.
Game World
A new stealth-based quest has been added to Immerfurt.
New items have been added to the stock of some merchants (see below).
Items & Equipment
A new legendary item has been added.
A Portable Dummy (useable item) has been added that can distract nearby enemies.
An Adrenalin Potion has been added that resets all remaining cooldowns.
An Invisibility Potion has been added that allows the player to become invisible.
A Scroll of Fireball (consumable item) has been added.
A Scroll of Teleportation (consumable item) has been added.
A Toxic Spore (consumable item) has been added that can be dropped by Explosive Growths.
Misc
Fixed a potential crash in relation with dungeon levers and secret walls.
The feedback form will now open again upon exiting the game.
Godot Engine has been upgraded to 3.5.1
Implemented a new Steamworks integration.
A few minor fixes and balancing changes along the way.
Savegame Compatibility
Savegames from version 0.10.x are compatible.
What's next
Next up will be the addition of Steam achievements and an all-new game statistics screen, where you'll find stats like "Defeated enemies", "Highest damage", "Discovered locations", "Looted items" and many more! Expect this to be out within the next two weeks.
Cheers Felix
Of Blades & Tails at Turn Based Fest + Update!
Good day everyone!
It's the beginning of the new week and today we are happy to announce that Of Blades & Tails has been selected for the very first Turn Based Fest coming up this week!
On December 8th - 12th you will have a chance to check out over 100 turn-based titles, thanks to the TurnBasedThurs team that has put a lot of work into making this massive festival that celebrates all kinds of turn-based video games happen!
Our already announced Stealth Update will also make it just in time and will be available on December 8th.
We hope you are as excited for the new content as we are!
So mark your calendars and we will see you for the event with a fresh update!
Cheers, Felix & Pineapple Works
Preview: Stealth Update
Hey everyone!
Two weeks have past since Of Blades & Tails launched into Early Access! Four minor patches already found their way into the game, adding a bunch of QoL improvements and a few fixes.
Before we dig into the upcoming content, I want to thank everyone who took the time and wrote a review on Steam! It's very much appreciated and already helps a lot to reach more players! So if you haven't done so yet, please consider writing a review. Even a few words will already do just fine! <3
I believe it's a good time now to give you all an idea of what I have planned for the first content update and how some of the new mechanics are going to work. So the first update is about stealth mechanics and improved enemy behavior. It also builds the ground for future talents like Beastmastery or Summoning!
Enemy Sight
Knowing the area that an enemy overlooks plays an important role when it comes to Stealth-based abilities. Therefore a perk will be available that reveals the enemy's sight on hover. This allows you to observe the area in which an enemy can detect you.
There will also be a new stat Visibility, that starts by 100% and by progressing the Steath talent line you'll be able to reduce it, which essentially reduces the range at which enemies can detect you.
Distraction and Enemy Alert State
Enemies will enter an alert state if they got distracted by something or if a nearby ally enters combat! So that also means pulling out single targets from a bandit camp will become much harder, but also more immersive. You will also be able to throw objects near enemies to lure them away or ...
(Please ignore the green mess after the explosion. Bug in my gif recording software.)
... to lure some hungry crawlers right into a camp of bandits! As you can see both targets (Poison Bee and Bandit Warrior) are inside the affected area of the Distraction Throw ability. So both enter the alert state and start to check where this noise is coming from by moving towards the origin. If they see each other, they enter combat state and start to fight, while Reik keeps hiding in the back and waits for his opportunity... You can also see that an Insect Drone follows after the Bee, even though it was outside the noise area. This happens because the Drone got alarmed by the Bee as she entered combat state with the Bandit.
To give a little more detail how this works: All enemies are assigned to a faction and they will chose their next target based on their standing with that faction. (Now please don't expect any overly complicated reputation system or something :D) For now at least, this faction system says that Bandits are hostile against Insects and Plants. Insects and Plants on the other hand are neutral to each other. They won't fight themselves, but they also won't "support" each other. If they see a Bandit however, they will go all in :) New factions might be added in the future.
The True Stealth Ability
Of course the one ability that every stealth gameplay needs will also be available: Vanish! You'll be able to disappear from the battlefield for a couple of turns and any enemy that was in combat with you will enter alert state. You can now decide whether you want to retreat or just reposition to use a sneaky attack with increased damage while undetected ;)
Or imagine what might happen if you run into a bandit camp with a bunch of crawlers in your back and then you suddenly disappear..? Fun stuff probably! :D
I'm also working on a new type of item, that could make a great addition to stealth gameplay and distraction in general...
When?
Soon! But on a more serious note: Most of the mechanics shown here are in a good shape and already available for internal testing. I have still some more ideas around content that could be added along these new features, like a new quest, more items, and a few surprises maybe... :) So I'll take some time to work on these things as well. I'm planning to have the Stealth Update ready early December.
Until then, take care everyone!
Felix
Patch 0.10.4
Added a "Take all" functionality for loot. You can now press F to take all items. Also a button for this appears in the loot popup if there are more than 2 items on the ground.
A keybinding for "Take all" has been added to the options menu.
Your total money is now always visible in the inventory view. (The item entry for money has been removed.)
The feedback form can now be accessed through a dedicated button in the main menu.
Fixed a display issue with fog of war in the overview mode.
Fixed a potential with issue the mages guild entrance quest reward.
Fixed an issue with Narn repeating his dialog when trying to exit with ESC.
Patch 0.10.3
Another patch with more requested Quality of Life improvements and a potential fix for the "soft freeze" issue :)
Added an item compare switch when you hold RMB. It will then show the info popup of the item that is currently equipped in the same slot. This should already ease the process of item comparison, but I'm still looking into ways to add a side-by-side view. However, positioning it properly is tricky.
Attribute increases during level up now also change all related stats (immediately), giving you a better idea of what affects what.
Added an Unstuck-Button to the game menu (ESC). This addresses an issue that a few players have reported, when they found themselve being unable to move or perform any action, even though the game was still running fine. If you experience such a problem in the future, please open the menu and click the button. Let me know in the feedback form or in the comments below if it helped!
