Skara: The Blade Remains
Servers closing temporarily
Servers for the Open Beta 0.2 will remain closed from now on. After detecting some important issues on the matchmaking for the 3v3 Last Team Standing mode we decided to address the problem and work to find a solution ASAP.
As you may know, Duels have been working okay since our Alpha launch but LTS have proven to be way more complex in terms of getting players in and out in certain conditions: when new survivors join a match in the middle of a fight the server doesn’t automatically update their state. That combined with other special conditions like afk, selecting a character and waiting for new players to come into the lobby generates some bugs. Even if all the players are already in the lobby the system doesn’t display the correct information and that causes confusion.
Working on authoritative servers can be tricky and we have to nail it in order to offer the best gaming experience. We have been working on a solution for the last few weeks and hope to release a new version soon.
See you on the battlefield.
Development Update
Since part of the team is still working to release the new version of our matchmaking system the machine hasn’t stopped working and we are developing at full steam!
Part of the problem we are addressing is the code architecture: although the system works, the code wasn’t as scalable as we wanted it to be so we decided to spend some extra time fixing that. For the last few weeks, we have been removing old lines of code, refactoring some of the existing systems and making the development more agile for our programming team.
This part of the job is almost invisible for the player but it is definitely worth it when it comes to scaling the project, update features and fix bugs. Spending time refactoring the architecture design - especially on big projects like Skara - will allow us to release new content more easily and quickly down on the road.
As of today, this work is already showing nice results: after refactoring the data model and the login process we have dramatically reduced the loading times up to 80%. Creation of new characters is now more agile and efficient. The new skill modular system allows our designers to quickly prototype new Signs and combine them with other gameplay features to offer new ways to play the game.
And that is precisely the main feature our design team is working on for the last 2-3 months: new characters, types of attacks, skills and game roles. In order to build a nice team fighting experience, we needed a wider variety of roles on the battlefield: pure healers and support characters, skills that can be combined with other characters to create powerful combos, even archers to strike on your enemies from distance! We can’t wait to show you all these new features.
Meanwhile, our art team has been working on new cool stuff to make your survivors look cooler than ever! We have been also working on a new arena called Atash - if you have recently checked some of our streams on Twitch you will already know what are we talking about.
See you on the battlefield.
Open Beta 0.2.0 is live!
Greetings survivors, and welcome once again to a brand new version of SKARA!
First of all, we would like to thank each and every one of you for your patience and feedback - without you, we wouldn’t be able to release what we think it’s the best version of the game the world has seen.
We believe we are finally on the right track for a future final release of this game. Nevertheless, we believe in the constant improvement of our product, so expect patches and new updates to guarantee the best overall experience.
We’ve been working hard to solve issues of previous builds and also add new and exciting features that you can finally try out! The new update has seen the following improvements:
New feature: Daily quests
Periodic objectives are common in a lot of games, but we wanted to add a special flavor to them in Skara. Players told us that the level of progress felt too slow, so the newly added Daily Quests allow you to gain experience faster and acquire those tasty Zem Orbs more often while you achieve specific goals - “Win 4 games as a Tamvaasa”, for instance. We want everyone to have some cool stuff to wear!
Rework + New cosmetics: Victory poses
We know winning is among the most satisfying feelings in Skara… But what if you could customize the way your character looks on the winning screen? Introducing Victory Poses, a fancy set of animation you can unlock in order to add a special touch to the end match screens.
Each class has now 4 Victory Poses available in the Armory. The first one comes by default - meaning that everyone will have them from day one - so make sure you unlock and equip the others to stand out from the crowd.
Game balance
Hearing your feedback about the gameplay and character balance is one of the most strict rules we have here in the Skara studio, so we have come with A LOT of changes on the combat balancing. We focused mainly on strengthening each class’ role to try and make team compositions more interesting and, of course, fair.
Check out all the changes in the link below, detailed as never before, so you can be aware of every small change we made and take your fighting performance to the next level.
https://playskara.com/open-beta-0-2-patch-notes/
Other improvements and major bugs fixes
Gameplay is not the only important feature on an online game: at the end of the day, the user experience has to be right. We have been putting a lot of effort on improving the UI flow, bring some new features to make life easier when navigating the menus and killing some nasty bugs that had been travelling with us for a while now.
Interface and HUD improvements
- A scene for the Orb has been added.
- Several interface bugs were identified and fixed. Nevertheless, we believe in constant improvement in order to achieve the best version of the game yet, so expect more bug fixing in the upcoming builds.
- We are taking our first steps into a global strategy of creating a friendly and healthy environment for our community. Therefore we are implementing specific naming restrictions for account creation.
See you on the battlefield,
The Skara team
The upcoming Open Beta 0.2 and community events
Hello survivors!
The upcoming Open Beta 0.2 is shaping up nicely - it takes some time for a small studio to release important changes on the game but we promise it will be worth. Release date will be announced soon.
What changes will the new version bring to the game?
Custom matches are finally here. They will allow you to create specific fights and invite your friends - this will lead to the second official Tournament of Skara!. We are also adding a couple of new sections on the main menu, including Characters Details and Lore. Balance changes will address come issues with certain characters (Khärn, we are looking at you!) and a couple of exciting new features will be released - we don’t want to spoil the surprise just yet, so be aware of the upcoming announcements and discussions.
While prepare this exciting launch, why don’t you say farewell to the Open Beta 0.1 by playing with the devs?
· Regular 3v3 matches with whole dev team occur every Tuesday and Thursday at 1pm (CET)
· Dev streams on Skara’s Twitch channel are every Wednesday at 5pm (CET)
Subscribe to our Twitch channel to follow these fights and be the first to know what’s next on our development roadmap - we recently showed our upcoming new Duel Arena by surprise!
https://www.twitch.tv/skarathebladeremains
And also, remember to join our Discord to follow Skara’s development and organize matches with our growing community!
https://discord.gg/QRCBUQS
See you on the battlefield,
The Skara team
Skara Dev Streams are back!
Every Wednesday from now on we will be playing Skara and discussing details about upcoming changes in the game. We would love to have you all on board and smash some dev’s heads while we talk about the future of the game!
You can follow the stream on our Twitch channel every Wednesday at 5pm (CET)
https://twitch.tv/skarathebladeremains
[h1[Let’s talk about balance!
Since we launched Skara’s Open Beta there have been some issues and discussions about current balance. We would love to hear your opinion on that so we can make the necessary changes before the Open Beta 0.2.0 (estimated release: April 2018). Don’t be shy and come to play and talk to us - shyness becomes easier to handle when you are brandishing an axe or two!
See you on the battlefield
The Skara team
Skara Beta is live!
Welcome, survivors!
The moment has arrived: Skara Beta is finally live!
Thanks to all of you for your patience and the support messages we have received through the process of building Skara - The Blade Remains. There are still a lot of things that need to be done, but we truly believe that this version represents the core of our vision to create competitive multiplayer fighting and evolving storytelling.
Here you can find what Skara Beta represents:
Gameplay improvements
In terms of gameplay, the main focus for this version have been to make combat more tactical and usable and to normalize certain rules that were not deterministic enough. Strongly committed to “easy to play, hard to master”, we are aiming to raise the skill cap of Skara - The Blade Remains while lowering its learning curve.
Damage collision detection
We have deeply improved our system to give not only more consistency to it, but to expand the specificities of each attack. With this changes, you will want to think whether you dash left or right to avoid that wide spear attack.
New combat animations + timings
Combat timings and distances have been rebalanced to promote a slower but more diverse and tactical combat where choices are more meaningful and attacks and survivors have more variety between them.
Feints
Following the timing changes we have added the feint action, which allows to stop certain starter attacks, deepening the mind games and tactics involved in the fight.
Magnet and auto-lock (Free Camera Mode)
Magnet option reorients your attacks towards closest enemies to make it easier for you to hit them when you are in free camera mode. As some of you asked, you can turn it off in the options menu if it doesn’t match your playstyle.
We have also added the auto lock feature that locks a target automatically after attacking them. It only works if magnet is activated and you are in free camera mode.
Smart target (Targeting mode)
Does switching between enemies when you are in targeting mode feel too slow for you? With smart target now you will be able to attack in the direction you wish (WASD or L-Stick). Try it out and give us your feedback!
Deflects
Getting your attack parried or smashing your weapon against a wall will now interrupt you and play a deflect animation.
Dashs rework
Dashes timing and distances have been reworked to make them more systemic and balanced.
New Coliseum layout
The Khilma Coliseum has been modified to avoid unnecessary lengthening of the rounds. Having an obstacle will discourage uninteresting patterns while giving room to wider variety of interactions. It has also received a Sudden Death feature just like Gao-Di map, hope it blazes you!
Dà-shizu new kit
Dà-shizu have received a full rework on their combat kit, with the goal to maintain their core traits while trying to remove some unhealthy patterns. Dashes no longer go through other players and basic and specialized attacks are now more diverse to offer deeper and more appealing options. Defense has been fully overhauled and is now a defensive attack.
Menu new look
One of the first things you will notice is the complete rework on the main menu and the UI. Although it looks way better now this is not only a visual style change. New design layout make the process of navigating through the menu easier for both mouse and controller.
This change will allow us to implement new features faster, as we implemented a new system to make more changes without having to create a new build. More on this to come soon.
New cosmetics: Skins dyes
We know the way your characters look is important, so we decided to give you even more options to distinguish yourself from other survivors on the battlefield!
Dyes will be obtained on Orbs that you can buy or unlock by just playing Skara. They all come with Lore-related names so make sure you find the best fit for your character.
New cosmetics: Emotes
A new way to express yourself on the battlefield has arrived! Use emotes to greet your folks and foes, or just sit down if there is an interesting duel and you don’t want to intervene. These emotes are very Lore-focused; for all of you who have read the novel ‘Time of the Two Suns’ they will be quite clear. If that is not the case stay tuned as we will soon release extra information on our Wiki page.
At the moment there are 3 different emotes per characters. Make sure you use the in-game Communication wheel to display them on the battlefield pressing ‘B’ on your keyboard or the arrow ‘up’ on your controller.
New skins
You will find new skins, helmets and weapons available in the Armory. From the Loút Hunters from the Khärn to the amazing skin of the Klarawatch of the Tamvaasa. Find them all under each culture section and try to get them all!.
More skins are coming on future builds. Stay tuned to Steam, Discord and all our Social Media platforms as we showcase them.
Ingame economy
The economy of Skara comes with major changes as we are approaching the complete integration with the blockchain.
· Karats, the old gem that allowed you to purchase your favorite items now are called ‘Shards’. They works almost exactly the same way than the old ‘Karats’, with some extra bonus - you can now obtain some of the opening ‘Zem Orbs’. The existing ‘Karats’ in your account have been now turned to ‘Shards’.
· The official currency in Skara is now called Talon (T) - from the House of Talé, the Kings of Durno - and it is the crypto currency of the Skara Universe. 1,000 Talons equal 1 SKRT (Skara Token), and you will be soon be able to obtain this crypto currency both in and outside the game. Check skaratoken.com for more information.
Experience Wipe
Experience and levels have been reset on all accounts - something quite common on Alpha-to-Beta transitions - but don’t worry: all the items you purchased during the Alpha are still in your inventory, and same goes with your ‘Karats’ (you should have exactly the same amount on ‘Shards’.
See you on the Battlefield,
The Skara Team
Skara Beta launch 1 week delayed
The game itself is running really well without bugs and issues. The small problems have been found on the main menu and the UI, which have been completely reworked for the Beta.
We have been working really hard - including all weekends - to get to this stage and it would be a pity to ruin the players' experience with these incorrect behaviours. Again, it is nothing serious but releasing the build today would have meant an unpolished product that doesn't match the vision we have for SKARA.
Sorry again for the inconvenience. We will keep working hard to not let you down.
See you on the battlefield
Pablo and the SKARA Team
Skara Beta is coming the 8th February
Not only did our first novel complete its journey to the publisher, but the nexus of all our efforts, the multiplayer game Skara - The Blade Remains made amazing progress into the competitive environment..
We held several firsts, including a competitive tournament and a record breaking play session (clocking in at 21 hours of straight play time).
2017 was also the first time players entered the lore in an official capacity. Several players who have loyally followed the progress of the game throughout its development are now the first heroes to find glory (and tragedy) in Skara’s battle arenas.
We have a lot of things to look forward to in 2018:
SKARA, The Blade Remains begins its Beta launch.Release date is the 8th February.
Debut novel ‘Time of the Two Suns’ is published in January (in Spanish, with other languages to follow).
We begin work on the first of a series of single player adventure games featuring your characters created for the multiplayer, and it will be released among the game completely free.
That’s a lot for a tiny studio, but we like to think of ourselves as the little studio that could. Hopefully 2018 is the year we become the little studio that did!
Thank you for all your support and enjoyment of our products.
See you on the Battlefield,
Pablo and the Skara Team
Skara is heading Beta!
We’ve been quite silent for the last few weeks since we closed servers at the beginning of September and I want to personally apologize to all of you. We have faced several important challenges on the development side and a lot of decisions had to be made.
Since we launched Build 0.8.1 we have been working on major changes and improvements on the combat system side. That includes animations, timings, combo windows and a couple of nice features we have already talked about - feints, for example. These will add a new complexity layer to the way every warrior in Skara approaches a fight.
Unfortunately, the animations are not 100% ready yet.
Adding weight to the attacks has proven to be quite a challenge for our small animation team, and we didn’t want to rush things! Lots of quick iterations are being made to be 100% sure the combat feel is right. Animation sets for Celea and Tamvaasa are pretty much done but completing the sets for Kharn and Shinse is taken longer than we expected. Once you try them you will understand the amount of work required to make combat work.
Meanwhile, the rest of the team completed their tasks for 0.9 and are already working on features and content for Beta 1.0. So, the main decision was what to do with Build 0.9, since once the programmers start working on new features for Beta launch there is no turning back.
The decision, while painful, is the only logical one: we have decided to aim for a spectacular Beta launch and not release - for the moment - the Open Alpha 0.9 version. We want this launch to be perfect. Based in our experience, it is better to slow down a launch instead of releasing incomplete content and I know most of you think the same way.
What I can promise is that we will immediately get back to community actions, releasing constant updates about the state of Skara’s development. You can find me on Discord or ask here in Steam and I will immediately get back to you. All the changes we are making in the game have followed you feedback and this will never change.
See you on the battlefield,
Pablo and the Skara team
Lore piece - The Battle of Kornit
We are glad to introduce you to our last story of the Skara interactive novel based on player actions in the in-game Lore Events.
As you may remember, The Battle of Kornit faced two factions inside the Skara World for the control of an old, abandoned territory West to the Tamvaasa land. Thousands of players took part on the event supporting one of the factions until the Khärn got the victory. Read the Lore piece here:
The Battle of Kornit
Moreover, just in case you haven’t watched them yet, here you will find the videos that both Bajheera (as the Khärn Leader) and Revenant (as the Tamvaasa Leader) posted for the clash of their two armies:
Bajheera (BajheeraWoW)
Bajheera - Join Me In Battle!
Bajheera - "TOGETHER TO VICTORY"
Revenant (Gaming4GamersTV)
Uníos a mi en la batalla por KORNIT
Duelo 1vs1 Revenant contra Bajheera - Quién prevalecerá?