It's been quite an adventure for our team since the Early Access release roughly three months ago. We have slightly altered our initial plan of updates to introduce free locomotion that was requested by many of you.
Today, we're proud to roll out the first major update with new content we've promised to add during Early Access. We invite you to assail with endless hordes of enemies on two brand new battle arenas!
Arena Mode (formerly Arcade Mode) introduces two arenas, new hub, unique Fate Cards and progress system independent of the campaign. Each arena has it's own objective:
Mountainpass Castle (Point Defense)
You have to defend 3 crystals spread across the map with paths changing with each wave.
Crystal Caverns (Seek & Destroy)
Look for corrupted crystals and destroy them before there is too many.
What's next?
Our plan is to keep delivering content promised for the Early Access along with bug fixes and improvements suggested by you, dear players. In around four weeks we plan to roll out next major update introducing third Region (story chapter) to the game.
We want to thank you for all the feedback and amazing support we receive! We invite you to visit our Discord server and join the discussion. We also encourage you to write reviews to share your experience with fellow players on Steam.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n9ml0jPsiY
Update 1.2 Changelog:
MAJOR CHANGES
Brand new Arena Mode with two battle arenas
Improved throwing with the fireball
Improved optimization throughout the game
Visual tweaks for spells and levels
You can no longer get hit by the falling bell
Movement
- Teleportation range shortens with each teleportation (only in combat)
- Teleportation indicator changes color when player is in combat
- Minor fixes on levels and in navigation
World interactions
- Fireball and Pyroblast are now extinguished upon touching water
- Books and scrolls are now flammable
- Fairy shards already found earlier now spawn facing the player
SPELLS
Added the ability to adjust aim assist in general options
Added controller rumble to drawing Frost Bow and releasing an arrow
Improved explosion visuals of various spells
Fireball:
Improved throwing while moving
Improved throwing overall
Improved explosion visuals
Fixed timing on charging effects
ENEMIES
Added Troll Shaman - new ranged enemy who summons explosive traps under your feet
Added new variation of the basic enemy with plate armor and additional HP
Spellcatcher now has a tooltip that shows up when player has trouble fighting it
Minor AI fixes.
KNOWN ISSUES
Arena Mode can still be a little bit unbalanced. We're looking forward to your feedback and ideas for improvements.
“Level of Details” of objects need changes. Currently textures change quality at player’s eyes.
Patch 1.1.1 - Tutorial Performance Fix
Brave Wizards
We've heard that some of you experienced framerate drops while playing redesigned tutorial. This issue turned out to be connected to some fancy (but insidious) violet lights on that level. It's now sorted out and tutorial should run as smooth as rest of the game.
Please let us know if you still experience any bugs. We're here to sort it out as asap as possible!
Update 1.1: Free locomotion and more!
Brave Wizards!
After six weeks of hard work, free locomotion update is finally ready! This is what you, dear players, asked for and... you know what? You were totally right! We can’t wait for the feedback after you try the game with free movement and free teleportation. But that’s not all. We’re also introducing plenty of new features to enhance the experience of free exploration.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Fully customizable free movement...
… and free teleportation
New area on Ruins Stage 1 - make sure to revisit it!
Item pick-ups
Interactive crank wheels (grab and rotate)
Blocking melee attacks with shield
New tutorial
Hourglasses (restore HP / give more points)
Fireball and Frost Bow visuals enhanced
We’ve been waiting for this moment for the long time and we hope that you’ll like the new movement schemes and new possibilities as much as we do. Please be forgiving if you encounter any bugs. Redesigning the whole game for free locomotion might generate more bugs than we could detect.
When you run the game for the first time after the update, you’ll have to finish a new tutorial, even if you’ve already played The Wizards. We’d also like to encourage everyone who have played the game before to revisit Stage One on Ruins. Now, it’s longer, with new encounters, puzzles and precious items to collect.
What's coming next?
In the following weeks, we’re going to release some small patches that would fix bugs and be a response to your suggestions. Next major update will introduce Arcade Mode with two new stages and a new spell. We’re open to your ideas so please join our Discord server and Discussion on Community Hub.
Update 1.1 Changelog:
GENERAL CHANGES
Added free locomotion
- Added free movement
- Added free teleportation
- Changes in node-based teleportation
- Customization options for movement
Rework of tutorial area
- Pocket dimension is now bigger and more interesting visually
- Added tutorials for free movement, teleportation and shield
- Objectives help to guide the player
- More 2D graphics explaining keybindings and required actions
- Added silhouettes helping to cast spells
- Changes in tutorial glyphs
Rework of Ruins Stage 1
- Added new area - castle
- Added new encounter
- Changes in first encounter
- Removed metal gates from the crystal battle
- Changed the timing of enemies during the crystal battle
- Added environmental puzzle
Added immersive mode - you can now hide the interface
Dungeon Region is now fully explorable
Fate Cards now need to be found in chests
Added Hourglasses (restore HP / rewards with points if HP is full)
Added Crystal Shards rewarding player with Spell Potential
Added grab-and-rotate mechanic for crank handles
Fate cards are from now unlocked right after finishing tutorial
Minecart now stops when colliding with player
Leaderboards are now always visible in HUB
Interface (health and tutorials) is now following camera faster
Teleporter traps have been completely removed from game
Banners can now be burned
Player's hands reflect now more light
Experimental - WASD support for VR treadmills
SPELLS
Minor auto-aim fixes to projectile spells
Idle Arcane Missiles are now more lively
Frost Bow:
Changed the bow and arrow visuals.
Added trail to the arrow
Fireball:
Complete visual rework. Fireball is now more fire than ball.
Added fiery trail behind fireball
Fixed the lack of auto-aim when thrown with the left hand
Arcane Shield:
Shield is now unlocked from the beginning
Added the ability to block melee attacks
Moved the shield closer to the player
ENEMIES
Minor AI tweaks
All enemies have now knockback effect when blocked with a shield
Enemy projectiles are now faster
Fixed the bug making Spell Catcher ignore fireballs thrown with left hand
AUDIO
Minor changes in arcane missiles SFX
Added sounds for blocking with shield
Improved enemy footsteps
Added player’s footsteps
Improved audio of orange glyphs on levels.
Minor fixes in Chinese dubbing
New voices and sounds for Pocket Dimension and for Ruins Stage 1
Ice Bow’s SFXes are now a bit louder
New SFX for channelling
KNOWN ISSUES
“Level of Details” of objects need changes. Currently textures change quality at player’s eyes.
You're welcome to join our Discord server and share your feedback!
Free Locomotion Beta
Brave Wizards!
As promised, we're working on adding free movement and free teleportation to the game. The progress on this update is so advanced, that it's time for you to join the cause and tell us what you think about it.
So if you:
Own The Wizards on Steam
Want to help us to test the free locomotion in the game
Have some time to test the beta and fill in the post-beta survey
Many thanks for the amazing support we get from you!
Here's a preview video of the beta:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNqRZcyizMY
Patch 1.02 is Live!
Brave Wizards!
Thank you for your amazing support and constructive feedback. We've just released a patch that fixes reported bugs and improves casting spells.
We'd also like to ensure you that we're working on adding free movement in full swing and this update should be ready in a few weeks. You can let us know what things should we fix in the next patch. Future content updates will come after implementation of free movement.
[update] We've pushed another small patch with bugfixes. Details below.
Patch 1.01 Changelog:
GENERAL CHANGES
Added note informing about early access upon startup
Added scoreboard next to the level summary after each stage
Teleporters next to the crystal encounter are now easier to notice on stage Ruins 0
Added missing Motion Controller vibrations to world interactions
Changed interactive torches’ burn time from 4 to 10 seconds
SPELLS
Added missing Motion Controller vibrations to some spells
Pyroblast:
- Slightly reduced the maximal size
- Moved the orb slightly from the head in order not to clip into the player’s camera
Frost Bow:
- Added visual effects indicating how many arrows can be shot
- Increased the size of the quiver area behind player’s head
- Added the ability to grab arrows using Trigger on the Motion Controller
- Slightly increased gesture error tolerance while casting
- Improved Frost Bow’s behaviour when firing arrows in a rapid succession
Arcane Missiles: Slightly increased gesture error tolerance while casting
Patch 1.02 Changelog:
Fixed the bug making Pause Menu in HUB non-interactive
Early Access disclaimer is now translated to German and Chinese
All spells got a little bigger error tolerance while casting
Fireball and Pyroblast should now be easier to cast
Opening Pause Menu while holding bow will no longer duplicate arrow counter.
You're welcome to join our Discord server and share your feedback!
Free Locomotion Coming Soon!
Brave Wizards,
Many thanks for the amazing support, constructive feedback and great ideas we've got from you during the release weekend! We are excited to announce that we've decided to implement free movement in The Wizards. Lack of free locomotion is the most commonly raised subject in your reviews and comments, which prompted us to change our initial updates plan and focus on meeting your expectations.
We plan to add free movement as an alternative and a complement to teleportation. It means that it will still be possible to finish the entire game with the use of teleportation, however, the players will also be able to move freely around most locations in the game and mix free movement with teleportation. We'll also change node-based teleportation to free teleportation, to make the exploration more engaging also for the players prone to motion sickness.
Today our whole team started working on this new movement scheme and we hope to have it ready within few weeks. After free movement is ready, we'll start working on scheduled content updates and implementing your suggestions regarding combat and enemies.
Stay tuned for more updates on the status of implementation of free movement. We're also working on a patch that will fix bugs you have reported and introduce several improvements to Frost Bow and Arcane Missiles. This patch will go live in the upcoming days.
P.S. We've decided to use Onward as a reference while implementing free movement. Let us know do you think about this choice.
Best VR Game Award!
The Wizards was nominated for Best Graphic, Best Narrative and Best VR Game at Casual Connect Asia 2017! The game has won the Best VR Game Award!
