We've just updated the game to 1.0.4. It is live on Steam right now.
We've already started on fixing the things as they are being reported. As you might imagine things are a little rocky right now with the launch and all. So which bugs got fixed is probably a little random. We tried to focus on those that actually prevent people from playing, and those that were easy to fix.
In any case here's the patch list:
The boon items from the Form Elemental spawn properly.
When the cinematic camera is switched off, the camera doesn’t sweep in for interactions and dialogs.
Fixes generator issue that caused climbing spots to go missing.
Fixes generator issue when a level tries to spawn too many climbing exits.
You can remap the inventory keyboard shortcut key.
If you have the correct weapon skill (axe fighting, sword fighting, etc.) You actually get +1 damage, instead of getting +1 for not having the skill… (ouch that was a stupid bug)
Improving the investigation feedback of specific magic doors.
Getting a great success on a friendship test will make you ‘well-liked’
The right controller prompts when playing with a PS5 controller.
Magic items only automatically reveal you when hiding in the dark when they actually cast light.
Fixes issues with items being incorrectly grayed out during trading and chest interactions. Only potentially fixes all issues there.
Thank you for playing, and thank you for reporting issues.
Unexplored 2 is a difficult game to fully grasp. Here are 7 things you should now to get started.
1: IT'S PROCEDURAL!
We cannot stress this enough: the world, the levels, the quests, everything is being generated on the fly. This is both the game's biggest charm and our greatest fear. We spend a very long time tweaking all the parameters trying to make sure the game doesn't combine elements it shouldn't. We are confident enough now to hand it over to the players, but it's pretty scary. Not only is this game non-linear, we don't even know which worlds you'll play, what quests you're being offered, what your adventure will look like.
2: TAKE YOUR TIME
Unexplored 2 combines elements from roguelites, open-world games, RPGs, and tabletop games into something we think is pretty unique. It may take a while for you to get the hang of it. Give it some time, try to discover how everything works, and we're sure you will enjoy your adventures through your worlds.
3: COMBAT IS (MOSTLY) OPTIONAL
Combat is rather slow paced, deliberate and tactical. In most cases combat is optional. Charging in and attacking everything that moves, is not the best way of enjoying this game.
4: CHOOSE YOUR OWN DIFFICULTY
You can make this game as difficult or easy as you wish, we offer a breadth of difficulty modifiers. You probably won't understand what they all mean at the start, but after a few runs, you'll be customizing your worlds to your heart's content.
5: LET THE GAME BE YOUR DUNGEON MASTER
Especially for new players: read. Read every text. This game is heavily inspired by tabletop RPG's, by DnD, let the game be the dungeon master.
6: WHEN YOU'RE STUCK
ESCAPING WILL TELEPORT YOU TO THE START OF A LEVEL Getting lost? Put away your weapons and hold up your hands for a few seconds. The game will transport you to the start of the level.
SAVE & RELOAD When the game misbehaves, which it shouldn't, but just in case, saving & reloading often times solves the issue.
DISCORD Join our discord channel and ask other players or the devs for help.
7: FINALLY: THIS IS AN INDIE GAME
This is not a AAA-game. It's an indie game made by a core team of five, with the help of a couple of freelancers. Our primary focus has been on creating a grand adventure in a world that is procedurally generated for every player. We've been working on this for five years and we're incredibly proud of what we've achieved. We hope you enjoy it tremendously!
Optionally, you could watch this 3 minute clip that explains the basics of the game. We created this video at the start of the Early Access period, but it's still valid.
Six Scenes of Unexplored 2
Watch these six short videos to get acquainted with the gameplay of Unexplored 2: The Wayfarer's Legacy.
1. Exploring the World Map
This is how you explore your (procedural) world in Unexplored 2.
2. Legacy Bow Combat
Combat is NOT its main feature, but Unexplored 2 does feature some fun action. Like this legacy bow imbued with a form sigil... Quintuple arrow shots!😁
3. Exploring Mysterious Devices
The worlds are full of mysterious devices that help you in your quest to destroy the Staff of Yendor.
4. Visiting a Village
Villages are an important source of information and offer a breadth of opportunities to trade, heal up or get your gear repaired.
5. Lucky Lock Picker
Unexplored 2's equivalent of the DnD-like dice rolls are a guarantee for some tense moments...
6. Character Creation
Every run has a beginning...
The Permadeath Promise!
In Unexplored 2, we take permadeath seriously. When your character dies in the final area of the game, that’s it. They’re gone for good. No restarting with that same character. Dormans admits that permadeath is controversial with players and reviewers outside of the roguelike genre, but he believes in it so much that his team is putting their twitter account (@playunexplored) up for permanent deletion. We’re asking players to trust us that this creates a better experience, so why not make a leap of faith ourselves?
Beat Unexplored 2 live on stream and choose what to do with our Twitter account. We’re raising the stakes to feel the same excitement, boldness, and anxiety players might feel playing our game.
Save our Twitter
- Get immortalized in-game.
Delete our Twitter
- Our account gets deleted permanently.
Become part of the game’s history. Leave behind a legacy for others to learn about and reflect on. The first player to properly finish the game will get to choose between permanently deleting our Twitter account or being the hero that saves it from destruction, forever immortalized for your heroic deeds with a monument in-game when choosing the latter. It's up to the player, and we really hope that player is a hero.
Begin your journey on launch, May 27, 2022. Be the lucky winner/hero to gain the ultimate power in RPGs: real agency.
Start on a new save file in the latest version after release. Stream it live through Twitch and provide VOD as proof. External tools and assistance devices are prohibited.
Official Rules:
Participants must complete the playthrough live on Twitch and provide a VOD as proof. The full run must be viewable to be eligible.
Save file must be fresh, starting at launch. Save files made prior to the official release or with earlier versions of the game are not eligible.
Participants can use no external tools or assistance devices to complete their run.
Participants must submit their VODs and confirm a stream with the developer(s) to be officially declared the winner.
Participants must make their decision live on stream with the developer present after the run has been validated.
To be eligible for the grand prize, participants must meet Big Sugar standards for inclusivity (no content creator who has engaged in any form of hate speech or discrimination will be declared the winner regardless of their gameplay performance).
Big Sugar & Ludomotion may revoke the first place prize at their discretion at any point in the future.
Difficulty must be set to ‘Wayfarer
RELEASE DATE CONFIRMED: 27TH MAY!
Exciting news – we have a release date! Unexplored 2: The Wayfarer's Legacy launches on Steam 27th May. It'll be priced $24.99, with a 10% discount for a limited time. A Digital Deluxe Edition, which bundles the game, artbook and official soundtrack, will also be available.
Just a few weeks to wait, but in the meantime - and as part of the 'Going Rogue: Festival of Persistence' event taking place on Steam all this week (it ends 9 May @ 10am PT) - you can download the Unexplored 2 demo from the store page.
Be sure to wishlist the game and you'll receive a notification as soon as it launches on 27th May.
Quick update to share some info on a new addition to the game: ancient machines. These are magical devices constructed by the Marang, the world's ancient builders, and can be used to control the state of the world in a variety of ways.
Game director, Joris Dormans, explains more about these mysterious contraptions and why it will be advantageous for players to seek them out:
“By turning on or off giant ancient machinery, players change the world state, making it easier to reach the endgame. Or, making the endgame itself easier. It’s up to the player to make those choices. Remember, when you die in Unexplored 2 the world remains, you continue as the new Wayfarer a few years later. But… if you die during the endgame, all is lost, the world is wiped from existence. And from your drive.
"So, these are important decisions the player makes, over multiple runs. What seems to be a good option for the world right now, might not be so at all times or for all possible worlds. It creates an exciting puzzle with many different solutions based on your choices and execution.”
There are five different types of ancient machine: Helico, Infernal Flame, Lightning Machine, Earth Shaker, and Root Singer. When activated, each has its own affect on the world. Here you can see the Lightning Machine being activated:
One of the main attractions of Unexplored 2 is traveling its procedural worlds and exploring its secrets. Players will typically spend a lot of time on the world map, strategizing over where to go and how to get there in one piece.
To make travelling the world a more pleasant, cohesive and transparent experience, the Ludomotion team has revamped the world map and other travel mechanics. Game director, Joris Dormans, explains:
“There are many systems at play simultaneously and there is much information for the player to parse. We decided we needed a better way of communicating all this. That’s where the new map features come into play. They inform the player much, much better, allowing them to explore and interact with the game at a more strategic level. You finally know what's going on and what it is you're doing!”
Another aspect to benefit from Ludomotion's latest work on the map is the living world and what happens between the different clans and imperials.
Joris: “The world reacts to the player and the new map system better reflects that. Especially between runs, when the world progresses for a few years without a new Wayfarer, without the player. A time lapse shows the player the consequences of their actions, but also the ongoing battles between clans and the advances the Empire achieves on the world stage.”
Camping
Ludomotion has also been spending time overhauling the camping menu with the specific aim of making it easier to perform camping actions and to ensure a smooth experience for the player whenever they pitch up.
Joris: “We also upgraded the graphics of the camping site quite a lot, including newly designed icons, which is also the case for the world map. Camping is such an important part of your journey through your world and I’m glad we managed it to make it more immersive and fun to interact with. Many changes in the new camping menu are directly inspired by feedback from our community on discord. We're really glad we could incorporate many of their suggestions to make the whole experience as smooth and consistent as possible.”
We'll be sure to keep you updated with news and developments as the game gets closer to its version 1.0 release in just a few months!
If you want to see how the world-making magic happens in Unexplored 2, you should definitely check out Ludomotion's latest dev stream. The game's director, Joris Dormans, who is also the proud owner of a PhD degree in Applied Theory for Game Design, works through the process of creating a level template for an underground library hidden in a forest, from rough sketches all the way to seeing it come to life in the game.
During the stream, Joris also shows off a new camera feature the team has recently been working on. When the player enters a new area, the camera focuses on a nearby point of interest before panning to the player's position. As well as being a useful navigation device, nudging the player in a particular direction, it also builds anticipation and excitement, knowing there is something up ahead waiting to be explored!
While the team at Ludomotion is busy at work getting Unexplored 2 ready for its version 1.0 release, we wanted to provide an update of how things are progressing. Most significantly, the developer has recently overhauled the inner workings of the game, bringing a new and innovative design philosophy to its level generator.
The original Unexplored had a Cyclic Dungeon Generator at its core that gave its dungeons a handcrafted feel (to understand how it works, it's brilliantly explained here: https://youtu.be/LRp9vLk7amg). Unexplored 2 will take another major step in level generation by introducing something called ‘the theory of the place’. Game director, Joris Dormans, who has a PhD degree in Applied Theory for Game Design, explains:
"This philosophy quite literally surpasses the cyclic dungeon design we worked with previously. In short, it identifies structural roles in the level’s spatial structures. These roles are tailored to the adventure experience: the ‘place’ is the location the player tries to reach. A ‘path’ through an ‘environment’ leads the player to it, and so on. It really helps the level generator structure a level by placing landmarks, hazards, and enemies at logical locations."
"As a result, the generated levels have become more readable, coherent, believable, and fun. As the theory strongly suggests to add secondary entrances into the place it is cyclic by nature allowing a multitude of trajectories through a single level."
If you want to learn more about Unexplored 2's fascinating level design philosophy, Joris has written an in-depth feature about it over on Game Developer.
