This patch is about refinement. We've added new units and content but we've focused on refining the game into a replayable, challenging, varied loop. Oh, and we also changed the name - watch the devlog to learn more! There's still a lot more work to do but we hope you enjoy the changes.
NOTE: this patch adds unlock progression to the game, this may be buggy and block you from the content. If you toggle Developer Mode using '\' you will unlock all content instantly.
NEW Preparation room before starting a run ↳ You can test units out safely and reroll your party to try different combinations. NEW Added new opponent: "Arabella" NEW Added a tutorial opponent
NEW Board visuals have been reworked ↳ The fundamental mechanics of the board remain the same but we've removed the tedium of clicking tiles one-by-one. NEW Added "Cat" unit NEW Added "Banuel" unit NEW Added "Fichillin" enemy NEW Added "Tenggi" enemy NEW Introduce "Reward" rooms NEW Camera Perspective setting ↳ You can toggle between Isometric, Three-Quarter and Top-Down views using 'W' or the toolbar icon.
CHANGE Options are now saved to a file CHANGE Unlock progress is saved to a file CHANGE The board no longer flips CHANGE Rewards in mazes now come inside chests CHANGE New shop UI ↳ You no longer need to move the bard around in the shop, you can buy everything using buttons. CHANGE Removed elemental damage bonuses. ↳ We are reworking elements to work with "Seasons", more to come in the next patch. CHANGE Improved movement preview UI CHANGE Simplified unit stat display ↳ Units now have their stats at their feet.
FIXED Army lineup positioning FIXED Enemy spawn weightings FIXED Transition effect glitches FIXED Unit selection and deselection in shop FIXED Opponent selection menu could get stuck
Thanks for reading to the end <3 Ben & Ricky (TwoPM Studios)
Devlog #12: Re-roll everything (v0.133)
This patch is a bit of a variety pack, we've expanded the Fae Forest biome with some zany new enemies and the ability to get a "Werehorse" unit. You can also reroll your starting party for much, MUCH more varied gameplay (we can't promise it'll be balanced).
NEW Re-roll your starting party when starting a run ↳ This massively expands the play space of the current game, we've wanted it for ages. NEW Inspect units via their cards (right click) NEW Kill indicator UI ↳ Visually shows you how close you came to defeating a foe NEW Staggered attacks ↳ Attacks occur one after the other during combat. ↳ This took some getting used to but we're convinced it's better. NEW Bulk reward UI ↳ We've streamlined the experience of allocating rewards. NEW You can re-roll (and re-stock) shops by sacrificing units ↳ Drop them in the pit to re-roll a regular shop NEW Added Traiters as an enemy in the Fae Forest NEW Added Firis, Burnea and Retinferno as an enemy in the Fae Forest NEW Added mysterious Henge Rooms (they do SOMETHING now)
CHANGE The Lancer now uses SKL vs SKL to determine if they defeat a foe ↳ If a lancer has >= the SKL of an enemy the will succeed. CHANGE New UI to indicate which player has control CHANGE You can deselect a unit after picking it for placement ↳ Click the unit's card again CHANGE Add checkerboard floor ↳ This also includes a new texture to indicate obstacle tiles CHANGE Update and add many more unit names ↳ If you're in our discord, you might spot your username ;) CHANGE Punishments are now randomly assigned ↳ Having to pick just didn't feel good as a player. CHANGE Reduced volume of "select" sound effect
CHANGE Rename "Centaur" to "Werehorse" ↳ It's actually obtainable in-game now, if you can work out how.
FIXED Boss doors no longer open after 10 turns
Known Issues
ISSUE The tutorial needs a complete rework ISSUE Maximum of 4 "Go!" buttons on screen, even for >4 doors ISSUE On some resolutions the army lineup is incorrectly positioned when receiving a reward etc.
Thanks for reading to the end <3 Ben & Ricky (TwoPM Studios)
Build 132 is live!
You can officially make it through an entire run of SoTF! With the caveat that the final boss is still a placeholder... For now.
This build has a LOT of changes and represents a solid step forward towards our vision of the game. We've been having a lot of fun playing the game lately, which is always a good sign (come join us live at https://twitch.tv/vivavolt).
The latest devlog covers all the major changes, you can see the full changelog below.
NEW Redesigned board game map in full 3D NEW Added second act of the game, where the board flips over after beating the first boss NEW Opponent selection menu and enter-game animation NEW Luck system for Bard HP ↳ Game over used to occur when you ran out of units, now the bard has regular old HP. ↳ If the bard is hit for >= DEF damage, they lose one luck. ↳ When they run out of luck, the run ends. NEW Fae Forest biome NEW Enemy: Husk ↳ Undead version of the basic 6 friendly units, found in Fae Forest. ↳ Hurks, Huouge, Husher, Huskancer, Honk, Huskog NEW Enemy: Firis ↳ Placeholder for now, will debuff units at range. NEW Enemy: Traiter ↳ Placeholder for now, will swap traits with target unit on attack. NEW Inspect units with Right Click ↳ Units (where the descriptions have been written) can be inspected at any time using Right Click. ↳ This will become a common pattern for not just units, but traits and other mechanics. NEW Multi-stat upgrades / downgrades ↳ Upgrades and downgrades can now apply to multiple stats i.e. (+1 ATK +2 DEF) ↳ They can mix positive and negative (+2 ATK -1 DEF) NEW Add "Convenience Store" after the first boss battle NEW Context-aware cursors to help guide you during combat ↳ Move cursor - shown when you can move to the hovered position ↳ Exit cursor - shown when you would leave the room by moving to the hovered position ↳ Target cursor - shown when you will target a unit with an effect NEW Added Early Access warning NEW Added changelog to title screen
CHANGE Unit buffs and debuffs now differentiate between permanent buffs and temporary buffs CHANGE When killing an enemy marked by a Cleric, allies receive the Blessed buff CHANGE When an ally marked by a Cleric is lot, foes receive the Condemned debuff CHANGE Stagger attacks during combat phase ↳ Previously all attacks resolved at once, but after trying this approach it seems much more user friendly. ↳ If you're impatient, try increasing the game speed option. CHANGE Redesigned mazes to include upgrades and new units (as well as existing ones) CHANGE Unit tiles on board game map are always surrounded by punishments CHANGE All punishments and rewards are queued for AFTER an encounter ↳ Pending rewards and punishment totals shown in top-left corner CHANGE Bard movement, used to be the same as Merk (4 dir) ↳ Now, move up to 2 tiles in 8 directions CHANGE Introduce Bardic Inspiration ability ↳ The bard can now target a unit as their action (within their range) ↳ For allies, this gives a random ATK or DEF buff ↳ For foes, this gives a random ATK or DEF debuff ↳ For neutral units, this recruits them CHANGE The bard no longer automatically recruits adjacent neutral units CHANGE Reduced enemy and ally scaling, this will be ongoing
CHANGE Attack resolution phase happens in stages instead of all at once CHANGE Added indicator texture underneath obstacles CHANGE Board Game cursor tooltip now indicates tile type (instead of coordinates) FIXED 0 SKL Hunter and Cleric were useless, now they can still use their ability with 1-tile range CHANGE Earn additional vim for choosing more combat tiles (up to +3 vim for 4 tiles) CHANGE Earn punishment for choosing only one combat tile
Known Issues
ISSUE The Fae Forest is very broken ISSUE The tutorial needs a complete rework ISSUE Boss stat block does not disappear on death ISSUE Maximum of 4 "Go!" buttons on screen, even for >4 doors ISSUE Some buffs and debuffs seem to not actually be applied ISSUE On some resolutions the army lineup is incorrectly positioned when receiving a reward etc.
Thanks for reading to the end <3 Ben & Ricky (TwoPM Studios)
Dev Diary: Performative Marketing
Hey everyone, we’re hard at work on the next patch + devlog video right now but we’re also trying something new. We used to post written updates on the game’s development on our newsletter, but since starting YouTube devlogs it’s gone quiet. We thought it might be fun to share some of the less, uh, visual aspects of gamedev.
I’ve included the intro to the article and a link to read the rest :)
Performative Marketing
I’ve been developing commercial indie games and trying to get people to care about them for over a decade now. Marketing is a known thorn in the side of pretty much every indie dev but, sorry, this post doesn’t give you any cool tips and tricks. In fact, I think the vast majority of game marketing activity is performative (and by extension, useless).
It’s been a minute since the last email we sent out, we’ve started a YouTube devlog for The Song of The Fae (SoTF) and that’s mostly replaced what I was writing here. So, I’m trying something new. Devlogs and open development are more popular than ever but I find that most developers prefer to present the “pretty version” of game dev.
Our videos show my raw thoughts on the current state and design, and show how uncertain the direction of a game is at any given point in its development. Similarly, I want to share posts (like this) that illuminate both the “creative” and “business” side of the studio, showing our vulnerability and lack of understanding.
I’ve realised we are not on track in terms of marketing for The Song of The Fae (buy/wishlist plz ❤️). All is not lost, we’re still in heavy development etc. but we’ve already made quite a few blunders:
Overscoped the game
Prolonged development
Unclear vision from the outset
Shared public demos too early
Entered Early Access too early
But, in fairness, we’ve done many things right with SoTF compared to our previous title The Thin Silence (also buy/wishlist plz):
Grew audience + wishlists throughout development
Feedback from players early
Building a community
Heavy market research
Strong core mechanic
Learned to tweet/post interesting things
Looks good in GIFs and screenshots
A somewhat interesting devlog to follow (still learning this)
We’re doing better than we ever have before and to some extent that’s the only signal that matters, but being who I am… I want to do better. I am still slipping into performative marketing habits and I aspire to be much more strategic.
You can now randomly encounter shops selling stat upgrade and traits, as well as the existing unit shops.
CHANGED New Currency: vim
Tombstones have been rebranded to vim, unit death effects still need updating to match
CHANGED Combat rewards are now vim
Selecting 2, 3 or 4 combat icons from the board will yield additional vim
NEW New UI for traits and upgrades
Build 130 is live!
This is a pretty chunky update that reworks how bossfights work in general to be much more interesting. Check out the devlog video for more details & a demonstration of the changes!
CHANGED Add SKL to unit stat block
CHANGED Rework Game Over / Victory screen
CHANGED Add alternating rewards / punishments each encouter
CHANGED Rework skill system for Merk and Rogue
CHANGED Redesign boss encounters
NEW Preview which units a unit will attack on hover
FIX Turn cycle in boss rooms skipped players first turn
FIX Resurrected unit names rendering
Build 129 is live!
This patch changes a lot but the major focus was redesigning LCK completely and introducing a sense of progression over the course of a run. The game feels very different now, facing Skelems with 12 DEF is terrifying but, on the other hand, shooting them with a 9 ATK Archer buffed to 13 ATK by a Dog with 4 SKL is pretty cool.
Check out the latest devlog video to see the changes in action, full changelog is available below.
[previewyoutube="mJ0nnRS77TA;full"]
CHANGED Tweak Cormag's anger buff
NEW Added per-biome post-processing profiles
NEW Unit movement preview on hover
CHANGED Reworked UI
CHANGED Game over screen
CHANGED Victory screen
CHANGED Bard-death menu in combat
NEW Implemented new traits
NEW CursedBlood
NEW WeakBlood
NEW BiasedBlood
NEW BigotedBlood
NEW Enemy and unit progression (stat scaling over run)
CHANGED Convert LCK (luck) stat to SKL (skill)
NEW Merks have a chance to evade attacks based on SKL
NEW Dogs buff allies and debuff foes based on SKL
NEW Lancers deal their SKL in damage when charging at a foe
NEW Monks buff allies and debuff foes based on SKL
NEW Rogues have a chance to sneak attack based on SKL
NEW Archers can only shoot within a SKL tile radius
Build 128 is live!
Thanks for all your patience, I know we haven't shipped a build in a while but if you've been following the update videos you'll know there's good reason! This build has a bunch of changes in it and I'm sure there are still some bugs lurking in there, but it's been stable enough that we wanted to get it out into your hands.
NEW Completely redesigned the map
NEW Redesigned the title screen
NEW Refined UI style, still working on updating existing UI
NEW Per-terrain post-processing effects
NEW Fast-exit buttons are visible in shops and trade rooms
NEW Desert biome is accessible in-game (but highly WIP!)
If you want a sneak peek at these changes but can't play right now, check out the latest devlog:
[previewyoutube="dz3OOZVIX7o;full"]
January Update: Map Redesign, UI refresh & more
Hey everyone, we're hard at work putting the finishing touches on the next update right now and it should be out very soon. In the meantime we've just published a roundup of all the work done in Janary. Check it out :)
[previewyoutube="dz3OOZVIX7o;full"]
Thanks for your continued support!
December - January Update
Hey everyone, hope you're all doing well. We're getting back into the swing of development after some time off and, well, let's just say there's some exciting stuff in the pipeline. Check out the latest video update for details:
