Fellow Roadwardens,

today, the annual Assemble Publisher Sale kicks off. Time to save big time on Roadwarden. If you haven't picked it up yet, now is the time! You can save 50% on Roadwarden!

And if you haven't seen it, there's a tiny little gem available since last year called Windy Meadow - A Roadwarden Tale. It's part of the Roadwarden universe and was a project of the heart for Aureus, the developer behind it.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2366430/Windy_Meadow__A_Roadwarden_Tale/

Also, if you enjoy Survivors-like and Roguelite games, we got something special for. Today, the free version of the recently announced Asgard's Fall (Wishlist now!) found its release. Go and check out Asgard's Fall: Origins right away:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2484990/Asgards_Fall_Origins/

See you soon everyone.

Stay safe.

Fellow Roadwardens and those who'd like to become one: now is your chance to get your hands on not just Roadwarden but 9 other fantastic games that shine with story richness.

[h3]!This is a limited time offer![/h3]Click here to get to the event page



We're extremely happy to be part of such a superb selection of games. Hooray to everyone.

Enjoy!

Here's a call for vote for all fellow Roadwardens out there.

Today the Steam Awards 2023 Editions kicks-off, and you can vote for Roadwarden in the Labor of Love category.

It's over a year ago since the release of Roadwarden, and what a fantastic journey it's been - all thanks to you! Your feedback, comments and love for Roadwarden is immensely valuable to me.

Back in September, when Roadwarden celebrated it's 1 year anniversary, I released a comprehensive update that included not only bug fixes or community wishes but some new content on top as well as an extensive dev blog post. It's all because of you, you made that possible.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1155970/view/3665422306563102033
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1155970/view/3665422306563172165

Now, I would be very honoured and flattered if you'd cast your vote for Roadwarden in the Labor of Love category.

Thank you everyone!

Yours,
Aureus


https://store.steampowered.com/app/1155970/Roadwarden/

Don't forget to check out my latest project:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2366430/Windy_Meadow__A_Roadwarden_Tale/

Fellow Roadwardens,

Windy Meadow is my collection of slice-of-life stories set in Roadwardens fantasy world. In this Visual Novel, you help Vena, Fabel, and Iudicia decide what matters to them the most, and how they see their community. And its now available on Steam!

I'd be more than happy if you give it a try. And do not hesitate to share your thoughts and feedback.

Yours
-Aureus


https://store.steampowered.com/app/2366430/Windy_Meadow__A_Roadwarden_Tale?snr=1_2108_9__2107

Fellow travellers,

some mean bugs were hiding in the recent Anniversary Update, but I managed to tackle them rather quickly. Therefore, sorry for any inconveniences caused by this - and thank you for sharing feedback, bug reports and love, of course.

Here's a brief changelog for this rather small patch:

• There has been a major bug that blocked some of the players from selecting the main quest for their character. Specifically, it affected the playthroughs that selected a custom difficulty setting (one that's not among the prepared presets) and didnt skip the prologue section. Because of this, those players are going to omit a large part of their narrative arc. The bug has now been corrected, but, sadly, the only option to fix it in your playthrough is to start the game from the beginning.
  
• Fixed the bug tied to the scholar's Knowledge in the new quest.
  
• Fixed the bug tied to typing either "{ or "}" into the journal notes. These punctuation marks are no longer available.
  
• Fixed the exploit that allowed the player to use an item they had already sold, or given away.
  

• pressing Shift+O,
  
• typing or pasting the following:
  
• tutorial_sheet = 1
  
• pressing Enter.
  
• *The bug is now fixed for the new runs.*
  

Greetings, travelers! Its been a while.

Ive been on a few adventures since Roadwardens release, but once the dust had settled, I realized there are still a few issues with the game I wanted to address. This Anniversary Update isnt meant to make my game perfect, or to fix all of its weak points, but I do hope it will work as the proper thank you - thank you for all the support youve shown for my work, for purchasing my game, for spreading the word, for your fanarts, for your bug reports, for the editing tips...



If you haven't played Roadwarden yet, please be aware that this devlog comes with SPOILERS! Do not read it, if you don't want to get SPOILED - we do not want to ruin your first playthrough experience!

Because of the new changes, now is the perfect opportunity to check out Roadwarden - no matter if you're a new or returning Roadwarden.

[h3]New Ending (SPOILERS AHEAD)[/h3]

If you have played Roadwarden at least once all the way through, you know how it ends. You return to the city, get to see the results of your actions, and find out whats your characters epilogue.

The most common request for the game was not to rewrite or redesign this ending, but rather to add some sort of an alternative. An option to completely abandon the games main quest, and to help the people of the North remain independent. And even more so: to allow the PC to stay in the peninsula.




This option is now a part of the game, and I must say: writing it was cathartic.

It took some time before I figured out how to introduce this epilogue smoothly. Most of the games largest quests are all circling around the PC convincing the locals to join the city. Without this quest, various storylines end up in nowhere, and also PC loses any sort of authority they could previously have as the official roadwarden of this realm.




The solution I invented ties this epilogue to the games last choice: instead of returning back to Hovlavan with Tulia, you can select to betray the merchants and stay around. To unlock this option, the player needs to be invited by at least one of the peninsulas factions - an event that is now more common, since, in the past, two of the possible invitations were limited to the characters whose personal quest was to Find a New Life.




This ending is much more lethal than the previous one. Limiting the citys influence keeps the roads untamed, and the key to reach the more optimistic resolutions for the locals is to help them overcome their grievances throughout the game. So, for example, failing to get rid of the undead or to save Old Pgos will limit the epilogue to its lowest tiers of completion, while keeping Thais in power is going to stop the player from uniting all of the tribes.

One could argue that having the new ending makes the games story weaker, less interested in the merciless colonization orchestrated by those with tools to go unpunished - and if so, its because of my weakness as a writer. But I do hope that having this option makes sense in the context of how the PCs journey may affect them, and I tried to strike a balance by making this route much more difficult to complete.




Reading some of the new paragraphs during my first test playthrough made me tear up. This type of a good bye to the characters I came up with years ago was so rewarding.

[h3]Old Ending Updated (SPOILERS AHEAD)[/h3]

At the same time, I tried to make the main, city-involving epilogue a bit more responsive. Aside from the tiny rewrites, I wanted to make some of the more tragic endings take into consideration the PCs wealth, combat experience, and / or equipment.

Usually, this doesnt make the previous good endings even better, but rather makes the past bad endings a bit more bitter-sweet and plausible.




[h3]New Difficulty Settings[/h3]

I used to be quite happy with the old difficulty options offered by Roadwarden. By introducing the time constraints, I tried to make a game that encourages the player to embrace their limitations.




But after a year of having it in the open, its obvious that the game fails at explaining its intentions, and aside from that, theres a ton of help out there for those who feel stuck and annoyed with their difficulty mode. I saw people using guides, forums, or simply changing their time limit with the console commands.




The additional difficulty settings are meant to help the players customize their experience without alt tabbing to seek additional help. This feature allowed me to introduce one of the most requested difficulty modes: to have the game using a completely neutral set of rules, while also removing the time limit.

While its not a set of rules Id personally recommend, I believe my artistic experiment reached its end, and it wasnt entirely successful. This time, I offer the players greater flexibility.




Since many players are already familiar, or even very familiar, with the opening section of the game, theres now an option to skip through the entire tutorial all the way to the point where you get to decide if youd rather head west, or east. Its not entirely flexible, especially when it comes to establishing the players relationship with Tulia, but as a simplification works just fine enough.

[h3]New Side Quest (SPOILERS AHEAD)[/h3]

Sadly, some of the games characters, places, or items wont ever be expanded as much as they could or deserve. I lack the additional 6 months I could use to connect all the loose threads.

But there was one section of the game I felt was especially lacking in content, and the new quest, called Thyrsus Wand, is going to make some of these gaps more satisfying. Its not a massive quest, but at this point, adding anything to the game takes a lot of effort, and I hope it will fit the other tasks as if it has always been a part of the core game.




[h3]Notepad[/h3]

Since I know nothing about programming, it was actually my betrothed who coded this part for me. Thank you, Joanna.




From your Journal you will now have access to creating, editing, and removing your own notes that are going to be stored for you not in your save file, but rather in your game files, allowing you to use them across all of your saves and playthroughs. While its going to be less practical for the players who share a specific piece of hardware with others, I expect this to be a welcome feature for those of you who felt like you were in need of pen and paper at all times.

[h3]And all the rest[/h3]

Upon the games release, it turned out to have plenty of bugs, typos, and awkwardly phrased bits. Also, every now and then, Ive been adding small adjustments, such as the new tutorial tips or tiny interactions, and the Anniversary Update is containing all of these updates and more.




These additions are not spectacular, and the largest one adjusts the games infamous Dolmen that tends to be at the very top of the search results tied to the game. The puzzle was just not as responsive as it should be, and right now is not only going to react to more actions - and also to actions that are phrased in ways I didnt come up with before - but also has opportunities to give the player more information in exchange for time.

Other examples would be: adding more characters you can ask about at Pelt of The North; adding more information to the journal; reordering the games settings so that they are easier to look through.

-----------------------------------------------------

Thank you for taking a look at this devlog! There are going to be some humble patches once I hear about new bugs to fix, but this is likely the last content-heavy expansion for Roadwarden.

-----------------------------------------------------

In the meantime, another journey of mine is reaching its end. If you liked Roadwarden, please go and check out my Visual Novel, Windy Meadow. Which is going to be released soon on Steam. Set in Roadwardens fantasy setting, its a remake/reimagination of my very flawed first draft of the game that was released all the way back in 2018. But this time, Im making it right.

So if youre interested in a melancholic, gruesome, yet cozy story about choosing your path and being a part of a small community, how about adding the game to your wishlist?

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2366430/Windy_Meadow__A_Roadwarden_Tale/

-----------------------------------------------------

You can also find me on my socials.

Safe travels!
-Aureus

And last but not least, I want to close this first devlog with a picture from a great artist called White Mouse who sent me a picture of a Roadwarden based on his imagination; big credits and thank you for your passion!

Greetings, and welcome to [b]Roadwardens Anniversary Update![/b]

While i was working on my next project, a fantasy visual novel called Windy Meadow - A Roadwarden Tale, I also had quite some ideas for Roadwarden as well. Thus, I've prepared a rather chunky update for all you Roadwardens out there - for simple but heartfelt reasons:

I wanted to thank you all for spreading the word, and for making my game what it is now. Thank you for all the feedback, advices, and the bug reports you sent my way. I don't know what my life would look like right now without your help, dedication, and love.

Long story short, here's some info about the Anniversary Update:

• A new ending, as well as some updates to the old ending.
  
• The in-game notepad is now shared across all saves.
  
• Additional difficulty settings, including the option to skip the opening section of the game.
  
• A new side quest tied to Thyrsus.
  
• A few slight adjustments and tweaks to both the UI and some areas.
  
• This update contains all the additions and bug fixes introduced to the game over the year, so it will feel a bit different to what it used to be upon the release.
  

Do you love narrative video games? LudoNarraCon is a global, digital convention celebrating narrative video games, the talented people who make them, and the fans who love them, hosted on Steam.

You can also watch us play Roadwarden in the Broadcast!

[h2]Play the free Demo and get 30% off of Roadwarden![/h2]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1155970/Roadwarden/

The event ends on May 8th, 2023.

Windy Meadow A Roadwarden Tale is an interactive slice-of-life visual novel about choosing your own path. Help three protagonists make the most important choices of their lives. Featuring a multitude of hand-crafted characters and a richly detailed village set in the Roadwarden story world.

The currently available free demo will introduce you to one of three protagonists of the game, Vena.
During the first chapter, your decisions matter. Will huntress Vena depart the harmonious but harmless village and leave her family behind in pursuit of riches with a merchant guild? Not to mention, there are big footsteps for her to follow, as her father is the iconic and skilled hunter of her village, the sort tales will be told about!

[h3]Play the free demo now:[/h3]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2366430/Windy_Meadow__A_Roadwarden_Tale/?utm_source=steam_announcemnent

[h3]Watch the announcement trailer for Windy Meadow - A Roadwaren Tale[/h3]
[previewyoutube=P6VRhcTW3k4;full][/previewyoutube]

• A Story Unfolds: Unlike most visual novels, Window Meadow replaces the majority of narration with animated character sprites. More than 99% of the in-game text represents dialogues.
  
• Three Protagonists: Follow three very different protagonists and uncover their problems, fears, and the challenges they face. Their varying personalities make for interesting and complicated relationships with the multitude of moody side characters.
  
• Choices Matter: From the seemingly small to the life-changing, choices players make can affect dialogue options, NPC feelings, and game endings.
  
• Harmonious Living: Enjoy a serene storyworld rich in gorgeous views, gentle rivers, fertile lands, and welcoming forests. In Windy Meadow, even the beasts and dragons tend to keep their distance.

A Decision-Based Narrative Adventure That Seamlessly Weaves Coziness and Melancholy

The storyworld of Roadwarden is officially expanding. Coming later this year to Windows PC, Mac, and Linux, Windy Meadow: A Roadwarden Tale invites players on a familiar-yet-new slice of life adventure where every decision matters on the quest to forge a noble path. An official counterpart to acclaimed text-based RPG Roadwarden, and a remastered re-release, Windy Meadow is another beautifully written, engrossing entry in a bold, distinct world.

[h3]Watch the official trailer for Windy Meadow - A Roadwaren Tale[/h3]
[previewyoutube=P6VRhcTW3k4;full][/previewyoutube]


[h3]About Windy Meadow - A Roadwarden Tale[/h3]
Featuring a multitude of hand-crafted characters and a richly detailed village in a fantasy setting set in the Roadwarden storyworld, Windy Meadow - A Roadwarden Tale fully submerges players in the day-to-day goings on of this small community. With animated character sprites taking part in heart-warming and sometimes dramatic scenes, set to a soaring and atmospheric musical score, this is a full and complete visual novel that has been crafted with care by the developer.

Over the course of three interwoven stories, players will be introduced to protagonists Vena, Fabel, and Ludicia, three citizens of the sleepy and serene village Windy Meadow, as they navigate grand life choices regarding their futures.



Will talented huntress Vena depart the harmonious but harmless village and leave her family behind in pursuit of becoming a roadwarden? Can Fabel finally embrace his talents, ditching the figurative shackles of his difficult past as he chases his dream of becoming a famous bard? And will outsider and herbalist Iudicia take hold of her love life, choosing not to marry a man she doesnt really love at the risk of leading a lonely future?

In this immersive story where choices matter and can affect dialogue, events, how NPCs perceive the protagonists, and how their tale ends, players will have to think very carefully about each path they take.

• A Story Unfolds: Unlike most visual novels, Window Meadow replaces the majority of narration with animated character sprites. More than 99% of the in-game text represents dialogues.
  
• Three Protagonists: Follow three very different protagonists and uncover their problems, fears, and the challenges they face. Their varying personalities make for interesting and complicated relationships with the multitude of moody side characters.
  
• Choices Matter: From the seemingly small to the life-changing, choices players make can affect dialogue options, NPC feelings, and game endings.
  
• Harmonious Living: Enjoy a serene storyworld rich in gorgeous views, gentle rivers, fertile lands, and welcoming forests. In Windy Meadow, even the beasts and dragons tend to keep their distance.

Roadwarden!
Another small hotfix rolling in, thanks to your ongoing feedback and support!
Besides small changes to the main game, we also gave some love to our Roadwarden demo.

[h3]More Details:[/h3]
Roadwarden demo

• The Roadwarden demo is now updated, and includes various text-related changes the full game has received during the recent months.

• One of the late game interactions involving roast chickens is now fixed.
  
• The journal no longer gets confused about placing a bronze rod in the mountains in the far west.
  
• The late-game barter attached to an area in the far east has received various small bug fixes.
  
• The Gentle Heart achievement attached to helping and sparing animals is now slightly easier to get. In some cases, loading the last save may be enough to earn it.

Roadwarden!
Another small hotfix rolling in, thanks to your overwhelming feedback!
Please keep it up!

More Details:

• Fixed the bug that could cause the combat in the tunnel to repeat itself.
  
• Fixed the bug hiding a part of Recruit a Hunter quest description in the journal.
  
• One of the endgame quests no longer describes Tulia as an ally if she was lied to about the related topic.
  
• Fixed various typos and tiny mistakes.

We are once again featured at the amazing DevGAMM!

The physical event will take place in Gdask, Poland, this year and will give devs and publisher a playground to network. Among other great opportunities, from March 1-2, a conference will be held, gathering game industry professionals for top-notch sessions to show off their projects!

[h3]Among those, Roadwarden mastermind, (indie) solo dev Aureus from Morale Anxiety Studio speaking about Roadwarden! Starting tomorrow at 2pm CET![/h3]

More details and how to join if you are attending DevGAMM!: https://events.pinetool.ai/2985/#speakers/852462?referrer%5Bpathname%5D=%2Fspeakers&referrer%5Bsearch%5D=&referrer%5Btitle%5D=Speakers

For a full program, and all details about this year's DevGAMM in Gdask, head to the DevGAMM homepage: https://devgamm.com/gdansk2023/


[h3]Intrigued and still on the fence? Enjoy Roadwarden's the free demo! Or get the game within the next 29 hours and get yourself 30% off![/h3]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1155970/Roadwarden/

Roadwarden!

Another patch has been released, which will make quite some Roadwarden happy:
Cloud Saves make their appearance in Roadwarden!
However, please be aware, Cloud Saves are currently just working for Windows- and Linux-PC players!
MacOS might take a little longer, but we are still on it!

[h3]Additions[/h3]

• Fan-requested Cloud Saves are now available for the Windows and Linux players. Currently, not available for MacOS players. It still needs some tinkering and testing afterward. More details, as soon as they are available, so stay tuned.
  
  • Even though we did some testing on our end, if there are any issues with Cloud Saving on Windows or Linux, please feel free to leave some feedback!
  
  
• We have added a new control layout for Steam Deck controls, which will now be enabled as default layout. The new default layout should allow the players to play the game without additional customization.
  
  • Important notice: The new layout might replace your current control layout.
    
  • Please be aware that the game is still not approved by Valve, and thus not officially supported/"playable" or "verified". But as we have listened to your feedback, we wanted to improve the Roadwarden experience on Steam Deck as much as possible.
    
  • If you need additional help with your Steam Deck controls, by simply adding your own control-layouts, please feel free having a look into our small quickstart guide:
    https://steamcommunity.com/app/1155970/discussions/0/3764481561706521436/

• Fixed the bug that had an option to make an important conversation with the female druid much more difficult than intended.
  
• Fixed a bug tied to the fight with harpies that could even cause a game crash

Our Roadwarden is not once, but twice in Independent Game Festival's (IGF) 2023 Honorable Mention.

"Excellence in Narrative" & "Seumas McNally Grand Prize"

Additionally, Roadwarden also received the Honorable Mention in the Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA) for "Best Narrative"!

Further on, the Edge Magazine awarded Roadwarden with "PC Game of the Year 2022"

Giving it a 90/100, with the respective quote "And when your time is up, the picture you come away with is as vivid and memorable an evocation of a place as any-hyper detailed AAA fantasy universe."



[h2]Thank you everybody, who made this possible and your ongoing support![/h2]

Roadwarden!

Another small patch rolling in, once again including some fixes, as well as text-adjustments.
Big shoutout to all Roadwardens, providing constant feedback, to further improve the game!

Without further ado, here we go:

• Fixed the bug that could crash the game in the prologue.
  
• Fixed the mismatch tied to the price of the perfume.
  
• The game now explains more clearly, how to gain help from the mage at the swamp in the late-game quest.
  
• In some cases, the journal reveals the entries about NPCs too soon.
  
• Fixed the rare scenario, where 'The Old Forest Garden' wouldnt load its ambient track.
  
• Fixed the "flag" not showing on the game map when the player is in some of the temporary areas tied to the swamps.
  
• Various text adjustments and clarifications.

Thank you!

Since the release last year in September, our text-based RPG Roadwarden has already received over 1,000 reviews on Steam with 96% Overwhelmingly Positive review score!

We really appreciate your support! Please keep it up!


https://store.steampowered.com/app/1155970/Roadwarden/

Roadwarden!

Another small patch rolling in, this time focusing on text-changes in the main game, as well as some fixes, including an achievement fix for the Roadwarden demo!

Without further ado, here we go:

[h3]Core game:[/h3]

• Once again, a big chunk of text adjustments.

Roadwarden
Are you enjoying Roadwarden? Because, we need your support!

If you appreciate the tough choices, the beautiful writing and art of the game, we'd be happy if you nominate our Roadwarden for the Outstanding Story-Rich Game' Steam Award 2022!

And here's how you can vote for us:

• Either you simply use the nomination format above
  
• Or, simply head over to the Roadwarden Steam Store Page
  
  • Click on 'Nominate this Game for an Award'
    
  • Choose the Outstanding Story-Rich Game-Award
    
  • Hit 'Save' and you have nominated us for this year's Outstanding Story-Rich Game!
  
  
• Wish us luck!

Roadwarden!

Another small patch rolling in, this time purely focusing on text-changes.
Please keep it up!

[h3]Text[/h3]

• Roadwarden received a lot of text changes, mainly typos. Too many, to list of all them here.

Source: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/deep-dive-roadwarden

Gamedeveloper.com's Game Developer Deep Dives are an ongoing series with the goal of shedding light on specific design, art, or technical features within a video game in order to show how seemingly simple, fundamental design decisions arent really that simple at all.

Earlier installments cover topics such as designing combat to match the beat of music in Metal: Hellsinger, gamifying the process of learning to code with One Dreamer, and curating meaningful choices in multiplayer narrative games in Doomsday Paradise.

In this edition, Aureus of Moral Anxiety Studio discusses Roadwarden, explaining how the game's systems created variance and meaningful impact.

I'm Aureus and I designed, wrote, programmed, and illustrated Roadwarden, the first successful game developed by my Moral Anxiety Studio. While I was working, I had a rare luxury in disguise. I was adding new pieces of content to the game without the need to justify myself, or to split the tasks between the crew members, nor maintain the flow of communication and documentation. And since the majority of the project is text-based, making even grand-scale changes and fixes took me no longer than a few days, and usually just a few hours.

For teams of developers with advanced visuals, such a scenario is not replicable. Ill put aside personal examples and anecdotes, and stick to the toolbox I used as I tried to fulfill my objective: making an RPG that notices and reflects the players role-playing.

To be more specific, I was pursuing a game that feels responsive, adjustable, avoiding epic linear tales that abruptly shift into a single save everyone / become powerful decision in the epilogue. I believe that making meaningful choices at different stages of the players journey is one of the most significant experiences that RPGs have to offer, and my game was meant to keep those in the foreground, compromising more complex systems to give players access to all of the quests, events, and conversations, no matter their characters skill set.



[h3]The structure and the alembic[/h3]
While the major decisions in Roadwarden require selecting specific lines of text during dialogues or other interactions, the game involves many more choices that are not as dramatic, but have great impact on ones experience. Not unlike in combat-oriented RPGs, the player makes choices about the ways they spend coins, which items they use, and which stats they prioritize.

Of great importance is the order in which the player reaches new areas and speaks with NPCs. One players starting village will be anothers last visited settlement. I wanted to offer the freedom to travel as one pleases, and therefore I needed to make each settlement somewhat fresh, but also open to the newcomers, giving it a comprehensible structurethe introduction, the initial distrust, lower-difficulty quests that encourage the protagonist to explore the world further, and finally more advanced quests and more beneficial interactions.



Having so many possible directions, I needed to simplify as much as I could. I had divided the interactions into ones that were hand-crafted in their entirety, and ones that would do with the alembic. By this, I mean that the player wouldnt be forced to stick to the predetermined order of tasks, and instead would be required to reach an amount of points tied to a pre-established threshold of success. Because of this, the player could reach the next part of a quest while maintaining some amount of freedom.

The most basic strict quest would require the player to go to a specific place, do a specific interaction, and return to the quest giver. The quests using the alembic are a bit more difficult to explain. A good example would be the one that requires the player to feed the dark altar with magic. They can use blood, spells, or magical items, and even fail other quests in the process, but no matter what they put into the alembic, it distills all of the offerings into +1s, +2s, and so on, until the desired threshold of completion is reached.

The alembic helped me organize and maintain the games grand structure. If a PC needs to complete three out of five different interactions to progress a quest, and these interactions are spread across the entire map, it allows me to pace the quest depending on how easy it is to reach and complete these interactions. The early game encourages the player to follow the main roads and to visit all the major settlements. The midgame closes most quests, including the ones that involve greater knowledge of the games systems. The late game involves the most difficult, dramatic quests and interactions, often concluding a story that had started hours earlier.



Over the course of the game, the protagonist gathers friendship points that are compared against arbitrary trust thresholds. As the player puts more effort into interacting with NPCs, they unlock new interactions, quests, and hints, advancing the stories, but its also a camouflaged character progression. Many of the rewards open new opportunitiesshelters, better prices, free services. Both the friendship points and the trust thresholds are hidden from the player, though the changes in a relationship are often expressed with the way characters greet or address the protagonist, adding to the more significant shifts of the grayed-out dialogue options into interactable ones.

In the worst-case scenario, it leads to awkward results when the protagonist befriends a complete stranger in five to ten minutes, or meets angry scowls as they ask for help even though they just participated in a friendly exchange.

There are ways to limit these jarring moments. Having a low friendship level can boost point gains, and I introduced exceptions and more nuanced interactions that either lower trust thresholds or force NPCs to return the favor (or admit that theyve been lying). At the same time, having a high reputation in a village adds to the friendship with an NPC, and vice versa.

Using the alembic feels unavoidable to me on a large-scale project, and the best I could do is try to avoid gamifying such interactions too much. Some games, for example, introduce gift systems that turn ones enemies into lovers after showering them with loot. In Roadwarden, such situations are minimized.



[h3]The fluff, the spice, the floodgates, the burnt bridges[/h3]
It would be insane to make each decision memorable and of comparable significance. Not that its something anyone wantspacing is key, and keeping each element stressfully crucial and epic would lead to exhaustion, making the stories taste the same.

I allowed myself to put different levels of importance onto various sections of the game, starting with the fluffinteractions that dont influence the stories but are meant to pull the player into the games world. Some of these serve as a vibe check, allowing the player to state directly what their character thinks about a specific situation, character, or place, in hopes that it will flesh out the protagonist.

Other fluff pieces helped me limit the games purple prose, replacing long, detailed narration by giving the player an opportunity to select which detail about the world feels most fitting for them. For example, instead of explaining how there are countless stories tied to various cultures, the game lets the player pick a vague tale about the moon, simultaneously giving the taste of the games inhabitants, and of the characters background or personality.



Sometimes, the game remembers the selected fluff, referencing it further down the road. Once the player reaches the games final section, the features of the city they visit are affected by the choices made while describing it to NPCs.

The spice affects the game more directly. Such choices remain minor but have greater significance when it comes to gaining friendship points or affecting the characters stats. The most notable examples are the attitude scenes. They occur when the protagonist meets NPCs of greater significance.

The player is meant to select one of the five different approaches (friendly, playful, distanced, intimidating, vulnerable) while introducing themselves. Some of these attitudes lead to similar outputs, while others differ significantly, increasing or lowering the friendship level, offering new clues, or giving instant access to quests or interactions that are usually unlocked later on.



The spice moments are more gamified than the fluff, and therefore the more beneficial choices get more clear as the player collects more clues. The in-game journal stores hints gathered from various conversations about the attitudes preferred by different characters. The game also indirectly hints at the more inappropriate choices by making them more misaligned with the current mood of the conversation. The player needs to choose if they want to stay painfully honest, or would they rather manipulate others into liking them more.

A cool thing about the spice is that it can be inspired by the older content, such as items. If the protagonist purchases an armor-fixing set, they can use it as the spice to help one of the NPCs and get some friendship points. Similarly, if the player sells a bunch of expensive healing potions to one of the traders, the game acknowledges the found exploit and blocks the interaction, commenting on it with a bit of fluff and a new achievement. Building these moments is time-efficient, yet makes the game feel more organic.



If the spice grows in significance, it becomes a floodgate. Sometimes the floodgates are wide open, aiding the player. Other times, they limit the players options significantly, but can be either fixed or bypassed. A character may be angered so severely that gaining their trust is no longer an option, but there may still be ways to get on their good side, usually by sacrificing valuable resources. A failed quest may still give the player access to some advanced interactions, just in a different, disadvantageous way.

In rare cases, a floodgate cant be fixed. If the player does everything they can to decrease their friendship level with an NPC, its unlikely they can swing the entire relationship in the opposite direction, and may at best reach a neutral state.



But if the outcome is intended to be more harsh, like an either / or choice, this is when I think of it as a burnt bridge. An NPC dies or leaves the realm for good; a village collapses; the player supports one community, but weakens another. Burning a bridge means the player shouldnt expect that putting in extra effort will reverse the outcome. Instead, theyre meant to accept the consequences of the changed world.

While some burnt bridges have no positive outcomes, those that do are more interesting. Still, it would feel artificial to force each one of them to be somewhat rewarding.
The pre-written freedom

I wanted each scene in Roadwarden to feel natural, as if it treats the players path as the canonical, linear, intended story, even though no such thing exists.

The game acknowledges a significant part of the choices made by the player, referencing them and bringing them to their logical conclusion. The floodgates should be significant at least locally, getting mentioned whenever theyre relevant and changing to the games systems. The burnt bridges need to leave a mark on the world, affecting the stories and gameplay in major ways. Leading to a villages collapse will also fail (or resolve) any potential quest tied to it, and will block the access to merchants and the shelter that it used to offer.

The most important burnt bridges have such a significance that even if left untouched, ignored, or abandoned, they should at least influence the epilogue. In their case, inaction is action.



Bringing attention to the spice and the fluff at every opportunity is an impossible challenge, but its good to keep them at hand in your notes, referencing them when writing or editing new content. Even short callbacks are of great worth as they add to the illusion that the game truly keeps track of everything.

One of the fun parts of the aforementioned categories is that they have vague boundaries. The player cant know which interactions will lead to a butterfly effect, so they need to decide how careless or thoughtful they want to be at any time, getting surprised with the ways the seemingly pointless interactions affect their further journey.



[h3]The class, the religion, the personal goal[/h3]
Among the most significant floodgates of the game are the character attributes selected during the opening section. I didnt want to treat them as burnt bridges. The three classes (warrior, mage, and scholar) allow the players to receive or save resources, solve a puzzle, access unique systems, defeat an opponent, or impress an NPC (therefore, they spark their own spice and fluff), but there are no quests or major plot threads restricted to only one or two of them.

It was important to me that no class would be punished for getting picked. The protagonist is somewhat good at fighting, great at riding, and better at survival than most. The class is just a bonus, not the core of their character.



The characters religion has little impact on combat or the characters stats, but matters during some social interactions, hindering or aiding the protagonist. Depending on the players action, their religion will work either as the fluff, spice, or a floodgate, changing the game more severely the more the character follows the teachings of their faith. The PCs fate is measured with the alembic.

The personal goal is both a spice and a burnt bridge as the player cant change it once they select it at the start of the game. Its meant to provide the player with a sense of direction and hint at the PCs past, but is rarely referenced in dialogues, and has no side quests tied to it. At the same time, the way the player approaches their quest is of great significance both for the character stats and the games epilogue.

Once again, personal quests tend to use the alembicmost of them gather vague points by completing interactions or gathering resources. The game keeps track of some of the players actions and references them upon the quest completion or in the epilogue, but knowing the many paths the player can take before reaching the quests end, I knew I couldnt do each possible playthrough the justice, and it was better to use a more abstract tool.



[h3]The problems[/h3]
My approach wasnt free of issues, some of which could have been solved with more time or better testing, while others put into question the core design and would likely end up being an effort-sink if I were to meaningfully improve them instead of rebuilding them.

I stuck to the assumption that everything in Roadwarden is interconnected, with many characters having something to say about each important topic, and as they added more information to the pool, I had to keep all the details cohesive, or at least purposely contradictory. It was difficult to turn around from the once-set course. Adding new characters or new story threads was complicating things even further.



To navigate through all of this, especially as I was scanning the code to see which parts of the game are tied to specific quests or interactions, I was forced to use thousands of variables, so testing was a nightmaresome interactions require the protagonist to reach distant areas and speak with multiple characters before they can push a quest forward. Even three years in I was simplifying my code, learning from previous mistakes. In the end, it worked for Roadwarden, but wont fit most games, especially ones that require input from voice actors or face animators, or ones that cant afford to introduce large-scale changes years into development.

It would be easier to put the villages even further apart from each other and assume that theyre tied only to their closest neighbors, with some small exceptions. Theres a good chance it would maintain the illusion just as well while keeping the door open for additional quests and interactions without inviting the flood of obligatory updates each time I tried to spice things up.

I already mentioned the example of the altar that eats magic. The convenient alembic lost a lot of its charm as the game got larger, as I had to connect to this area every single piece of equipment. Similarly, the innkeeper who has something to say about each NPC, or the one who has something to say about each area, required more and more updates as the game grew.



The deadlines brought their own limitations. Some of the characters are underdeveloped, lacking interactions or tasks despite their role in larger quests, while the settlements that can be either doomed or saved offer no deeper content in the case of the latter. There was no time to make helping them more impactful, considering many players wouldnt reach this part of the game anyway.

[h3]Between abstractness and vividness[/h3]
As its impossible to make an RPG truly organic and completely non-linear, there are parts of Roadwarden that had to be left simplified. The villages tend to feel the same no matter on which day they are reached. The fluff and spice rarely mention the PCs appearance, despite having a whole system tied to it. I had to constantly balance between handcrafting all sorts of immersive scenes and unique interactions, and using the alembic, maintaining the games general structure while accepting it may sometimes lead to less-than-ideal results, jumps in logic, or awkward simplifications.

After all, aside from having the grand dreams of building a complex, convincing tale told with the players assistance, a story in which each choice matters, theres also another goal: to actually release the game once it gets Good Enough, and to give others the opportunity to experience it before I burn out.


https://store.steampowered.com/app/1155970/Roadwarden/

Roadwarden!

Another small hotfix rolling in, thanks to your overwhelming feedback!
Please keep it up!

More Details:

• Fixed a coin-related bug, at the Old Bridge.
  
• Fixed a traveling bug tied to areas around Foggy Lake.
  
• Tiny text adjustments.

Roadwarden!

Another small hotfix rolling in, thanks to your overwhelming feedback!
Please keep it up!

More Details:

• A small bugfix tied to the large tree with an altar.
  
• Erastos is now correctly labeled as a resident of Howler's Dell.
  
• Varios text adjustments.
  

Roadwarden!

Another small patch rolling in, thanks to your overwhelming feedback!
Please keep it up!

More Details:

• Various adjustments and a tiny bug fix to 'The Sleeping Giant' quest.
  
• Fixed the bug that made the player fail 'The Bird Hunting' quest repeatedly.
  
• Fixed the bug tied to, sparing the critter in the 'heart of the forest'.
  
• Text adjustments, from fixing typos to rephrasing quest requirements.

Roadwardens!

A hotfix is here!

• Fixes a possible crash bug at the large tree with an altar scene
  

Roadwarden!

Another small patch rolling in!

More Details:

• Fixed small inaccuracies with branching dialogues, as well as rewards or payments involving coins.
  
• Introduced a new tutorial box explaining that theres an option to use items directly from the inventory.
  
• Explained some quest requirements more clearly.
  
• Fixed various tiny bugs and typos.
  

Roadwarden is inspired by one of the oldest video game genrestext adventuresbut still manages to do everything right for modern audiences, not limited to delivering a truly compelling role-playing experience.

Roadwardens interactive novel gameplay structure almost comes second to its atmospheric and thoughtful storytelling, served in aesthetically low-key pixel art style. But, were not the only ones who think so. Since its launch last week, Roadwarden earned itself over 275 positive Steam reviews with a whopping 96% score. - Thank you so much!

[h3]View the brand new Roadwardens Accolades trailer here: [/h3]
[previewyoutube=iSxJgvc3-gg;full][/previewyoutube]


[h3]Check out some of what your peers have had to say so far:[/h3]
"Roadwarden is, all told, one of the most absorbing, considered and rewarding fantasy games Ive ever played..."
Eurogamer

"I keep thinking about Roadwarden like a tourist city that I visited for not quite long enough."
Rock Paper Shotgun

...its so refreshing to play Roadwarden, a thoroughly 21st century text adventure.
Metro

Earning the Eurogamer Essential Award and listed on Polygons The 17 Most Exciting Video Game Releases of Fall 2022 and being recognized by Yogcast's Tiny Teams Event, Roadwarden is an illustrated text-based RPG in which players take on the profession of the titular roadwarden, exploring and changing a hostile, grim realm.
A modern take on classic text-driven choose-your-own-adventure RPGs, Roadwardens gameplay is entirely driven by scenarios presented through text, with players making decisions based on events happening around them. With the option to spec the protagonist to be a warrior, mage, or scholar based on what abilities are upgraded, players will traverse through an enigmatic peninsula to spread the Merchant Guilds influence.


[h3]Roadwarden is now available on Steam. For those who want a taste of the adventure, an official free demo is also available on Steam:[/h3]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1155970/Roadwarden/

Roadwarden!

Another small patch rolling in!

More Details:

• The yellow arrows tied to the boat-related quest were reworked again. - Please let us know on the forum, if you click on them, but get still no response - it's a bug that affects a small percentage of players, and we're trying to fix it.
  
• Casual-mode only: The weather predictions are now properly turned off after day 40.
  
• Various tiny bugs, typos, and clarifications.

Roadwarden!

A new week has started and we have yet another small patch, including bugfixes and more.

More Details:

• The "all achievements" bug should be fixed for good now.
  
• Reworked the arrows tied to the boat-related quest.
  
• Fixed various infinite-resources bugs.
  
• Fixed various bugged interactions, especially at The Foraging Grounds.
  
• Journeys starting at Gale Rocks and The Beach are now properly calculated and take longer.
  
• Autosaves occur slightly less frequently, lasting for longer.
  
• Fixed repellent getting stuck in inventory.
  
• Fixed typos and other issues with the text.

• Launch the game and load any save you want. Ideally, its going to be a save from the epilogue
  
• Being in the game, press Shift+O. Dont do this while looking at the games menu, inventory, or a journal, for it may make step 3 not work. You want to see just the regular screen presenting the narration and the illustration.
  
• In the gray console, type or paste the following: "$achievement.clear_all()" (no quotation marks).
  

• If you played Roadwarden more than once, you may want to load the saves from other epilogues after that to load their achievements as well.

Roadwarden!

Once again, we have received so much overwhelming feedback from this amazing community that we could push another small patch, including bugfixes, a crash fix, as well as some typos and more.

More details below:

• Fixed Crash during the ending sequence
  
• Fixed: Getting stuck at the druids
  
• Fixed: Not being able to use Aegidias help
  
• Fixed: A problem with the Missing Hunters quest
  
• Fixed: A problem with getting the reward from Lost Merchant's quest
  
• Fixed: A problem with the Closed Tunnel for Mages
  
• Fixed: The players name not being correctly displayed under certain conditions
  
• Fixed: Several typos

Dear Roadwardens,
with this patch, we are fixing several exception errors, where the food rations could go into minus and an issue where food and money could be unlimited. Also, there is a fix included, that prevents all achievements from getting unlocked automatically after the epilogue. You will find an explanation beneath.

[h3]FIXED[/h3]

• Fixed Several Typos and Grammar errors
  
• Fixed food rations going into minus / unlimited food bug and money
  
• Fixed several exception errors
  
• Fixed all achievements getting unlocked automatically after the epilogue (see explanation below on how to correct your achievements)
  

• Launch the game and load any save you want. Ideally, its going to be a save from the epilogue
  
• Being in the game, press Shift+O. Dont do this while looking at the games menu, inventory, or a journal, for it may make step 3 not work. You want to see just the regular screen presenting the narration and the illustration.
  
• In the gray console, type or paste the following: "$achievement.clear_all()" (no quotation marks).
  

• If you played Roadwarden more than once, you may want to load the saves from other epilogues after that to load their achievements as well.
  

Adventure calls, waiting for explorers who are up to the task. Today, together with solo-dev Moral Anxiety Studio, we have launched our isometric text-based RPG Roadwarden.
Combining elements of high fantasy with mechanics borrowed from traditional RPGs, visual novels, and adventure games, Roadwarden mixes the familiar with the unexpected in a unique take on text-based interactive fiction.

Listed on Polygons The 17 most exciting video game releases of fall 2022, Roadwarden is an illustrated text-based RPG in which players take on the profession of the titular roadwarden, exploring and changing a hostile, grim realm.
A modern take on classic text-driven choose-your-own-adventure RPGs, Roadwardens gameplay is entirely driven by scenarios presented through text, with players making decisions based on events happening around them.
With the option to spec the protagonist to be a warrior, mage, or scholar based on what abilities are upgraded, players will traverse through an enigmatic peninsula to spread the Merchant Guilds influence.

For those who want a taste of the adventure, an official demo is available for download on Steam.
store.steampowered.com/app/1155970/Roadwarden

[h3]Check out the world of Roadwarden in todays launch trailer: [/h3]
[previewyoutube=_yFp4opzdGA;full][/previewyoutube]


[h3]Roadwardens Key Features: [/h3]
Explore & Change the World: Discover the secrets and face the challenges of a hostile fantasy world inevitably unveiling its uniquely sinister history
Grow With the Challenge: Create your own background story, personal abilities, beliefs, and personality to shape your very own future as a Roadwarden
Classical RPG Attitude: Prepare yourself for an epic journey, either as a warrior, mage or scholar, and define your characters traits; like friendly, playful or intimidating, during interactions with various NPCs
Mysteries Unfold: Use your savvy and wiles when investigating and drawing your conclusions to understand the true nature of this world. Immerse yourself in detailed dialogues and sidequests with dozens of NPCs to gain their trust and support.

[h3]Toss a coin to your Roadwarden: To celebrate the game's launch today, get it on Steam with a limited-time 10% launch discount.[/h3]
store.steampowered.com/app/1155970/Roadwarden

Roadwarden!

Being a Roadwarden is a dangerous path, and as you might already know from the demo, the journey is never easy.

Like the life of a Roadwarden, game development can be challenging, too!
As we want to provide you with the best-possible game experience, we would like to spend a few more days working and polishing the game and thus pushing the release of Roadwarden to September 12!


Thank you for the patience! - Stay sharp, Roadwarden!
-Your teams at Moral Anxiety Studio & Assemble Entertainment-


[h3]In the meantime, please feel free to play the free demo here on Steam and wishlist Roadwarden, to get notified as soon as it will be released![/h3]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1155970/Roadwarden/

Greetings, travelers!
Now, heres quite a jump forwardRoadwarden will be out on Steam on September 8th, 2022!

Its an illustrated text-based RPG in which you explore and change a hostile, grim realm. Roadwarden has been in development for almost 4 years now, and were on the final stretch!



The last few months were all about tying up the loose ends and hunting for bugsbut there are still a few new features to talk about!




[h3]Difficulty Selection Screen[/h3]
The time limit is the most restrictive system in Roadwarden. Given enough time, the player can heal their wounds, earn coins to buy useful equipment, or gain trust of the locals. However, some of the quests are time-sensitive and players who repeatedly fail at preparing themselves for exploration and combat may reach the games epilogue without completing some of the major storylines.



While its possible to complete all of the major quests in less than 25 in-game days, most newcomers will struggle to efficiently optimize the Roadwardens systems. Adding an easy mode for players who are not used to RPGs (or video games in general) and the hard mode for returning players is meant to open the game up to a variety of expectations and playstyles.


[h3]Updated Quick Menu[/h3]


After many months of being untouched, the buttons in the top-right corner are not only reshuffled


but I also replaced the Trade button with a quick access to the Character Sheet.


When tested, it turned out that its a bit too easy to omit the Trade option while talking with various NPCs. From now on, the trading is available through the dialogue options, always staying in the players field of view:





[h3]The Ancient Bug[/h3]
This annoying line of code has crashed the game more times than I can count.


Here you can see how it should look like:


The reason why it destroyed me is that the game didnt break when this bit of text was loaded. Instead, it could lurkin the shadows for minutes, until it appeared in a completely different area or conversation. I spent many hours tracking down the source, especially after it crashed the game of one of the demo players.
Is it a memory leak? Is the game simply falling apart after some time? Am I going crazy?
But now, the bug is no more! Im FREE!
And all sorts of tiny, yet important details

And what is this just below the quick menu? Is this the new, fancy clock?
Why, yes it is!



Its less distracting and offers more information at once whenever pointed at, with fewer space restrictions.
The item list in the inventory is now more flexible. In the early stages of the game, it remains small, but



once the player gathers enough items, it resizes, usually filling the entire screen without forcing the player to scroll down to see everything at once.
Also, while the owned coins are still meant to be displayed together with the other Merchandise, the game now recognizes when there are no other items from this category. In such cases, the coins are moved to the Misc section, instead of occupying the entire row by themselves.



While some quests may still need updates in the journal, they now more often use gray font to hide outdated information, and horizontal lines to divide quests into sections, for exampleseparating the old part of a quest from the new one, which gets pushed to the top of the entry.



And last but not least autosaves occur more frequently, after roughly 20 dialogue choices. Its still not recommended to play without manual/quick saving, but the game is now more resistant to unfortunate crashes and bugs that would punish players who forgot to save in a long time.



Thank you for taking a look at this devlog, and for your support and feedback over the years!

You can also find me on socials, and Roadwarden has Steam and GOG pages where you can add it to your wishlistI hope it will be available on September 8th!

Have a great day!

Roadwarden, our illustrated text-based RPG by indie dev Moral Anxiety Studio is hitting the old dusty trail on September 8, 2022, coming to Steam with support on Windows PC, Mac, and Linux.

Today, Roadwardens release date announcement is accompanied by an all-new trailer and an official demo now available on Steam.

Roadwarden merges elements of high fantasy and medieval adventure and is punctuated by a distinct isometric pixel art style. Combining mechanics borrowed from RPGs, visual novels, and interactive fiction, Roadwarden tells the tale of an explorer hired by a powerful merchant guild, tasked with journeying to a mysterious peninsula to spread the guilds influence. With over 40 hours of gameplay, dialogue choices that branch into hundreds of thousands of text lines, and progressively upgradable character abilities, Roadwarden is a truly epic and unique adventure experience where no two playthroughs are alike.

[h3]Check out the brand-new Roadwarden release date trailer:[/h3]
[previewyoutube=koQ-OL13j7A;full][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Roadwardens features [/h3]

• Explore and change the world!Discover the secrets and face the vast challenges of a hostile fantasy world inevitably unveiling its uniquely fierce lore.
  
• Grow with the challenge! Create your own background, abilities, beliefs, and personality to shape your very own future as a roadwarden.
  
• Classical attitude! Prepare yourself for an adventurous journey, either as a warrior, mage, or scholar and define your characters attitudes, like friendly, playful or intimidating, during interactions with NPCs.
  
• Get lost in conversation! Immerse yourself in profound dialogues and sidequests with dozens of NPCs to gain their trust and support.
  
• Mysteries unfold! Use your savvy and be witty when investigating and drawing your conclusions to understand the true nature of this world.
  
• Overcome your weaknesses! The world is full of dangers and nobody can be trusted. Be the roadwarden you want to be and find your path to success against all odds!

Roadwarden,
Join us for recorded gameplay-session now and enjoy the free ROADWARDEN Demo during Steam-Next Fest. Add Roadwarden to your wishlist and join us on an epic adventure!

Greetings, travelers!
The games development goes smoothly, especially content-wise.
Since the last devlog I added 5 large settlements, more than doubling the previous amount, and its a delight to see how the areas and quests on my task lists get marked as finished.



The break from social media has been a relief. Spending less time on maintaining an online presence took a huge weight off my shoulders, allowing me to focus on whats going to matter the most to the players. I hope you can forgive me for keeping a few surprises until the games release, and for now here are some highlights! : )

[h3]Interface updates[/h3]
The shops are now denser, using fewer buttons and having an option to display more items at once:





The sleeping / resting spots no longer require any memorizing or guessing on the players side, instead explaining directly how they will affect the character stats:





What also affected the healing ritual for mages:





Also, the game no longer marks the distanced Attitude as the default option during conversations. The player has more freedom in looking at the options they find any interest in, without being pushed to seeing one of them as the regular one.





Due to popular demand, the game now highlights the Trade / Rest (Seek shelter) / Travel buttons to make it clear the player isnt stuck in a conversation or interaction.



And while theres much more, lets end with this tiny adjustment:





[h3]The character sheet[/h3]
As the game gets more complex, it requires better tools to explain its rules, especially to the players who take longer breaks between play sessions. The character sheet allows the player to learn the rules in greater detail while also keeping track of various actions.




[h3]The map key[/h3]
Thanks to the new icons, its easier to keep track of various services and opportunities. Unlocking new options and areas adds more icons to the key, so getting used to them takes little effort.



[h3]The upgraded inventory[/h3]
Speaking of icons - how about a glimpse of the current item set from the game?



I recently redrew about 1/3 of them. To those whove been following the game since its oldest demo I offer this humble reminder how things used to look like a few years back:



To some encounters, mostly the combat scenes that are not a result of an ambush, I added an option to use the healing potions mid-action. The game keeps track of the possessed potions and reminds the player about them if it sees the PC is currently hurt.




[h3]The glossary[/h3]
I added a classic lore-explaining glossary to the journal. This way, the player can quickly learn about the setting if they feel lost in their journey. After all, it can be difficult to introduce all this information organically in an RPG with this amount of freedom.



[hr]

As the game grows, I find more ways to make its rules transparent and the events easier to follow. I still have to redesign the quest journal and I hope to simplify some of the rules after I thoroughly test the game in its entirety, but I believe that Roadwarden successfully adapts to its new environment. : )

Thank you for taking a look at this devlog, for your support and kindness! I hope youll agree the changes seem promising, and that they explain why the work takes me so long!




See you in the wild, Roadwardens, if you dare!

Until the release of Roadwarden, stay healthy, and stay tuned!


-Aureus (Moral Anxiety Sudio) & Assemble Entertainment-
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1155970/Roadwarden/

Thanks to Publisher Hitcents and Host Jordan Taylor, well kick off the year with a celebration singularly dedicated to the Adventure genre, and we are happy being part of this amazing event!

The Big Adventure Event will take place starting January 20th until January 24th on Steam!

Additionally, Roadwarden will get amazing company by Assemble Entertainment!
You can also find the following Assemble games being featured during this year's BAE:

• Sci-Fi Noir Adventure Lacuna
  
• Cyberpunk adventure ENCODYA
  
• The upcoming text-based RPG Roadwarden
  
• And never missing any party: Larry Laffer and both of his recent Wet Dreams adventures Leisure Suit Larry Wet Dreams Dont Dry and Leisure Suit Larry - Wet Dreams Dry Twice

• The BAE will start January 20 and end on January 24!
  
• Lacuna devs Digitales Interactive will host an exclusive developer livestream on January 23 at 8pm CET.

(Originally posted by Roadwarden Developer Moral Anxiety Studio:
https://moral-anxiety.itch.io/roadwarden/devlog/282995/embracing-the-rpg-side-roadwarden-devlog-demo-update)

Greetings, travelers!
The new demo (available on Steam within the next 7 days) showcases the massive changes that the game went through over the last year and a half.
Better writing, visuals, sounds, UI, mechanics, new activities... Im so excited to share it.



I also keep adding new areas, dialogues, and quests, and updating the systems that were a part of the game since early 2019. I can say with confidence that Roadwarden IS an RPG now, not just an adventure game with RPG elements. I seek new ways to support the experience of being a lone traveler exploring a dangerous world, balancing these efforts with not making the game too complex.

[h3]Massive rewrites[/h3]


The demo-related parts of the game are now after their second draft. People not experienced with writing may be surprised to learn that this process didnt add much volume to the text, quite the opposite.



As I grow confident and learn more about English, I convey just as much (or more) information in fewer words. I put more trust in the way I express myself or describe objects, gestures, and places. The games illustrations dont need as much explanation as they used to, and the new ambient sounds also help.

NPCs have more personality and quirks, with much less nodding, head shaking, smirking, and fist-clenching. There are also more role-playing choices and freedom when it comes to playing through various interactions.

[h3]Updated Attitudes[/h3]


Attitudes were among the first ideas introduced to Roadwarden - a set of icons that are active whenever a PC encounters a new character or a group. They open new dialogue options and slightly alter how the protagonist is perceived, unlocking / hiding specific information and / or impacting the mood of the conversation.



The issue was that for 99+% of the playtime they are deactivated, covering a corner of the screen with ugly shades of gray. The unlocking animation was easy to miss, and in some cases player simply didnt notice they had an option to select them.



Now they cant be omitted as the icons show up only when theyre relevant, and the screen is more tidy. This change also covers the special class skills:


[h3]New Armor system[/h3]
The system of having the Armor on a 1-3 lvl scale has been replaced with a 0-4 scale, and the player doesnt have to *remember* the status of their Armor since its always displayed.



In the old system, lvl 1 gave no advantages, lvl 2 reduced the incoming damage - though usually only once, or slightly. Lvl 3 worked better, but needed a significant investment, and could also be reduced.

In the new system, lvl 0 offers no protection, lvls 1-2 offer slight wound reduction, and lvl 3 offers significant protection. Lvl 4 is locked at the start of the game and can be unlocked in at least two different ways. Fixing armor is much cheaper, but its lvl gets lowered more often.



Lvl 4 now adds a small modifier during combat and other physical challenges. Theres also going to be three NPCs that offers armor-fixing services, instead of one.

The player can decide to save money by purchasing a special item that allows them to fix their armor wherever they are, though they need more time (and experience) to efficiently use it.




[h3]Reworked Hunger system[/h3]
I disliked the original version for a long time. A PC could be either hungry or full. Sleeping while being hungry would reduce their HP by 1 (or they would recover 1 HP less). There was a cosmetic difference between having a simple meal or a luxurious one, but it didnt mean anything stat-wise, and no matter how satiated the PC was, they would get hungry after every night.

The new system uses the 0-4 scale, just like HP and armor. Sleeping reduces it by 2 and different meals offer customized amounts of Nourishment points. A baked fish or a few fruits will give you 1, a food ration or a simple meal - 2, a luxurious meal - 3 or 4.


Having 0 or 1 Nourishment points wont damage the character while sleeping, instead negating any sort of HP gained during the night - what in most cases is a lighter penalty, but in others is much more severe.

Having no Nourishment points makes physical struggles more challenging, while 3 or 4 points adds bonuses to dice rolls, especially in combat. This way, theres value in not only avoiding the lower numbers, but also maintaining the higher ones.



[h3]Updated combat[/h3]
For some time now, combat results were linked to various statistics and items. Higher HP or better weapons were the obvious ones, but as the time went on, more details have also been added to the list.


Taking into consideration Nourishment and Armor levels allows a player to plan ahead and prepare themselves before traveling to a dangerous spot, which will often mean spending more time and money. It adds to the previous preparations - improving ones HP points, gathering information from the locals, and purchasing or finding new equipment.


[h3]New Appearance system[/h3]
Being on a 0-5 scale, the Appearance either hinders interactions with NPCs or allows a PC to get more from them. It adds penalties and bonuses to friendship and reputation levels and alters prices of bought or sold equipment and merchandise, especially one thats on the pricier side.


The appearance level considers a few factors. The level of cleanliness, the condition of PCs clothes (which can be either damaged or not), having the outfit covered with blood, and being either strong and healthy, or weak to the point of exhaustion.


There are various ways to wash oneself and adjust ones clothing, but it takes time. I hope to build a system which encourages players to get familiar with various bodies of water in the game and use them to get nice and tidy even before they reach various settlements, so they can make a better first impression.

There are also items which can be used to manipulate the effectiveness of various cleaning spots.


To unlock the highest possible level of appearance, a PC will have an option to buy a fancy set of clothing. Its price will be reduced by various factors, but in general, its meant to be an investment, not an obvious must-have piece of equipment. I also consider giving the fancy outfit (which can be either a tunic, a robe, or a dress) an ability to ignore the regular torn or bloodied statuses since theres the understanding that a PC switches between it and a regular outfit depending on where they are.


While the game uses Appearance mostly to influence other numbers, in the future I hope to use it to alter dialogues by giving NPCs small comments on PCs clothes and, for example, smell.

The core goal of the Appearance system was to give a player more perceptible results of actions that involve dirt and struggles, and to support the idea that a PC can gain an advantage by manipulating others - just as with lying and Attitudes.


[h3]Updated Bestiary[/h3]
It used to be that a PC had to pay a lot of money to unlock the Bestiary during a conversation with a special NPC, but after adding many more creatures to the game it turned out that the player was suddenly hit with a lore dump. In the meantime, various creatures are mentioned by NPCs, rarely giving any explanation on what they even are since, in the games logic, a PC should already have a shared knowledge.

The new Bestiary, with its basic lore, is available from the start of the game, while additional details and tips on how to defeat specific monsters are added during various interactions and conversations. The NPC who used to unlock this section of the game now only speaks about the new stuff, making their tales brief and to the point.

[h3]Visual updates[/h3]
Every time Im convinced Im done with it, I find new ways to update the games presentation. I started with taking to heart the criticisms of the games title screen:



It made the original random quotes appearing at the top of the screen too jarring, so I moved them to a special box that appears whenever the game is launched. They can also be turned off in the games settings.


The more advanced menu changes are difficult to show. In general, the sections now properly fade in and out, gently shifting between various modes instead of using rapid transitions.

Some traveling illustrations were altered. They rarely use the world map icons, now more often using cute little pictures that I love beyond logic:




And since it was important to keep PCs mana points displayed at all times, I found a way to present the character class skills as a part of the UI, even though the Attitude icons are now gone.


I also added a silly splash screen to make it clear that the game is launching. It helps me during development, but theres a chance Ill remove it before the full release.



[h3]Working on the vocabulary (part 2)[/h3]
Another SPICY set of games world updates. : P This time related not so much to spirituality and magic, as it is to the settings politics. The games fantasy setting, Viaticum, has finally received a massive update! (nerd alert)

the city -> Hovlavan (a butchered version of Hebrew words standing for White Coast)

As the game got larger, keeping the citys name vague was getting more and more awkward. I also added Hovlavan to the journal, gathering any city-related details that the player either discovers during their journey or sets as facts whenever they are asked about it by NPCs.

Empire (the state) -> The Ten Cities

Empire (the land) -> The Dragonwoods

province capitals -> cities

townsfolk -> cityfolk

Imperials -> cityfolk (loyalists to The Ten Cities), the Northerners, the Northern Tribes

Middle Mountains -> The Growing Mountains

There were also other changes, but lets keep them a secret. ^^


[h3]Other advancements[/h3]
The new alchemy system for scholars was recently reworked for the 3rd time, and I believe each version is an improvement.


The new fishing system allows the players to gain an unreliable source of fish (which can be baked for food or sold to some NPCs) by setting up traps at various bodies of water, which then can be checked on during PCs patrols. I wouldnt call this a minigame, but these tiny interactions add both to the living off the land vibe and to the getting used to the familiar roads progression.


The new settings now take a bit of scrolling, but explain things clearer:


The temporary notifications that show up on the screen are now added to the games Archive. Both the small textboxes and the stats-change animations:


The games Credits are now prettier:


Ive learned how to use the custom saves outside of the players view, so the respawn options are now bug-free:


In general, I keep learning how to properly use RenPy, so I turn blocks of code into more convenient, automated processes, hopefully making them more reliable.

---------------------------------

Thank you for taking a look at this devlog, for your support and kindness. I think it was a good one, even if a bit long. You can also find me on socials, and the game the game has Steam and GOG pages on which you can add it to your wishlist. Have a great day!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1155970/Roadwarden/

Today, we are happy to announce our presence at Gamescom 2021, the worlds largest video game industry expo.
Besides many great new titles from the Assemble portfolio, Roadwarden will be present!

As an official partner of Gamescom, we will present our current portfolio of indie titles, including two world premiere unveilings.

The entire Assemble Entertainment line-up will be available in the Gamescom Now content hub and two popular titles will participate in the Indie Arena Booth 2021.

More details will be revealed on August 25, 2021, including all official Gamescom streams, events, and panels that we will participate in.

If you are part of, or own a media, or you are an influencer/content creator and are interested in our upcoming games, please feel free reaching out to us via press@assembleteam.com



[h2]View the complete list of Assemble Entertainments Gamescom 2021 Line-up:[/h2]

• [h3]Unannounced Title (3D- Action Adventure/Zelda-like) by TinyRoar[/h3]

• [h3]Unannounced Title (Text-Adventure) by RobotPumpkin Studios[/h3]

• [h3]Endzone World Apart: Prosperity by Gentlymad Studios[/h3]

• [h3]Sphere Flying Cities by Hexagon Sphere Games[/h3]

• [h3]ITORAH by Grimbart Tales[/h3]

• [h3]Super Catboy by Pixelpogo[/h3]

• [h3]Orbital Bullet by SmokeStab[/h3]

• [h3]Ultimate ADOM - Caverns of Chaos by TeamADOM[/h3]

• [h3]Squadron 51 by Loomiarts, Fehorama Filmes[/h3]

• [h3]Roadwarden by Moral Anxiety Studio[/h3]

Thanks to Publisher Hitcents and Jordan Taylor, well kick off the year right with a celebration singularly dedicated to the Adventure genre and we are happy being part of this amazing event!

The Big Adventure Event will take place starting January 21st until January 25th on Steam!

Assemble Entertainment's in 2021 coming sci-fi adventures ENCODYA and Lacuna will be streamed live during the event!

Additionally, Assemble Entertainment's Roadwarden and for sure their beloved Larry Laffer and both of his adventures Leisure Suit Larry Wet Dreams Dont Dry and Leisure Suit Larry - Wet Dreams Dry Twice will be featured, too!

[h2]Mark the date: [/h2]
[h3]The 'BAE' will start January 21st at 10am Pacific/7pm CET and end on January 25th![/h3]
[h3]Lacuna will be streamed live on January 24th at 12pm Pacific/9pm CET[/h3]
[h3]ENCODYA will be streamed live on January 25th at 9am Pacific/6pm CET[/h3]


Stay tuned, as more details will be shared as soon as the event has started!

#theBAE

[h2]More Details about all of Assemble Entertainment's featured games in 'The Big Adventure Event'.[/h2]
Click the pictures below for more details:

Moral Anxiety Studio is an independent game development project led by me: Aureus; a Polish writer and designer. While none of the released games were made by a single person, I'm happy to stand behind the stories, designs, art direction and worldbuilding.

I'm bringing my own style of storytelling into video games, especially by focusing on small, personal tragedies, which are presented through complex dialogues. The games take place in Viaticum, a fantasy setting that has been under development for over 10 years. And I love it wholeheartedly.

I think that i may have found something amazing by merging Visual Novels, RPGs and adventure or even text adventure games. I love storytelling and artistic projects that try to do something outside of the mainstream.

Therefore, I'd be truly happy if you try out the Roadwarden demo, and eventually putting the game on your wishlist.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1155970/Roadwarden/