[img src=\"https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/45546677/0923ce53f809359a9d4c0648a870eae49d61826e.jpg\"][/img]\nFIEFDOM Pre-Alpha: One Week Post-Launch Update

Seven days ago, the FIEFDOM Pre-Alpha launched. Unfortunately, the build was in a rougher state than we had anticipated or planned for. Regardless, we were committed to the promise we made back in August to release FIEFDOMs Pre-Alpha on November 28thno further delays.\n\nThe testing, feedback and bug-reports provided by the Pre-Alpha playerbase has been immaculate and wed like to express our gratitude to everyone that has participated; as it has given us the opportunity to begin improving FIEFDOM at a rapid pace!

As a result, FIEFDOM will receive its first official patch in minutes! This build features a significant number of bug-fixes, balancing adjustments and general improvements to our maps, UI & gameplay. A detailed list of changes is available at the bottom of this post.

Furthermore, we would like to apologize to our NA and OCE Pre-Alpha players. The server issue experienced in these regions has been multifaceted, with several causes. Some regions and datacenters have behaved correctly, while seemingly others with same or even superior specs are malfunctioning. A couple community owners have tested their hosts with a FIEFDOM server and also found additional latency from players connected to them versus to their other gameservers. It seems like an issue that stems from both our codebase and from the hosts themselves, which we are looking into as a major aspect to fix.

Lastly. we are aware that turncap is extremely permissive and are working on creating a more final system to tune it. This includes the feeling of a turncap when in idle, causing a very mild delay.\n\n5th of December, 2025: FIEFDOM Pre-Alpha Patch #1 \n

• Framework:

  [list]

• Fixed bots not spawning in Localplay.

  [/*]

• Minor server optimizations.

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• Partial fix to server load spikes causing desyncs.

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• Solved most instances that lead to a networked desync.

  [/*]

• Fixed LTS (Last-Team-Standing) gamemode counting total rounds rather than rounds won per team for its victory conditions.

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• Serverlist no longer shows servers that dont match your games version. This prevents joining out of date servers that would automatically kick you out.

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• Fixed gamemode overrides in localplay (known issue: bots will not spawn using this method, they must be spawned with the admin menu numpad6 by default when in localplay or as server admin).

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• Removed server browser showing duplicate servers.

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• Fixed chat allowing for invalid characters.

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• Expanded list of exclusions from the profanity filter to avoid false positives (i.e. hello being flagged due to hell )

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• Increased interactable distance (i.e. dropped weapons, elevator) from 200 to 250.

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• Fixed cine camera having higher priority than character inputs, causing some binds to seemingly not trigger.

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• Headbob intensity is now functional: affects ControlRigs that it previously did not.

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• Fixed weapons having incorrect LODs (deformed) on spawn.

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• Fixed lingering targetdetails on characters death.

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• Improved animation blending into and out of emotes. You can now attack during the outro phase of an emote.

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• Emotes now use a combat-appropriate blend out when appropriate (i.e. using feint recovery timer when feinting) rather than outro time.

  [/*]

• Solved desync issues that could come from emotes. Feinting & parrying an emote now work as intended.

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• Music now has adjustable gain.

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Hey everyone, with November 28th just around the corner we\'re excited to give all of you an exact timeframe on when the FIEFDOM Pre-Alpha will become public! Everyone that has backed the Kickstarter with a Tier III or above will be able to play FIEFDOM on the 28th of November at 17:00 CET!

FIEFDOM Pre-Alpha Keys \n\nIn order to gain access to FIEFDOM\'s Pre-Alpha you\'ll of course need a Steam or Epic Games Store Product Key. We\'ll be locking the Kickstarter orders 15 minutes before FIEFDOM goes live, this action will ship out the FIEFDOM Product Keys! You\'ll also be able to purchase a Tier III: Vowman (or any higher Tier) in order to gain access to the (Pre-)Alpha at any time until FIEFDOM officialy launches!

So keep an eye out on your emails, just before the 28th of November at 17:00 CET!

If you\'ve purchased the 4x FIEFDOM Keys add-on, you\'ll be charged for these and any other pending add-ons in your cart, as we\'ll be delivering the 4x FIEFDOM Keys on Friday as well! If you have other add-ons, but not the 4x FIEFDOM Keys, you will not be charged for those as of right now, as they\'ll be delivered at a later date & time!

FIEFDOM Roadmap\n\nWhile releasing the Pre-Alpha is an important milestone for us here at White Tower Games, we\'ll not be sitting back and relaxing. There\'s plenty of features that need to be developed, implemented and also improved over the upcoming months.

[img src=\"https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/45546677/33e4bdee060dacf8c1c599748bfecb1c91ca9baf.png\"][/img]

Besides the features listed, we\'ll of course also be working on a lot of smaller things, i.e. bugfixes, UI improvements, etc... We might also change the roadmap depending on shifting priorities, issues that pop-up or because of unforeseen circumstances, we\'ll of course keep all of you in the loop if that happens!

Lastly, I do have some sad news for everyone that was excited to show off their Kickstarter Rewards in-game this Friday... Even though all the assets have been made and are technically ready, we\'re currently still missing a technical feature which allows us to give the correct rewards to the correct player. This technical asset is our #1 priority for Milestone II.

We\'d like to once again thank all of you for supporting FIEFDOM, and we\'ll see you in-game this Friday!

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On our road to getting what would be by November 3 years of our work, weve gone through quite a few stages. To figuring out many things along the way, to always being surprised at what could go wrong and conversely, what could go right. And were sure theres more well experience in both aspects.

Regarding our current progress on the game, weve switched to delivering things by segments. Melee first, then magic, then ranged, shields, talents

Our future roadmap will clarify where we intend each major feature to be. In general, we aim for monthly updates intertwined with smaller patches regarding bugfixes, optimizations and more importantly: balancing changes and experiments.

Last but not least, this phase this Alpha will be very interesting for us, as we have once been on the other end of the table, playing and commenting on other games Alphas and we hope it will be as interesting for you too.

From development, to the battlefield, we welcome you to join us on our journey as we dive deeper into what weve been working on behind the scenes.

[img src=\"https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/45546677/944b2881a12a0e4e822d909c9587288adc83793f.png\"][/img]

Upgrade from UE 5.4 to 5.6

We have upgraded to the current version of Unreal Engine, not only providing us with a host of new tools, but better performance across the board.

Migration of blueprint code to C++

We migrated 170 structs/enums/classes from blueprint to C++. Not only does this provide us a higher degree of control over how we interact with the systems, but in almost all cases also increases performance allowing for higher player counts while retaining our desired gameplay feel.

Creation of internal balancing tools

Balance has always been a large area of discussion, and likewise a very important thing to get right. Thanks to the creation of balancing tools, we now have the ability to adjust major aspects of combat on the fly.

Bug fixes

We\'ve fixed 78 bugs found during internal QA sessions, namely regarding animation blending, input, replication (networking) and UI.

[img src=\"https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/45546677/371c5428a74777e1126da3ab1f1d2d212a2220d1.png\"][/img]

Combat logic improvements

We\'ve simplified and optimized our combat logic across the board. This will make combat use less resources on both the server and client.

\n\nWe\'ve recreated logic for combos, morphs, ripostes and unified many animation states. This allows us to have controllable transition timings and blend curves at-will, opening up a lot of creative freedom in animation work, as well as responsiveness of inputs.

Animation overhaul

We have been rather quiet regarding our animation work as we\'d rather show, not tell, but here\'s some quick information: we have fully redone almost 100% of the animation assets FIEFDOM had when our Kickstarter launched.

What is perceived as a game\'s \"animation\" is often equal parts animation assets and technical animation; we are heavily working on the latter, and we will reveal the current state of gameplay once we are happy with it. However, this area is one of constant changes and/or improvements, as it indirectly ties to not only a game\'s feel, but also its balancing and performance.

[img src=\"https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/45546677/aa4a47f631f0dcbc2ff48ab810278ce32fc29d98.png\"][/img]

We have continued the rework of our assets to provide better quality and wherever possible, optimization. The following are from our showcases since late August:

[img src=\"https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/45546677/85bbe055d4f9eba8aba35c10cb75d4816ee7d1ee.jpg\"][/img]

Dev note: Some of you have asked us a very important question: Can you run around with naked mauls in FIEFDOM?. While our worlds soldiers can be adepts of the maul all seem a bit prude. As such, youll have undergarments of various types; these are aimed to be comfortable and compatible with the armour you have on top, if any. To start it off, here is one example of Renhirs and of Sulmas undergarments! Mazovia\'s undergarments will come soon..

[img src=\"https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/45546677/4cb2c904601f27af5f380543af8d9620128536a5.jpg\"][/img]

\"What is perhaps most varied among the appearance of Renhirites is the colour of their eyes. Kohrian yellow mixed in with Reterlanters blue has given the draconic realm its two main palettes. More rarely, the right admixture of both Kohrian and Reterlanter ancestry has created a colour unique only to the Renhirites: emerald green. A colour which is a nigh unanimous telltale of the realm of its beholder a trait that naturally ejects any of its candidates from employment in matters of subterfuge and espionage.\"

[img src=\"https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/45546677/d3fe4620791647ed1f0e014d1ca3013f5eca5aca.jpg\"][/img]

\"Often enough, the Renhirites\' zeal for draconic heraldry has hindered their craft. Not so with their famed corseque. Despite its advantageous profile and versatility, pairing some of the traits of a spear and a billhook, the corseque has waned in favour over the past thirteen years. While constables and royal bodyguards fought valiantly at the Battle of Hanvec of 1378 A.C., with the Renhirite relief force winning the city a pyrric reprieve, it would not be without a grievous cost: the mortal wounding and subsequent death of Renhir\'s former king and Moll\'s father, Oxis Flahm.\"

[img src=\"https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/45546677/3134f32b5aee904d71cd297bbbbf9f3ac3f5d8eb.jpg\"][/img]

\"For reasons related to cost or weight, a Renhirite levy might skimp on any heavier elements and forgo all scales. Sometimes, these levies are shamed for this decision While some may believe it reflects their poor finances, the phenomenon may instead stem from Renhirite war doctrine: lesser armoured members of a fielded army tend to busy up the least dangerous, but often most physically demanding, duties of the army. While the spearhead gets the glory, the backline gets not to worry.\"

[img src=\"https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/45546677/0a2a73914f0556dd1c3e4f7a932cc0be4421fb3a.jpg\"][/img]

Dev note: Given that FIEFDOM features asymmetrical balancing, in the sense that realms have a different assortment of weapons to pick from and armours with different values, weve decided to extend this concept into asymmetrical customization namely, that some options or categories are realm-specific. Starting off with face customization: weve decided that the Renhirites feature metal injections on their gnarliest scars, Sulmites feature arrays of tattoos, and Mazovians use thick face paint, a callback to their more ancient shamanic times.

[img src=\"https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/45546677/a67f65c8ca1084ef381d7eeaeaebf7e0e3db176b.png\"][/img]

Dev note: We announced Volaster a long time ago, and we\'ve made a lot of progress since. There are several aspects of a big level like this to work on in parallel: Here we are showing you some of the assets we are both editing, and making from scratch, to more accurately bring to life the mountains of the land of Renhir, and the ancient ruins which form the foundation of the map. We\'re currently sticking to more traditional workflows, not leaning on some of the newer features available in Unreal 5, with the goal of bringing you a map which both performs well and looks good. That being said, features like Unreal\'s procedural content generation (PCG) have proven very valuable in helping to speed up work on a map of this scale. After Magna Castellum this is our first effort as an environment team to properly make our own assets to exactly suit our needs, so this map will be for us a valuable opportunity to show a little of what we can do, but also to learn what we might be able to do as our development continues.

[img src=\"https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/45546677/67a07583063596529d189634a7faf806f88b0056.png\"][/img]

Dev note: Several aspects of a map can be worked on in parallel. One aspect of Volaster which we wanted to improve upon from the block-in stage was the overall fantasy-level of the map, as well as the maps ability to draw players their focus towards the centre of the map where the objectives are located. The goal for the environment team this month will be to combine these parallel improvements, resulting in a map with an interesting layout and story, made from our own beautiful and optimized assets. While we currently dont expect Volaster to be in its final stage when the Alpha releases, the art team is looking forward to pushing out regular updates to the map during the alpha, improving visuals and performance as time goes by.

[img src=\"https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/45546677/d70ec5c30ad837b2987add460fc7ef1fe19bdca9.png\"][/img]

The countdown to Alpha ticks away (out on November 28th, accessible to those that back our Kickstarter\'s Tier III or above), as our team continues to dedicate their time preparing for the awaited day! Here is an insight to some of what\'s planned for the next few weeks.

• Continued focus on optimizing combat, including making it more intuitive and responsive

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• Initial game balancing pass using aforementioned tools

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• Work on various gamemodes and objectives

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• Integrating immersive visual effects in combat & other areas

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• Further standardization of our user interface, alongside experimentation in styles

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• Finalization of one more armour set, several weapons. Continuing on Volasters environment art

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Steam Retrospective posts

We have a Discord server open since August 2024, where we have posted new content once or twice a week through showcase posts. However, many of you reading this are not in the Discord. The solution? Posting retrospectives of our first assets with its flavour text; in addition to any reworks a particular asset or map might\'ve gone through. We will start these soon, stay tuned!

[img src=\"https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/45546677/de0dfba4ad32c0406f486b2e82b4afa9eb982b19.png\"][/img]

Many projects start with crowdfunding, but not all make it out. With our Alphas delay, transparency becomes key. While we, as a team, might be busy working, we also need to keep you in the loop. Our plan is to increase the level of communication from our team to everyone reading.

From now to full release, we want to not only show you what weve made, but also include you in the process that gets us there. As this is an indie project, our biggest strength is you!