Name | Nowhere Prophet | ||
Developer | Sharkbomb Studios | ||
Publisher | Sharkbomb Studios | ||
Tags | |||
Release | Q2 2018 | ||
Steam | € £ $ / % | ||
News | |||
Controls | Keyboard Mouse Partial Controller Support | ||
Players online |  9  | ||
Steam Rating | Mostly Positive | ||
Steam store | |||
SteamSpy | |||
Peak CCU Yesterday |
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Owners |  0 .. 20,000 +/-   | ||
Players - Since release |   +/- | ||
Players - Last 2 weeks |   +/- | ||
Average playtime (forever) | 0 | ||
Average playtime (last 2 weeks) | 0 | ||
Median playtime (forever) | 0 | ||
Median playtime (last 2 weeks) | 0 | ||
Public Linux depots | Nowhere Prophet Linux [594.61 M] | ||
DLC | Nowhere Prophet Original Soundtrack + The Art and Design of Nowhere Prophet Book |
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NOWHERE PROPHET! |
It's been pretty quiet for a while but I've still been working on things behind the scenes. And now that the game has almost hit its two year anniversary it's time for a surprise update! A number of smaller and mid-sized changes have finally congealed together into an update that adds things along multiple fronts: |
It's been a lot of work to get the game ready for consoles, since it has such a specific interface. I think we've managed to make the game fun to play, even providing two different control schemes for you to use: A virtual cursor or a more common button-based navigation. Let me know which one you prefer! Anyway, that's it from me. Thank you so much for supporting the game. I hope that you're safe, wherever you are on your journey. And as always: Stay hydrated, - Martin Oh. And also please note that I'm tracking all the current known issues on the new platforms over in this reddit thread. Let me know if you encounter any issues and I'll at them. |
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Hello fellow pilgrims, |
Time for another update! This one features a lot of changes under the hood but a few more visible things too. Versions of it have been tested in PREVIEW for a while, but here's the rundown: |
If you've been paying attention to development - or just snooped around the BETAs setting on Steam - you may have noticed the PREVIEW branch. This is a way for you to try out in-progress versions. These are stable but contain some still unfinished or untested things. |
If you've been paying attention to development - or just snooped around the BETAs setting on Steam - you may have noticed the PREVIEW branch. This is a way for you to try out in-progress versions. These are stable but contain some still unfinished or untested things. |
Another huge update! I'm excited to finally round out the classes to the full set I envisioned years ago. With the Breaker and the Stalker two brand new prophets enter the fray, so let's look at what they can do! |
You may have noticed the small Localizor logo in the main menu that appeared in the latest update. |
Another content update! This one is all about making the most of the Convoys in the game. You may have noticed that in the past a few of the convoys had a unique, always unlocked fourth perk. For example: the youngest convoy, the Pioneers and the very unique convoy the Hermit.
More Perks But that's not all. Beyond the new intrinsic perk, all other perks have been overhauled and tweaked to be a lot more interesting, diverse and interactive. There's a perk that grants a unique status effect in combat available on most convoys now! And there's different ways that the starting situation of the convoys can improve! But, how do you get these perks? Unlocking Extras In the past, each perk was unlocked by completing the same target but using a different convoy. This was pretty repetitive, but also took a very long time. To make the process more fun this update also tweaks unlocks: Each convoy has their own targets for unlocks now! And the target numbers should mean that unlocks are generally enabled much quicker now! For example, one Convoy will have you dismantle items to progress, while another needs to destroy obstacles or play followers of a specific type. And that's mostly it! Of course this update features a bunch of other minor improvements and bugfixes, which you can find in the changelog! Stay hydrated, - Martin |
Just a quick update to the PREVIEW branch: |
This winter on Soma brings and early present for everyone: |
Alright everyone! It's time for another update. This is all about the Steam support. The cloud, the cards and some other changes! |
The Steam Awards are here, and what better time to look back at the amazing year Nowhere Prophet has had! From a wonderful beta-run through to all the new updates (with one right around the corner) we've had a tremendously busy year, and we couldn't have done any of it without you! |
It's time for the cloud!
Also note that this does NOT enable cloud save. It is simply the changes made in preparation for steam remote storage. Also, if you've played in the PREVIEW branch without any strange or unusual behavior, then please do let me know, preferably via Discord! The more people tell me it works the sooner I can roll it out to everyone and enable cloud syncing! The Nitty Gritty If you're interested in the behind the scenes code stuff, here's what I had to change and why: There's two types of Steam Cloud: Automatic and Manual. Manual cloud gives me more control but also needs to put the save files in a folder relative to Steam. That's a problem because we already have a save file elsewhere. So either we convert all files with a lot of work or we keep two sets of save games at all times which is unreasonably finicky. Automatic cloud on the other hand works great, but it has the issue that it only downloads files to your local drive, it never deletes them, even if the game did so. So if you play, some files got deleted. It syncs to the cloud. You play on your other system, it syncs but the last version of those deleted files still exists on this machine. That causes trouble. As it stands the game deletes the save for your current run when it's over and it checks for deleted files to see if you have an active run. That's obviously not playing well with Steam Auto Cloud. So the change I made is that on Steam it doesn't delete the files but instead overwrites them with very simple files that only contain one letter ("X") and then not only checks for missing files but, even if there is a file it makes sure that if it contains only "X" that it's considered to be nonexistent for the purposes of the Main Menu "continue" button and other things. This change is to the game itself. However "enabling auto cloud" is a steam-wide feature that is either disabled, enabled for developers or enabled for everyone. But before I can enable it for everyone without causing deleted-file weirdness, everyone needs to have a build with the save game changes. And that needs to be tested first. It was tested internally and is now moved to Preview testing before it rolls out to everyone. And then finally, can I enable cloud saves. And that's the full story. - Martin Oh, and by the way: If you've read this far and haven't yet written a Steam Review, I'd really appreciate it if you'd take the time to do so now! Reviews are very important to Nowhere Prophet being visible on Steam and thus to the game's sales! |
I've been busy working on this update for a while. Some of you might have played around with it in the PREVIEW branch but I finally have all the artwork here and in place so it's time to roll this out to everyone! |
Hey everyone! It's been a quiet few weeks over here as I've been hard at work at the next big update for the game! This one coming with new cards, new features and lots of other tweaks.
And how are we getting there? Here's the big changes: New Followers Check out this glorious temporary artwork! This is the heart of it all: 40 brand new followers, for for each of the ten faction for a total of 10 commons, 20 rares and 10 legendary dudes. Some of them doing brand new things like partially healing your leader or making use of the brand new keywords! Stoic: If a unit with stoic is destroyed it suffers no wound Brawl: If this unit enters battle in a position from which it can attack, then it will fight the first target in the opposing row There's also a few new leader cards to discover! Convoy Recovery The convoy recovery event on the map A big new feature is the fact that if your run fails you can now find the remains of your convoy in the second run. It will be a quest visible on the first map. If you make it there you can try and win back some of your old followers and items! There's much more to the update but since the list of changes has gotten so big I'll just leave it to you to read up on the details via the in game changelog! So, what are you waiting for? Give it a try! And let me know what you think! And while I have you here: It'd be great if you could leave a review for the game if you haven't already. Plus if you have some time on your hands: it would be very helpful for people to find the game if you could use the Steam Store tags feature to apply the tags you think appropriate! Thanks so much! And in the meantime I'll be busy getting this thing rounded out and polished so it can go live for everyone soon! - Martin |
I've sneakily updated the PREVIEW branch last week with the first half of this change (convoy decks only) but now, with everything done, I wanted to let you all know and hear your feedback! |
The Pioneers convoy They follow the ideals of the Union, no longer its leaders. Solidarity, equality and liberty lead them on their search for a new home. They have three unlockable perks, which you can see above, and one unique always-on fourth perk (similar to the Hermit): Battlefield Engineering Each side of the battlefield has at least one row filled with obstacles. These obstacles are appropriate to the environment and make the battlefield tighter for both parties. This means that decks that work with a lot of cheap cards to try and flood the board have a bit of a problem. This also ensures that there's always obstacles to destroy if you have any synergistic effects... So how can you get the Pioneers? When you're in Pit Nine, don't simply follow the instructions of the Agents mindlessly, maybe try to listen to the rebel cell and support their cause... Six new leader cards And lastly the new leader cards. These have been added to help round out some items and as a start to strengthen comeback mechanics and slower tactics, something I'm thinking about a lot. Anyway, without further ado, here are the cards:
And that's the big stuff. There's still a bunch of smaller changes. Check out the changelog below for more details. [quote=changelog]Custom Game mode added
Six new leader cards
New pioneers convoy
Balancing
Interface
Bugfixes
[/quote] And that's it! Thank you for reading and thank you for playing. Do join me in the Nowhere Prophet discord and please leave a Steam review if you enjoy the game! And as always: Stay hydrated! - Martin |
It's been a tad quiet around here while I was busy getting a nice update together for everyone. The upcoming version 1.02 comes with a new game mode, a new convoy and more! |
Just a quick patch addressing some small issues: |
Another update for everyone! Nowhere Prophet hits 1.01.001 and here's what's new and different! |
Mornin' everyone. It's monday and I'm back at work. I've mostly made my way through being sick, coming out the other end, still sniffling but happy to be properly productive again. |
After languishing in preview (and a slight detour) for a few days this update is finally cooked all the way through and ready for deployment on the LIVE branch. |
Hello from me on a Saturday! |
Just a quick note that the preview version received a small update just now. This includes just minor tweaks to some of the balancing, some bugfixes in the follower filter and some tutorial/rulebook changes. |
Time for another update to the preview branch!
Since the localization thing is something that takes a while it might be some time before this update makes its way to the live branch. And obviously, as always, please let me know how things play/feel/work! Especially in regards to the obstacle attack change. The beyond I'm already working on the things after the follower filter update. I've mentioned it before and I'm still looking at energy costs for powers, which seems very likely, potential keyword changes, some of which might make the cut, and maybe even a tiny bit of new content. All of these bits need some more testing (and localization!) so that is slowing them down right now. In the meantime, enjoy this preview! - Martin |
Hey y'all. |
Those of you that are tuned in to the PREVIEW channel of the game have had the chance to play with this update over the weekend. Now that Monday has rolled around and nothing significant broke, its time to make this one go live. |
It's now exactly two weeks after the release of Nowhere Prophet and from where I stand it looks like I managed to deal with all the really big issues. A lot of bugs and problems are fixed (I'm sure there are more so please keep reporting what you find) and now it's time to look beyond simply repairing things and to making the gameplay experience better.
Maybe this overlay could provide detailed statistics on your current deck and thus free up the space of the stats area in the screen to be used for a "remove all wounded followers" button that turns into a "remove all" button when you have no wounded followers. I'm also thinking about the ability to make some of your followers as Favorites. You could then filter by Favorites, and they would always be sorted at the start of the list. Also when healing favorites in your deck and not in your deck would be prioritized before all others giving you some more control. Here's a (arguably VERY quick) mockup of what it could be like: What do you think? Any good ideas on how to improve this? Am I missing anything vital or important? If so, join the discord and let me know! Comeback Content Another thing the game could do better is to allow players to come back from having lost board control. To that end I'm looking at maybe modifying some existing cards or adding new ones that make the game a bit more forgiving if you fall back. An example would be a card that stuns all followers. This isn't something you would ever want to use when you're leading, but when you're behind it can give you enough room to put some of your units down in a safe environment. This would allow me to put the price of the card down a bit, which means it doesn't eat up all your Energy budget for the turn. I have a few ideas for pieces of content like this but as always I'm curious to hear your thoughts! Update Schedule So with these changes coming up next, how will these roll out? Well the current plan is to keep the Preview branch active for this. Ideally I'd like to update Preview at the end of each week and then give you all time over the weekend to play and test. If nothing unforeseen catches fire or explodes then the update could go live to everyone after the weekend. Preview Update: 1.00.014 And in line with that today marks a new update to the preview branch. This one is mostly bugfixes, some balancing and interface improvements. As usual: If it breaks nothing major it will go live early next week, so give it a whirl! [quote=changelog]Balancing Improved states for opening the gate with follower count was reduced to 25/50 Armored enemies have a tad less armor AI now properly evaluates and targets obstacles with Taunt You gain Focus as normal on Doomed difficulty now Juggernaut cost increased to 5 (was 3) Decoy changed to 2/4 (was 1/4) Interface Followers in Combat now only show the "multiple effects" icon if they actually have multiple icons to display Critical enemy buffs are marked blue in pre-combat screens Event buildings leading to potential boss fights are marked red in locations Focus value display changed in edit deck screen Crypt Gate events split and put on the map and into the location Chance labels in event options adjusted to be more accurate Added visual effect to unsummoning of units Bugfixes Brain Drain can now target obstacles as expected Coordinated Swarm now also potentially targets the enemy leader Battlefield Sense no longer triggers if Energy is full Quickly unsummoning a unit with a fury effect no longer creates a stuck card Can no longer spam ESC to quit out of Mulligan while game is still setting up starting state Can no longer sneak illegal attacks in during animation (queueing an attack while kennel master is off the board and before his dog has appeared now leads to no action happening) Route Generator now no longer creates multiples of unique locations (gladiator camp, boss locations)[/quote] Alright, and that's it for today! As always, thanks for reading, thanks for playing and thanks for speaking up! - Martin |
A lot of bugfixes and tweaks to the AI and balance here we are with the first sizable update to the game outside the preview branch. |
A new week has dawned, and there's still plenty of work to do! |
So I hope that by now a few of you found some time to play the PREVIEW build with the improved AI. As you may have noticed, this makes the game a bunch tougher.
All of these dials affect the game in different ways. The changed AI basically dialled up the difficulty of fights with the enemies playing more effectively. Tweaking health would be the easiest change but it would also make the game even more sensitive to alpha strikes as it already is in the non-elite non-boss fights. Enemy decks are probably a better are to address but they are a bit finicky and hard to balance because there's so many things coming together, sometimes in unexpected ways. Enemy status effects are simpler (fewer moving parts) but the changes are less gradual. One fewer trigger can sometimes make a challenging fight trivial. My plan for balance So that said, my current thoughts are to make the enemy decks a bit less mean in Chosen and Burdened so that the decks start to synergize at higher levels. This would also help with making map 1 a bit less of a make or break moment. Also some tweaks to the status effects and then pulling down HP for the elites and bosses just a tad (on Burdened and Doomed). And lastly to make the AI in the early maps a little stupider again - not as much as it was but just a tad less optimized. I am also considering changing the length of the maps and how the enemy levels are spread out across them a bit. Currently the game ramps up quickly in Map 1, so maybe that should be a bit more gradual. In any case, expect an updated PREVIEW build Monday or Tuesday next week. With all that said, please keep the feedback coming! Specifically:
- Martin |
Another day, another update. |
Alright, let's start with the most important note: There's an updated build in the PREVIEW branch on Steam. It features some minor bugfixes and improvements to the AI. |
Alrighty! Day 2 is over and I spent some time collecting your feedback, both the aggregated data from the online form and from the various other places. Thanks again everyone who joined in! |
After the madness of the launch weekend it's time for me to get back into a proper rhythm. And to that end I've scoured my emails, the forums and Discord today looking for bug reports. Many thanks to everyone that reported something with special mentions to anyone who provided screenshots or log files. This is the best way to help me quickly find, reproduce and fix a problem.
This is a pretty good list for a day, if you ask me. However this version is not yet available because I want it to see some testing before I put it live for everyone. Just to be sure it breaks nothing else. If you want to give it a spin though, you can right click on the game in your library and select the PREVIEW branch to get access. There's no password or anything so go right ahead. In fact this branch will come handy for the next steps: Next Steps: Boss Balancing So, I've mentioned yesterday that I will take a closer look at the bosses. I will start doing so right away tomorrow (unless something strange catches fire). My current plans are to make sure all the bosses are on a more event footing. A few of them are clear peaks in the difficulty curve, especially at the beginning of the game when you don't yet have a well-tuned deck. To that end I plan to restrict the status effects a bit and also reduce the synergy in the enemy decks, especially on the lower levels. My plan (as said, if nothing suddenly explodes) is to do the first draft of changes tomorrow and then also make those available into the above-mentioned PREVIEW branch so you folks can give them a spin right away. Also, if you haven't already, please fill out the online form! It will help me better gauge the difficutly of the bosses and my potential solutions! |
Wow! What a weekend! |
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In the meantime, we're about to start the new Nowhere Prophet Meta-Game on Discord -- feel free to join in, and maybe you'll get to make some big decisions about the final game :) Thanks all! No More Robots + Sharkbomb |
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Nowhere Prophet is finally available in First Access! |
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Game development certainly can be a roller coaster... |