It has been a long wait, but it's finally here! We will be releasing Chapter 2 on October 13th at 13:00 UTC!

What's coming with the Chapter 2 update?

The release of Chapter 2 unlocks the next 6 levels of the Campaign, which take you to the mysterious underground Ruins of Heckler! A new region unlocks for Skirmish Mode as well as a myriad of final improvements to make this the most robust patch to date!
We are putting The Dwarves of Glistenveld on sale for 2 weeks starting on the 13th (the day of the Chapter 2 launch), as well as releasing a demo for the first time. Our goal here is to try to get more visibility for the game.

What else has changed since the first release?

To prove to everyone including ourselves that we haven't been sitting around idly all this time , we're going to look at the more significant changes that have come since the game entered Early Access:

Campaign (Chapter 1)

The introduction level in the campaign was first introduced in Patch 12 (Oct '20), and is an important addition because it bridges the gap between the backstory (introduced by the first cutscene) and when you arrive in Fisher's Cove. Windy Rivers saw an overhaul, which was a level originally released with little purpose. The other levels have also seen many improvements through development, based on player feedback and our own testing, with Bridge-it Lake topping the list at 53 revisions!

Technology Tree

Originally the tech tree was less of a tree and more of a list...
Now we have multiple tiers with currently 15 techs to unlock, and the promise of many more! With this comes the many new buildings that can boost your defences or economy, or beautify your bases! The aim by the final chapter (if all goes well) is to have 4 tiers and at least 30 techs!

Greater Player Choice

Originally dwarves received random abilities, but we quickly realised that players should be able to choose them! The ability selection UI has been around ever since Patch 6! Dwarf abilities have gone through many revisions, some were replaced while others were buffed and balanced.
Patch 12 saw the introduction of the difficulty options, allowing you to choose a more casual or hardcore gameplay experience, and more recent patches introduced mechanics like Tinkering and the By-laws tech, giving you more power over your playstyle!

Quality of Life

One of the most requested features was being able to change the game-speed, and was first introduced in Patch 16. A few more examples of quality-of-life improvements include being able to move storage with items together, the introduction of one-button mode, new instruction options, configurable storage, improved game save UI and much more!

More Informative

Along with the addition of the Guide to Glistenveld (an in-game wiki / bestiary that unlocks entries as you explore the game), we've been adding more notifications, visual aids for effects, and a lot more information to help players understand the mechanics behind the gameplay.

Enemy Quantity & Quality

The Dwarves of Glistenveld is still a little light on enemy variety (which we will be addressing as we work on Chapter 3), but initially there were only 2 enemies, and they weren't too bright either! Not only does Chapter 2 feature one of the most intimidating enemies in the game (the draugr), the other enemies have also received a variety of perks and quirks, increasing the strategic potential in their encounters. We believe every type of enemy should feel unique, and we have worked hard to make that a reality!

Environment & Resources

We've introduced new minerals like coal and granite, new types of mushrooms and roots, tomes and bookshelves, all meticulously designed with unique mechanics to help make the world of Glistenveld vibrant and mysterious!

Caverns Mode

First released in Patch 7 (Feb '20), Caverns mode has become one of our favourite modes to play due to its procedural nature, expansive base-building potential and replayability. Caverns mode is a challenge to master, yet features some of the most impressive bases:

Since there's so much more that we could cover, we will be re-uploading the original release as a beta option, for those of you curious enough to check out the differences for yourself! To access it go to your steam library, open TDoG's properties, and under Betas, switch to "first_launch". You can switch back at any time.

Acknowledgements

We'd also like to reflect on what we've fallen short on for this chapter release, so that we can learn from them and work on future improvements.

Time

The most significant for us and I'm sure for many of you is how long it took to get to Chapter 2. We touched on some reasoning for this in our blog posts, but moving forward we intend to give ourselves clearer objectives and planning in future.

Visibility

The game has not seen enough promotion through development. Moving forward we will be putting the game on sale during seasonal events such as the Steam Winter Sale, and will be working harder to give it more attention. We have struggled to build awareness for The Dwarves of Glistenveld, and we are grateful for anyone who supports us in this regard.

Tutorials

In-spite of all our polishing, we've heard the tutorials can be a bit of a grind to play through. This will impact our potential to grow, so it is also something that we should address.

Lastly

Acknowledgements aside, we are very happy with how Chapter 2 has turned out. The team has worked tirelessly to bring this chapter to life and we feel a lot more character, lore and fun design has been poured into the game. We can't wait to find out what you guys make of it!

I hope you're as excited as we are for the upcoming release! That's all for this announcement, see you all in 2 weeks!