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Hello everyone!
Today, we are excited to present the updated 2025 Roadmap for Stoneshard. But before diving into the details, we'd like to take a brief look back at the development of Rags to Riches.
Rags to Riches was a major success for our team. That update brought the highest number of players since the game's Early Access launch, received a wealth of positive feedback, and showed a significant increase in engagement compared to previous releases. We are incredibly grateful for this warm reception and hope that future content will continue to meet your expectations.
However, as many of you may remember, the development of Rags to Riches proved to be long and arduous. While the complexity of the new features played a major role in it, we also had to devote significant effort to extensive reworks of many existing systems to ensure the seamless integration of all the planned content.
It wasn't uncommon for the development of one system to necessitate changes in several others, sometimes to the point of adding new systems altogether. Splitting these changes and additions across multiple updates or postponing them wasn't really an option, as certain core elements like the Caravan, reworked Contracts, Dungeons, the World Map, and numerous smaller but technically crucial features are all deeply interconnected. This quickly turned into a true Gordian knot of conditions and dependencies. Untangling it took a great deal of time, ultimately leading to the substantial delay of that patch compared to previous ones.
Fortunately, now that we have added one of the last truly large and comprehensive systems - the Caravan - we hope to release future updates more regularly. Unlike Rags to Riches, the remaining mechanics and content follow a fairly modular structure.
To sum it up, we aim for smaller but more frequent patches. Our new Roadmap reflects this change as well, moving away from massive, standalone updates in favor of parallel content development, which will be divided into smaller releases (don't worry - they'll still have names).
Because of this, the Venom in the Waters update, which was previously planned as the next major patch, has been postponed. Some of its features have been redistributed into other content blocks, since such a heavily thematic patch would have taken an unreasonably long time to develop.
So, what's next for Stoneshard?
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Hello everyone!
Meet patch 0.9.2.0, bringing a wealth of new content focused on Brigands and their Bastions, along with various fixes and improvements. There's also one previously unannounced surprise that we'll reveal below
Hello everyone! The work on the next content patch is well underway, and very soon you'll be able to take on new Bastion contracts, experience their unique Conditions, and see some familiar things in a new light... In the meantime, were excited to share our new trailer with you! The previous one has served us well since the Early Access launch, but it's now quite outdated. So, we set out to create a more complete showcase of the game, incorporating every major feature added with "Rags to Riches". And for the voiceover, we invited none other than Scott Moat - the voice of Verren in the Prologue. Every view is much appreciated, so if youd like to support the project, make sure to watch the trailer on YouTube. Thank you for staying with us! [previewyoutube=xWGvOTLbw9M;full][/previewyoutube]
Hello everyone! This patch addresses numerous issues reported by the community over the past month. While we're at it, we'd also like to discuss our plans for the near future. Before the release of Rags to Riches, we announced that the new Roadmap would be published early this year. That promise still stands: we'll share details about what you can expect from the upcoming updates once we've concluded support for Rags to Riches. Apart from bug fixes and other improvements, we aim to finish implementing the content that didn't make it into the December patch. Our first priority is introducing new Bastion contracts, which are well underway to being added to the game. This will solve the ongoing issue of the low availability of Brigand contracts, caused by their limited variation. In Rags to Riches, every contract can only be active in a single instance, which, in the case of the Bastion, isn't enough to cover every settlement on the global map simultaneously. Moreover, the very next patch will add a slew of new weapons for underrepresented subcategories (such as flails and battle staves), additional Caravan events, and one previously unannounced surprise. After that, we will shift our focus to implementing caves and the content related to them, including new enemies and rare plants with special properties, which should take another few weeks to complete. So stay tuned and follow the news!
Hello everyone!
The day has finally come: Rags to Riches is now available for download! This is the largest update in the game's history, adding and overhauling a dozen major systems. We're confident that for most of you, it will transform Stoneshard into a brand new experience.
Let's dive right into it - the patch notes are below. Keep in mind that these don't cover the full scope of changes and additions, as many of them have been deliberately omitted or only vaguely described. Rags to Riches alters the game in many ways, and we want to leave enough surprises even for seasoned players.
Get ready to carve your path from rags to riches - the largest update in Stoneshard's history is to be released on December 16th at 16:00 .
Gather your Caravan, recruit trusty Followers, take upon fully reworked Dungeons and their treacherous Conditions, explore Settlement Outskirts, take advantage of Situations, profit from Trade Goods, Cook and Craft your supplies, and experience the game anew with a myriad of other additions, changes, and QoL tweaks!
Hello everyone!
This is the final devlog dedicated to the upcoming Rags to Riches update, the largest one in Stoneshards history. So today, as promised, were happy to announce its release date - December 16th!
Plan your winter holidays accordingly - we almost cant wait to show you the results of our work. But for now, this is a perfect moment to review the progress weve made over the past year and go through every addition to the game that will be waiting for you on December 16th. Lets get started!
Hello everyone!
In todays devlog, well cover the remaining three major systems that will be a part of the upcoming Rags to Riches update: reworked Contracts, Economy, and Settlement Situations.
Hello everyone!
Today well cover one of the most essential features of the upcoming Rags to Riches update - Caravan Followers.
Followers are a fundamental part of the Caravan, allowing you to customize it depending on your needs. During your travels through Aldor, youll be given an option to recruit a small retinue of helpers, each granting access to unique opportunities that will benefit both the Caravan and your Character.
Before we begin, it must be noted that Followers wont accompany you everywhere you go or participate in battles the same way they would in a party-based RPG: all of them either lack proficiency in soldierly matters or avoid getting into fights for personal reasons. The support they provide is exclusively out-of-combat, such as granting access to trading, repairs, and a plethora of other things that well talk about in more details below.
We plan to have six unique Followers in total, three of which will be introduced with Rags to Riches. The first one is Darrel, your old acquaintance, whom well take a better look at in this devlog. The rest of the gang will remain a secret - youll have a chance to meet them after the update is out. The only tidbit we can share for now is that all of them (except Darrel) will be newly-made NPCs, none of them present in the current version of the game.
The Caravan can accommodate up to three Followers - according to Verren, a crew larger than that wouldnt be sufficiently discrete and mobile to carry out the search for Stoneshards. If needed, itll be possible to swap your Followers mid-journey: they can be dismissed at will and then replaced with someone else. Obviously, this works both ways: an already recruited Follower can later rejoin the Caravan. Still, maintaining a stable team with infrequent rotations will be the most sensible approach - the reason will become clear in a moment.
The search for new Followers starts with Verren. After receiving the initial sum necessary for purchasing additional horses and a new wagon, hell direct you towards your specialist of choice - whatever happens next depends on the Follower, since all of them have a small quest connected to their recruitment. Once youre done with that part, the Follower will join the Caravan and head to the Camp, where youll finally be able to make use of their services: Darrel, for instance, can lend a hand with repairs or sell you a variety of tools.
Additionally, each Follower comes with four unique perks. The first two are actives: most of them will be presented in the form of dialogue options that grant access to special actions and effects. The remaining two are passives and will usually be focused on improving different aspects of the Caravan.
Freshly recruited Followers will have only two perks unlocked: one active and one passive. The rest will need to be earned by raising a Followers Loyalty, a stat reflecting their commitment to your cause. Loyalty will grow by itself with each passing day as long as said Follower is in the Caravan and can also be improved through Caravan events, dialogues, and the choices you make during them.
Followers will have five tiers of Loyalty:
Hello everyone!
Todays devlog is dedicated to changes to the global map and a new settlement of the Grand Magistrate - Denbrie! Lets tackle it one thing at a time.
Hello everyone!
In todays devlog, well conclude the topic of Caravan Upgrades by revealing the final upgrade path - Communication.
Interesting fact: Caravan Upgrades are not Abilities and therefore DONT require Ability Points. Instead, they are unlocked with items and materials.
Its main focus is staying in touch with civilization. Lets take a closer look at what this entails:
Hello everyone!
In todays devlog, well take another look at Caravan Upgrades. This time the focus is on the third category - Traveling. As always, a reminder: Caravan Upgrades are not Abilities and therefore dont require Ability Points. Instead, they are unlocked with items and materials.
But lets give these upgrades some context first. One of the Caravan's primary features is far-distance traveling. It can be accessed by talking to Verren at the Caravan Camp, then choosing a tile on the global map to travel to.
Caravan travels will work by the following rules:
Hello everyone!
In todays devlog well demonstrate the final version of the reworked Dungeon Generator and showcase the main principles that governed its development.
Lets start with a list of reasons that led us to reevaluating our approach to dungeon generation. The player feedback we received about its current state revealed the following issues:
Hello everyone!
Todays devlog is dedicated to another new feature of the upcoming Rags to Riches update - the Crafting System.
The main principle behind the titular mechanic is that it allows only the creation of consumables and other similar items. The possibility of crafting complex gear and equipment was discarded very early on: doing otherwise would result in constant interactions with a broad range of specialized crafts and tools, which doesnt mesh well with the games main theme - adventuring and exploring the world as a mercenary. On top of that, being able to craft armor and weapons would demand a rather cumbersome system with lots of materials, tools, and so on, shifting the games focus even further from what we aim to achieve.
Therefore, a system that revolves solely around the creation of consumables and various utility items makes the most sense in the context of the preexisting basic gameplay loop, adding more depth to the preparation stage.
Anyway, lets start with the basics. Crafting is performed through a dedicated menu, which can be accessed in three ways: by using the Crafting basic ability, interacting with a workbench (such as the one you can upgrade your Caravan with), or by using a Crafting Kit:
In order to create an item, youll need to possess both the correct ingredients and the knowledge. In the beginning, your character will know how to craft only the most simple items - the schematics for making anything more sophisticated will need to be found, looted, or purchased from traders.
Schematics are split into two categories: basic and advanced. Basic items can be crafted anywhere, any time, all you need is ingredients. On the contrary, advanced schematics cant be followed through without a workbench or a Crafting Kit - a new consumable that loses charges with each crafted item.
Creating a consumable will award a bit of Experience, the exact amount depending on the finished items complexity. To make the search for new schematics even more enticing, crafting an item for the first time will grant you five times the basic amount of XP. And even though the current list of crafting schematics is relatively short, we plan to greatly expand it in the future with the addition of many new consumables.
Its worth mentioning that this new system brought a lot of changes to Bedrolls and Campfires: Bedrolls will no longer require you to learn any skills to craft them, while Campfires will be created by using a special craftable item - a Bundle of Brushwood.
Consequently, the Survival ability tree saw some significant tweaks too: it now has a much more flexible structure, and some of its skills were heavily revised.
Each character will also start with Butchering, a new Survival skill that will allow you to harvest meat from dead beasts without investing any AP. Skinning and looting rare ingredients, on the other hand, will still require you to learn the dedicated passive.
Additionally, the Crafting System will allow your character to create Fodder, a resource used to fuel your Caravan travels. Although Fodder will be purchasable from stablehands, theres still a risk of finding yourself stranded far from civilization without sufficient supplies - thats where additional options come into play.
Fodder can be crafted from any foodstuff suitable for horses: grain, straw, apples and carrots, even some herbs. Using grain in particular will yield the most Fodder, while the low nutritional value of straw will require you to collect a whole lot of it to make a difference.
Thats all for now. In the next devlog well return with more information on the Caravan Upgrades. As a parting gift, heres a glimpse of something else that were currently working on:
Until the next devlog, and have a happy New Year!
Hello everyone!
In todays devlog, well continue exploring the Caravan Upgrade System, which brings us to the second part of the upgrade tree - Restoration.
True to its name, the Restoration path is dedicated to maximizing the efficacy of resting at the Caravan. It comes with 6 upgrades that are focused on either improving the quality of your Characters sleep or introducing more utility to the Camp.
Wed like to remind you that Caravan Upgrades are completely separate from the Leveling System and dont require Ability Points - all upgrades are unlocked exclusively by purchasing prerequisite items.
Hello everyone!
Today the topic is Cooking, a mechanic that will play a significant role in both your adventures and the Caravan System.
Important note: the effects, prices, and availability of most existing foods will be rebalanced in Rags to Riches. The numbers you see on the screenshots are also subject to change.
Cooking can be split in two parts: Basic Actions and the cooking of dishes.
Basic Actions include Roasting and Meat Salting. Roasting is basically the Cooking of the current version of the game. In Rags to Riches itll be performed through a separate menu with an option to roast multiple ingredients at once rather than going through them one by one.
Salting requires any type of meat and a few handfuls of Salt. Once preserved, meat loses some of its nutritional value but can be stored indefinitely, which is quite convenient during prolonged expeditions or when you want to preserve the spoils of your hunt for later.
The preparation of actual dishes is more complex. First of all, youll need a recipe. Some basic recipes will be available to all characters from the beginning. The rest will have to be found, bought, or earned through high Reputation in settlements. For instance, reaching Respect in Osbrook will make it possible to purchase the secret of preparing Osbrook Bread Bowl Stew, in Mannshire - Mannshire Fair Salad, in Brynn - Harpy Omelette la Brynn. For now, weve created 37 different recipes, but their total number might grow by the time Rags to Riches is out.
So, youve got the recipe, whats next?
Firstly, youll need an open fire - any fireplace or campfire will do. Then youll have to place a pot on top of it. Tavern fireplaces and some campsites already have pots pre-installed, but youll need to bring one for any fires you start yourself. Although, not every recipe requires a pot - for instance, Hunter-Style Drumsticks or Meat Skewer can be cooked without it.
In order to prepare soups and some deserts (such as Fruit Soup or Flapjacks), youll need to fill your pot with water or milk. This can be done simply by pouring liquid from other vessels into it.
Once this part is over, you can start adding the ingredients. Most recipes allow a certain level of deviation: sometimes, they can be interpreted quite liberally - if you cook a Vegetable Salad, any Vegetable type ingredient will do. Other recipes might require a specific item, such as Garlic, Onion, or Leek. Keep in mind that the end result will always look the same and have the same effects regardless of the exact ingredients used - this is done for the sake of straightforwardness and more consistent visuals.
The numbers and stats you see are a placeholder and a subject to change.
Still, theres a caveat: some recipes have a place for optional Additives that will imbue dishes with extra effects. For example, Salt will double your dishs expiration time, Butter will give it a bonus to Hunger Resistance, and more exotic variants (such as Jibean Spices, Nistrian Condiments, and Skadian Herbs) will provide a sizeable boost to Morale, Sanity, or Immunity.
All in all, dishes will differ not only in the amount of Hunger they sate but also many other aspects: they might reduce Fatigue, improve Morale, Sanity, or Immunity, grant bonus Experience Gain, increase some Resistances, and so on. On top of that, Satiety (the effect granted for overfilling your Hunger meter) will receive an additional stack and some other bonuses if you gain it by consuming an advanced dish.
Once youre done cooking, food can be eaten directly from the pot. But if you want to leave it for later, youll need a suitable vessel. Obviously, soups require a deep bowl, but everything else can be placed on any plate (gold plates will work as well!). Itll also be possible to place some dishes directly into your Inventory, such as loafs of Garlic Cheese Bread.
Thats all for now. Stay tuned for the next devlog, which will be focused on the second branch of the Caravan Upgrades!
Hello everyone!
This is the first post in the series of devlogs dedicated to the new features of the upcoming update, Rags to Riches, the release date of which will be revealed in the final entry. Todays topic is the updates most important addition and the last major system to be introduced to the game: the much-anticipated Caravan.
Wed like to begin by explaining our reasoning behind the system and what we plan to achieve with it. One of the most frequent player suggestions is to add some sort of permanent dwelling, a purchasable and customizable house in a village or city. However, Stoneshard is a game about a mercenary, a character whos always on the move in search of contracts and glory, so anchoring them to a single location would go against the main theme. At the same time, we arent averse to the concept of home in a broader sense - and thats where the Caravan System comes into play by adding a customizable mobile camp.
The Caravans main purpose is to allow for easier exploration, making it possible to travel large distances across the global map - with a few limitations.
- Fixed the crash caused by "Tempest". - Fixed the crash caused by "Draining Sigil". - Fixed the crash caused by "Blood Spit". - Fixed the crash caused by using "Forceful Slam" on the same turn as moving to another location. - Fixed the incorrect duration of "Blood Craze". - Fixed "Deadly Tail" still applying its outdated debuff. - Fixed "Sudden Lunge" delivering a second strike while dual wielding. - Fixed the possibility of reading already studied maps. - Fixed "Seal of Shackles" not prolonging the duration of its effect when used again on the same target. - Fixed the Leatherworking Workshop's Bailiff demanding a larger bribe even when presented with the Recommendation Letter. - Fixed Guards not reacting to the first bow or crossbow shot taken at them. - Fixed Runic Boulders not being destroyed when summoned on tiles with traps. - Fixed "Ramming Charge" being listed as a Stance ability. - Fixed the Ethnarch's Funeral Mask triggering only once per playthrough. - Increased the chance of triggering damage types' special effects. Standardized the duration of said effects. - Reduced the spawn chance for some high level enemies (including Brigand Mages, Sanguimages, and Murkstalkers). - Antitoxin will now halve the duration of Hangovers. - Fixed the bug causing equipment hovers to not display negative changes to stats if they were compensated by an enchantment. - Fixed Turncoats dropping weapons that didn't match their sprite. - Fixed Wolfhounds not having a "swimming" sprite. - Fixed the sound effect of "Resonance" disappearing after moving to another location. - Fixed the possibility of triggering multiple death animations at the same time when killing enemies with critical damage. - Fixed the bug causing stolen items to change their settlement tag to a new one when placed in a container owned by another settlement. - Fixed the sprite depth of destroyed Deathstinger Hives. - Fixed collision issues with dry trees in the steppes. - The game now correctly saves the color of blood splatters on the ground. - The game now correctly saves the color of dropped potions.
Hello everyone!
The work on Rags to Riches continues as planned, and its already evident that itll be the largest update yet. Right now our hands are full with implementing a whole bunch of different mechanics: Caravan Upgrades, improved Dungeon Generation, reworked Contracts, Cooking, better pathfinding for enemies. Some time is also being spent on conceptualizing new features that will be introduced to the game after RtR. And if all goes well, well soon release a couple more devlogs highlighting the Caravan System and Cooking, which are close to being finished.
But since everything else still requires more time in the oven, we decided to release yet another interim update that will include some of the content originally intended for Rags to Riches. So, what can you expect from the 0.8.2.0 content patch arriving in the next few weeks?
- Fixed "Push the Falling" not taking effects' max duration cap into account. - Fixed the bug causing some Brigand enemies to use incorrect damage values. - Updated some of the items' spritework. - Fixed "Offensive Tactic" not decreasing Fumble Chance. - Increased the cooldown of "Mighty Kick".
Hello everyone!
In todays devlog well take a look at the new ability tree - the long awaited Armored Combat. We also have a surprise announcement to make.
Initially, we planned to add Armored Combat with the next major update, Rags to Riches. But since theres still a lot of work to be done, and itll be a while before Rags to Riches is released, we decided to make this one ability tree a part of the previously unannounced Equipment Update III, which will introduce many new pieces of armor for mages and hybrid builds.
On top of all that, Equipment III will feature various tweaks to half the existing abilities. There was a lot of negative feedback regarding Ranged Weapons, Warfare (former Combat Mastery), and Shields, so these ability trees in particular were changed the most. Therell also be certain QoL improvements, such as reworked skill hovers and a better system for skills classification. The exact details will be revealed in the patch notes.
We aim to release the Equipment Update III on May 16th. Please take note that this interim update wont feature new bags, reworked Dungeons, the Caravan, and everything else that was explicitly presented as a part of Rags to Riches. The exact date for the latter will be announced a short time before its release. Another thing worth mentioning: the Equipment Update III will be compatible with your current save files.
Now lets move onto the new ability tree. Armored Combat consists of 8 skills, spread evenly between actives and passives.
While conceptualizing Armored Combat, one of our goals was to make it useful to all armor types, both heavy and light.
As a result, its skills are designed to dynamically change depending on the equipped armor. This mechanic bears some resemblance to the one used by Shields, although the differences between armor types effects are significantly more noticeable.
Hello everyone!
The last couple of months our team has been working on lots of new content: the long-awaited Caravan, the previously highlighted rework of the Dungeon Generator, and dungeon and settlement modifiers that will be a part of the upcoming Contract System rework - speaking of which, today wed like to elaborate on some of its elements, namely Outskirts locations.
Outskirts are a new type of Points of Interest that will be introduced to the game with the next major update, Rags to Riches. Located a few tiles away from settlements, they still act as their continuation of sorts
Their main purpose is to add more variety to the basic contract loop and facilitate early game exploration. Most Outskirts will usually offer you the following things:
- Fixed the bug causing accumulated Pain levels to change too abruptly when the Pain Limit is decreased. - Keep Them Coming can no longer be triggered by casting spells. - Fixed Determination doing nothing when used against enemies on the same tile as a doorway. - Fixed the possibility of attacking Runic Boulders while Stunned. - Added an Accuracy bonus to Throwing Nets, Nistrian Flame Flasks, and Spider Blood Flasks. - Fixed the bug causing some contracts to not register the Necromancers death. - Fixed Brigand Geomancers casting Stone Spikes without a good enough reason. - Fixed Brigand Geomancers using the characters Spell Range instead of their own when casting Boulder Toss. - Dungeon Bats and Giant Rats can no longer open doors. - Updated Crowns sprite. - Fixed Elite Brynn Guards not switching to their alternative sprite when in combat state. - Fixed Horse Pelts using an incorrect sprite when dropped on the floor. - The Brigands' speech lines aimed at nearby allies are no longer triggered by nearby dogs. - Bleeding enemies no longer use the characters speech lines. - Completely fixed the bug that allowed some animals to use speech lines. - The Brynn Hierophant now uses his intended name and role. - Fixed Mannshire Guards being tagged as Osbrook Guards. - The standalone Prologue is now up-to-date.
- Fixed the freezes reported by some players when playing with the native cursor enabled. Returned the option to enable it in the settings. - Fixed some empty vessels being able to apply their targets with Wetness and Covered in Alcohol when thrown. - Fixed wolf packs getting stuck in the Howl loop. - Fixed the possibility of avoiding death by moving to another location on the same turn as receiving lethal damage. - Adjusted the menu layout for the 1280x800 screen resolution. - The cursor size now adapts to the game window size. - Fixed Rune of Enfeeblement and Rune of Fortifying granting their effect regardless of the distance to a runic boulder. - Fixed the occasional crash caused by killing Girruds. - Fixed the issue with displaced container menus. - Reduced the intensity of the Drunkenness visual effects. - Fixed Necromancers using the same speech lines as the generic Undead. - Fixed the bug causing enemies to use incorrect speech lines under certain circumstances. - Tweaked the effectiveness of alcohol and the Bloodletting Lancet to make Pain and Intoxication more manageable during the early stages of the game.
- After the latest hotfix a small percentage of players started to experience occasional game freezes when playing with the native cursor enabled. We're still investigating, so as a temporary fix we disabled this option until a proper solution is found. - Fixed an issue that sometimes didn't properly register killing dungeon bosses. - Fixed "Short Circuit" incorrectly mentioning being modified by Bonus Range. - Fixed the "Intimidation" hover displaying a technical tag instead of the debuff chance. - Fixed critical kill character lines being triggered when targeting inanimate objects.
Hello everyone!
Its been a while since the last devlog, so were here to tell you about the current state of affairs and our plans for the near future.
Lets just say the workflow has been less than ideal - the Ukrainian part of our team experiences blackouts and disrupted internet access due to the constant shelling of the countrys infrastructure, and the part of the team that formerly resided in Russia needs time to adjust in a new place. Nevertheless, were still determined to continue working on Stoneshard.
The main focus right now is on the next major update, Rags to Riches, which will both introduce and expand upon a number of key gameplay systems, namely the Caravan, the dungeon generator, and the economy.
Unfortunately, were in no position to announce even approximate release dates, definitely not within the next few months. But it doesnt mean there wont be any new content until then - we plan to release a few small patches, mostly focusing on fixing bugs, implementing some long-awaited QoL improvements, tweaking the existing ability trees, and fleshing out certain minor mechanics that we kept on the back burner. This approach will keep the game from getting stale while simultaneously giving us an opportunity to clear the accumulated backlog and resolve some technical issues.
For instance, in the near future well release a hotfix that will improve the Drunkenness mechanic and add a few hundred new speech lines - both for the main character and the enemies - to cover a much larger number of scenarios.
Now back to Rags to Riches and the progress weve made so far. Many of you may remember that the dungeon generator was already reworked in the Way Forward update. But even though the result was much better than the original iteration, the last couple of years brought us enough experience and feedback to realize that we can do better. After all, dungeon-delving is one of the most prominent mechanics in the game, so any improvements to it will serve the betterment of the experience in general.
The dungeon generation rework is meant to achieve the following:
- Made sweeping updates to the Bleed system as a follow-up to the recent distribution of Bleed Resistance between specific body parts. - Changed Durability of most weapons to better fit with previous balance tweaks. - Tweaked the level range of the loot in chests. - Added exquisite dishes to the Ralph & Sons Inn. - Added traps to the Brynn Quartermasters stock. - Nerfed Proselyte Matriarchs. - Moved Yagrams back to higher level Catacombs. - Paregoric will now add 4 hours to the max sleep duration. - Made the following changes to Gaping Wound: reduced the Abilities Energy Cost debuff [50% > 33%], added a Cooldowns Duration debuff [+33%], removed the Bleed Resistance debuff, and lowered the skills base Bleed Chance [75% > 50%]. - Fixed certain abilities disproportionately targeting some body parts over the others. - Fixed Painful Stabs granting more Crit Efficiency than listed in its hover. [+15% > +10%] - Fixed Tormenting Swings reducing its targets Max Health for a larger amount than listed its hover. [-7% > -5%] - Fixed Blade Maintenance granting more Crit Efficiency than listed in its hover. [+15% > +10%] - Fixed "Fatal Strike reducing Abilities Energy Cost for a smaller amount than listed in its hover. [-25% > -33%] - Fixed Maim and Kill granting less Bleed Chance than listed in its hover. [+15% > +20%] - Fixed Moment of Weakness not granting Stagger Chance. - Fixed Severe Concussion reducing Accuracy for a larger amount than listed in its hover. [-50% > -25%] - Fixed Offensive Tactic not granting a bonus to Crit Efficiency upon landing a critical shot. - Fixed Revel in Battle granting all its bonuses while just under the effect of Striker Stance. - Seal of Finesse will now properly reduce the accumulated Backfire Damage by 20% rather than only negate the Backfire Damage generated by the ability itself. - Fixed enemies with two-handed maces incorrectly prioritizing the use of Mighty Swing. - Fixed Flame Saturation reducing Spells Energy Cost for a larger amount than listed in its hover. [-20% > -10%] - Fixed Inner Reserves replenishing less Max Energy than listed in its hover. [20% > 25%] - Fixed Now or Never not granting its bonuses for successful and partial dodges. - Fixed Dismember reducing the targets Health by a flat amount rather than scaling the damage with its Max Health. - Fixed Residual Charge granting its effect for a smaller number of turns than listed in its hover. [4 > 6] - Fixed Shield Bash reducing Block Power by a larger amount than listed in its hover. [-30% > -20%] - Fixed Pack Sense granting its bonuses not only to Wolves but also the Character. - Fixed Spot Weakness not applying some of its effects. - Fixed Seal of Power incorrectly reapplying its effects. - Fixed Boulder Toss using two different formulas for its chances to apply Stun or Daze. - Fixed the softlock that could occur when bringing potion ingredients to lOwcrey. - Fixed the crash caused by learning certain rumors. - Fixed the hover of War Cry not listing the skills debuff chance. - Fixed Tongue Push displaying an incorrect hover. - Fixed ranged Brigands not dropping bows on death. - Fixed Bleed Resistance appearing twice in the Characters stat menu. - Fixed the issue preventing the activation of the Boulder Circle under certain circumstances. - Fixed the generation bug with one of the abandoned carts. - Fixed the generation bug with one of the Camps. - Severe Intoxication will no longer cause Vomiting. Also significantly reduced the chance to Vomit while affected by Deadly Intoxication - on top of that, the overall chance drops to zero if the Character experiences significant Hunger.
- Fixed the crash caused by finishing the Mannshire Priests task when playing on an old save. - Fixed the Mannshire Priests task not increasing your Reputation when playing on an old save. - Fixed Jolt not being able to apply Resonance on more than one target at a time. - Runic boulders will no longer damage the caster when summoned. - Fixed the Mannshire Priest thanking you prematurely for completing his task. - Fixed the crash caused by the servant in the Golden Grain Inn. - Fixed one of the new Restlesss missing a name and a description. - Fixed the crash caused by learning new rumors. - Fixed the missing backpack in the Hermits Hut. - Removed the passive Cooldown Reduction from Coordinated Advance. - Fixed the issue causing dialogue options to disappear when learning certain rumors. - Seal of Geomancy now properly grants +15% Block Chance, just as listed in its hover. - Fixed Destabilizing Hits not granting extra Stagger Chance. - Fixed the Restless dropping double the intended amount of loot. - Fixed the possibility of lockpicking already opened containers. - Dirwins starting trait now works as described. - Fixed Piercing Shot always failing to hit targets behind the main one. - Fixed one of the Brigands missing a resting sprite.
- Added an alternative mode for picking up items - while its enabled in the options, items on the floor will be collectable only when they are highlighted with Alt. - Increased Reputation gains for completing contracts to compensate for increased Reputation thresholds. - Fixed Seal of Finesse not losing stacks when moving to other tiles. - Fixed NPCs at the Rotten Willow not reacting to enemies. - Fixed Athletics abilities receiving reduced cooldowns for each AP invested into the ability tree. - Added a death animation for enemies killed with Shock Damage crits. - Removed the shrub growing in the middle of the road near Brynn gates. - Fixed the incorrect Weapon Damage granted by Driven by Pain. - Fixed the Alchemist not being able to open his own door. - Fixed flickering NPCs near entrances to some locations. - Fixed interactions with NPCs when they stand behind a counter. - Fixed burning tiles not dealing damage if they fail to set enemies or the Character on fire. - Fixed Seal of Insight occasionally creating Places of Power in the fog of war. - Fixed attacks against NPCs not counting as a crime if they fail to deal damage. - Fixed the Manticores Deadly Tail not triggering counterattacks. - Fixed Two-Handed Swords abilities not applying Stagger. - Fixed Courage only reducing the cooldown of Heroic Charge. - Fixed issues with Brans dialogue when encountering him by his cabin as Dirwin. - Fixed sleeping NPCs not reacting to smoke bombs. - Fixes to Dispersal: if dodged or blocked, this ability no longer makes Wraiths invisible. - Fixed Wraiths being able to instantly attack upon their reappearance. - Fixed Make a Halt reducing the duration of already existing Vigor to 360 turns when resting by a campfire. - Fixed Raise Shield granting incorrect amount of Block Power. - Fixed the inability to pick up the Bone Cradle if the Manticore is killed too far away from it. - Fixed the crash caused by Murkstalkers dying to traps. - Fixed the bug allowing to use abilities while in jail. - Fixed the possibility of targeting yourself with abilities that dont support such interactions. - Fixed the Vagabond Knights Cuirass not spawning in secret rooms. - Proselyte Hierarchs now have a small chance to drop the Vampiric Staff. - Added a description to the effect of Static Field. - Fixed some traders being able to occasionally sell the Guardsman Broadsword. - Fixed Austerity raising negative Conditions thresholds by 10% instead of 5%. - Fixed collisions in some camps. - Gulons now have an animation for their Territorial state. - Fixed low level flail brigands dropping clubs on death. - Increased the Durability of Runic Boulders and Stone Spikes but reduced their Resistances. This change will increase the damage dealt to enemies that are Knocked back into them while keeping the amount of time required for their destruction more or less the same. - Slightly increased the level range of the equipment sold by Dockside merchants. - Added rings and necklaces to the Jibean Merchants stock. - Tweaks to the Fences prices and stock. Reduced the initial level range of his goods but increased their variety. - Reduced the price of some bombs. - Expanded the stock of Brynn Bailiffs. - Tweaked the effects of Seal of Finesse and Seal of Power. - Reduced high level spells base Armor Penetration. - Reduced the damage bonus to Tempest for each turn of Resonance affecting its targets from 10% to 5%. - Various tweaks to some enemies stats. - The Ancient Troll can no longer trigger attacks of opportunity. - Kromm is no longer interested in buying medicine. - Increased the activation distance of lOwcreys quest dialogues.
- Added Knockback Chance to Jolt, increasing its impact during early stages of the game. - Static Field now reduces its targets Shock Resistance, but has lower base damage. - Reversed changes to Seal of Power - just like before, the duration of the effect should increase by 5 turns when casting spells from any Magic Schools. - Girruds and Anmarraks now spawn in higher tier dungeons. - Increased Girruds Cooldowns and reduced their base Knockback, Pull, and Immobilization Chances, making it easier to resist their debuffs by investing into relevant Resistances. - Fixed Anmarraks passive, which wasnt correctly applying it with more Damage Taken after death of its tentacles. - Fixed the Manticore not being able to leap away when cornered. - Fixed the crash caused by Murkstalkers Embrace the Murk. - Added new treatises to lOwcreys stock. - Brigand Warlock can now drop new treatises on death. - Tweaked some of the curses: Hunger gain was decreased, and the reduction on Max Health and Max Energy thresholds is now more pronounced. - Fixed magic equipment not spawning as intended in the Alchemists stock after reaching high Reputation in Brynn. - Fixed the Brynn Quartermasters missing stock. - Fixed the visuals of Ethnarch's Funeral Mask when equipped by Jorgrim. - Fixed the inability to pick up the jug on the second floor of the Golden Grain Inn. - Young Trolls gained access to Earthshaking Strike. - Magic Power is no longer applied twice when calculating spells damage. - Reduced Wraiths Resistances to Nature Damage. - The Osbrook Tailor can now sell Throwing Nets. - Fixed the Range of some Seals. - Bloodthirst and Lash Blessing now count as skills, not spells. - Reduced Brigand Madmans base Bleed Chance. - Increased Death Stingers Vision range. - Reduced Accuracy of all ranged skeletons. - Returned the Exquisite Mantle and Cowl to the Leatherworking Bailiffs stock. - Drinking water from a Silver Cup now has a stronger effect on Intoxication. - Increased the base duration of Stone Armor. - Reduced Fumble Chance of starting two-handed swords and increased the base damage of two-handed swords in general. Reduced the damage of two-handed maces. - Martyrs no longer drop the same loot as broken crates. - Fixed the Backfire Chance penalty to Electromancy spells being applied twice when affected by two stacks of Wetness. - Increased the amount of Catacomb loot. - Wraith Warriors and Wraith Seers will now spawn in higher level dungeons. - Fixed the possibility of triggering a failed quest dialogue when talking to lOwcrey a few days after completing From the Cradle to the Grave. - Fixed enemies replenishing Armor when the player character leaves and then re-enters the location. - Using a bedroll in the rain will no longer result in Body Aches. - Doubly removed the Curse of Goldhoarder from the game. - Added the percent sign to Backfire Chance values displayed in spells hovers.
- Fixed the mistake in the Fatigue formula causing weapon/utility skills to generate several times more Fatigue than intended. - "Seal of Power" now correctly applies its effect when casting spells. - Fixed the inability to turn in "Odar's Thugs" quest. - Fatigue gain from using abilities is reduced to 1.5% / 2.5% of ability's energy cost for skills and spells respectively (2% / 3% before) - Fixed the inability to turn in Witch Hat, Witch Staff and morions to l'Owcrey. - "For Whom The Bell Tolls" now has greatly increased cooldown and reduced Sanity loss. - "Unholy Anthems" generate less noise now. - Fixed the bug causing locations to play wrong music themes. - Reduced the value of "Onslaught" Energy Burn. Additionally: - Fixed Skeleton Kingsguards contracts generating in Mannshire. This fix isn't retroactive - you need to complete or fail already generated contract for this change to take place. - Fixed Skills & Spells Energy Cost and Cooldown Duration being 105% by default instead of 100%. - Undead and Proselytes are now more vulnerable to Sacred Damage. - Fixed secret room passages sometimes becoming unpassable after the reveal.
- Fixed the crash occuring after entering the second floor in some dungeons. - Fixed staff-wielding necromancers spawning in low-level dungeons. - Fixed the inability to cook crab meat. - Gulons now drop Gulon Hides when skinned. - Fixed the softlock occuring after changing the locations during the "Odar's Thugs" quests. - Risen Axonians no longer drop bones on death. - Increased the odds of successful lockpicking. - Fixed Tollers using Tormentors' stats. - Fixed AI not properly reacting to Gulons. - Fixed the incorrect materials of some of the new amulets. - Fixed the incorrect pricing when trading with Vagrant Tott. - Vagrant Tott now charges 20% less for fast travelling. - Increased Shock Resistance debuff caused by both "Impulse" and "Resonance". - Balance tweaks for several tier II and tier III Brigands (mainly regarding the high block chance and block power of enemies armed with two-handed weapons). - Fixed the possibility to strike yourself with a lightning when casting "Tempest". - Doubled the sleep limit from accumulated Fatigue (+1 hour per 5% Fatigue instead of per 10% Fatigue).
- Fixed the inability to back out from the dialogue about renting the Bank vault. - Fixed some of the new amulets' incorrect prices. - Fixed all new Proselytes granting the same amount of experience on death. - Reduced the conversion rate of a Backfired spells Energy Cost into Sanity loss. - Innkeepers now have more money (to make it easier to sell Barrels of Beer to them). - Moved Fiends to a higher tier. - Slightly nerfed Marauders. - Reduced some of the low level Proselytes' Accuracy. - Risen Axonians no longer have access to Nail Down. - Fixed the player character being able to acquire the effect of Crimson Gift. - Fixed the crash caused by explosions. - Fixed the exploits allowing to steal items from containers without it being registered as a crime. - Enemies should now correctly recover Health when the player character leaves the location. - Increased doors durability. - Taking a cart ride no longer counts as sleeping and doesnt decrease the maximum sleep duration. - Increased the duration of Elven Muds effect. - It should no longer be possible to click through the animation of Impulse. - Pyromania now grants Miracle Chance instead of Crit Chance. - Triumph now grants Miracle Chance in addition to Crit Chance. - Fixed Body and Spirit decreasing Sanity loss from Backfired spells by 80% instead of 20%. - Nerfed Flagellants Driven by Pain passive. - Fixed incorrect Attribute requirements of Endurance Training. - Reduced Fumble Chance and Backfire Chance from dual wielding. - Fixed the inability to rent a room from the hostess in the Close Harbor Tavern. - Fixed the missing greeting line of the Universitys Physician. - Fixed the ability to accept a contract after completing it. - Increased Fatigue reduction from consuming exquisite foods. - Increased the strength of Gulons. - Various fixes to most spells Energy Cost, Cooldowns Duration, and Backfire Chance. - Reduced the restock speed of Herbalists wares. - Added sound effects to some of the new Proselyte abilities. - Added more sound effects to Gwynnels Answers cutscenes.
- Added sounds to Electromancy and Magic Mastery spells. - Ghouls level is now taken into account when spawning them in Crypts. - Increased the damage of Jolt by 10%. - Slightly nerfed low level Wraiths. - Removed the possibility of finding usual Shackles on tool racks instead of Rusted ones. - Fixed the bug with Brewery NPCs cloning themselves. - Fixed the bug that generated Shrines instead of Abandoned Carts. - Fixed glass bottles not shattering when thrown. - Fixed overly powerful minibosses spawning in Mannshire Bastions and Crypts (this change will come into effect after completing or failing already generated contracts). - Fixed loot in the Watermill. - Fixed the Cart Drivers description. - Fixed the Fences name. - Fixed elven traders descriptions. - Fixed harbor merchants descriptions. - Fixed the missing price of Bronze Isles and Barcia folios. - Fixed Beets adding to Fatigue when eaten. - Fixed Bandages and Lockpicks missing the "Merge" option. - Fixed the bug with the cell doors context menu that occurred during contracts with kidnapped NPCs. - Fixed the incorrect cooldown of Step Aside! when this skill was used by enemies. - Fixed the bug allowing to fill non-vessel items with water. - Fixed shop signs attracting thrown items when aiming at tiles close to them.
- Changed the effects of Impulse and Resonance. - Fixed excessive Thirst gain from abilities, which was caused by an incorrect comma placement in the formula. - Young Trolls now have shadows. - Slightly nerfed enemies in the Prologue. - Junk dealer Tott will no longer sell his wares for 1 coin each. - Gulons no longer attack each other. - Fixed the crash caused by attempting to learn a paid rumor. - Fixed the softlock caused by dual wielding. - Fixed incorrect Attribute requirements for Short Circuit. - Fixed Fatigue Resistance being displayed twice in the character menu. - Potential Difference now has its Immobilization Chance displayed correctly. - Fixed the effect of Impulse being applied twice when using it on Resonating targets. - Fixed the potential crash caused by interacting with tool racks in the Catacombs.
IMPORTANT: this is a major update that includes changes to the global map generation, so it requires you to start a new game. If you want to continue your old playthrough, it can be done by rolling back to the previous version in the games Steam options
Hello everyone!
In todays devlog, well tell you more about the second ability tree, Magic Mastery, which will be a part of the next major update - Forgotten Lore, to be released on August 5th.
Magic Mastery is designed to be a highly impactful support tree, useful to any mage build. As a result, its abilities are mostly focused on two things: increasing the effectiveness and safety of your own spells and countering enemy magic.
To better understand our design choices, we highly recommend you to check out the previous devlog - it contains important details about the upcoming changes to the Magic System.
Hello everyone!
Wed like to begin todays devlog by making an important announcement. The upcoming major update, titled as Forgotten Lore, will be released this year on August 5th.
It will include the following:
Hello everyone!
Lets start with some context. Unlike other archetypes, mages have been neglected in terms of new content for quite a while. There are multiple reasons for this: before new magic could be added, we had to introduce a number of additional mechanics first, which wasnt possible while the focus was on building more important and global systems. It also didnt help that developing new magic requires much more resources than weaponry and utility trees. But now the time has come, and we finally can give magic the attention it deserves. Therefore, meet Electromancy!
We envisioned Electromancy as something in between Pyromancy and Geomancy: its capable of dealing high damage to multiple targets while providing ample opportunities for weakening your foes and manipulating their positioning.
The key mechanic of Electromancy is the so-called Resonance, which can be applied by the ability trees first two spells. This effect in particular distinguishes Electromancys AoE spells from those of pyromancy - they target specific targets rather than set areas, allowing you to affect enemies standing on opposite sides of the battlefield. Lets have a better look at each spells function and the overall structure of the ability tree:
Just like every other magic school, Electromancy includes 14 abilities: 7 actives and 7 passives.
Hello everyone!
This post is the first one in the series of devlogs where we tell you about new content that will be a part of the upcoming major update. Today, well share the details about high tier Proselytes - new dangerous enemy types which youll be able to encounter in Catacomb dungeons.
Proselytes are a disturbing, mysterious vampire cult that only recently became prominent in Aldor - they are definitely on the fantasy side of things when compared to the rest of the setting. While working on them, we decided not to focus too much on realism and the restrictions of the world we created, instead fully embracing the opportunity to make new enemies memorable and unique.
Here they are, left to right
=======================
Lets start with the Proselytes whom you might run into while exploring both low and high level Catacombs.
Hello everyone!
Its been a while since our last devlog, so wed like to share some details about what weve been working on.
In the previous entry we mentioned a plan to release an interim patch with the Mint Squares missing interiors and NPCs. Theres been some adjustments since then: first of all, we decided to add new content not only to the Mint Square but also to the Docks.
Secondly, there were some tweaks to the timeline, so these additions will be a part of the next major update, which we havent yet chosen a name for. This update will also include some of the features that were originally planned for Rags to Riches and Wizards Fate. Heres a list of things were working on right now:
- Next stage of the main quest - it will wrap up the introduction sequence and will prepare players for the sandbox part of the game. After that, the main story will be put on hold until we finish implementing all the remaining mechanics and content.
- New magic school, Electromancy, that has potential to deal high damage while offering some decent crowd control.
- New utility tree, Magic Mastery - a worthwhile addition to any magic-focused build.
- Fatigue System and supplementary magic mechanics that will require mages to be more thoughtful about positioning and the way they spend their resources (including financial ones).
- Second tier of Proselytes: ten new dangerous enemies that come with roughly 20 new active and passive abilities.
- Several carefully designed Points of Interest, each of them boasting its own backstory.
- Caravan stop, which will provide you with a place to save your progress and store your items. As for global map traveling, we plan to add this functionality in one of the subsequent major updates.
- Folios, a new type of valuable loot that will give you an opportunity to learn more about the games world as well as gain some experience points.
- New content for the Mint Square (the Cathedral, the University, a bank, a printing house, the Golden Grain Inn, Azure Thread Tradehouse) and the Docks (the Alchemical Emporium of Curious Goods, a dockside store, the Close Harbor Tavern, and a bathhouse) that we already mentioned.
- Something cool and unexpected that will be revealed alongside the announcement of the updates release date.
The ongoing war still causes certain financial and organizational issues, so we cant guarantee that everything mentioned in this devlog will be a part of the next major update, but well do our best to make it happen nonetheless. Well tell you more details about the new additions in future devlogs, so stay tuned and follow the news!
The updates release date will be revealed in a separate announcement once we complete the bulk of the work on new content. And after the update is out, well also revise our Development Roadmap and publish an up-to-date version.
Thats all for now. Until next time!
Hello everyone!
Today wed like to tell you about the circumstances affecting our studio and the future development of Stoneshard. Its been almost a month since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, and it had a rather negative impact on the lives of our team. Lets start with the most important part.
A significant portion of our team (our game designer, one of the coders, the promo artist) are Ukrainian citizens. The war caught everyone off guard: while some managed to quickly leave the war zone, others got stuck or simply didnt want to abandon their homes. Right now these team members are in relative safety, but there are still issues with accessing the Internet and setting up a proper work space. There also wasnt enough time to backup everything, so we lost some assets, although it shouldnt set the development back too much.
Other than that, there are financial problems: as many of you already know, Steam no longer makes transactions with Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarus banks. Naturally, it affected our team as well, preventing us from receiving income from Steam. At the moment, we still have enough resources, but if we don't find a solution to this issue, we wont have enough money to continue outsourcing the specialists whove been helping us with the game - this might noticeably slow down the rate of updates, even if temporarily.
As for the Russian members of our team, most of them are currently busy with moving to other countries, which will require some time. However, the overall situation is more or less stable, and we most definitely wont stop working on the game. For now everyone contributes as much as the circumstances allow, but once the most pressing issues are resolved, well continue developing Stoneshards at the usual pace.
Now lets talk about more distant plans. Before the war, we already began working on an interim content update that was supposed to add interiors to key buildings on the Mint Square in Brynn. After that, we wanted to implement some of the long-planned city quests, and then - to start working on the next major update, Rags to riches, which was meant to introduce random encounters, a functioning Caravan, tweaks to contracts and the economy, and more.
The Mint Square interim update is already partially complete, so it will be released relatively soon. The rest of the original plan will have to be readjusted - well make sure to share the details and post an updated roadmap once everything is said and done. All we can say for now is that some features will likely be added in a different order and that major updates might end up divided into smaller ones.
And finally, some teasers:
In conclusion, wed like to say that your support and sympathy are extremely important to us right now. We love and appreciate our community, and we hope that this sentiment is mutual. Stay safe!
Hello everyone!
Were sorry to announce that due to Russias attack on Ukraine we wont be able to stick to the intended release schedule. Some of the key members of our team are Ukrainian citizens and are either already caught in the war zone or might soon find themselves there. Hopefully, the war will not last long, and well be able to proceed with developing the game as planned.
Thank you for understanding.
- Fixed Pack Sense not working as intended. - Fixed floor traps not interrupting charges. - Introduced more visual variety among low level bandits. - Increased the passive chance of discovering secret rooms (in accordance with the Attributes rework). - The Pawnbroker was given a larger amount of money. He now also offers worse prices for valuables than before. - Fixed the dialogue softlock caused by attempting to speak with an NPC who previously caught your character stealing. - Added lots of portraits to Brynn NPCs. - Fixed the incorrect damage of Dual weapons. - Fixed items text boxes losing their intended color when items are thrown on the ground. - The following achievements are now available: Right Back at You, I.C.B.M., The Fittest, Outlaw Anthems, Fetch This!, Trapmaker's Art, Tomb Raider, That Belongs In A Museum.
- Added the Survival tree - it comes with 10 new abilities.
- Added a new consumable item: a Bedroll. Bedrolls allow creating single-use sleeping spots outside of dungeons, offering an additional opportunity to save your progress.
- Added new gear:
Pot Helmet, Visored Pot Helmet, War Hat, Baron Sabatons, Levy Bow, Curved Bow, Brotherhood of Ouroboros' Shield (unique), Shield of the Truth's Eternal Sun (unique).
- Added new abilities to some animals:
Howl, Pack Sense, Dying Rage, Ramming Charge.
- Reworked loot generation rules for containers. Loot generation now occurs when the world or locations are first generated instead of each time you open containers, removing the possibility of rerolling their contents.
- Tweaked sleep effects in different locations:
Hello everyone!
Over the last couple months, weve received a lot of feedback and justified criticism about drastically increased travel times and long distances between Points of Interest.
Wed like to assure you that the current version of the global map is far from final. In addition to obvious tweaks to distances between locations, which will happen in the next major update along with the saves wipe, we also plan to implement a number of systems and mechanics focused on making the open world exploration less time-consuming and tedious. One of these additions is the Survival tree that will soon be introduced to the game.
The main purpose of this ability tree is to help your character weather the hardships of mercenary life, giving them a better chance of surviving the wilderness without a sizable stash of supplies. Its worth mentioning that over the course of development Survival and Medicine ability trees were merged together, allowing us to remove unnecessary fluff and fully focus on the synergy between some of their skills.
Lets start with the ability trees overall structure. It consists of 6 active and 5 passive skills:
Survival skills are acquired in the usual manner - first, you need to unlock them by finding a corresponding treatise or improving relevant Attributes, then you purchase whatever you need with Ability Points. There is a caveat though: the first tier of Survival is unlocked for every character by default.
On top of that, Survival skills have much lower Attribute requirements than other ability trees: in order to unlock the second tier, youll only need to invest 3 Stat Points into relevant Attributes, and the third tier becomes available right after you spend 5 SP.
- Additional adjustments to damage coefficients of different weapon types. - Added a closing dialogue with Osbrook carpenter after finishing Fate of the Brewery quest. - Osbrook smith now sells caltrops and clawtraps. - Increased the base price of several pelts. - Decreased enemy spawns in dungeons. - Birds now always fly away after receiving damage. - Additionally receiving already existing effect now works correctly. - Fixed the crash caused by looting some secret room containers. - Fixed some bird species spawning in the wrong biomes. - Fixed block power replenishment working incorrectly in Raise Shield ability. - Fixed "Stay Back!" passive ability still having its old pre-CoG mechanic alongside with the new one. - Improved optimisation.
- Curbed the inflation to reduce the amount of gold purses required for purchasing and maintaining high level gear. - Rebalanced weapons Durability - most weapons will now require less frequent repairs. - Reduced the amount of food dropped in Bandit dungeons. - The money reward for killing the Troll is now the same as declared in the dialogue. - The Royal Ranger Gambeson is now a unique item - its stats were adjusted accordingly. - Starting enemies stats were tweaked to better work with balance changes to weapons damage. - The map marker for the Head to Brynn quest is now placed on the correct map tile. - Increased Reputation gain from bringing occult items to lOwcrey. - Increased the influence of Reputation on NPCs selling prices (-5%/-10%/15% > -10%/-15%/-20%). - The power difference between low and high level Necromancers is now more apparent. - Returned lockpicks to the Osbrook blacksmiths stock. - The Brynn merchant now sells gold purses. - Fixed the bug causing higher level minibosses to spawn in low level Undead and Proselyte dungeons. - Fixed Crimson Gift being applied to all enemy types in distant dungeons rather than just Proselytes. - When performing a task for the Osbrook blacksmith, you can now also bring him Home-Made Swords. - Fixed destroyed crates not dropping loot. - Fixed the buying and selling prices for Barrels of Beer - trading in them is now profitable. - Fixed the bug allowing Barrels of Beer to be bought for cheap and then sold at a higher price to the same character. - Fixed the bug granting additional Crushing Damage to shield-wielding enemies attacks. - Fixed the bug allowing to indefinitely stack Magic Power with Baptism by Fire. - Fixed the bug causing minions in Necromancer rooms to spawn multiple times. - Fixed some Brynn craftsmen not being able to repair equipment. - Fixed the Mannshire milk traders missing stock. - Fixed Forest Vipers' overly high spawn rates. - Fixed the crash caused by Harpies passive. - Fixed the crash caused by certain Brynn NPCs. - Fixed Precision not working as intended. - Fixed the bug causing you to lose all money when bribing the carpenter in Osbrook.
Hello!
We're glad to announce that the latest version of Stoneshard is now available on Linux!
However, after the latest Steam client update, many games made with the GMS engine (including Stoneshard) cant be launched by pressing the Play button. Unfortunately, its up to Valve to fix this issue, and we dont have any information about when it might happen.
For now the game can be launched directly via the StoneShard file. In order to access the games folder, right click the games name in your Steam library, then choose Manage > Browse local files.
Have a good time!
THIS UPDATE IS SAVE-COMPATIBLE - Added lake locations. - Fixed Regenerative Carapace increasing the player characters Resistances. - After the Troll is dead, the Signal Tower will be repopulated by a new garrison. - Fixed the condition check for dual wielding, the issue with which occasionally prevented Dual Wielding skills from working. - Fixed the Block Chance formula for enemies. - Fixed incorrect Attribute requirements for Two-Handed Sword skills. - Added location name pop-ups to Brynn quarters. - Added location name pop-ups to Osbrook and Mannshire. - Fixed memory leaks. - Fixed the Ancient Troll not dropping tusks upon being skinned. - Fixed the crash in the Abandoned Siege Camp. - Fixed glitches in the Mannshire tavern hostess behavior. - Fixed the inability to enter the newly-added Brynn tavern on some old saves. - Final fix to the locked door bug caused by saving the game in the Ruined Manor. - Re-added the Ruined Manor ambush.
- Fixed the inability to interact with the nightstand on the second floor of the brewery. - Fixed the layering issue of fences and wheat near the mill. - Fixed the lack of footstep sounds when walking over bridges. - Fixed the bug with enemies not spawning on river map tiles. - Fixed the Abandoned Homestead crash. - Fixed the Homestead crash. - Fixed dungeons retaining their structure upon respawning. - Fixed the incorrect sounds on map tiles with river bends. - The first two tiers of Hunger and Thirst effects have a lower influence on morale (0.05 and 0.1 > 0.01 and 0.05). - Fixed the missing price of Nikos of Arpheon's Astrolabe (doesnt affect already acquired artefacts). - Fixed the incorrect duration of Hazzun Celestial Spheres daytime buffs. - Disabled the option to learn rumors from secondary NPCs in Brynn. - Added an option to catch leeches in deep water. - Containers in the witchs hut now have an owner and are marked red. - Increased shields Durability (doesnt affect already saved items). - Fixed the bug with brewery NPCs having merchants inventories. - Fixed the bug with Drunkenness affecting main Attributes. - Fixed the bug causing Fumble Chance and Armor Penetration to not be affected by leveling Agility and Perception respectively. - Fixed the cutscene at the brewery. - Added an option to rent a room in the Rotten Willow Tavern and Ralph & Sons Inn. - Fixed the crash caused by Boulder Toss. - Fixed the inability to harvest Harpies and Crawlers. - Kromm now gives a correct reward upon completing the quest. - The duration of Wetness now has an upper threshold. - Changed reputation perks (Better Gear I and II now increase the maximum level of sold items by 4 and 6 respectively). - Fixed the crash caused by opening certain containers. - Fixed crimes not being registered in some of the Brynn quarters. - Fixed the missing sound of the Trolls Deafening Roar. - Increased the base Accuracy bonus of Taking Aim by 10%.
- Brynn elves no longer tell rumors. - Reduced the number of enemies in Necromancers rooms. - Low tier Necromancers are now accompanied by the Restless instead of Skeletons. - Fixed reputation changes from contracts not being displayed in the Reputation menu. - Fixed the issue with the missing ships in Brynn. - Fixed the missing location name hover of the Lone Farmstead. - Fixed sound issues near rivers. - Added the missing journal entries for Gathering the Caravan and Fate of the Brewery quests. - Slightly reduced the amount of herbs encountered on the map. - Fixed Blood Craze granting incorrect bonus to damage. - Fixed strange NPC behavior in settlements. - Fixed incorrect ranged combat log entries. - Fixed the bug preventing the use of Double Lunge. - Fixed the crash caused by Forceful Slam. - Fixed wolves never dropping pelts when skinned. - Fixed the crash caused by the dialogue about key Mannshire NPCs. - Fixed Jonnas unique trait reapplying its bonus once more upon loading a save. - Fixed rescue contracts not functioning properly. - The state of the jail room now resets after you serve your time. - Fixed the issue with overly powerful enemies spawning on map tiles and during ambushes. - Reduced the size of wolf packs.
- Fixed the issue with bridges collision. - Fog of war should now be properly displayed on river tiles. - Tweaked Brynn merchants stock. IMPORTANT INFORMATION: we are aware about the bug that prevents merchants and other NPC from appearing on Brynn streets after the first couple of days - it will be fixed soon. - Reduced the amount of crowns in village containers. - The Korean localization should now function properly. - Fixed the bug causing one of the achievements to be triggered by non-hostile animals. - Tweaked dungeons drop rates. - Fixed the crash occurring in jail. - The elder no longer tells rumors about himself. - Reduced the amount of gold in non-merchant NPCs inventories. - Fixed the bug causing guards to disappear in the Guild Quarter. - Fixed the quest-giving Brynn quartermasters name. - Fixed the issue with certain damage types affecting pelts Durability too much. - Fixed the treatise crash in the Prologue. - Fixed the crash occurring during the Mannshire scribe dialogue. - Fixed the crash caused by Anticipation. - Fixed the issue with Fire Barrage Accuracy. - Fixed the issue preventing a waterskin to be filled from a river - Slightly reduced Durability loss from basic attacks.
Hello everyone!
The City of Gold update is soon to be released: the approximate time is 21:00 MSK, November 18th. Right now is a good moment to give a summary of the progress weve made, talk about the updates new features and what will be added to the game until the end of the year, and also discuss our plans for the future development of Stoneshard.
Hello everyone!
The City of Gold is almost here! Before its release on November 18th, we plan to publish one more devlog with a summary of the updates most important changes and additions. Today, however, wed like to tell you about two previously unannounced systems.
Hello everyone!
In todays devlog well tell you about changes to the leveling system that will be introduced with the City of Gold update.
Hello everyone!
Lets start with the release date: as many of you might already know, the City of Gold update was moved to November due to a number of reasons. And today were ready to announce its exact release date - November 18. This date is final, so make sure to set up a reminder!
Now to the latest news. Were currently working on bringing the city to life, setting up NPCs and implementing side quests, many of which will have multiple paths and long-term consequences. Even though we would be happy to give you details, its not possible without getting into spoilers, so well let you discover the secrets of Brynn streets by yourself.
Heres a teaser just to get you started. And in return well tell you about many other things that will be added with the City of Gold:
We haven't yet finished setting up NPCs, so you can expect the end result to be much more lively.
Hello everyone!
The City of Gold update is going to be the largest one yet not only in terms of content, but also the overall mechanics. The introduction of the global map will greatly affect the progression and will be the first step in making it work as originally intended - and thats where tweaks to the mechanics come into play. Today well address some of them in this devlog and tell you about every important change to the combat system.
Hit Chance, % = The attackers Accuracy - The targets Dodge Chance
We decided to change it by splitting dodges and misses into two distinct categories: therell be two independent checks for the attackers chance to hit (depends on their Accuracy) and the targets chance to perform a dodge.
At the same time, Accuracy over 100% still reduces the targets Dodge Chance, and the negative Dodge Chance contributes to the attackers Accuracy.
Hello everyone!
Its been a while since the last announcement! During this time, weve been working on lots of stuff: new enemies, locations, mechanics, quests, changes to combat, and other features - well tell you about it all in a series of devlogs prior to the City of Gold release, planned for this October.
The first devlog will showcase the largest of the new systems: the global map.
Hello everyone!
Today well share some of the lore coming with the City of Gold update, planned for the end of this summer. This time its about the most influential people of Brynn, whom you will have a chance to encounter. To better understand the context, we recommend checking out the previous lore entry.
Hello everyone!
Were happy to announce that Stoneshard is now also available in Korean!
This highly requested localization is the twelfth and the final one on our list, though we might add some additional language options further down the road.
Stay tuned for more updates!
Hello everyone!
In todays devlog well tell you about the crime and punishment system, which will be added with the City of Gold update, planned for the end of this summer.
Initially, we didnt plan to add this feature so soon, however the random encounters system that were currently working on requires killable NPCs and, subsequently, a punishment for killing them. Other crimes are just a logical continuation of this option. Lets start with reviewing the general mechanics.
Hello everyone!
This post is the first one in the series dedicated to the lore of the upcoming major update, City of Gold. Today well tell you about the glorious city of Brynn, its history, and its internal situation.
Hello everyone!
The work on the City of Gold update, planned for Summer 2021, is well underway. Itll be the largest update of Stoneshards Early Access so far, adding a huge amount of new content and drastically changing the way the game functions. Today well talk about a number of important features, which we currently develop.
Hello everyone!
Were happy to announce that Stoneshard has been fully translated to French. The todays update added French to the list of available localizations, making it eleven in total!
In the near future we also plan to make the game available in European Spanish and Korean languages. Stay tuned for the upcoming announcements!
Until the next time!
Hey everyone!
Wed like to recommend you a game our friends made, which has left early access today and is now available with a 25% Launch Discount. Were sure that some of you will find it to their liking![previewyoutube=Q3TvkZ9vemA;full][/previewyoutube]
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Breathedge boasts a wild mix of awesome visuals and exciting first-person survival experience in outer space, spiced with grotesque humor. Collect items, make tools, build vehicles, and more to help you unravel the mystery behind the explosion of the largest space vessel and all its dark secrets. Smooth navigation through space is not without dangers: watch out for extreme cold and heat, ever-encroaching radiation, and coffin-robots out for blood!
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Hello everyone!
Today Stoneshard celebrates its first anniversary: its been exactly a year since the game was released into Early Access! By an amazing coincidence, the Black Boar taverns anniversary shares the same date - to honor this remarkable event, Brukk the Innkeeper decided to decorate his establishment. During this month his guests will also be gifted a free pie, baked by a special recipe. Make sure to launch the game to participate in the festivities!
Now back to our plans. Over the last year the game saw noticeable improvements: there were four major updates and a content patch, as well as an innumerable amount of hotfixes and smaller updates. We still have a long road ahead of us, something we will talk about today.
Right now were working on the City of Gold update, the largest one yet. Its meant to significantly expand the global map, add basic caravan mechanics, the first major city, new biomes, new points of interest, random encounters, and also a number of currently unannounced, but very important features. As you can see, this is a lot of content, so City of Gold will be released approximately in Q2 2021.
Most new systems are still being prototyped, so it will be a while before the devlogs on them are published. While were working on the technical side of the global map, have a look at this concept art and teasers for the upcoming content:
As we implement the city of Brynn, we also plan to expand the games lore. Therell likely be a few devlogs dedicated to it as well.
Thats all for now. Until the next devlog!
-The character no longer gets wet in the rain if staying under a tree. -Fixed the duration of Defensive Tactic. -Fixed Mighty Kick not applying Stagger when failing to knock its target back. -Fixed crashes caused by throwing certain items. -Fixed Taking Aim not working with crossbows. -Reputation bonuses which increase traders stock no longer apply to the trapper and the scribe. -Removed an excess folder in the trappers trade menu. -Fixed the crash caused by dying to an unsuccessfully disarmed trap. -Blow After Blow no longer triggers from destroying props. -Fixed enemies spawning outside of the Abbeys walls. -Changed the on-hit algorithm: Fumble Chance is now given a priority over Crit Chance. -Grave Chill now puts abilities on a 1-4 turns Cooldown instead of a 5 turns one. -Fixed the incorrect duration of the effect of Alqud. -Changed priorities for enemies consumable usage. -Fixed the automatic turn skip upon entering a new location. -Added Skinning to the ability bar. -Map tiles with points of interest now follow the same weather rules as the rest of the world. -Coughing now correctly reduces Energy by 10 points, not 10%. -Fixed trajectories for chopped heads. -Birds no longer scare each other when taking off. -Determination no longer hits the Troll multiple times. -Fixed Arc Cleave replenishing an incorrect amount of Energy. -Fixed Onslaught burning an incorrect amount of Energy. -Runic boulders now generate less noise upon being raised. -Fixed Taste of Victory not replenishing Energy. -Defensive Tactic no longer grants an extra stack to stances when using a spell. -Feast of Steel now grants Crit Chance instead of Stagger Chance, as stated in its description. -Fixed some enemies getting multiple Pain debuffs simultaneously. -Fixed saigas not dropping any meat when skinned. -The undead and wraith enemies can no longer be put in Coma. -Mushrooms can now spoil. -Fixed the crash caused by Hunters Mark. -Fixed the character moving into a tile with a trap right after setting it up. -Log messages about enemies getting the Pain debuff no longer appear while they are hidden in the fog of war. -Fixed the missing sprite for the damaged Visored Bascinet. -Multiple fixes to enemy search algorithms. -Numerous text fixes.
Hello everyone!
In todays devlog well tell you about the remaining new features of the Equipment Update II and also announce its release date - December 25th!
Hello everyone!
In todays devlog well tell you about the second new ability tree of the Equipment Update II: two-handed axes!
As always, lets start with a general overview. This ability tree consists of 5 Actives and 5 Passives, focused around the same thing as 1h axes - damage, Bleeding, and Injuries.
Hello everyone!
In todays devlog well tell you about the first of the two new ability trees, which will be added to the game with the Equipment Update II two-handed maces!
Lets start with the general structure of the ability tree:
Just like ability trees of other two-handed weapons, 2h maces have 10 abilities: 5 Actives and 5 Passives. Their overall theme is controlling the battlefield with Stuns, Dazes, Knockbacks, Debuffs while dealing large amounts of damage with powerful, but slow strikes.
Lets have a closer look.
Hello everyone!
In todays devlog well tell you about some new features of the Equipment Update II, planned for this December (and which ended up containing more than just new equipment).
Hello, mercenaries!
This Decembers Equipment Update II is almost around the corner: expect a few more devlogs about its new features and content in the following weeks.
As the work on the update continues at full speed, wed like to ask you to nominate our game for the Best Game You Suck At award - it probably wont be too far from the truth. After all, the game that rewards persistence, and is not for the faint of heart is a perfect description for Stoneshard, and well greatly appreciate your support!
Thats all for now. Make sure to stay tuned: there'll be a new devlog tomorrow!
Hello everyone!
In this devlog well tell you about a new, previously unannounced mechanic, which will be added with the Content Update II, planned for this December. This mechanic is...
Throwing items! Initially, we didnt plan to add this feature during this stage in development, however it ended up necessary for the implementation of certain new consumables, so we had to adjust on the fly. So how does it work and what can you do with it?
For the most part, throwing is used for dealing extra damage to enemies. Its worth mentioning that any item in the game can be thrown. The resulting distance, the amount and type of damage depend on a thrown items weight and material. For instance, if you lob heavy stuff such as moose antlers at someones head, youll deal heavy damage as long as they are not too far away. A pine cone, on the other hand, is only good for attracting attention.
Additionally, certain items have unique properties:
Added Japanese localization. Fixed the error in the hit detection algorithm, which hadnt been correctly factoring in Dodge Chance when calculating hit chance for arrows. Fixed archers being resurrected with a ranged weapon after dying with a melee weapon. Fixed Blaze granting double reduction for active Cooldowns. Fixed dogs being able to open doors. Fixed the bug causing Reputation gain each time you take a free beer from Brukk. Praying at shrines now immediately restores some Morale and Sanity. Deafening Roar is now put on cooldown when the fight begins. Snakes can no longer poison when missing their attacks. Fixed the issue with changes to cursed items' stats not being correctly displayed. Fixed the issue with two or more Ghasts casting Binding Sigil simultaneously. Increased prices of most consumables. Decreased prices of all treatises. Anticipation: Applies the target with [-10 > -5]% Dodge Chance [10 > 4] after landing a shot and grants [5 > 7.5]% Accuracy for [10 > 4] turns when missing. Flame Saturation: [Replenishes 5% Max Energy > Grants -20% Spells Energy Cost for 2 turns] each time an enemy within Vision is ignited.
Hello everyone!
The work on follow-up patches for the Way Forward update is complete, so in todays devlog wed like to give you more details about our future plans.
The current state of the game is such that we can no longer add new content to the existing map: theres simply not enough space for it anymore. The small scale of the game world creates a number of temporary restrictions, which overall render the experience less enjoyable, such as randomized treatises, instantly respawning dungeons, skewed gear and character progression, sudden difficulty spikes, caused by the lack of area for more starting dungeons, and so on.
Therefore, our top priority is to expand the map and add the first major town, which will finally allow us to resolve most of these issues. This task will take a lot of time and effort, but it will most definitely pay off - our game will finally work as it was initially intended, paving the way for many long-awaited features, from the trait system and character generation to the improved economy and a new enchantment system.
Other than that, the global map will also require implementing a large number of accompanying, closely linked systems: a foundation for the caravan system, new points of interests, new enemy factions, significant changes to the progression, and more. All of this will be a part of the next major update, City of Gold, which will be approximately released in Q2 2021.
In the meantime we also plan to release a large content update before the end of 2020, which will help you pass the time while waiting for the upcoming major changes. This update will include two new weapon types: two-handed axes and hammers, their skill trees, new gear, new traps, new combat consumables (including nets and placeable claw traps), and a few other things. Therell be more details about these additions in the following devlogs.
For now, wed like to share some of the results of our recent work:
Until next time!
- Fixed the multiplier for noise generated by certain actions. - Fixed some issues with retreating enemies. - Added additional statuses to the inspection menu. - Fixed the bug with dogs spawning inside dungeon walls. - Fixed the bug causing walls to become traversable after destroying certain objects next to them. - Fixed the bug causing Cooldowns to drop to zero. - Fixed the issue with the number of grimoire rooms during one of the crypt contracts. - Fixed the incorrect zones for ranged attacks. - Disarming no longer forces you to skip a turn. - Enemies now properly react to being lured by Shout. - Fixed the AI issue which had been causing mobs to stop reacting to attacks outside of their Vision range. - Fixed the possibility of picking a lock after throwing away a required consumable. - Removed guaranteed critical hits against retreating targets. - Storing food in containers no longer prevents it from spoiling. - Fixed excessive loot in Proselyte dungeons. - Removed the possibility of breaking through cell doors with a crowbar during NPC rescue contracts. - Fixed the issue with crowbars disappearing after their durability reaches zero.
- Minor fixes to secret rooms.
- Added the missing phrases to the German localization.
- Fixed the issue occurring with the Restless sprite upon being resurrected by a necromancer.
- Fixed the crash caused by shooting.
- Fixed the trolls AI priorities.
- Added soil decals to crypts.
- Fixed numerous issues with collision and impassable tiles in dungeons.
- Fixed the incorrect functioning of No Retreat.
- Fixed the issue with a spear passive working without an equipped spear.
- Fixed the bug preventing bandits from attacking boars.
- Fixed the timing of the Blood Golems explosion, so that it doesnt occur prematurely.
- Fixed the issue with the external part of the brigand Bastion.
- Fixed the dungeon generation bug which had been causing an incorrect amount of treatise rooms to appear in crypts.
- Fixed the bug with traps not spawning correctly.
These patch notes include changes made by interim hotfixes.
Hello everyone!
In todays devlog well share more details on the dungeon rework and the Bastion (brigand dungeon) in particular. Well also touch upon some aspects of the reworked AI.
Of all the dungeon types, the Bastion received the largest amount of changes, allowing it to better match its name. The Bastions layout is dominated by spacious halls, complex structures, and wide corridors cluttered with junk.
Therere also some changes to hostage rescue contracts. Hostages can no longer be found in the same room as bosses, instead being held in a dedicated cell which needs to be located first. To open the cell youll need a special key, for which youll have to fight a dungeons boss.
Other than that, the Bastion now has more interactive elements: occasionally youll find water barrels, which can be used to refill your waterskin or quench thirst directly. Youll also be able to raid a dungeons pantry and then cook looted meat and vegetables in its kitchen.
=======
Regarding the AI, lets start with archers - their behaviour was drastically reworked. Theyll try to stay as far from their target as possible during combat. Hiding behind a bush to lure them to a nearby tile is now a much less effective tactic, as they will attempt to keep their distance even while searching for targets outside of their Vision.
Archers will also try to maintain their distance when dealing with approaching enemies, performing a timely retreat when possible. If an enemy is right on top of them, or they run out of ammunition, theyll draw a melee weapon and defend themselves with it.
Speaking about retreating - most enemies will try to run away if things turn sour. There are many conditions influencing their decision-making, but the most important one is low Health. Once enemies take enough punishment, theyll begin accessing their situation on a per-turn basis. The amount of injuries and debuffs, their Energy, allies getting murdered and decapitated - all of it will decide whether your enemy will turn tail and run or fight till the bitter end. Its also worth mentioning that strong and well-equipped foes are less likely to flee.
Thats all for now. A quick reminder - the update will be released in just 4 days, on September 24th. The remaining details on new content will be listed prior to the patch release.
Until next time!
Hello everyone!
Its been a while since our last devlog, but we are finally ready to tell you about many new additions which weve been working on. Over the next few devlogs well detail most of the new content introduced by the Way Forward update, which will be released on September 24th. For now lets begin with new enemies and reworked dungeon generation.
Hello everyone!
The work on changes to the AI and dungeon generation is well underway, and we'll soon publish a devlog with some details on our progress. In the meantime, heres a small interim patch to keep you from getting bored - it expands the roster of available equipment and brings a number of fixes and improvements.
Hello everyone!
In this devlog wed like to share our progress on the Way Forward update. It will be released in the end of summer or in the beginning of autumn and will be the largest and the most complex update weve delivered so far - it will include a massive rework of the AI and dungeon generation.
The large amount of time required to develop this update is linked to a significant number of systems, closely connected to the rework. Even if these systems will only be fully implemented at a later date, they already require a proper foundation which we have to lay down. Additionally, AI rework itself requires lots of testing and tweaking, so its hard to predict the exact amount of time needed to achieve acceptable results.
However, this rework is essential to finally start adding not just quantity to the game, but also quality. It will allow us to experiment with the behaviour of different enemy factions, add new enemy types, and introduce unique abilities to the existing enemies. With any luck, some of the new enemy types will be added with the Way Forward update.
At the moment the basic structure of our new AI is still being conceptualized and prototyped, but we can already share the list of targets we plan to reach:
- Pikeman's Stance cancels in the Rest Mode. - Enemies no longer move between locations if they are Immobilized. - Fixed weapon critical effects not applying to offhand critical strikes. - When delivering items to complete a task, items in your inventory have higher priority than equipped ones. - Ancient Troll no longer attacks while Petrified. - Decreased hunger and thirst gain from the Gnawmaw curse. - Parry and Piercing Shot now work correctly. - Feint Swing now correctly decreases Fumble Chance instead of increasing it. - Weapon Damage stat no longer affects unarmed strikes. - Bonus Range now applies correctly in the Attack Mode. - Fixed crossbow unloading crashing the game on some occasions. - Anticipation and Precision now work correctly with crossbows. - Fixed War Cry duration. - Fixed Sudden Lunge cooldown reset. - Fixed immediate decrease of charge skills cooldowns upon usage. - Fixed Shoot to Kill Crit Chance calculation and Anticipation duration. - Fixed Hunters Mark working incorrectly. - Fixed Adrenaline Rush bonus duration calculation. - Fixed Flurry of Blows not working correctly when used by enemies. - Fixed some Osbrooks containers not being properly saved. - Osbrook Mill location was redesigned.
Hi!
Were delighted to take part in the Steam Game Festival (June 16 - June 22), which is already live now! Throughout the event we've brought demos for each of the 8 games we are currently working on.
All of them are in different genres, settings and styles. You will surely find something that piques your interest! All the content available for Steam Summer Festival is free, some demos are long, some allow infinite play. Here is a little sneak peek of every title available.
- Added an option to unload crossbows. - Reduced quivers capacity. - Reduced the penalty to Hands Efficiency after using Whirlwind. It also doesnt last for 2 turns now. - Fixed long-distance counterattacks.. - Fixed Petrification not granting Geomancy Power. - Added visual stack indicator to applicable buff icons. - Fixed grave collision after digging them up. - Fixed Enough for Everyone causing crashes. - Shooting distance in attack mode is now correctly calculated after switching between ammo types with different range. - Fixed the bug with the character becoming invisible in the location with the troll. - Parry now properly counters all received attacks. - Fixed dead zones of Impaling Lunge. - Fixed enemies not becoming hostile upon receiving Immobilization. - Fixed bolt tooltips showing wrong values. - Hail of Blows can no longer knock enemies back with its first 2 strikes. - New visuals for magma puddles. - Fixed to the audio. - Various text fixes.
-Numerous text typos and mistakes fixed. -Removed skill energy penalties for shields as they already have flat Energy/Energy Restoration penalties. -Increased carpenters stocks. -Decreased NPC restock time by 30%. -Morsel can be cooked now. -Parry should counterattack every enemy attack except melee skills (melee skills not triggering counterattacks is a known issue, were investigating) -Fixed outdated energy cost for some abilities (mostly stances) -Returned broadhead arrows test damage to its intended value. -Tailor now sells low-level shirts, gloves and boots. -Added a spear and a crossbow to Osbrook barracks weaponstands. -Fixed open doors using closed doors' collisions. -Fixed inventory-related crashes.
Hello everyone!
The 0.5.9.0 Bolt Thrower content update has been released! The complete list of changes can be seen below:
Hello everyone!
In todays devlog well give you a quick overview of some major additions of the Bolt Thrower content update, which will be released in just a couple more days - on June 2.
In the previous devlog weve already introduced crossbows. Now its time for the second new weapon type:
Hello everyone!
In todays devlog well tell you about multiple new features meant to make ranged combat more varied.
Lets start with the main addition - crossbows. As you may have already noticed, some existing enemies are armed with crossbows, however those arent available to player characters and function essentially just like bows. This situation will change with the release of the Bolt Thrower update, which will become available on June 2-3.
Crossbows are now a separate type of weaponry. Just like in reality, they are much easier to learn than bows, so they have less significant penalty to their accuracy. They also have higher damage and armor penetration, which is achieved at the expense of their rate of fire - crossbows require a turn to reload between each shot. Just like bows, crossbows make use of the Ranged Weapons skill tree, it wont be altered in this regard.
Weve also introduced certain changes to bow and crossbow mechanics. Both these weapon types now occupy both hands with an option of placing arrows or quivers in the offhand, but not other weapons. Quivers are meant to make ammo management easier, as they can fit 2-4 stacks of arrows.
Additionally, they allow to quickly swap between different arrow and bolt types through the context menu. As a side note, crossbow bolts use their own quivers, since they occupy one less slot than arrows.
And finally - arrow types. There are now three arrow and bolt types in the game: leaf-shaped, broadhead, and bodkin.
Hello everyone!
Wed like to inform you that Stoneshard is currently participating in Digital Dragons Indie Celebration, an event which allows indie game studios from around the world to showcase their games to a wide audience.
Stoneshard has managed to receive Digital Dragons Choice with a chance to win the Community Vote. Well be really grateful if you support us with your vote!
The voting will last until the evening of May 15.
Thank you!
- Removed War Cry ability from Proselyte Chosen - Vineyard roadcart loot no longer respawns after loading the game. - Fixed buff animation sometimes causing crashes. - Fixed incorrect capitalization of item names. - Fixed numerous typos. - Fixed incorrect usage of Adrenaline Rush by enemies - Fixed fleaworts not properly spawning in the world. - Added a special icon for permadeath mode saves. - Fixed barrels rotating after being struck by greatsword crits - Added collisions for closed ruined bastions. - It now continues to rain in special PoI locations. - Abbey should no longer reset after leaving it. - Fixed birds SFX. - Fixed Life Drain and Energy Drain incorrectly working in some situations. - Fixed some problems with turning in contract items.
Hello everyone!
We have some important news for you today. First of all, the 0.5.8.6 patch has been released, bringing new content and some major fixes. The full changelog can be found at the bottom of this post.
Now that the entirety of the Trollslayer content has been added to the game, wed like to share our updated development plan as well as some info about our future goals.
As many of you could have noticed, the current content is limited by the first 7-10 levels - characters outgrow most dungeons and enemies upon reaching this threshold. We are well aware of this problem, however adding high level content is meaningless until we resolve two important issues.
Ideally wed like different enemy factions to have distinct behaviour patterns. Right now the enemies only differ in their stats and skills, as they share a single template for their actions. To fix this we plan to dedicate a few months to fully rework our AI system and some of the associated systems.
The same can be said about dungeons - right now they are generated based on shared parameters. The only two things which set them apart at the moment are graphical assets and enemy rosters. We, however, would like to make the dungeon crawling process in our game much more memorable than clearing out similar room after room. Thats why we plan to work on a new dungeon generation algorithm along with the AI rework.
Both of these tasks are fairly difficult and time-consuming, and both of them require extensive testing. Thats why we cant give you the exact date this time - well have to work on these elements until we are completely satisfied with the results. For now the approximate date for the updated AI and updated dungeon generation (and any associated content as well as some additional features) is summer 2020.
To keep you from getting bored during these few months, we plan to release a series of minor updates over the course of this summer to introduce some additional content such as new weapon types and new skill trees. The first update is planned for the beginning of May - it will add crossbows, polearms, and, perhaps, something extra to the game. Follow our devlogs and announcements for additional information!
Thanks for staying in touch!
- Added Brazilian Portuguese localization - Increased reputation gain from completing contracts, and decreased requirements for all reputation milestones (by ~25-30%) - Fixed the possibility to be cornered by the priest in the Mannshire Chapel - Fixed bison AI bug now they dont remain passive if you aggroed anyone from their herd - Fixed rare crash after loading the container - Fixed enemies standing still while the player is stunned - Fixed Flame Ring damaging Ancient Troll multiple times - Fixed possibility to stun against the location transition tiles - Added special visual icon for Ancient Troll location on the map - Added missing stats to enchantments pool: Stun Chance, Daze Chance, Knockback Chance, Armor Damage, Bodypart Damage, Cooldown Duration, Stun Resistance, Knockback Resistance, Bleeding Resistance, Physical Damage Resistance, Nature Damage Resistance, Magic Resistance, Pain Resistance, Hunger Resistance, Toxicity Resistance - Added sound effect for Bad Trip modifier - Entrances to some dungeons are now correctly displayed as closed if the dungeon is inactive
- Added Turkish fan localization (thanks @ Mustafa Sinan ler, dil enel, Ceren Cokun, Alper Tornac, Efe Akarca) - Fixed Catacombs loot not taking dungeon level into consideration - Fixed inability to enter bandits tower by pressing LMB - Blood Vow animation now properly ends after the buff wears out - Enemies no longer can teleport behind your back after using Crippling Lunge - Fixed crash upon dying simultaneously with Ascended Archon - Fixed food spawning with zero freshness - Fixed Seized Initiative gaining stacks after attacking targets without Initiative Loss - Fixed issues with inn room renting - Fixed traps being generated under the furniture - Fixed crash caused by using spells on bisons - Fixed a bug with Block Power, resulting in character having max possible Block Power value instead of a current value - Increased Block Power of brigands and skeletons - [Ancient Troll] Fixed unintentionally low Knockback Resistance - [Ancient Troll] Stun Resistance increased from 50% to 100% - [Ancient Troll] Fortitude increased from 50% to 70% - [Ancient Troll] Troll Regeneration now gives +30% Fortitude instead of 50% - [Ancient Troll] Base Defense value reduced from 35 to 30 - [Greatswords] Fixed Courage passive ability not increasing Heroic Charge range by 1 - Added 50% Knockback Resistance for mooses and bisons - Miller sells food 15% cheaper - Nerfed Brigand Crooks and Cutthroats. Now theyre less likely to dodge, crit and counterattack. - Increased damage of most staffs - Merchants sell 4 treatises instead of 3
- Fixed Ginger Root-related crash. If you have a save with a Ginger Root present in your inventory or chest, please get rid of it and re-save the game. - Fixed an issue with merchants not restocking treatises. - Fixed an issue with free Ranged Weapons treatises - Fixed an issue with items disappearing after being stored in the backpack - Fixed weaponstands being labeled as wardrobes - Increased base prices for most hides, especially bison ones [100g > 200g] - [Ancient Troll] Troll Regeneration: Cooldown reduced from 20 to 16 - [Ancient Troll] Deafening Roar: Cooldown reduced from 14 to 12 - [Ancient Troll] Nature Damage Resistance increased from 35% to 50% - Decreased base Knockback Chance of Mighty Kick by 5% - Increased base Knockback Chance of Hail of Blows by 5% - Pennybun: Gives +[5 > 3]% Health Restoration - Decreased Brigand Rioters base damage [18 > 17] - Adjustments to treatise drop rates from dungeon bookcases.
[previewyoutube=7c_MCzpBaQA;full][/previewyoutube] Hello everyone! We are happy to inform you that the first major update Trollslayer can now be downloaded and played! This expansion adds a new boss, two skill trees, many new items, and lots of fixes, improvements, and additions the full changelog can be seen below. Keep in mind that because of the new locations being added to the world map, your old saves will be incompatible with this update. To experience new content, youll have to start a new game. If you wish to continue playing on the old version, check out the instructions on how to rollback to it. Happy hunting!
Hello everyone!
In todays devlog well share more details about some of the new additions which will be included in the Trollslayer update.
Hello everyone!
In todays devlog well share some details about our new skill tree, Athletics, which will be added to the game with the Trollslayer update in the end of March.
Athletics is an utility skill tree composed of 13 abilities: 6 actives and 7 passives. Its primary goal is to provide more options to control the battlefield and improve mobility. Because of that, Athletics can easily be picked up by almost any build, since warriors, archers, and mages can all find a use for a timely repositioning. Lets now have a look at these new abilities:
Hello everyone!
In this devlog wed like to present you a new skill tree which will be added with the Trollslayer update - Combat Mastery.
Combat Mastery is an utility skill tree, designed to be particularly useful to warriors and other characters relying on weapons. Overall it contains 14 abilities: 7 actives and 7 passives.
Hello everyone!
This devlog is dedicated to revealing some of the progress weve made with the first major content update Trollslayer, which will be released around the end of March. As weve already mentioned, there are plans to include some previously unannounced things into this update. As for now, lets go through some of the features we are currently working on:
Greetings!
We're happy to inform Linux users that we've successfuly solved all Linux-related issues and Stoneshard is now available on your OC as well. Recommended distributive is Ubuntu 18.04. Other distributives may work as well, but they weren't tested.
It is important to note that depending on your version of Ubuntu additional dependencies may need to be installed to play the game. These dependencies are:
libcurl4
libopenal1
Hello everyone!
Its barely been a dozen of days since Stoneshard was released into Early Access, a rather stressful dozen of days for our team. Weve received a huge amount of feedback, and we are happy that our game gained so much unexpected attention. The first week was spent on fixing the most pressing issues, however its time for us again to focus on developing new content and mechanics.
Our first major content update Trollslayer is planned for March. You can see more details about it in our roadmap: it will introduce a new boss to the game, add a new dungeon type, two new skill trees, and expanded dialogues. Wed also like to add some of the initially unannounced content, but for now we cant promise anything outside of what was originally planned. During the development well publish a few more devlogs on our progress, so make sure to follow the game on Steam if you dont want to miss them.
During this month well continue to fix reported bugs and crashes, though at a slightly lower pace, so there still may be a couple more patches till the end of February. We also plan to finally solve the issues with the Linux build and release it in the near future. Until then, we recommend you to join us on Discord - our most favored way of communicating with the community where youll be able to chat with other players, ask us questions directly, or check out teasers for the future update. For now, heres some of them:
Hello everyone!
Since the release of the latest patch weve received many reports about various issues and game crashes when trying to play from old saves. As a result it was decided to disable old saves: we strongly recommend starting a new game. If you want to continue playing as your old character, you can rollback the game to the version without the feature of saving in camps. You can do it in steam game options by choosing the 0.5.7.8 version in the Betas folder.
Hello everyone!
To begin with, wed like to thank everyone who believed in us and decided to support the development by purchasing the game over these last two days. The amount of players was completely beyond our wildest expectations, and we consider it a great success for our team we will continue to diligently work on the game to repay your trust. We fully understand that the game still has a long way to go. We plan to gradually fix the shortcomings which were pointed out as well as add new content. Thank you all once more -- we are set on doing everything in our power to implement everything weve planned.
After receiving the feedback it became clear to us that the biggest flaw of the game is the lack of the save system. Wed like to assure you, it was not a conceptual decision, designed to make players suffer by losing time and progress. Saving on exit is a fairly obvious QoL feature, which we would implement if we had the opportunity. Unfortunately, due to a combination of multiple factors procedural world generation, huge number of objects in every location, as well as parameters which require saving, this task is impossible to perform from the technical standpoint.
The reason is not GMS2, as it could be misunderstood from the message about engine limitations, the reason is our procedural generation engine. The saves currently used by the game technically differ from saving in any part of the game world they save the seed of visited locations, regenerating the world on each loading, they dont save the state of the world, as it was left by the player. Otherwise, the saves would end up weighting a few gigabytes and take minutes to load. Thats why the saving is done in designated locations which dont contain objects requiring their state to be saved tavern rooms, the archive in the Prologue, the location with Archon etc.
With the addition of a mobile caravan which would serve as a save spot, this problem would disappear on its own, since the player would have a place to save their progress at just a short walk away. However it will take a long time to implement it, and theres already a need for a solution thats why weve decided to add extra save spots to the existing world by reworking the current camp system.
Now the brigand camps, initially marked with a question mark on the map, can be cleared out and then used as a save spot by clicking on bed. Weve changed the algorithm for their generation to spread them more evenly across the map, placing them closer to roads and dungeons. We hope that this measure will make your game experience more pleasant. In the future, as it was already mentioned, therell be even more save spots. Other than the caravan, some random locations, roadside inns, etc. will also be used as save spots.
Thank you!
Hello! This is our second hotfix, dealing with the most frequent crash reported so far (80% of total reports).
Greetings!
We'd like to thank all those who've been supporting us all this time. Our game is about to enter into the next stage, and we hope we can see it through together.
You can purchase the game here:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/625960/Stoneshard/
You can learn about the development plan and see answers to the most frequently asked questions in the previous news post.
Cheers!
Hello everyone!
As a reminder, its just 3 days until the Early Access release! Thats why wed like to answer some of the most frequently asked questions as well as tell you about the current status of the game, what will happen during the EA, and our plans for the future.
Early Access is just the beginning of the long way, which we are yet to walk with your support. There are still lots of mechanics and content to be added. Well need approximately 2 years to implement everything weve planned.
Lets start with the most important part - the current content. Right now the basic gameplay cycle is pretty much in place. Combat, dungeon crawling, health system, character development, and economy are all functional.
To fully explore all the content with one character, youll need around 7-10 hours, which is roughly translated into gaining 8-10 experience levels.
Currently in-game content includes:
Hello everyone! Were here to remind you only 7 days left until Stoneshard launches in Early Access on the 6th of February! For those of you still wondering, the price tag will be $15 for the US / 15 for the EU. To celebrate this, weve just released our launch trailer. Check it out! [previewyoutube=QSkQ9jwvLe4;full][/previewyoutube] In the coming week prepare for more news and updates, including our Early Access FAQ, development roadmap and other interesting things. Cheers!
Hello everyone!
This devlog is dedicated to a variety of small tweaks and improvements, which have accumulated over the last few weeks.
Hello everyone!
In todays devlog, wed like to share some details about the character selection system.
As some of you may not know, Verren isnt the main character of our game. He only comes under your control in the Prologue. In the main game, however, he is an employer and a mentor figure to your character.
We plan to introduce an option to create your own mercenary, but at the moment the game lacks systems necessary for implementing a fully working character generator. Instead, we added an option to choose from four preset characters. Each of them has their own appearance, portrait, starting inventory, starting attributes, some special dialogue options and also a unique perk, unavailable to other characters.
An important thing about preset characters is that they have affinities, governing which skills are initially unlocked. For instance, Jorgrim is good with melee weapons and can start leveling swords, axes and maces from the get go. But to learn starting skills of the pyromancy and geomancy trees, hell have to find a corresponding treatise first.
We intend to expand this system at the same time as working on the character generator. According to our plans, some heroes will have access to unique content, which cant be discovered when playing as other characters. For now this type of content is represented with unique starting equipment. For example, Arna starts the game with a family cuirass and sword, which cant be obtained in any other way. We also plan to expand the character selection as we add more skill trees.
Some may ask: but what about classes? How do they fit into this system? Yes, at first we did consider adding classes, but as the development went on, it became quite clear that it would be completely redundant. Class abilities came in conflict with our vision for character development, and they werent really working with all possible archetypes, forcing you to play in a very specific manner. We wanted to avoid that. Class abilities also turned out to be fairly generic and boring when compared to common skill trees. As a result it was decided to transfer the best ideas into the existing skill trees and get rid of the rest.
Now let us present you with the backstories and affinities for each character:
Hello everyone!
Ink Stains Games here! Wed like to wish all of you Happy Holidays and to present you the long awaited update for the Prologue as a Christmas gift.
The original Prologue was published in May 2018. At the time it was more of a proof of concept, designed to demonstrate Kickstarter backers our vision of the future game. A lot of time has passed since then, most systems of the game have changed beyond recognition. And at some point the Prologue grew so outdated that updating it became a priority.
Now the Prologue is mechanically equal to the main game and we hope it will make it easier to wait for the February release :)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/869760/Stoneshard_Prologue/
The list of changes is too expansive to be presented in detail after all, this update includes a year and a half of hard work. The Prologues structure remains the same, but if we are to list the most important changes, here is what you should expect from this update:
Hello everyone!
In this devlog well tell you what to expect from the updated Prologue which we plan to release this year.
Since the release of the Prologue in May 2018 almost every aspect of the game has changed so much, that the current Prologue will rather confuse newcomers than introduce them to the game. Therefore we decided to put an effort into updating its systems and mechanics so that theyll better reflect the state of the main game.
Its worth mentioning that the Prologue will remain free and will also be included in the main game, where it will serve as a tutorial and an introduction to the story. It means that you can complete it both as a standalone version as well as a part of the main game. Your actions in the Prologue will not have any effect on your main game so dont worry about transferring progress. The only thing to keep in mind is that if you finish the Prologue beforehand, youll be able to skip it in the main game and go straight to creating your character.
The Prologues structure will remain almost exactly the same. Youll still find yourself in a dungeon, escape, complete a tutorial floor and then fight your way through two procedurally generated floors to challenge the final boss. Weve also introduced quite a number of changes to the tutorial. For instance - more visible and descriptive popups, explaining games mechanics. We hope that it will provide a better introduction to the game.
As for game systems and mechanics, everything is now up to date with the current build of the main game. Reworked UI, relevant stats and abilities, new health and injury system, more transparent display of hunger and thirst, better dungeon generation, destructible objects and enemies opening doors it will all be included in the updated Prologue.
Content wise there are many noticeable changes, especially for those who didnt take part in the closed beta test. Since the release of the original Prologue weve added a huge number of new equipment and also changed most of the old stuff, so youll see lots of new items. Weve also changed starting enemies. Now instead of vampires youll fight against a cult of Proselytes, boasting fresh new enemy types and abilities. Other than that, all dialogues were rewritten to better accommodate story and setting changes.
And finally, the boss fight. Its safe to say that it has been improved the most. First of all, the Cursed Chapel was completely remade in accordance with our increased quality standards. Second, weve added a few tweaks to the fight with the statues. For instance half the spells is tied to one statue, while the other is to the second one. Respectively, by destroying one of the statues, youll prevent the Archon from casting blood bolts and puddles or stop him from summoning and healing zombies.
Third, the battle with the reborn Archon which used to be an optional secret, is now a mandatory second phase of the fight. The Archon himself was naturally changed as well, now possessing quite a few new abilities. You should be able to beat him by strategically exploiting his weaknesses. What are those? Youll have to find out yourself.
Thats it for now. Well announce a date for the Prologue very soon, so stay tuned.
Until next time!
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Hello everyone!
After an extensive closed beta-test, quality-assurance as well as the reevaluation of the development roadmap, we want to announce important news - Early Access launch of Stoneshard is being moved to February 6, 2020.
This decision was not easy to make. We wanted you to go explore the lands of Aldor as soon as possible. The current quality of the game at this milestone is up to our standards, however we couldnt implement some of the important mechanics that we think are crucial to the first public build yet.
Even though the game in its current state is fun to play, we saw areas where we could make improvements in regards to replayability of ingame content, it ends too fast - we wanted to make the core loop more thorough and thats what we are working on currently.
Right now in the beta there are three categories of enemies (not types), ten skill trees and fully developed first settlement called Osbrook, including its environment, contract system, two types of dungeons and lots of unique equipment.
With more time to improve our systems, February will introduce several new and updated features:
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