Bonum diem!
It's Tim, Art Lead at Tarock Interactive, and I'm back with a new dev blog entry after quite some time. Jens and Felix usually keep you up to date on the fantastic progress we're making with Lost Legions. This time, however, I'd like to give you a few insights and thoughts on the game's graphic design.

As mentioned in the last blog post, we've been working intensively on the intro level over the past few weeks. The player starts in a Roman camp in the middle of the Teutoburg Forest and has to defend themselves against attacking Germanic tribes in the rain and darkness.
Thanks to the support of our talented level design interns, we were able to quickly block out the level – after all, it's a fairly linear passage of the game.


The big challenge was to create a dense and immersive atmosphere – and to guide the player through the level as intuitively as possible despite the darkness of the night and the chaos of battle.


The setting: a detailed camp hastily erected by desperate Roman troops in a matter of days and nights. It serves as a starting point and place of retreat to gather equipment before heading into battle.


Then comes the burning forest, scarred by battle, with muddy ground, uprooted embankments, and deep trenches.


Players pass through various checkpoints, each marked by enemy barricades. After each barricade, they learn new combat techniques and control elements. At the end, a particularly dangerous section awaits in the swampiest part of the forest, characterized by dense ferns and mystical ground fog.
There they reach the fourth and final barricade – what happens next will not be spoiled here, of course. But one thing can be revealed: After that, the game opens up into a large-scale open-world level.


Here, the player is initially guided subtly through the level design while another series of tutorials begins. The mood is now completely different – still dark, but more cold and mysterious. Nothing remains of the hectic battle that preceded it, except for the wounds that need to be healed.


The view falls on a secluded valley with an abandoned hut – a quiet, almost idyllic moment. A path through a cave follows, eventually leading out into the open. In this phase, the player learns the basics of the survival and crafting mechanics of Lost Legions. The clever placement of points of interest (POIs) ensures that the player is guided through the area to discover all the important resources and treasures.

https://youtu.be/K4lBxKuWRk8
At the same time, the lore of the world gradually unfolds. Detailed environmental storytelling creates a dense atmosphere that brings the game world to life. I'm very happy with what we've created so far – and excited about how different each section feels: from the desperate battle, to the dark ritual sites of the Germanic tribes, to the almost peaceful valley.


We've also learned a lot in the art department – about the engine, our set dressing processes, and optimizing our workflow. Performance issues, shader problems caused by engine updates (yes, I'm looking at you, Felix), new plugins, feature changes, quests, and progression – all of these things are part of our daily world-building routine.
Earlier playtests already made it clear that our player guidance wasn't always intuitive. But with the latest adjustments to the level design and set dressing, we've been able to get this problem under control much better.

I hope you like the impressions – and I'm very excited to see how it feels to roam our world when you get to experience Lost Legions for yourselves soon.

Now we're moving full steam ahead into the next big region. Stay tuned – ad iterum!
Tim

Hello!

It's been a while since the demo release, so maybe it's time for a little status update! The project is moving along nicely, the game itself is practically finished, but currently I'm working on localization and console ports. And I'm just a solo developer, so things like these take their time. And before I get the builds through mandatory platform certification processes etc., I cannot promise an exact release day until I know for certain I can hit it. (Due to various reasons beyond my control all platforms need to ship simultaneously too.)

It's been a long journey, over four years! So it feels good to have the finishing line in sight. Still, work remains so hang in there! I'm doing my best to get it in your hands as soon as possible.

- Kimmo

Frame Machina Ocular Zero is out of early access

G'day Rat Racers, and welcome to the weekly report!

Today I'll be discussing the newest update's upcoming content, which will be released in a few hours at most.

The first thing I would like to talk about is game progress; While implementing the Steam Achievements coming with this update, I discovered that the game was not tracking first place finishes. For any race. At all. Oops.

I immediately corrected this when I found it but what about existing save files? Technically this means somehow a player may have done 100+ races but had none of them count as first place finishes, which would make certain achievements very difficult if not borderline impossible to achieve for existing "broken" saves.

Now we're left with a difficult decision; either keep existing save files as-is and risk some achievements being harder to get for some players, or have each save file soft-reset from scratch. Another idea I had was to reset only the race counts but grandfather in the old racing rank. Unfortunately this didn't work as well as I'd hoped in practice as admittedly the game's code is a bit of a spaghetti mess.

Therefore I've regrettably had to go the nuclear option; With the next game update, all race progress on your save will be reset. I do apologise for this insane slip-up and will ensure save file breaking changes don't happen in future.

Your currently selected Rat Skin will be kept however and the game will pretend you've first launched the game exactly on the day this upcoming update is installed and launched, which will allow certain achievements to unlock correctly. Your performance ratio will also be reset to 50/50 (new saves start at 60/40) and recalibrated; more on changes to this in the coming sections of this report.

Now, onto the new content. There is now an entirely new Splitscreen system! This new interface completely replaces the old "How many players?" screen.

Players now join and leave by connecting a controller and pressing their controllers equivalent of the Start Button (START on an Xbox Controller, OPTIONS on a PlayStation(R) Controller) and leaving by physically/wirelessly disconnecting their controller. In addition, multiple Rats now appear on this screen, one per player, where you can visibly see which Rat colour you've chosen.

As you can see, each player can now select their own colour, instead of inheriting Player 1's colour. Colour changes to Players 2-4 are temporary and will reset when the game is closed - let me know if you'd like this to be permanent.

Speaking of permanent, once a race has started, controller order is finally preserved across races.
Yes, even if someone's controller's batteries die mid-race and have to be changed or that Bluetooth dongle from Temu couldn't keep up with having all three of your friend's controllers connected.

Now, a sneak peek at the Rat Racing Rank rewards; the game now rewards Bronze, Silver and Gold Rats to players who complete specific numbers of races! When a new rank is unlocked, as per the previous game update, the game will show a notification but this time it will also unlock one of these new colours. (Click on the images to view at full size)

Speaking of race progress, I have altered the OOTB (That is, Out-of-the-box) experience of the game a bit, given recent feedback. Admittedly, it was hard to tell for some players if the game's numerous modes in "Join Rat Race" actually existed in the game or not until the first milestone (completing 10 races) was hit. In addition, the player profile tile in the top left of the main menu didn't exactly make itself obvious as a selectable button to enter the Player Profile menu. I have addressed this with the following:

• Now when first booting the game, any time you select "Join Rat Race," a box will appear on the left side showing the game is in "onboarding" mode, along with the number of races remaining to unlock all other race modes.

• The game now only requires 5 races to achieve "Rat Racing Apprentice," which unlocks all other race modes and Hard CPU difficulty. This also means new players will have raced through each race environment type once before unlocking this milestone, and can immediately have fun with the other race modes.

• The player profile menu is no longer accessed via the top-left profile tile; it now has it's own separate menu button, positioned between the "Watch Replay" and "Options" buttons.

• Because the game's performance ratio calculation needs 7 races worth of data before the rolling average can operate correctly, a separate notification now appears if you re-enter the main menu after your save records the 7th completed race.

And that just about covers everything. Along with this new content are plenty of bugfixes too, namely for splitscreen audio as I accidentally broke that in a previous patch without realising. (oops) Happy Rat Racing, and I'll see you all next week in the next Weekly Report!

Dear Inheritors,

\[Scheduled Maintenance] August 13, 13:00–15:00 (UTC+8)

After braving an expedition through alien galaxies, can the Inheritors withstand the onslaught of the Abyssal Overlord Modgud?

This update comes packed with exciting new content—a new class, a new mode, new Soul Cores, and new cultivation systems...

Today, Audhum brings you the preview PV for the brand-new mode in v2.3 — Divine Demise. Don’t miss this sneak peek!

Legends speak of a place beneath a certain pyramid, where the remnants of fallen deities from the Primglory era and countless hidden treasures lie... Now, it has become one of Nyarlathotep's strongholds. The chaotic power has distorted space and time—Inheritors may accidentally travel through rifts into the multiverse during the challenge. Be extremely cautious: the Abyssal Overlord · Modgud, raised by Nyarlathotep, now lurks within.

• Inheritors can challenge Divine Demise solo, limited to once per day;

• Inheritors can exchange Soul Stones for additional attempts, up to 3 times per day. More tickets can be obtained via limited-time events;

• Upon defeating the boss, Inheritors have a chance to enter a space-time rift and face other Abyssal Overlords from alternate dimensions, earning greater rewards.

• In Divine Demise, the lingering souls of deities may occasionally stir, revealing high-value hidden treasures for a limited time. If Inheritors witness such an anomaly, be quick.

More v2.3 reveals will be announced soon. Inheritors, don’t lose your way amidst the whispers of Nyarlathotep...

----Insane truth behind the Great Old Ones—the one who slew gods becomes one. ----

More Way To Connect:

★★★ Telegram ★★★

★★★ WhatsAPP ★★★

★★★ Official Wiki ★★★

We are proud to announce Disciples: Domination, the next installment in the dark fantasy strategy RPG series with turn-based combat. The game takes place fifteen years after the events of Disciples: Liberation, returning players to the fractured realm of Nevendaar. Disciples: Domination will release on PC (Microsoft Store, Steam, Steam MacOS, Epic Games), Xbox PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation®5 in 2026. 

Players step back into the boots of Avyanna to find that her once-stable rule has begun to shatter. Nevendaar has only grown more volatile, and as loyal factions falter, and tensions rise, Avyanna must navigate its regions – all explored in real time - while the weight of the crown grows heavier by the day. She must hold her crumbling kingdom together, or watch it descend into chaos. 
 
From the seat of power in Yllian, players must manage the demands of war and rule, making decisions that will affect factions across Nevendaar. Dwarves from the Mountain Clans return, and Avyanna’s choices will affect her standing with their forces and four other factions, helping her create a powerful battle squad. Some will be ready to join her cause, while others will vehemently fight against her rule.  Avyanna can also recruit trusted companions, both familiar and not, each with their skills and backstories that can unlock secrets as she steers the fate of the realm. 

Disciples: Domination refines Liberations signature tactic, grid and turn-based combat, with faster pacing and enhanced interactions. Strategic depth is at the forefront, with faction-specific abilities and dangerous unit synergies which can shift the tide of battle.

https://youtu.be/zvYefLj3GIc

In the lead-up to Domination, Disciples: Liberation is 65% off in the Kalypso Store's Monster Sale including 5 for 4 on select titles until August 11th, and 65% off on Steam until August 21st. 

Disciples: Domination is set for release in 2026 on PC (Microsoft Store, Steam, Steam MacOS, Epic Games), Xbox PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation®5 in 2026. 

• Dark & mature story: In Disciples: Domination you continue Avyanna’s journey in a grim tale of power, war and sacrifice. Every decision carves her path – shaping her fate and the future of Nevendaar.  

• Rule supreme: From your capital, Yllian, you rule your realm and army. Consult your companions for guidance as your choices shape your faction reputation, impacting how others react to your rule, and the whole world around you.  

• Refined turn-based combat: Lead your army in tactical, grid-based battles with faster pacing, dynamic events and richer interaction. New skills, faction abilities and unit synergies deepen your strategical options along with the unique system of strengths and weaknesses.  

• Choose your companions: Unlock and choose trusted companions to reflect your playstyle – leveraging their combat prowess and unique world skills to aid your quest to save Nevendaar.  

• Hold your world together: Recruit and upgrade units from five distinct factions. Build powerful squads by combining unique skills and abilities and train them to defeat your enemies in turn-based encounters. 

• Real-time world exploration: Travel the dark, living world of Nevendaar in real time. Uncover new regions, meet compelling characters, face terrifying foes, and dive into rewarding quests as the story unfolds. 

• The Mountain Clans return: The dwarves are back – and they might not be your allies. Will they stand with you, or spark a new fire you’ll be forced to extinguish? 
   

We are proud to announce Disciples: Domination, the next installment in the dark fantasy strategy RPG series with turn-based combat. The game takes place fifteen years after the events of Disciples: Liberation, returning players to the fractured realm of Nevendaar. Disciples: Domination will release on PC (Microsoft Store, Steam, Steam MacOS, Epic Games), Xbox PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation®5 in 2026. 

Players step back into the boots of Avyanna to find that her once-stable rule has begun to shatter. Nevendaar has only grown more volatile, and as loyal factions falter, and tensions rise, Avyanna must navigate its regions – all explored in real time - while the weight of the crown grows heavier by the day. She must hold her crumbling kingdom together, or watch it descend into chaos. 
 
From the seat of power in Yllian, players must manage the demands of war and rule, making decisions that will affect factions across Nevendaar. Dwarves from the Mountain Clans return, and Avyanna’s choices will affect her standing with their forces and four other factions, helping her create a powerful battle squad. Some will be ready to join her cause, while others will vehemently fight against her rule.  Avyanna can also recruit trusted companions, both familiar and not, each with their skills and backstories that can unlock secrets as she steers the fate of the realm. 

Disciples: Domination refines Liberations signature tactic, grid and turn-based combat, with faster pacing and enhanced interactions. Strategic depth is at the forefront, with faction-specific abilities and dangerous unit synergies which can shift the tide of battle.

https://youtu.be/zvYefLj3GIc

In the lead-up to Domination, Disciples: Liberation is 65% off in the Kalypso Store's Monster Sale including 5 for 4 on select titles until August 11th, and 65% off on Steam until August 21st. 

Disciples: Domination is set for release in 2026 on PC (Microsoft Store, Steam, Steam MacOS, Epic Games), Xbox PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation®5 in 2026. 

• Dark & mature story: In Disciples: Domination you continue Avyanna’s journey in a grim tale of power, war and sacrifice. Every decision carves her path – shaping her fate and the future of Nevendaar.  

• Rule supreme: From your capital, Yllian, you rule your realm and army. Consult your companions for guidance as your choices shape your faction reputation, impacting how others react to your rule, and the whole world around you.  

• Refined turn-based combat: Lead your army in tactical, grid-based battles with faster pacing, dynamic events and richer interaction. New skills, faction abilities and unit synergies deepen your strategical options along with the unique system of strengths and weaknesses.  

• Choose your companions: Unlock and choose trusted companions to reflect your playstyle – leveraging their combat prowess and unique world skills to aid your quest to save Nevendaar.  

• Hold your world together: Recruit and upgrade units from five distinct factions. Build powerful squads by combining unique skills and abilities and train them to defeat your enemies in turn-based encounters. 

• Real-time world exploration: Travel the dark, living world of Nevendaar in real time. Uncover new regions, meet compelling characters, face terrifying foes, and dive into rewarding quests as the story unfolds. 

• The Mountain Clans return: The dwarves are back – and they might not be your allies. Will they stand with you, or spark a new fire you’ll be forced to extinguish? 
   

HotFix Reverse Patch

Hello everyone,

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused today by the mission system.
We will be conducting a more thorough review of our internal systems and making improvements to ensure this does not happen again.

As previously announced, rewards obtained by repeatedly clearing certain missions will be recovered in stages.

If a bug or system vulnerability is severely exploited to gain an advantage without reporting it to the Customer Support Center, strong sanctions such as account suspension will be applied in accordance with our Rules of Conduct. While we take full responsibility for what occurred, we appreciate your understanding as these measures are needed to keep the game fair for everyone.

Thank you as always for your patience and continued support.

🔹 Restock product confirmation – A new panel lets you choose exactly what to restock.
🔹 Persistent Product Pricing –Your pricing now stays saved when restocking or restarting the game.
🔹 MAP – You can now see where each shop is located.
🔹 More Settings Options – New options like fullscreen mode, quality settings, mouse sensitivity and more.
🔹 Improved Progression – Certain content is now locked until you progress further.
🔹 Night – Was too dark we fixed this
🔹 Bug fixes