WORK IN PROGRESS BUILD AND DOCUMENT
This is a work in progress build and as such, neither of the changes and implementations found in it are final. Neither is the patchnotes document, which will be updated, corrected and completed over the Public Beta Client period to better reflect the work in progress nature of this build.


Exiles of the Public Beta Test lands!

We’re readying our gears for the next Chapter of Age of Sorcery. Chapter 3 is right around the corner so we’re releasing the current beta publicly so you can have an early look at what’s coming!

Chapter 3 will introduce a new mechanic we hope you get to love as much as we did creating it: Golem Shaping! Gather different parts and raise your golem in the new workbenches. Depending on which parts you use, you will be able to raise guardian golems that will follow you in your quests, or utility golems that will gather resources for you on demand! Take it one step further with the coatings to further customize your creations! Chapter 3 will also introduce a new encounter! A moon eclipse is looming over the nightime skies. Face Kurak and all the dark forces protecting him in his lair for rewards that will be worth your time!



Another big addition we are adding in Chapter 3 is a complete overhaul of the Journey System. We went back to the drawing board and redesigned the system from the ground up. New objectives, more meaningful paths, new UI, and even rewards to make your user Journey all the more meaningful and satisfying!

That’s not all included in this update: many new fixes to known issues, stability improvements as well as a new Battle Pass track (including mannequins!) will come bundled in once we release this update on all platforms in the near future. Until then, if you choose to give this beta a try, let us know your feedback!

Thank you for the continued support for Conan Exiles, and stay safe!

IMPORTANT NOTE REGARDING MODS
Please remember that updates can mess with the functionality of your installed mods. We suggest taking a backup of your current database before updating to any new patch if you have mods installed. For the purposes of testing, we recommend not using any mods when playing on Public Beta Client.



Golem Shaping!

Construct your own Golem using different parts, specialize it in combat or utility to harvest materials for you! Apply coatings to add special effects and extra customization!
New crafting benches, reagents, NPCs, loot and other goodies await in this free update!

Journey System revamp!

A brand new journey system with new and redesigned challenges for a more comprehensive and welcoming learning experience.
Get rewards for completing journey steps and milestones, including resources and equipment!

New encounter: Bloodstone!

The night has retreated, replaced by a foreboding eclipse, amplifying catastrophic sorceries being conducted in the shadows.
Mek-kamoses knows Kurak hides beneath the sands. He has fashioned a Transportory Stone for any adventurer willing to take on Kurak and attempt to return his head to Mek-kamoses.

• Golem Shaping!
  
• Journey System revamp!
  
• New encounter: Bloodstone!
  
• New Battle Pass and Bazaar items!
  
• Bug fixes!
  
• …and much more!

• New level: french castle (act II)
  
• New spell: swarm of nanites
  
• Necromicon costs 150 (instead of 200)
  
• Mimic costs 100/100/100/100 (instead of 75/75/75/200)
  
• Spanish inquisition is stronger
  
• it is not necessary to go on the "next level tile" anymore: you can just click
  
  
• Fix: you should not find item you already have in sellers

Hello Brewers!

Our game’s getting bigger and bigger, and we have lots of content added to support the mechanics. For example, when it comes to decorations, the selection of items, wall decors etc. will be infinitely larger than what you saw in the demo.

We’d like to show you the stuff that we’ve been working on. Also to get you acquainted with our game if you haven’t played the demo.

So how about we start with…




It’s easy, it’s nice, and in the full game, you can go wild with it in the SANDBOX MODE. There, you’ll get full creative freedom without having to worry about the finances. So you’ll be able to focus on decorating, serving your customers, but most importantly, on brewing. And a part of this is…




Here’s a taste (pun intended!) of our label customization system. It’s super easy to use, and you can be very creative also with the naming of your beer. Let’s take a look.


If you want to keep an ear to the ground, we are currently working on new gameplay elements and we’re testing the game in and out. New systems that you haven’t seen yet are all about your prestige, the ability to change the style/nature of your pub, the way you deliver stuff, and what your customers do in the pub.

We’ll show more in the upcoming weeks, so smash that wishlist button and join the party!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1755180/Brewpub_Simulator/

A new version of Stormbound is coming early March, bringing new cards, balance changes, and the Saint Patrick event!

1. Balance changes
   
2. New cards
   
3. New Brawls
   
4. Saint Patrick’s Day Event
   
5. Upcoming changes
   
6. Card usage data
   
7. FAQ

This release, just like any other, will bring some balance changes. A first batch on March 1st:

• Siro the Resurrector’s mana cost is now 6 (down from 7) and strength is now 6/8/10/12/14 (down from 7/8/10/12/15).
  
• Queen of Herds’ mana cost is now 6 (down from 7) and strength is now 6/8/10/10/12 (down from 8/10/12/12/14).
  
• Temple of the Mind’s strength is now 5/6/7/8/9 (up from 3/4/5/6/7).

Then another batch on March 17th:

• Temple of Life’s ability now can also spawn in a row in front, up to the furthest row.
  
• Temple of Space now costs 0 mana when there is already a friendly copy on the board.
  
• Plague Monarchs’ ability now considers Ancients and Toads.
  
• Absorbing Varmints’ ability now considers Ancients and Rodents.
  
• Orgone Leechers’ ability now considers Ancients and Frostlings.
  
• Martyr Spongers’ ability now considers Ancients and Undead.

Two new cards will be introduced in March: a new neutral Dwarf and a new neutral Knight.

• KINGDOM: Neutral
  
• RARITY: Common
  
• UNIT TYPE: Dwarf
  
• MANA: 5
  
• MOVE: 2
  
• STRENGTH: 2/3/4/5/6
  
• ABILITY: When played with no surrounding friendly units, gain 4 strength.

• KINGDOM: Neutral
  
• RARITY: Common
  
• UNIT TYPE: Knight
  
• MANA: 4
  
• MOVE: 1
  
• STRENGTH: 3/4/5/6/7
  
• ABILITY: Before attacking a unit or structure, deal damage to it equal to the strength of the weakest friendly unit.

As usual, there will be $9.99 exclusive packs for every new card to get 10 copies as well as 750 coins and 5 fusion stones. It's now possible to buy more than one exclusive pack each.

Similar to what we did in the last months — we will introduce 2 new Brawl modifiers for the 2 new cards. We think it’s a good way for you to be able to try, play with and enjoy newly added cards before you start collecting them.

Like last time, a 0-mana level 1 (unless owned and leveled) copy of the new card will be added to everyone’s deck (thus causing all decks to have 13 cards).

• The Warrior Brawl starting on March 23rd will be for Leafpatters.
  
• The Warrior Brawl starting on March 30th will be for Noble Vigilantes.

With Saint Patrick’s Day (March 17th) approaching quickly, we thought we’d do a small event to mark the occasion. During the Saint Patrick’s Day Event, there will be a coin bonus and ruby bonus, from March 17th till March 27th. Additionally, everyone who will log in to the game between March 17th and March 20th (8:00 AM CET) will receive a small gift of coin 200 coins.

The Brawl starting on March 16th (and only that one) is going to be cheaper. All fights will be 30% off. Owners of the Premium Pass will also have their usual discount applied, leading to a 40% reduction.

What’s more, there will be some generous Saint Patrick’s Day offers, each with a different avatar.



Additionally, we’re working on some additional content changes, which will be, hopefully, introduced in the second half of March. Once these tweaks are ready to add, we will update the Patch Notes with details on them and announce them on Discord and our social media channels.


In case you missed it, you may be pleased to learn that we have started releasing card usage data in the form of per-league tier lists. This should give you a good idea of how popular certain cards are in a given league, or what are the top-cards on a per-league basis.

Note that we are currently experimenting with ways to adjust neutral cards’ presence. Right now they are disproportionately represented since they are in all types of decks. We hope to make them less prominent in the dataset in the near future.

When is the update going to be released?
Please find below a detailed listed of the release plan:

• Balance Changes: March 1 (8:00)
  
• Cheapened Brawl (30% off): from March 16 (8:00) till March 20 (8:00)
  
• St. Patrick's Gift (200 coins): from March 17 (8:00) till March 20 (8:00)
  
• Leafpatters release: March 17 (8:00)
  
• St. Patrick’s Coins bonus: from March 17 (8:00) till March 27 (8:00)
  
• St. Patrick’s Ruby bonus: from March 17 (8:00) till March 27 (8:00)
  
• St. Patrick’s Shop offers: from March 17 (8:00) till March 27 (8:00)
  
• Noble Vigilantes release: March 24 (8:00)
  
• Leafpatters (Warrior Brawl): March 23 (8:00) till March 27 (8:00)
  
• Noble Vigilantes (Warrior Brawl): March 30 (8:00) till April 4 (8:00)

All times are expressed using a 24-hour clock in CET (Central European Timezone).

With this update, 3 difficulty levels have been added to the game, each difficulty level will allow you to change the rates and prices of taxes and upgrades, allowing you to build a market in the consistency you want.

A total of 18 Achievements have also been added for the Hard Level.

Fixed a visual bug when the tutorial was open.

Thank you for your support, if you would like to support me further, please don't forget to write a review and share your ideas with me via the "Community Hub". Thank you for your support.

Hello again! We’re back after another break, this time because we were focused on organizational matters. We’ve hired four additional staff members (three software developers and one level designer). We needed some time to train up and become productive.

And, wow - have we been productive 🙂

Level Design

Nico, our level designer, first learned how to work with our tools and to understand what is a feature and what is a bug in our very customized level designing toolchain. After some teething issues at the beginning, he's become very productive quite fast.

And below are the first results of a skirmish map for up to four gods:


The new four gods map is ready for action!


Many mortals available!


Four gods, four cities (and many more villages)


Who will succeed?!

While this map still needs some polishing, a second map for up to three gods is already in the making:


A three gods map is already in the making!


Nice place for a holiday ?!

The massive amount of buildings and characters being simulated and rendered in the end game of a five gods maps directly highlights the second very important topic we are currently working on:

Performance

There are several very complex issues if you want to bring a game like Fata Deum to life (large numbers of characters, complex AI logic, many buildings, etc.). Especially, if most of it shall also be visible at a distance.

One major bottleneck in the end game was the rendering of a large amount of characters. We do not want to bother you with technical details but we needed to test many different techniques and faced many technical issues until we found a solution. This ended up being a combination of several techniques that satisfies our high standards.


Test scenario: rendering as many diverse characters as possible at the same time!

Geri worked really hard to find this solution and the results are very promising: he was able to push us from 20 FPS in end game situations with a large amount of characters to over 60 FPS!


Before: low frame rate because of many characters rendered at the same time.


After: 60 FPS even many characters are rendered at the same time!

And these are frames captured inside the Unity editor, so performance is even better with a real build!

We will proceed to increase the overall performance, so that we will be able to provide you a smooth experience in all cases.

Camera Controls

The camera controls are the functionality which has been most criticized in the feedback form we have collected from all of you. So, we decided to put Jan on this job to focus on it!

One main issue here is to provide a smooth experience even when switching between different height levels and using different distance and view angles. While many strategy and simulation games have quite fixed camera angles and distances, Fata Deum allows you to move freely. This is great, but makes camera control quite complex.

As the overall complexity has been understood over time and the camera logic was technically a wild-mix of different camera control styles, Jan decided to rewrite the whole logic. While this part is done and we already have a much better experience, Jan will further improve and polish the logic over the next months while working on other tasks.

Jan also added the functionality for individual key bindings, which can now be defined by each player in the main menu:


Key bindings!!

Audio Improvements

There have been some issues on the audio logic which resulted in sounds being played much more often than intended, resulting in a more or less quite annoying gaming experience once the scenery became more crowded. Jakob, another new hire, did fix this at the very beginning. Our ears are very thankful 🙂

Continuous Integration & Continuous Delivery

As we are now working in a much larger team with four software developers in parallel, it was also necessary to improve our workflow on an organizational and a technical level. Jakob implemented a Continuous Integration & Continuous Delivery system, which allows us to automatically check the newest builds which are pushed onto the server and receive a fresh new version automatically every night. While setting this up was quite time-intensive, we can now proceed with focusing on our tasks and not having to waste time on time-intensive builds or code checks!

AI Dialogs

Jakob has also started work on AI related topics. As the AI is quite complex it will need some time until he can take over this part. One thing he is currently working on is the introduction of AI dialogues, so the AI god character reacts to specific situations, e.g. a simple greeting at the beginning of a match.


God Deceit speaks his first words!

Next Steps

We are planning to provide you with new updates every couple of months or so. In terms of what the team will be working on next:

• Nico will continue on creating new maps and improving the vegetation visually.
  
• Jan will further improve the camera logic and furthermore improve the UI.
  
• Geri will continue with improving performance.
  
• Jakob will focus on AI mostly.

Chris was mainly focusing on supporting all others with their tasks and bug fixing whatever stands in their way. But he hopes to continue working on AI across the next few months.

Stay tuned!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2327160/I_commissioned_some_dogs/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2327160/I_commissioned_some_dogs/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2327160/I_commissioned_some_dogs/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2327160/I_commissioned_some_dogs/