Hey there folks,

Hope you're all doing well in this fine summer weather! We've been hard at work on implementing quite a few new features... that we'll keep secret for now! Now don't worry, we still have plenty to share regardless. Without further ado, here is our first Dev Update of July - with your weekly dose of friendly feline attached to it. 


This adorable fellow is named Kaiju, and he's our Graphic Programmer's companion

Enough talk about adventurers, where are the monsters at? Give those poor goblins a break and show us something new. Well well well, today's your lucky day - for we're about to reveal not one, not two... but four new monsters you can look forward to meet in Solasta! 


My path is paved with bones, with steel and strength I shall crush you!

Our first monster is the Minotaur - winner of the February Community Vote, defeating the Ettin, the Ettercap and the Badlands Troll to be crowned the victor! This massive monstrosity is known for its extremely dangerous charge, which can easily down any lesser armored adventurer.


Aaaah, fresh meat.

Our second monster is the Ghoul, well known for roaming in packs under the cover of the night, ever looking for humanoid flesh to satisfy their unending hunger. Considering the extreme environment of the Badlands, it is no surprise to see that undeads would thrive in at least some areas. It is, of course, accompanied by their big brother the Ghast - our third monster of today.


Big brother Ghast is currently only in their 2D stage of creation.

Finishing off today's roster is going to be another undead foe, the Wight. Intelligent undead humanoids, Wights are said to be mortals once driven by dark desire and great vanity. Unlike most "lesser" undead beings, Wights are very adept at using weapons, and those who think that they can be easily pick off from afar will quickly change their tune after being turned into pincushions themselves. Among the more terrifying rumors about Wights is their ability to turn anyone they slay into a zombie under their command, preventing any attempt at resurrecting the victim. No one knows if it's true or simply folktales, for few would be willing to test that theory. 


You aren't the first paladin I've met - and you won't be the last.

As to where you would meet such monsters, let me give you a little taste...


Hello? Anyone here? Alright folks, seems like we're a bit late to the party.

You've said it, we've said it - none of us are satisfied with the current faces in Solasta. This is why we've been working on it behind the scene - and today we're ready to show you a first glance at what we're working on. We've changed methods on how to create faces, here is our first trial using the new process! 


The first in a long list of faces that will be replaced. And by a long list, I mean every face produced so far.

We've said it before and we'll say it again: your feedback matters. Thank you for the time you spend talking about the game, sharing your excitement (and concerns!) with us and other fans!

Good environment artists are able to make a location come to life, with little details and polish that just make you feel like the area isn't just somewhere for your party goes through - but an important part of the world supporting the game. Places where people live, places where monsters hunt, places left untouched for centuries... Yet, they're most often not those people talk about when the game comes out. So here is some of their recent work for you to enjoy!


The once bland pavement of Caer Cyflen now has motifs and small roads for visitors to browse the market stalls


The statue of a knight adorning the previous barren insides of a temple


Walls and other elements in various levels of disrepair, ready to be used by level builders to decorate the level.

We've just started implementing feats to our leveling system! You will now be able to select feats instead of increasing your ability scores at level 4 and 8. Note that not every Solastan feat has been added to the interface quite yet, so what you're seeing here is mostly a sample of what you'll have in the final game. 


Oh great, I love not dying due to crappy Death Saving Throws. Somehow I feel like that may come handy in no-Cleric no-Paladin runs.


We also have a little system to warn you if you're about to pick a Feat that overlaps with your existing features (such as armor or weapon proficiency)

No bloopers this week, but instead here is your weekly dose of new spells! 


Chill Touch, Cantrip, Necromancy


Shadow Dagger, Cantrip, Illusion (Homebrew)

That's it for today! Thank you for reading, and don't hesitate to drop by our Forums or our Discord Server.

Read our previous articles here:

• https://www.solasta-game.com/news/48-dev-update-2-dungeons-dwarvesSummer Q&A Recap
• Dev Update #15 - Goodbye, Steam Summer Festival!
• "Choose your Path" Trailer

Article by Tactical Myzzrym

Hey there folks!

Here is a recap of the Steam Summer Festival Community Q&A session that took place on Discord on Friday June 19th, during which anyone was free to ask us any question they had in mind - which were answered either by me (Myzzrym, Community Lead), Zaz (Gameplay Director) or Archimat (Creative Director and CEO). Enjoy your read!

Q01: Are there any major gameplay features planned that aren't shown or hinted at in the demo?
Myzzrym: Hmmmm that's hard to say, there are just so many. There are very few skill checks in the demo, verticality is mostly hinted at through spiders, there is no city, no faction system and I could go on and on....

Q02: Huge and larger enemies, are we going to see some giants or big dragons? Also with the verticality being a thing, will we be able to climb on top of these giant enemies?
Myzzrym: There will be large enemies indeed. As to climbing on their back, it would be cool wouldn't it! Unfortunately that's a whole lot of animations and special rules to be made just for that, and I don't believe we'll have the time nor the budget for it!

Q03: What portion of combat encounters are avoidable, by one mean or another?
Archimat: Reminder that this is a Tactical RPG - meaning combat is VERY important in our game. Just think of how short XCOM would be if you were able to avoid all the fights! You will be able to bypass some fights by sneaking around or talking your way out, but those are the exceptions and not the rule!

Q04: Are there going to be able battles where fleeing is the only option?
Archimat: I'm not too sure about that, but there ARE some fights where you win by surviving long enough! Of course if you go attacking some monsters that are far too powerful for you, we'd still suggest fleeing to fight another day

Q05: Does the game have random encounters? Can you grind to overcome a difficult fight (be it level, money/gear, consumables)?
Zaz: You will have random encounters, but we're trying to find a way to avoid too much grinding - you shouldn't be able to grind too much above what's planned

Q06: What difficulty options are planned and what would it look like? More enemies, stronger enemies, better AI?
Archimat: We're still designing difficulty options, but we're leaning towards altering the AI to avoid changing the game too much. For instance, we can deactivate certain behaviours such as hitting characters that are already dying, or shoving them from high above

Q07: Will there be an in-game lorebook? What form will it take? Will it have unlockable entries on monsters, important personages, locations, historical events, etc.?
Myzzrym: That's a secret. We're working on something is what I can tell you.

Q08: You've said the campaign ends at about level 10 - is this a hard-coded limit (like in the BG games, where characters just stopped earning XP) or is it just a "there's no efficient way of getting XP to go higher, unless you want to spend a gazillion hours farming goblin random encounters" thing?
Myzzrym: Hardcoded. We won't have any class features / spells that get unlocked above level 10, so allowing you to level up would just be useless

Q09: Why is the level max 10 and not 20? 
Myzzrym: It's simple really, time and budget. By going up to level 20 you increase the amount of spells we need to create (FX, coding...), features to implement, and also the increase in campaign length! Unless you want to be farming mobs mindlessly for hours on end, increasing level cap also means you need more quests, a longer story, etc etc... and that means in turn more writing, more voice acting - it's a never ending story. This is why Solasta: Crown of the Magister has a level 10 cap - but future modules may increase that cap to 15, or 20, who knows

Q10: Can spells affect the environment? Destroy a door for instance?
Myzzrym: Not sure about destroying doors, but you can definitely use spells on the environment: Lighting up an oil puddle, opening a door with Knock, etc etc...

Q11: How much of the environment is destructible or affected by spells? 
Myzzrym: The environment that can be affected by spells / interactions will be easily recognizable - you won't be able to Red Faction your way through the levels tearing through every walls.

Q12: Apart from jumping and climbing, what kind of environmental obstacle will there be? Swimming? Slippery surfaces?
Zaz: We're considering some ideas but nothing can be confirmed for now

Q13: Are the merchant stores static like P:KM or dynamic and change their items periodically ?
Zaz: Different merchants have different items, which may vary depending on your reputation with their faction. You can't use persuasion to lower the shop price, but good reputation will do that!

Q14: Will be other sources of light in the game like lanterns, sunrods or ... ?
Myzzrym: I'm not sure I understand, you're asking if there will be something else than just torches? I think we do.

Q15: Some armors in the demo have a helmet integrated, but there is a helmet slot in the character sheet. How exactly does this work exactly? Is there going to be a mantle slot?
Zaz: Only the Full Plate requires a helmet (visually), all other armors will let you put something else in Headgear slot. Gameplay-wise you can put headgear whatever the armor you're wearing, but visually the Full Plate will have a helmet. I think we're still discussing about the mantle slot.

Q16: Will there be ways of enchanting equipment? So if I found a mundane sword, will there be a way to permanently make it a +1 or give it an element?
Myzzrym: There will be enchantment, but not every item / weapon will be enchantable - the weapon needs to have a certain property to enchant.

Q17: In-game economy: How difficult will it be to raise money to buy equipment or consumable items? Is it worth saving up from the beginning or can it be spent without measure. You said that there will be few magic weapons, but they will be in stores? Or is it just loot for quests and bosses?
Zaz: The idea is to reward players who look around for loot and find valuables. You can definitely save to buy something later. If you're friends with a particular faction, you'll see they have some expensive stuff you can buy, so it can be worth it to save. Some of the best loot is still hidden in the badlands.

Q18: Will magic items be as plentiful in the full game as they were in the demo?
Zaz: We put plenty in the demo so you can have fun, but they will be rarer in the final game.

Q19: Will loot be randomly generated off of some table or is it all predefined?
Zaz: Depending on the case, it can be either predefined or from a loot table! So... both.

Q20: There were some noble garments as a starter item, do they have any effect? Will characters react differently depending on how you're dressed? 
Zaz: Noble garments currently have no effect (only visual), but it's a very nice idea - we'll write it down in our idea jar for our next game!

Q21: In the demo, the NPCs were voice acted. What percentage of the game do you expect will receive voice acting?
Myzzrym: The entire game, every dialog, is voice acted. The only things that won't be are like lore scrolls and the like

Q22: Will each character have a reputation they can earn? If so, will that effect dialogs or the outcome of a conversation?
Myzzrym: Remember that you play as a Party, not as each individual - this means every system such as the reputation system is tied to the entire party, not to each character. There is indeed a reputation / faction system in Solasta, and getting friendly with some factions may get you in trouble with others - dialog options, merchant prices or even NPC services may vary depending on your reputation with each faction

Q23: Will the party size be limited to 4 characters or will you be able to increase party size? (Like by persuading NPCs or hiring mercenaries)
Myzzrym: The main party will be limited to 4, but there will be occasional quests where you might have NPC(s) accompanying you - still, you'll spend most of the game as a party of 4 characters, there won't be any permanent followers

Q24: So we control a full party of 4; can any of the characters decide to leave the party if they don't like the way choices are made? Do they have individuality and relationships to each other?
Myzzrym: No. You're playing as THE PARTY, not as individual characters. Imagine playing with your friends, it's your responsibility to make it work - even if alignments and motivations are not always the same

Q25: Will it be possible to play the game with a single character even if that means the challenge is greater or is it set exclusively to a 4 person party?
Myzzrym: No, in Solasta you play AS A PARTY - not as a single character. The game does not work as a single character, as it's not based on a "main character + companion" model. Everything, from the encounters, to the puzzles, to the dialogs require four party members

Q26: How much of an impact will alignment have in the game? Could I play with a full evil party? Will alignments clash between party members?
Myzzrym: Just like D&D 5e is slowly phasing away from alignment taking too much of an important role itself, we did not want to use alignments to put our characters in boxes. Alignments in Solasta will give you different choices of personality flags, but it won't go much further than that. There won't be conflicts within the party, because that's just too hard to have - remember that you're playing 4 customized characters, so we'd have to write dialogs for all possible combinations of alignments.

Q27: Any possible romance between pc character or between pc and npc?
Myzzrym: No, romance won't be part of Solasta: Crown of the Magister. There are a few reasons to that. First of all, we think that Romance is fantastic... when it's done properly, which means dedicating a good amount of time for that - time that we don't necessarily have with such a small team as ours. Second, since you're not playing ONE character but an entire party of FOUR characters, it makes it very hard to actually implement romance without shoehorning it in. But who knows for future games!

Q28: Can spells/abilities like divine sense, guidance, detect magic, detect thoughts, charm person, suggestion etc. be used in conversation. How will the NPCs react to them?
Zaz: We have this in our backlog (Spells / Dialog interaction), but it's a very tricky thing to do and involves a lot more writing - so it probably won't make it into our first game

Q29: How do languages work in dialogs ?
Myzzrym: There are used as dialog options in certain dialogs. For instance, avoiding a fight with a band of orc...

Q30: How much will the races and backgrounds of our characters shape how npcs react to them? Do you have dialog flags for that?
Myzzrym: Races and backgrounds will open certain dialog options - as to "how much", it's hard to quantify... But yes, dialog options are not only determined by your personality flags - race, class and background can trigger new paths.

Q31: How will you handle Paladin Oaths and their tenets in the game? Will a cleric/paladin's chosen faith be acknowledged in dialog options?
Myzzrym: Being a devout of certain gods will unlock dialog options

Q32: Will the order/weight of background/alignment tags change during the campaign ?
Zaz: No, the personality flags remain static during the game. We might think about changing that in the future for the next game, but for the moment it won't evolve

Q33: Can you make friends with individual NPCs as well as factions?
Archimat: That's not planned, unless it's in a specific scenario (quest)

Q34: Are there any aspects of the tabletop ruleset that you can't migrate to Solasta?
Archimat: Our rationale is that each rule should be considered for inclusion into the game - and so far, most are working fine and being integrated!
Myzzrym: There are few examples where we made adjustments, such as the longbow range (in terms of video game it would be like shooting 4 screens away or something), or Darkvision to encourage everyone (even those with Darkvision) to use torches.

Q35: Do you plan on adding new abilities based on elevation? Like telekinetic pulls from high ground or "death from above" for rogues and so on. I really looking forward for this kind of gameplay possibilities
Zaz: We've added a bit like the Rogue Darkweaver getting bonus with elevation, but overall we didn't want to tinker with the rules too much - the existing content in D&D already allows for a LOT of fun with elevation, so we didn't feel the need to add too much in that regard

Q36: Do you use a failure table for crit fails? Sword breaks, string breaks, etc
Myzzrym: We don't use a fumble table as this is not part of the base rules of D&D.

Q37: Will you take into account component for spells?
Archimat: Most of the regular components will be replaced by the Component Pouch, but some more expensive ones (like revivify) will very likely be implemented. You'll have to spend some coins to get those! We try to stay as close to the rules as possible after all, without making it too tedious.

Q38: For difficulty, did you consider adding optional rules like wounds from the Dungeon Master's Guide?
Archimat: Right now we're focused on the standard D&D rules to avoid complexifying the game. I suppose we could look into additional rules, but we have to tread carefully to avoid breaking the game balance

Q39: Will there be summon spells?
Archimat: Yes, we currently have a Conjure Goblinoid debug spell which works, so we just have to add the creatures to go with the summon spells now

Q40: Will there be feats? If yes, how many feats will be there?
Zaz: Design is not final, but we're currently looking at around 20 to 25 feats

Q41: Will there be a feat for throwing weapons?
Zaz: Not planned for now

Q42: How many new spells (homebrew) will there be?
Zaz: We have added 3 homebrew cantrips, but we're not looking to add more homebrew spells after that. The SRD already has a very big list of spells, so we're mostly looking to add as many as we can instead of adding our own homebrew there

Q43: How will the "knowledge" of Ranger's favored enemy be implemented ?
Zaz: Knowledge level gives additional bonus damage against favored enemies

Q44: There are plenty of favored terrains for Rangers - will all of them be available in Solasta?
Zaz: No, there are some type of terrains that won't make it into Solasta, such as arctic terrain in the first game.

Q45: Downtime activities any thoughts on implementing them? PHB for example gives guidance on 250 days and a gold piece a day to learn a language or toolkit proficiency from a tutor.
Zaz: There won't be downtime in S:COTM - aside from long rests. But maybe in a future game

Q46: How does the rest system work in the wilderness? Will we select the activity of party members or will there be automatic checks (best skill) to gather food, ingredient, guard, etc.?
Zaz: Gathering food is done while travelling, right now we plan a guard turn shared between all, it's not implemented yet

Q47: What kinds of tools / tool proficiencies will there be in the game? And what will be their degree of usefulness?
Archimat: Well, this is deeply linked to the crafting system. Knowing how to use a herbalism kit or poisoner's kit allow you to craft cool potions and poisons. If I remember correctly, there are 5 (?) different categories of crafting, which even allow to create / improve magical items

Q48: How will Medicine, Animal Handling and Sleight of hand work?
Zaz: We're currently working on those. Medicine is used when crafting potions and stabilizing dying party members, sleight of hands are used to pickpocket and animal handling... weeeeell currently it's not implemented!

Q49: Will you be including any weapon types beyond what is normally in the game? Not merely magical enchantments, but rather new mundane weapon traits.
Archimat: For now, we already have a lot to do with the basic weapons, and I do not wish to second guess by adding bonus properties etc to  base weapons. We prefer to look into magical items

Q50: Speaking of environmental obstacles. Flight, swimming, climbing speeds and spells which grant these how are you approaching these abilities?
Myzzrym: Spells like spiderclimb or fly will be implemented in-game. We're working on a planar mode to have you move around the sky easily

Q51: How open will the world and game be?
Zaz: Not much, you can move freely on the world map between locations you've already discovered, but Solasta is not meant to be an open world game. There are areas you may want to revisit later to open new paths as you unlock new ways to explore such as flying or climbing

Q52: How long of a game do you expect to have? Either in hours or levels?
Myzzrym: So far we're looking at a 30h to 40h game. This will of course vary a lot depending on the difficulty level setting - it is a Tactical RPG after all

Q53: Will there be multiple endings depending on the choices you make in the game?
Myzzrym: No, multiple endings means you need to create different "routes". Imagine you have 3 different endings, each with a 5h route - that means a total of 10h of gameplay you won't see until replaying the game. So instead of having a 40h game, you have a 40 - 10 = 30h game. Do you see where I'm going? Solasta: Crown of the Magister already isn't a very long game - we're not promising 100h+ of content. So we can't afford to cut more content in order to have multiple endings, we prefer to have one campaign that feels satisfying from start to finish without dipping in quality in the later stages.

Q54: Will there be a level of versatility when finding ways to finish quests?
Zaz: Some quests can be completed in different ways, but not all of them

Q55: After finishing the full campaign, how much replay value is there?
Myzzrym: While there aren't multiple endings, replaying the game with different party members / personality flags will open different dialog options, and some main quests can be done in different orders which change the difficulty of certain areas. And that's without talking about the gameplay aspect of replaying with different classes.

Q56: Are there going to be any non-hostile "monstrous" characters
Myzzrym: Yes. I'll leave it at that :p

Q57: Since Solasta seems to focus a lot on dungeon exploring, do you have a playtime estimate for the longest dungeon run you are planning to implement?
Archimat: Probably around 3h, depending on difficulty level!

Q58: Will there be boss battles? What is the strongest enemy DC in game?
Myzzrym: Yes there will! I won't spoil the DC though :P

Q59: Are there going to be time limits or time sensitive quests?
Archimat: We'll have to see about time sensitive quests, as they can put a lot of stress on the player. Not super sold on that

Q60: Any dungeon that goes up instead of down?
Archimat: Ayup!

Q61: Can you fail / wipe in the main story and have the game continue?
Myzzrym: If the entire party dies, it's game over - time to load and try again! Otherwise, you can resurrect them via the conventional D&D ways - resurrection spells, scrolls and NPC services

Q62: Do you have plans to develop and release fiction set in this world separate from the game itself?
Archimat: We're already writing a sourcebook as part of our Kickstarter rewards! That being said, while exploring Solasta as an independent setting is very interesting, we also have to keep in mind that we're first and foremost a video game company - meaning we're not very likely to start creating boardgames or publishing rulebooks. However it remains a great idea to develop the Solasta universe, for which we've only scratched the surface.

Q63: The lore that doesn’t end up in the game … will we be able to read up about it in other places, or will you save it for future games?
Myzzrym: Most of it isn't really formatted properly - they are mostly in the mind of the writers, or written as some footnote in some .doc word - so they can't just be released as such. But you can be sure that we'll use it wherever we can - be it in another game, a book or a DLC

Q64: What’s your method for developing world lore for your setting? Were there directions things went that surprised you?
Zaz: Alcohol. More seriously though, we have 3 people with very different background brainstorming about the world and the lore. Usually we take a pillar of the game, and start developing on it - see where the waves take us. What surprised me was how MUCH we end up with - there's so much that won't be making it into the game, simply because it's not in the region where the game takes place, or not at the same period... the amount of content is insane.

Q65: Is the campaign rulebook still available, and if yes, for how long? Only hardcover or also as PDF? Would it make sense to purchase it only for the lore if you are not planning to run a  D&D campaign yourself?
Myzzrym: Yes, but not for much longer. You can get it here: https://app.crowdox.com/projects/tacticaladventures/solasta-crown-of-the-magister. It's going to be full of lore, it's not an adventure book - more a campaign setting like Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

Q66: Are there any enemies you wanted to include in the game, but couldn't due to they wouldn't fit the world, or licensing restraints? Or would this be giving away too much info about the game?
Myzzrym: Surprisingly, not really! There are only a few monsters that belong to WotC, such as the Beholder and the Mind Flayer - but most of the roster is actually fair game (well, it's not like they could license minotaurs or ghosts...)

Q67: Will we see custom NPC/enemy race created for Solasta that where is not in the Wizards manuals ?
Myzzrym: Oh yes. There will be some scary monsters indeed^^

Q68: How many different voices will be available to our custom characters? Will different races have different voices so my human and dwarf do not share the same voice?
Myzzrym: As every dialog in-game is voice acted, we have to be very careful about our voice acting budget. We currently have 2 male voices and 2 female voices (for PCs, NPCs are a different topic) in total - and we're looking to add variations to these existing voices for players to have more options (ideally no less than 4 male / 4 female choices). This also means different races won't have different voices - you'll just have to select the voice you want each of your character to have.

Q69: Will there be a hairless option in character customisation?
Archimat: Not the hardest thing to do, we'll add it!

Q70: When creating a character, will there be sliders (eyes, lips, noses) or more options for faces?
Myzzrym: There won't be sliders for the face - we're not that big of a team, and considering every dialog is voice and lip-sync'd we can't insure that facial animations don't go completely awry if we were to add sliders. That being said we're looking our current selection of faces - there are quite a few we're not satisfied with, so we'll see if we add more / replace some.

Q71: Can we have a half hawk haircut for the women? Also do you plan for more haircut option than the current character editor?
Archimat: what we have here is a first batch, we plan on adding more options, yes. Please be vocal on our community channels regarding the haircuts you prefer!

Q72: Will there be any kind of dark skinned elf in Solasta?
Archimat: Drow Elves are unfortunately not part of the SRD so we couldn't include them. That being said, we're thinking about homebrewing dark skinned elves for Solasta.

Q73: About dark-skinned elves - if there are any, will they be a subrace, or just more skin color options for high / wood elves?
Myzzrym: This is something we're still discussing. The reason we're being careful about that is that we absolutely want to avoid something that could be considered "Blackface" - would simply putting dark skin on current high / wood elf be OK or not? Does it make sense? It's a very touchy subject, one where you as a community can help by providing feedback on the topic

Q74: Will there be dlc classes?
Myzzrym: Sorcerer has already been announced as free DLC post-launch, other classes may follow depending on the success of the game

Q75: Will you add dragonborn post launch, perhaps as DLC?
Archimat: Every class / species from the SRD is great, and Dragonborn is as likely a candidate as any other one. We'll have to work on the specific lore context for dragonborns in Solasta, but they are a very cool element of 5e - we just didn't have the time to include everything

Q76: Will there be more race options like Dragonborn or Aasimar/Tieflings?
Myzzrym: Not at launch, but maybe as DLC later on!

Q77: Will there be pre-generated characters for the player party? I know a bunch of people who aren't confident with character creation, and could be put off by the need to create a whole 4-character party.
Zaz: We can easily pre-generate characters, but at this point I'm not sure we'll do it. It could be fun to have them, though, I remember having a paladin called Brian the fist in Bard's Tale...never knew why he was called that way. But yea don't hesitate to tell us if you want them!

Q78: Will there be any evil aligned deities for paladins and clerics to worship?
Myzzrym: No, and for once it's not because of production effort... it's because of lore reasons. I won't say more, you'll understand why by playing the game

Q79: So at launch, we have the six main classes with Sorcerer following closely behind. What classes would you like to eventually add? Are there any classes, other than Warlock, that won't really fit the setting?
Myzzrym: This will likely depend on the community, we'll probably be doing contests to see which classes to add next. Warlocks could very well work in Solasta, I think more challenging would be monks as they are described in D&D.

Q80: Will there be a level editor?
Myzzrym: Modding Tools, and this includes Level Editor, would be fantastic for us to have. We love modding, and we've taken a look at this topic very seriously - in fact, we do have existing tools that are being used by partners to create more levels. However, these tools are very complex - you need to know how to use Unity and how to make video games - meaning that they'd be useless on their own. We scoped out how much time and effort it would take to make a user-friendly Level Editor, and it turns out it would take no less than... the time to make an entire other project. That's actually what a couple of other projects on Kickstarter are about, such as Talespire. 
Long story short, we won't have a Level Editor - at least not at launch. But we'd very much love to have one, so if we get the time and resource, who knows?

Q81: Will there be robust tools for user created content? I would love this game to be the NWN of this generation!
Myzzrym: This brings us back to the previous question about the Level Editor. Robust Modding Tools - proper ones - are very complex to make, so they won't be available at launch. That being said, we're very interested in Modding so we're not closing the door to future endeavors. Note that you can still mod the game by default (we're on Unity), just like you can mod Pathfinder Kingmaker.

Q82: Will your game support the Steam Workshop?
Archimat: Well, we are not sure how far we will get with modding tools on our side, other than letting you change the code. So the mod workshop may not be relevant, but we will have to answer later.
Myzzrym: If we go by what Pathfinder:Kingmaker did, mods will probably be hosted on the ModNexus

Q83: Will we be able to play multiplayer with friends using our own characters, so we can have a more personal adventure with friends?
Myzzrym: No, Solasta: Crown of the Magister is a single player game. While we'd have loved to implement coop, it was simply too risky and costly for our first project - maybe for our future games though!

Q84: Will there be any extra campaigns available in the future such as endless dungeons or npc adventures (playing as the npcs in their own adventures occurring during the story)? 
Myzzrym: While I can't say about an Endless Dungeon, if Solasta does well we definitely want to bring in more content - new classes, new races, and yes - new modules as well. In fact, you could consider Telema as an "NPC adventure" - these guys are not the heroes of Solasta: Crown of the Magister

Q85: Will there be settings to adjust size of UI or to stop edge scrolling?
Archimat: Edge Scrolling Toggle can be easily added as an option in the settings. Size of the UI is more complex, if we want to make sure everything is dispatched properly on the borders of the screen - so we'll have to look into it.

Q86: When discussing and developing music for the game, what did you look toward for inspiration?
Archimat: We wanted to convey the feeling of an epic adventure, along with the discovery of a mysterious universe - so we selected a wide variety of epic fantasy movies with majestic tone as references and inspiration.

Q87: Will there be a second Kickstarter?
Myzzrym: Nope! No secondary Kickstarter or late backer. If you want to help, now is Wishlist time! :D

Q88: The demo interface suggests that you'll be able to run through several distinct modules - is it planned to have more than one available module on release?
Myzzrym: Not at launch, no.

Q89: Are there plans for a "New Game+" mode?
Archimat: I was thinking of a game mode where you can breed rainbow poneys. More seriously though, it's not something we've planned at the moment

Q90: When the game is released, on which platform should we buy it so you have the highest share of revenues?
Myzzrym: Hahahaha, just get it wherever you feel is best for you. Usually I'd say Steam since we're most likely releasing it there first.

Q91: Ray Tracing? Yes?
Archimat: Nope! Not planned for now

Q92: Do you plan to do other community design contests for Solasta?
Myzzrym: I have a few ideas in mind!

Q93: Will your next game use Unreal 5?
Myzzrym: That's not planned, nope!

Q94: Is a GOG version expected? How long before /after steam version will it be available?
Myzzrym: This is something we can't answer since we don't know yet. We're in discussion with GOG, that's all I can say.

Q95: Jan 2021 is the release date goal from the Kickstarter. Is that still looking likely at this point?
Myzzrym: I can't answer that! We haven't announced a release date quite yet, so keep an eye out there

Unfortunately it seems like we've reached the character limit on Steam, which I didn't even know existed! If you want to see the rest of the Q&A, I invite you to join us on our official forums: https://forums.solasta-game.com/forum/summer-qa-the-recap^^

Cheers,
Myzzrym

Hey there folks,

The Steam Summer Festival is now over, and with it goes the Ruins of Telema once again. We hope you all enjoyed the small slice of gameplay and Character Creation that Solasta: Crown of the Magister will offer once it comes out! Now let's get back to our scheduled program: Dev Updates, and what they contain. For those who might be new here (hello!), we do a Dev Update once every 2 weeks to give our community information on what's being added to Solasta, what we're working on, bloopers etc etc - with everything you see here being, of course, work in progress. Also, since our last Dev Diary Video was quite a success, we're also going to try and make another one every month!

Oh and I forgot to mention, we usually like to start our Dev Updates with some of our tiny colleagues. Give a warm welcome to Gandalf, our Game Director's new kitty


 We already had Gimli the Parrot, now with Gandalf the Kitten we'll soon have the entire Fellowship of the Ring!



Giant insects with terrifying destructive capabilities, Redeemers are a scourge upon the world. They devour everything in their path, are incredibly hard to kill and - if that wasn't terrifying enough - have the innate ability to identify and go after spell-casters first. But what manner of curse unleashed these monsters on Solasta? Their origin has been hotly debated amongst scholars for centuries, but it will soon be revealed...

Annnnnd the votes are in! With 60% of the community going with the Redeemers being a creation of Manacalon, their origin has now been sealed. If you want to read more about these monstrous creatures, head on to the forums.

Oh boy, the camera. Every time our Demo comes out, everyone talks about the camera - and for good reasons! It's hard to see what you want to see, it's sometimes slow, sometimes clunky... You can't really do what you want to do with it most of the time as well. Lots of things which we'd love to have fixed for Telema, however there is another factor that we can't change within the Demo - the Level Design. We didn't take the camera into account enough when designing some of the rooms inside Telema, which was built more than a year ago with different guidelines in mind. Turns out stacking several layers on top of each other with a party that can split... Not the easiest thing to handle! 

Since then, we've updated our Level Design guidelines and we're continuously making improvements to our camera! Here, let me show you a few new additions that didn't make it in time for the Steam Summer Festival.


The camera now zooms out automatically to show both the targets and the caster (instead of focusing on the caster)


Zoom is here! Now you can take a closer look at your party and the environment outside cutscenes.

Today's star is going to be our Art Team. There is just so much they've been working on that we haven't shown due to focusing on the Character Creator and the Steam Summer Festival Demo, so in this Dev Update we're going to be showing off a lot of their work! But first, before we jump into it: we've received a few comments about the lack of color options for hair and beards - you'll be happy to know that we're already working on adding some as we speak!


Additional hairstyles and skin tones are also in the pipeline, we'll show them once they're ready!

With all the talk around character customization, it's easy to forget that our Art Team is not only working on characters - some are dedicated to creating new props and environments. Every door, every building, every strand of spider web you see hanging from the ceiling? They're the ones behind it, and here is some of their fantastic work.


From the largest statues to the tiniest chair and brazier, environment and prop artists are the craftsmen behind the world of Solasta.


And here is how it looks with dynamic lights in-game (the statue won't be there in the final game).

Speaking of dynamic lights, our Graphic Programmer gave us a nice little surprise recently! When you're walking around town, street lanterns now automatically light up at night. Bye bye darkness my old friend!


Why does the lantern on the right not light up? Uhhhh I guess the oil needs to be changed...

Looking outside the main town, our Art Director also keeps improving the world map, slowly replacing temporary assets as he goes. For those who may not know, you can also zoom in / out on the world map - let me show you a zoomed in screenshot this time!


Alright folks bust out your figurines, looking at that map makes me want to play Tabletop.

And last but not least, our Concept Artists have also been very productive. Here are a couple of weapons as well as the representation of one of the locations that will appear a bit later during the campaign!


We've shown a lot of daggers, swords and bows in the past - now to give our wizard friends some love.


Something tells me you aren't going to be there to pick flowers or chat with the locals

Some of you miss it, some of you don't know about it - we haven't shown a lot of new spells / powers these last few weeks. Fear not, we're back on duty! Here is a selection of new VFX (be careful, they look awesome).


Lightning Blade (Channel Divinity - Elemental Lightning Domain)


Sleep (1st Level Spell, Enchantment)


Bane (1st Level Spell, Enchantment)


This week's bloopers are brought to you by our community, who managed to mod our Demo and force custom characters into the Ruins of Telema. Of course, since this level wasn't supposed to work that way, it was buggy - very buggy. But we had a good laugh nonetheless.


Some imported their party for some nice screenshots - with no voices, only subtitles.


Some decided to bring an army of clones - stuck before entering the ruins as they couldn't answer the scavengers.


Some decided to reenact Attack on Titans by changing the size of the characters (hey, giant talking boots!)


And some uh.... some just completely broke the game by creating Elf-Dwarf chimeras. Not sure how that one happened.

So there you have it! I hope you enjoyed reading this Dev Update as much as you enjoyed playing our Summer Festival Demo, and I'll see you next time! And if you have any feedback regarding the game or the demo (or any questions), don't hesitate to drop by our Forums or our Discord Server.

Read our previous articles here:

• https://www.solasta-game.com/news/48-dev-update-2-dungeons-dwarvesSolasta "Choose Your Path" Trailer is out!
• Dev Update Video - Character Creation
• Dev Update #14 - Toss a coin to your party

Article by Tactical Myzzrym

Hey there folks,

We're so very excited to have you dive once again (or for the first time!) into Solasta: Crown of the Magister - although a demo version of it! This new, updated demo build is split into two main parts


You asked for it, and we shall deliver! We're happy to say that our Character Creation Tool is available in Solasta Summer Festival Demo. Have fun exploring all the different choices and options available to create the party you've always dreamed of! If you feel a bit lost or want to know more about the tool itself, we've released a video Dev Diary on our Character Creation Tool recently.



Note: Keep in mind that we're still in Alpha, so the Character Creation Tool is far from final! We will be adding additional customization options and quite a few other features before release, but we encourage you to tell us what cool things you feel are missing!


The Ruins of Telema module is back! A short 1h30 adventure featuring a pre-made party of 4 level 3 adventurers, it's been specifically crafted for fans who've been craving a slice of that Solastan pie before release. There's also no risk of spoiling the main campaign since the Ruins of Telema is a stand-alone module - so don't hesitate to play it! Unfortunately you won't be able to take your newly created characters into Telema since this module only supports the existing pre-made party, but the final game will of course allow you to do so!




For our returning players, the Ruins of Telema v2.0 has been updated with the latest character models, facial animations, spell effects and even has a couple new features such as being able to use 'Ready Action' in combat, or lighting oil puddles from afar with Firebolt! Give it a try again, you won't regret it.

Note: Again remember we're still in Alpha! You might run into some wonky stuff, and that's normal because we're still working on it so don't you worry. As we said before, please make sure you share your feedback on the forums!

Hey there folks,

We have less than 24h before the Steam Summer Game Festival starts, and what is that? A new trailer?! Oh boy, time to feast your eyes on this video - you don't want to miss it!





It was time for us to go all out! New locations, new spells, new monsters... Hopefully you're now more eager to play than you ever were before! If so, it's time for me to sneak in a reminder to wishlist us on Steam if you haven't done that yet - it really helps us out. Now, what did you think about it? What new information did you manage to pick up from this trailer? We're more than eager to read your fan theories!



As mentioned before, we're now less than 24h before the start of Steam Summer Festival - and with it comes out a brand new, updated Demo of Solasta! But that's not all, we will be hosting a 2h Dev Stream to celebrate the release of the Demo at 10 am PDT / 1 pm EDT / 7 pm CEST. Follow us on Twitch to make sure you don't miss it! You can also set a reminder on the Steam Event Page to receive a mail when the Event starts. 


Only four of us will be joining this stream, but we wouldn't be here today without our entire team!


We will also be hosting a Dev Ask Us Anything in a special channel on our Discord Server on Friday 19th during the entire morning (US) / afternoon (EU). Anyone can ask questions! We'll be gathering all of them and answering them in a separate channel for visibility, then make a recap on our Forums!



For those who did not catch it live, the trailer was revealed on IGN Summer of Gaming with a short interview with Mathieu Girard, our CEO and Creative Director! You will be able to find it on their IGN Expo Day 4 stream, or on their Youtube Channel once they add the VOD.

Article by Tactical Myzzrym

Hi there folks,

Have you always wanted to know more about game development? Do you have some questions burning in the back of your head about Solasta, Tactical Adventures or even random fun facts about the industry?

Well you're in luck, as we'll be hosting a stream directly on Steam (and simultaneously on Twitch as well if that's what you prefer) on Tuesday 16th at 10 am PDT / 1 pm EDT / 7 pm CEST! Come have a chat with us :D




Mathieu "Tactical Archimat" (Creative Director), Xavier "Zaz" (Gameplay Director) and myself Emile "Myzzrym" (Community Lead) will be playing the Demo at the start of the Steam Summer Festival. We'll be discussing Solasta and answering questions taken from our chat for approximately two hours, so make sure you're setting a reminder.

Cheers,
Myzzrym

Hiya folks!

If you couldn't join the Dev Stream on Tuesday (or simply prefer another, more simple format), we'll also be hosting an AMA all Friday morning (US) / afternoon (EU) on our very own Discord server.

From Friday 19th 5 am PDT / 8 am EDT / 2 pm CEST to 12 pm PDT / 3 pm EDT / 9 pm CEST, I will be online (with the rest of the team not so far away) to answer any question you may have on Discord. In order to avoid missing out on the information that will be shared, I will be compiling the questions & answers in a separate channel where only devs can talk.




Once the AMA is over, I will also be putting up a recap in our Forums so that those who couldn't make it don't miss out on some juicy tidbits!

Don't be shy, drop by and say hello^^

Cheers,
Myzzrym

Giant insects with terrifying destructive capabilities, Redeemers are a scourge upon the world. They devour everything in their path, are incredibly hard to kill and - if that wasn't terrifying enough - have the innate ability to identify and go after spell-casters first. But what manner of curse unleashed these monsters on Solasta? Their origin has been hotly debated amongst scholars for centuries, but it will soon be revealed...


By you, our players! Redeemers are fearsome foes that your party will face during their travels, able to burrow underground to attack you by surprise and taking down even the most armor adventurer with ease. Where do they come from? This is a question you will be answering until Sunday June 21st, 11:59 pm PDT!





It was not only the land that was warped by the magical energies of the Cataclysm. Outside the Badlands, these insects are no larger than a thumb, and feed their underground colonies by clearing the surrounding area of smaller insects, carrion, and other organic debris. These mutants continue to prey on anything they can overpower - which effectively means almost any creature they encounter, since they now range from the size of a horse to that of an elephant.

Enhanced size is not their only mutation. Contact with the weird energies unleashed by the Cataclysm has given the guardian and behemoth castes magical abilities that make them even more dangerous.

The first contact happened in the middle of the 6th century AC as a nest cut a swath of destruction through the Marches, leading to the complete destruction of a couple of settlements. As one of the settlements was occupied by religious fanatics who wanted to bring the Light of the gods and redemption to the uncivilized parts of Solasta, their fate triggered a nasty quip of dark humor about redemption coming from strange places - and thus the name Redeemers was born.

The Redeemers behave very much like social insects. There may be a hive mind, but it is more organizational than intellectual, and there is no culture to speak of.

There is a queen at the heart of the nest. When local resources are exhausted the colony moves on, cutting a path of devastation until a new location is found. This is a rare event, and fairly hard to spot in the Badlands given the disrupted state of the overall landscape. From time to time, larvae will grow into potential queens and fly out to found new colonies.




Their origin lies in the wish of the Empire to dispose efficiently of the waste generated by their magical works and to recycle it. The redeemers were created with different purposes in mind, from the mindless drones to the fearsome behemoths. Each had a function, under the careful supervision of the mages of the Arcaneum. Specific spells were needed to create them, and controlling them was usually done through magical rings.

It was a common practice of the Manacalon overseers to offer a slave redemption... which simply meant having them devoured by the drones - leading to them taking the name of Redeemer. The drones were a common feature in the Manacalon Empire, as they fed on the dead but also cleansed magic gone awry through a strange alchemical process called Traesfaer. Its secrets, of course, have now been lost in the sands of time.

As the Cataclysm unfolded, the magical energies released changed quite a few things in the behavior of the redeemers:

• Their appetite for dead flesh didn’t limit itself anymore on the dead
• Traesfaer changed to become something dire
• Their intelligence improved exponentially, leading to the formation of what resemble a society which hasn’t exactly been understood yet

Hey there everyone,

Today's going to be a bit special, as we're doing our Dev Diary... in video format! Hope you enjoy this little presentation about Character Creation - this time not limited to a few screenshots! If you have any questions or suggestions for a future video, don't be shy and post something below.



Enjoy!

Read our previous articles here:

• https://www.solasta-game.com/news/48-dev-update-2-dungeons-dwarvesThe Elven Thinblade joins the armory
• Dev Update #14 - Toss a coin to your party
• Dev Update #13 - Enter all ye who seek knowledge

Article by Tactical Myzzrym

Hey there folks,

Today's news is going to be short, for we're preparing a little something for you later this this week! In the meantime, enjoy a picture of my cat hiding in a drawer.


He managed to open it on his own, but wasn't able to get out without help.

Popular opinion shows us that Tyrmar has nothing on Solasta! With 30% of the total votes, the Elven Thinblade takes the win, Runner-up was the Khopesh with 24%, with the Falchion, Da Dao and Katana all very close with around 15% of the votes each. Look forward to finding an Elven Thinblade during your travels in the Badlands!



With everything that's been happening lately, we've been quite late at handing out the rewards. This should now be fixed, if you've participated in April's Contest just check out your Account Profile and you should see a shiny new trophy available!




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Do you love old school RPGs? Have you ever heard of Knights of the Chalice? Well if gameplay is what matters most to you, you should definitely go check out their Kickstarter Campaign!



Knights of the Chalice 2 is a classic RPG based on OGL 3.5, with a base module which is going to take you all the way from level 1 to level 20. It features 10 races and 36 sub-races, 22 classes, hundreds of unique monsters, a ludicrous amount of spells, feats and magic items - and it even has a fair share of strange puzzles and death traps (don't say you haven't been warned)! So if that sounds like your jam, give them a visit - you have until end of June to help them out :D



Read our previous articles here:

• https://www.solasta-game.com/news/48-dev-update-2-dungeons-dwarvesDev Update #14 - Toss a coin to your party
• Dev Update #13 - Enter all ye who seek knowledge
• Dev Update #12 - Stay a while and listen!

Article by Tactical Myzzrym