It’s Friday and the new entry in our developer diary is making its way to you. The second work week of the year made us more active than ever. You’re going to see it all for yourself now, below.
Daddy Can Do, Daddy Can Do...
…anything – and that’s a fact. Especially now, when his arsenal includes updated attack animations. Just look at that left hook! As for his mighty axe blow, it can be fended off only by sturdy armor or inhumane agility.
Animated METAMORPHoses
As you can see below, elves have finally had their turn with SPIne-procedures. Our latest patient was Bjorn’s fellow in misery – the strong and very angry Lycan. He changes his appearance so swiftly now. It’s simply stunning! However, he still needs to work on his manners a bit.
But, to be honest, we are surprised that he patiently sat through the whole process without obliterating everything around him. We all know how those 'wolves' can be.
No Peace in This Coffin, pt 2
Remember how we kept working and working on the coffins on the character selection screen? Well, we can inform you of the following: there have been some movements in the matter, in the literal sense of the word. We’re happy as ever to share the interim results with you.
How do you like the new animations? Feel free to share your opinion in the comments!
Peace and Quiet
A couple of backgrounds have been animated this week, too. Let’s add some serenity and fluidity to our diaries.
It seems that someone was not letting the characters past here…Someone insane, obviously.
And here we diversified the goblins’ ecosystem with the fungi kingdom. Because why not?
KOTCL has talent, err, questions
This week, we’ve been gathering up your questions for our video diaries. Don’t miss this chance to ask us about whatever interests you. We'll do our best to answer, even if it’s a question about the release date. We promise!
Speaking of talent, we’re always on the search.
How About Some Chit-Chat?
Hello again, my friends. It’s Andrew aka Innrey, the founder of RedBoon.
The farther into work, the deeper, as they say, and the more tasks, of which we already have plenty. But what am I saying? Getting deep into work is exciting and engrossing (spoiler: well, not always, which is a pity).
After significantly changing the game balance in the last year we still have things to strive for. Aside from the long-suffering Vanadis, Bjorn requires an intervention, too. He’s still got some misbalance that messes things up.
For example, while playing for Bjorn, you can endlessly use all sorts of combos on enemies thanks to the ability to use health points to draw more cards. Bjorn also has some imbalanced cards that give armor and healing. And if you combine healing with drawing cards, you become a terrible and undefeatable force (if you didn’t known about this, hurry up and use it before we nerf it all). On top of that, Bjorn is still quite powerful in the lycan form; his multiple attacks, additionally multiplied by the strength stat, sweep away all before him. All of this is great fun, of course, but it doesn’t really fit with our concept of how Bjorn’s mechanics should work.
We see it this way: lycan-Bjorn uses very powerful one-off attacks, casts debuffs on his opponents - for example Bleeding - but receives curses as a trade-off. That would be a peculiar and logically sound way to help elf-Bjorn.
Although many players are not very fond of Bjorn’s mechanics of curses, we’d like to make playing the lycan more attractive and add more variability so that players will find it interesting to explore new strategies rather than just abusing the game over and over. However, making it too difficult is as bad as making it too easy. The key is not to overdo it. We won’t forget about taming our inner hardcore and finding the right balance.
Perhaps, on this profound note about balance, we’ll end our diaries for this week :)
Wishing you a great weekend and successful game runs!
Check out our social media, where you can ask questions, have discussions with other players and our team, and contribute your suggestions – we're always happy to hear from you
Recently, we asked our players to ask Vanadis uncomfortable and tricky questions. It turned out to be really exciting and helpful. Thanks to the questions, we came to several conclusions and even learned a few new things for ourselves. Overall we enjoyed the experience. And so because of that we’ve decided to call on our community again, but this time with a different theme: if you’d like to learn something about creating video-games, we'd love to share our experience with you!
Are you considering becoming a Unity developer, but you don’t know where to start and what to expect? Or do you dream of a career in game design? Maybe you’d like to break into game development with your own game studio? Don’t be shy – ask us about things you’re keen on knowing. And of course, we’ll happily answer your questions about KOTCL, too – we can’t do without them, can we? The most interesting questions will be answered in a new format in the Developer Diaries. We won’t show our hand right away, but we think it will be not only insightful, but also entertaining. We hope you’re intrigued :)
We are back and very happy to greet you in the first diary entry of the new year. Here’s how it went: holiday break was successful, energy has been restored, and fighting spirit is present.
Let's get started!
I Can't Stop
Very often, when various cards, buffs, and de-buffs are triggered, it's completely unclear what the effect was and what’s happening on the battlefield. To make everything clear and illustrative, we’re continuing to work on visual effects. This time it was Vanadis’s turn to go under the animator’s “knife”.
Upon being triggered, damage is dealt to all enemies.
Parrying enemy’s card damage.
Restoring health.
Knives Out
By the way, beside the animator’s knife we also skillfully wield the art-department knife. What do we mean? You’ll find out right now. After a final polish, every model, every piece of art ends up in the caring hands of our animators. But before that, however, the art needs to be prepared for the animation process. That is, the artists have to cold-bloodedly chop up and dissect each object into parts that will be animated. This dismemberment certainly looks amusing and perhaps – slightly frightening. However, we've gotten used to it :)
Worshipping Idols Is A Personal Choice
Our heroes can find plenty of ways to achieve their goals. Sometimes their journey becomes so perilous that their only solution is to trust to higher powers. Specifically for desperate moments like the above, a new animation for one of the idols has appeared in the world of KOTCL. Is it menacing? Mysterious? Will it help? You won't know until you try.
How About Some Chit-Chat?
Andrew aka Innrey, the founder of RedBoon, is with you again. Our short holiday rest is over, and it’s time for us to gradually get back to work.
We did a lot last year, but lots more awaits us in this year. For example, right from the beginning of the year we’re starting another re-working of Vanadis. I’d like to say that this will be the last, but I won’t, because anything can happen.
Recently, we asked our players whether they had any uncomfortable questions for our archer, and we received interesting and, I must say, fair feedback. Yes, there are issues in the mechanics, yes, we are aware of them, and yes, we will definitely come up with some fixes. Moreover, the Game Design team already has some ideas, and community members have provided valuable suggestions. It's good to see players recognizing the potential in Vanadis and actively participating in discussions. We'll delve into the details of Vanadis’ reworking process in future diaries. If you have suggestions or just want to discuss anything related to KOTCL, feel free to join our Discord server; social media links are, as always, at the end of the diary.
At the end of last year, the live version of our game got significantly updated with a lot of additions (did you see the patch note?) But, as they say, with great power comes great responsibility. More specifically, with new content came new bugs. It's its own kind of balance :) But we're not despairing; we're slowly figuring out and fixing all the issues. As for me, I think I'll go look for more bugs to fix now.
Well, those are the results of the year’s first work week. Don't forget to take care of yourself, and remember that it’s not worth stressing after you’ve had a long break.
May your skills and strategies grow stronger and more cunning, and your achievements become even more impressive. Don't forget to enjoy your gameplay and share your experiences (especially from KOTCL and especially with us).
Thank you for inspiring us with your enthusiasm and passion for gaming. We really appreciate your support ❤️
May the new year be full of adventures, new worlds, and incredible opportunities! Good luck to your gaming achievements, and beyond, and Happy New Year!
Are you ready for the last diary of this year? We certainly are. Shall we begin?
Bring On The Dessert!
And we’ll start with the biggest and most interesting news. Amidst the hustle of the past few days, we managed to create a special video-diary dedicated to the major update of the live game version. In the video, we talk about and show many, many new things, but the most exciting stuff is waiting in the game, of course!
We recommend watching our video-diary, and please don't forget to give it a like – we put a lot of effort into it :)
Tooting His Own Horn
We continue our animation experiments: this time we updated a couple of this nice dwarf’s movements. Now everyone will definitely hear him sounding his horn.
And look at the way he rejoices! Just like we do when we defeat an elusive bug :)
Not a moment’s peace
Remember when we told you about our plans to enhance the visual aspect of the hero selection screen? Well, the coffin lids aren't moving yet, but our animators are diligently working on it. For instance, there's currently on-going testing of how exactly our heroes' coffins will open. Some moments from this process we’ll gladly share with you.
Movement Is Life
And a bit more news from the animation room: two more events have received their long-awaited animations.
Do this one exercise every day to relieve back pain.
Psst, hero... Need a sword?
To Ruin Karma Or Not To Ruin It? That Is The Question
Every action has its consequences, especially in the world of KOTCL. Sometimes it's not entirely clear in which direction the karmic serpent will move after an agonizing – or not so agonizing – choice. Our artists have proposed several options for indicating the impact of choices on the hero's karma, so now we need some time to ponder and choose. What do you think of this? Share your thoughts in the comments!
How about some chit-chat?
Andrew aka Innrey, the founder of RedBoon, is at the keyboard. Perhaps today is the right time to share some thoughts on the passing year.
This year has been significant for us, filled with challenges and achievements. We've continuously worked on KOTCL, bringing it closer to its finalé. I am so grateful and proud of our team for all the work they’ve done!
The year 2023 has been eventful and, one might even say, thrilling. A lot of effort and time went into our game's development. I'm pleased to acknowledge that we've made substantial progress. Take rebalancing the whole game alone! Truly, KOTCL at the beginning of the year and now – are two entirely different games. We meant it when we said that the game wouldn't be the same anymore :) Everyone contributed, and many proposed ideas which have been incorporated into the development. Sometimes I'm amazed at how cool and talented the folks on my team are!
Moreover, I’d like to express gratitude to our players, those from the CBT, and those who simply support us. Your kind words helped us greatly to keep our spirits high even at the most challenging moments. We've been reading and continue to read your feedback and suggestions; they help us improve the game. I hope that the result we're striving for will truly delight you.
Reflecting on the year, I would like to say that it was the best year for our studio and we have finally reached quite a high level of production capacity - development is in full swing. I must say that a lot has been achieved indeed, just look at the statistics of our work for 2023 from the previous diary. But you know our journey isn't over yet; we continue working on KOTCL, striving for new achievements. We can’t help but wonder what the next year will bring. Whatever that might be, we’ll do our very best, because the farther in you go, the deeper it gets.
Thank you for being with us throughout this year. We hope we've made you happy with this big update, so now we’re striding (trudging, if we’re being honest) towards the holidays with peace of mind.
The RedBoon team is taking a short break to recuperate, and then dive back into work with renewed vigor! We’ll see you soon! :)
Released a small hotfix for the update. What's inside?
New
🔸 Changed map icons for all Idol events 🔸 “Dishonour” event has been remade with animation (previously there was a video) 🔸 Buff Vanadis "Cover" got a visual effect 🔸 Added new dialogs when visiting merchants in all biomes 🔸 New ambient and music for the "Pipe of Peace" event 🔸 New ambient and music for the "Abandoned Village" event 🔸 New ambient and ambient music for the event "Gram or Gorbigon". 🔸 Answer and event election sounds for Björn (demons and “Abandoned Village” events)
Fixed
🔸 Small localization fixes 🔸 The ally in tutorial is no longer dumb 🔸 In tutorial the last event takes into account whether the ally survived in the last battle 🔸 Added tooltip with a description for the Hedgehog buff. 🔸 Fixed display of Champion’s Sword for all classes 🔸 Training: corrected the position of units, in the last battle with demons 🔸 Added blow animation and visualization of damage effect to the Skillful Strike map. 🔸 Fixed Corticus display on all classes 🔸 Fixed visual display of some paths in steppes 🔸 When exiting the event, the sound is correctly muted 🔸 When opening a hero book in the glossary, the icon of the selected class scales correctly 🔸 Fix icons in the dialogs of the “Last Fly” event when playing as Bjorn 🔸 Eliminated the appearance of unnecessary elites in free races 🔸 Made edits to the “Membership” event when playing as Bjorn and Percival 🔸 “Herb of Oblivion leaves” item is now strictly a quest item. 🔸 Fixed display of Batu's Vassal glove and Gauntlet of the Firebothers on Bjorn. 🔸 Fixed a bug with the Purification armor effect 🔸 Fixed a bug where the tooltip for unknown events was shown as for already visited ones. 🔸 Quick mode now affects unit appearance animations 🔸 Fixed dialog background in events (English) 🔸 Fixed Moggoth initiative override 🔸 Fixed gift of ferocity 🔸 Fixed the ability to report a bug directly from the game
A reminder of what was in the big update:
Changes of the balance and gameplay
🔸 Added version control for the current run (if the run was started in a different version of the game, a recommendation to start a new one will appear when trying to continue) 🔸 Added Tutorial at the beginning of the game 🔸 Biomes’ maps were changed: Story mode became more story-driven, the overall run time shortened 🔸Added icons of event designation (after the first visit to the event in the next races the corresponding icon will be visible on the map) 🔸 Added 2 new sets: Demonic and Bandit 🔸 Bjorn has 1 less Draw 🔸 Vanadis’ Survivor class set has been changed 🔸 Persival’s Golddigger class set has been changed 🔸 Troll items are not considered as set anymore 🔸 Disabled setting of weights in free run 🔸 Glossary. But be warned, it is still in the process of finalization, so it may not always work correctly 🔸 Event log is available, which accompanies the player during the whole run. The log contains brief descriptions of the events attended and what happened. It is designed to help players keep track of key moments, plot reveals, and important points. The event log displays information pertaining to a specific biome 🔸 Significant improvements have been made to the visual display system for combat effects. We paid special attention to eliminating the problem of non-obviousness, which was mentioned by players in their suggestions and during the streamings Previously, only icons were used to display buffs and debuffs, but they were too small. We have expanded the range of visual elements that help players better understand the current state of events in battle. Now during the battle you will see a text line that will gradually disappear, as well as clear visual effects. In addition, familiar icons have been given extra emphasis when appearing at the start of battle to make it easier for players to navigate 🔸 Most events have received long-awaited development. If you notice discrepancies, such as missing buttons or mixed-up dialogues, or if something seems illogical, please report it.
Changes in decks
Added new sprites for Vanadis’ deck
🔸 Look into Future 🔸 Mighty Pet 🔸 Fox Trap 🔸 Ember (for pet) 🔸 Ember (for Vanadis) 🔸 Dangerous Concentration 🔸 Bitter Pill 🔸 Embrace of Flame 🔸 Shackles of Ice 🔸 Burning Man 🔸 BurningMan (for pet) 🔸 The Cost of Providence 🔸 The Power of Providence 🔸 Bone Shot 🔸 Sacrifice to the Spirits 🔸 The Power of the Spirits 🔸 Critical Limit 🔸 At the Limit of Strength 🔸 Annoying Ant 🔸 Sour Ant 🔸 Sacrifice the pet 🔸 Sacrifice Yourself 🔸 Last Chance 🔸 Knowledge of War 🔸 Knowledge of Peace 🔸 Examine Shortcomings 🔸 Examine Advantages 🔸 Deep Freeze 🔸 Emergency Defrost 🔸 Return 🔸 Ice Pick 🔸 Scatter the Ashes 🔸 Take a Bite 🔸 Best Defense 🔸 Tactics 🔸 Bite Hands 🔸 Reinforcing Attack 🔸 Penetrating Attack
Added new sprites for biomes’ cards
🔸 Drain The Juices 🔸 Forest Breeze 🔸 Boost 🔸 Reconnaissance 🔸 Drain Strength 🔸 Supply 🔸 Golden Scales 🔸 Insatiability 🔸 Resistance Is Futile 🔸 Plague Priest 🔸 Sepsis 🔸 Blow Of The Cursed 🔸 On The Edge Of Survival 🔸 Cursed Immunity 🔸 Core Stabilization 🔸 All In 🔸 Inner Reserves 🔸 Self-Destruction 🔸 Hedgehog 🔸 Hedgehog’s Agility 🔸 Skillful Blow 🔸 Armageddon 🔸 Shield of Fire 🔸 Purifying Flame 🔸 Possessed Attack 🔸 Gift Of Possession 🔸 Gift of Chaos 🔸 Orcs Idol 🔸 Cards for Demonic Set 🔸 Cards for Bandit Set 🔸 Cards for Demon of Greed
Animation changes
New Spine animations have been added to units. The old animation method restrained our development, so we decided to switch to Spine. This decision not only allowed us to create more vibrant and high-quality 2D animations but also sped up the animation process for game elements and events in 4 times.
Added or renewed animations for events
🔸 “Who Cares”, 🔸 “Armory”, 🔸 “Last Fly”, 🔸 “Elixir of Growth”, 🔸 “Mushrooms”, 🔸 “Gram or Gorbigon?”, 🔸 “Dishonor”, 🔸 “Crazy alchemist”, 🔸 “Sad Troll”, 🔸 “Father and Son”, 🔸 “Scout”, 🔸 “Peace Pipe”, 🔸 “Ritual”, 🔸 “Abandoned Village” 🔸 "Catching Worms" 🔸 "Well" 🔸 "Arena" 🔸 "Oath Of Loyalty" 🔸 "Ancestors Care" 🔸 "Marshal Lupen" 🔸 “Orc Spearman” 🔸 "ChooseYourSide" - added sequence of events animations 🔸 Battle backgrounds in Frontier, Steppes, Swapms 🔸 Background animation for traveling from Frontier to Steppes 🔸 New vendors 🔸 Animation of bag on the head was added to “Elven Hospitality” event
🔸 Fixed the visualization of block (receiving, removing, changing, and working in complex situations) 🔸 The character class selection screen now has the option to go back by pressing ESC 🔸 Fixed the display of descriptions for certain buff 🔸 Disabled the exit to the menu button during the end of a battle. (Previously, when exiting to the menu during a unit's death, the reward panel loaded) 🔸 Health bars now immediately appear on summoned units. 🔸 Intent tooltips now dynamically change their size, and additional special properties panels open downwards when more than one (previously they opened sideways and only one) 🔸 The position of the tooltip with a description of set items in the inventory has been corrected; previously it could be displayed below the screen 🔸 Upgraded Rush card now triples the Strength properly 🔸 Fixed events related to Marcus Pass 🔸 Fixed softlocks when selecting certain answers in different events 🔸 Fixed softlock in the Ancestors Care event 🔸 Intent tooltips now dynamically change their size, and additional special properties panels open downwards when more than one (previously they opened sideways and only one) 🔸 Fixed a bug with the repeated event Demonic Gatekeeper in story mode 🔸 Fixed Anthony's death animation in his first form 🔸 Fixed freezing of the summoned Illusion unit after the death of the owner 🔸 The black stripes at the top and bottom have been removed from the Oasis event 🔸 Fixed the display of Elven boots in battle among set items 🔸 Fixed Carving Set, now correctly increases maximum health 🔸 Fixed the display of the Plague Defense intent for the Undead the Thing unit 🔸 Fixed display of Series Strikes intent for the Keeper of Hatred Demon 🔸 Fixed progression in the “Swamp Fever” event 🔸 Added the correct tooltip for the golem to the “Demonic Blacksmith” event 🔸 Fixed skipping an event battle in some events when loading a save from it 🔸 Fixed chances to escape in “Worm’s nest” and “Double, Double Toil and Trouble” 🔸 Improved visuals in the "Mite’s Bride" event 🔸 "Clutch of Eggs" event mobs no longer change their position when new ones appear. In other words, they no longer overlap 🔸Technical and narrative fix for using the Elixir of Oblivion 🔸 Elven set (5) miss now correctly blocked by Ward and similar effects 🔸 Fixed clouds 🔸 Battle with Mosquitoes can’t last endlessly
Other
🔸 Added new vendors 🔸 Added new arts while opening new hero’s class 🔸 Added animated avatars for the classes: Boar Tamer and Fox Apprentice 🔸 Renewed visual effects at the beginning of the battle (buffs, debuffs) 🔸 Added new dialogues for chests 🔸 Added unique enemy in “Three graves’ event 🔸 Expanded dialogue in the Clan Chief And Shaman boss battle 🔸 Disabled personal and event endings after defeating Sigismund for further processing 🔸 Millenis Nightmares are switched off 🔸 Deleted “Can’t stop” achievement
Persival
🔸 Added new sounds for Persival in Glossary 🔸 Renewed about 900 VFX 🔸 Fixed Thundering Mountain helmet dasplaying 🔸 Fixed display of Vassal Armor, returned the animation of punches 🔸 Fixed a bug with a duplicate response in the Turmoil event 🔸 All button sounds for Percival for Frontier, Steppes, Swamps and Castle have been reworked 🔸Fixed the double appearance of the continuation of the "Double, Double Toil and Trouble" event 🔸 Fixed the missing button in the "Arena" event 🔸 Knight's sword display issue resolved 🔸 Persival no longer jerks his hand when entering the inventory 🔸 Display issues with "Golden Armor" corrected. 🔸 Display issues with "Crimson Boots" corrected. 🔸 Display issues with "Obsidian Knife" corrected. 🔸 Additional dialogue added to the "Dishonor" event.
Bjorn
🔸 Added about 1000 new answers and nod 🔸 Reworked the Tumbleweed event 🔸 The Worm's Nest event has been reworked 🔸 Fixed death animation in Lycan form 🔸Fixed the animation of the Moon Druid portrait on the character class selection page. 🔸Fixed the relationship in the Unknown Idol and Oblivion Grass events 🔸Added commentary keys to the effects in the Last Flight 🔸Fixed the Court Mage 🔸Removed inappropriate note from Mortis after the Elixir of Growth event 🔸 Bjorn's path to Father and Son has been removed. This event and battle are no longer accessible for Bjorn (plot-justified). 🔸 Bjorn’s Stun card now work properly 🔸 Key issue fixed on the button in the "Healing Potion" event for Bjorn
Vanadis
🔸Added about 500 new answers 🔸 Added animated avatars for the classes: Boar Tamer and Fox Apprentice 🔸 The display of the Hundred Year Raven Boots has been corrected 🔸 Added punching animation 🔸 Unarmed attack animation now looks like a one-handed weapon strike instead of a bowshot. 🔸 Artwork added for the Look to the Future/Mighty Pet card 🔸 Fixed the soft lock in the "Worm Nest" event for Vanadis.
Known issues we’re working on
🔸 Effects are not always displayed correctly. The effect of getting hit is not always displayed on the character 🔸 Events in the glossary can be opened in all characters at once 🔸 There is no Vanadis final battle, it will only be available in the release version of the game 🔸 Not all monsters in the glossary are displayed after encountering them. Will be fixed in future updates 🔸 Events appear randomly in the Castle and may be duplicated 🔸 Localization of new and changed items may not match. Please send reports 🔸 Several sprites may not appear in dialogues
Yay! KOTCL won't be the same anymore. So get ready for a big update🙂
Let's go!
Changes of the balance and gameplay
🔸 Added version control for the current run (if the run was started in a different version of the game, a recommendation to start a new one will appear when trying to continue) 🔸 Added Tutorial at the beginning of the game 🔸 Biomes’ maps were changed: Story mode became more story-driven, the overall run time shortened 🔸Added icons of event designation (after the first visit to the event in the next races the corresponding icon will be visible on the map) 🔸 Added 2 new sets: Demonic and Bandit 🔸 Bjorn has 1 less Draw 🔸 Vanadis’ Survivor class set has been changed 🔸 Persival’s Golddigger class set has been changed 🔸 Troll items are not considered as set anymore 🔸 Disabled setting of weights in free run 🔸 Glossary. But be warned, it is still in the process of finalization, so it may not always work correctly 🔸 Event log is available, which accompanies the player during the whole run. The log contains brief descriptions of the events attended and what happened. It is designed to help players keep track of key moments, plot reveals, and important points. The event log displays information pertaining to a specific biome 🔸 Significant improvements have been made to the visual display system for combat effects. We paid special attention to eliminating the problem of non-obviousness, which was mentioned by players in their suggestions and during the streamings Previously, only icons were used to display buffs and debuffs, but they were too small. We have expanded the range of visual elements that help players better understand the current state of events in battle. Now during the battle you will see a text line that will gradually disappear, as well as clear visual effects. In addition, familiar icons have been given extra emphasis when appearing at the start of battle to make it easier for players to navigate 🔸 Most events have received long-awaited development. If you notice discrepancies, such as missing buttons or mixed-up dialogues, or if something seems illogical, please report it.
Changes in decks
Added new sprites for Vanadis’ deck
🔸 Look into Future 🔸 Mighty Pet 🔸 Fox Trap 🔸 Ember (for pet) 🔸 Ember (for Vanadis) 🔸 Dangerous Concentration 🔸 Bitter Pill 🔸 Embrace of Flame 🔸 Shackles of Ice 🔸 Burning Man 🔸 BurningMan (for pet) 🔸 The Cost of Providence 🔸 The Power of Providence 🔸 Bone Shot 🔸 Sacrifice to the Spirits 🔸 The Power of the Spirits 🔸 Critical Limit 🔸 At the Limit of Strength 🔸 Annoying Ant 🔸 Sour Ant 🔸 Sacrifice the pet 🔸 Sacrifice Yourself 🔸 Last Chance 🔸 Knowledge of War 🔸 Knowledge of Peace 🔸 Examine Shortcomings 🔸 Examine Advantages 🔸 Deep Freeze 🔸 Emergency Defrost 🔸 Return 🔸 Ice Pick 🔸 Scatter the Ashes 🔸 Take a Bite 🔸 Best Defense 🔸 Tactics 🔸 Bite Hands 🔸 Reinforcing Attack 🔸 Penetrating Attack
Added new sprites for biomes’ cards
🔸 Drain The Juices 🔸 Forest Breeze 🔸 Boost 🔸 Reconnaissance 🔸 Drain Strength 🔸 Supply 🔸 Golden Scales 🔸 Insatiability 🔸 Resistance Is Futile 🔸 Plague Priest 🔸 Sepsis 🔸 Blow Of The Cursed 🔸 On The Edge Of Survival 🔸 Cursed Immunity 🔸 Core Stabilization 🔸 All In 🔸 Inner Reserves 🔸 Self-Destruction 🔸 Hedgehog 🔸 Hedgehog’s Agility 🔸 Skillful Blow 🔸 Armageddon 🔸 Shield of Fire 🔸 Purifying Flame 🔸 Possessed Attack 🔸 Gift Of Possession 🔸 Gift of Chaos 🔸 Orcs Idol 🔸 Cards for Demonic Set 🔸 Cards for Bandit Set 🔸 Cards for Demon of Greed
Animation changes
New Spine animations have been added to units. The old animation method restrained our development, so we decided to switch to Spine. This decision not only allowed us to create more vibrant and high-quality 2D animations but also sped up the animation process for game elements and events in 4 times.
Added or renewed animations for events
🔸 “Who Cares”, 🔸 “Armory”, 🔸 “Last Fly”, 🔸 “Elixir of Growth”, 🔸 “Mushrooms”, 🔸 “Gram or Gorbigon?”, 🔸 “Dishonor”, 🔸 “Crazy alchemist”, 🔸 “Sad Troll”, 🔸 “Father and Son”, 🔸 “Scout”, 🔸 “Peace Pipe”, 🔸 “Ritual”, 🔸 “Abandoned Village” 🔸 "Catching Worms" 🔸 "Well" 🔸 "Arena" 🔸 "Oath Of Loyalty" 🔸 "Ancestors Care" 🔸 "Marshal Lupen" 🔸 “Orc Spearman” 🔸 "ChooseYourSide" - added sequence of events animations 🔸 Battle backgrounds in Frontier, Steppes, Swapms 🔸 Background animation for traveling from Frontier to Steppes 🔸 New vendors 🔸 Animation of bag on the head was added to “Elven Hospitality” event
🔸 Fixed the visualization of block (receiving, removing, changing, and working in complex situations) 🔸 The character class selection screen now has the option to go back by pressing ESC 🔸 Fixed the display of descriptions for certain buff 🔸 Disabled the exit to the menu button during the end of a battle. (Previously, when exiting to the menu during a unit's death, the reward panel loaded) 🔸 Health bars now immediately appear on summoned units. 🔸 Intent tooltips now dynamically change their size, and additional special properties panels open downwards when more than one (previously they opened sideways and only one) 🔸 The position of the tooltip with a description of set items in the inventory has been corrected; previously it could be displayed below the screen 🔸 Upgraded Rush card now triples the Strength properly 🔸 Fixed events related to Marcus Pass 🔸 Fixed softlocks when selecting certain answers in different events 🔸 Fixed softlock in the Ancestors Care event 🔸 Intent tooltips now dynamically change their size, and additional special properties panels open downwards when more than one (previously they opened sideways and only one) 🔸 Fixed a bug with the repeated event Demonic Gatekeeper in story mode 🔸 Fixed Anthony's death animation in his first form 🔸 Fixed freezing of the summoned Illusion unit after the death of the owner 🔸 The black stripes at the top and bottom have been removed from the Oasis event 🔸 Fixed the display of Elven boots in battle among set items 🔸 Fixed Carving Set, now correctly increases maximum health 🔸 Fixed the display of the Plague Defense intent for the Undead the Thing unit 🔸 Fixed display of Series Strikes intent for the Keeper of Hatred Demon 🔸 Fixed progression in the “Swamp Fever” event 🔸 Added the correct tooltip for the golem to the “Demonic Blacksmith” event 🔸 Fixed skipping an event battle in some events when loading a save from it 🔸 Fixed chances to escape in “Worm’s nest” and “Double, Double Toil and Trouble” 🔸 Improved visuals in the "Mite’s Bride" event 🔸 "Clutch of Eggs" event mobs no longer change their position when new ones appear. In other words, they no longer overlap 🔸Technical and narrative fix for using the Elixir of Oblivion 🔸 Elven set (5) miss now correctly blocked by Ward and similar effects 🔸 Fixed clouds 🔸 Battle with Mosquitoes can’t last endlessly
Other
🔸 Added new vendors 🔸 Added new arts while opening new hero’s class 🔸 Added animated avatars for the classes: Boar Tamer and Fox Apprentice 🔸 Renewed visual effects at the beginning of the battle (buffs, debuffs) 🔸 Added new dialogues for chests 🔸 Added unique enemy in “Three graves’ event 🔸 Expanded dialogue in the Clan Chief And Shaman boss battle 🔸 Disabled personal and event endings after defeating Sigismund for further processing 🔸 Millenis Nightmares are switched off 🔸 Deleted “Can’t stop” achievement
Persival
🔸 Added new sounds for Persival in Glossary 🔸 Renewed about 900 VFX 🔸 Fixed Thundering Mountain helmet dasplaying 🔸 Fixed display of Vassal Armor, returned the animation of punches 🔸 Fixed a bug with a duplicate response in the Turmoil event 🔸 All button sounds for Percival for Frontier, Steppes, Swamps and Castle have been reworked 🔸Fixed the double appearance of the continuation of the "Double, Double Toil and Trouble" event 🔸 Fixed the missing button in the "Arena" event 🔸 Knight's sword display issue resolved 🔸 Persival no longer jerks his hand when entering the inventory 🔸 Display issues with "Golden Armor" corrected. 🔸 Display issues with "Crimson Boots" corrected. 🔸 Display issues with "Obsidian Knife" corrected. 🔸 Additional dialogue added to the "Dishonor" event.
Bjorn
🔸 Added about 1000 new answers and nod 🔸 Reworked the Tumbleweed event 🔸 The Worm's Nest event has been reworked 🔸 Fixed death animation in Lycan form 🔸Fixed the animation of the Moon Druid portrait on the character class selection page. 🔸Fixed the relationship in the Unknown Idol and Oblivion Grass events 🔸Added commentary keys to the effects in the Last Flight 🔸Fixed the Court Mage 🔸Removed inappropriate note from Mortis after the Elixir of Growth event 🔸 Bjorn's path to Father and Son has been removed. This event and battle are no longer accessible for Bjorn (plot-justified). 🔸 Bjorn’s Stun card now work properly 🔸 Key issue fixed on the button in the "Healing Potion" event for Bjorn
Vanadis
🔸Added about 500 new answers 🔸 Added animated avatars for the classes: Boar Tamer and Fox Apprentice 🔸 The display of the Hundred Year Raven Boots has been corrected 🔸 Added punching animation 🔸 Unarmed attack animation now looks like a one-handed weapon strike instead of a bowshot. 🔸 Artwork added for the Look to the Future/Mighty Pet card 🔸 Fixed the soft lock in the "Worm Nest" event for Vanadis.
Known issues we’re working on
🔸 Effects are not always displayed correctly. The effect of getting hit is not always displayed on the character 🔸 Events in the glossary can be opened in all characters at once 🔸 There is no Vanadis final battle, it will only be available in the release version of the game 🔸 Not all monsters in the glossary are displayed after encountering them. Will be fixed in future updates 🔸 Events appear randomly in the Castle and may be duplicated 🔸 Localization of new and changed items may not match. Please send reports 🔸 Several sprites may not appear in dialogues
It's that time of year when the crunch of snow underfoot could just as easily be the stomping of an elite boss or the footsteps of our intrepid heros setting out on a new journey.
As the holidays wrap us in their warm embrace, all of us here want to extend a heartfelt “Thank you” and wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Knock-knock, seekers! This year is swiftly drawing to an end, and we are striving to keep up. This is almost the final note of the year for our diaries. After that there will be even more varied and interesting news for you. Shall we begin?
New cards to the rescue
A fresh shipment from the KOTCL card workshop arrived just in time for this diary release. We're excited to show it to you, especially since there are novelties for Vanadis and her pets’ deck.
All Around Me Are Familiar Faces
The new vendors are already actively running their businesses, disregarding the dangers of the KOTCL world. However, they’ve complained that their individual portraits do not match reality, which negatively affects their customers’ trust. They don’t look very good either, let's be honest. Well, we agree and we're making amends! Now, when purchasing items from vendors, heroes will see who they are actually dealing with.
Efficiently Effective Effects
We're making progress in visually enriching the gameplay and making it clearer. This week, we've been working on a special effect that shows the curse leaving the hand and simultaneously damaging all enemies. We've picked the shape, but we can't settle on the color. We're torn between the two options below. What do you think? We're looking forward to your opinions in the comments.
The Art of Skedaddling Just in Time
Getting back to our animation “operating room”, some adversaries are not willing to bravely face their fate on the battlefield so they have decided to flee without looking back. We already have just the right animation for such cases. But thanks to transitioning to Spine, we have made their escape livelier and added a bit of individuality to each deserter.
From a Sketch to the Result in a Matter of Seconds
Our artists have delved headfirst into the ominous demonic theme. We're eager to share the process of creating art for the Mother of Imps and her... um, children? It turned out great. Just take a look at those little, amusing demon-babies :) (Although they don't seem quite so amusing in battle.
Under Millenis’s Spell
Many of you long ago realized that Millenis is truly powerful and truly insidious. As for us, we’ve once again fallen into the trap of her strong magic. Our eyes were recently delighted with these new cosplay photos, and we just can't help but share them with you. She truly cast a spell over us and our players!
How About Some Chit-Chat?
Andrew from RedBoon here again.
Curiouser and curiouser! That’s how I'd describe these last days of the year. It's all because we're preparing hard for next week’s update. Yes, we plan to release a major patch live that will fundamentally change the game. But no spoilers yet, although you probably already know a lot, especially if you follow our diaries. For now, we need to make final adjustments and fix the remaining bugs. Stay tuned and expect news next week.
Everyone is wrapping up the outgoing year now, and I've decided not to stand out from the bunch. I've gathered some interesting statistics for you. Who doesn't like numbers, right? Everyone loves numbers!
Knock on the Coffin Lid Development 2023 Wrap:
Total tasks created: 2849
Bugs, soft- and hard locks found and fixed: 1984
Bugs in work: 47
Art pieces created for events: 13
Art pieces created for decks: 99
Various icons created: 183
Character animations created in Spine: 585
Animated events in Spine: 32
Various sounds created for events: 2829
SFX (Sounds, Voices): 5382
Musical compositions and jingles written: 130
Words added: 63152
Impressive figures, don't you think? It feels good to summarize my team's work over a year like this to see how much work we have accomplished.
I guess we can end this diary entry here. We'll definitely catch up next week. Don't miss it!
Don't forget about our social media. We're always happy to chat with you and answer any of your questions
Today’s post is kind of concise, but we’d like to raise quite an important issue.
We rebalanced the game, changed maps, made the UI more clear and suddenly realized that we still don’t like how Vanadis' mechanics work.
Continue to receive lots of feedback where gamers don’t understand how Vanadis’ cards work, they’re just funny to play.
It makes us think about reworking Vanadis' mechanics to make them more user-friendly and intuitive. To say at once - we’re not going to redo the full concept completely.
Share your opinion on playing as Vanadis. How fast did you figure out how her cards work or not at all? What things would be helpful to you? How do you generally rate the difficulty and fun of playing as our archer?
Please, give us your feedback, it will really give us A LOT of help!