From the Dev Blog: link.


"Dear all,

A bit of news from the dev team of Endless Legend. We are working hard on finalising the game, and it feels more and more to be close to the release goal.

We are steadily fixing bugs, having already gotten rid of the most serious ones.

We are also improving the AI constantly: the development of the AI took a long time, because the game is super rich in terms of game features, and we have to teach the AI how to do all this. Now that all of this implemented, the work consists in making the system work together adequately, and add a few “human” behaviours to make the AI act like a real player. We also took a lot of time developing AI monitoring tools (sadly you will not see them in the build) to understand what is going in (decisions, priorities, army missions, etc.). The AI is now able to wage efficient wars, and we are in the process of improving its self-defence.

We have performed yet another overhaul of the tech tree, essentially to answer to the worries of mid-late game lack of interest. This is still under test.

We have also changed the method of resolving attacks during the battle, to answer the concerns of combat between higher tiered units. VieuxChat helped us design a new combat resolution system, which is finalized right now along with the revamp of all units and item stats.

We have worked a lot on the lack of immersion during diplomatic interactions (which was already improved in the last build) and added animated ambassadors. It’s pretty cool and are looking forward to release that!

We have also enriched the traits list of custom factions to give more meat to the faction customization potential. We still need to balance it before we deliver it and power gamers can exploit the system.

The Mac version has been running for some time now, but we started QA for real this week. There are very few bugs, but the few ones are a bit blocking and need to be fixed (pause menu not appearing, diplomatic background missing). As nothing is ever simple, these bugs only appear in some older versions of MacOS which we do not possess at the office… The Linux version has also been started and is looking good, but I am not sure we can make it for release, especially because it would jeopardize the QA efforts to the detriment of the Windows/Mac game stability.

So I guess the big question is: when do you get a new build? Well we want something convincing with the latest AI, tech tree, and battle system, and we will need some QA and VIP feedback first. Yes, the spoiled VIPs will get a build this week end, and if all goes well, you should have one next week. Some elements will be kept for release though, either because we are still tuning it (custom factions for instance), or because we need an exclusivity to maximize press coverage (I think we all want the game to succeed!). We will try to deliver a Mac build as well, even though it has some issues on older systems.


But anyway, we will keep you updated on the progress of this new build. All in all, the game feels like it is almost complete, and we feel confident for a release at the end of the summer."


Cheers,


~Amplitude Studios

From the Dev Blog: link.


"Dear all,

A bit of news from the dev team of Endless Legend. We are working hard on finalising the game, and it feels more and more to be close to the release goal.

We are steadily fixing bugs, having already gotten rid of the most serious ones.

We are also improving the AI constantly: the development of the AI took a long time, because the game is super rich in terms of game features, and we have to teach the AI how to do all this. Now that all of this implemented, the work consists in making the system work together adequately, and add a few “human” behaviours to make the AI act like a real player. We also took a lot of time developing AI monitoring tools (sadly you will not see them in the build) to understand what is going in (decisions, priorities, army missions, etc.). The AI is now able to wage efficient wars, and we are in the process of improving its self-defence.

We have performed yet another overhaul of the tech tree, essentially to answer to the worries of mid-late game lack of interest. This is still under test.

We have also changed the method of resolving attacks during the battle, to answer the concerns of combat between higher tiered units. VieuxChat helped us design a new combat resolution system, which is finalized right now along with the revamp of all units and item stats.

We have worked a lot on the lack of immersion during diplomatic interactions (which was already improved in the last build) and added animated ambassadors. It’s pretty cool and are looking forward to release that!

We have also enriched the traits list of custom factions to give more meat to the faction customization potential. We still need to balance it before we deliver it and power gamers can exploit the system.

The Mac version has been running for some time now, but we started QA for real this week. There are very few bugs, but the few ones are a bit blocking and need to be fixed (pause menu not appearing, diplomatic background missing). As nothing is ever simple, these bugs only appear in some older versions of MacOS which we do not possess at the office… The Linux version has also been started and is looking good, but I am not sure we can make it for release, especially because it would jeopardize the QA efforts to the detriment of the Windows/Mac game stability.

So I guess the big question is: when do you get a new build? Well we want something convincing with the latest AI, tech tree, and battle system, and we will need some QA and VIP feedback first. Yes, the spoiled VIPs will get a build this week end, and if all goes well, you should have one next week. Some elements will be kept for release though, either because we are still tuning it (custom factions for instance), or because we need an exclusivity to maximize press coverage (I think we all want the game to succeed!). We will try to deliver a Mac build as well, even though it has some issues on older systems.


But anyway, we will keep you updated on the progress of this new build. All in all, the game feels like it is almost complete, and we feel confident for a release at the end of the summer."


Cheers,


~Amplitude Studios

An ancient and venerable race, the drakes and dragons of the Drakken prize lore, history, and wisdom above all things.

Few in number but exceedingly powerful, they do not seek war but rather relationships, information, and knowledge. Faction histories, artifacts, and ruins are highly prized by the Drakken while wealth, military power, and advanced technology are viewed as insignificant.

Military they have limited numbers, and bring to battle very few but very powerful units.

The gradual onset of longer winters has not escaped the notice of this race who are attuned to Auriga's rhythms than all the rest.

Already they have struck out across the vast planet, forging ties with all who share Auriga's lands. They understand well that even if the cataclysm comes again, their first duty is to preserve what the Endless left behind, so that one day, maybe in a hundred years, maybe in a hundred thousand, their great teacher's creations will still endure.






https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j__D_3CqRCw




The release notes are too long so I cannot unfortunately post them in this announcement. However, they're available here!


Check out the official dev blog post for more information.


~Amplitude Studios

An ancient and venerable race, the drakes and dragons of the Drakken prize lore, history, and wisdom above all things.

Few in number but exceedingly powerful, they do not seek war but rather relationships, information, and knowledge. Faction histories, artifacts, and ruins are highly prized by the Drakken while wealth, military power, and advanced technology are viewed as insignificant.

Military they have limited numbers, and bring to battle very few but very powerful units.

The gradual onset of longer winters has not escaped the notice of this race who are attuned to Auriga's rhythms than all the rest.

Already they have struck out across the vast planet, forging ties with all who share Auriga's lands. They understand well that even if the cataclysm comes again, their first duty is to preserve what the Endless left behind, so that one day, maybe in a hundred years, maybe in a hundred thousand, their great teacher's creations will still endure.






https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j__D_3CqRCw




The release notes are too long so I cannot unfortunately post them in this announcement. However, they're available here!


Check out the official dev blog post for more information.


~Amplitude Studios

CHANGES AND ADDITIONS

• Added picture and description for some new technologies.
  
• Added a new option to set the speed at which the battle animations will be played.

IMPORTANT FIXES

• Fixed a desync that occurred when the dumping method is set to binary.

OTHER FIXES

• Fixed an issue with the animations of the Broken Lords Militia and Settler.

~Amplitude Studios

CHANGES AND ADDITIONS

• Added picture and description for some new technologies.
  
• Added a new option to set the speed at which the battle animations will be played.

IMPORTANT FIXES

• Fixed a desync that occurred when the dumping method is set to binary.

OTHER FIXES

• Fixed an issue with the animations of the Broken Lords Militia and Settler.

~Amplitude Studios

CHANGES AND ADDITIONS

• Enabled Tiny and Huge maps.
  
• Enabled 7th and 8th Player slots.
  
• Added Gauran and Hurnas minor factions.
  
• Added new diplomatic terms: commercial and research agreement.
  
• Heavy modifications of the tech tree: some technologies can unlock several constructibles or bonus empire. Text and icons are still WIP.
  
• Increased the requirements of the next Era (10 unlocked technologies instead of 8), but to unlock a new area, you now have to research 10 technologies of any previous era (and not the last era anymore).
  
• Added the Roving Clans scene in the outgame view.
  
• District and City Centre levels are capped to 2. Their level is now displayed in their tooltip.
  
• In Game Chat:
  
  • Ensure we'll show all messages received, even without opening the chat window first. Also clearing the backlog when starting a new game (or loading a save).
    
  • When the chat panel is not visible, incoming messages are discreet (the panel doesn't pop-up anymore).
    
  • Fixed the fading out of the chat, when in "discreet" mode (+no scrollbar, no mouse grab).
• Added a new Unit capacity: “Revive” (for Ardent Mages' Eneqa Wing)
  
  • If the phoenix is killed, it is transform into an egg with 50% of its max health.
    
  • An egg can't attack but can still be targeted.
    
  • All the eggs still alive at the end of a battle are killed if they don't have friendly units with them.
• Added a new Unit capacity: “Parasite” (for Necrophages' Proliferator)
  
  • The proliferator uses Parasite by attacking. A unit with a parasite that dies in a battle gives a Forager unit to its enemy.
    
  • Disease immunity protects from parasite.
• Added new world generation options.
  
• Added a new option to scale the speed of battles (animation, FX, movement...).
  
• Added an in-game stats panel in the Empire screen.
  
• Added Steam Cloud support.
  
• Added a Retreat button for attacked armies: retreating deals 50% of the max health to all units retreating and requires 1 Army Action Point.
  
• Added the display of the Diplomatic abilities to the Diplomacy/Negotiation screens.
  
• Added the display of the trade routes in the strategic world view.
  
• Improved the feedback (effects and icons) of the Unit and Hero capacities.
  
• Updated the native capacities of all of the units.
  
• Updated the capacities on weapons.
  
• Removed the army action cost for the Search, Bribe and Parley army actions.
  
• Now flying have their own default attack which can be countered if the terrain allows it.
  
• Reworked the critical formula: now deals damages equal to attack instead of critical.
  
• Added the display of the upkeep cost in the Unit tooltip.
  
• Added the display of the remaining action points in the army panel.
  
• Units' level are limited to 9 instead of 20.
  
• Increased the experience needed to level up. Updated the experience reward per era to fit with the new levelling threshold.
  
• Decreased price of heroes, increased their sensibility to inflation.
  
• Increased winter maluses (-2Food/Dust on Food/Dust tiles, -1 Industry on Exploitation Area). Several buildings don't work in winter.
  
• Necrophages' Sacrifice resets the growth timer.
  
• Added more information concerning the players' status on the MP loading screen.
  
• Improved the desync detection tool.

IMPORTANT FIXES

• Fixed an issue where clients remain stuck in multiplayer sessions without migrating the previous host after s/he leaves.
  
• Fixed an issue where a skippable assert resulted in a block when choosing auto or manual combat.
  
• Fixed an issue where the creating/loading of a session is paused whenever users switch to another windows task by alt-tabbing.
  
• Fixed an issue where clients is stuck inside the lobby screen whenever the host switches to another task by alt-tabbing.
  
• Performed some memory optimisations, improved the performance on 32-bit systems.

OTHER FIXES

• Fixed an issue where destroying and rebuilding minor faction villages can be used as an exploit to increase city population.

MP

• Fixed an issue where a desync is generated when a user obtains a regular technology as a quest reward during the same turn in which s/he completes the research of another technology.
  
• Fixed an issue where a session desyncs when the host buys a hero from the marketplace.
  
• Fixed an issue where a session desyncs whenever a third player switches slots and joins a multiplayer session while it's being created.
  
• Fixed an issue where the server migration fails whenever the host either quits or is defeated during a session.

AI

• Fixed an issue where the AI does not attempt to complete side or main quests.

GRAPHICS

• Fixed an issue where the game stops loading graphic assets in the later stages of a game when zooming out.
  
• Fixed an issue where a graphical corruption is displayed inside the city list screen when colonising over 40% of a large map.
  
• Fixed an issue where switching to 1920x1080 windowed mode does not centre the game window on the main screen.

QUESTS

• Fixed an issue where the chapter 5 Roving Clans alternative quest cannot be completed.
  
• Fixed an issue where loading the session causes the army spawned during the 1.2 "Digging in" quest to remain stationary instead of assaulting the city.

GUI

• Fixed an issue where the Dust line exceeds the graphic in the score screen.
  
• Fixed an issue where the score screen does not display numeric values on the X and Y axis for the empire score and turns passed.
  
• Fixed an issue where geoconstructible extensions is shown when the empire is lacking the strategic resources to construct them.
  
• Fixed an inconsistency between the City Banner timer and the Construction Queue timer.
  
• Fixed an issue where Expansion victory does not activate an alert notification at 50% progress.
  
• Fixed an issue where activating or deactivating the big screen user interface changes the position of the notification icons on the UI.
  
• Fixed an issue where quest screen text become unintelligible due to the winter background.
  
• Fixed an issue where there is no visual element in the multiplayer lobby to mark the Host.
  
• Fixed an issue where in the city list screen, there is no buyout button for the displayed queued item.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Diplomatic offer proposed window does not give any information about the proposed treaties.
  
• Fixed an issue where a skippable assert is generated when a user selects a faction in the drop down list during the "End turn" phase and that faction was eliminated during that same turn.

KNOWN ISSUES

• The Auto-explore army action is enabled for the first army only.

~Amplitude Studios

CHANGES AND ADDITIONS

• Enabled Tiny and Huge maps.
  
• Enabled 7th and 8th Player slots.
  
• Added Gauran and Hurnas minor factions.
  
• Added new diplomatic terms: commercial and research agreement.
  
• Heavy modifications of the tech tree: some technologies can unlock several constructibles or bonus empire. Text and icons are still WIP.
  
• Increased the requirements of the next Era (10 unlocked technologies instead of 8), but to unlock a new area, you now have to research 10 technologies of any previous era (and not the last era anymore).
  
• Added the Roving Clans scene in the outgame view.
  
• District and City Centre levels are capped to 2. Their level is now displayed in their tooltip.
  
• In Game Chat:
  
  • Ensure we'll show all messages received, even without opening the chat window first. Also clearing the backlog when starting a new game (or loading a save).
    
  • When the chat panel is not visible, incoming messages are discreet (the panel doesn't pop-up anymore).
    
  • Fixed the fading out of the chat, when in "discreet" mode (+no scrollbar, no mouse grab).
• Added a new Unit capacity: “Revive” (for Ardent Mages' Eneqa Wing)
  
  • If the phoenix is killed, it is transform into an egg with 50% of its max health.
    
  • An egg can't attack but can still be targeted.
    
  • All the eggs still alive at the end of a battle are killed if they don't have friendly units with them.
• Added a new Unit capacity: “Parasite” (for Necrophages' Proliferator)
  
  • The proliferator uses Parasite by attacking. A unit with a parasite that dies in a battle gives a Forager unit to its enemy.
    
  • Disease immunity protects from parasite.
• Added new world generation options.
  
• Added a new option to scale the speed of battles (animation, FX, movement...).
  
• Added an in-game stats panel in the Empire screen.
  
• Added Steam Cloud support.
  
• Added a Retreat button for attacked armies: retreating deals 50% of the max health to all units retreating and requires 1 Army Action Point.
  
• Added the display of the Diplomatic abilities to the Diplomacy/Negotiation screens.
  
• Added the display of the trade routes in the strategic world view.
  
• Improved the feedback (effects and icons) of the Unit and Hero capacities.
  
• Updated the native capacities of all of the units.
  
• Updated the capacities on weapons.
  
• Removed the army action cost for the Search, Bribe and Parley army actions.
  
• Now flying have their own default attack which can be countered if the terrain allows it.
  
• Reworked the critical formula: now deals damages equal to attack instead of critical.
  
• Added the display of the upkeep cost in the Unit tooltip.
  
• Added the display of the remaining action points in the army panel.
  
• Units' level are limited to 9 instead of 20.
  
• Increased the experience needed to level up. Updated the experience reward per era to fit with the new levelling threshold.
  
• Decreased price of heroes, increased their sensibility to inflation.
  
• Increased winter maluses (-2Food/Dust on Food/Dust tiles, -1 Industry on Exploitation Area). Several buildings don't work in winter.
  
• Necrophages' Sacrifice resets the growth timer.
  
• Added more information concerning the players' status on the MP loading screen.
  
• Improved the desync detection tool.

IMPORTANT FIXES

• Fixed an issue where clients remain stuck in multiplayer sessions without migrating the previous host after s/he leaves.
  
• Fixed an issue where a skippable assert resulted in a block when choosing auto or manual combat.
  
• Fixed an issue where the creating/loading of a session is paused whenever users switch to another windows task by alt-tabbing.
  
• Fixed an issue where clients is stuck inside the lobby screen whenever the host switches to another task by alt-tabbing.
  
• Performed some memory optimisations, improved the performance on 32-bit systems.

OTHER FIXES

• Fixed an issue where destroying and rebuilding minor faction villages can be used as an exploit to increase city population.

MP

• Fixed an issue where a desync is generated when a user obtains a regular technology as a quest reward during the same turn in which s/he completes the research of another technology.
  
• Fixed an issue where a session desyncs when the host buys a hero from the marketplace.
  
• Fixed an issue where a session desyncs whenever a third player switches slots and joins a multiplayer session while it's being created.
  
• Fixed an issue where the server migration fails whenever the host either quits or is defeated during a session.

AI

• Fixed an issue where the AI does not attempt to complete side or main quests.

GRAPHICS

• Fixed an issue where the game stops loading graphic assets in the later stages of a game when zooming out.
  
• Fixed an issue where a graphical corruption is displayed inside the city list screen when colonising over 40% of a large map.
  
• Fixed an issue where switching to 1920x1080 windowed mode does not centre the game window on the main screen.

QUESTS

• Fixed an issue where the chapter 5 Roving Clans alternative quest cannot be completed.
  
• Fixed an issue where loading the session causes the army spawned during the 1.2 "Digging in" quest to remain stationary instead of assaulting the city.

GUI

• Fixed an issue where the Dust line exceeds the graphic in the score screen.
  
• Fixed an issue where the score screen does not display numeric values on the X and Y axis for the empire score and turns passed.
  
• Fixed an issue where geoconstructible extensions is shown when the empire is lacking the strategic resources to construct them.
  
• Fixed an inconsistency between the City Banner timer and the Construction Queue timer.
  
• Fixed an issue where Expansion victory does not activate an alert notification at 50% progress.
  
• Fixed an issue where activating or deactivating the big screen user interface changes the position of the notification icons on the UI.
  
• Fixed an issue where quest screen text become unintelligible due to the winter background.
  
• Fixed an issue where there is no visual element in the multiplayer lobby to mark the Host.
  
• Fixed an issue where in the city list screen, there is no buyout button for the displayed queued item.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Diplomatic offer proposed window does not give any information about the proposed treaties.
  
• Fixed an issue where a skippable assert is generated when a user selects a faction in the drop down list during the "End turn" phase and that faction was eliminated during that same turn.

KNOWN ISSUES

• The Auto-explore army action is enabled for the first army only.

~Amplitude Studios

Hi everyone,

Here is a new status update on our progress written by Mathieu, our CEO. All in all, the game is progressing well into a release state, as we complete the last features and content, and fix bugs.

Taken from our Dev Blog: http://forums.amplitude-studios.com/content.php?454-Endless-Legend-Progress-Report


On the gameplay side, we have completed the faction customization panel. Currently the edition only contains the traits of the current major factions, but the game designers are now adding more traits to enrich the database. We are also continuing to beef up the diplomacy, in terms of content and interactivity. That is especially true on the AI which is now able to handle commercial and research agreements. One of our incoming tasks consists into giving more information to the user concerning the AI diplomatic decisions, so that you understand its actions.

Victory conditions have been expanded to seven types, and a new Status Screen has been created to show empire graphs (similar to the one at the game end) and status towards victory, for empires which have diplomatic relations with the player. The battle also continues to be improved with a new retreat mode, and special battle abilities such as parasiting (I have also been told about a certain bird and egg thing). We are in the process of adding an acceleration option to the battle animations, which has highly been requested by the community.


Regarding AI, the team is made of 5 programmers, with their fellow designers: they are steadily advancing. The AI is almost feature complete ; we are missing a few advanced diplomatic elements and marketplace interactions. There is something healthy in the way the last bricks are added, because they involve refactoring and normalizing the game data and architecture so that everything is consistent. For instance, the ability to buy strategic resources in the marketplace has lead us to rewrite a common resource acquirement pattern, mixing mining / diplomacy / marketplace. There is still a lot of room for tuning and optimizing the AI, and this will be our next focus.


The tutorial is well under way, and the first results are more than encouraging. We should welcome our first guinea pigs (not pugs) at the Amplitude offices to try it out this week. Endless Legend is a complex game, so there is still a lot of information to explain in the first instructions; the good thing is that the more you progress, the easier it is to explain game notions as core mechanics have already been assimilated. We have tried to find the right mix of a playable tutorial and controlling the player actions so that s/he does not get lost.


We now have 2 more factions to release. The < unknown_faction > is nearly complete, and the VIP have been already testing it since last Friday. I know you are very eager to test the < unknown_faction >, especially with their < unknwown_ability >, and we will likely release it mid-august, so that you can give us feedback before the release. Concerning the Cultists of the Eternal End, they are well advanced in terms of 3D characters production, ship, city blocks, and the animation production has started. Their specific gameplay, however original and exotic, already gives nightmares to the programmers. Gamebreaking is cool, but it is not engineers-friendly! Still, we are trying our best to get the cultists ready for release.


We had the chance to play some multiplayer games with the community. There were a few issues and GUI frustration, which are being fixed or have already fixed, but all in all, the experience seems smooth. I think we are already well above the multiplayer experience of Endless Space when it was released, and we are still adding some polishing steps.


In terms of bug fixing, we see no major trouble. The bugs are registered in our database with severities from S1 (blocker) to S5 (trivial). Currently, there are no S1 bugs, around 80 S2 bugs, and then a bunch S3 and S4 bugs. With the team we have, we should be able to take care of most of them. The only concerning issues are random bugs which are difficult to reproduce: some very rare cases of desync, a few army behaviour errors. The other concern is the out of memory on 32 bits systems. We have already optimized the graphical memory to gain several hundreds of megabytes, and we are still looking for other areas to optimize.


As I stated in the beginning of this message, it feels to us that the pieces are setting together nicely. Except for the last remaining features / content, it feels like we are in polish mode, which is reassuring for a release objective. We hope to give you a new build by the end of this week, so that you can try out the latest cool stuff.


Thanks for your attention!
~Amplitude Studios