Hey everyone,

Thanks for Asher on Discord for a bunch of questions that we thought would make a nice FAQ Friday!

Here we go...

1. Are there boss fights, dungeons, and hoards?
There are indeed Boss fights but not dungeons, or what you'd call traditionally dungeons. Everything we do has an element of perspective, so we don't want dungeons to be literally dungeons, instead, you'll be navigating through a dark swamp and across broken dead trees, or trying to figure out a way to get through an overgrown maze while avoiding various hungry predators.



2. Are there caves/holes in the ground?
Yes and no, the Smallfolk have been living underground for too long, for reasons that will be explained. So your major goal is to make the land safe for your people and out of the ground. However, gameplay-wise, caves etc are usually small pockets of gameplay with risks and rewards that we have. Whether it's inside an abandoned vehicle, a hollow log, or a waste bin, we have the equivalent of caves to explore.

3. What is the gameplay like as far as combat mechanics? Are they more akin to dark souls or Skyrim?
There are attacks and combos, and also weapons that have different effects suited to different creatures and different situations. Some of these must be found and earned, others are crafted.



4. What are the devs thinking as far as pricing for early access/1.0?
We're not 100% decided on this yet, watch this space.

5. Do you level skills up like in Valheim, or is it more or less just crafting items like in Terraria?
You find items as in Terraria but some of these items can only be earned by aligning with certain factions, or by having access to certain technological advantages, and sometimes a combination of the two. These items may grant you abilities that you can mix and match, specialising in one area or having a hybrid. So the more you explore, craft, and earn via factions, the more you gain access to different skills.

6. I heard a while back the map is supposed to be procedurally generated, are they still keeping to that?
Nope, we've never mentioned that! Everything is being carefully built and crafted by hand.


Thanks for the questions, Asher! We'll be back with more in the next FAQ Friday!

Find us on Twitter
Find us on Discord
https://store.steampowered.com/app/768200/SMALLAND/

Hey Smallfolk!

Smalland has just surpassed 200k wishlists on Steam and we just wanted to take a brief moment to say a huge, heartfelt thank you from Team Smalland & everyone at Merge Games.

We hugely appreciate everyone who has been following the development of Smalland from the beginning and gave us chance to show you the world we wanted to create. We've picked up an amazing community here on Steam, across our social channels, the nearly 6000 members of our Discord & all of our new TikTok followers.

There are very exciting things we'll have to share with you, but today is a day to celebrate you, the community who is along for this ride with us and we are all so excited to step into the world of Smalland with you.

Thank you!

Follow Smalland around the internet:

Twitter
Discord
Instagram
TikTok
https://store.steampowered.com/app/768200/SMALLAND/

Hey everyone!

I thought I'd hijack this week's FAQ Friday and spend a bit of time on the question of when Smalland is coming out.

It's a question we would love to answer, but we're just not in a position to do so just yet. Smalland has come such a long way over the last year and whilst it's obviously frustrating for some, we don't want to rush out a demo or early access to hit a date, rather we're letting development inform the date and when the time comes to give you some dates we'll be very excited to share that with you.

There's people who have been following Smalland for a few years now, but it's important to note that we acquired Smalland and completely rebooted the game, it's been in full development now for just over a year. Had Smalland not been public prior to the start of our development we would have had a much better timeline from announcement through release, but you can't put the genie back in the bottle!

So we wanted to tell you a little about what is being worked on by members of the team right now, to try and help give a little context as to why we're not releasing just yet.

One thing that happened this week is that the starting area had a new flora and fauna pass to bring that area closer to our vision of what the release will look like. This isn't just visual, but also from a level design perspective too, things like line of sight and where the scenery leads the player are important to get exactly right.

For some perspective on how that's come along over the last year, here's a couple of gifs that were shared on Twitter in February 2021.





Here is running around that same general area in the latest build.



As the level design of the game world has developed, so too have other gameplay elements that interact with the world. One of these is something that we have been working on this week, the grappling hook!

The grappling hook has been a point of contention in the team, some love it, some hate it. Some can't use it to save their life, others move through the world like Spider-Man (looking at you Producer Ben!).



Since earlier stages of development, the verticality of Smalland has really become a part of the experience and as such, we think there's a solid place for the grappling hook and we'll be working on some new implementations for this tool to see what form it will take for the early access. Do you know what will help determine the future of the grappling hook? Player feedback! Stay tuned...

Thanks for your patience, we're a small team making Smalland and we will have more news on the things you really want to know soon. If you like this and want us to delve a bit deeper into specific things that are being worked on behind the scenes, I'll make this a regular thing and pester the team for some fun things to share!

Find us on Twitter
Find us on Discord
https://store.steampowered.com/app/768200/SMALLAND/

Hey Smallfolk!


We are so excited for 2022 and what we can share with you, so there are exciting things to come, but we'll still be here to answer those burning questions in the meanwhile!

Without further ado...

Q - Will there be bigger areas on the map that are free of trash and leftovers of humans? Many of the little clips we have seen take place in polluted surroundings.

A - Yes, truth be told these are easier to create initially so when you see behind the scenes in some of these shots you have some of the more developed areas, whereas the more organic ones take much more time to create. So they look and feel organic, but still have regular gameplay spaces regarding size, height. Initially in the very early days we did lots of experiments and areas either looked right, or felt right, but rarely both, so it meant a lot of level design rules and revisions. But the short answer is yes, lots of overgrown areas.



Q - Can I only ride my animal friends, or will they protect me like the game horizon zero?

A - It depends on the creature, some follow and some are mounts when tamed. Mounts have different strengths and weaknesses in different situations. And your allies will sometimes attack when you attack like a loyal steed, or initially retreat but attack if you are attacked, some will attack a creature on the same level of the food chain, while others may run away. Some may also cause trouble and get into fights you might not want to have. We are trying to give the creatures as much personality as possible, but also look and feel like real creatures (which are somewhat expressionless), so this is being portrayed via audio and their behaviour to their surroundings.



Q - Okay. Sooooo I don't mean to be super technical, but watching your short diary #2 on armour, based on the insect faction you choose to work with, you stated that you are will be able to craft that insects armour, assuming that you will be rewarded with parts to craft blueprints or even the armour its self as rewards. However, my questions would be based on the armour, is it made from the insects themselves? And if so is that desecrating their dead to get the items to craft the armour? I know this seems a little dark but I am just trying to see this from an angle of what others might think as well. I think the armour sets are really good looking and assuming again that the armour you are showing looks to be like some of the highest tiered armour in the game you will be able to craft toward the end game or much much later. I would love to hear your feedback.

A - Great question, hopefully, we can give some of the insight here as this wasn't a quick decision.
The quick answer is yes, some of the armour is made from the same insect carapace as the species you are aligned with, which in human terms could be somewhat grim. This isn't the case with all creatures, but as an example, Ant armours certainly do use carapaces. This could, as you mentioned, be perceived a little dark but also is in line with one of the major tones of the game; the circle of life. Creatures who are friendly to you may eat one another as predator and prey. And certain creatures will not care about their allies being killed as they put the overall hive first and foremost.

But although we aim to make everything as relatable and realistic as possible, we also want to make sure it's fun and makes sense for gameplay. So in the case of Ants and wearing the Ant armour as a specific example, you have to work with the Ants and you need to earn their trust over time and when worthy, they will trade and gift you some of the elements you need including parts of their fallen for you to create an armour set, which the Smallfolk see as an honour.



Thanks for the great questions, as always!

Find us on Twitter
Find us on Discord
https://store.steampowered.com/app/768200/SMALLAND/

Hey Smallfolk!

As we head into the Christmas period and the team here take a little breather we wanted to take a moment to thank you for the support and excitement that you have shared with us this year!

2021 has been a huge year for Smalland. Development has come along so far, the community has grown so much and we have laid so much groundwork that will see us have an incredibly exciting 2022.

We know that many are desperate to get a release date for the demo and for Early Access, and you will hear more from us on that in the new year! Rest assured that behind the scenes we are very happy with development and we’re very excited to share this world with you!

Whether you’ve been here for the long haul, or you found us this year on Steam, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Discord or TikTok, or if your first glimpse of Smalland was at E3 or Gamescom 2021 we are so happy to have you in the Smalland community!

From the entire team here at Merge Games & the Smalland dev team, we wish you and your loved ones a Happy Holidays and a very happy new year. 2022 is going to be an exciting year for Smalland!

To sign off, we thought it would be nice to show you the faces of Team Smalland!

Hey Smallfolk!

We made a lot of new friends on TikTok this week so we thought a lovely way to help welcome them to the world of Smalland would be to do a Tik Tok themed FAQ Friday!

So here are some questions people have asked from over there!



You can earn various skills and advantages by working with a Creature Faction, ailing yourself and helping them in various ways in order to earn trust and advantages unique to a particular species or character.. Your choices here will impact the way you shape your character.





There are Toads within Smalland, huge lumbering Toads that secrete a deadly venom. They keep to themselves and are not overly territorial, but have an appetite for smaller creatures such as Ants. Maybe we'll learn more about Toads in a future Creature Feature...?





There are no humans in Smalland, their absence has made it safe for the Smallfolk to finally emerge back to the Land of the Small where they belong after going into hiding many generations ago. But, why are there no signs of life, and why is everything overgrown?



Thanks for reading and a warm welcome to anyone discovering Smalland for the first time!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/768200/SMALLAND/

Smalland Twitter
Smalland DIscord

Hey, Smallfolk!

It's that time again where we pin down Lead Designer, Kev, and get some answers to those burning community questions!

Can I have round ears instead of the pointed ones and just be a tiny human. Also I can't remember but can we change our skin colour?
There are variations, but they are reminiscent of Bat-like ears that show the Smallfolk have evolved. So throughout history, we have mistaken them for Faeries, Elves, and been the inspiration for various tales and folklore.



There are some less Elf looking ones, but many features of Smallfolk are the product of evolving to adapt and survive underground. And yes, numerous skin colours. Emerging from the underground the initial choice is varied but based on how someone would look if they had never seen sunlight. Then through progression and exposure, the true state of the Smallfolk starts to emerge, firstly with traditional human skin tones and then evolving further into more weird and wonderful ones.


Are Wasps tameable?
Wasps are currently chaotic and angry, unlike the friendlier Bees, and the more noble but agreeable Hornets, so they're not fond of the idea of being mounted by a Smallfolk!



Please add us to your wishlist to hear more from Smalland!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/768200/SMALLAND/

Join the official Discord
Follow us on Twitter

Hey Smallfolk!

As always thank for you the question we get in Discord, here are some answers to a few that we picked out for this week's FAQ Friday!

Will there be underwater content?
Certainly not at launch, as it's expensive both in terms of cost & resources in the scope of the Early Access launch.

In the lore of Smalland, the Smallfolk have been living underground and this is the first time they have encountered large bodies of water, and thus, they can't swim.



It is something that we may revisit in the future though...

Is it possible to join a faction side? For example, join the spider or wasps or ants and more?
You can work with whatever faction you like, and each will have its own rewards and benefits based on its traits. Dev Diary 2 gives you a little more information here as well.



Is there any place where I can see what the different "classes" will be?
There are no classes as such, but you adapt your playstyle using different armour types and weapons, allowing you to stylise or combine abilities from different species of creatures.



Thanks, everyone!

Want to get involved with future beta testing opportunities? Read more here!
Wishlist Smalland.
Join the Discord Community.

Hey Smallfolk!

It's that most wonderfully spooky time of the year again and we just happen to have a very interesting NPC to introduce you to...The Witch.

You'll find The Witch inhabiting a more sinister-looking part of Smalland, a little darker and more dangerous than other areas you may have visited.

If you wish to follow the trail of breadcrumbs, then here's Kev to tell you more...

Hey Smallfolk!

When the vast lands of the small are lit only by moonlight, a mysterious creature ventures out of hiding. Little is known about the Ghost Ant, but let's see what the Pathfinders' recorded in their journals when they first observed them.

The Ghost Ant
The Ghost Ants move like shadows, appearing and striking without warning before vanishing. As with all Ants they work in unison but where they come from and where they return to I have yet to discover. From what little I have seen, these secretive creatures keep to themselves and forge their own self-reliant path taking only what they need. They also show no fear and are willing and able to take down much larger predators and defy incredible odds.

These creatures will strike then disappear like phantoms, but I shall continue to try and reach out to these noble creatures.



So be careful when venturing out into the night!

Wishlist Smalland.
Join the Discord Community.