• Tournament: don't show new tournament messages for players below Gold league
  
• Tournament: fixed elimination matches result computation when respawn is enabled

Reminder: here's how to switch to the latest dev version branch

Hey everyone! It’s Kamil again - game director/producer at Awaken Realms Digital. I have some really exciting things to show you today and we're SO DAMN HAPPY that we can finally talk about them out in the open! :D

Here’s... Tainted Grail: Conquest!


Like I said in my last post, we are creating a whole additional mode for Tainted Grail and you'll be able to play it, well, endlessly. It’s an entirely new game experience which you’ll get in addition to the main game, not instead of it!

We’re kinda insane because making two games at the same time isn’t easy... But we’re extremely happy that we will be able to deliver this thing to you, folks!

Why, though? Two main reasons



Awaken Realms, as many of you probably know, has A LOT of experience as a board game developer. This means that over the years we’ve learned that gameplay is king – and it’s really easy to forget about that when you’re making a video game (being constantly distracted by various systems and mechanics you’re adding to the experience while forgetting about the most important thing: FUN).

We’re confident that we’ll be able to deliver a proper RPG to you because RPGs stand on their storylines – and Tainted Grail is a really amazing, huge, and already developed world from which we're able to draw – but we are pretty sure that your journey through Avalon would feel lackluster if the gameplay wouldn’t be there. This is why we’ve been extremely focused on gameplay for the past months and we are really proud of the results we were able to achieve!

Actually, after a few tests and discussions, we realized that our combat system works really well on its own. After some further prototypes it turned out that this unique mix of an RPG and a roguelike is a really fun game out on its own. Full of neat combos, unexpected quests, and hard, satisfying exploration. This is how Conquest was born.

Sure, our new trailer shows a lot of shiny stuff, bits and pieces of combat, and some locations – it is much harder to see the actual gameplay and the flow of the game, though. We really put in the work so that the whole experience will feel really satisfying to you all – but there are still plenty of details to be taken care of and ironed out (hence - Early Access).



We believe that truly epic RPG adventure should be experienced as a whole, without any breaks or "episodes" and whatnot. This is why we feel like developing an RPG game in Early Access and giving out the storyline bit by bit misses the point. This is why in Early Access you will receive access to about 3-4 hours of the Campaign (just to give you a good intro and taste of things to come) and then you will get an update with the full campaign when it’s done! Meanwhile, you will be getting quite a lot of content for Conquest that will make getting the Early Access version worthwhile!

That’s why Conquest will be the main focus of our Early Access. If you want just the story campaign – we would recommend you to wait for the official release ;) (with one small caveat that the price might be a bit higher).

So, as you see, Tainted Grail: Conquest is our personal take on the roguelike genre – but holy damn, where do I even start telling you all about it?

There were a lot of things we wanted to do with the campaign but for various reasons we couldn’t. We had plenty of neat ideas that wouldn’t work in the context of a traditional RPG or there wasn’t any justification for actually making them happen. However, when we were thinking about Conquest, we realized that by working on two games at the same time we can make them both bigger and better.

What will be unique to Conquest?



We want the game to be playable “forever”. Every time you boot it up you’ll be presented with a different map layout but – at least at launch – with the same objective: kill the prince of the Fore-dwellers. Later on we’re planning to add ever-shifting, surprising objectives to every run.

However, all of the paths will contain interesting encounters, surprising locations, and various treasures – and we’re working HARD to make it really fun to explore this world.

At the same time we really do know that “procedural generation” tends to mean “boring shit” in the current video game dictionary. Because of that we’re trying to find ways of surprising you and making sure that even after hours and hours of playing you’re still going to find something new to experience.

(Something different then pure gameplay and various combinations of combat skills and encounters which in itself should make the game fun to play for gazillion hours – but if that was all we’d have to offer, then why bother with the map, right?).

We want you to be finding new stuff even after many hours of playing. There are various ways to achieve this but I’ll give you my personal favorite thing about Conquest (but I’m biased because I’ve been a quest designer for a few years).

What I personally always wanted to see in roguelikes is a storyline that… makes sense? It’s not easy to find one that has it – and for good reasons: why would you care when it’s all about quick arcade runs, right? However, in our case, since we already have the technology to handle a narrative-driven RPG campaign, it would be a shame not to use it. This means that we’re able to add plenty of interesting encounters, characters, and locations to the game, and make sure that once you interact with them, they can change, react, or surprise you over the course of your runs. Won’t spoil more – and I gotta tell you more about...



One of the things we really wanted to have in the game’s main campaign was base building. We made some prototypes of this feature last year but it just didn’t make sense – it’s a problem from the design standpoint because of the inherent conflict of “having a base” and “going on a journey”. Having a base means returning back home and we didn’t want to force players to get back to Cuanacht for resources, to buy stuff, or whatever else.

However, in a roguelike, you constantly die and start over. And you have to start somewhere. That’s where a base comes in really handy – because the village, in our game, will be a way to carry over your passive progress.

During your runs you’ll find people and resources that will allow you to create new buildings - and these buildings will stay with you over the course of all of your runs. They'll function as vendors or rest sites. Some NCPs will allow you to craft various weapons or change your abilities. Some will offer things that you wouldn't be able to access in any different way - while some options will be hidden unless you complete a certain questline... There's going to be a lot of things to discover with this feature and we hope you're going to have a lot of fun with various ways of personalizing your hometown AND discovering how to actually unlock certain buildings!



I already said that in our previous post, but it’s worth repeating. Along with the visual overhaul of our combat, we kept the core, but changed a lot of things about the system. So far it’s looking really good and some of our Kickstarter backers are already having a lot of fun with it.

You see, in early 80s, Sid Meier, a genius designer, said that a game is a series of interesting choices, and that’s our core motto when it comes to designing our combat system. On the most basic level we’re operating on five factors: items, attacks, passives skills, runes, and rune upgrades, all of which influence each other, so that you get a real chance at customizing your playstyle – it’s all about giving options to players and letting them create their own killer combos out of various building blocks that we’re offering.

We’re not designing a “cRPG” where your passive skills are like “+5% to fire resistance”. We’re doing our best to include as many game-changing options as possible. Every turn in combat should present you with a meaningful choice – through encounters with tough enemies with crazy attack patterns or through sheer joy of optimizing your possibilities so that you’re a walking killing machine.

But, believe me, the game will be hard. We’re already working closely with our community and every time they tell us that they’ve won a bossfight on their first try is the moment when we make the game 20% harder :D

One of the things we really wanted to add to the game – but couldn’t justify that – was character customization and more options for character development. Since you were playing as Beor or Ailei, we kinda had to stick with their board game archetypes.

Now, by working on Conquest, we decided to add a thing that plenty of players were asking us for in the pre-alpha surveys: say hi to Fashion Grail!



And that’s not all when it comes to improvements and additions… but we need to leave some stuff for later, right? ;)

Expect some gameplays and more information soon!



We’re pretty confident that we’ll be able to deliver a proper early access build by this date and – to reiterate – it will contain two games!

• One game will be the beginning of a single-player campaign which some of you already played in December, but refined, polished, and expanded – offering around 3 hours of gameplay.
  
• The second one will be the main focus of the time we want to spend in Early Access – that’s Tainted Grail: Conquest. It will be a combination of a hardcore RPG with a roguelike experience.

We will be running various tests for our Kickstarter backers soon – join us on Discord to check the game out!

v1.54 changes:
-Windows executable is now 64-bit by default. A separate 32-bit executable is provided for a backward compatibility.
-Fixed a small visual glitch on low resolution displays.
-macOS application bundle rearranged to the regular format
-macOS system requirement increased from 10.6 to 10.8

Grab yer tommy guns, we're heading to Chicago! The first in a series of Boss Spotlight streams is happening this very week! Join us as our Design Director Brenda Romero and our Principal Combat Designer Ian O'Neill give us a closer look at Frankie Donovan and The Donovans this Thursday at 5 PM CEST / 8 AM PDT on http://twitch.tv/paradoxinteractive!

Subscribe to the Channel

"Battleship X Montana will no longer ride the waves—her guns have fallen silent forever," was what Detective Kléberot thought after arriving at the crime scene and finding the battleship’s hull full of holes. Poor X Midway was off to one side, suffering in a state of shock from the ghastly sight.

“This accident is more than strange—it’s inconceivable… Absurd… Unmotivated... or perhaps it only seems so?” Detective Kléberot continued his line of thought: “either no one, or anyone, could be suspected of the crime...Or perhaps someone else at least had something to do with it?”

Ooops !
Seems like discord button doesnt work
We are going to fix it as soon as possible.

You want to be a part of the wonderful Colormeleon-Community RIGHT NOW?

We totally understand this! Use this link to join us until we fixed the f....riendly community button ingame.
https://discord.gg/AsqcZR3

Shop Titans is now available on Steam for free! By linking your account using your Shop Titans ID (found under Settings), you can play on any platform!

Note: Steam players will receive a reminder when their Royal Merchant subscription runs out. A monthly renewal will need to be purchased manually, as Steam does not fully support automated payments.

Instead of the usual Gems, Owen may occasionally offer you Repair Kits, Phoenix Feathers or drinks in exchange for viewing an ad.

Stay on the lookout for these two new events hitting your shops soon! The Multicraft Event adds a small multicraft chance to all items made during the event, while the Customer Frenzy Event will ramp up the customer flow coming to your shop.

• The ad network has been expanded to a few new countries.
  
• It is now possible to cycle between customers and windows using the A/D or left/right arrow keys. (Steam only)
  
• The Right Mouse button can now be used to control the camera. (Steam only)
  
• Superior Pack offers will now also be shown to players that purchase all 3 Flashback deals offered to them, if they would not normally qualify.
  
• The small XP Drink will no longer appear as a reward in some places (such as Grab Bags and Daily Pig). It will not be missed.
  
• Champion Coins found in the Fortune Zone will once again reward 5 instead of 3.
  
• Most seasonal content offers have been added to the Flashback offer pool.
  
• Each item sold as part of a bulk order (such as a Champion request) will count towards objectives, such as bounties.
  
• Quest setup will now automatically suggest the strongest party available for this dungeon.
  
• When a customer asks for an item the player does not have, an option to craft it will be offered alongside the Market button.

• Various fixes related to scrolling in certain windows (Steam only)
  
• Fixed an issue causing the A and D hotkeys to cycle through heroes while the equipment menu is open. (Steam only)
  
• Fixed an issue causing the A or D hotkeys to bring up the chest menu while actively opening a chest. (Steam only)
  
• Fixed the “Hide Furniture” button displaying an incorrect state when furniture was already hidden.
  
• Fixed a bug causing Heroes to not be removed from the quest screen if retired from there.
  
• Fixed a bug causing the background to unblur when viewing a tooltip on the quest preparation screen.
  
• Fixed a bug preventing a bunch of characters from being typed depending on the game’s selected language (Russian, Swedish, Hungarian, etc)
  
• Fixed issues, mainly on Steam, causing character cutscene models to be cut off weirdly.Fixed issues with players not receiving Flashback offers they should qualify for.
  
• Fixed a bug causing Superior Offer content to be shown (such as in the blueprint list) to players who did not qualify for the offer.
  
• Fixed an issue causing some market offers to not display if their price was below a certain threshold.
  
• Fixed an issue causing some timers to appear as 1s when suspending the app on iOS.
  
• Fixed Chiseled Runestones appearing as a white box in the Lost City of Gold quest screen.
  
• Updated the Mana Shield’s skill values to the values advertised in the last patch.
  
• Fixed the unintentionally low Ascension Shard cost for the Primal element blueprint.
  
• Fixed an issue where filling your shop with decorations would cause constant crashing.
  
• Fixed the Partition de Mayo decoration taking up more space than intended.

Hello,

we just released a demo for Legends of Ethernal as part of the Digital Dragons Indie Celebration! It will be available until the end of May 17th! Please take some time to enjoy the demo and wishlist our game if you like it! The game will be out in Fall 2020!

In the meantime, you can also watch our newest trailer here:

A new Season has begun in Heavy Metal Machines. In “Before the Madness”, our 9th Season of the Metal Pass you’ll have a glimpse of the game’s world, before the apocalypse!

Check out the new season’s promotional trailer:

You can also take a look at every new reward on the official website.
Follow us on social media:

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Heavy Metal Machines Team

EA 0.003.04
- Ronnie now refuses to find tools if he has to close shop within the hour
- Fixed several instances of Ronnie's Tool Store being referred to as Reggies, and vice versa for the Supply Store
- Fixed exploit behind Supply Store allowing players to exit play area
- Fixed Work Platform not loading in if thrown
- Fixed a load of Mortar placement and load issues
- Fixed a bunch of Tamsin dialogue memory issues (she should remember stuff correctly now)
- Re-wrote Tamsin intro dialogue to be less cringe
- Fixed issue where if players ordered a drink before accepting the dishwasher job, they would be locked out of it.
- Fixed support wall job not registering for certain patterns
- Raised collisions on road near church
- Fixed Quit & New Game UI mapping issues on certain aspects
- Fixed Yes Quit selection having odd register area
- Fixed tools getting stuck in hands during postal delivery
- Can no longer crouch while in conversation
- Bus UI now registers mouse over the "dot" area
- Some tweaks to Stone Cutter to make it feel nicer
- Stone Cutter should no longer continue sparking after dropping
- Item UI should now update in real time
- Stone cutter should now render correct color over Wheel Barrow
- Rain slip slope angle changed from 20 to 40, this will stop slipping outside caravan
- Feet now make splashes in the rain
- Sliding in wet weather now has audio and visual queues
- Ladders now much simpler to use, Forward (default key W) always ascends, Backward (default key S) always descends
- Fixed bunch of Ladder exploits
- New ladder climbing audios
- Fixed getting stuck in environmental gap
- Fixed floating salvageable cabinet
- Fixed some UI issues being cut off on certain aspect ratios
- Furniture placement no longer blocked by nails
- Can no longer push vehicles with held objects
- Adding ingredients to a cement or mortar mix now turns it into No Mix
- Fixed some tarred wood planks having the incorrect name and description
- Fixed issue where Winston catching the player in the Supply yard whilst pushing a wheel barrow would cause wheel barrow movement to be broken and the wheel barrow to be stuck in player hands
- Can no longer crouch or sprint while peeing
- Tabbing or pausing while peeing no longer removes camera look restriction
- Peeing on cars will make them drive erratically
- Erratic cars which crash will now stop driving
- Reworked car physics and AI so players should no longer be able to push them off the road.
- Fixed camera shake while post is being delivered
- Input settings now save and load correctly
- Fixed item colour for roof tiles in the Supply Catalogue
- Fixed soft-lock caused by interacting with sleep bubble while sleeping
- Fixed Supply Catalogue not showing disabled buttons

Big list of minor changes. I still need to look into the furniture issues, but once furniture is fixed updates will slow down as I'll be working on content. The reason for updates to slow is that it is going to take a while to get the first big content update out. However, I will be opening up a BETA branch for players who want to test this content early. News on this next week.

Thanks again for all the help and suggestions, hopefully you can see that it's really helping!

Greg