Thank you so much for supporting the Early Access version of the game. We are very much interested in feedback and ideas. Feel free to participate in our Discord or post something in the Steam discussion forums. I am reading all the review feedback.
Changes in this version:
This update mostly focuses on more urgent adjustments with a couple of minor enhancements thrown in that did not require extensive testing. Bigger changes to improve stealth and other mechanics coming soon. Thanks for your patience!
There is now a basic surrender calibration at the start of the game. Some users had problems surrendering because the default values only worked well for people with a certain arm length.
Reduced distance regular enemies detect player in field of vision from 18 meters to 16 meters. This should help alleviate guards spotting you before you spot them in low lit areas. There will be further changes coming to ensure display gamma is where it should be for core game mechanics.
Enemy guards will occasionally cough when they are idle and not moving. I will be adding other idle sounds soon, but this was easy to add without getting voice actors involved in the studio. This even applies to special forces enemy types, but don't rely on it. Always peek around corners and into rooms before running in.
Some weapon storage adjustments and fixes to try and improve it for some players
Added comfort option for controller based direction movement. The default is head-based.
Additional tweak to gun/hand position angle. I am still trying to make this comfortable for all XR controller types.
Prevent hiding spaces appearing behind prisoner beds and electrical boxes
Prevent torches from spawning on propaganda posters
Some improvement to physics / hand position of bottles
Graffiti made larger to more easily spot
Graffiti appears more frequently in cells
Fixed a bug that allowed a player to hide in front of locked cell
If someone got excited they finally escaped the dungeon and raised their hands to celebrate it might confuse the game they were trying to surrender. 😔 This should be fixed.
Coins in chests now highlight when hovered to select
SS Spawn chances have been reduced slightly until the enemy awareness features are added in a future update.
More gun code optimizations for responsiveness
Surrender will not activate when paused (including lack of user precense / taking off headset)
It's very rare, but it is possible that some dungeons may be created with a section you cannot reach. This is a priority for the next update because this could lead to user frustration.
After the weapons design and the first round of primary gameplay testing, the next step in the production process is Scoring the Music, the music in the Alder Forge is not only an ornament to fill the space of that world, but a part of the story, each track composed is significantly related to either a character, an organization, a Royal House or just the area you are in, and of course, that includes the enemies you will face, each group has a piece of signature music related to them.
And without further ado, let us start with the anatomy of the Alder Forge main theme, to give you an idea of the structure and groups of instruments used to score the subject track.
Video Subject: Anatomy of the Alder Forge Main Theme
As you can see the most dominant instruments are the strings, I usually combine multiple articulations at once, usually, the Spiccato and Legato/Staccato, which helps me produce a more nuanced melody, the strings are also involved but not always in the Chord Progression.
Before I start composing I always split my DAW into multiple chambers as the following, then I begin afterward with either sketching a Chord Progression, a Melody, or both at the same time.
Here are the multiple split sections used to score the music for the Alder Forge:
The Strings Section
The Brass/Woodwinds Section
The Keys Section
The Percussion Section
The Choir Section
The Electronic Section
Image Subject: Most dominant instruments used in the Alder Forge music
Image Subject: Hardware & Software used to record and score the Alder Forge music
The Gaming Community are no stranger to Leitmotifs, so there is no necessity in defining the term or explaining it, and like many other worlds, the Alder Forge also has established and defined its Leitmotifs as the following:
The Alder Forge: Established
The Equilibrium: Established
The Magna Lumen: Established
The Atlas Court: Established
The Netherwaves: Planned for Chapter 2
De Roy Family: Established
Sieg Vulpes Family: Planned for Chapter 2
Val Fiery Family: Planned for Chapter 3
Er Aquila Family: Planned for Chapter 4
Here are 3 Leitmotifs melody/chord progressions that are recurrent, especially in Chapter 1, played with the Grand Piano:
Video Subject: 3 Leitmotifs played with the Grand Piano
PS: Please note that I'm not trying to overstep your boundaries, I'm well aware that the only ones who can establish, nominate and name the Leitmotifs are the Alder Forge Community, I'm only establishing the themes, whatever you call a Leitmotif or not shall be respected.
Scoring the music for the Alder Forge requires that I finish the Environment Design, Enemies, and Cinematic for the subject area, which helps me establish the theme or the motion that I need to compose to accompany the player's experience while exploring or fighting in that portion of the game.
Image Subject: Official artwork for the upcoming Soundtrack DLC
Thank you again for your support and appreciation for the last 3 Devlogs, in the remaining Devlog we will dive into the Lighting, Optimization, and a bonus (Real-time Cinematic).
Before the upcoming Devlog, the Early Access Phase 1 Release Date will also be announced.
A common sentiment about hairstyle customization is: “The more customization options, the better.” We hear you! We’re trying our best to create lots more styles with better diversity. Some of you may have previewed some of the hairstyles in the Demo, but there weren’t many. But now, more features have been added to the hairstyle customization, all of them mix-and-matchable and without gender limitations!
Currently, hairstyles are designed in three parts: the main body, the bangs, and the ponytail. Each piece can be picked independently, however you like.
As a consequence of that customizability… you can end up with some pretty wacky styles!
Hmm… actually, this one’s got real-world references. Hahaha~!
Because of the new hairstyle system in Sandrock, hats won’t completely change your hairstyle as Portia did. In Sandrock, hats only impact the parts that would logically be hidden, such as a cap hiding only your high ponytail or Sandgear hiding all of your hair.
You’ll also be able to feel the wind whipping about your beautiful locks! In Sandrock, the wind speed and whether you’re running around or just standing idly will change how and how much your hair swings. Physics! 🍃💨
And we’re trying to add many more options for you~ Special thanks to our Kickstarter backers for contributing a lot of new nice designs, along with more styles of our own to come. Some of these have been challenges to figure out how to stylize and model without having a prohibitively high polygon count, but the challenge is worth it to bring a whole new level of diversity and customization to help you be who you want to be in Sandrock.
A common sentiment about hairstyle customization is: “The more customization options, the better.” We hear you! We’re trying our best to create lots more styles with better diversity. Some of you may have previewed some of the hairstyles in the Demo, but there weren’t many. But now, more features have been added to the hairstyle customization, all of them mix-and-matchable and without gender limitations!
Currently, hairstyles are designed in three parts: the main body, the bangs, and the ponytail. Each piece can be picked independently, however you like.
As a consequence of that customizability… you can end up with some pretty wacky styles!
Hmm… actually, this one’s got real-world references. Hahaha~!
Because of the new hairstyle system in Sandrock, hats won’t completely change your hairstyle as Portia did. In Sandrock, hats only impact the parts that would logically be hidden, such as a cap hiding only your high ponytail or Sandgear hiding all of your hair.
You’ll also be able to feel the wind whipping about your beautiful locks! In Sandrock, the wind speed and whether you’re running around or just standing idly will change how and how much your hair swings. Physics! 🍃💨
And we’re trying to add many more options for you~ Special thanks to our Kickstarter backers for contributing a lot of new nice designs, along with more styles of our own to come. Some of these have been challenges to figure out how to stylize and model without having a prohibitively high polygon count, but the challenge is worth it to bring a whole new level of diversity and customization to help you be who you want to be in Sandrock.
The Death Guard joined their traitor brother Legions orbiting Terra when the Siege was ongoing, but they were nonetheless the first of the traitor Legions that set foot on Terra. Harbingers of pestilence, they sowed sorrow and malice wherever they went and became the linchpin upon which the traitor plan could become a success.
Lead the Death Guard into battle as they break the storm upon Terra and test their new cards! Discover all about the new campaign in the latest blog post and kickstart your Death Guard collection! https://www.horusheresylegions.com/blighting-of-terra-campaign/
One of the main features of Update 0.38 will be the Wars of the Past Battle Path and today we’d like to tell you more about it because there will be some changes in it compared to the last one.
But let’s start with the things that remain the same, such as the basic principles. Once you acquire access to the campaign (the price remains the same), you’ll be earning Battle Coins and spending them on Battle Path progress. Battle Coins will be earned either by just playing or by completing missions.
Four mission sets along with repeatable daily Battle Coin Missions and Challenges will be available like the last time (there are no changes to the Missions or Challenges themselves). And, of course, the popular Battle Coin Shop feature will be making a re-appearance.
This Battle Path doesn’t have a specific topic except for a loose connection to some military topics of the past, but all four of its vehicle prizes come from the former Warsaw Pact countries. They are, in ascending order:
2S38 Derivatsiya Tier 8 Premium AFV obtainable by collecting 100 parts (blueprints) either by completing missions or from the Battle Coin Shop
In addition to the vehicles, four Warmonger skins will be available via the standard Level progression for the following vehicles:
Merkava Mk.4M Tier 10 MBT (for reaching Level 10)
XM1A3 Tier 10 MBT (for reaching Level 50)
T-15 Kinzhal Tier 10 Premium TD (for reaching the maximum Level)
2S38 Derivatsiya Tier 8 Premium AFV (obtainable by completing the Elite mission series)
There will, of course, be other prizes as well, such as Decals, Titles, a single Avatar with five stages, Battle Coin boosters, Premium Time, Credits, Gold and Banners. There will also be a special Camouflage with one environmental version awarded per each of the three basic Mission sets.
In fact, there will be more rewards than the last time around, which brings us to the differences.
The biggest one definitely is that the Wars of the Past Battle Path will last 120 days instead of the usual 90 days. In other words, the event will take place between December 2021 and the end of March, 2022.
Correspondingly, we’ve increased the number of Levels from 50 to 60. Levels 1 to 10 will require only a small amount of Battle Coins per Level as usual, Levels 11 to 50 will require 4.500 Battle Coins as before and Levels 51 to 60 will require 7.000 Battle Coins per level. Since extra 70.000 Battle Coins are no joke even with the extended period, we will also be increasing your Battle Coin income as such:
Daily Battle Coin missions will award 700 Battle Coins instead of 600
The total amount of Battle Coins from Challenges will increase from 70.000 to 80.000 Battle Coins
Added an extra Battle Coin booster to the Level progression
Especially the first change represents a major increase in your Battle Coin income as long as you complete those missions diligently. Additionally, we are increasing the prizes as such:
Available Premium Time from 37 days to 49 days
Available Gold from 600 to 800
Available Credits from 60 million to 75 million
The Battle Coin Shop will of course be also updated. Aside from the same items as the last time, you’ll be able to find (if you’re lucky or persistent enough) the following new items in it:
CV90 Mk.IV Tier 8 Premium AFV from the last Battle Path
CV90105 TML Tier 7 Premium LT from the last Battle Path
Stridsvagn 2000 Tier 10 Premium MBT from the last Battle Path
Jomsviking skins from the last Battle Path
Desert Storm Raid skins (excluding Asad Babil)
And that’s pretty much it. The Battle Path is currently planned to launch on December 9, 2021. If anything in this article caught your eye and you haven’t done so already, you can still purchase discounted access via MY.GAMES Market.
We hope that you’ll enjoy this Battle Path and, as always:
