Hey everyone!

New patch is playtested at this very moment, and will be available shortly. Below you’ll get a taste of what you can expect in that. Also - we pulled the most popular Project Warlock II questions from Steam and Discord and answered those here.

Since we launched the Early Access version of Project Warlock II we’ve received a ton of feedback from you, released a number of patches and fixes, as well as revealed our roadmap until the end of the year. And there’s still a lot more to come!

Some of the areas of the game we’re working on are:


Totally redesigned saves system for clearer designation of all saved games, and limiting the number of manual saves and quicksaves


Introducing Single Stage mode for revisiting previously completed levels


Adding more pronounced audio and visual cues to enemy demons spawning in

That and a whole variety of balances, fixes and adjustments across the board that will be fully outlined in the upcoming patch update.

Each and every suggestion or a bit of feedback provided by you makes its way to our internal database and is reviewed case-by-case. When we said we want to shape the game according to your feedback, we meant it.

It’s not always possible to respond to all messages or comments and some of them might tackle topics that we’re already aware of and work on, so we’ve prepared this handy list of responses and updates about some of the most frequent topics.



1: There’s a lot of clutter on the screen - specifically cooldown reduction orbs, ammo, health, and armor, but also some environment elements sometimes make it hard to see what’s happening on the screen. Are you planning to address that?

ANSWER: In one of the upcoming patches (coming: soon) we’re reducing the number of dropped items. We’re also repositioning some of the trees as they have been reported to obscure enemies, who (being vicious demons from hell) predictably used that to their advantage.

2: Enemies are sometimes getting stuck in walls, trees, pillars, and other elements of the environment. What gives?

ANSWER: These issues are two-fold. One - after one of the redesigns of the levels, some of the enemies seemed to be stuck in walls with their spawners. Two - some of the doors and breakable passageways cause enemies to behave strangely. The placement issue has been resolved in the latest hotfix patch as well as the enemies getting stuck.

3: Why are some enemies shooting through the walls?

ANSWER: This was an issue with misplaced spawners of some monsters. It has now been resolved in the latest hotfix.

4: Enemies are getting stuck in the floor - mostly in E1M5.

ANSWER: This issue has been addressed in the latest patch, we’ve modified the size of the space with problematic floor material.

5: Sometimes the player character gets stuck on the stairs, slopes, and walls.

ANSWER: That was an issue with the Player controller and has now been resolved in the latest hotfix. Special thanks to those who attached images or videos of problematic spots in their feedback posts. You know who you are, and we know not all of you wear capes!

6: The enemies spawning behind the player after picking up every key/weapon/spell are a problem.

ANSWER: The upcoming patch has more pronounced visual and audio cues to make the monsters spawning in more noticeable as per the screen on top of this post. That same upcoming patch will also result in a do-over regarding the monster spawn placements. The aim is to eradicate those instances that feel unfair to the player by not giving ample time to react.

7: The levels are bigger than in the original Project Warlock, which makes them difficult to navigate through and it’s very easy to get lost and wander in circles.

ANSWER: We’re looking at the scope of the levels and making sure they are more accessible. One thing that emerged from the playtest and subsequent feedback is that we will be going for a division of the levels into smaller and more approachable areas. This is coming in the future.

8: Some of the secrets are too hard to find.

ANSWER: Well… yes and no. We believe that most of the secrets aren’t that problematic and are well-indicated, whether by a red target mark, a button, or a destructible wall. But we’ve heard a lot of voices. In the previous point, we’ve mentioned redesigning the levels. We believe it will help this issue as the levels will be smaller and secrets should become easier to find.

Also, the Single Stage Mode (coming in the next content patch) will allow players to jump between levels to find secrets they’ve missed.

9: Are more game modes coming to PW2?

ANSWER: Yes. Single Stage mode is now being extensively tested and will be a part of the next content patch. Stars of one of the future updates - the Mutators will also have a significant impact on the way you play the game.

10: The music in Project Warlock II feels repetitive and just not that good, whereas it was one of the best things in the original Project Warlock.

ANSWER: Jerry and Luke - the guys behind the first Project Warlock’s OST are hard at work on making sure that Project Warlock II’s soundtrack is as memorable - or waaaay more - as that of the first game. The issue with the tracks right now is that the concept for dynamic music that was originally in place had to be reconsidered. It just didn’t work that well and was changed. Currently, some of the tracks might need that extra ooomph, but that's because most of them are devoid of their more dynamic, combat parts. There will be new tracks, as we’re working on the PW2 soundtrack to hit the bar we’ve set with the original game. Adding the tracks as well as dividing the levels into smaller parts should reduce the feeling of repetitiveness.

11: The loading times in Project Warlock II seem excessively long, what’s going on?

ANSWER: We’ve got a two-part fix planned for this. First, in one of the upcoming patches, we’re improving the overall optimization of the levels. Secondly, the loading times will be shorter once we divide the levels. There’s also a topic of the overabundance of saves that also has an impact on this. Upcoming patch addresses that by limiting the number of manual and quicksaves and also by redesigning the save menu.

One important thing to note here, though. The upcoming patch will render all the saves up until that point useless. So if you want to finish up that playthrough with your current save - now's the right time.

12: Some of the weapons and their upgrades feel lackluster.

ANSWER: Weapon tuning is one of the major updates that the team has been working on for the past couple of months. It will require quite a bit of testing so we have no timeframe to give, but this will be happening very soon. If you'd like to give it a go - please apply for a playtesting role on our Discord to participate.

In the Weapon update basic weapons and both their upgrades and the way the system works will be revamped. For example, instead of upgrading the Rifle into the Heavy Rifle, you’ll be able to add an additional barrel, sight and ammo capacity. This will result in a chance to expand the capacities of a particular weapon more significantly than just with a short upgrade tree. As we said, it’s early in the works, so your feedback will help us shape it further!

13: The automap is hard to read, any plans to address that?

ANSWER: In the upcoming patch, we’ll adjust the minimap’s height colors. More specifically by removing Red and Green height differences, making uncovered terrain white and covered terrain dark gray. This will help you navigate through the levels and find areas you haven’t explored yet. We’ll continue to closely monitor your feedback to make sure we get it right.

14: When can we expect more levels?

ANSWER: New levels are coming in the second episode. We don’t have a specific time frame yet, but you can check out our roadmap for 2022 below.



Thanks for being here with us and look out for the incoming patch!

We’re back with a third Spotlight Showcase to keep you, our fine Steam readers, up to date with our regular Spotlight articles on the Sea of Thieves website – and below you’ll find no less than six instead of the usual four, thanks to a packed schedule pushing this latest catch-up deep into July.

It’s a good mix of Spotlight types too, with a trio of popular Community members, a couple of well-loved Creators and our latest nominated Legend. So fall in alongside us and find out who we showcased!



Way back in early May, we invited Captain Peachy into the Community Spotlight to talk about his fervour for the regular #SoTShot contests and his moment of fame as a synchronised swimmer. He did all that and more, throwing in some in-game photography tips too, along with bonus tales of Kraken attacks and a real-life Disneyland trip with friends made in Sea of Thieves.



Later that month we switched over to the greenish glow of a new Creator Spotlight, but kept up the food-themed names, definitely not by total coincidence. This time it was KatLikesTacos who came by to tell us about her lore-adoring approach to the game and how she balances streaming Sea of Thieves with everyday life, making a strong case for surrounding yourself with positive people.



June took us back to Community Spotlights to meet up with Sayuta, who has logged more victorious #SoTShot attempts and qualified for the Hat of Unfeasibly Glorious Fame more times than we thought anyone would manage so soon, quite frankly. Read all about those, enjoy some pirate portraits and find out about Sayuta’s involvement in community videos too while you’re there!



Video was also a strong suit of our next subject – more specifically cinematics, as we caught up with famed footage finesser and Partnered streamer TruEdits for his turn in the Creator Spotlight. Having worked with many a well-known creator while producing his own atmospheric videos spanning the length and breadth of the Sea of Thieves, this is another pirate who had plenty to share!



Then we hit July and decided to add another notable Pirate Legend to our small but growing crop of Legend Spotlights – and who better than Anja (better known to many as gaming_4nj4), one of the most uplifting pirates on the seas. We found out about the supportive approach that’s made her so beloved, asked about her favourite new things in the game and, most importantly, secured cat photos.



Then for July’s second Spotlight we paid a visit to Skulliah, allowing us to end our Showcase with a soothing Merfolk’s Lullaby. Many of that site’s prized resources were discussed in this Community Spotlight, so if you’re interested in player-focused tools such as a storm tracker and Mystery board, check out Skulliah’s insights into how and why he and his crew create such treasures!

And those were the occupants of our Spotlight slots throughout May, June and July ’22. You’ll find four more in our previous Spotlight Showcase (and the introductory instalment) if you missed out. And of course you can browse the full archive of Community, Creator and Legend Spotlights in our official News section, or see what else players have been up to lately in the Community Content section of our Community Hub.

Enjoy the summer sun and we’ll catch you back here in a couple of months for another Showcase!

Hello All,

We are very excited to announce our update release ver. 1.2.1 today. Thank you everyone for playing.

During the production stage of the game in November 2021, we were really happy with the translations of the text and dialogue of the game and we reached out to our localization company to include the names of the translators. We were notified that it was their policy not to disclose their names. Hence we were not able to include the names of the many translators who really helped us make the game great.

A few weeks ago, we were lucky to find some great people reaching out to us over twitter with disappointment that the translators were not included in the credit section of the game. So we reached out to our localization company with the issue and they have agreed to send us the names of the many translators who we really think they have earned their spots in the credits.

We are very happy to let everyone know that on this update, our credit section of the game now includes the names of the translators. We are more than happy to do so, and hope that many other developers can join too. #Translatorsinthecredits.
Special thanks to @Tamslator on Twitter for the effort.

Thank you once again for the massive work!

Spanish
PM: Diana Díaz Montón
Translation: Yasmina Casado González
Proofreading: Isa Gutiérrez

Italian
PM: Gabriele Vegetti
Translation: Gabriele Vegetti
Review: Letizia Morellini

German
PM: Julia Othlinghaus-Wulhorst
Translation: Christian Meier
Proofreading: Frank Schröder

French
PM: Amandine Pineda & Stessie Egarnès
Translation: Victor Autet
Proofreading: Clémentine Rayer

Brazilian Portuguese
PM: Estéfano Vitagliano
Translation: Ana S. & Josué S.
Proofreading: Juliana C.

Enjoy,

Team Cogoo

-- One more thing --
Our sequel to Rocco's Island: Ring to end the Pain is called TObOR and the coming soon page is now live on Steam. So we would greatly appreciate it if you can wishlist it!

Hello everyone!

It's been a while. We had been working hard on adding new content.
New patch will include a new neighbourhood, new tool and a more challenging level of difficulty.

Here's a sneak peek:

As the speed of completing the Ritual varies greatly among players of different levels, we added an offering amount option in room settings so that players can adjust the number of offerings according to their needs and game pace.

Besides, we noticed that the behavior of the Possessed still cannot meet our expectations. Thus, this update includes some balance adjustments for Possessed together with some function optimizations.

Details are as followed.

● The prices of Wooden Bat, Corrupted Crystal Core, Bird and Amulet of Telepathy decrease to 10.  
● The evil energy gain of using one Corrupted Crystal Core increases to 25.
【Possessed energy recharge adjustment】
● The evil energy retained from not killing anyone during Crimson Dream increases from 75 to 85.
● Possessed now can gain more evil energy per second.
● Transformed Possessed can no longer gain evil energy during Crimson Dream.

● Curse Skull now becomes recharged ability. Curse energy will be fully recharged every 90 seconds(maximum accumulate 3 times). Curse Skull is removed from the shop.
This adjustment aims for helping the Possessed play against the Survivors more easily.
● Room settings: added offering amount selection.
【Adjustments for Amulet of Telepathy】
● The player who owns Amulet of Telepathy cannot be traced.
● Amulet of Telepathy can prevent the owner from being cursed once. It will be broken after this prevention.
● Notification will pop up when Amulet of Telepathy is broken.
● Shapeshifter can shift during Crimson Dream.
● The action of placing the Lantern and the Bird has been sped up.

● Added a cloud of smoke at the place where the Possessed disappeared after teleportation.
● Added a cyclic screen image effect during the period of Shapeshifter shift to other players.  

● Fixed a bug that the invisible player becomes visible when Crimson Dream starts.
● Fixed a bug that players can be seen through chests.
● Fixed a bug that the player can trigger the effect of Corrupted Crystal Core several times.

Thank you all for your suggestions and support. If you have any ideas, tell us under the Discord channel #game-feedback

Follow us on social media:
Twitter：@sinister_game
Youtube：https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCun1f9-T2qcHl9T0AhDIeDQ/featured
Email：sinisternightgame@gmail.com
Discord：https://discord.gg/XVSGDKTxs4
Z-star Studio

Realmers!

While the Month of the Mad God is fast approaching, the team is getting closer to finishing up everything for it! We are just as excited as you are about the new features and changes.

We are opening 3 Interregnum Portals every 4 Minutes in the Realm!

Therefore it is time for another round of testing. In order to make sure we get more feedback and input on our update, we have prepared a small pack for you.

If 2000 players join us on testing over the weekend and help us out with getting feedback in, every player will receive a fame pack in the shop for 350 Fame. It can be redeemed 3 times per account. And will be in the shop from the 26th at 8 AM UTC until the 29th at 8 AM UTC.

The pack will contain:
1x Potion of Life (SB)
1x Potion of Mana (SB)
1x Potion of Vitality (SB)
1x Potion of Wisdom (SB)
1x Potion of Dexterity (SB)
1x Potion of Speed (SB)
1x Potion of Attack (SB)
1x Potion of Defense (SB)
1x XP Booster1x Lucky Clover
1x Tincture of Dexterity
1x Tincture of Attack



Let's have a look at all the changes we already did, based on your feedback.

• Made room size smaller in the mercenary's final attack.
  
• Replaced interregnum attack 1 with a new attack.
  
• Added tooltip info and names to interregnum UTs
  
• Changed stats on interregnum uts
  
• Frangible Longbow sprite fixed
  
• Added XP and Fame bonuses to Interregnum UTs
  
• Slight damage changes to all tiered longbows + S.T.A.F.F. in preparation for berserk being able to work on burst weapons
  
• Items previously missing unique descriptions or names now have them
  
• Fractal blades sprites fixed
  
• Wanderer giant rotating swords slowed down
  
• Extra invulnerability time added to some of the wanderer's phases
  
• Extra health added to the wanderer
  
• Damage nerfs on some of the wanderer's more hard hitting attacks
  
• All Tachis had their max damage lowered by 5
  
• Various typo and grammar fixes
  
• Increased HP of Mercenary D Realm
  
• Fixed missing star projectiles from Mercenary D Dungeon in the third phase
  
• Enemies are invincible rather than invulnerable so they do not block shots while spawning.
  
• Graphical issues with A and B’s shots have been corrected.
  
• Mercenary A spawns minions at a slightly lower rate.
  
• Mercenary A now spawns in Mid Plains to avoid attacking players in the Shoreline.
  
• Mercenary B now fires his waves of thunder forward and backward to prevent there from being a safe spot.
  
• Mercenary B becomes invulnerable when throwing a Lightning Grenade, and the range of this attack has been increased.
  
• Mercenary C’s minions now orbit her further away to prevent clumping and bullet spam.
  
• The minions also despawn when she is killed.
  
• C’s beams now include a ‘frame’ to increase the pattern area.
  
• C’s beams also have increased damage and piercing.
  
• C Sandstorms now Curse instead of confusing, deal more damage, and have a larger projectile.

We have been listening to your feedback regarding the new changes as well as making some of our own observations, this patch we will be rolling out the following changes and continue to listen to your feedback and observe the balance of the new scaling system.

In general, we received some feedback that these changes were punishing realm groups too much, as such the lowest end of the hp scaling formula has been lowered a little to hopefully help with the size of groups you might find in a realm. In addition, we observed the highest end of players being a little too powerful and have raised that end a bit to try to balance it out.

For a full list of HP Scaling changes, have a look at our Blog.


Let's have another look at the things coming up with MotMG! I know you already know about them and checked them out and absolutely read every single word in our blog posts, but still. A reminder doesn't hurt.

Once again. We will not fully go into detail about everything here. This will be done with the release notes once the update goes live! We also have several blog posts for the features, so go check them out!


Battlepass will also start a new season system in Realm of the Mad God, where every ~2 months a new season will start with a completely new reward ladder and more options and game modes to come!
The battlepass is a reward ladder in which you can claim prizes when you collect enough Battlepass XP (BXP for short). This new type of resource is granted by enemies (most enemies that can give XP, can also give BXP, though not in the same proportion). When you are collecting BXP in the realm or dungeons, you can press 'K' (the key for showing the logs) and see how close you are to the next milestone in the Battlepass ladder.

When in Nexus, you can click on the Battlepass banner in the top-left corner of your screen to enter the Battlepass Menu where you can claim prizes.
Bear in mind that dates, prizes, and UI visuals are placeholders and it is all Work in Progress. Some visual indications might be missing yet.
In the Battlepass menu, you will also find awesome artwork from Saturnz! @saturnzcheery on Twitter.





We are also expanding the different bonuses players will be able to gain. While in the game we already have some bonus boosters like the Loot Tier Potion (which will still be in the game), we want to introduce new types, some of the more commonly accessed and some of them which can become powerful and interesting rewards in events and other systems in the game. We call these boosters “accelerators”.

Accelerators can last for a certain time, while you have an item equipped, or even be permanent for the whole season!

Another important characteristic is that Accelerators aren’t applied to any character in particular but to the whole account, so you can swap your characters and the accelerators would still be active.
And here is the first batch of accelerators that will become available during MotMG (bear in mind they are still WIP): They will be automatically consumed upon claiming them in the Battlepass but for this Test you will be able to find them in the shop.








Player titles are equipped through the Wardrobe (in your Vault) and can be unlocked by completing special requests. direct purchase, or other methods. Some Player Titles are exclusive for players who complete special achievements!




This Month of the Mad God will feature a well-deserved rework of Assassin and Sorcerer classes. You will be able to find items in the Shop to try their new abilities.
You can read more about this rework here: Assassin and Sorcerer rework sneak peek


We will introduce new weapon types. These weapons will introduce new playstyles and exciting new possibilities for your character builds. Read more about the new weapons here: New Weapon Types! Part 1 | New Weapon Types! Part 2




Amid it all stands a figure clad in obsidian commanding his minions to destroy everything I have ever known.
It was then that I awoke to my power. Many would call it a gift, but to me, it's a reminder.

Vindication is the event that will happen thorough Month of the Mad God 2022. This event will put you against the enigmatic Syndicate, an organization of outlaws somehow tied to the mysterious Wanderer. Syndicate enemies are appearing in different places of the realm, trying to execute some kind of shady plan that might pose a huge risk to the entire world. While the Syndicate is alleged enemies of Oryx himself, they aren’t friends of the Heroes of the Nexus either... What are their plans? Can they be stopped?

In this Public Testing, you will be able to test new encounters and learn about upcoming fights with these mysterious enemies. Depending on where you find them, their properties and fight can slightly change (so will their loot!).
Keep in mind, that Art in the Interregnum is still a work in progress but shouldn't affect any gameplay.

Encounters in the realm

• You will be able to find the Mercenaries of the Syndicate roaming in the realm.

Encounters in the dungeon

• At the end of certain dungeons, one of the Mercenaries can spawn.
  
• “Pirate Queen Ramm” can appear in: Forbidden Jungle, The Hive, Ancient Ruins, Sprite World, Snake Pit.
  
• “Izel the Grand Shaman” can appear in: Puppet Master’s Theatre, Undead Lair, Mad Lab, Abyss of Demons, Haunted Cemetery
  
• “Nefret the Pharaoh” can appear in: Parasite Chambers, Woodland Labyrinth, Deadwater Docks, Mountain Temple, The Third Dimension
  
• “Black Blade Ozuchi” can appear in: Fungal Cavern, Crystal Cavern, The Nest, Cultist Hideout, The Void, Lost Halls, The Shatters

Encounters in the mysterious dimension

• At certain intervals, a mysterious portal will open in the Nexus, taking you to the arena where you will be able to fight all the Mercenaries at once, and maybe the Wanderer herself in a new, intense battle. Bear in mind this fight is intended for experienced players and can be considered late-game level.

Quest Room and the Shady Vagrant

• In Vindication, the Quest room will have special importance. You will be able to collect the mysterious “Black Coins” from the Syndicate enemies when you fight them in the realm or dungeons, and then exchange them in the Quest Room for prizes and even keys for the Interregnum.
  
• However, although this route is open, for this PT we will simply spawn periodically the portal to Interregnum in the Nexus!
  
• Please bear in mind that the Quests you will find in the Quest Room are incomplete and many have placeholder prizes.

We’ve opened a portal to hell, and released all the horrors contained within into the world. …well, ok, into our vault. We will however unleash them upon all of humanity on September 6 during our horror extravaganza, Fear Fest 2022: Black Summer. Mark the calendar or the mark of the beast will mark you, we’re coming to your screens, and we have big guns on our side.

Joining the show will, of course, be our premiere titles, Dark Fracture and Terror: Endless Night, but we’ve also recruited an army of influencers and big-name horror games publishers and developers.



The broadcast is going to feature trailers for upcoming top-shelf horror titles, developer interviews, gameplay recorded by popular influencers, and even story segments in the style of a found-footage horror film, to tie everything together.

What are you waiting for? Head to fearfest.online, set a reminder, and join the army of fear! Together, we will paint the summer black.

We’ve opened a portal to hell, and released all the horrors contained within into the world. …well, ok, into our vault. We will however unleash them upon all of humanity on September 6 during our horror extravaganza, Fear Fest 2022: Black Summer. Mark the calendar or the mark of the beast will mark you, we’re coming to your screens, and we have big guns on our side.

Joining the show will, of course, be our premiere titles, Dark Fracture and Terror: Endless Night, but we’ve also recruited an army of influencers and big-name horror games publishers and developers.



The broadcast is going to feature trailers for upcoming top-shelf horror titles, developer interviews, gameplay recorded by popular influencers, and even story segments in the style of a found-footage horror film, to tie everything together.

What are you waiting for? Head to fearfest.online, set a reminder, and join the army of fear! Together, we will paint the summer black.

We’ve opened a portal to hell, and released all the horrors contained within into the world. …well, ok, into our vault. We will however unleash them upon all of humanity on September 6 during our horror extravaganza, Fear Fest 2022: Black Summer. Mark the calendar or the mark of the beast will mark you, we’re coming to your screens, and we have big guns on our side.

Joining the show will, of course, be our premiere titles, Dark Fracture and Terror: Endless Night, but we’ve also recruited an army of influencers and big-name horror games publishers and developers.



The broadcast is going to feature trailers for upcoming top-shelf horror titles, developer interviews, gameplay recorded by popular influencers, and even story segments in the style of a found-footage horror film, to tie everything together.

What are you waiting for? Head to fearfest.online, set a reminder, and join the army of fear! Together, we will paint the summer black.