Oct 3, 2023

Patch 0.6: Judgment of the Excalibur is LIVE!

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon - a.zasadny

Hey Everyone!

Today is the DAY! We are extremely happy to invite you to our first Major Patch - 0.6: Judgment of the Excalibur.

This patch improves the game on almost every single layer. Our team has worked tirelessly for the past 6 months to make "Tainted Grail: Fall of Avalon" an awesome experience. This is BY FAR the biggest patch we have ever made - not only in Questline's history but also across all Awaken Realms games!

Now, the Patch is FINALLY out and we do hope you will enjoy it!
We will talk a lot more about the patch later, but let us start with a release trailer! :D

Early Access and future of Tainted Grail

We published Tainted Grail: Fall of Avalon in March and thanks to your support we were able to commit right away to our dreams of creating an amazing RPG experience. As we have said in one of the updates - we fully understand that by taking part in Early Access you guys are giving us credit for trust. And we do not take it for granted!

Patch 0.6 took us a while, but it was definitely necessary. Before adding next chapters we needed to:
> Make sure the core gameplay is as good as it can be
> Add more systems that will be present throughout the game
> Lay a better technological foundation for a big open world game
> Work on optimization and graphical presentation

You can think of Patch 0.6 as the almost-final version of the first chapter - next patches will focus much more on adding next parts of the adventures ahead!

So, what is new and is it worth coming back to Avalon…?

First of all - with Patch of this magnitude, unfortunately all previous saves will be corrupted. As we have warned before - Major patches in this Early Access might have this effect.

But, we have prepared for you a special “skip Island Asylum” option if you want to start exploring the mainland right away and see what is new. And boy, there is a lot of NEW.

NEW LANGUAGES

First, in addition to English and Polish, we have 4 new language translations added to the game: German, French, Chinese Simplified and Traditional. We are really excited to share our game with more people!

NEW CONTENT

We have added quite a lot of new content to find in the area of the Horns of the South. From wired, travelling merchants, to Red Priest representative and even a whole new section with Galahad or hidden garden of the druids.

But there is much more to find - whole new areas and dungeons, items and a lot of awesome secrets to discover.
A lot of new loot too!
Our team has hidden a lot of smaller and bigger things to find, too ;)

BIG PERFORMANCE BOOST

We have worked hard on the technological backend of the game and we are happy to report that the game looks better, has better terrain, more NPCs and AI improvements optimization should be visibly better. It will greatly vary depending on your exact PC specs, from a few extra frames to even 30-40% better performance.

There is still some room for improvement and our team will definitely work on it, but the game is in a better place than it was on launch for sure.

LESS BUGS

We were able to fix a lot (but probably not all :P) bugs that were happening in the Early Access. From un-finishable quests, to perks that did not work as intended - a lot of those are ironed out, so your fun will not be interrupted.

COMBAT REWORK

We have vastly improved combat. From visual and audio feedback, through new sets of animation up to enhancing Enemies AI and move sets. Right now combat is challenging, but much more enjoyable!

TERRAIN RE-DESIGN

We have worked through the whole map redesigning it. Firstly - for visuals, right now it is much more pleasant to the eye.
Secondly - to enhance optimization and lightning processes.
Thirdly - to work on level design, make some paths more intuitive and progressing through the map more rewarding.

DUNGEONS RE-DESIGN

We have also redesigned almost all dungeons in the game, so that all playstyles will be more viable. Now, you can very effectively play stealthy or at the distance.
Also, they look cooler and have a better placement of enemies and loot ;)

NEW EPIC MUSIC

We are super excited to once again include some amazing tracks by Danheim to the game as well as adding a lot of new sounds of our own. In total, audio overlay of the game is greatly improved!

DUAL WIELDING

We have also added dual wielding options in the game and it is really fun to play it this way! You can either use two 1-handed weapons or for example two spells. Or two shields :D

STEALTH / THEFT

As previously mentioned, we have increased the viability of the stealth playstyle. Want to rain some havoc as a sneaky archer or stab some enemies in the back? Now you can do it in style!
On top of that, we have introduced the first iteration of the theft system. While definitely not the final form - it changes the interactions and brings more realism to the game (no more stealing items in front of NPCs with no consequences :D)

IMPROVED CRAFTING / COOKING / POTION BREWING

All crafting systems in the game have been overhauled. You can expect easier interfaces, more impact from perks / talents and better balanced items.

IMPROVED VFX, LIGHTING ETC.

Generally, the game looks better - we have worked on many levels. From big ones - like lighting or VFX effects of spells, up to capes finally moving in the wind :D

REBALANCE OF ITEMS AND SKILLS

We have also worked through rebalancing the game. Some items got nerfed, some were upgraded and a lot was added. Generally, our target was to increase the number of different playstyles that you can enjoy and give us the ingredients that we could use to create some amazing combinations!

…and least, but most importantly:

ADDED FISHING

Yes, you heard it correctly! Now you can start your fishing adventure in Tainted Grail! There also MIGHT be some horse that you can find and ride… :D

OK! So, there are tons of more details everywhere, but those would be the most important highlights of this patch. We deeply encourage you to play this refined version of Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon - Patch 0.6: Judgement of the Excalibur is OFFICIALLY OUT!

As always, we are super grateful for your continued support. This is the game we always have dreamt about making and being able to do so… it is awesome. If you want to help us - leaving a review on steam, sharing your feedback and spreading the word about the game would go a long way!

Thank you and we hope you will have TONS of fun with the new patch!

Best
Questline team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1466060/Tainted_Grail_The_Fall_of_Avalon/

Oct 3, 2023

Dining with New Friends

Dracula's Castle - Dawid_Gameparic

Hello! 👋

Creatures of the night have been really restless recently, hence the lack of the news. Finally, our spy managed to escape and share with us the latest affairs of Dracula's Castle. 🦇

The first abnormal change is enormous amounts of water and food entering the castle. Have the minions of the Count become affected by thirst and hunger? 🤔

Based on this information we’ve created a theory: if the castle runs low on food, its resource production will take a big hit, on top of that Dracula won’t be able to feed on his minions because of their weakened state. If they run out of water, his creatures will suffer even worse! 📝

The castle also undergoes some changes. We’ve discovered some works on decorative rooms 🧱 such as towers,spires etc… They’ve also started building corridors 🔨 and plan to add various traps inside. Are they afraid of vampire hunters’ raid? On top of that doors are now added to the side rooms of the castle so there is no more falling out. 🚪

New room has been built. A spacious dining room appeared inside the castle. 🍽️ Is Dracula planning to seduce victims and kidnap them to the castle where he can do whatever he wants with them? 😨 We’ll do our best to find out his plans in the next report.

We’ve also been notified about new music themes inside the castle. Scary as they are, one cannot deny them adding to the atmosphere of the place. 🎵

As for the final change, a tooltip appeared for each raw resource so managing the production chains became easier!

Thank you for reading the entire report. If you have any opinions on it or ideas what are the following steps of Dracula 🧛 please join discord and let us know! 👇 You can also add the game to your wishlists to support us!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1502050/Draculas_Castle/

See you soon,
Dracula’s Castle Team

Oct 3, 2023

Developer Diary | World & Map

Millennia - PDXKatten

Hello! I’m Robert “Xemu” Fermier, the lead programmer and co-designer of Millennia. Welcome to our second Millennia design diary! If you want to learn more about the game overall and our team at C Prompt Games, take a look HERE, and be sure check out the exciting first trailer for the game.

Millennia is a huge game, packed with content and gameplay systems, but a good place to start explaining it all is with one of the most central pieces of the game – how you claim territory, grow your Nation, and explore the map.

Regions

At the start of the game, you control a single Region. Regions are the most vital element of the game economy – they define your borders, allow you to put your people to work, and let you build Units and Buildings. The Capital at the heart of a Region will feel pretty familiar to players comfortable with other 4X games, particularly at the start. Grow your Region’s population to work more tiles, collect more resources, and become an industrial powerhouse.

At a high level, the Region’s Population determines how many workers you can assign, while the territory controlled by the Region determines what those workers can be assigned to. Early on, many of your workers will be “foraging”, gathering from the land directly. This type of gathering is 1:1, so if you have 3 Forests, you can assign up to 3 workers to foraging in those Forests.

This is fine for getting started, but to really get your economy rolling you will want to build Improvements, such as Farms and Hunting Camps … or Oil Wells and Computer Factories when you reach the more advanced Ages. Improvements dramatically boost the value of workers in a Region, providing Goods that are worth significantly more than what foraging alone can generate (of course if you have the right National Spirit perhaps there are some alternative strategies you can find…).

Regions can also be strengthened by constructing “Capital Buildings”, which are permanent upgrades to the Region. These represent infrastructure, monuments, and other ways to improve your Region as a whole. Like Improvements, there are a huge range of these, providing additional resource income, army enhancements, and other bonuses.

Growing your Nation by gaining more Regions involves Vassals. These are similar to Regions, but they operate mostly on their own. They will grow over time and claim parts of the map, and they contribute some of their income to you each turn as tribute. You don’t have to manage the Needs or worker assignments of a Vassal, and they also don’t incur any of the costs associated with a Region, so they can be a very useful tool in “painting the map” without slowing down your economy. When the time is right, you can convert a Vassal into a Region to utilize its potential more fully.

We will talk a lot more about how Vassals, Needs, Improvements, and Goods work in a future diary, as there are a lot of interesting gameplay details to cover there.

Towns

In addition to settling new Regions, you also settle new Towns. Towns are part of a Region, smaller population centers that boost the central Capital. Each Town also influences the expansion of a Region’s borders, so they present a lot of choices for defining the “shape” of a Region. Do you want to steer your Region towards some vital resources, or to claim disputed territory from another Nation? Do you try to maximize the total area your Region can control, or focus on a more compact, easily defensible setup? Each game will require you to adapt your strategic positioning differently.

Enemies may try to raid your Towns. If a Towns falls, your Region can lose territory that was controlled by the Town. Towns also contribute Militia units to the Capital, bolstering defenses there when attacked, which creates some interesting tactical choices when assaulting an enemy Region. When planning your offense, do you chip away at their Towns to weaken them, or bypass the Towns and strike for the Capital directly?

Initially, your Towns will generate more Wealth for the region based on how many Improvements you have built nearby. As your Nation’s capabilities in civil engineering improve over time, you can expand the Towns to higher levels, increasing this bonus. Towns can also specialize, they can become “mining towns”, “farming towns”, and the like. A Town’s specialization allows it to provide different resources (and require different Improvements). Cleverly using your Towns to accomplish both your strategic and economic goals is very satisfying when you can juggle all the competing interests correctly.

Creating a new Town can only be done with by using a Culture Power, big moments in the growth of your Nation that only happen periodically. While creating a Town is only one of many possible choices of what do with Culture, knowing when and where to expand is an important skill to master in Millennia.

Outposts

Regions and Vassals are not the only way to control territory on the map. You can also send out Pioneers and have them build Outposts. When built, Outposts immediately bring all the tiles in a 1-hex radius under your control. Because they have much looser restrictions of where they can be placed, you can even build them right up against another Nation’s territory to stake a claim. Of course, Outposts are a lot easier to take down than Capitals or even Towns, so make sure you are prepared to defend them against roaming Barbarians and other Nations alike.

The basic Outpost can also build Trade Posts within its territory, allowing you to send valuable Goods to any of your Regions. Because these Trade Posts do not require workers, they can be an extremely potent way to supercharge your economy, particularly when available workers are scarce. Later in the game, more advanced Outpost types become available such as Castles or Missions. These allow you to provide extra abilities to your outposts and can make them a larger part of your overall strategy.

Outposts are also very convenient for establishing a road network through your Nation, as each one you build will automatically connect up with other nearby Outpost, Capitals, and Towns. Of course, just the normal progress of a Region and its Towns are often enough to get you roads where you need to go, but where there is a big gap of terrain to cover, Outposts can quickly get the job done.

Outposts also provide a defensive bonus and increase the healing rate for any of your Armies stationed there. There are also many Powers which let you spawn units at a friendly settlement – which includes Outposts. Using Outposts tactically as forward bases or reinforcement hubs can give you a significant military advantage!

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I hope this first look at some detailed mechanics in Millennia has provided a little more insight into some of the basic building blocks of the map-control game. There is a lot more to talk about so stay tuned for our next diary, where we will be talking more about Nations, Governments, and more!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1268590/Millennia/