Hi all, it's now Month 7 and I want to give you an update on development relative to the roadmap.




As planned, the remaining months of the Early Access revolve around adding the main storyline, and I've been making good progress on this, including new story missions, as well as large amounts of story planning which can't easily be shared in the usual way.

The main story missions will not only bring more handcrafted, lore-filled dialogues, but will also introduce whole new game mechanics. As a simple example (already developed) some missions will now require you to transport NPCs, rather than goods or other items - you can also chat to the NPCs while they are on board your ship!



This is just a simple example - without giving spoilers, the late game missions will bring major new mechanics to help keep things fresh and surprising...


Adding more story also introduces some complexities about how this fits with the existing roguelike game mode. For example, players might want to be able to play the tutorial missions, but still have random missions rather than the full story (as in the current EA version), and this will require some reorganisation of existing game modes (e.g. a 'random missions' mode separate from an 'enable tutorial' mode).

Also I expect many players will prefer to wait until the full storyline is available before diving in to the story missions (rather than playing only 'chapter 1' say, and then having to wait until full release before seeing the rest of the story).

For these reasons I am proposing to defer further major game updates until the full story is complete in early/mid-2024. Full release is still targeted for Month 13 (May 2024) of the roadmap, but there will likely be beta releases for Discord members before that.


Finally don't forget you can join the Discord to discuss the game with fellow fans and ask any questions you might have.

Lately, I've been really motivated to work on Pixelpart, so here's your next update! By the way, if you haven't joined our community server on Discord yet, now is the time!


The new snapping feature is very useful if you're working with 3D effects and use the gizmos for translation, rotation and scaling. Particle emitters and force fields now snap to positions and angles if snapping is enabled.




This release adds new 3D effect presets for you to use:


Black Energy Trails, Fire Ring, Radiating Energy

I've also improved many existing effects!

• Improved icon set
  
• Particle trails improved visually
  
• The "New Project" dialog now lets you select whether you want to create a 2D or 3D effect more easily
  
• The "About" dialog now lists third-party software used by Pixelpart

The Mage Tournament has started!

The best of the best will get a Happy Halloween promo card!

Fight other players, earn valuable resources and climb the rankings.

The bonus is already in the game! You have 24 hours to pick it up!

1. Fix an issue that the cat will slide when switching animation.
2. Limit the framerate of the game.

Well fellow occultists, roguelike lovers, fantasy addicts, and more, we're here! After an EA period that took much longer than I thought it would, as things often do, Apollyon is in a finished and polished state, with all the 600,000 words of story and descriptions and lore and so on that I wanted to put in the game from the very beginning!

From an offhand idea to a passion project during a certain world pandemic to a fully published game has been quite the journey, and thank you to all of you who have followed the sporadic development cycle of this game.

Here are a few things you can do in the latest version:



Delve into memory to uncover the lost secrets of a mysterious witch!

Be hunted by the Wild Hunt of the winter court of the fey!

Convene your cult of Apollyic practitioners and plan dark (or good!) deeds.

Journey into ancient necropoli in search of artifacts to change the world!

Upgrade the starting character to be on par with the themed, named, and storied characters!

Find one of five endings with massively different consequences. See if you can find them all!



The latest update has significant content, surely, but Apollyon has been steadily growing for the entire 4 years of development. This latest update finally polishes off the entire story and unlocks the latter half of the game, giving somewhere from 30-60 hours of playtime!

Is this all for Apollyon? Probably not! After so long with this game it is unthinkable to never touch it again. With the full release will come many new players, and with their suggestions and ideas, just like those from long-time players, we might see many more spirit cards or choice-based interactions... And if there is interest, full additional Intentions!

As a last note, modding Apollyon is still possible, but the Workshop tool requires some polish to not be nightmarish for new users. Join the discord if you're interested in adding your own spirit cards, self aspects, effects, lore pages, characters, or even full intentions!

• Enhanced Narrative: Mission texts and stories have been refined, getting closer to their final version. We eagerly await your feedback to make them even better.
  
• Population Cap Freedom: The mid and end-game missions now grant players the freedom to manage their population without any caps, allowing for more strategic choices.
  
• Visual Clarity: The mission objectives are now always visible, free from any overlap with the population panel.
  
• Streamlined Building Cards: Building cards have been redesigned to prevent production data from spilling beyond the frame. Additionally, their size has been increased for more readable texts.
  
• Unified Rewards: Mission and research rewards have undergone a visual unification.
  
• Population Insights: For your convenience, a citizen portrait has been introduced in mission briefings, offering a better connection with your population. Resource and building icons has also been added

Game owners can currently test the patch.

All instructions are available on the game's Discord server: https://discord.gg/gTeucz5bMf

If you wish to test the novelties in the demo, please request!


Twitter - https://twitter.com/MoonsOfArdan

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/moonsofardan/

Reddit - https://www.reddit.com/r/MoonsOfArdan/

Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/moonsofardan.bsky.social

Mastodon - https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@moonsofardan

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@moonsofardan/

Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/MoonsOfArdan/

Runes tells the tale of a flawed sorcerer and a headstrong young thief.



Key features

• Play both characters as you follow their journey through the Realm
  
• Learn how to wield Runes, the magic system that drives the game
  
• A strategic, directional combat system that moves away from button bashing without losing momentum
  
• A card minigame that crosses traditional fantasy card games with RPG mechanics
  
• Coming out on Steam, PlayStation and Xbox in 2025

The Story
The Port city of Lewyst has become the dingy, crime-infested underbelly of the Realm. Two rival crime chapters vie for influence, while noble families fight over the Barony. At the centre of everything lies a new potion, so addictive that it enslaves all who take it. Talesin, the very capable, yet very flawed ‘watcher’, is dispatched by the Sorcerers Guild to investigate. As our wayward sorcerer delves into an emerging conspiracy, he forms an unlikely alliance with the young Olwyna Vrak, member of the powerful yet declining Vrak crime dynasty. Play both characters as you live their story.

It's been a minute, let's catch you up.

The Timeline

We've changed how the combat system works internally. This isn't something you will actually see, but has made building skills and pacing out the turn much easier to work in. This will result in smoother, more consistent gameplay and less bugs/crashes.

Let's talk about some changes you will see:

• Alchemist Crafting - Crafting a potion will announce to the chat what items you use, making it more clear about what the player did. Example: !asb p1 will tell everyone in chat "@{player} used an Average catalyst with a Soothe Bloom reagent!"
  
  
• Skills that don't end the turn - An message will be posted in the chat when a player uses a skill that doesn't end their turn, letting them know that they get to take another action.
  
  
• Using Combat Skills Incorrectly - The game now responds when a player uses a skill without all the needed information, such as a target, and lists what targets are available and how to format the command. This is especially useful to newer players.
  
  
• Skills that don't affect Bosses - The game will now not let you use a skill that cannot affect bosses if a boss is the only thing in combat. Exmaple: Druid Vines don't affect bosses. If you use Vines against the Troll, the game will let you know that that skill won't do anything here and allow you to choose a new skill
  
  
• Balladeer's Overture - The Bard skill, Balladeer's Overture, will play an animation on each enemy regardless of if the skill affects the enemy. If the enemy is affected, it will get the toad status on the status bar (toad model will replace the enemy model in a later patch).

This Timeline update took a long time to make and pushed back a lot of work, but it was very needed so that we had a better foundation to continue building the game, so thank you so much for your patience.

Expect the major update to include a Tutorial for the game and Discord integration!

Don't forget to check out our website as well for more detailed information for the game: www.falfan.stream

1. The settings in the main menu have been almost completely redesigned, especially:
   
   • added the ability to change the sound inside the game itself (except for screamers);
     
   • removed the setting responsible for garbage scattered throughout the level;
     
   • added a tab with basic settings, which will also change as needed.
2. A localization of the game interface into Russian has been added. You can change the language in the main settings (the default language is English);
   
3. The pause from the night levels has been removed, now when you press the Escape key You will immediately be taken to the main menu.

Greetings, Mercenaries!
This is our second update of the month. Please see the patch note below for more details.

1. Crossplay Functionality
- PC VR (Steam) and PSVR2 users can now play together!. You’ll also have the option to disable crossplay should you choose to.
- You’ll be able to see which platform your party members are playing on.
- Please note that voicechat will be disabled if you’re playing with someone from another platform.

2. Multiplayer Optimization
- Your controls should feel more responsive (especially with latency issues) on multiplayer as a guest.

3. Improved Weapon Controls
- You can now use the auxiliary hand to remove the magazine with certain guns.
- You can now set your grab release delay time (0.1 ~ 0.5 sec). This should help if you’re having trouble holding onto your weapons.

4. Gameplay Improvements
- You can choose the specific UI elements that you’d like to see on the arcade mode. Please note that the only UI element you can turn on/off on the realism mode is the “navigation” guide arrows.
- You can now shoot (and blow up!) grenades thrown by allies. This also works with grenades, RPGs and drone missiles from enemies.



5. Bug Fixes
- The issue where the auxiliary hand influence wasn’t working right when pressing the toggle button with manual reload enabled has been fixed.
- You can now properly see your teammate (guest player) reloading manually.
- The delayed sound effects on certain weapons with manual reload enabled has been corrected.
- The issue where the weapon sound effects of your friendly NPC persisted even when a guest player joins (and replaces the NPC) has been fixed.
- Rounds fired by LAVs no longer stay floating in the air.
- NPC ragdoll effects were sometimes off in specific multiplayer situations. This has been fixed.
- The issue where the “ghost” player could block other players and NPCs has been fixed.

As always, we thank you for your feedback and your patience.
MORE ABOUT THIS GAME