KickStarter Stoneshard - open world roguelike RPG - now available on Early Access

[Darth Canoli]

I played a bit of the new demo as well, i like the atmosphere and the artstyle.

So far, the combat doesn't stand out from other rogue-like.

On the down side, managing the inventory is a pain because of all the "fuck you" mechanism (pain, hunger, thirst, infection, bleed, and the body parts you have to treat independently or your max HP diminishes) and the consumables you have to hoard to treat your pixels with.
I'm not big on hunger/thirst mechanism, mostly, i think it's a waste of time if it doesn't give various bonuses.
Moving animation also gets in the way of fun after a while.

Overall, i kind of like it and i might play the final version if KotC 2 isn't released before.

Edit : suggestions
Not that i like it better but Rogue Empire has some very nice perks on top of the character system (probably the best thing about rogue empire), it'd be nice to have a deeper character development.

Not sure if it's just the demo but it'd be nice to have a character creation screen where we have a couple of attribute points and where we can lower some stats to 8/9 to squeeze some more points.

 

[Harthwain]

I played some more. Managed to die 8 or 10 times, reached the boss 3 times and killed him once.

1) As it stands the boss fight got more interesting (this includes the alternate ending boss) and the dungeon itself became much more challenging.

Before you could go through the dungeon and the original boss fight almost literally every time and the alternate boss fight was down to pure luck (what potions you got and how many of them you were able to swallow at once). Now there is larger element of strategy in fighting the boss, so it isn't entirely down to what mixtures you got. However, I still have to beat the boss using any melee weapon or magic, so I still don't have a feel for that part (I was able to avoid most of his melee attacks, his special attacks were telegraphed well enough and he didn't try anything funny).

What I don't like is how the statues' "attacks" are telegraphed now. Missing that was what got me killed before. The pre-remastered version was much clearer on that front.

Killing the boss was pure luck on my part

Spoiler

(specializing with a bow), as I was going into the fight completely blind. I mostly took the bow skills to check out how reliable it would be to reach and beat the boss. The secondary phase of the boss fight is done much better than the alternate ending was, although I suspect that me having a bow and ~30 arrow greatly helped as I was able to avoid damage while constantly hitting, hard, him from afar. The fact that you also get a guaranteed Warbow in the campfire room makes bow your best bet to win the boss fight right now.

2) I figured out the reworked health system. It's not as damning as I originally thought (when I just started playing the remastered demo). The bigger problem is lack of food at the beginning and a chance to spawn in a room full of enemies.

Spoiler

The pain should go away on its own, provided you fix the wound that increases your pain level, so don't panic when you get pain modifier just from being low on health. In general you want to have your overall health go up as much as possible in-between fights. That way you won't get beaten up so hard that your health threshold drops considerably. If that happens, the starting stuff should be enough to keep you in decent enough shape until you reach the boss (primarly you want to treat the most battered body parts, not something as minor as 1 or 2%). Unless something horrible befalls you (a trap, lucky crits from enemies, etc.).

3) You should specialize as early as possible. Skills will help you greatly in surviving the dungeon. On average you should be able to get 6 skills, although sometimes I was able to get as much as 7 (probably due to random enemy generation and trap disarming?).

4) There is a lot of talk at the end (in the post-boss conversation). I have to repeat; I don't really like it, feels overdone. The previous version was short and to the point, and I liked both endings. It probably isn't a great deal, but I completely don't get that change and it makes me somewhat worried how it will impact the main game.

5) Managing the inventory got a bit more annoying, especially when it comes down to arrows.

Spoiler

I think they should be 2x2 and fit 30 arrows or more. Lugging two or three stacks of arrows (besides what you have equipped) is not cool. To top it off, when you lack space it causes the arrows to not stack properly in your inventory, making it pain in the ass to stack the manually. On the plus side, you do get majority of your arrows back, so you don't run out of ammo too fast.

 

[Trash Player]

It is nice on the eye. UI needs work, log and status needs to be more readable and there is still inventory tetris for some reason.
Combat, as noted, ain't really that different from the rest. Character building isn't that interesting, most of the skill trees are just damage plus 2 gimmicks or so.
Boss fight is designed build agnostic with raid boss mechanics, not sure what to make of it.
Like what I expected, it is enjoyable if uninspiring. May buy it for novelty.

 

[Alienman]

If you use bows, is there a way to quick swap to melee if you get into range for it, or do I have to manually change it?

 

[Harthwain]

If you use bows, is there a way to quick swap to melee if you get into range for it, or do I have to manually change it?

Press "W".

 

[Wayfinder]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

Is the demo locked to 40 fps?

Yes, it's due to the engine's technical limitations. Since the game is turn-based, not animation-heavy and pixel-art, it doesn't seem too critical for us.

1) The new starting point is annoying if you want to go to the dungeon with all potential skills unlocked. The checkpoint is before you read all the books, so if you die and want to give the dungeon another go, you have to read them all over again.

Yes, due to how the save system currently works, we can't save it after you read the books. Maybe we'll unlock skills automatically when in Archives to fix this for better usability.

Not that i like it better but Rogue Empire has some very nice perks on top of the character system (probably the best thing about rogue empire), it'd be nice to have a deeper character development.

Character customization isn't finished. We plan to introduce trait/perk system as well.

Character building isn't that interesting, most of the skill trees are just damage plus 2 gimmicks or so.

Well, that's what weapons do - they deal damage All weapon skill trees are designed around a certain mechanic so they synergize well when used in the right sequence. Most utility and magic skills aren't yet in the game, so there'll be more possible builds in the future.

4) There is a lot of talk at the end (in the post-boss conversation). I have to repeat; I don't really like it, feels overdone. The previous version was short and to the point, and I liked both endings. It probably isn't a great deal, but I completely don't get that change and it makes me somewhat worried how it will impact the main game.

There're two problems with old dialogues:

1) The plot and the setting were completely reworked during this year and a half. With the changed story, the 2018 Prologue's dialogues didn't make much sense anymore.
2) They were indeed laconic to the point of being way too laconic. From what I've read, the absolute majority of players didn't get anything right from the. For example, somehow many people got an impression Verren was captured for years, which was obviously wrong.

I felt that new dialogues do a better job at explaining the story's preamble. Also it was necessary to show why Verren will need to rebuild his caravan from scratch in the full game. The dissolution of years-long companionship couldn't be shown believably in just few lines (early variants were shorter but sounded very hasty because of that).

 

[Alienman]

Finally got to kill that corrupted priest bastard using the ol' dodge and kite with a bow. Those 60 damage crits sure helped a lot. Now to try to get him as a pure melee. This prologue story was a real good setup for the big game, can't wait and great job.

Spoiler

Splat!

 

[Harthwain]

Today I learned that you can hit yourself in the hand while casting Fire Barrage. Also, it's possible for Burn to cause Bleed. And I had Feed the Flames to further extend the Burn effect.

 

[Wayfinder]

Today I learned that you can hit yourself in the hand while casting Fire Barrage. Also, it's possible for Burn to cause Bleed. And I had Feed the Flames to further extend the Burn effect.

Ha-ha. Well, Burn doesn't cause Bleed directly, but it damages all your bodyparts, and when the injured body part takes damage, there's a chance it'll start bleeding. The worse is the body part's condition, the higher is the bleed-on-damage chance.

 

[Harthwain]

It was a critical hit and the enemy died, so I guess the two remaining hits "landed" on my square, since they lost their original target (and since the hit was a crit damage to body part was considerable enough).

It's either that or Varren got Parkinson.

 

[fantadomat]

Why are you playing this game when it is going to come out soon? Isn't it better to experience the whole thing as a new experience?

 

[Jinn]

Why are you playing this game when it is going to come out soon? Isn't it better to experience the whole thing as a new experience?

The demo is essentially a standalone mini-adventure/game in itself. I'd agree that playing it over and over would probably sap some excitement from me, but playing through it once should only enhance your anticipation.

 

[underground nymph]

Is there any fun in making perfect build?

 

[Wayfinder]

We've just released our last patch for the Prologue - both this year and before the Early Access launch.
Alongside with recent hotfixes, it improves balance a bit and fixes all major grievances we've received so far. Like no more re-reading books every new try and gangs of enemies right near the floor entrance, yay.

Full patchnote available here:
https://steamcommunity.com/games/869760/announcements/detail/1689344848600745176

 

[Bah]

It's fairly enjoyable, but I think my largest complaint is the requirement to use the mouse so much. I was happy to see that 'space' is take-all, but I'd like to be able to open up the loot window by pressing 'g'.

Edit: Ah, 'g' is working after all. Maybe it was just the skeletons on the ground that didn't let me loot them that way. Would be great if I could close books with Esc as well instead of having to use the mouse to click the X. I guess I'd recommend disconnecting your mouse and try playing for a bit, and anything you can't do with pure keys needs some hotkeys.

 

[Harthwain]

We've just released our last patch for the Prologue - both this year and before the Early Access launch.
Alongside with recent hotfixes, it improves balance a bit and fixes all major grievances we've received so far. Like no more re-reading books every new try and gangs of enemies right near the floor entrance, yay.

Full patchnote available here:
https://steamcommunity.com/games/869760/announcements/detail/1689344848600745176

So the 6.2.2020 date from this site was for Early Access? I feel betrayed.

 

[TwoEdge]

Wayfinder could you guys implement an inspect pane on a mouseover instead of right clicking over an enemy then hitting inspect? This is a big QoL feature for turn-based games (especially on roguelikes).

 

[moraes]

Don't "interpret" movement input from the player, I've died twice to the final boss because the game decided to convert my diagonal movement into a two step "side and up/down" movement. You can test this behavior by moving diagonally while hugging the column in the room with all the skill books.

 

[Trash Player]

Don't "interpret" movement input from the player, I've died twice to the final boss because the game decided to convert my diagonal movement into a two step "side and up/down" movement. You can test this behavior by moving diagonally while hugging the column in the room with all the skill books.

It is a feature. You cannot move diagonally adjacent to a standing feature or an enemy, moving away is of course possible but risk AoO from enemies.
This is not alien to the genre, I think some older RLs have it but the modern popular ones unlikely barring forks of the classics. Sil(only walls, I think) is a rare modern example.

 

[HoboForEternity]

just played it for 30 minutes or so. don't want to play the whole thing trough because it will ruin the release surprise, but i am really liking it alot. is the february release full release or early access releasE?

 

[Harthwain]

Early Access, sadly:

On February 6 the game is just being released for Early Access

 

[HoboForEternity]

ah well. i dont really play EA so i will wait for full release + it might get more feedback and reviews. i am really liking the demo tho. atmosphere and sprites looks great the system looks pretty deep and versatile. the combat itself is kinda meh since there are no AP or whatever just your turn, enemy turn, your turn etc but it can be fun and it's fast.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...rld-roguelike-rpg-with-tactical/posts/2723161

Update In Which We Talk About Rewards & Plans For The Future

Hello everyone!

We hope you had great holidays. The work on the game continues and since there were many questions about backer rewards, we decided to update you on their current status as well as share our future plans.

Right now we are busy with implementing new mechanics and additional content before the Early Access release on Steam. As we learned in the making of the Prologue, it’s not a good idea to introduce and modify game mechanics concurrently with adding story elements. Every gameplay change inevitably brings a time-consuming redesign of an entirety of the story content, even if there isn’t much story as it was with the Prologue.

We’d like to avoid this situation in the future, so at the moment our main goal is to focus on implementing planned mechanics and design an enjoyable sandbox first. After that we will introduce the main story in a single update, as we don’t want players to experience it in chunks over a few months, forgetting original events by the end of it as a result.

Before the EA release we will publish a more detailed roadmap, demonstrating our vision for the game’s further development and features, which will plan to introduce in the near future.

Now let’s get to the backer rewards and list their status along with their approximate delivery dates. Some of the rewards are tied to mechanics, which are not yet fully implemented. Before we are able to start our collaboration with the backers, we plan to finish their implementation within the timeframes listed below.

Spoiler

Digital game key
Date: February 6, 2020

All backers who picked Steam as their platform of choice will receive their keys on the day when the game is released into Early Access, February 6, 2020.

Backers with alpha/beta access have nothing to worry – their keys have been already activated and won’t go anywhere. Those who have not yet received their extra keys (mostly alpha access backers) will receive them on the day when the game is released into EA.

Console ports
Date: approximately 2021-2022

Console porting is tricky, so we can’t yet announce a definite release date. After Stoneshard enters its EA phase, we plan to spend another couple of years on bringing it to completion. Our team can’t lead active development across multiple platforms at the same time and some platforms don’t support releases of unfinished games (such as Nintendo Switch), so porting will only be possible after the game leaves Early Access.

We’d also like to remind you that if for some reason you want to change a platform for your game keys, you can send us a direct message and pick a new platform.

Your name in the credits
Date: WIP; February 6, 2020

We’ve already started collecting your names so that we could list all our backers in the credits by the EA release.

Please check your mail and fill a short questionnaire, so that we could list your name in the credits.

Development polls
Date: WIP; starting from February 2020 after each major update

We’ve already started sending out polls to our alpha and beta testers. After the EA release, we will include the rest of the backers as well.

Closed alpha/beta access
Date: delivered

Eligible backers have already received access to closed alpha and beta versions of the game.

Design a treatise
Date: WIP; Q1-Q2 2020

Due to a number of reasons, we decided to change this reward and instead let you become an author of a random book or a note, which can be discovered in the game by other players. As a compensation for changing the original concept, we plan to give you a bigger control over books’ content.

We’ve already sent out a questionnaire, where eligible backers can decide on an author's name, a background for their book’s creation and its overall contents, based on which we will write a text in accordance with our setting.

Your portrait for a NPC
Date: WIP; Q1-Q2 2020

The process is easy: send us your front shot and our artists will use it to create a pixel art portrait. Then we will assign it to one of the in-game NPCs of our choosing and send the portrait to you.

We’ve already sent out a questionnaire for eligible backers to provide their photo. Portraits will be drawn gradually and should all be finished by the first half of this year.

Unique Kickstarter item
Date: after implementation of lighting and stealth systems; Q1-Q2 2020

The unique Kickstarter item is a special lantern which restores its charge over time. At the moment there is no gameplay-relevant lighting system, but we plan to implement it with the first couple of updates after the EA release. The lantern will arrive along with it as an exclusive DLC. All eligible backers will receive a code for its activation.

Digital manual
Date: before the final release, when all game systems are fully fledged (approximately 2021-2022)

Digital soundtrack
Date: February 6, 2020

The digital soundtrack will be available upon the EA release. All eligible backers will receive an activation code.

Digital art book
Date: before the final release (approximately 2021-2022)

Hero portrait pack
Date: approximately Q2–Q3 2020

The pack will be released as a DLC. All eligible backers will receive an activation code.

Unique Kickstarter side quest
Date: Q2 2020 – Q2 2021

The unique kickstarter quest will be released along the update, which will add the first fully fledged city into the game. This quest will be released as an exclusive DLC, available for activation on Steam for all eligible backers.

Name a random location
Date: after implementing a majority of dungeons; Q3 2020 - Q2 2021

Name a random NPC
Date: Q2-Q4 2020

We’ve decided to rework this reward and include backer generated NPCs into the random encounter system. You’ll be able to assign names and appearances to random traders, hunters and other characters which can be encountered during exploration. For now the system is in development, but we expect to bring you this reward by the second half of this year.

Design a legendary item
Date: after implementing a majority of planned skill trees; 2021

Design a monster
Date: after implementing a majority of enemy factions; Q4 2020-2021

Design a follower
Date: after a complete implementation of the caravan system; Q4 2020-2021

At the moment we are preparing the basis for the caravan system. On the EA release it will lack a large portion of its planned functionality, which will be gradually added with future updates. There isn’t much sense in collaboration on backer-designed followers until the system’s basics are in place, providing you with a full picture of this complicated system.

Along with our team you shall be able to:

• Choose your NPC’s name, gender and race
• Choose their functionality
• Design their backstory and personality
• Design circumstances, during which a player character can encounter your NPC

Design a class
Date: Q2-Q4 2020

The class system was completely reinvented over the last year and a half along with some other mechanics. We decided that a classless system is much more suitable for our game, so we switched to it in favor of preset and player generated characters.

So instead of designing a class, you will be able to design a preset character, available for all other players at the start of the game.

Along with our team you shall be able to:

• Choose your character’s name, gender and race
• Design their appearance
• Design a short backstory
• Design their unique perk and choose their starting attributes
• Choose which skill trees your character is focused on
• Choose their starting inventory (including unique items)

=================================================

We eagerly await the opportunity to work with you on backer-generated content, and we’d like to thank you once again for your support.

If you still have questions, you can ask them in the comments – we’ll try to answer all of them.

That’s it for now. Expect many more devlogs this January!

 

[normie]

Devlog: Character Selection

Hello everyone!

In today’s devlog, we’d like to share some details about the character selection system.
As some of you may not know, Verren isn’t the main character of our game. He only comes under your control in the Prologue. In the main game, however, he is an employer and a mentor figure to your character.

We plan to introduce an option to create your own mercenary, but at the moment the game lacks systems necessary for implementing a fully working character generator. Instead, we added an option to choose from four preset characters. Each of them has their own appearance, portrait, starting inventory, starting attributes, some special dialogue options and also a unique perk, unavailable to other characters.

An important thing about preset characters is that they have affinities, governing which skills are initially unlocked. For instance, Jorgrim is good with melee weapons and can start leveling swords, axes and maces from the get go. But to learn starting skills of the pyromancy and geomancy trees, he’ll have to find a corresponding treatise first.

We intend to expand this system at the same time as working on the character generator. According to our plans, some heroes will have access to unique content, which can’t be discovered when playing as other characters. For now this type of content is represented with unique starting equipment. For example, Arna starts the game with a family cuirass and sword, which can’t be obtained in any other way. We also plan to expand the character selection as we add more skill trees.

Some may ask: but what about classes? How do they fit into this system? Yes, at first we did consider adding classes, but as the development went on, it became quite clear that it would be completely redundant. Class abilities came in conflict with our vision for character development, and they weren’t really working with all possible archetypes, forcing you to play in a very specific manner. We wanted to avoid that. Class abilities also turned out to be fairly generic and boring when compared to common skill trees. As a result it was decided to transfer the best ideas into the existing skill trees and get rid of the rest.

Now let us present you with the backstories and affinities for each character:

Spoiler

Jorgrim, the Reaver

Affinity: Axes, Swords, Maces, Shields
Unique trait: Berserker Frenzy (increased Weapon Damage and Crit Efficiency for 10 turns after every kill)

Bio:

Not so long ago people of Aldor would shake in their boots the moment someone mentioned Tyr the One-eyed, a legendary leader of Fjall brigands. Tyr's band was infamous for their audacious raids on the northern border - even well armed troops of the local lords suffered defeat after defeat from these ferocious dwarfs. Jorgrim was one of them, the best warrior in the band, he hadn't lost a single battle in his life.

Yet as time went by, the One-eyed's brutality towards captured settlements became too unsettling even for his own underlings. Jorgrim was the one who despised unnecessary cruelty the most: he always held a belief that violence against the weak and defenseless is unworthy of a true warrior.

It's unknown when Tyr crossed the final line, but eventually Jorgrim's patience ran short and the brigand leader's scalp found its place in the dwarf's long list of trophies. Left without guidance, the band fell apart: some dwarfs returned to Fjall, while others, including Jorgrim, decided to go south and try their luck as mercenaries.

Arna, the Maiden Knight

Affinity: Swords, Maces, Shields, Greatswords
Unique trait: Vow of the Feat (every enemy within your vision range decreases Cooldowns Duration and Abilities Energy Cost)

Bio:

Few noble houses of Aldor can boast history as impressive as of the House of der Vyrne. By law, the title of a knight can only be passed down to a man, so it's not hard to imagine the chagrin of Arna's father, when after years of fruitless attempts his long awaited heir turned out to be a girl.

To save his house, Arna's father decided to invoke an ancient custom of the northern foothills: Arna was to be raised as a boy. Her entire childhood and youth were dedicated to rigorous training and serving as a page to one of the noble families. When she reached adulthood, Arna was knighted. Over multiple tournaments, she managed to earn herself a reputation as a skilled warrior.

Unfortunately Arna never had a knack for the most important skill to an aldorian noble - scheming. Soon after her father's death, Arna lost her fief, her title and her inheritance - the House of der Vyrne ceased to exist. Shaken by these events, Arna gave an oath to redeem herself by a heroic deed and embarked on an endless journey into the lands of Aldor.

Dirwin, the Woodward

Affinity: Ranged Combat, Axes, Maces, Daggers
Unique trait: Sharp Eye (every tile between you and your enemy increases Crit Chance)
Bio:

Dirwin spent most of his life in loyal service to the late king, relentlessly patrolling the hunting grounds of his Majesty. He had great aim, knew the forest as the back of his hand and very few poachers, orcs and monsters survived their encounter with the royal ranger. Over his years of service, Dirwin eradicated countless dangers lurking in the woods, making one notch after another on his bow.

After King Etbert's death, the Royal Rangers disobeyed the Council's orders and refused to participate in the fratricidal war. As a punishment, the unit was disbanded, so Dirwin took his weapons and headed back into the woods.

During the war he continued to do what he always did: fulfill contracts and bounties, hunt dangerous monsters and help peasants. Common folks rightfully consider him their stalwart protector.

Jonna, the Runaway Sorceress

Affinity: Staves, Daggers, Geomancy, Pyromancy
Unique trait: Arcane Lore (each learned spell increases Magic Power)
Bio:

Since ancient times there is a strong belief in Aldor, that women and magic don't go well together and can only bode ill. Lectors of the Academy fully shared this prejudice, rarely eager to accept women for magic training. However, Jonna's talent for magic was so great, that they decided to make an exception.

After completing her training with flying colors, Jonna became a court sorceress to one of the aldorian nobles. Unfortunately her lord had a rather foul temper, something Jonna wouldn't put up with. One morning servants discovered their master's body burned to a crisp. The sorceress' sudden escape didn't leave much room for interpretation.

If it wasn't for the war breaking out, Jonna would have likely been caught and burned at the stake, but in the chaos of the Strife she managed to elude the chase by joining a mercenary band.

------------

Just Jonna picking some field herbs.

That’s all for now. Until next time!

Also you can follow us on:

• Our Steam Creator page
  
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[Alienman]

Damn... I want my own merc. Hopefully we don't have to wait too long for that function.