KickStarter Solasta Pre-Release Thread [GAME RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[fantadomat]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tacticaladventures/solasta-crown-of-the-magister/posts/2793709

Spoiler

Dev Journal | March 2020 - New Gameplay Footage & Magic Weapon Design Contest!

Hey there everyone,

The current situation may not be ideal, but it's not going to stop us from making our scheduled Dev Update! We hope you're all doing well out there - on our side we've all switched to working from home. The good thing about being a small team is that it makes us a bit more agile, so we're still able to make good progress on Solasta as we speak!

As you can see our productivity remains unaffected.

March Contest - Design Your Magic Weapon
Little reminder: you still have one week to submit your Magic Weapon Design for a chance to have it implemented in-game at launch! On March 31st, we will select our favorite submissions and the voting phase will begin!


Don't miss your chance to make your magic weapon a reality in Solasta!

Solasta Alpha Footage!
We all know it's been forever since we've released gameplay video footage of Solasta outside very short gifs in our Dev Updates. Thing is, you always wonder: when is your game "good enough" to show to the world? Is the lighting too strong here? Does this bug really look bad? Will people understand that X and Y are temporary? So on and so forth.

However, with the Steam Game Festival: Spring Edition making its sudden appearance and Solasta's Pre-Alpha Demo once again being available (although not anymore, the event ended yesterday morning), we wanted to make sure people understood that the game had evolved since our Kickstarter. This is why we made a short video bundling quite a few previously unavailable features on Twitter last Friday, which you can enjoy in Full HD here.

Spoiler

What is this Spell?
One feedback that stayed with us ever since we released our Kickstarter Demo was that Spell Icons were not clear. You would look at your spell bar and go "alright, I'm pretty sure my cleric should have cure wounds, but where is it..."

Aside from a few of them that are fairly obvious, would you be able to name all these spells from their old icons alone?
While they all looked quite beautiful (at the very least I really liked them), our Art Director decided to change the art style of our spell icons - to improve glance value and readability. Here is a side by side comparison of a few of these spells, which are all going to receive the same treatment in the coming weeks.

It's hard to deny that the new ones are much easier to recognize.

Speaking of spells, we've just added Fog Cloud to the game. Time to obscure those lines of sight!

Character Creation Update
You've seen quite a few updates on our Character Creation Tool, and today's Dev Update is not going to be the exception! Our goal is to have it completely done soon, so we can set it aside and focus on other parts of the game.

The High Elves join the fray in our Character Creation Tool...

And so do the Half-Elves!

Now all that remains are the Island Halflings and the Hill Dwarves, and we should have a complete lineup for our races!

Environment Update
One Snow Alliance Embassy, ready to go! Here is how it looks in-game compared to its original Concept Art.

Pretty impressive rendition of the original 2D concept art, isn't it!

We'll also share with you a couple of screenshots of an external location that your party will have to explore fairly early in their adventure. Watch your step, you don't want to fall in that ravine...

Giant Eagles Join the Fight!
Our second flying enemy just joined the roster of foes you'll have to face. Give giant eagles a warm welcome!

Tactical Adventures assures you that no eagles were harmed in the making of these gifs.

Bloopers!
You may have noticed the lack of Thunderwave so far in our Spells FX updates. Truth be told, we did have Thunderwave in-game (you may remember it was available in our Pre-Alpa Demo) - but the format wasn't quite right. The spell was automatically centered around the caster, which a few players made sure to inform us about! So we fixed it. And by that I mean, we introduced a new bug while doing so. Here is a little demonstration of what happens after you get hit by Thunderwave.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!

We also just hit 2,000 followers on Twitter, which was the perfect occasion for me to sneak behind the back of our Producer and ask our Lead Animator (father of many horrible and hilarious gifs) for a little something for the occasion. And trust me, he delivered! Alas, poor goblin - you were never supposed to do things like this.

Goblins doing thumbs-up, check. I may yet win this bingo game.

That's it for today! Hope you enjoyed our Dev Update, see you next time for more Solasta goodness!

Read our previous articles here:

• Dev Update #9 - Flinging Spells at the Environment
• [March Contest] Design a Magic Weapon
• TL;DR #8: So you want to run a Kickstarter Campaign?

Article by Tactical Myzzrym

That black puss made me all hyped for the game,it is massive incline!!! It is well known fact that catdevs are far superior to the rest of devs!


Also lol,didn't know that elfs are out of touch eurocrats and half-elfs are brooding emo goths,buahahahahaha.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

didn't know that elfs are out of touch

You must be elfishly out of touch to not know that.

 

[V_K]

RPGCodex: where graphics whores meet story fags.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

RPGCodex: where graphics whores meet story fags.

In unity there is strength. :^)

 

[fantadomat]

Death to the combatfags!

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Death to the combatfags!

You'd have to fight us first, oh wait.

 

[NJClaw]

Death to the combatfags!

You'd have to fight us first, oh wait.

Wait, there's no [Persuasion] option? There must be one!

 

[V_K]

Death to the combatfags!

You'd have to fight us first, oh wait.

Wait, there's no [Persuasion] option? There must be one!

There are no dialog options. Only keywords. That you have type yourself.
Name.
Job.
Die.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Death to the combatfags!

You'd have to fight us first, oh wait.

Wait, there's no [Persuasion] option? There must be one!

We're all of the combative persuasion here, man.

 

[fantadomat]

Death to the combatfags!

You'd have to fight us first, oh wait.

Wait, there's no [Persuasion] option? There must be one!

There are no dialog options. Only keywords. That you have type yourself.
Name.
Job.
Die.

I can shank a man with the keyboard! Thus i win this "argument"!

 

[Bara]

There will be no Player initiated grapple checks. Some monsters will still get em' thankfully.https://forums.solasta-game.com/forum/grappling#reply-1103

Grappling will not be included in Solasta - at least not for the player (some monsters may still have grapple attacks). Although we'd have loved to include grappling, there are many reasons for that - an important one being animation for instance. Grappling a wolf, another humanoid or an ogre would need a lot of different animations, which are very costly in time - which is already used animating more monsters or weapon attacks for instance.

Ah well at least there's plenty of ledges and pitch black abysses for martial classes to play with.

 

[NJClaw]

There will be no Player initiated grapple checks. Some monsters will still get em' thankfully.

Grappling will not be included in Solasta - at least not for the player (some monsters may still have grapple attacks). Although we'd have loved to include grappling, there are many reasons for that - an important one being animation for instance. Grappling a wolf, another humanoid or an ogre would need a lot of different animations, which are very costly in time - which is already used animating more monsters or weapon attacks for instance.

Ah well at least there's plenty of ledges and pitch black abysses for martial classes to play with.

Yeah, animations are almost always the reason why something doesn't get implemented. Just give me KotC graphics and art-style, but the entire ruleset.

 

[Lacrymas]

There's budget for eye-raping, Michael Bay-style SFX and voice acting, but there's no budget for grapple animations. Priorities? Never heard of her.

 

[V_K]

There's budget for eye-raping, Michael Bay-style SFX and voice acting, but there's no budget for grapple animations. Priorities? Never heard of her.

You're adorable.

 

[Ysaye]

That black puss made me all hyped for the game,it is massive incline!!! It is well known fact that catdevs are far superior to the rest of devs!


Also lol,didn't know that elfs are out of touch eurocrats and half-elfs are brooding emo goths,buahahahahaha.

They obviously predicted the outcome of the Miss Icewind Dale 2020 poll...

 

[Rinslin Merwind]

https://forums.solasta-game.com/forum/march-contest-vote-for-the-community-magic-weapon
Vote started

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.solasta-game.com/news/70-march-contest-vote-for-the-community-magic-weapon

[MARCH CONTEST] VOTE FOR THE COMMUNITY MAGIC WEAPON!

Hello there everyone,

The submission period is now over, thank you to all participants out there! We've received more than a hundred magic weapons in total, and trimming that selection down to five finalists was hard... real hard! So don't feel bad if your idea didn't make it to this final round, there were so many great submissions that we simply couldn't include them all.

> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE MAGIC WEAPON SUBMISSION <


Before we reveal the winners of the first round, I want to share with you some of the criteria we used to select them:

• The weapon had to be balanceable. We can easily lower a +4 attribute bonus to +2, a +2d8 necrotic damage to +1d8, 5 charges of magic missile to 2 charges - but a weapon that can cast Cloudkill, a 5th level spell, can't be balanced unless we removed the spell from it (and that would completely change the idea behind the weapon).
• The weapon had to not be overly complex. Some submissions had great flavor, but simply were not possible to implement because they were too complex - such as weapons that would transform into other weapons or even monsters under certain circumstances.
• The content had to be SRD. We had a few submissions that included spells that simply don't exist in D&D, or that had content only available in the PHB like Battle Master maneuvers.
• The content had to be planned for the game. Some weapons included Warlock Spells (which aren't planned for Solasta at release)

Now without further ado, here the list of the selected weapons for this second round (in no particular order):

• Arcane Shieldstaff, by GreyWarden77
• Mace of the Midday Sun, by Woolynelson
• Manacalon Javelin of Sure Returning, by Mauro.Sartori
• Mountain Breaker, by Ithron
• Winged Dagger, by Shadow of Olympus

Note that we have already applied a first balance pass, so some of these weapons may differ slightly from the original submission. The weapons' lore may also be reworked later by our writers.

Contest Rules

• Voting ends on Monday, March 6th, 11:59pm PST
• Anyone with a Forum Account may participate in the voting. Limit of one vote per person.
• The winner will have his Magic Weapon implemented in-game and be credited as its Designer in the Credits
• All of those who wrote a submission will also receive a Forum Trophy for their participation to the contest
• Necessary disclaimer: We reserve the right to alter submissions or work with their author to fit our design and specifications. You can read the full legal document here (roll Investigation DC15).

Spoiler

• Can cast Mage Armor once per Long Rest
• Can cast Shield thrice per Long Rest
• Requires Attunement
• Color Scheme: Purple & Gold trim
• Creator: GreyWarden77

Shieldstaves are a rare artifact from ages far past. Crafted by an ancient mage during war time, this staff promises to keep its user safe and able to focus on other magical pursuits, leaving defense to the staff

• Deals additional Radiant Damage on hit
• On a Critical Hit, target is affected by Faerie Fire
• Requires Attunement
• Color Scheme: White & Gold
• Creator: Woolynelson

The handle of this weapon looks as if it were carved from alabaster, with a bright golden striking head.

• Grants a Dexterity Bonus when wielded
• Returns to the wielder when thrown
• Requires Attunement
• Color Scheme: Wooden, with silver decorations and a golden head
• Creator: Mauro.Sartori

A javelin of magnificent workmanship, perfectly balanced. Decorated in pure silver along its entire pole with a precious weave easily referable to the ancient Manacalon empire. Its golden tip seems to release a faint light in the dark, a sign of the magical power that this artifact contains inside. An ancient artifact created before the cataclysm by the powerful magicians of the Manacalon empire, very little is known of its origins - but in some ancient representations found in a crypt in the Badlands by a group of archaeologists and scholars of the New Empire, the artifact can be recognized as the main architect of crucial victories in historical battles.

• Grants a Strength Bonus when wielded
• Can cast Thunderwave centered on the wielder once per Long Rest
• Requires Attunement
• Color Scheme: Silver & Steel
• Creator: Ithron

Leather wrapped haft with a beveled head with silver inlays. The maul looks like it should weigh more than it does when initially lifted, but re-gains that apparent weight ten-fold while descending in a strike. Crafted by long dead leader of a clan of the Snow Alliance. Designed to be equally useful for combat, and for breaching the defenses of other clans when they came into conflict.

• Can cast Feather Fall on self once per Long Rest
• Can cast Misty Step once per Long Rest
• Requires Attunement
• Color Scheme: Silver with a black handle
• Creator: Shadow of Olympus

The grip is of a hard, glossy black material and is in fact crafted from the beak of an enormous raven. At the base of the Winged Dagger, the pommel, is a stylized bird's claw in platinum grasping a mysterious, cloudy, spherical gem that when gazed upon appears to bear moving shapes inside like clouds in the sky. The platinum quillons spread as wings, majestically from the dagger’s hilt. The platinum blade is diamond in cross section, and long and tapered, ending in an impossibly sharp tip. The Winged Dagger was crafted in a gentler time to less gentler men. The Dagger was crafted in exchange for services rendered by Yxaethenes Soulbender, a Manacalon magister of minor renown. The Winged Dagger, once created, was employed through many a nefarious exploit by accomplished burglar, “Bad” Omen Starsbrite. Starsbrite actually prefered, and in vain attempted, to promote the more flattering nickname of “The Perfect Crime”. Nonetheless “Bad” Omen Starsbrite gained much notoriety and infamy for somehow always being able to gain escape from seemingly impossible odds. He often worked alone, not out of preference, but of the fear of his singular reputation. His tendency of emerging as the sole survivor after a particularly perilous operation went south had the effect of thinning the ranks of his working companions. “Bad” Omen “The Perfect Crime” Starsbrite eventually met his ultimate fate after taking one too many chances and one too many coffers of gold.


> CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE MAGIC WEAPON SUBMISSION <

 

[Rinslin Merwind]

The weapon had to be balanceable. We can easily lower a +4 attribute bonus to +2, a +2d8 necrotic damage to +1d8, 5 charges of magic missile to 2 charges - but a weapon that can cast Cloudkill, a 5th level spell, can't be balanced unless we removed the spell from it (and that would completely change the idea behind the weapon).

I don't understand why there was no warning that items capable of casting 5th level spells isn't accepted? I think it would be logical that requirements for any contest announced BEFORE contest. And I also thought that several weapons will be included, not just one.

 

[Myzzrym]

Yea my bad on that one, I should have included these at the start of the contest.

 

[Lacrymas]

The javelin sounds cool.

 

[Elex]

The javelin sounds cool.

Sound useless, give dex but javelins use str even when throw.

 

[Rinslin Merwind]

One part of me feel to vote for "Arcane Shieldstaff" for sake of solidarity (I was trying to create staff too, but unfortunately no one told me that 5th level spells is forbidden for contest )
Another part of me wants to vote for jave...*looks on Elex comment and goes check online* Well it does complicate things. I mean, holy shit, even Fitnesse can't fix it. If javelin will win - people who planned to play as dex character with javelin all fucked.
Guess now my other part more interested in dagger, although it's looks a bit meh.

 

[Rinslin Merwind]

Voted for staff. Maybe it's not powerful, but somehow in many recent crpgs there lack of staves as item for mage and much more of daggers.

 

[Lacrymas]

They could make it use your dex modifier, I don't think that's a huge deal. My point was more that I don't remember the last RPG in which we could use javelins. Diablo 2 had them but it's a hack and slash.

 

[Dorateen]

Mountain Breaker, of course.