Voidspire Tactics

[Zetor]

Hi fellows, good night.
I would like to ask for your help, please. I have 8 hours of play and I'm parently "trapped" by some game secret or maybe a bug.

Spoiler

After kill Celia and his team at an isolated camp/village, I found this map and when I tried to turn back, the path leads me this different section of the map. The problem is that I can't turn back or follow because the exits looks to bem closed. Besides, autosave has some error and the game cracks when I try to quicksave. I hate to ask you for a solution to a game charade instead of explore it by myself, but I really don't what else can I at this point.

Sometimes to go back, you need to keep pushing forward. If the enemies are too tough, remember what Morin told you, and use the gem (it's the little blue thing to the right of the skill bar).

Spoiler

If I understand correctly, you're at the point where an airship flies in to ambush you and closes the path leading back, right? Just go up one map, go to the northeastern part, and open the door to the catacombs using the combination listed on the map. After that, follow the instructions on the map.

IF your problem is that the ambushers are killing you (it's a very tough encounter, probably one of the hardest in the game considering when it appears), you can use a pick to get around them. Specifically, go as far left on this map as possible (without leaving the village map), then hug the cave wall and mine your way through it, first up and then right. Then you can just leave the map to the north without having to fight.

 

[Zetor]

Double-post, but I've been thinking about possible character builds for a ruin playthrough. Going to spoiler it because some of the following analysis relies on encounter knowledge...

Spoiler

I assume the following requirements apply:

• A tank with warrior and guardian skills, because Guard is invaluable. May be able to make it with just guardian and a secondary class like breaker or even rogue, but I found the basic warrior skills much more useful for general use (Demoralize!). The only race that makes sense for a tank is the faceless due to better flanking protection and blind immunity.
• A dedicated support character with sage main or secondary, it just has too many vital abilities (ward, regen, dispel/cure, barrier, resurrect). His/her other class should have mana management, so either scholar or balancer. I found scholar MUCH better in this respect, Prayer is crazy powerful. Can be any race (movement and turn speed isn't critical), probably human is best. It's also possible to leave mana management to the last two characters so the support can pick up a ranged mana-free class like sharpshooter or mechanic, but to be honest, the turns of my support were best used casting spells or restoring mana for others.
• Two dedicated damage dealers, probably ranged (almost every mook seems to have Counter in ruin mode, plus melee is a liability in general) with reliable ways to apply burning and poison to enemy bosses and HP buckets. The furry race with -2 ACT is probably the best choice here, though a naga that goes down the rogue path for the -ACT passive can be super-mobile, which has its perks. For ranged damage dealers, I'm thinking a dedicated sharpshooter with crossbows/pistols and double reload, and a sorcerer/scholar (scholar attack spells are actually quite potent) switching in unmaker for fights against undead or lots of casters. Fire is definitely a way to go for casters -- Fire Whirl is amazing and does more damage than anything else I've seen including gate spells, plus it also serves as area denial.
• I haven't found many uses for blades and brawlers (squishy melee is no bueno), enchanters (opportunity cost, plus many weapons come with elemental damage already), balancers (solid class, but again, losing scholar on your support is a huge opportunity cost) and haven't messed around with mechanists at all.

tldr, the party could be something like this:

1. Rasmen warrior/guardian, possibly picking up breaker secondary, though the best weapon for a tank is the heavenpiercer spear due to the +morale, imo. Skillpoints go into shield first, HP second, (spear) weapon skill a distant third.
2. Scurio sharpshooter, not sure about secondaries, probably rogue. Will definitely need shiftcloak for swift reload at least (or just use bows) and scout. Not sure where mechanist fits into this. This class could also benefit from the shiftcloak "change secondary" option, but that means he's probably going to hog every single XP crystal and possibly go with human for +10%. Skillpoints go into ranged weapon of choice and some HP.
3. Scurio or human sorcerer/scholar, unmaker. Gatekeeper at endgame for funsies, though tbh it was kinda underwhelming. Fire all the way, maybe lightning also. Hogs all permanent MP drinks and has a lot of booze on hand (same with the support).
4. Human sage/balancer support, switching in scholar when the mage doesn't have it. Going for +movement from sage ASAP, rest of the points into life magic and HP, MP pool isn't as important. Could also kindasorta build an attack magic school at the endgame, though I think using a bow would work better.

The two postgame races (diecast, buralk) are honestly pretty crap.
Any thoughts, especially from those who played on Ruin?

 

[viniciusjf]

Hi fellows, good night.
I would like to ask for your help, please. I have 8 hours of play and I'm parently "trapped" by some game secret or maybe a bug.

Spoiler

After kill Celia and his team at an isolated camp/village, I found this map and when I tried to turn back, the path leads me this different section of the map. The problem is that I can't turn back or follow because the exits looks to bem closed. Besides, autosave has some error and the game cracks when I try to quicksave. I hate to ask you for a solution to a game charade instead of explore it by myself, but I really don't what else can I at this point.

Sometimes to go back, you need to keep pushing forward. If the enemies are too tough, remember what Morin told you, and use the gem (it's the little blue thing to the right of the skill bar).

Spoiler

If I understand correctly, you're at the point where an airship flies in to ambush you and closes the path leading back, right? Just go up one map, go to the northeastern part, and open the door to the catacombs using the combination listed on the map. After that, follow the instructions on the map.

IF your problem is that the ambushers are killing you (it's a very tough encounter, probably one of the hardest in the game considering when it appears), you can use a pick to get around them. Specifically, go as far left on this map as possible (without leaving the village map), then hug the cave wall and mine your way through it, first up and then right. Then you can just leave the map to the north without having to fight.

Thanks, but actually not.

Spoiler

This section of the map is located right to this part: .
After I follow the path indicated by the white set, there's only a desert, with no enemies or nothing else, a supposed north exit path and the supposed turn back path, and the game cracks if I try to save: and
And there's a supposed path I can't reach at the East:
The first time I tried to save at this part, my windows showed a blue screen. I'm really afraid of some king of insoluble bug

 

[Zetor]

Yea, I know that area -- what you're describing does sound like a bug, maybe savegame corruption? Normally you'd just go north (the exit shown on your third screenshot) to progress.

 

[Eldiran]

Got stuck because of a nasty bug. If you place aerstone (or any item for that matter) in the spot between two of the sockets on the airship (picture below) you can't pick it up again. Of course I didn't notice the sockets at first and instead thought you're supposed to line up the orbs on top of the ship So I did that every time I found one and only noticed that one is stuck there after I had all four (and had explored every area in the game).

A lot of people have had this happen, but I just can't get the aerstone to fit there myself! Glad you got it solved though (thanks CryptRat!).

Double-post, but I've been thinking about possible character builds for a ruin playthrough. Going to spoiler it because some of the following analysis relies on encounter knowledge...

Spoiler

I assume the following requirements apply:

• A tank with warrior and guardian skills, because Guard is invaluable. May be able to make it with just guardian and a secondary class like breaker or even rogue, but I found the basic warrior skills much more useful for general use (Demoralize!). The only race that makes sense for a tank is the faceless due to better flanking protection and blind immunity.
• A dedicated support character with sage main or secondary, it just has too many vital abilities (ward, regen, dispel/cure, barrier, resurrect). His/her other class should have mana management, so either scholar or balancer. I found scholar MUCH better in this respect, Prayer is crazy powerful. Can be any race (movement and turn speed isn't critical), probably human is best. It's also possible to leave mana management to the last two characters so the support can pick up a ranged mana-free class like sharpshooter or mechanic, but to be honest, the turns of my support were best used casting spells or restoring mana for others.
• Two dedicated damage dealers, probably ranged (almost every mook seems to have Counter in ruin mode, plus melee is a liability in general) with reliable ways to apply burning and poison to enemy bosses and HP buckets. The furry race with -2 ACT is probably the best choice here, though a naga that goes down the rogue path for the -ACT passive can be super-mobile, which has its perks. For ranged damage dealers, I'm thinking a dedicated sharpshooter with crossbows/pistols and double reload, and a sorcerer/scholar (scholar attack spells are actually quite potent) switching in unmaker for fights against undead or lots of casters. Fire is definitely a way to go for casters -- Fire Whirl is amazing and does more damage than anything else I've seen including gate spells, plus it also serves as area denial.
• I haven't found many uses for blades and brawlers (squishy melee is no bueno), enchanters (opportunity cost, plus many weapons come with elemental damage already), balancers (solid class, but again, losing scholar on your support is a huge opportunity cost) and haven't messed around with mechanists at all.

tldr, the party could be something like this:

1. Rasmen warrior/guardian, possibly picking up breaker secondary, though the best weapon for a tank is the heavenpiercer spear due to the +morale, imo. Skillpoints go into shield first, HP second, (spear) weapon skill a distant third.
2. Scurio sharpshooter, not sure about secondaries, probably rogue. Will definitely need shiftcloak for swift reload at least (or just use bows) and scout. Not sure where mechanist fits into this. This class could also benefit from the shiftcloak "change secondary" option, but that means he's probably going to hog every single XP crystal and possibly go with human for +10%. Skillpoints go into ranged weapon of choice and some HP.
3. Scurio or human sorcerer/scholar, unmaker. Gatekeeper at endgame for funsies, though tbh it was kinda underwhelming. Fire all the way, maybe lightning also. Hogs all permanent MP drinks and has a lot of booze on hand (same with the support).
4. Human sage/balancer support, switching in scholar when the mage doesn't have it. Going for +movement from sage ASAP, rest of the points into life magic and HP, MP pool isn't as important. Could also kindasorta build an attack magic school at the endgame, though I think using a bow would work better.

The two postgame races (diecast, buralk) are honestly pretty crap.
Any thoughts, especially from those who played on Ruin?

I'm super biased, so I won't analyze the builds much, other than saying that yours look pretty solid - but if you're looking for sustainable MP I'd recommend the Enchanter's Essence Flow passive as an interesting alternative to Scholars.

I also find that combos that involve multiple party members - such as Condensate + Lightning, Immobilize + Fire Whirl, Burn Status + MORE FIRE, etc. are pretty brutal and effective.

Thanks, but actually not.

Spoiler

This section of the map is located right to this part: .
After I follow the path indicated by the white set, there's only a desert, with no enemies or nothing else, a supposed north exit path and the supposed turn back path, and the game cracks if I try to save: and
And there's a supposed path I can't reach at the East:
The first time I tried to save at this part, my windows showed a blue screen. I'm really afraid of some king of insoluble bug

Now that's a bug I haven't heard of. Are you on 1.0.6? Could you send me your save files? You can access them via the top left button in the Save/Load menu, and send them to radcodex @ gmail . com

I'll see if I can figure out what's going wrong, and hopefully find a solution or fix it for you and send them back.

 

[viniciusjf]

Thanks you very much, message sent!
I hope there's anything we can do to fix.

 

[Eldiran]

Yeah, turns out it was some corrupted files. I have no idea how it got corrupted, but I sent a fixed up save that should work to your email.

 

[viniciusjf]

Thanks a LOT! Problem fixed.

 

[Courtier]

Eldiran Have you had people reporting huge lag caused by a background cloud effect on the main menu/in the mountains? For me it causes not only the game, but everything on my machine to stutter and freeze constantly.

 

[Eldiran]

Eldiran Have you had people reporting huge lag caused by a background cloud effect on the main menu/in the mountains? For me it causes not only the game, but everything on my machine to stutter and freeze constantly.

Dang! I hadn't heard any reports of that.

Could you see how it acts if you disable "Intense Effects" in the Options? That might give you a better framerate.

 

[Courtier]

I tried that as soon as I noticed it, and it doesn't affect it. Also after googling, it looks like others had the same issue as far back as nov 2015 http://steamcommunity.com/app/415920/discussions/0/496880503071709133/

It only occurs on screens with the shifting pixelated clouds in the background.

 

[Eldiran]

Oh, good find! Clearly I forgot that report. I thought I had made changes to the effect since then, but I was thinking of some other FX change. I should add an alternate version when Intense Visuals is off, so people have a fix.

Are you able to play through if you make your screen size smaller in those zones? That's the only way to improve the framerate that I know of at the moment. Sorry you have to deal with this; I think there's some specific cards that don't like the multi-layered transparency of the cloud effect.

 

[Juggie]

I played through the game recently and I encountered two issues.

Picks and shovels have limited charges but loading a save with one of the items left at single charge will restore the item's charges to its maximum. This is probably a bug as it kills the advantage of the mithril shovel.

Another issue was steam achievements not registering for me at all. Not much of a problem for me, but might be worth looking into as well.

Edit: Just remembered one more issue that's pretty common in games. Input from numpad numerals is ignored when inputting text. This happens when typing save game names or setting sound volume.

 

[Zetor]

Yea, same with the no achievement thing (doesn't really matter though). I also noticed that firebombs were randomly disappearing from my inventory sometimes, but I figured that may have been intentional -- they don't have a long shelf-life after all. Plus I couldn't reproduce it when I specifically tried in the endgame, so yeah.

 

[Courtier]

Are you able to play through if you make your screen size smaller in those zones?

I've resized it as tiny as can be, but it didn't help much and I still can barely move, much less actually get anywhere. I'll put my playthrough on hold for now. Appreciate your time m8, really liked the game and wish you success with the sequel

 

[Eldiran]

I played through the game recently and I encountered two issues.

Picks and shovels have limited charges but loading a save with one of the items left at single charge will restore the item's charges to its maximum. This is probably a bug as it kills the advantage of the mithril shovel.

Woops! That's a silly bug. Got a fix for it later. Enjoy infinite picks in the meantime, I guess!

Another issue was steam achievements not registering for me at all. Not much of a problem for me, but might be worth looking into as well.

Edit: Just remembered one more issue that's pretty common in games. Input from numpad numerals is ignored when inputting text. This happens when typing save game names or setting sound volume.

I need to do some serious testing on Steam achievements. I was never able to replicate them not registering, but apparently it's a fairly common bug. I'll look into the numpad too.

I've resized it as tiny as can be, but it didn't help much and I still can barely move, much less actually get anywhere. I'll put my playthrough on hold for now. Appreciate your time m8, really liked the game and wish you success with the sequel

Bummer. : ( I will definitely make a fix for this next patch.

 

[Eldiran]

Did a little blog post on some of the upcoming stuff in the next game! A lot of it I had already mentioned here.

To summarize it:

More Tactics will feature the same combat, class, and exploration system, but I have plans for lots of new stuff. I’ll go into extra detail later, but some of the new systems are:

• Control up to 6 units at a time
• Recruit & develop a large pool of characters to choose units from
• New weapon & armor enhancement system (finally a use for all those spare trigger stones!)
• Procedural zone generation for certain areas
• And of course, more of the old stuff (new classes, races, equipment, etc)

...

I’m trying out a limited but cohesive palette – specifically, an NES-inspired palette. That might sound like it’d be ugly and clunky, but it actually has forced me to make more interesting color choices throughout. (I am using a fair amount of cheater colors where the NES palette is lacking, though.)

Here’s an example:

 

[Mustawd]

What engine are you using for this Eldiran?

Finally got around to playing this game and 2 hours passed by like nothing. Should be an interesting playthrough or two.

 

[Eldiran]

I'll be using the same Voidspire Tactics engine (with improvements). Hopefully that should make development a lot faster.

Glad to hear you're enjoying it so far!

 

[Hupu]

You might know about him already, but Arne has a whole bunch of posts about palettes (link).
He goes into nice detail about his choices, overall I can hardly find a website that makes you wanna make games more than his.

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

Good read.

 

[Eldiran]

Good read indeed! Been a while since I saw that article, I'd completely forgotten about it. (I'm so jealous of their spriting ability...)

 

[Mustawd]

Eldiran ,

Am I missing something or is there a way to make everything more zoomed in? A lot of the text is smaller than I'd like it to be. Feels like the game's made for ants or something.

 

[Eldiran]

That's unfortunate. There is automatic scaling up once you reach a certain resolution, but otherwise no way to manually change scale.

It's a tough issue because the pixel art looks horrid if not scaled at integer values. The automatic scaling (from x2 to x3, I think) kicks in as soon as the UI can fit. Which means if you're right below that threshold, everything may appear pretty small.

Regrettably, the only solution is to either play in a larger window, or play in Fullscreen at a larger (or smaller) resolution.

 

[Mustawd]

Thanks, I'll play with the resolution settings and see if that works.