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

Gerrard

Arcane
Joined
Nov 5, 2007
Messages
11,927
The reason is not GMS2, as it could be misunderstood from the message about “engine limitations”, the reason is our procedural generation engine. The saves currently used by the game technically differ from saving in any part of the game world – they save the seed of visited locations, regenerating the world on each loading, they don’t save the state of the world, as it was left by the player. Otherwise, the saves would end up weighting a few gigabytes and take minutes to load.
:deathclaw:
 

Trash Player

Scholar
Joined
Jun 13, 2015
Messages
438
This game is like a high school project, not that one done for the curriculum, but that awesome stew of everything you found awesome once. It is meant to be forgotten in some metaphorical or literal cabinet til god knows when, then you may have some laughs and fuzzy nostalgia. The devs actually release a well received top down shooter 4 years before, though they may had an expansion, the sort that drags every old pals and their dogs in due to some hard-to-repeat success.
 

normie

️‍
Patron
Zionist Agent
Joined
Mar 9, 2019
Messages
3,727
Insert Title Here
I had fun with a swordnshield counter build - that sword that gives 13%~~ counter chance, duel shield, every piece enchanted with with either +block or counter chance, fencer's stance, defensive stance, raise shield, retaliation

100% block, 70%~ to counter
 

some funny shit

Scholar
Joined
Apr 14, 2018
Messages
388
Location
nowhere
I played it a litte bit. Really nice pixel art but as a rougelike game is very average and it seems slow and boring.

It's just dumbed down ADOM/Stone Soup with pretty graphics.
 

Luzur

Good Sir
Joined
Feb 12, 2009
Messages
41,392
Location
Swedish Empire
Well i played on and reached the second city, and noticed that "points of interest" i visited along the way seems to reset just 2 days after being cleared and also reset on the map, from saying "Bandit Camp" back to "Point of Interest" so i have to go back and map it again.

also how the heck are im supposed to afford a plate armor for damn 10k in Stoneshard? i looked it up and a money pouch can only hold 2000 gold....thats alot of filled moneybags just to get a new armor, enemies dont seem to drop armor at all, just shields and weapons.
 

normie

️‍
Patron
Zionist Agent
Joined
Mar 9, 2019
Messages
3,727
Insert Title Here
also how the heck are im supposed to afford a plate armor for damn 10k in Stoneshard? i looked it up and a money pouch can only hold 2000 gold....thats alot of filled moneybags just to get a new armor, enemies dont seem to drop armor at all, just shields and weapons.
I don't think you're really supposed to, it's a bit of a teaser for what end game stuff will be like and what you will gradually be building towards - I really like it, money feels properly instrumental

as it is, by the point you can afford it, you've already defeated all the challenges the game currently has
 
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PrettyDeadman

Guest
My main problems with the game right now are:

1) Extremely shallow character development. You chose a weapon and then put all skill points in corresponding skill tree which has like 10 skills (and very linear structure too, so you end up putting points into the same skills in the same order). General skills can help adding more deph and variety in builds, but I doubt it will change the system dramastically.
2) Extremely boring itemization. Only meaningful difference in items seems to be more damage or more armor. Not iteresting build-defining items, or items which solve problems like potions, scrolls, bombs, at least in the early game. I've seen a potion of ironskin I think and scrolls of enchantment, but no panic buttons like invis, teport or bombs/potions of confusion, freeze and etc. So you end up relying on your weapons almost all the time.
2) Exteremely linear level/quest progression + very boring levels.

Hopefully it will be adressed. It seems like the devs now something about roguelikes and put a lot of effort in development (at least as far as arts/ui show).
 
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User0001

Savant
Joined
Jun 9, 2018
Messages
530
Location
Nangilima
I made this easy starting guide for those here that don't want to play overpowered Pyromancer kiter:

Choose the knight for greatswords skill tree.

The first thing you'll want to do is look at the map and look at the forest seeding. You want thick forest close to Ostbrook, to easily hunt moose. If the seed is bad then restart.

YI2T0l7.jpg

^That's a bad seeding^ -

Moose will only appear in this type of area. Moosehide gives 14 coins per inventory square (selling to the tailor), cooked venison 19 (Ormond - butcher) and moose antler a whopping 65 (!)(Bert - merchant).

To make it as effective and easy as possible you need to pick Heroic Charg at lvl 1. That is how you hunt, so you'll need to buy a War Scythe as your first weapon. When you reach level 2 you should put a point in Courage. Put all ability points in strength in the beginning.

Do yourself a favor and pack light, so leave your purse and lockpick. This is how it should look like:

Wo8XiLi.jpg

^Obviously not the first pre moose hunt. Vivifying Essence (the potion) should be two Healing salves in the beginning, and the cooked venison will be some other food of course. You won't need more than this. Don't forget to forage a lot of Pinecap mushrooms in the beginning to save food.

This is what the catch of a good hunt will look like:
q74JqcH.jpg


And after selling everything to the right vendors the profit was this:

nVzNpfP.jpg

If the tailor runs out of money, invest in boots and gloves that give protection. Any gear that gives less than protection is a waste of coin.

Take care in the beginning. I invested early money repairing the starting cuirass and getting Vivifying essence (it can save your ass).

Spending one and a half in-game week hunting should set you up with great gear at about level 2.5 - 3, giving yourself a good starting position to play as a melee character.

Happy hunt!
giphy.gif

Really like the game! Will definitely come back every quarter to check the new updates.
 
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Modron

Arcane
Joined
May 5, 2012
Messages
9,938
Well i played on and reached the second city, and noticed that "points of interest" i visited along the way seems to reset just 2 days after being cleared and also reset on the map, from saying "Bandit Camp" back to "Point of Interest" so i have to go back and map it again.

also how the heck are im supposed to afford a plate armor for damn 10k in Stoneshard? i looked it up and a money pouch can only hold 2000 gold....thats alot of filled moneybags just to get a new armor, enemies dont seem to drop armor at all, just shields and weapons.
None of my points of interest have reverted maybe because I used them to save? Did you camp at them even for a token 1 hour rest?
 

Van-d-all

Erudite
Joined
Jan 18, 2017
Messages
1,557
Location
Standin' pretty. In this dust that was a city.
also how the heck are im supposed to afford a plate armor for damn 10k in Stoneshard? i looked it up and a money pouch can only hold 2000 gold....thats alot of filled moneybags just to get a new armor, enemies dont seem to drop armor at all, just shields and weapons.
I had over 6k after the basic 3 quests... Just hoard stuff or something, it seemed easy. Firstly various vendors buy shit at various prices. Secondly every POI has at least a single valuable. Thirdly a shitty wolf pelt goes for 55 at the tailors. Lastly road brigands will often drop weapons worth 400+ (@ level 5; level scaled maybe?:decline: ). Again, a set of pyromancer clothes cost me ~2k and I pretty much had no use for money since...
 

Modron

Arcane
Joined
May 5, 2012
Messages
9,938
Yeah mage gear doesn't reach anywhere near that 10k plate armor tier. Mage gear just seems a whole lot stronger with weapons and armor that add 10-20% to spell damage. My sword and board is way more durable and every bit as survivable but he sure cannot pump out nearly as much burst or aoe damage.
 

Luzur

Good Sir
Joined
Feb 12, 2009
Messages
41,392
Location
Swedish Empire
Well i played on and reached the second city, and noticed that "points of interest" i visited along the way seems to reset just 2 days after being cleared and also reset on the map, from saying "Bandit Camp" back to "Point of Interest" so i have to go back and map it again.

also how the heck are im supposed to afford a plate armor for damn 10k in Stoneshard? i looked it up and a money pouch can only hold 2000 gold....thats alot of filled moneybags just to get a new armor, enemies dont seem to drop armor at all, just shields and weapons.
None of my points of interest have reverted maybe because I used them to save? Did you camp at them even for a token 1 hour rest?

No havent played for a few days now so havent updated yet LOL
 

Teut Busnet

Cipher
Patron
Joined
Dec 31, 2016
Messages
961
Codex Year of the Donut
also how the heck are im supposed to afford a plate armor for damn 10k in Stoneshard? i looked it up and a money pouch can only hold 2000 gold....thats alot of filled moneybags just to get a new armor, enemies dont seem to drop armor at all, just shields and weapons.
I had over 6k after the basic 3 quests... Just hoard stuff or something, it seemed easy. Firstly various vendors buy shit at various prices. Secondly every POI has at least a single valuable. Thirdly a shitty wolf pelt goes for 55 at the tailors. Lastly road brigands will often drop weapons worth 400+ (@ level 5; level scaled maybe?:decline: ). Again, a set of pyromancer clothes cost me ~2k and I pretty much had no use for money since...
I don't want to sound like a filthy casual, but while probably realistic, it is a bit annoying. Either have them buy stuff or don't.

Is there a special Healing/Herbs shop in the second town or is the guy in the church supposed to be his replacement?
 

normie

️‍
Patron
Zionist Agent
Joined
Mar 9, 2019
Messages
3,727
Insert Title Here
Current Plans + 0.5.7.16 Changelog
b77b73c66c959442bcebe8ff811d42a2a9694c7a.png

Hello everyone!

It’s barely been a dozen of days since Stoneshard was released into Early Access, a rather stressful dozen of days for our team. We’ve received a huge amount of feedback, and we are happy that our game gained so much unexpected attention. The first week was spent on fixing the most pressing issues, however it’s time for us again to focus on developing new content and mechanics.

Our first major content update “Trollslayer” is planned for March. You can see more details about it in our roadmap: it will introduce a new boss to the game, add a new dungeon type, two new skill trees, and expanded dialogues. We’d also like to add some of the initially unannounced content, but for now we can’t promise anything outside of what was originally planned. During the development we’ll publish a few more devlogs on our progress, so make sure to follow the game on Steam if you don’t want to miss them.

During this month we’ll continue to fix reported bugs and crashes, though at a slightly lower pace, so there still may be a couple more patches till the end of February. We also plan to finally solve the issues with the Linux build and release it in the near future. Until then, we recommend you to join us on Discord - our most favored way of communicating with the community where you’ll be able to chat with other players, ask us questions directly, or check out teasers for the future update. For now, here’s some of them:

2dcbbf898c0ab3a2fb1ff876df1a02dc1d982317.png

2562068688f8537f3d59e840be1614148afcbc82.png

13ad404cdfc04512011a1dc53952bac16a16c671.png

0RjDEIR.gif


CHANGELIST 0.5.7.16

UX
  • Added different colored backdrops to items in the inventory based on their quality.
  • Added an option to highlight containers by pressing ALT.
  • Due to the popular demand, fog of war is now more transparent and should be easier on the eyes when moving through the forest.
  • Restored the autopathing when clicking on unexplored tiles.
  • Cauldrons in taverns can now be used for cooking.
VISUALS
  • Added some of the missing animations and timetables for the denizens of Mannshire.
  • Numerous visual fixes.
FIXES AND STABILITY
  • Fog of war now applies to the location with the Abbey in Adventure mode.
  • Fixed the trajectory for arrows and other projectiles (such as fire bolts and melting rays) when shooting at objects of the scenery.
  • Fixed the bug with rings becoming unequipped when loading the game.
  • Fixed “Retaliation” triggering on ranged attacks.
  • Fixed the behaviour of fog of war when using “Distracting Shot”.
  • Fixed the game freezing in certain situations when using “Onslaught”.
  • Fixed the crash and the following issues with dungeons’ names when switching the game’s language after the start of the game.
  • Fixed the simultaneous generation of two copies of the same contract.
  • Mannshire’s Innkeeper now buys tableware and pays more for alcohol as well
.
BALANCE
  • Reworked stances - their maximum number of stacks was increased to 6, and the bonuses were reduced to facilitate more gradual scaling. When the corresponding chances proc, the duration of stances increases, but the number of stacks gets reduced. The starting duration for stances is increased to 6.
  • Stone spikes’ duration has been reduced to 8 turns.
MISCELLANEOUS
  • Added lots of new sounds.
  • Added voice-over for starting dialogue.
 
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Ent

Savant
Joined
Nov 20, 2015
Messages
540
I ran through the early access stuff over the weekend and it was pretty fun. I played a greatsword + bow character and beat the hardest available dungeon by level 8. Greatswords and blocking seem to be very strong at the moment as I skipped all possible armor upgrades and relied entirely on dodge and my weapons block + stance as my defense.
 

Theodora

Arcane
Patron
Glory to Ukraine
Joined
Feb 19, 2020
Messages
4,620
Location
anima Bȳzantiī
Am I missing something – has it had an update? – or is using a mouse still a hard requirement? I can't help but compare to Tangledeep, which has the same goal of accessibility and mainstream appeal (it has a Switch port and supports a gamepad), while staying true to the genre mechanically, and having a really nice two-handed kb control scheme. The thing that bugs me the most about Stoneshard is its how excruciating is being unable do anything other than move (with the numpad). What's the point?
 
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Silentstorm

Learned
Joined
Apr 29, 2019
Messages
885
Took a shot with the game, started the tutorial, found out that i should have grinded a bit more or looked for better equipment because of Archon, seriously, even if the pattern was easy to figure out, the guy just wouldn't seem to be taken down.

Also, already starting to not feel like a fan of the pain and intoxication mechanics, i guess that cities will have stores with equipment that can help with that, and they weren't too bad so far, but they just felt like busywork than anything else.

Oh, and better keyboard optimization would be nice, as for the game so far, it's just...fine, nothing so far is making me amazed, i also admit it's very easy for me to dislike pain mechanics and all that in games like this, because, again, a lot of the time they just make me grind for items or money just to deal with them, and waste time without really adding as much to difficulty as the developers intend, it's more realistic, yes, doesn't mean i can't stop but usually finding it to be a boring mechanic which happens to be a big thing with this game as pain alongside intoxication and others pretty much debuff you.

But again, despite having the kind of mechanic i usually hate, i still see some promise in this and i've had fun playing it.
 

vazha

Arcane
Joined
Aug 24, 2013
Messages
2,063
I like the honest, respectful and responsible tone of their devlogs. Shows they genuinely care about the community. Good job. Will buy this once it's out.
 

Theodora

Arcane
Patron
Glory to Ukraine
Joined
Feb 19, 2020
Messages
4,620
Location
anima Bȳzantiī
I like the honest, respectful and responsible tone of their devlogs. Shows they genuinely care about the community. Good job. Will buy this once it's out.
Yeah, they're very reactive to community concerns (which is something given how fuckin' rude a lot of people are).
 

normie

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Patron
Zionist Agent
Joined
Mar 9, 2019
Messages
3,727
Insert Title Here
Devlog: March Update Progress
af4ba9fb490a52df42ae9cc3cc1e3e61e5246232.png


Hello everyone!

This devlog is dedicated to revealing some of the progress we’ve made with the first major content update «Trollslayer», which will be released around the end of March. As we’ve already mentioned, there are plans to include some previously unannounced things into this update. As for now, let’s go through some of the features we are currently working on:

Additional flora and fauna

uFSTFkb.gif


995d889683fd7c279bbe48ac0b13ad6eae80a594.gif


To make the world of Aldor feel more alive, we’ve added two new animals to the game: saigas and bisons, which can be encountered in the steppes and in the fields accordingly.

729747fed6ca6631e5e273c673bf1b3908ff30d9.gif


Penny buns have been added to the forests, fleawort and henbane now grow in the fields and by the roadsides, mushrooms and potatoes can be cooked at campsites. The meat system has also been changed, it’s now divided into four types: tough, fatty, sinewy, and tender. Each meat type can be acquired from certain animals. In the future we plan to make the hunting system significantly more complex, but it definitely won’t be a part of the March update.

New dungeon type – Catacombs

9b5b9d00b7dda6e6b12013be5884b898bd743c30.png


Proselytes have received their own dungeon type – Catacombs. Abandoned churches, monasteries, and other ruins inhabited by the vampiric cults can now be encountered around the world. At the same time there’s work being done on rehauling our dungeon generation algorithm in order to create more complex and structurally engaging levels. The work is still in progress, so no pictures of the interiors for now.

New skill trees – Athletics and Combat Mastery
e7e501ca988bb19f184e2d5abea1f3f50a704875.png


Right now we are in the middle of implementing two new utility skill trees, each containing 14 and 13 skills accordingly. Initially they were planned to be much smaller – 8-10 skills each, but during the development it was decided to add additional branches.

Combat Mastery will be a great addition to the characters focusing on using weapons. It’s designed to enhance this playstyle, introducing 7 versatile combat and tactical maneuvers.

Athletics is built around mobility and controlling the battlefield, so it can be utilized by pretty much every character

Once all the skills are fully implemented and balanced, we’ll publish a separate devlog where we’ll present them in greater detail.


Expanded dialogues

We plan to slightly expand the dialogue system for the key characters such as merchants, elders, craftsmen, etc. Naturally there is no role-playing depth of classical RPGs to be expected here, our role system is simply not designed for that. However you’ll be able to learn more about certain characters, find out their opinions on different topics, and, perhaps, get some leads on various locations and quests...

?????
fe6d89debe7738a1e532a373bed61f0daefda924.png

6e58962d732bdc935fcd2eebf27894bc9881cc09.gif


Stay tuned for new devlogs. Until next time!
 

Silentstorm

Learned
Joined
Apr 29, 2019
Messages
885
The game opens up after the tutorial, also new devlog came out and it's good to see them adding more nature to the world, also new dungeons and skill trees, of course, these and more are only out at the end of March, but still cool.

Also, yes, i love developers that talk to fans, it's always a good way of making me more willing to spend money, and even if i hated the game, which i don't, it kinda feels bad refunding a game when the people behind it are nice and respectful.

...And i took so long making this post that the devlog was posted here.
 

Bah

Arcane
Joined
Oct 6, 2006
Messages
2,946
Location
Northwest American Republic
Am I missing something – has it had an update? – or is using a mouse still a hard requirement? I can't help but compare to Tangledeep, which has the same goal of accessibility and mainstream appeal (it has a Switch port and supports a gamepad), while staying true to the genre mechanically, and having a really nice two-handed kb control scheme. The thing that bugs me the most about Stoneshard is its how excruciating is being unable do anything other than move (with the numpad). What's the point?

Yeah, this is the main thing keeping me from real interest in the game. Pure keyboard control is a hard stop for me for any game that claims to be a rogue-like.
 

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