Legends of Amberland II: The Song of Trees

[Naraya]

Wow, judging by the cover they really upped the graphics in the sequel

 

[Mauman]

Bought.

I won't be playing it for a while due to Underrail, Colony Ship, and work, but it's now on the list :D

 

[Butter]

I'm playing this right now and it's massive incline, highly recommended. I haven't seen any bugs yet, but there are a few spelling errors here and there that you might want to fix.

When you deliver the signed transfer papers to Darkwood Fort, Sir Jerthiz replies "Oh, you have the transfer papers signed. Many thanks!As a token of appreciation..." There ought to be a space after the exclamation point.

I forget exactly which character it is, but someone says "breading ground" when talking about Darkwood, probably meaning "breeding ground".

 

[0sacred]

"breading ground"

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.silverlemurgames.com/2023/12/12/legends-of-amberland-ii-version-1-10/

Legends of Amberland II version 1.10​

Version 1.10 released

Traditionally, the first version after release is one big bug fix. In addition to the fixes, there are tiny interface improvements (aimed at handhelds: read SteamDeck) and one change regarding chests. Some of you found out that while the loot type from chests is persistent, there is a small loophole, the chance of a second item was not persistent, so save scumming fest began (by people who play on Insane). The loophole has been patched in this version.

– [misc] Now the chance of a second item from a chest is also persistent (before only item type was persistent). Same for gold from chests. No more save scumming!
– [misc] Gold from chests formula slightly altered (to make it more varied between location grades). Overall, the amount of gold was slightly increased by this change (on average).
– [interface] Improved Stats & Skills screen text readability.
– [interface] Shop interface enlarged (prices font bigger, more space allocated to display items).
– [manual] Improved manual.
– [fix] Two plaques text not showing (in caves).
– [fix] Two quest items had incorrect names of NPCs listed which lead to confusion.
– [fix] Two quests not triggering as finished (cosmetic, not affecting gameplay).
– [fix] Doubled NPC in Riverfell (one removed).
– [fix] Obscure bug with quick load while not closed trainer screen after buying the skill but before closing the screen (yup, a very unusual combo to trigger the bug, but the consequences when it happened were severe).
– [fix] Incorrect mapped keys when using spells if party character changed position.
– [fix] Language selector flickering on main menu when attempted to click it when it’s illegal to open it.
– [fix] Mute on focus lost audio settings not saved.
– [fix] Numerous spelling corrections.

Reminders
You can follow my Steam Developer Page if you wish to be notified each time a new game or expansions is being released.
Also, if you have a moment to leave a Steam review of the game it would be appreciated. It makes a big difference to an indie developer like me. Thanks!

 

[flinar]

– [fix] Incorrect mapped keys when using spells if party character changed position.

This may be the issue I mentioned in the announcement thread. I became accustomed to targeting healing spells using the mouse in Amberland I, but that may have only been because I had shuffled my party around.

 

[flinar]

I completed the game a few nights ago using the quickstart party on normal difficulty. It was a good time. I enjoyed the colorful graphics, light humor, and straightforward mechanics. My party felt overpowered towards the end, so I will increase the difficulty if I start again.

game completion screen

 

[Kayerts]

Thoughts after completing on insane:

It's a nice, light game, very similar to the first one. It's got fun exploration and a pleasant sense of whimsy.

It's pretty well-constructed. The beginning is great, with loads of locations to explore. The middle drags between levels 20 and 30 on insane, since enemies have become HP sponges, and sweeping up all the available XP where you can is fairly necessary. Endgame is decent.

Someone asked if combat had any more depth than the first: No. Enemies seem recycled more or less wholesale. Overall, enemy selection could use work; it did feel like "an animal, but mean" made up about half of the enemy roster.

Wizards got buffed significantly since the release of Amberland 1 (apparently this happened in a patch for Amberland 1, though sufficiently far after release that I didn't notice) and went from being pretty bad to a viable damage alternative to warriors. This was good! Unfortunately, some of the other class tweaks resulted in some classes just becoming better than others, to the extent that I wouldn't advise taking anything that isn't a warrior, healer, or wizard.

Loot and itemization are still weak points. Loot is generally quite scarce, especially weapons, and armor quickly becomes irrelevant beyond secondary effects. There's a clear hierarchy of the most useful effects, which you will usually want to have on, and infrequent randomized upgrades beyond those meant my loadout didn't change often over the course of the game. There was a flail I found in the first hour that I was using at the end, for example.

Fun game with a clear sense of what it's trying to be.

 

[Butter]

Version 1.11 released

The second after release version has some fixes, but nothing really important, mostly cosmetic ones. Which makes me very happy that there was nothing serious to fix reported since the last version. I expected to spend more time on fixes to be honest, considering that's my first title released without Early Access. Therefore, I could spend more time on features. Two very important improvements, many of you requested. Map notes which you can put on the map as you desire (like to help you remember which location was explored) and an option (for now marked as an experimental feature) to auto cast party bonuses spells at midnight. Some interface improvements were done as well.

- [feature] Map notes. Now you can put colored markers on the map and leave small text notes to yourself (which will be shown in tooltips). Several colors to choose from, some with predefined meaning (like Completed, Too Hard, etc), you can disregard the intended meaning of those markers of course and use them as you desire.
- [feature] Experimental feature (need to be enabled via Options): Auto recast all active Party Bonus spells at midnight. I tossed it together quickly because it was requested heavily by players. It might have glitches (but nothing that would break the game, it's safe to use) but overall works. Later it will be replaced with a better solution.

- [interface] Map and minimap shows fountains effects in a tooltip (similar to names of locations).
- [interface] Map and minimap shows service type (inn, shop, etc) in a tooltip. Also other, less important things, are shown in a similar way.

- [fix] Levers do not show on minimap on some resolutions.
- [fix] Language tooltip can be shown when "How to Play" menu from the main menu screen is called.
- [fix] The last update introduced a bug where victory status was not properly cleared and was propagated to the new game.
- [fix] Clicking on close button also selected a monster in some circumstances.
- [fix] Quests scroller not working properly in some cases.

By the way, Legends of Amberland II just got VERIFIED status on Steam Deck.

Reminders
You can follow my Steam Developer Page if you wish to be notified each time a new game or expansions is being released.

Also, if you have a moment to
leave a Steam review
of the game it would be appreciated. It makes a big difference to an indie developer like me. Thanks!

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.silverlemurgames.com/2023/12/28/legends-of-amberland-ii-version-1-12/

Legends of Amberland II version 1.12​

Version 1.12 released

The third after release version contains a bunch of fixes, miscellaneous adjustments and one experimental feature, some of you were eagerly waiting for. Respawn monsters is here, as an option which you can enable at will. Personally, I think such option is not really needed to enjoy the game since the balance (on Normal) basically guarantees there is enough resources to beat the game. Still, I understand why some of you would desire such an option, so here it is. In future versions the feature will be moved to regular optional features, possibly in an altered form. For now you need to descent into the experimental features to enable it.

– [feature] Experimental feature (needs to be enabled via Options): Respawn monsters. When enabled monsters will respawn (once per month) on the overworld map. This setting is ignored on Insane (no infinite source of gold or experience on Insane, nope). This setting can be changed anytime. Note that you need to re-enable all experimental options each time you launch the game.

– [misc] Experimental feature: Midnight auto cast party bonuses timing adjusted. Now those are attempted after the rest (to avoid a situation when the cast is attempted while out of MP). This change results in more reliable auto cast.
– [misc] Experimental features options settings are now saved.
– [misc] All special abilities are now guaranteed to hit.

– [interface] Added Invisibility notice on Evade tooltip (analogous to Displacement notice).
– [interface] When fled from combat it shows the time passed notice.

– [fix] Gamepad button “Y” to call Map Notes not working properly.
– [fix] Fix of armor formula (was not working as described).
– [fix] Fix of Hit/Evade formula (was incorrect in some cases).

Reminders
You can follow my Steam Developer Page if you wish to be notified each time a new game or expansions is being released.

Also, if you have a moment to leave a Steam review of the game it would be appreciated. It makes a big difference to an indie developer like me. Thanks!

 

[Butter]

Chris Koźmik Did you break the to-hit calculations in the most recent patch? My ultra high Dexterity Archer is missing at least 90% of his attacks, while my Confused Warrior with average Dexterity is hitting about 75%.

 

[Chris Koźmik]

Chris Koźmik Did you break the to-hit calculations in the most recent patch? My ultra high Dexterity Archer is missing at least 90% of his attacks, while my Confused Warrior with average Dexterity is hitting about 75%.

Evade was altered in v1.12. Will check.

Also, can you send me the save file? https://www.silverlemurgames.com/contact/

 

[Chris Koźmik]

Chris Koźmik Did you break the to-hit calculations in the most recent patch? My ultra high Dexterity Archer is missing at least 90% of his attacks, while my Confused Warrior with average Dexterity is hitting about 75%.

Evade was altered in v1.12. Will check.

Also, can you send me the save file? https://www.silverlemurgames.com/contact/

Version 1.12.1 released

The usual story. One attempts to fix a half broken thing and in the process one breaks it to the full extend. So a fix to a fix is in order. Move along, nothing to see.


- [fix] Fix of a fix of Hit/Evade formula.

 

[Butter]

I've beaten the game. I want to go back in and see if I can uncover a couple more secrets, but it's a great game.

 

[fantadomat]

I've beaten the game. I want to go back in and see if I can uncover a couple more secrets, but it's a great game.

Is it evolved compared to the first one or is it just more of the same ?

 

[Butter]

I've beaten the game. I want to go back in and see if I can uncover a couple more secrets, but it's a great game.

Is it evolved compared to the first one or is it just more of the same ?

It's improved in several ways.

* Dungeons are more interesting.
* Cities have been upgraded from menus to areas you can walk around.
* The overworld is less linear.
* Quests are more creative (no more "Get me 3 orbs" stuff).
* Items are more varied and interesting.

I feel like I should replay M&M 3-5 for a proper comparison. Legends of Amberland 2 is less puzzle-oriented than those games, and it doesn't have things like Mountaineering and Pathfinding, but it's at least in the same ballpark in terms of quality.

 

[AdolfSatan]

Awesome, thanks for the review. Will be buying this in the next month or so.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.silverlemurgames.com/2024/01/18/legends-of-amberland-ii-version-1-13/

Legends of Amberland II version 1.13​

Version 1.13 released

This version, in addition to the usual fixes and smaller interface improvements, focuses on experimental rebalance. The idea is that for most players there is no change, they play using the old stable rules. But for the more adventurous spirits, there is an option to opt-in to experimental rebalance changes. Which allows to experiment with the rebalance without upsetting most players who just want to play the way it is. The plan is, after all this rebalance is properly tested, to make one big rebalance somewhere in future (v1.20 or v1.30 most likely) in a single big update (with the old rules v1.x being preserved as Steam beta branch). Oh yes, also Respawn Monsters option was moved to regular features, so now you can officially grind as much as you want, if you so desire (it can be enabled/disabled anytime, it works with both old and new saves), well except if you play on Insane since on that difficulty you are not granted the luxury of infinite resources.

– [feature] Experimental Rebalance option (need to be enabled in Options). When enabled it will use an alternative rebalance settings (presumably better than the standard one). This rebalance can change from version to version (so the gameplay can be somewhat chaotic, therefore it’s not recommended for most players) and is aimed to forge out the final rebalance. Around v1.20 I plan to move this experimental balance to regular balance in one big batch (with an alternative build that uses the old balance preserved in Steam beta branch for people who liked the old one better).

– [misc] Respawn monsters option moved to regular features.
– [misc] Development markers (small triangle) not shown unless those indicate an error (to avoid confusion).

– [experimental] Only if enabled Experimental Rebalance: Monsters got Dexterity attribute (Dexterity value depends on level, also Trolls got it significantly lower), which affect hit and evade.
– [experimental] Only if enabled Experimental Rebalance: Dragons got better armor.
– [experimental] Only if enabled Experimental Rebalance: New hit chance formula (taking Dexterity into account more).
– [experimental] Only if enabled Experimental Rebalance: Whirling item ability chance increased significantly (to 25%).

– [interface] Added list of known trainers locations to each individual skill level tooltip (the skill tooltip was frequently overlooked, now the information is duplicated which makes it much harder to overlook).

– [fix] Notices (like Evil Aura notice) not cleared on load and new game. Also, one tile in DarkWood had no proper aura.
– [fix] Experimental feature “Auto recast party spells at midnight” was not taking into account the level of the caster (which made it possible to cast the spell by inappropriate character in some cases). BTW, I could use some feedback on this feature, I want to move it to regular features at some point.
– [fix] Spelling and other story related cosmetic stuff.

Reminders
You can follow my Steam Developer Page if you wish to be notified each time a new game or expansions is being released.

Also, if you have a moment to leave a Steam review of the game it would be appreciated. It makes a big difference to an indie developer like me. Thanks!

 

[Chris Koźmik]

Bugs :D

https://www.silverlemurgames.com/2024/01/23/legends-of-amberland-ii-version-1-13-1/

Version 1.13.1 released

Hot fix for a new serious bug introduced in v1.13. A tiny, small change in the game over screen made it crash whenever it pops up. Just a single character was incorrect. This warrants an immediate hot fix. In addition a few smaller bugs were fixed.

- [fix] v1.13 introduced a new bug, the Game Over screen crashed the game.
- [fix] Some water tiles around deep north also caused frost damage.
- [fix] One tile in Silent Forest was not properly marked as part of the the Silent Forest.
- [fix] Several small spelling fixes.

 

[Removal]

bretty gud improvement over the first game and definitely manages to keep that most important aspect of rpgs, the feeling that you're actually going on an adventure

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.silverlemurgames.com/20...-for-legends-of-amberland-ii-out-in-february/

Soundtrack DLC for Legends of Amberland II out in February!​

Soundtrack for Legends of Amberland II out soon!

Second Amberland is the first game of mine where I commissioned a custom, hand crafted especially for this game, soundtrack. It was composed by Christopher Loza who was tasked with a request of making it feel like in the good old RPGs of the 90s era but without the technical limitations and quality limitations of the era. Yet, it had to be pleasing to people who have not played those old games as well. So, not a trivial set of requirements. I really feel he nailed it. Since I was observing the whole process (and merely providing feedback) I know first hand it was tricky. Various special filter were used to emulate the feel of the old hardware and other musical wizardry I do not comprehend (equalizers, frequencies and other complex words I do not understand). Definitely, it was much harder to make than a regular soundtrack.

So, here it is, released as a separate soundtrack DLC for all the music maniacs or hard die fans of Amberland. It includes both regular mp3 files and optional high quality flac files.

Will be available very soon, in just 2 weeks.

Don’t forget to write a Steam review if you purchase it! Thanks for your support!

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.silverlemurgames.com/2024/02/06/legends-of-amberland-ii-version-1-14/

Legends of Amberland II version 1.14​

Version 1.14 released

This version introduced some mild changes to gameplay (like no longer being able to call a griffin while on a ship or boat, one location slightly adjusted and a tiny, unimportant change to Champion class). Those do not change a lot and do not mess up with existing games at all, that’s why I introduced them to regular changes. Next, is the interface improvement which should be especially nice to those who play on Steam Deck or laptops with small screens. Basically, the game will try to display item properties using as big font as possible, also colors were adjusted for better visibility. The last thing is bug fix to respawn monster and some smaller fixes.

One more thing. I know some people are waiting for localization, so I’m happy to announce that the first batch of localization is half done. Actually, this version physically includes some partially translated files to some languages (disabled). So, if you happen to really need them now, drop by Discord, I posted there a file which you can manually upload to your game to enable those half finished translations (and possibly download a more complete localization file). Of course, I recommend to wait till those are included in the regular version, so it’s more like an option for people who can not wait any longer.

– [misc] Griffin can no longer be summoned while on boat/ship (but can still land on those). I got tired of all those support requests “I have lost my ship”, this change should greatly reduce the instance of “forgotten ships”. Note that gameplay wise it changes nothing, since you can always dock the ship and disembark before calling a griffin, also you can always return via griffin to the ship, since the griffin can always land on those.
– [misc] Slightly adjusted lava area to allow landing next to the fountain via griffin.
– [misc] Champions always hit Sorcerers and Warlocks.
– [misc] “Unrestricted Party Creation” option renamed to “Extra New Game options”.

– [experimental] Only if enabled Experimental Rebalance: Hit/Evade tooltip lists chance to hit table vs example values (it shows with experimental hit/evade formula only, the standard formula can not be trivially represented as simple % chance).
– [experimental] Only if enabled Experimental Rebalance: Offensive spells power +20%, level 1-29 offensive spells power +50%.

– [interface] Improved some tooltips (on Character screen).
– [interface] Item properties colors adjusted to increase visibility (lighter colors overall, Armor color changed to grey).
– [interface] Slightly bigger item properties font size.
– [interface] Dynamic font size for items properties (so the biggest possible that fits is displayed whenever possible).
– [interface] On Steam Deck resolution (1280×800) the item area is automatically made bigger, which allows to fit even bigger font size and therefore the item properties text is even bigger (which is handy when playing on handheld), at the expense on the number of items displayed at once. This is screen resolution based, so while designed specifically for Steam Deck, it will behave the same way on any hardware.
– [interface] On Nintendo Switch resolution (1280×720) the item properties font was made bigger at the expense of stuff being more cramped (which is a good tradeoff in this case). This is screen resolution based, works the same on any hardware.

– [fix] Respawn Monsters Option was incorrectly active only when Experimental Features were enabled (now it works as it should, as a regular optional feature).
– [fix] Inn opening on Deposit items screens in some rare occasions.
– [fix] One small unimportant tooltip (regarding caching) was slightly incorrect.

Reminders
You can follow my Steam Developer Page if you wish to be notified each time a new game or expansions is being released.

Also, if you have a moment to leave a Steam review of the game it would be appreciated. It makes a big difference to an indie developer like me. Thanks!

 

[Naraya]

I don't play this game (yet?) but this change sounds VERY specific and quite hilarious:

– [misc] Champions always hit Sorcerers and Warlocks.

What's the context here? Why the hate?

 

[Butter]

Sorcerers and Warlocks keep burning the pot roast.

 

[Chris Koźmik]

I don't play this game (yet?) but this change sounds VERY specific and quite hilarious:

– [misc] Champions always hit Sorcerers and Warlocks.

What's the context here? Why the hate?

Champions have bonus damage vs Sorcerers and Warlocks. This class has special abilities against Sorcerers and Warlocks.

I added also guaranteed hit, which is not a big deal because they are easy to hit, but is consistent with the class and might be useful during planned v1.20-v1.30 big rebalance.