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

[Ontopoly]

Whats the state of EA? I kind of want to play it, but im not sure if i should wait for launch.

I'd say it's worth it. It's fun, I didn't have any crazy bugs, and there's no risk of spoiling the story because nobody will ever give a shit about that aspect of the game

 

[cyborgboy95]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1096530/view/3032583390506235058

Spring Update, coming soon! What's in it?

Hey hey hey,

Now that the Dungeon Maker has been revealed, it's time for more good news. We will be releasing a Spring Update soon - in a matter of weeks! Exciting news isn't it, now stay with me for a bit longer to read about the upcoming content that you'll be able to enjoy... At least some of it! You'll have to come back next week for a date and the rest of the exciting changes we'll be bringing to Solasta now that Winter is over!

As you can see here, the entire Tactical Adventures team is hard at work to bring you the Spring Update

Important Note: Save Files Compatibility!
Unfortunately as you may well remember, we've always said that there might be a point during Early Access where save files become incompatible with a new update... And this will be the case for the Spring Update. As we revamped many systems in the background, we had to break things to move forward.

Now the good thing is, this should be the only time it happens before the 1.0 launch - and on top of that, load times are now significantly faster. Also, we're adding a lot of side content in this new update, so restarting a fresh run will give a new experience where you don't have to run after the main quest!

For those who want to finish their current run, we will put the previous version of the game (January Update) on a separate Steam branch so that you can keep playing if you want to.

Dungeon Maker, coming through!
Many of you have been asking when you would be able to try out the Dungeon Maker - well, wonder no more! The Dungeon Maker will be included in the Spring Update, and will be directly accessible from the in-game main menu. Keep in mind that we're working on the Dungeon Maker and that it will still be in beta when Solasta 1.0 launches, as we're still prioritizing the main campaign above all!

Here's a screenshot of the updated Dungeon Maker UI, which will be available in the upcoming update

As a reminder, you can read more about the Dungeon Maker in our previous article, which goes over several questions regarding the tool. Our interview with Wccftech is also a good source of information as it is fairly lengthy and detailed!

Spoiler

New Martial Feats
An important feedback we received from players was that most of our feats were just too passive - a flat bonus here and there, but nothing that would really change how you would play a character. So we went back to the drawing board to bring a new set of feats (as well as adjusting some existing ones)!

• Ambidextrous: +1 DEX, allows for dual-wielding with non-light 1 handed weapons
• Discretion of Coedymwarth: +1 DEX, grants proficiency with Light Armor, Shortsword, Shortbow and Longbow
• Eager for Battle: +1 DEX, grants advantage on initiative rolls
• Follow Up Strike: When attacking with a two-handed weapon, you can use a bonus action to deal an additional 1d4 + STR bonus damage of the same type
• Hauler: +1 STR, now doubles your carrying capacity (rather than increasing it by a flat 40 lbs)
• Might of the Iron Legion: Now requires proficiency with Medium Armor
• Powerful Cantrip: Now works with every cantrip that deals damage, not only ones with saving throws
• Raise Shield: When you are about to get hit by a ranged attack while wielding a shield, you can use your reaction to gain +3 AC until the end of the attacker's turn
• Rush to Battle: You can use your bonus action to increase your movement speed by 15', but you suffer -2 AC until the start of your next turn
• Sturdiness of the Tundra: +1 CON, grants proficiency with Medium Armor, Warhammer, Light Crossbow and Heavy Crossbow
• Take Aim: You can use your bonus action to negate all advantages and disadvantages on your ranged weapon attacks until the end of your turn
• Twin Blade: When you are about to get hit by a melee attack while dual-wielding (2 weapons), you can use your reaction to gain +3 AC until the end of the attacker's turn
• Uncanny Accuracy: Now works with all ranged attacks (including spells)

Longsword in one hand, Rapier in the other. With Ambidextrous, those d6 are turning into d8!

Our goal here was twofold - to give martial classes more options to use their bonus action and reaction, and to differentiate weapons playstyle. Dual wielders now have access to Ambidextrous and Twin Blade to increase both their offensive and defensive options, Two-handers can now dish out even more punishment with Follow-Up Strike, Shield users can now use their shield to greater effect against ranged attacks with Raise Shield, and every melee combattant benefits from Rush to Battle to catch up to pesky ranged opponents. Ranged characters can now also have a decent shot no matter the circumstances with Take Aim, and even spellcasters are receiving some love with buffs to Powerful Cantrip and Uncanny Accuracy.

While not everything might be perfectly balanced in these new options, we hope you'll give us plenty of feedback to finetune them - and most of all, we hope you'll have fun with them!

With Follow-Up Strike you get to smash things more often, which in my book is always a win.

Level Cap Increased to 8
The Spring Update will also increase the level cap from 6 to 8, which will unlock the following:

• Every Class: An additional feat or ASI (Ability Score Improvement) at level 8
• Clerics: Level 4 spells & Level 8 Divine Domaine Feature (Note: Destroy Undead hasn't been implemented yet)
• Fighters: Level 7 Martial Archetype Feature
• Paladins: Level 7 Sacred Oath Feature
• Rangers: Level 7 Ranger Archetype Feature
• Rogue: Evasion
• Wizards: Level 4 Spells

Here's a little level 5 Wall of Flame to warm up the room! (warning: friendly fire may occur)

Hunting Down the Early Game Difficulty Curves
Throughout the Winter Update we've seen a lot of players struggle against Soraks - and while our reptilian foes are supposed to be challenging, we don't want them to become frustrating either. There are two particular difficulty spikes early on that we identified: one being the first time you face a Sorak party when trying to escape Caer Lem (in front of the firecamp), and two being when you fight a large group of them after the library in the Tower of Magic.

• In the first case, it mostly comes from the fact that the party had no access to long rest since the moment they arrived to Caer Lem. While more experience tabletop players know to conserve their resources, it's not exactly obvious for most players... Meaning quite a few parties had to face those Soraks with most if not all of their spell slots and class features expended already. This made for a tough fight, especially since it's due to choices made much earlier - so reloading at the start of the fight wouldn't really solve the difficulty spike.
• In the second case, it's more due to how action economy works at low level. At this stage of the game players have very little access to spells or features that can deal with multiple foes at once, so it's a simple case of being overrun by too many monsters - even if the monsters were weak (which is not the case here).

To make things a little more fair, we've removed one Sorak from both of these encounters to start with. Originally we expected the "surprise round" in these encounters to have a greater impact in leveling the playing field, but at the end of the day those fights were still a little too tough. Note that if you find these fights too easy as a result, you can always pump up the challenge by tweaking the difficulty settings that will be added in the Spring Update.

This encounter which previously featured 3 Warriors and 3 Saboteurs (6) is now 2 Warriors, 2 Saboteurs and 1 Skirmisher (5)

There are many other encounters that we will tweak before launch, and not always to make them easier (for instance some of the later boss fights are a little too simple). However, most won't be included in the Spring Update as we want to prioritize finishing the entire campaign before polishing the rough edges. We've also seen some more experienced tabletop players talking about encounter balance using CR. This is definitely something we're keeping an eye on, but keep in mind that fights play out very differently on Tabletop and in a video game. This is why even though some encounters may be considered deadly when checking a CR encounter calculator, they seem very manageable in Solasta - monster AI, unlike human Dungeon Masters, don't adapt very well on the fly, and they can be far more predictable.

Revising the Soraks
Another issue in general with the Soraks is that their stat bloc didn't mesh well with their intended CR level. This is partially because we originally designed the Soraks as if they were a playable race with class levels and such - which is a little bit of an older mindset dating back to the 3rd edition. Consequently, Soraks had similar traits to low level adventurers, with relatively low HP but high defensive capabilities (both AC and Saving Throws) - which were further boosted by the Child of Darkness buff when not under bright light conditions.

That brought up two major issues:

• The first one is fairly obvious. Higher AC and Saving Throws mean players would miss more often, generating a lot of frustration for them.
• The second is more pernicious: Lower HP means that if a fight went well, it felt very easy because Soraks would just die in a few hits - creating a confirmation bias that nothing needed to be changed for those who rolled well during the encounter.

So once again, back to the drawing board we went - this time taking more time in comparing them with 5e monsters of similar CR. As a result, we further fleshed out our different Sorak archetypes to give them more specific roles. Note that these won't necessarily make them easier to face - some may even end up deadlier than before!

You won't be confusing them with each other anymore! Read below for more explanation on what changed

Sorak Skirmisher: The Skirmisher was a little too dangerous for its CR (1/2), especially since it was difficult to catch with its Shadow Escape power and the fact that it hid behind its beefier friends. As a consequence, we slightly lowered its AC, Dexterity Saving Throw, Attack Bonus and Damage Bonus, and its poison now deals 1d4 instead of 1d6. Its role remains to stay far and chip away the party's HP.

Sorak Warrior: Up until now, the Warrior felt like a bigger Skirmisher with very similar stats and slightly higher HP. To differentiate it from its ranged counterpart, the Sorak Warrior is now a big beefcake, with significantly more HP but less AC and a significantly weaker ranged attack (no poison). Its role is reinforced into blocking the party from reaching more juicy targets behind it, but itself will be a little less dangerous than before.

Sorak Saboteur: The Saboteur remains in its role of mobile melee damage dealer, with a nerf to their Dexterity Save which used to go through the roof and a little less poison damage (d4 instead d6) on their bite attack. It already had a fairly defined role compared to the two previous archetypes, as it trades its ranged attack with mobility, Doom Laughter and Call of the Night.

Child of Darkness buff now scales, making it less of a headache to deal with at lower levels

Most importantly we've made adjustments to the Child of Darkness buff, which now scales with the type of Sorak. Low CR Soraks like the Skirmisher, Warrior and Saboteur will receive a smaller buff overall (+1 instead of +2), and only when in Darkness (not in Dim Light) - while higher CR Soraks like the Acolyte will get a small buff in Dim Light, but a larger one in Darkness. Get your torches out folks!

All in all these changes should make fights against Soraks not necessarily much easier, but at least a little less RNG dependent. We invite you to give feedback once the Spring Update comes out to help us further fine tune them!

And what else? What else!
Ohhh plenty more, but you'll have to come back next week to know! Can't have everything be spoiled straight away :D

Alright folks, this is the end for today! Thank you for reading, and don't hesitate to drop by our Forums or our Discord Server.

 

[Whisper]

While more experience tabletop players know to conserve their resources, it's not exactly obvious for most players...

What the fuck?
Who writes this?

 

[Whisper]

The Skirmisher was a little too dangerous for its CR (1/2), especially since it was difficult to catch with its Shadow Escape power and the fact that it hid behind its beefier friends. As a consequence, we slightly lowered its AC, Dexterity Saving Throw, Attack Bonus and Damage Bonus, and its poison now deals 1d4 instead of 1d6. Its role remains to stay far and chip away the party's HP.

Sorak Warrior: Up until now, the Warrior felt like a bigger Skirmisher with very similar stats and slightly higher HP. To differentiate it from its ranged counterpart, the Sorak Warrior is now a big beefcake, with significantly more HP but less AC and a significantly weaker ranged attack (no poison). Its role is reinforced into blocking the party from reaching more juicy targets behind it, but itself will be a little less dangerous than before.

Sorak Saboteur: The Saboteur remains in its role of mobile melee damage dealer, with a nerf to their Dexterity Save which used to go through the roof and a little less poison damage (d4 instead d6) on their bite attack. It already had a fairly defined role compared to the two previous archetypes, as it trades its ranged attack with mobility, Doom Laughter and Call of the Night..

Dumbing down enemies. Why i am not surprised.

 

[V_K]

Who writes this?

 

[Bara]

Who writes this?

Dog V. Cat jokes aside god I wish that cat was rolling on the keyboard itself.

Would have been piciture perfect momemt.

 

[Myzzrym]

What the fuck?
Who writes this?

That'd be me. You'd be surprised to know most players aren't D&D veterans - and even then, some of them get surprised because "it's a video game" (+ first level outside tutorial, so some don't expect it to be that rough)

 

[HoboForEternity]

my cats hates my mechanical keyboard because it made noise if they step on it. with membrane keyboard htey don't care because it's mostly silent. another proof you can throw money to solve your life's problem.

 

[Alienman]

What the fuck?
Who writes this?

That'd be me. You'd be surprised to know most players aren't D&D veterans - and even then, some of them get surprised because "it's a video game" (+ first level outside tutorial, so some don't expect it to be that rough)

Is that the reason why we can't have good things?

 

[rojay]

What the fuck?
Who writes this?

That'd be me. You'd be surprised to know most players aren't D&D veterans - and even then, some of them get surprised because "it's a video game" (+ first level outside tutorial, so some don't expect it to be that rough)

Well done. As long as the difficulty can be adjusted to make it more challenging, this is an overall great update and I will replay the EA when it goes live.

 

[Infinitron]

https://wccftech.com/solasta-crown-of-the-magister-qa-making-dungeons-with-dd-5ths-ruleset/

Solasta: Crown of the Magister Q&A – Easily Craft Dungeons based on D&D 5th’s Ruleset



Baldur's Gate 3 is not the only D&D-based cRPG doing very well on Steam Early Access. There's also Solasta: Crown of the Magister, developed by the Paris-based studio Tactical Adventures after a successful crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter that saw €243K in pledges from backers. Solasta debuted on Steam Early Access in late October 2020 and immediately garnered acclaim from gamers, with an overall user review rating of 93%.

Later this month, the developers will release a dungeon maker tool that should greatly extend the game's replayability factor. Ahead of this tool's public release, we had the chance to speak with Tactical Adventures founder Mathieu Girard (who was a co-founder of Amplitude, the studio behind Endless Space) community lead Emile Zhang, and communications manager Pierre Worgague.

It's a lengthy chat, make no mistake, but also one that delves deep into what the dungeon maker can and cannot, at least for the time being, do.

Can you introduce yourself?

Mathieu Girard: I'm the founder and lead for everything in the studio. I've always been a big fan of D&D, and I just had this crazy idea of making a D&D video game. I really wanted to do a great tactical experience with the D&D 5th SRD. I've done many games in the past, I worked at Amplitude before, at Ubisoft, and this is the game I've wanted to do for 20, 30 years maybe. We are a small team in Paris, about 18 plus lots of great partners, but with great experience, tools, and stuff. We are very proud of what we're doing with the team we have, and it's a blast to work every day together. Even though we have the COVID, we actually have five people in the studio today, using masks when close to another. But otherwise, we will be working from home. We managed to do fine so far in the context.

How many developers do you have in total working on Solasta?

Mathieu Girard: We have 18 in the studio, and I would say maybe 10 more working on additional art, on the UI, on QA, sounds, music, etc. These are external partners with whom we have developed a long-term relationship. So I would say close to 30 in terms of the actual workforce for the project.

Can you give our readers an extended overview of Solasta and its upcoming dungeon maker tool?

Mathieu Girard: As you know, we are doing a tactical RPG with a strong adventure component. Solasta is really putting forward the combat in a tactical way. We use a lot of verticality and dynamic environment lighting because it's more interesting and because it's a way to implement 90% of the D&D 5th Edition rules in the game. It's also something we had as very positive feedback, how faithful we are to the 5th edition ruleset, spells, etc. It's a big plus of the game. We also tell the story slightly differently from other cRPGs. Instead of being the main hero with henchmen joining in progressively, you actually start Solasta by creating a full party of characters. Basically, like on a tabletop game, which is a big reference for us, you play the team instead of just being one character. Your job is to create a team of complementary characters or not (if you want to play four halfling fighters, that is perfectly possible, but you can also complement each other with different skills and abilities). The game features a single player campaign, which is already available in early access. We have about 20 hours of gameplay in the early access right now, and we are constantly adding new content.

We're not far from the end, but we cannot commit to a release date yet. But anyway, the Early Access was great; we love working with the community. We had tons of feedback on the UI, the balancing, etc. That really allowed us to perfect the game. We've been releasing updates on the early access, and we're about to release a new one this month with new content and features. The thing we're going to speak about today is the dungeon maker. Ever since Solasta was announced, we had people asking us 'Can we create our own adventures within Solasta?'. It was a very important thought because, for this kind of game, people want to recreate the tabletop experience, so we saw this through and it was complicated to give our development environment to the users. We use Unity and using that and all our tools, it's like a full-time job. It's people from the industry who can use that. But for everyone else, it would be just too hard, too frustrating, and too cumbersome to use. We let go of this and said we didn't have time and we hoped that maybe the modders could hack into the game to do it themselves. Then again, I thought maybe we could still do something. So I spent my Christmas vacation trying to find a solution, I built a quick prototype. The idea is to do a very simple editor. The big references for us are Lego. You just drag and drop bricks and connect them. Also, since the editor is inside the game, you don't have to download an SDK or texture sets or do complex scripting as everything is based on visual scripting.

Another reference could be LittleBigPlanet, where you create content inside the game instead of relying on an external tool to do so. Also, obviously, a big reference is Neverwinter Nights, which allowed users to create lots of adventures, etc. But to me, that would still be too complex to use because you have to do some scripting, etc. We wanted to start small. For now, we just have one environment, which is the Necropolis, an underground cave with tombs and stuff like that. You can also select the size of the dungeon, how many cells it has, and then you can also select your music. Then it's all about placing rooms. You have a selection of room shapes that you can place and then props which allow you to add furniture, like columns or rocks. These are not interactive. It's just for decoration, but they do block pathfinding in some situations, so you have to be careful.

And finally, you have gadgets, which are interactive components. For example, you can have a door that blocks a tool, chest. And for these gadgets, you have a simple addition system, which allows you to select parameters. So if you put a door and it's locked, how difficult is it to unlock the door for the characters. It goes the same way for monsters, in administering loot, you can select items you want to have in your chest. We do not allow you to create new items yet, but we draw on the full database of Solasta. That means the full campaign database of monsters, items, traps, etc. And then you can select it for your gadget to quickly edit something. You can add lore plates so when you step on those, it's going to display text. And we also have 3D snapshots on the left so that the user can better understand what is created without launching the game right away. In the future, we also plan to add a quick preview that shows that in 3D with lighting so that you can really quickly, without launching the game, see what your dungeon looks like in 3D.

Spoiler

Given the importance that you're placing on verticality in Solasta, will there be a way for dungeon makers to replicate some of that?

Mathieu Girard: Not yet, because I've prioritized simplicity first. When you go with a 3D editor, you're going to lose 50% of the users who can create content. We're thinking of adding some verticality props like platforms, stuff like that, or maybe rooms with gaps in it. And then again, we will be driven by the community's wishes. If they say we need to have 3D, maybe we can go, I don't know, with an isometric perspective for the dungeon maker tool. It could be like an expert mode for the dungeon maker because most people want to use 2D first.

Emile Zhang: During the Kickstarter for Solasta, we had many people asking for a dungeon maker. One of the biggest issues was that the complexity was a little bit too harsh, as Mathieu said. We actually discussed with many modders from Pathfinder Kingmaker, for example, as that game used Unity as well. At first, we wanted to give the modders some kind of advanced SDK tool that they could load into Unity and make their own dungeon using our tools. That would include the verticality you were asking about. But the problem is that it was so complex that even the modders themselves told us that this would require someone to know how to code video games, meaning that it would be too harsh of an entry barrier. That is why Mathieu prioritized making a simple tool and then working on top of it to add new features on the go, depending on what the users will ask for. For example, we already know a lot of users are asking us for a dialogue system so that NPCs can talk to us and we can add NPCs to dungeons outside from monsters. We also know that they would like a quest system so that NPCs could also give you a quest and you have specific quests in your dungeon. So maybe, as you said, the verticality will come in because it's a huge part of Solasta. We will take a look at how to include that in a simple enough manner so that it is still interesting to use it. But at the same time, it doesn't lose half of your modders when you introduce this feature.

Mathieu Girard: We have a backlog of evolutions for this tool, with lots of cool ideas. It's just a matter of how much time we have and what the community wants to do first. This is why we are going to release this dungeon maker with the next update in the early access to get early feedback and to really adapt. Do they want, above all, new environments? Like caves or forests, etc.? Or do they want new features? Specifically, that's what we want to listen to.


The updated UI for the dungeon maker tool in Solasta.

I'm wondering how much you can tweak the creatures through the dungeon maker in terms of their level, their hitpoints, stuff like that.

Mathieu Girard: For now, we reuse the contents of Solasta internally. Again, if people want to have some kind of override, we can look into it. Everything is possible in code, it's just a matter of how much time it takes.

Emile Zhang: Right now, when you create a dungeon, it's a simple JSON file, so it's super easy to share with other players. The reason for that is, as Mathieu said, we only use content from the game so people don't need to download anything additional, it will just go and seek the content of the game. As long as you have the game installed, you can quickly launch a dungeon. It's super fast to load, and it means that you can use pretty much all the game content. As you said before, some players may want in the future to take this wolf and say I want that wolf to have 27 HP instead of 22 for some reason. And for the moment, as Mathieu said, we do not support that. But what we have seen already during the early access of Solasta is that players have been able to mod the game and add new classes, new feats.

I wouldn't be surprised if some will add new monsters, or tweak monsters, or even add new items. And that's also something that some people have asked, whether they can put their homebrew magic items in their dungeons. Can they do that? Officially, no, but using mods, maybe. Again, we're not making any promise because we're not the one making the mods, the modders are, but considering what we've already seen, it wouldn't be too surprising. Maybe there's a future where modders have a tool that can just tack on Solasta and then be able to not only make the dungeons with our tool but on top of that, with their own mods, be able to add custom monsters or custom items. But again, that would imply that anyone playing the dungeon would also have the same mods as they do. So it's the same as with games that have multiplayer with mods. Usually, if you want to be on the same server and have everything work, everyone needs to have the same mods, which is a little bit complex. But you know, maybe it's a possibility. And like Mathieu said, maybe we even will add that in the future ourselves. It depends on what the players actually asked for.

Note that as we said before, the main game is still our number one priority, so for launch, we will have the dungeon maker available in a beta state, but post-launch we do plan to add a lot of new features to the dungeon maker (provided that people actually use it, of course).

Mathieu Girard: What's interesting is that we have exit points we can place in a dungeon. Instead of going back to the menu, you can specify another user location, another JSON file, and then it's going to load another dungeon. With this system, it's possible to make your 20-levels dungeon with different challenges and monsters. Right now we have just the Necropolis, but once we add different environments, you can simulate a castle with its basement and catacombs and Necropolis, etc.

Basically like an endless dungeon.


Emile Zhang: Yes. And on top of that, because it's so simple right now, you can easily also collaborate with other players to make different maps that are then linked together. You can even make mazes if you want to, with dead ends and the like, by telling the game that this entrance goes to that map into that entrance, so that it's not just one exit, one entrance every time. It just means you can create as many as you want and have puzzles like that.

As a D&D fan myself, I'm currently playing a 5th Edition campaign with friends...

Mathieu Girard: Which campaign is it, homebrew or an official one?

Homebrew! I gotta ask if you have thought of possibly adding a Dungeon Master-like mode, which would allow even other players to play together cooperatively.

Mathieu Girard: It's in the backlog. But again, priorities, but yes, it would be cool. I've seen in the past that it's difficult to make such a tool because from our experience on tabletop, sometimes a DM can just explain the situation in a sentence. And when you actually have to react in a video game to place all the monsters, then the traps, and then you're like 'I have to set up everything, just stand by and wait for it'. It can be tricky. I suppose with this kind of tool, if the DM is present, he could speak to the other players and tell them what's going on on top of what is inside of the game. And maybe spawning a few more monsters. It's a possibility. But I would be careful because it's not the same dynamics while being a DM on tabletop, but it's possible. The only issue is that for this, we would need the multiplayer. And yes, it's in the backlog again, maybe possibly in the future. At first, we let go multiplayer for the main campaign of Solasta. And now that we have this tool, people ask us 'Oh, it would be great in cooperative!' Yes. Obviously, it would be great. But it's just too much of a task for the main release, but we're not ruling it out in post-launch to see if it's possible to add multiplayer to the game.


The updated UI for the dungeon maker tool in Solasta.

Are you planning to launch Solasta within the year?

Pierre Worgague: We haven't announced the release date yet, so it's a bit too soon to answer. But what we can already tell you is, since the Kickstarter campaign, we made a promise to stick to the release year. Kickstarter had us input a month next to it, and we couldn't commit to any month, but we wanted to release in 2021. And we put January just for the sake of inputting a month, but it was only theoretical at this point. We made sure to uphold our premise for the early access, which we did right on time when we announced it. So we will stick to 2021, and we hope to be able to confirm the final date soon.

Emile Zhang: As for the dungeon maker, as Mathieu said at the beginning, we do plan to have an update soon in March to actually give the tool in the hands of the players so that they can give us more feedback. This update that will be coming in March, which we call the Spring update, will also have more than just the dungeon maker. We have actually planned quite a large update with a level cap increase from level six to level eight, as well as multiple side quests and background quests, which were absent in the previous version. We will also be adding new feats that players have been asking because the martial classes felt a little bit underloved compared to the wizards and all the spellcasters. So lots of things coming up in this spring update. Not the least the dungeon maker, of course, which will be fully functional, although like we said, it's still like an Alpha right now with only one environment.

Did you think about possibly adding controller support at some point?

Mathieu Girard: It's something we're thinking about, but we're not committing yet to saying if it's going to be present, but we're looking into it.

Okay. If that happened, would it also make a console release of Solasta more likely?

Mathieu Girard: Well, I think Solasta is a great game. So obviously, the more people can play it, the better. But again, we're a small studio that has to prioritize correctly what we want to do first. But yeah, it's definitely something to think about. But we cannot commit yet to say we're going to do it. We need to focus on our main platform first, PC.

There is also another big cRPG based on D&D, which is currently in early access. And there are actually other Dungeons and Dragons games in development. Just this morning, I wrote about a triple-A open world RPG that is apparently coming from Hidden Path. How do you feel about the resurgence of D&D in gaming?

Mathieu Girard: I think it's great. It's a huge franchise and license, so I guess it can have different forms of expression. And we're different than those games; they shine differently. I don't think we have to be trouble or shame because I guess there's a market big enough to have different forms of games based on this.

Emile Zhang: Just to go back on that, to be honest, at least in the studio, we all grew up on those games, Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, for Mathieu even going back to Gold Box; I was a little bit too young for that. Seeing a resurgence of D&D and cRPGs in general is super exciting. Also, as Mathieu said, I think we have a lot of differences between the different games. Pathfinder could exist when Divinity existed. We do focus on different things. Solasta is much more focused on the combat, tactical and rule aspects of D&D 5. Whereas Baldur's Gate 3, for example, is a lot more narrative and it's super great at doing that. We don't plan to tackle them on that end, that's for sure. Different experiences for different people, I am sure we have a lot of fans who love both; we know we do.

You also have your own original setting, whereas BG3 is based on Forgotten Realms. Speaking of that, I've seen a few of your subclasses uploaded on the D&D Beyond database. Is there going to be any more of that?

Emile Zhang: For D&D Beyond, we have to be careful because for anything that touches D&D, we always are in discussion with Wizards of the Coast. Right now, we are using Solasta as a separate setting. But we do love D&D as a whole, so who knows. We cannot promise anything about D&D beyond, but I would love to do more.

How is your relationship with Wizards of the Coast? Is it easygoing?

Mathieu Girard: It's good. Well, we have a licensing deal with them, so we have an official business relationship. And they supported us for the early access, so it's good. We use the SRD, the 5th Edition ruleset, not the full D&D universe. It was for us an opportunity actually to create classes and ancestries which are reminiscent of Solasta. So in a way, using D&D 5th's SRD is an interesting initiative to actually create content that is more adapted to the world we've created. We have some Paladin classes, which are more adapted to combat shapeshifters, for example. Again, it was interesting to have this ruleset because it allows us to be more creative on the universe creation system.

Is there anything you'd like to add to the community of Solasta?

Mathieu Girard: We're super happy with the feedback we got from the video showing the dungeon maker, and we can't wait to get feedback from a vast number of people once it's out.

Thank you for your time.

 

[Whisper]

What the fuck?
Who writes this?

That'd be me. You'd be surprised to know most players aren't D&D veterans - and even then, some of them get surprised because "it's a video game" (+ first level outside tutorial, so some don't expect it to be that rough)

Fair enough.

Lets hope devs will add Unfair/Impossible difficulty to challenge veterans.

 

[V_K]

Lets hope devs will add Unfair/Impossible difficulty to challenge veterans.

Have you missed the update about difficulty settings?

Scavenger Mode will go beyond, making monsters slighter tougher... but much more vicious! At that level of difficulty, monsters will start attacking unconscious characters to finish them off, try to shove characters off cliffs and use powerful moves more frequently (still within the ruleset limits though).

Cataclysm Mode is there for those who've played the game in and out and are looking for the ultimate challenge. Monsters at this stage are not only vicious, they are also incredibly beefed up - on top of which your party will receive 50% more damage from any source. Prepare to die... A LOT.

 

[Delterius]

so is this game gonna be good

 

[The_Mask]

https://steamcommunity.com/games/1096530/announcements/detail/6347233667623042719

Spring Update planned for March 25th!
Hey there folks,


We know you're eager to have a go at Solasta's Spring Update, so we're just going to come clean with the date. You'll be able to enjoy everything we've been talking about the last few weeks on Thursday March 25th - including the brand new Dungeon Maker. Alright, now for more information about this upcoming patch...

Home office perk: Warming your lap with cats. Provides heating and relaxation!


Spring Update Community Stream
As per usual,
we'll be hosting a stream on Twitch to accompany the update
. Join us on the day before the patch,
Wednesday March 24th, at 9 am PDT / 12 pm EDT / 5 pm CET
to discover the new content at our side and ask us any question you can think of! The participants this time will be Mathieu, Creative Director, Xavier, Gameplay Director, Pierre, Marketing Director and myself Emile, Community Lead.
Make sure to follow us on Twitch so that you don't miss the stream!

Spoiler

We'll mostly be playing around with the Dungeon Maker and show a few sidequests, then we'll be taking requests!


Reminder: Save Files Compatibility!
As stated in the previous update, we want to remind everyone that
save files will become
incompatible
with the Spring Update, so you'll have to start fresh! For those who want to finish their current run,
we will put the previous version of the game (January Update) on a separate Steam branch
so that you can keep playing if you want to.

Background Quests
In this Spring Update, we'll be solidifying and enlarging the foundations of the house rather than building a new floor. For those who aren't used to having bards or pompous wizards in their party, that meant
we won't be adding new quests to the main campaign in this update
, to avoid spoiling too much of the story before the release of the full game.

... Well, truth be told we are adding a bit more to the main campaign:
you'll now be able to come back from the Wizard's Tower
and talk to the Council at Caer Cyflen, after which if you try to continue the main storyline you'll meet the End of Early Access message. But this time, it won't send you to the main menu -
you'll be free to explore the world and take on side quests
! Indeed, you will no longer be limited to the main story quests, with the addition of
8 backgrounds quests
which will give you a little more insight about the past of your party members, depending on the backgrounds you picked during Character Creation.
Those quests are fully fleshed out with dialogs and new locations
, and will be available at different times.

The Aristocrat Quest will drag you into a little conflict about inheritance, but not everyone will play fair...

• Acolyte
  : Unlocks after talking to the council once back from the
  Wizard's Tower
  , provided the party picked up
  Emzra's Journal
  when visiting the ruined Monastery
• Aristocrat
  : Unlocks after talking to the council once back from the
  Wizard's Tower
• Academic
  : Unlocks after talking to the council once back from
  Tower of Magic
• Lawkeeper
  : Unlocks after talking to the council once back from the
  Wizard's Tower
• Lowlife
  : Unlocks after talking to the council once back from
  Caer Lem
• Philosopher
  : Unlocks after talking to the council once back from the
  Wizard's Tower
• Sellsword
  : Unlocks after talking to the council once back from the
  Wizard's Tower
• Spy
  : Unlocks after talking to the council once back from the
  Wizard's Tower

The Lowlife Quest will make use of your former connections to find something that was stolen, though you might run into a bit of trouble too...


Note that the background quests are not equal in difficulty
(some unlock much earlier than others) -
and may be challenging if tackled immediately when unlocked!
We still need to polish the difficulty there, so
we're looking forward to your feedback on these newly added background quests
. Also, for those who may not remember the Wizard's Tower is the location that previously marked the end of the Early Access.

Adventuring Board
The Background Quests isn't the only thing that will make you squeeze more hours out of Solasta (well, aside from the Dungeon Maker and the custom dungeons people will be making).
We now have an Adventuring Board where you can take a break from saving the world and get to help the local populace!
These small quests will encourage you to go back to previously visited locations and will feature new encounters. Now don't worry - while these quests will help you get some more experience and items, you can absolutely focus on the main campaign and forget about them if that's not your thing.

I get to slay more monsters AND I get paid for it? I love this job.

Caer Lem after the outpost has been re-established and (tentatively) repared


Let's Talk Difficulty
Are you scared that all of these changes we previously talked about will be making the game too easy? My oh my, don't be. First of all, remember that
we're adding
difficulty settings
in this update
- meaning that if you find the game too simple, don't hesitate to crank up a few notches.

You can find Difficulty Settings in the "Game" Tab when changing the settings


Second, keep in mind
we still need to do a final balance pass before the full release of the game
- so some encounters that you consider too easy or too hard may very well be different when 1.0 hits the store, nothing is set in stone. While some fights may be easy on purpose (for story reasons or simply because we know the next long rest is still quite far away), some simply haven't been revisited yet by the design team.

Third...
Some bosses will now have access to legendary actions
. For those who may not be familiar with the tabletop ruleset, some powerful creatures have access to legendary actions which allow them to act outside of their turn - usually right after a party member acts.
In the Early Access, the two bosses with legendary actions are Aksha and Razvan
- you will need to tackle these fights with care or you'll regret it!

Aksha using a Legendary Action to cast Dark Veil outside her own turn


Remember that you can change the
different difficulty sliders
(not just the preset) at any time, even during combat
. If an encounter is particularly tough, don't hesitate to tune down a few difficulty options and revert them to normal after the fight is over.
Note: Currently all the settings, including difficulty ones as you can change them at any time, are saved game-wide.
This means if you set your game difficulty to "Scavenger" and load a save, you will still be in "Scavenger" difficulty regardless of what the difficulty setting was when you made that save.

You can change a whole lot of things, including attack modifiers if you feel like it's too hard to hit your foes


Preserve Random Seed - Changing the Timeline
In this update,
we have decided to turn "Preserve Random Seed" off by default
when launching Solasta for the first time (it used to be on by default). Too many players were unaware of this being an option and were struggling in some encounters where they had a really rough start, making them think the RNG gods were dancing on their grave by forcing them to roll poorly.

For some who may not understand what "Preserve Random Seed" did, think of it like time travel
. When activated, you stay in the same timeline: If you look through the window and see a bird landing on a branch, then go back in time and look through the window again, you'll see the same bird landing on that same branch at the same moment. However when deactivated, you go into a different timeline every time you load - whenever you'll look through the window, the bird may not land on the same branch, it may be a different bird, or there might be no bird whatsoever.
To go back to Solasta: with "Preserve Random Seed" on, if you roll 5 on your attack roll and reload, you'll roll 5 again on that same attack every time (the timeline remains the same). With "Preserve Random Seed" off, you may roll a 12 after reloading, or 18, or 2, or even 5 again.

This is where you can find Preserve Random Seed in the option menu


This means before the patch, some unlucky players ended up with terrible rolls on their first round and had one character die straight away, making them reload and... see the same things happening again. Now with the option off by default, this will no longer be the case.
You might wonder, why was it on by default in the first place? Well, almost all tacticals - such as XCOM, or Final Fantasy Tactics - preserve random seed
. There are multiple of reasons why. For instance, it encourages players to not reload every time they have a bad roll (since the player knows they can't get out of it), saving time in the long run and making them play with the consequences of their action. It also encourages the player to change their approach instead of brute forcing the save/reload option for better rolls - if a frontal confrontation doesn't work out, maybe it's time to use the dodge action on that frontline fighter and not just keep pressing that attack button, or cast Shield of Faith for more AC instead of Guiding Bolt for more damage.

That being said, we also understand that most RPGs don't have the issues it brings up - and Solasta is a Tactical RPG, not just a tactical
, which is why we've decided to turn that option off by default.
We invite everyone to give your feedback on that decision, as our hearts still waver between the two options for the full release
- both having strong arguments for and against.
Note that "Preserve Random Seed" will always be available in the game settings, we're just talking about the default setting of that option.


Bug Fixes for Everyone!
As usual when we release a large patch, it will be full of bug fixes!
Things like Rangers and Paladins not being able to use scrolls, fear and paralysis not allowing you to roll a saving throw at the end of each turn or the game sending the cleric instead of the rogue to disarm traps should now hopefully be a thing of the past. Clear the way old bugs, and make way for new bugs that the Spring Update will bring - hopefully smaller and less annoying ones though.

Achievements Incoming (WIP)
Some of you may have noticed a lone hidden achievement popping up a few weeks ago on Solasta. That was us testing around to make sure the system was working properly (unfortunately, Steam achievements can only be tested live). Now, you can probably imagine what's coming next!

We're still missing the icons for now, but don't worry everything will be ready by the time we release the full game!


Achievements, that's what! Yes that was quite obvious, I know.
The entire list of achievements will be coming to Steam and GOG in the Spring Update
, although they are still being worked on -
the icons and localization are still missing for now, though they are still 100% functional
(meaning you can unlock them normally). Note that not all achievements can be... well... achieved, due to the fact that some require you to complete quests that are not available in the Early Access version of Solasta, so you'll have to wait until the full launch to get these ones. Regardless, have fun hunting them down!

Spring Update Discount & Price Increase
Solasta will be discounted
when the Spring Update hits the store on March 25th until March 31st, after which the price of the game will increase from $35 to $40 in anticipation of the 1.0 release.
This is due to the fact that Steam prevents games from discounting within 30 days of a price increase, so we unfortunately cannot increase the price when 1.0 gets released while also having a launch discount. So if you want to jump in Solasta at Early Access price, make sure you don't miss the Spring Update sales!

Alright folks, this is the end for today! See you on March 25th - or 24th if you're joining our Dev Stream.
Thank you for reading, and don't hesitate to drop by our Forums or our Discord Server.

 

[The_Mask]

so is this game gonna be good

If they focus on polishing, and release this with as less bugs as possible (first impressions are important), then it has the potential to become one of the better RPGs in years.

 

[Acrux]

I've had this on my radar for a bit, but I've become skeptical about most new games. I'm very familiar with 3.5/Pathfinder, but don't know much at all about 5E.

Is there much flexibility in character creation? Or are there pretty standard builds for each class? For instance, it looks like you can't do STR-based backstabbing, correct? If so, too bad - I liked to do low DEX, high STR rogues with axes.
How good are Paladin and Ranger classes? Paladin was always a worse cleric in 3.5, Pathfinder greatly improved it, but from a brief overview it looks like 5E paladins aren't great.
How are things like itemization?
It looks like there's a small modding community already, which is a good sign. Anything that stands out there?

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

Acrux 5E character building is like having 2E classes and archetypes, but with customization options of feats and stat improvements. Many remark that it is the better of both. Multiclassing is possible in 5E, but not implemented in Solasta (yet). Honestly, outside of a few things, it's probably not worth it anyway. Archetypes will give you any major flavor of a class/build you want. The Paladin is pretty cool in 5E and in general, better. Rangers are widely regarded as, "meh", but I think they're just fine. Rangers never held any appeal for me in any edition though, so you may want a second opinion. Items in 5E are much less common and less bloated. Many of the more powerful items require being bonded, of which you can only typically have 3. Charged items like wands are way better.

Thus far, Solasta has a great deal of promise. I doubt it will be the greatest D&D game ever made, but a worthy heir to ToEE it may be. The archetypes in this will be homebrew and not PHB, so tastes will vary. Same applies to the setting. Still, there is alot to be encouraged about.

 

[Bara]

So there will be a steam workshop for the dungeon maker but we'll be able to upload files to other websites to download custom dungeons (if you got/get the game on gog)

Originally posted by TZODnmr2K5:
I'm glad to see this, but please don't lock it as an exclusive workshop modding tool as there are people that will be buying this/have bought it via GoG...

If you're not going to lock it behind a workshop wall, then please disregard this post!

The Dungeon Maker is available inside the main game, so you have access to it even if you're on GOG.

The only thing is that GOG doesn't have a workshop, so you'll have to download / upload custom maps manually instead of using the Steam Workshop

Hopefully http://steamworkshop.download/ will work for this games workshop like it does for the Shadowrun series to pull mods off there and just drag and drop them directly into your files. I think devs have to do something on their end to allow the downloader to work?

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.pcgamesn.com/solasta-crown-of-the-magister/dnd-dungeon-maker

Solasta’s new dungeon creator is D&D meets Mario Maker
Solasta's upcoming Spring update lets you create a nightmarish gauntlet for your party to beat

Solasta: Crown of the Magister, a turn-based RPG that faithfully interprets fifth edition Dungeons and Dragons tabletop rules, takes another large step in its journey towards full release with its big Spring update. Set to arrive on March 25, the update promises a smattering of new quests and quality of life improvements, but its main feature is the addition of the Dungeon Maker.

“A lot of people were asking about modding and if they could make new dungeons and maps,” Emile Zhang, community lead at Tactical Adventures, explains during a demo of the new mode. Studio head Mathieu Girard and his team were interested in the idea, but the Unity-based internal tools they use to create dungeons in Solasta were too complicated to just hand over and expect the community to have a good experience with. And according to some top modders the team was in contact with, if the tools were too complex they would just ignore them anyway.

So Tactical Adventures opted to build a dungeon design experience that everyone could participate in, not just modders. The mode the team came up with has a lot in common with Mario Maker, but with more deadly spiders and skeletons.

Players start with a blank 2D grid that they can drag and drop rooms onto, connecting them like Lego bricks. The rooms themselves have predetermined shapes and sizes, and can be placed pre-furnished with obstacles and objects, or left empty. From there, you can fill the room with loot-loaded chests, deadly traps, monsters for your party to slay, and interactive objects to dispense snippets of lore. Voila! You have yourself a playable dungeon.



Only the necropolis tile set will be available when the update drops on March 25, but the plan is to add every biome, object, monster, item, and spell or ability that exists in the full game as an option for your custom dungeons. Eventually, you’ll be able to adjust how difficult locks are to pick, how much damage a trap does, and how strong an item is. However, creating custom assets is currently off the table.

“We wanted to create something very simple to use that’s inside the game,” Girard says, noting that letting creators develop their own textures, objects, and environments out of the gate would complicate that goal. That doesn’t necessarily stop modders from taking on the challenge solo, but Tactical Adventures recognises that the two can coexist.

One of the benefits of using objects that are already in the game is that sharing these creations between players is a cinch. Everything is saved in a JSON file, a common text document that’s compatible with a bunch of different programming languages. These file types also have super small file sizes, and reference objects that exist in the game already, meaning you don’t need to accompany these files with any additional assets. “You can even edit the file yourself if you want,” says Girard, “if you’re brave enough to create a dungeon just by editing text.”

It’s tempting to view this as a first step towards a more comprehensive game master [GM] mode, where Solasta could act as a medium to run actual fifth edition D&D games through. Girard, a pen and paper tabletop GM himself, insists that the Solasta available at launch won’t be an appropriate resource for that kind of play. “Our specialty is making video games, not tabletop tools,” says Girard, “I can see the temptation. I mean, Solasta is a very accurate simulation of 5E rules.” But ultimately, it’s not a focus of the team at the moment.

The dungeon creator isn’t the only shiny new thing arriving with the Spring update. While the main story mode is on hiatus until the 1.0 build of the game launches, the Spring update adds a dragon’s hoard of side quests for players to explore. This will include the long-awaited background quests, which are side stories that will help fill out the mandatory backgrounds you assign to characters during character creation.

Difficulty sliders and gameplay tweaks are also inbound. Lots of individual sliders and checkboxes have been added to play with the moment to moment experience. You can adjust enemy AI to make them more aggressive or reel in their ferocity so they don’t continue to attack unconscious allies.



One of my favourite additions is ‘karmic dice’, which lets the algorithm step in and make sure you don’t roll poorly too many times in a row. These all help bring the freedom of pen and paper D&D to Solasta, mimicking the kind of house-ruling that many game groups do to trim the small features of the game that can impede enjoyment.

The Spring update boldens the line connecting the tactical RPG and Dungeons and Dragons, adding an accessible dungeon creator and a slew of difficulty settings and options for players to mess around with. Solasta: Crown of the Magister continues to be one of the best translations of the tabletop game to date.

 

[nyjsu]

I've had this on my radar for a bit, but I've become skeptical about most new games. I'm very familiar with 3.5/Pathfinder, but don't know much at all about 5E.

Is there much flexibility in character creation? Or are there pretty standard builds for each class? For instance, it looks like you can't do STR-based backstabbing, correct? If so, too bad - I liked to do low DEX, high STR rogues with axes.
How good are Paladin and Ranger classes? Paladin was always a worse cleric in 3.5, Pathfinder greatly improved it, but from a brief overview it looks like 5E paladins aren't great.
How are things like itemization?
It looks like there's a small modding community already, which is a good sign. Anything that stands out there?

I haven't played Solasta yet, but in 5e rogue's sneak attack can be used with strength as long as the weapon you are using has the finesse property. It doesn't mean you have to you use dexterity to attack. Unfortunately there's no finesse axes RAW in the game.

 

[Lacrymas]

I've had this on my radar for a bit, but I've become skeptical about most new games. I'm very familiar with 3.5/Pathfinder, but don't know much at all about 5E.

Is there much flexibility in character creation? Or are there pretty standard builds for each class? For instance, it looks like you can't do STR-based backstabbing, correct? If so, too bad - I liked to do low DEX, high STR rogues with axes.
How good are Paladin and Ranger classes? Paladin was always a worse cleric in 3.5, Pathfinder greatly improved it, but from a brief overview it looks like 5E paladins aren't great.
How are things like itemization?
It looks like there's a small modding community already, which is a good sign. Anything that stands out there?

You can do STR-based Rogues, but back-stabbing relies on a weapon having the Finesse property. I'm not 100% sure, but I think there's a feat which allows you to backstab with any (one-handed?) weapon. Build options are pretty varied now, especially now that Xanathar and Tasha are out. Paladins are better Clerics now imo.

 

[NJClaw]

Don't really care about the stream, but there's a 20 minutes catcam at the beginning

 

[Lacrymas]

Yay, kitty!

 

[deuxhero]

I've had this on my radar for a bit, but I've become skeptical about most new games. I'm very familiar with 3.5/Pathfinder, but don't know much at all about 5E.

Is there much flexibility in character creation? Or are there pretty standard builds for each class? For instance, it looks like you can't do STR-based backstabbing, correct? If so, too bad - I liked to do low DEX, high STR rogues with axes.
How good are Paladin and Ranger classes? Paladin was always a worse cleric in 3.5, Pathfinder greatly improved it, but from a brief overview it looks like 5E paladins aren't great.
How are things like itemization?
It looks like there's a small modding community already, which is a good sign. Anything that stands out there?

"Is there much flexibility in character creation? Or are there pretty standard builds for each class?"
You get to decide a character's race, class, background, and attribute scores, then at a later but early level you get to add a subclass. That's it for non-casters, and all most casters get spells known (Warlock and Artificer get their pick of talents). Due to how attribute setup is done (can't raise above a 15 before racial bonus at character creation, half your bonuses ever come from high attributes), that's even less flexible than it sounds, because making a character who doesn't get a bonus to their main attribute means your character is shit out of the gate and can't become not shit till double digit levels. There's "optional" rules for multiclassing and feats at higher levels, but feats are either horrible (since you have to give up advancing your attributes entirely for most feats) or OP.

Ranger is known as the worst class in 5E. WotC was going to fix it, but abandoned it because that's too much work and decide to make SJW pandering shit instead. Paladin is OK, and stupidly busted when multiclassed with Sorcerer due to how smite is handled (smite is fueled by spell slots, and sorcadin gets a ton of them while retaining charisma based nature), but this game has neither multiclassing nor sorcerers yet.

Itemization in 5E is horrible. Every single item past the most mundane is "LOL GM Fiat" with no way for a player to obtain them if you're not playing in Eberron (where you can actually buy the most common items and the Artificer class lets you make a small selection of items in exchange for class resources), and the bonded accuracy retardation means the items that give raw pluses are by far the most useful.