Indie Urtuk: The Desolation - open-world dark fantasy turn-based RPG

[Reinhardt]

Alcohol IS medicine!

 

[MadSheepStudios]

Hi guys,

we have listen to your feedback, and working hard on improvements and additions. Please feel free to download the latest 'beta build' and try it out!
This build features combat & campaign features, and is playable from start until end.

build available - v0.83.00 (download link: https://mega.nz/#F!9wRFSCaT!TF57BNnJqyeTvGaZvCVDgA )

- lots of visuals additions and improvements (battlefield & world map)
- during deploy you can now move camera with keys
- added plenty of new quests/battle objectives
- added about 20 new premade (handcrafted) maps
- added 'missions' for idle characters. For now only 2 - scavenge and training
- many balances, tweaks and bug fixes, along with QoL features
- projectile calculation update - your ranged char. can now fire without penalty right behind ally
- more statistics
- auto sorting in party screen for those in-battle
- "shield ally" effect wears now off when shielder gets his turn and is not dependent on target anymore (this
caused a lot of confussion)
- reworked how Aldehyde on enemies work - now after battle you get always 40x life essence into your resources pool and for each aldehyded enemy
you can use life essence to extract traits and (new!) also his focus ability
- added new mutator slot for member in party screen. This slot is specific for 'focus ability mutators' only.
- sounds updates - each 'creature family' got own voice & sounds!
- added new missions - cure Vampirism & Werebeastism (but needs a special character with 'Healer perk' - found in some quests)
- legendary items do not overwrite focus ability. They only add trait like before. I wanted to separate those additions from each other
- visuals on battlefield enhancements (characters, effects, environment, ..)
- added new StrongVS traits, special traits, new quests
- lots of balancing & tweaking
- difficulty setting name changed. The level is still the same, just the names were changed (nobody likes to play on 'easy', right?)
- many bug fixes

The improved graphics can be seen here:

Donwload from here:
https://mega.nz/#F!9wRFSCaT!TF57BNnJqyeTvGaZvCVDgA

If you have any suggestions, tips or you would like share your feedback, please join us on Discord

See you then!

 

[Darth Canoli]

Now everything is on its way, you could add some fun parts, a "jump from above splitting you in two" skill would be nice, instead of having to run around for 2/3 turns, even if the attacker takes some damage in the process (if it's too high)

 

[MadSheepStudios]

We have already a 'Mansplitter skill' - it almost cuts you in half

 

[Darth Canoli]

I launched v 0.83.02 in adventure mode.

Only played for 3 battles but the feeling is overall very good.

+ Missions difficulty ratings : very good idea
+ Rumors on the map as well as on the rumors board : very good idea too
+ Difficulty is what i would expect (adventure is the medium difficulty out of 3)

On the down side

--- Werebeast infection got out of hand*
I really enjoyed the first version where you could get murderous monsters mercenaries and the related quests.

What happened :

Spoiler

*This werebeast infection spreading on a single wound is a mistake (got 3 infected out of 4 characters; +1 whom joined after the fight, not infected)

So, after the fight 3/5 guys are infected
Two moves later, they all decide to try their murderous talents all at once
Of course, they only attack the not infected ones
Meaning, 2 targets got wounded and then one of them gets wounded again and dies (permadeath)
First, they shouldn't all attack at the same time, even if they were infected simultaneously, then, they should have something like 30% chances to hit

Idealy, you could get rid of it altogether and roll back to the murderous monster mercenary, it was way more fun, this is just a mandatory roll back to the last save or start over.

Werebeast thing excepted, it's very good, right now, you don't have a choice but to avoid them.

 

[MadSheepStudios]

thanks!
The werebeast infection rate is right now 25% per hit ... ok maybe I should lower it to 10% ..
You're right with the 'bloodthirst' - they will attack at same time your party members - if they are out of 'flesh' resource .. so you can avoid it alltoghther if you have enough flesh.
You can also heal the 'Werebeastism' - you have to find an 'priest-healer' prisoner (you'll find out in rumors) and free him - then he will unlock a special mission for the infected ones. He is also able to cure Vampirism.

Also, when all party is werebeasts - I still need to figure out how they will behave if the're out of flesh

 

[Darth Canoli]

I'm quite sure they were all infected on the first hit, maybe a string of bad luck, 10% seems better indeed.

Of course i was out of flesh, it was just the beginning and we start with none.
Well, right now, this feature isn't fun at all, let's see how it works at 10% ...

 

[MadSheepStudios]

I've already removed the generation of 'hard' quests (like this or vampires) for normal/easy difficulty when player just starts the game in first zone, so that should help.
The other thing is that the werebeasts are actually quite powerful when in beast form..

 

[Darth Canoli]

Also, is the game only going to work with 1 quick save ?
It doesn't help with the testing because dead ends like this mean fresh start.

 

[MadSheepStudios]

No, I'll add 'save slots' or something similar.

 

[Darth Canoli]

Fired it up again.
A bad world map without enough rescue quests can fuck you up real good, you should think about handcrafting a couple of them for the release, like 5-10 per area so you get the better of both systems : different world maps each play-through but good handcrafted ones.

Didn't mention it but the 4th item slot for focus skills which aren't tied to weapons is a great upgrade, thanks for that.

Do you have enough feedback overall ? Because i'm a seasoned T-RPG player (i played all the classics and more) and i find you game not challenging but very unfair, either you get a good map, you have plenty of recruits and easy missions to build your team or you just die.
If you're aiming for the rogue-like audience, well, maybe it'll work, it's not my thing so i wouldn't know but i'm not sure you're playing it right for the tactical players base.

And if you're aiming for the Darkest Dungeons base, recruiting is cheap there and the game is really easy in comparison (and the intro ambient thing did the job).

If you're aiming for the Battle Brothers audience, they have an extremely solid battle system with difficulty increasing over time, a huge bestiary (which you have not) and an open world with a good exploration system (same)

So, no offense intended, your battle system is solid but i'm not sure about everything else, i hope you have a plan and also a marketing plan once everything falls into place.

 

[MadSheepStudios]

thanks,
as for the world - my current priority is to actually bring more quests/map-objectives where you can get new hires/recruits - so I am aware of this. Also I constantly balance things in game so it's a daily iteration.
As for battle maps - I have handcrafted some (now about 20, more coming in), and the points about challenging vs unfairness - this is something I optimize/work on..

Did you manage to come to third zone? When you do, the things with the party members even out as at that time you should have enough members to choose from.
Just the 1st zone is something we need to balance out. I am updating the builds weekly, and in every new build there are tons of updates, new features and balances/tweaks. So hopefully I'll get there (soon?).

 

[Abu Antar]

 

[MadSheepStudios]

Hi guys!

we want to push the updates every two weeks, so here we are at the new build - 0.84.00

- removed items upgrading from metal (I found it too simple, and not even fun, besides you always got better gear from loots)
- in 5th zone - added the final node "Ancient city" which ends the game. In future, there will be quests associated with further
progress when reaching Ancient city
- for easy/normal difficulties added 'easying missions': when you start new campaign you'll find those at the start location
-> it should help you find new recruits quicklier and the missions are rated 'easy'
- added normal save/load options (the quick-save/quick-load still exist)
- you can now rename your party members
- replaced placehodler assets with new visuals for 3rd zone (Undergrounds)
- added Fog of War
- reduced threat from Karwla - now they spawn much later in a zone. I want to give player more freedom and time to explore.
- added music tracks for campaign & battles.
Now only few, more coming in future!
We might also replace the current ones, let's see if it's not too annoying.
- new quests, traits, abilities, lots of balances, improvements and tweaks

Download here (win, mac, linux):
https://mega.nz/#F!9wRFSCaT!TF57BNnJqyeTvGaZvCVDgA

 

[MadSheepStudios]

Alternative download link:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wj2u5dn1cmw2oje/AADNrqq5ROvn772NH1EyadaIa?dl=0

 

[Darth Canoli]

Thanks for adding a saving system.

There's a bug, through, when naming the second save (first one works perfectly), the first letter is repeated probably until character cap, didn't try to validate.

 

[MadSheepStudios]

Thanks for adding a saving system.

There's a bug, through, when naming the second save (first one works perfectly), the first letter is repeated probably until character cap, didn't try to validate.

You mean the letter gets automatically repeated, like you would keep pressing a key on keyboard?

 

[Darth Canoli]

Exactly.

Some random thoughts :

• Save the villagers missions are nearly impossible now the monster has 2 acolytes (impossible to save any, or maybe just one if being very lucky), specially since they OS all of them, would be interesting to give them more HP (maybe to sustain 2 hits or one crit) or to start closer to them
• Defend merchant missions seems far too easy now they have 3/4 bodyguards, they're supposed to be overrun and yet between the numbers being almost even plus the traps and layout, feels like they could win all by themselves (could use less bodyguards like 1/2 and starting closer again)

 

[MadSheepStudios]

Thanks for tips - ok I'll try to balance these missions better out.
And as for the keyboard bug - I am really unable to replicate this issue

 

[Darth Canoli]

Weird, well, i played on normal, made a normal save first, then a quicksave then went for a second normal save.

Forgot to mention this :

I'd be nice to have more spawning tiles than soldiers, like 2/3 more and maybe to have some options to spawn a couple of guys closer to the action

 

[Darth Canoli]

Exactly.

• Defend merchant missions seems far too easy now they have 3/4 bodyguards, they're supposed to be overrun and yet between the numbers being almost even plus the traps and layout, feels like they could win all by themselves (could use less bodyguards like 1/2 and starting closer again)

It only applies to the first area, they're actually in danger in the second one and probably onward.

Managed to make the second save work, not sure how, then it did it again for the third save which i named 22222222222222 and renamed it "swamp" later in the game directory without any issues when reloading.

The bloodknight is extremely powerful with (even without) his mansplitter skill, he's my only cc damage dealer and it works just fine :
- Crossbow (main char)
- Bloodknight
- Spearman (trying to replace him by a Warmonk for now, i'm not sure)
- Knight (Makes the bloodknight invincible in tandem with the priest)
- Javelinman
- Priest

The two ranged units are real beasts, it's a bit more difficult to use the crossbow but when you get it and with his new skill, it's just insane, most of the time, i'm just trying to avoid their support strike or they get all the kills.

Never tried the assassin extensively, he looks powerful but having to backstab makes him too exposed.

I tried the Berserker extensively in earlier builds and he's good but crippled by the fatigue system.

The Warmonk was great too (earlier build as well) except in the third area where he's basically useless.

My point being the dream team seems to be Bloodknight, Priest, Javelin, Crossbow and Knight (protector), last one isn't really important, maybe a good spot for a vampire or a werebeast.

 

[luj1]

Here's a honest question, why should I play this over Battle Brothers? What does your game have to offer that's unique or done better?

 

[MadSheepStudios]

Here's a honest question, why should I play this over Battle Brothers? What does your game have to offer that's unique or done better?

nobody forces you to play Urtuk or just another game. Why would you even compare this to Battle Brothers? I play BB, I play HoMM3, I play Battle for Wesnoth. Why would I have to choose just one?

 

[Darth Canoli]

Here's a honest question, why should I play this over Battle Brothers? What does your game have to offer that's unique or done better?

When you're bored of Battle Brothers, play Urtuk.

nobody forces you to play Urtuk or just another game. Why would you even compare this to Battle Brothers? I play BB, I play HoMM3, I play Battle for Wesnoth. Why would I have to choose just one?

Looks like you should play Warbanners too when you have some time, should be right up your alley.

 

[MadSheepStudios]

Exactly.

• Defend merchant missions seems far too easy now they have 3/4 bodyguards, they're supposed to be overrun and yet between the numbers being almost even plus the traps and layout, feels like they could win all by themselves (could use less bodyguards like 1/2 and starting closer again)

It only applies to the first area, they're actually in danger in the second one and probably onward.

Managed to make the second save work, not sure how, then it did it again for the third save which i named 22222222222222 and renamed it "swamp" later in the game directory without any issues when reloading.

The bloodknight is extremely powerful with (even without) his mansplitter skill, he's my only cc damage dealer and it works just fine :
- Crossbow (main char)
- Bloodknight
- Spearman (trying to replace him by a Warmonk for now, i'm not sure)
- Knight (Makes the bloodknight invincible in tandem with the priest)
- Javelinman
- Priest

The two ranged units are real beasts, it's a bit more difficult to use the crossbow but when you get it and with his new skill, it's just insane, most of the time, i'm just trying to avoid their support strike or they get all the kills.

Never tried the assassin extensively, he looks powerful but having to backstab makes him too exposed.

I tried the Berserker extensively in earlier builds and he's good but crippled by the fatigue system.

The Warmonk was great too (earlier build as well) except in the third area where he's basically useless.

My point being the dream team seems to be Bloodknight, Priest, Javelin, Crossbow and Knight (protector), last one isn't really important, maybe a good spot for a vampire or a werebeast.

wow great you figured the right constellation But yes, in the right hands, the Bloodknight with the right mutators & support is a beast.
For the Berserker - you can raise the Fatigue by putting points into Agility (1 AGI = +3 Fatigue).
What is your party level? I mean, for very late game (40+ lvl) - the classes might not be balanced yet.