KickStarter Vagrus: The Riven Realms - post-apocalyptic fantasy caravan master RPG - now with Old Acquaintances DLC

[Lares Hill]

[Source: Steam Store Page]

Devlog #32-#33 | Manual Save - Hunting and Foraging (Game Design Posts)

Manual Save

We have thought long and hard about how to deal with manual saves in Vagrus, because there are a lot of complications stemming from certain game elements. Do we let players choose mid-combat? Do we let them save mid-Event? Is there a point to Event tests if manual saves scumming works? These are just a few of the many questions that have arisen.

Eventually though, we could not imagine Vagrus without being able to save manually. We never set out to make a rogue-like and the Riven Realms can often slay even the best vagri quickly and cruelly. You might also want to replay certain quests differently and you should be able to load your game in such cases. So now that so many things are changing before the release of the Open World campaign, the time has come to implement manual saves and so you will see it pretty soon. That said, we will later add an Achievement to those crazy folks who can play through the game without ever saving manually.

Hunting and Foraging

Keeping your comitatus well-supplied - or in some cases even keeping it from starving - has always been intended to be challenging in Vagrus, and it makes sense: you are the leader of a daring traveling company in a post-apocalyptic fantasy world where resources are often scarce and terrible encounters can turn a simple trip into a living nightmare.

But we also hear you, dear players, when you say that sometimes it is a bit too difficult to keep your crew from starving, and so we are working on a couple of small features that we have planned to include from the start and that would make life easier for you when it comes to supplies. Let's take a quick look at what these are.

Foraging

Foraging is a camp mechanic and you can use it to send out workers or slaves (or both) to gather supplies in the camp's vicinity. This yields supplies when the day is ended, albeit not a lot. Its role is to provide a relatively steady stream of supplies to help out with long journeys over the wastelands.

When sending out workers, the success chance is based on the yield of the region modified by the number of workers and their Vigor. In case of a critical fail, you can lose Vigor and even - very rarely - workers.

When sending slaves, Obedience is reduced, then depending on the test, you can have one or more slaves escaping.

In both cases, the Survival perk levels also factor into the test you roll.

Hunting

Hunting is a riskier business and it is a new way to make use of your scouts. The supply yield of hunting is either high or very little depending on the test roll that is based on the region's base yield, the number of your scouts, and your Hunting perk levels. The Venatoris deputy role also grants significant bonuses for this action. Hunting at the camp also tends to bring back secondary loot derived from beast kills, like hides, ivory, or chitin. There is also a chance that you will lose scouts when going hunting - the dangers of the wasteland are never to be underestimated.

Loot (yay!)

A very welcome side-benefit of both foraging and hunting that sometimes your crew finds and brings back loot from these excursions. Loot is mostly taken from fallen creatures of the region (like ivory or bone) but sometimes they can find other things as well. This loot is never abundant, mind, but can sometimes give you a nice little bonus.

Scouting

We are thinking about giving scouting results a new use: it would reveal the node's yield for hunting and foraging. These have a range for the region but individual nodes can be much more or much less abundant in supplies to claim. It is not sure when this will be added yet.

So that is a short rundown of what we are planning for this feature. We hope it will help with the cost of living and surviving the wastelands of the Riven Realms. What do you think?

The Lost Pilgrims Team

 

[Infinitron]

Prologue demo is available on GOG:



https://af.gog.com/game/vagrus_the_riven_realms_prologue?as=1649904300

 

[jac8awol]

Hey this is actually really cool! I love the setting and I'm super curious to see what else is out there. The world building and tone is right up my alley, and the art in the town backgrounds is excellent, gives me Fantasy General flashbacks in a good way. Maybe just because the are so few examples of distinct fantasy art, I dunno. The combat art is cheap and nasty, poor man's darkest dungeon, but whatever.

The choose your own adventure aspect is fine, I think people who enjoyed Age of Decadence might enjoy this. I got a kick out of the prologue part where the dude goes off about the evil abolitionists. Not great timing for that kinda thing, but hey this is a niche fantasy game where people actually have to read. Your secret is safe.

Looking forward to full release! I'll buy.

 

[Lares Hill]

[Source: Steam Store Page]

Devlog #34 | Trade Tasks (Game Design Post)

According to players currently testing the open-world, it is hard to make a living as an independent comitatus in the Empire. That was an intended design choice, because almost all the trade is controlled by factions on the continent, be they Trading Houses, religious organizations or criminals. With their Imperial trading monopoly licenses or their raw negotiating power, factions buy and sell at significantly better prices. With that in mind, we have planned to include a Task-system from the beginning and we are now getting closer and closer to implementing it.

What we call Tasks now in Vagrus are essentially procedurally-generated contracts offered by factions. If you fulfill the Task, you get rewards and reputation with these factions. At this time, we are concentrating solely on Trade Tasks, though there are going to be other types later on.

The main goal of the Task system is to allow players to ease into the open-world part without having to have an extensive meta-knowledge of what can be bought or sold for a good profit in the different parts of the Empire. While completing these Tasks for a fixed commission, players also earn reputation with factions, gaining access to higher tier Tasks, better market prices, and one-time rewards.

The design considerations and building blocks we are using for Trade Tasks are as follows:

• Many Tasks have a time-limit to complete.
  
• Early delivery increases your reputation reward.
  
• If you failed to deliver in time, you lose reputation. It does not matter if you just tarried too long, lost the goods due to unfortunately circumstances, or sold it elsewhere like a true swindler. To make it less appealing, you lose significantly more reputation than you would have gained, and can not get a new Task from the given faction until you either complete the delivery or pay for the 'lost' goods.
  
• There is a limit to how many Tasks you can accept at any given time (though if it is in general or per faction is yet to be decided).
  
• Parameters for Tasks (like destination, cargo type, etc) are generated procedurally, though typically within certain boundaries depending on the faction that offers it.

Tasks are intended to be expanded in future milestones with Mercenary and Exploration type commissions, too. This milestone is to lay the foundation for those as well. We are hyped as a Jhakra in heat by the prospect of adding this feature set to the game, as we think it'll make it much, much deeper and provide a ton of things to do for players. What do you think?

The Lost Pilgrims Team

 

[Infinitron]

Steam demo is out.

https://www.fig.co/campaigns/vagrus-the-riven-realms/updates/1261

The New Open Access build is OUT! - Includes Milestone 20 & 21
POSTED: 06/16/2020

Based on the ton of feedback concerning initial difficulty and learning curve, we have listened to you, our players, and implemented Trade Tasks to make the initial experience smoother in the open-world campaign. While there, and because they are deeply intertwined, we also decided to include the brand-new Factions UI and the faction tier system. We were happy to see that everyone who tried it in the preview build loved it and we are also satisfied with the result. To top it off, we also have a long list of adjustments, fixes, and tweaks (see patch notes at the end of this post).

So what's in the current patch?
Trade Tasks
According to players currently testing the open-world campaign, it is hard to make a living as an independent comitatus in the Empire. That was an intended design choice because almost all the trade is controlled by factions on the continent, be they Trading Houses, religious organizations, or criminals. With their Imperial trading monopoly licenses or their raw negotiating power, factions buy and sell at significantly better prices. With that in mind, we have planned to include a Task-system from the beginning and now we finally implemented it.

What we call Tasks now in Vagrus are essentially procedurally-generated contracts offered by factions. If you fulfill the Task, you get rewards and reputation with these factions. At this time, we are concentrating solely on Trade Tasks, though there are going to be other types later on. The main goal of the Task system is to allow players to ease into the open-world part without having to have an extensive meta-knowledge of what can be bought or sold for a good profit in the different parts of the Empire. While completing these Tasks for a fixed commission, players also earn reputation points with factions, gaining access to higher tier Tasks, better market prices, and one-time rewards. The design considerations and building blocks we are using for Trade Tasks are as follows:

• Many Tasks have a time-limit to complete.
• Early delivery increases your reputation reward.
• If you failed to deliver in time, you lose reputation. It does not matter if you just tarried too long, lost the goods due to unfortunate circumstances, or sold it elsewhere like a true swindler. To make it less appealing, you lose significantly more reputation than you would have gained, and can not get a new Task from the given faction until you either complete the delivery or pay for the 'lost' goods.
• There is a limit to how many Tasks you can accept at any given time (though if it is in general or per faction is yet to be decided).
• Parameters for Tasks (like destination, cargo type, etc) are generated procedurally, though typically within certain boundaries depending on the faction that offers it.

Tasks are intended to be expanded in future milestones with Mercenary and Exploration type commissions, too. We are hyped as a Jhakra in heat by the prospect of adding this feature set to the game, as we think it makes it much, much deeper, and provides a ton of things to do for players.

Factions
We have long been talking about improving the experience with factions in Vagrus. They are currently in the game and can be interacted with one way or the other but there is no UI to track your standing with them, nor is it possible to claim rewards for each unlocked reputation tier (although there are already a lot of implicit benefits and rewards for high reputation with almost every faction). With Tasks being implemented and so intimately intertwined with factions, we thought we'd give you a rundown of what to expect from this next large addition to the game.

Factions Basics

In short, factions are organizations you can gain reputation with. Enough points unlock tiers of faction standing that award the player with all kinds of goodies: discounts, items, equipment, and better-paying Tasks, to name a few. Factions are often at odds with each other, so gaining reputation with one might lower reputation with another or two. You can lose standing, which results in losing the passive benefits of that tier (although not the already possessed rewards). Most factions also provide quests and other content with the right tier unlocked.

User Interface

There are several places where you can find factions on already existing UI elements. First and foremost, factions appear as a separate UI tab under the Leader main UI (since faction relations belong to your character the vagrus). You can check your standing with all factions here as well as what each tier provides, read about factions, and check on their allies and enemies. Apart from that, factions also appear on the settlement UI, where Tasks can be taken, turned-in, and rewards are redeemed, provided the faction in question is present in the given settlement. Faction presence is also varied, with headquarters allowing for the most interaction. Most factions have a presence in large cities, though.

The Factions of the Riven Realms

There are 11 factions currently in-game, though several of them are partially implemented and will be fleshed out more with upcoming content patches. Some of them you have already encountered when playing the Open-world campaign, like the Church of Sergorod, the Ratharnak Alliance, the furtive Abolitionists, or one of the Imperial Trading Houses.

Spoiler

PATCH NOTES v0.5.11
New Features

• Milestone 20 — Trade tasks are now available in the open-world campaign
  • Take tasks from factions to deliver goods from one settlement to another, earning reputation and coins on delivery
  • The better your standing with a faction the higher tier Tasks you can get and you can take on more Tasks at once
  • Beware: failing to deliver on time or losing cargo will have severe consequences
• Milestone 21 — Brand new Factions tab on the Leader UI
  • Track your progress with factions
  • Learn more about them (including their locations, allies and opponents, etc.)

New / Updated Content or Game Mechanics

• A lot of Event and other texts revamped in the early parts of the game
• New Chat heads added (Narbo and Skornar) in the PotW story
• New sound effects have been added

User Interface Improvements

• Passenger task UI design refreshed to match other tasks (now include Workforce / Workforce need details)
• Loads of character and clash positions have been adjusted in Companion combat

New or Tweaked Game Mechanics

• Massive Buy and Sell price differences on the market now BUT as you earn reputation with Factions the margins shrink
• Equipment gained during vagrus creation are now automatically equipped when starting a new game
• PotW and Vanilla scenarios now have separate New Day and Left Settlement automatic saves
• Faction presence actions added so event chains concerning Faction rivalries have an actual impact (for example in Crystal)

Fixes ️

• Supercargo related Throw out UI bug () fixed
• Fixed crashes and other "Continue" button related bugs
• Understaffed status effect stacking fixed

Coming Up Next

• Hunting and Foraging , Odd Jobs, and a new Healing System
• ...
• Faction rewards ️
• More Sound Effects
• Companion Level Up and Progression

 

[Lares Hill]

[Source: Steam Store Page]

The time is upon us! As we have previously announced, new versions of Vagrus' free Demo are coming to Steam.

There are going to be two iterations of the Demo on Steam:

• Up until and during the the Steam Game Festival, the Demo is downloadable from the Summer Festival Page (any only from there).
  
• As the event ends, Steam will automatically remove the Demo for users' libraries. Fret not though, the demo will continue to exist in the form of a separate Prologue app. It will be available here not long after the Game Festival, releasing on July 10. The Prologue will also include a set of achievements.

Both both cases the The Demo will be available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Interested in the setting of Vagrus - the Riven Realms and want to understand more about the strategic aspects of the game? Or have a question regarding development or the team?

Ask Us Anything on our Vagrus discord starting 11 AM EST (5 PM EU).

JOIN OUR DISCORD SERVER

To streamline the discussion and make it easier to follow, we'll set up a separate channel where only devs can chat.

The Lost Pilgrims Team

 

[AwesomeButton]

Lares Hill, I gave the demo a first run last night, and I was profoundly impressed with the writing the design, both visual and sound. Only the voiceover sounded amateurish, and I thought it's placeholder, but seeing as you are releasing in 3 weeks, I guess that's the final VO. Never mind, the game got me totally captivated from the first few minutes and the Narbo event onwards. It's remarkable what kind of coherence you have achieved between graphics, sound and narrative tone.

I haven't even reached the first combat yet. When I watched Darkest Dungeon trailers the combat turned me off, it looked like a mobile game, but I'll give it a shot here, just because the setting and art are so good.

I haven't played Banner Saga either, and played like 20 hours of Ash of Gods, but eventually got a little bored with the constant twists and at times unintelligeble text, and then some other game came along.

 

[Sztaszov]

Lares Hill, I gave the demo a first run last night, and I was profoundly impressed with the writing the design, both visual and sound. Only the voiceover sounded amateurish, and I thought it's placeholder, but seeing as you are releasing in 3 weeks, I guess that's the final VO. Never mind, the game got me totally captivated from the first few minutes and the Narbo event onwards. It's remarkable what kind of coherence you have achieved between graphics, sound and narrative tone.

I haven't even reached the first combat yet. When I watched Darkest Dungeon trailers the combat turned me off, it looked like a mobile game, but I'll give it a shot here, just because the setting and art are so good.

I haven't played Banner Saga either, and played like 20 hours of Ash of Gods, but eventually got a little bored with the constant twists and at times unintelligeble text, and then some other game came along.

Hey AwesomeButton, great to hear you liked what you have seen early in the demo.

Just to clarify: on July 10, soon after our Summer Festival Demo disappears from our main store page we are going to release Vagrus - The Riven Realm: Prologue - which is the demo itself, released as a separate application for free with its ~2 hours content, so it would remain available for folks to get a sense of Vagrus. (There are many people who do not like reading in their games and it is best for everyone if they do not buy the game only to refund it / leave negative reviews.)

Anyways, so the July 10 release date is for that Prologue. The main game is currently available for our crowdfunding backers with ~50 hours of content [the current builds are hosted on Discord but backers can pick Steam or GOG for their final key]. The Pilgrims of the Wasteland story runs for about eight hours and is story-driven just like Banner Sage, while the rest of the content is open-world with entwined but mostly optional events closer to Sunless Sea's narrative.

If you choose to skip Agos', the old man's, story in the demo you can get a taste of the open-world section as well. Cheers!

 

[AwesomeButton]

(There are many people who do not like reading in their games and it is best for everyone if they do not buy the game only to refund it / leave negative reviews.)

That's pretty smart, to isolate negative reviews because of "too much text"

Does what you say mean I can still become a backer?

I would rather wait for you to reach a more final state of the game before I start because I want to play it in the state you indended and because I may not have the time for more than one completionist playthrough.

 

[Sztaszov]

(There are many people who do not like reading in their games and it is best for everyone if they do not buy the game only to refund it / leave negative reviews.)

That's pretty smart, to isolate negative reviews because of "too much text"

Thanks! :D

Does what you say mean I can still become a backer?
I would rather wait for you to reach a more final state of the game before I start because I want to play it in the state you indended and because I may not have the time for more than one completionist playthrough.

Yep, you can still back the game on fig.co/vagrus, get a Steam or GOG final key, while you may, of course, wait for the final release before jumping in. The advantage for us is that Fig's cut is a fraction of Steam's 30% so more money reaches us that we can spend on the development itself. No pressure, though.
We are at 50 hrs but feel in no way finished so we will keep adding content and features as well. The final release will be sometime in 2021.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Yep, you can still back the game on fig.co/vagrus, get a Steam or GOG final key, while you may, of course, wait for the final release before jumping in. The advantage for us is that Fig's cut is a fraction of Steam's 30% so more money reaches us that we can spend on the development itself. No pressure, though.
We are at 50 hrs but feel in no way finished so we will keep adding content and features as well. The final release will be sometime in 2021.

Yes, I was going to mention the difference in the markups next. I'm confident enough to back it right away, but I'll play it seriously next year when you are done

 

[holla_cabezas_de_mierda]

can't believe there are so many people who get that butt hurt about reading. Its faster to read anyway, not that I mind VO, but sometimes waiting for a long ass VO is tedious and I would just assume read it. Plus reading it often gives better understanding. I guess people who play games sitting on a smelly ass fart couch 40 feet from the TV can't read the text. I don't understand playing games sitting on a couch looking at a TV far away either. Okay, rant over.

The game does look quite good and draws you into the setting, I have only played an hour, but so far I liked it.

 

[AwesomeButton]

For a cultured person, using his/her own imagination will always net better results - because they will be tailored to personal taste - than listening to VO. It's the ages old question of how much does a good reader contribute to the book's being good.

With a good audience for your writing, you get both better quality entertainment and you deliver it a lower price than if you had paid for VO.

Incidentally, a well written game with no VO will attract a higher quality audience while chase away those who probably can't appreciate good writing anyway. I haven't forgotten the story that Josh Sawer told that when they released PoE with the IE games style of VO - only the first line of some characters being voiced - a large number of people gave feedback that the VO was bugged, and only part of it was audible

I remember I wanted to praise something about the writing here - this is the first game in a while that I have seen which makes use of character-specific spelling to convey the character of the speaker. I mean for example how Narbo's manner of pronunciation is represented with at times phonetic spelling ("I'm sure you 'aven't come to reminisce 'bout good old times, eh?"). It's been used in the IE games (Baldur's Gate at least), by Terry Pratchett, etc but I've been wondering why don't writers employ it more often.

 

[holla_cabezas_de_mierda]

For a cultured person, using his/her own imagination will always net better results - because they will be tailored to personal taste - than listening to VO. It's the ages old question of how much does a good reader contribute to the book's being good.

With a good audience for your writing, you get both better quality entertainment and you deliver it a lower price than if you had paid for VO.

Incidentally, a well written game with no VO will attract a higher quality audience while chase away those who probably can't appreciate good writing anyway. I haven't forgotten the story that Josh Sawer told that when they released PoE with the IE games style of VO - only the first line of some characters being voiced - a large number of people gave feedback that the VO was bugged, and only part of it was audible

I remember I wanted to praise something about the writing here - this is the first game in a while that I have seen which makes use of character-specific spelling to convey the character of the speaker. I mean for example how Narbo's manner of pronunciation is represented with at times phonetic spelling ("I'm sure you 'aven't come to reminisce 'bout good old times, eh?"). It's been used in the IE games (Baldur's Gate at least), by Terry Pratchett, etc but I've been wondering why don't writers employ it more often.

yeah I don't mind reading at all. But I guess games also now factor in the youtube and twitch reviews or people watching people play on these platforms , and it does not come across as well to watch people reading in that context I guess. Its too bad though, because its just another thing that adds to the decline and encourages simplification.

 

[AwesomeButton]

yeah I don't mind reading at all. But I guess games also now factor in the youtube and twitch reviews or people watching people play on these platforms , and it does not come across as well to watch people reading in that context I guess. Its too bad though, because its just another thing that adds to the decline and encourages simplification.

Yeah, one issue with a text-heavy game, really with any game which isn't 3rd person 3D with flashy graphics, is that it's not attractive to watch being streamed.

 

[jac8awol]

Can you just clarify real quick about the single player non-sandbox part? Is Pilgrims of the wasteland the campaign which is 8 hours of content? Or is it the story campaign 50 hours? or is 50 hours the content of the emergent sandbox aspect? My reading comprehension may not be up to par for this adventure lol

 

[Sztaszov]

Can you just clarify real quick about the single player non-sandbox part? Is Pilgrims of the wasteland the campaign which is 8 hours of content? Or is it the story campaign 50 hours? or is 50 hours the content of the emergent sandbox aspect? My reading comprehension may not be up to par for this adventure lol

Sure thing. So:

‘Pilgrims of the Wasteland’ is a standalone story which initially is a more linear experience, with less branching in the overall story, albeit full of choices and consequences within the events themselves. It introduces the world, characters, game mechanics, and concepts one by one, eventually opening up more in its second half. Its estimated playtime is 7-10 hours (depending on playstyle).

In the 'Main campaign' (or 'Open-world part' as we often refer to it), as opposed to ‘Pilgrims of the Wasteland’, you can create your own character (vagrus) and wander anywhere on a huge map from the start. The first open-world region spans around Tor’Zag’s Shelter. A gigantic area with dozens of settlements and points of interest to explore, six Companions you can recruit, scores of new enemy types, five new soundtracks, character creation, and a ton of story content for you to discover. We never measured it but when we asked, our Fig backers who played it suggested it holds cca 40-50 hours of content, and we know that some of them spent more than a hundred in the game already. As we keep adding content and features it will grow bigger for sure.

Hope this helps!
ps.: I reused some lines from our previous AMA-s which might come across, hope that's okay. Cheers.

 

[lobsterfrogman]

But does the open world campaign has a story and a main quest to follow or is it just endless play like Battle Brothers?

 

[Sztaszov]

But does the open world campaign has a story and a main quest to follow or is it just endless play like Battle Brothers?

Hey, no single main quest to follow but there are massive storylines that take you to many places and need several other event chains to be completed before they can be progressed. Though, as the player you may choose to ignore them and just play until you reach your winning condition you set yourself as your ambition at the start of the game. (Like Wealth, Renown, etc.) Right now in the alpha state of the game, only a limited number of these bigger event-chains have been implemented and even those have untied endings as they will spiral off to regions that we are yet to add. Hope this helps.

 

[Lares Hill]

[Source: Official Game Page]

The Demo of Vagrus is more story-driven, so we would not want to spoil it for you. However, our dear friend Nookrium agreed to stream the open-world part for you.

He is in fact looking to meet himself in the game: we love his indie game videos so much that we decided to use his likeness for a non-player character (NPC) portrait. Spoiler:

Spoiler

he did!

If you liked his Youtube video on Vagrus, check out his other content on Youtube!

 

[Infinitron]

From demo (June 16th) to prologue (July 10th) to Early Access (July 22nd):



https://www.fig.co/campaigns/vagrus-the-riven-realms/updates/1267

Vagrus enters Early Access on Steam and GOG.com on July 22
POSTED: 07/02/2020

IMPORTANT: You can find a section below (Important Information for Backers) you should check out if you are a Backer.

We promised that we would bring Vagrus - The Riven Reams to you in Early Access on Steam and GOG.com when we felt the game was ready for it. Today we are proud and exhilarated to announce that the time has come, and now we know the exact date.

Vagrus - The Riven Realms enters Early Access on Steam and GOG.com simultaneously on July 22, 2020.

Spoiler

Thanks to all the valuable insights you have shared with us during Vagrus' Open Access period, the game has grown and improved massively in the last twelve months. We are proud to share that we kick off our Early Access journey with over fifty hours of available content that we look to expand further during our EA period, which is expected to last until the eventual full release sometime in 2021.

We took our time. We have added and improved features that, based on insights from you, our Backers, we felt are essential before entering Early Access, but we know that the game is in no way finished yet. We have plans regarding where we would like to end up by the time of the full release, big plans in fact, in terms of content, features, and polish.

If you dive in for the first time and play the current build, please keep that in mind - see bugs and less polished areas for what they are: potential to make the game even better. Your help by reporting those using our in-game tool (F1) and sharing your experiences on our Discord server (discord.gg/vagrus) will be essential in identifying and prioritizing focus areas in our development process. You know first hand how we have taken your insights into account in the past, and how greatly Vagrus has ultimately benefitted from those.

Important Information for Backers

• Update your email address on Fig.co/account if needed - you will get your key via that email
• Last chance to easily upgrade (via Refund and Repledge) your Pledge before July 14 via submitting a ticket here: https://help.fig.co/hc/en-us/requests/new
• On July 15 we will distribute your final Steam/GOG.com key (you will be prompted to pick one)
• On July 22 the Open Access Live build disappears but the preview builds will remain available on Discord for Fig Backers
• Your Steam/GOG.com keys will only become active on July 22 when we enter Early Access on those platforms
• To help us and the game, consider posting a review on the day of the release on Steam and GOG.com

We have compiled a short QnA about the upcoming release that you might find informative

Q: How much will the game cost on Steam and GOG.com? How about Fig?

A: The base price on Steam and GOG.com will be $29.99 with an initial launch discount. We do not have plans currently to increase that for the full release but with all the added content and features, it may happen. Through-out July the price of the game will be discounted to $25 here on Fig. The reason is simple: we would like to motivate players to buy their Steam and GOG.com keys here as even at a slightly lower price, significantly more money reaches us after platform cuts and transaction fees. Money that we can spend on expanding and improving Vagrus. After the launch discounts end on Steam and GOG.com, the base price will be the same on Fig as well, as per our contractual agreement with those platforms.

Q: Will buying a key via Fig have any benefits after the launch discount period?

A: Yes. Fig Backers will have the opportunity to sign up to and try our preview builds via Discord. These test builds are less stable but offer Backers a sneak peek into what's coming later on in builds.

Q: Why write a review on the game and what to write about?

A: The number of reviews posted on a game is an important factor both from the perspective of potential buyers of the game and because Steam's algorithm decides to highlight or bury a game in its immense library based partly on them. You did pay for your key in the form of your Fig pledge, so you qualify to post a review as a key owner. You also happen to be someone who has seen first hand how the game grew from eight to over fifty hours. From a clunky experience to a... less clunky one, hopefully, as we continue to improve it. You saw something in the game before most people and became one of our first champions with your pledge. Help us with sharing that experience in the form of a Steam/GOG.com review.

Q: How can I help before July 22?

A: Join our Discord community and help us by spreading the news about the upcoming Early Access release so that we can reach more people. Also, every Backer getting their Steam/GOG.com keys via our Fig campaign supports our game development with an additional 25% we do not lose on the higher storefront revenue share while enjoying the same game on the platform of their choice.

Q: I have another question. Where should I post it?

A: Join our Discord community and post it on the general-news or open-access feedback channels. If it is something that could be interesting for others as well, we will add it here or to our FAQ sections.

 

[AdolfSatan]

The adventuring/story part of the game is fun, but man, that combat

 

[Infinitron]

Actually Sztaszov why isn't the prologue available on Steam already? I thought it was just a continuation of the free demo from the Steam Game Festival.

 

[Sztaszov]

Actually Sztaszov why isn't the prologue available on Steam already? I thought it was just a continuation of the free demo from the Steam Game Festival.

Hey, the Summers Festival Demo was available on Steam for a while but no longer. (Originally the Valve team said they would take it down right at the end of the Festival but they did not so was there for another week.) But no worries, it will return as a standalone app, called Vagrus - The Riven Realms: Prologue, and stay available for free in the long term so players could get a taste of Vagrus and decide for themselves whether they wanted to buy the full game or not. As you said, The Prologue will go live on July 10 on Steam right after the end of the Steam Summer Sale, and it is already available on GOG. Hope this helps!

 

[Infinitron]

Actually Sztaszov why isn't the prologue available on Steam already? I thought it was just a continuation of the free demo from the Steam Game Festival.

Hey, the Summers Festival Demo was available on Steam for a while but no longer. (Originally the Valve team said they would take it down right at the end of the Festival but they did not so was there for another week.) But no worries, it will return as a standalone app, called Vagrus - The Riven Realms: Prologue, and stay available for free in the long term so players could get a taste of Vagrus and decide for themselves whether they wanted to buy the full game or not. As you said, The Prologue will go live on July 10 on Steam right after the end of the Steam Summer Sale, and it is already available on GOG. Hope this helps!

Ah, so you're waiting until the end of the Steam sale so the release gets more attention. OK.