NEW Combat coming Jan 19

Next week we release NEW combat. Something we’ve put a ton of effort into and hope you enjoy!

Here is an internal WIP video one of the programmers shared to show certain things working. It excited me to see how far we’ve come, so I’m sharing it with you too. Don’t take it as promises of any particular feature, just that it is better combat.

Last week, we did a full audit test of the game to see how broken it is. I expected 99 bugs but it was only 36. We’ve already managed to fix many of them. We’re performing another full test today to see how shippable it is.
One of the reasons we couldn’t ship until Jan is we have to do three passes on all the spell schools. We’re just finishing our second design pass today, then embarking on pass three. This is when the numbers and timing really get tuned for each spell. So far, on schedule!

There is a new spell progression system. Here is a WIP example of how we’re really trying to celebrate the level up.

Migrating Your Progress to 0.2.100

I’ve been asked several times “Will my progress be saved across versions during Early Access?”

My answer is “Yes. As best we can, it is a priority.”

Here is a line directly from our feature documentation

We need to preserve progress. Players can’t be told to just restart. They have to choose (opt in) to restart.

This is one of those times where we’re doing our best to preserve your progress, given massive massive changes to the underlying structure of the game.

All the spells are new, even if they have the same name. We will be refunding all spell XP so you can rebuy your spells.
The spell progression system is totally different with new buffs/rewards for hitting new ranks in a school. Spell XP will be refunded.
With a new system comes new XP costs, there just isn’t an easy way to map them. So you may have had 7 ranks in Fire before but now only have 2 ranks. But those 2 ranks are more powerful than the old 7.
Equipment (weapons, armor, etc.) have also changed drastically and function differently. We will refund the gold value of all equipment so you can buy new equipment.
Given the above, that means you will be naked and unequipped in the world… if your save file was in a dungeon and just about to go into battle, that’s real sucky. So we’re going to transport you to A) Your tower. OR, if you don’t have one, the starter town. Sorry if that isn’t ideal for you, it’s the safest thing we can do that works for everyone’s situation.
The new enemy race of Crocodons won’t appear in any previously generated worlds or save files. To experience them, you have to generate a NEW world.

We’re making best efforts here. I’m putting a programmer on this task today and it will take several days to pull this off. But if that isn’t sufficient for you, we will keep a Previous Build Branch on Steam. (Let’s call it “Archmage Classic” 😝 OK, lousy WoW joke.) So you can decide when you want to play the new version.

To be super ultra clear on this point: We are publishing the new version of the game to the default steam branch, meaning everyone will get it. You have to opt into the ‘classic’ branch so as to retain the current version.

After saying alllllll that, the new version is best experienced in a new world and new game because the changes start right from character creation.

Better NPC Dialogue

If the above wasn’t enough, Nolan is still cackling madly to himself as he works on an improved version of NPC dialogue. NPCs will be more aware of you, things you’ve done, and previous conversations. Things like this:

"Welcome, welcome." Bertram Bottom is complacently washing a bucket half-full of tankards and plates. He glances up in annoyance. "Brave of you to carry a dagger as your primary weapon. Most people see it as a last resort."

This is part of the new Dynamic Quest system, but will be coming before it is released in Update #3 Exploration.