The Big Backer Update (2/2)
Hey folks,
This week we’re going to finish off the Big Backer Update and discuss a major overhaul to the Veins of Evil, after which we will swiftly retreat back into our dungeon as we work to finish the 0.4.0 patch and our final preparations for Rezzed.
Veins of Evil Overhaul
After much feedback, playtesting, discussion, and theorycrafting, we came to the conclusion that the Veins of Evil needed an overhaul before we were able to start adding in the vast amount of spells, defences, potions, and rituals that will be present within the game.
There were two key reasons for this redesign:
- There were too many ‘generic’ or ‘standard’ aspects that were locked away in specific veins (mainly Greed).
- Sloth and Wrath were infinitely more compelling and mechanically sound than Greed, as Greed has just turned into a ‘catch all’ for many of these generic aspects.
Essentially, Greed wasn’t very compelling due to the disconnected nature of the various Aspects it contained, but it was because of those Aspects that it was pretty much mandatory for a player to invest into it. This led to some very stale decision making in the mid- to late-game as players had to catch up on their progress in Greed if they wanted to remain effective.
So what did we do? Well, we’re just going to show you:
Please note that this is just a mockup, final positioning of each aspect will most likely be quite different (and there won’t be all those empty spaces…).
To summarise the changes:
- Greed has been replaced with a larger “Neutral” Vein (final name TBD).
- Wrath and Sloth each have access to 1-2 Aspects per tier. You progress through these Veins the same as before; unlocking an Aspect makes the next tier available to you.
- The Neutral Vein has access to 2-4 Aspects per tier. You progress through this Vein slightly differently; a new tier is unlocked for every 2 aspects spent in the entire tree (not just the Neutral vein).
- Some Aspects have been moved from Wrath and Sloth to the Neutral Vein.
- We’ve kept Greed’s early economic gambit (spending all starting sins purely economically and ignoring Wrath and Sloth entirely).
Over the next few months we’ll be implementing new Aspects and making additional changes to the balance and layout of the Veins of Evil. We know this is a major change to a very core part of the game that will generate a lot of discussion, questions and concerns, so we’re ready and waiting to hear your feedback and answer your questions over on our forums.
The Big Backer Update (Part 2 of 2)
If you missed part one of the Big Backer Update you can find it here.
Founder’s Theme: Those of you who were generous enough to back us at Tier 8 (please note: we originally said 7 when this update was posted, this was an error!) and above are due to receive the Founder’s Theme when the game launches.
Please note that the names of our Founders will be added to this design at a later date.
We wanted this theme to suggest an indestructible will – a stalwart and everlasting design that has stood the test of time. The legendary figures who defended the Dungeon Core are immortalized forever in stone to ensure that their names are never lost to the sands of time.
T-Shirts: When we posted our Eurogamer wrap-up we were bombarded with requests for the team shirt that we sported at the event. Since you asked so kindly we have decided to put it to a vote.
If you’re due to receive a t-shirt you will have the option to vote between the old design and this new design when the Backer Portal goes live next month.
Backer Portal: The Backer Portal will allow us to collect updated shipping addresses, select t-shirt sizes and generally allow us (and you) to keep track of and collect your rewards. In addition to all of that housekeeping we will use it to vote on Flex Goals as we approach the release of the game.
We had planned to launch this system today, but due to the fact that Rezzed (and the patch associated with it) loom just on the horizon we’ve decided to delay this until April.
That’ll be all for this week, don’t forget about our livestream next week at 8PM UTC!
Until next time Underlord,
– WFTO Team
I take it that the Founder’s theme is entirely exclusive to the Kickstarter backers. Not being resentful, just want full confirmation.
Personally I am waiting until the Dungeon Keeper themes. They will appear eventually, one way or another.
Yes this is correct. The Founder’s Theme is only available to those who pledged to our crowd-funding campaign at Tier 8 and above.
I was under the impression the Founders theme was not so much a backer reward itself, but having your name on it was.
Sorry for the confusion. Sadly due to an oversight by a certain individual, who for his own protection shall remained unamed, the reward text on the tier was rather vague.
The implication was that the Founder Theme was available to everyone, but this was never intended to be the case. The Founder’s theme is intended to be a limited theme for our highest tier of supporters.
Sorry again. 🙁
Hi
I would really like these updates pushed to steam , waiting months between releases and bug fixes kinda makes one disinterested in the game
Hi,
Well I’m an old DK1 and DK2 player WTFO caught my attention but…
Is there any theme or anything for people that would like to pre-order?!
Would I pay for a game that is in DEV full of bugs and the company using my money and my time and attention to develop and you only think about backers?
or… please feel free to correct me if I am mistaken
Suggestion:
I think you have a few “tiers” of people that are helping you…
1 – Backers with money (most important and it should be all of them with different tiers agree)
2 – Pre-orders (also with Mooney but they are important because they are actuality paying to work for you to test the game should have different tiers also by time that they are contributing earlier the better)
I like the idea of dungeon skins
but reskinning the imps to this degree where its not just character/clothing changes/additions but where they look like a different creature, really kills the immersion for me.
Thanks for the feedback!
A great deal of work goes into every theme we create, each one is vehemently taken through the design process by our entire art team and they represent one of the most asset-intensive things we produce.
The goal of each theme is to bring a new Underlord to life, they are all unique characters and the designs of their Dungeons represent this. Because of this it makes sense that each theme has it’s own workers, after all workers, like much of the dungeon, are simply the manifestation of that specific Underlord’s mana. Ultimately the silhouette of the worker remains the same but they are intended to feel different to one and other.
If you’d like to read more about what goes into making a theme please see the following post:
https://forum.subterraneangames.com/goto/post?id=59641#post-59641
silly question i’m sure im a backer but how do i know for certain?
Contact [email protected], he got back to me right away.
How come my steam wont update with these updates that have been coming out, its very annoying, i payed good money for this game and i also bought another copy of it for a cousin but i still dont get the updates, im not sure what all is going on with pre-orders and steam, i just want to play the game like everyone els cause its what i paid for, not just to sit here on my lap top and me have nothing to do with it cause it isnt changing at all, just add the updates to steam, trust me you will make alot more people happy, you want advice from the community, steam is just another source of the community that needs to be heard and when we cant see what is going on do to lack of updates, it makes us want our money back and to uninstall the game
Hi Brandon,
Sorry for the confusion, these posts are simply our weekly updates on the status of development and our plans moving forward. They are not indicative of new patches being released. It is our aim to keep the community as informed as possible on the progress of development, and our weekly updates are the best way for us to achieve this.
Some content we highlight in these updates may make it into the next patch (Such as the veins of evil overhaul) while others are more forward reaching (Such as the Backers and Founders themes).
Our next release is 0.4.0 and it promises to be our largest patch yet in terms of sheer weight of new features, content and bug fixes. It is due out at the end of this month in time for the Rezzed convention. With the release of this we will be maintaining our pattern of 1 patch a month.
Hope this has answered your question.
Kind Regards,
Lee Moon
Community Manager
Thank you, that has answered my question and made me feel better about the game, i no longer resent purchasing the game, now im pretty excited about the patch coming, i thought the game founders were showing favortism to specific players and not to others, but thank you for clerifying thatit makes me feel so much better, keep up the good work!!!!!
Bit disappointing really I pledged tier 7 during the kick starter campaign if i knew i wouldn’t get the founders theme I would have gone to tier 8 having my name included on the wall or in the credits meant nothing to me but still seems a bit odd that i would have to pledge another £50 for a theme ?
Yeah it was implied the Founder theme was a general backer reward, and getting your name on it was the tier 8, and above reward. Kind of sucks since I didn’t have the money to go that high but thought I still got the backer themes.
I hope they reconsider removing Greed. They might as well drop the “Veins of Evil” thing completely if they’re even going to flip flop like this and remove an entire Vein. And what of the Greed Super Unit?
I have knowtised that when you have monsters in your dungeon and you build a pig farm and a training room for your melee monsters and what not, they dont really seem to want to go train and get up their level, they just want to chill out in the farm and eat pigs, i dont know if anyone els has knowtised that but i have, im not mad or anything, just letting you know so you may have something els to tweak alittle before you set out the big patch to make the game play alittle more effective
and fun to the over lords
I am just having issues getting the game to start now. I was playing it before the last patch, and have now just come back to try again, and it opens to a black screen, then crashes my video driver, and then freezes. Anyone else having this issue?