Expansion Devlog - Content and FAQ

In this week’s Devlog we would like to discuss how the content was developed for our upcoming expansion, answer some frequently asked questions, share some patch notes and show you a fun interview with Indie Game Picks that is combined with a giveaway.

Expansion Content

In the leadup to the release of At the Heart of Ruin on the 22nd of October (accompanied by the Ruinous Supporter Pack), we’ve already talked about new mechanics and features, like the updated throw-out or Exploration Encounters, but we thought it’s also time to touch upon the narrative and graphic art side of things.

As for the narrative, working on it was very exciting, because it returns to the first area we realized in a video game format – Scrapheap and its surroundings. In that way, it was a return to where we began as a studio and as writers for Vagrus, but we also went into a direction that involved a lot of new ground to cover. We really wanted to create a branching narrative structure this time where player choice is emphasized and followed through with the many branching, intertwining storylines. We believe that this approach not only aids immersion, but also adds a lot of replayability to those who want to see everything or experiment with how their choices are reflected in the region.

On the graphical art front, we also raised the bar by creating more location and combat backgrounds than ever before, which helps convey the diversity within the volcanic biomes, and also aids the narrative significantly. A good example of this is the Wound’s digital painting – it’s a horrifying place beautifully realized by our talented artists, one that adds a lot to the story when you get there.

We were also able to realize more enemy and allied characters than in previous DLCs, and we had a lot of fun coming up with powerful skills for them that will certainly make things difficult for intrepid vagri.

As a matter of fact, we’ve had so much fun creating At the Heart of Ruin, that we decided to significantly expand one of the major questlines in the expansion. However, we did not and could not want to delay the release any further, so we decided to go about it via free episodic updates. We really believe in this additional content, as it’s not “just” Events, but also completely new enemies, locations, map segments, character development, as well as twists and turns that will eventually lead to an epic finale.

We’ll be working on these content updates parallel to our usual fixes and tweaks, and we don’t quite know how many of them will be added or when – mostly because squashing bugs in already released material trumps other things. The intensive part of this fixing process usually takes a couple of weeks with each big release like this expansion, but we’ll continue to improve Vagrus and all its elements long after that, of course. In any case, we’ll return with a plan about the post-release content updates later.

Expansion FAQ

We have also prepared an FAQ to provide useful information to those of you who would like to learn more or who are looking for information about a specific aspect of the expansion.

Q: In what part of the main campaign should I start At the Heart of Ruin? Is the expansion more geared toward a mid-game comitatus or do I have to finish most of the main game to be able to get the