Demo Update #5

This update focuses on the new Regional Surveys feature, adds a significant amount of new content, and includes numerous quality of life improvements and bug fixes.

Regional Surveys

After every 3 forays, you will now send out a survey team to scout a chosen area of the map. During these surveys, you must solve various encounters by slotting glyphs into available choices. For this you receive various rewards and punishments, including yields, glyphs, relics, inspiration, and more.

Surveys can be ended at any point, but the more encounters you complete, the more of the map you reveal. New skills allow you to increase the maximum number of encounters, and the size of the revealed area, as well as getting a chance to invest accumulated yields to gain bonuses for the duration of the survey.

With this change the Explorer is now introduced early in the main quest, rather than in the 3rd era. If your savegame is past this point, the survey intro quest is skipped but you can continue normally.

The feature currently has 30 unique encounters, scattered around the various biomes. Try scouting near the shard edge to meet a cute dog!

New Content

• Added 8 new skills:

  • AddedInsights from Discoverygain an insight whenever you discover new things (glyphs, event outcomes, etc.).

  • Stroke Research: allows you to spend insights to acquire specific strokes.

  • Longer Surveys (2 tiers): increases the number of encounters per survey.

  • Scouting (2 tiers): increases map reveal radius when founding settlements or completing surveys.

  • Survey Preparation (2 tiers): allows you to spend accumulated yields to gain bonuses during a survey.

• Added 20 or so new glyphs.

• Added 13 new relics.

• Added 9 new events.

• Added 2 new shard cultures.

• Added 40 or so new art pieces, most with extensive historical context.

Quality of Life Improvements

• Adjusted the ambience and music sound levels to be more comparable.

• Adjusted the settlement connection visuals: towns will now connect to their nearest connected neighbor. The gameplay is unchanged.

• Reduced the chance of encountering recently seen hauntings.

• Further increased the likelihood of events based on the number of achievable choices.

• Enabled limited map and sites UI interaction while the Divine UI is minimized.

• Disambiguated "foray" and "stage" in tooltips (which includes forays, convergences, and now surveys).

• Added several contextual tutorial popups (universal slots, scrolled foray UI, etc.).

• Improved some map visuals. Most notably, wastelands now have clumps of withered trees.

• Improved the smoothness of the overhead birds animation.

• Redid some event artworks with better preserved prints of the same design.

• Added an optional email field to the feedback UI.

• Added a click-to-advance hint in the intro.

• Clarified the Split Brush relic description.

Balance Changes

• Reduced the Dusty Mirror relic trigger chance from 50% to 25%.

• Reduced the Recycled Gear relic trigger chance from 50% to 25%.

• Reduced the Acceptance Bell relic granted yield points from 5 to 2.

• Reduced the Cedar Sprig relic bonus inspiration gain from 100% to 50%.

• Reduced the Stone Heart relic shielding effect from 5 to 3.

• Reduced the River glyph's Draw amount from 3 to 2 (sorry; it had to be done).

• Reduced the Pottery glyph's Despair amount from 5 to 3.

• Switched the Illustration glyph's 2nd ability from Gain 10 Beauty to Target Beauty.

• Increased lategame (phase 4+) goal amounts slightly.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed the Mirror Ink relic unintentionally triggering more than once a stage.

• Fixed many typos and grammar issues.

• Fixed incorrect rewards in the Hull Pile event.

• Fixed the Kappa having an incorrect trigger label.

• Fixed info about convergence showing up in settlement tooltips before convergence is unlocked.

• Fixed the Refuse glyph having an unintended heal effect.

• Fixed the UI extending past the screen edge when the player has 15+ relics.

• Fixed the foray goal reroll button being available after the foray starts.

• Fixed some healing effects being able to revive you.

• Fixed Replan staying available if you immediately redraw on stage start.

• Fixed the essence counter displays not updating when salvaging a glyph.