Monthly Archives: August 2023

Stellar Monarch 2 version 1.15

Version 1.15 released

This version is a result of digging out stuff from very old forum posts, reviews and comments to reviews. I have analyzed the most common complains over last year (even dug through some ancient Early Access posts as well) and tried to track and examine what are the key and recurring things that should be improved. I made some interesting changes based on this analysis. First, a small change with big repercussions, now the number of Core Worlds is tied to Centralization. This solves micromanagement issue when it comes to making cores, especially in a huge galaxy settings, which also improves the late game balance since it reduces the number of cities in the late game without affecting the early game. Next, High Command Staff mechanic was removed, it got an enormous number of complains and the consensus was that the game would be better without this feature. Rules selection was streamlined and made more clear, now there is an Imperial Mode (default one) and Throne Mode (for people who wish even more “rule from the heights of the imperial throne” gameplay). Modernizations mechanic, which split the community into lovers and haters, got more automatization options (for those who do not enjoy that part of the game), this automatization is also now enforced in Throne Mode. Next comes a bunch of interface improvements, bug fixes and rebalance of ministers.

One request, if you find a bug please post it on the Steam forums. I had to dig through a lot of reviews to find those and those would have been fixed much earlier if I know about them. So, when you find a bug, please post on the forums. Also, if you have certain suggestions, please copy the stuff from your review to the forums as well. It’s much easier to find (plus it allows a discussion).

Note that because of the heavy changes in this version I made v1.14 Beta branch available in case you wanted to finish your old game using the old rules.

– [feature] Automatic ship hulls modernization option (if you select the appropriate checkbox in Options AI will automatically decide on ship hulls modernizations and report it each time).
– [feature] Throne Mode (previously called Hands Off ruleset) now enforces “Automatic ship hulls modernization” (regardless of option selected), so you don’t deal directly with modernizations in this mode.
– [feature] Now there is a more strict limit to Core Worlds (maximum 30 + 3 Core Worlds per point of Centralization but no more than 50% of planets).

– [removed] Removed Imperial High Command staff mechanic (replaced with a simple static image showing high command in work). Basically, no one liked it and most people voted that the game would be better without it. In future the feature might return in some other form.
– [removed] Removed Total Control ruleset (I feel no one was using it anyway, if requested the effects of this ruleset can be added as “Extra rules” in future versions), now the rules selection looks much more intuitive. If you have a save that runs on this ruleset it will work correctly.

– [misc] Less suicidal diplomacy of minor civilized aliens towards the Empire, they are now much more reluctant to declare war if the Empire is much bigger than them.

– [balance] SpecOps gain per turn scaled to the game length (to make rebellions equally difficult regardless of the game speed settings).
– [balance] Drastically increased ministry expansion cost (it was way too low), also adjusted expansion administration points cost.
– [balance] Adjusted ministry efficiency effect on ministry events chances (was geared too much towards positive events) and added difficulty level bonus/penalty. Also changed the caps to minimum 10% and maximum 90%.

– [art] New Rebellion report image.

– [interface] Civilized races which lost all planets are clearly marked as dormant and have diplomacy options disabled.
– [interface] Improved “Summon head of the house” and “Summon to investigate” tooltips, to make it more clear what it is used for.
– [interface] Military / High Command screen now show maximum squadrons and squadrons production (and loses, in a tooltip), similar to Squadrons screen.
– [interface] Made it more clear that F.E.D. income comes from both fiefs and colonies, also renamed the tab on finances to “F.E.D. Income” for consistency.
– [interface] Rulesets renamed to modes and made much more prominent on the News Game screen. Also renamed “Balanced” to “Imperial Mode” and “Hands Off” to “Throne Mode”.
– [interface] Improved New Game screen.
– [interface] Experimental feature (need to enable Experimental Features in Options) report notice buttons have a different color depending on report type.
– [interface] Most reports have a bigger text now (because there was space and bigger is better, especially on small monitors).
– [interface] Legislation and Research reports now have a button to access the appropriate screen (with [SPACE] hotkey).

– [fix] Small spelling corrections.
– [fix] Support reform option still appears when all reforms already completed (in Summon to discuss option only).
– [fix] Incorrect larvaes displayed on exactly one special planet (Early Access leftover).
– [fix] Civilized alien races asking for peace when when they have no planets anymore (aliens with no planets now are considered dormant/extinct).
– [fix] Meaningless and incorrect display “at War with Empire” on aliens overview screen next to Empire.
– [fix] Admiralition still sending forces to unclaimed planets, planets with withdraw order or planets controlled by a race you are at peace with in some circumstances.

Reminders
You can follow my Steam Developer Page if you wish to be notified each time a new game or expansions is being released.

Also, if you have a moment to leave a Steam review of the game it would be appreciated. It makes a big difference to an indie developer like me. Thanks!

New content planned for Legends of Amberland II

After I wrote the “new features” piece it occurred to me that a similar one about “new content” is in order. After all, RPGs are not just about mechanics, they are also about the world, story, mood & feeling, exploration, quests, NPCs, items and so on.

New content introduced in the sequel

The sequel got a bunch of content related improvements. Music, art and a different, presumably better, approach to the locations and story construction. So, here it goes, the list of content related improvements.

Music
That part of the game content would be the most significantly different, in short, music was totally redone. I have contracted a composer, Christopher Loza, to arrange a set of custom made tunes, made to fit the mood and feel of Amberland world. The instructions provided was to make it feel like tunes from those old games from the 90s era but at the some time without technical limitations of the era. I think it worked out great, while those who love 90s era RPGs would be delighted those who are not into it that much still will find it very decent. This also means that a soundtrack DLC is possible.

Art
A bunch of improvements of existing tiles and new tiles as well. Animated portals, animated lava, new tile types for farmlands, more plants, flowers, gardens and so on.

Locations
Before I started designing the sequel, first I gathered all the feedback on the first Amberland I could. The conclusion was that overworld was awesome while dungeons were merely passable (with some weirdos saying dungeons were great, but I don’t believe it personally). So, I decided to strike it from both sides. First, strengthen the strong (which means making the player spend more time outdoors: bigger overworld, mixed indoor/outdoor locations, gardens inside location) and second to improve the weak (improving design of dungeons). Judging from the feedback gathered from the demo it seems it worked out well, now the consensus is the dungeons were significantly or greatly improved.

In addition I took a different approach to designing locations, before those were heavily gameplay focused (dungeons filled with monsters, bosses and treasures). Now I allowed a decent number of smaller locations intended for purpose of the mood of the game not gameplay. So there are some, even very tiny, locations which serve only as a mean to convey the lore, in places that are logical to have those (example: abandoned hideouts of sorcerers and the like).

There is also significantly more locations overall (but fear now, there are additional tools provided for players to keep track of it, like new tiny map of the overworld which makes navigating much easier).

Dungeons
The common criticism of the underground locations in the first Amberland as compared the ave of the overworld made me reexamine my approach to constructing those. Based on the demo feedback it seems that it worked out and those were greatly improved.

Environmental storytelling
Much higher priority was given to environmental storytelling. Like environment takes into considerations what should be where in relation to the world and story. In addition, there is now more reactivity of NPCs to changes (like: you kill the dragon and the people start to repopulate previously abandoned area which is safe now).

Story (lore, characters and plot)
The conclusion of the predecessor’s feedback analysis was that lore of the game world is awesome, no change needed at all, that NPC characters are very good, so again the same route should be taken and that plot is, well, the weakest part of it all. So, I redirected all efforts and focus to the plot part when it comes to story. First, I decided to do it 100% my way this time, without taking into account critics, worrying about cliche and the like, all this proved to be a way to nowhere previously. So, now I’m using the same approach as I had with lore and characters, I write it the way I like it and we will see how it turns out. Second, the story was split more evenly between NPCs to simplify interactions with individual character (I’m looking at you Royal Wizard, who have stolen half the camera time in the first Amberland).

Items
The shift was made from using only predefined to a mix of predefined and randomly generated items. This alone provides much higher variety of items. While handcrafted items sound nice in theory, in practice a more algorithmic approach works better. In addition, it freed some mental energy resources of me as a developer which allowed to add more variety to the semi generated stuff.

Playtime
In the first Amberland I was obsessed with removing the fat, to assure the game does not drag too long. To my surprise, no one complained the game was too long. Ever. So, now I’m taking a more relaxed approach, allowing some parts that do not have the optimal playtime to fun ratio. It seems that’s what basically all of you wish for. Of course this still means Amberland stays as one of the most compressed games in terms of removal of boring parts, that does not change. Overall, I think the total playtime will be longer than in the first one, but it’s just my guess at this point.

Special zones
I have experimented with special environmental and magical zones. Now ships require navigation skill to access some sea areas with strong wind, snow zones might have areas with extreme cold you need to prepare for and there are parts where magic work differently. This allowed me to craft outdoor zones which feel even more diverse.

Quests descriptions
I got several reports that people were sometimes confused where to go next in the predecessor. So, now all quests descriptions include the name of the area or location where you need to go (if it’s known of course) and the overworld sector designation.

Other
There are also new monsters, dungeon features and probably some other minor stuff not listed above. Overall, I think you will see a significant improvement when it comes to locations and overall feel of the game compared to the predecessor.