Category Archives: New Version

Stellar Monarch 2 version 1.20

Version 1.20 released

In this version combat mechanics were adjusted, improved, fixed and clarified. It’s a bit fuzzy what is a new feature, what was wrongly explained and what was broken (it was a mixed bag of stuff), so I just listed all those as “misc”. Some stuff was also simplified (like missiles locking each combat round instead every second round). I also took the opportunity and redesigned and expanded the armor type vs weapon type dynamic. Overall, this version cleaned up some messy stuff related to combat. Oh yes, also traditional small fixes (spelling related mostly).

– [misc] More hull types and weapon types (Laser, Particle Beam, Plasma Gun, Graviton Lance), also Ion renamed to Particle Beam. Added to weapon tooltips the exact effect. Some hull types now have a different weapon type.
– [misc] Missiles attempt to lock on a target enemy ship each combat round (not every second round). The average number of missiles locking per combat round is similar (the change is only to make it less confusing).
– [misc] 50% damage goes to Shields and 50% to Hull (was explained incorrectly in the tooltip). Actually, I was wondering which one is the bug, the mechanic or the tooltip. Decided it’s the tooltip, since 50:50 has some advantages with rounding and is overall easier to grasp.
– [misc] Now aliens can start with Guided Missiles.
– [misc] Other combat related adjustments/fixes.

– [interface] Squadron statistics and espionage tooltip has added that Fighters/Heavy Fighters carry 1 bomb each (and how much damage those deal). Also improved missiles tooltip to make it more clear how those work.

– [fix] Armor ship component was not working.
– [fix] Description of Shields fixed (damage reduction incorrectly listed) (as 1/3 while it’s 50%):
– [fix] Incorrect tooltip info (listed as Hardened Shields instead of Hardened Armor).
– [fix] Incorrect position of some interface elements.
– [fix] Several text related fixes (wrong emperor pronoun in one place and other small stuff).

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!

Legends of Amberland version 1.30

Version 1.30 released

This version backports several improvements and fixes from Legends of Amberland II. This includes improved text visibility on Steam Deck (fonts size), minor improvement of the scroller (visual glitch fix), updated engine (rare bug fixes) and the Armor calculation fix. In addition, Amplify Resistances bug, which was just discovered, was fixed. Have fun!

– [misc] Updated to the newest engine (which fixes some very rare bugs on odd hardware).

– [interface] Slightly bigger item abilities font size.
– [interface] On Steam Deck resolution (1280×800) the item area is automatically made bigger, which allows to fit even bigger font size and therefore the item ability text is even bigger (which is handy when playing on handheld), at the expense on the number of items displayed at once. This is screen resolution based, so while designed specifically for Steam Deck, it will behave the same way on any hardware.

– [fix] Interface scroller visual glitch.
– [fix] Withered tree quest had a small glitch, you had to visit the Wizard again to trigger it.
– [fix] Fix of armor formula (was not working as described).
– [fix] Incorrect Amplify Resistances spell effect (was increasing damage instead of reducing it).

Reminders
Recently Steam introduced Steam Developer Page if you follow it you will be notified each time I release a new game/expansion/etc. I strongly recommend to follow it.

In addition, if you have a moment could you please leave a Steam review of the game? It does not need to be long. It makes a big difference for an indie developer like me and increases the chance I will be making games in that style in future.

Legends of Amberland II version 1.22.1

Version 1.22.1 released

Hotfix. Due to various strange occurrences the maps in v1.22 became kind of corrupted (some things that were supposed to be locked were open from the start). Which lead to problems with the main storyline. This version patches it and also introduces an autofix for saves that suffered from this bug.

By the way, if you ever have any problems with your saves you can always send them to me to fix manually. Thanks!

– [fix] The previous version (v1.22) introduced corrupted maps data, which makes some grates start open while those should start locked. This allowed to visit places you were not supposed to access and therefore broken the main storyline and made you solftlocked from progressing further.
– [fix] In previous versions there was a story bug possible (softlock) if you visit places in an odd order. This version autofixes such occurrences on old saves. You just need to visit the place you were asked to visit AGAIN and return to the quest giver, it will record properly. Note that you will have it logged as unfinished quest in such case, disregard it, you already completed it. Also, remember that in case of any such problems you can always send me your save file to fix. Note that this version is preventing the bug from happening, this is only to auto fix old saves.

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!

Legends of Amberland II version 1.22

Version 1.22 released

This version introduces several low priority fixes, small interface improvements, makes full rest more powerful and increases poison damage. Rest was altered, now more statuses are cleared upon full rest, quick rest was not changed. Poison damage was rebalanced, it was made more potent, which I think is needed, especially when the tools to deal with poison are so abundant.

– [misc] Full Rest cures all statuses except Petrified and Poisoned.

– [balance] Poison deals more damage.

– [interface] Character statistics screen shows a tooltip marker upon pressing CTRL or RT on gamepad (this allows seeing tooltips when playing without a mouse).

– [fix] Input stops working correctly upon pressing the IME key on a Japanese keyboard.
– [fix] Untranslated purchase dialogue option.
– [fix] Mysterious Sage was incorrectly called Mystical Sage in one quest description.
– [fix] Translation (German) had HP & MP switched in one place.

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!

Stellar Monarch 2 version 1.19

Version 1.19 released

This version is one big bug fix. Well, it has one measly interface improvement as well, but other than that, just fixes. Actually, there are many more changes, hidden deep inside, but those are made as a preparation for the upcoming expansion, so more like things that needed to be done but not visible to players at all. In short, the most boring update ever. Move along, nothing to see.

– [interface] Mini house buttons (on the top of the screen) sorted by relations/opinion.

– [fix] Was possible to get diplomatic/infiltration progress towards an extinct race.
– [fix] Was possible for an Admiral to sent negative number of squadrons in some cases.
– [fix] Safeguard against potential memory overflow error.
– [fix] Safeguard against squadron templates with no ships (which could cause negative production). Now at least one ship is guaranteed.
– [fix] Events could include options to add Popular Support to reforms that were already passed. Now all such options only pop up if the reform is not passed yet.
– [fix] Bio Chemical bombs were not destroying defensive installations.
– [fix] All constructions (star bases, etc) upkeep was positive (those added money instead of deducting).
– [fix] One of the previous versions broke budget changes counter, fixed.
– [fix] Turns to research could have been displayed as negative (if there was an abundance of research points).
– [fix] Replacing leaders of the house (rebels punishment option) made the head of the house broken (banquet, phantom person on planets display, etc). In addition to the fix, old saves will have this auto corrected on load.
– [fix] Offensive squadrons were not converted to defensive squadrons upon planet conquest in some cases.
– [fix] When automatic queue of technologies option was used the highest unlocked tech level was not updated (and therefore sometimes too low).
– [fix] Various spelling mistakes.

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!

Legends of Amberland II version 1.21

Version 1.21 released

This version introduces an official translation to several languages. Now the game can be played in English, German, French and Polish. In future more languages could be added (and it’s like almost guaranteed judging from my past experiences with localization). Next, some balance tweaks were done and one location was altered (added Ancient Evil Aura). Some of those adjustments affect new games only and some old ones as well (now the save remembers at which rules the game was started and tries to aim for consistency of gameplay within same gameplay campaign). Some traditional fixes are there as well.

I would like to thank here all translators and myriads of other helpers who, over the years, helped me to improve the quality of the Amberland series. Many thanks! You are truly the most devoted fans!

– [misc] Localized to German, French and Polish.
– [misc] Introduced rulesets which are tied to save files. Basically, when a rebalance which would not work well with old saves (side effects or plain too heavy changes) is introduced those changes affects new saves only and the existing saves will work under the old rules assuring consistency. The active ruleset is listed on Quick Menu, next to difficulty level. If there is a need, I might add an option to manually convert the save to another (newest) ruleset in future.

– [balance] Normal difficulty was rebalanced, now monsters deal more damage (affects new saves only, ruleset: #121).
– [balance] Formula for experience required to level up made a bit more steep (all difficulty levels), at 20/30/40/50 thresholds. It slows down access to the highest levels, in practice it’s a difference of around -5 levels in the late game (affects new saves only, ruleset: #121).
– [balance] Added “Ancient Evil Aura” to Dungeon of Doom, adjusted plaque and description of that location.
– [balance] Battlesmith MP per level x2 (instead of x1), Max Encumbrance increased drastically (to Enc 50, which makes this class the highest encumbrance class in the game). Now also starts with Blacksmith’s Heavy Forge Armor which is similar to Heavy Forge Armor (which would be actually usable by this character due to extreme Enc).

– [interface] Wider “+” button for increasing stats. Should make it more convenient to play on Steam Deck.

– [fix] Boats/Ships related texts were not included in the translation file (and therefore not translated).

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!

Legends of Amberland II version 1.20.1

Version 1.20.1 released

A small update, mostly to fix incorrect manual version. Also added one intermediary quest (purely so people would not get confused what to do next, since I observed many people got lost in that part of the game).

– [misc] Added an intermediary quest “visit chancellor” (because many people were confused what to do at this point).
– [misc] Localization (DE/FR/PL) is almost complete. Those are still marked as partial but those are actually more than 99% complete.

– [fix] Manual was incorrect (from old v1.1x), replaced with the proper (v1.20).
– [fix] Interface scroller visual glitch.

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!

Legends of Amberland II version 1.20

Version 1.20 released

Finally, the big rebalance version is out! In the last months I was gathering feedback, drawing proposals and discussing implications of various balance changes with many people. Here is the result of this long work. First, a lot of rules were adjusted. Hit/Evade formula was redone, difficulty level effects adjusted, Arcane, talents and so on. Next, many classes and some races got significant rebalance. The premise being that specialized classes should get their special bonus for free or almost free and instead focus on a more generic perks and that hybrid classes should be stronger. Arcane bonuses availability was increased, including special musical instruments for Bards, more items with Arcane and Knowledge bonus to Arcane adjusted. Spells got rebalance as well. Monsters were adjusted in many cases, in a logical way, for example Dragons got better armor. The mid/late game areas difficulty was increased accompanied by environmental zones damage increase (Frost and Lava). In addition barrels were redesigned, now those grant gold, vials (rare) or just flavor text. The are also smaller changes like prices rebalance in the Magic Shop, griffin travel time, etc. And the last thing, there is now a new location on Eastern Swamps (some players raised a concern this area is empty and I found this complain valid).

OId saves (pre v1.20) will be automatically converted to the new rules (very minor things will be not, like attributes adjustments for classes, but those are very minor, so it’s perfectly fine to play the adjusted version using your old saves).

Overall, the goal of the big rebalance was to introduce the much needed changes, especially regarding classes balance, without upsetting the state of existing games in progress. But if you prefer to finish your existing game in progress using the old rules, you can always access the “Pre BigRebalance version v1.1x” which will be permanently available on the Steam Beta branch.

– [feature] New item type Musical instruments which grants “Music” (Arcane bonus usable for Bards and Troubadours only).
– [feature] Barrels redone. Now instead of experience those have a chance to give gold or drop a vial (savescumming protected, as usual).

– [balance] Elves have no longer Endurance penalty.
– [balance] Elves got +10 Sorcery resistance.
– [balance] Wood Elf extra attributes changed to DEX & TOU (to allow a viable elf warrior option).
– [balance] Archer second attribute boost upon level up changed from STR to TOU (since Strength is useless when using bows).
– [balance] Champions extra damage vs Sorcerers & Warlocks +30% instead +10%.
– [balance] Champions got Sorcery resistance +15 and Fire/Cold/Lightning resistances +5.
– [balance] Troll Slayers got Fear resistance +50.
– [balance] Wizards and Healers (plus derived classes) talent changed to “Magical Resistance” (+1 Fire/Cold/Lightning resistance per 3 points of Knowledge).
– [balance] All classes got double Arcane gain from knowledge (like Wizards and Healers previously). Which makes Knowledge equally efficient for all classes in regard of extra Arcane.
– [balance] Experience required to level up from Difficulty level flattened (Hard and Insane now have a much smaller experience penalty).
– [balance] Insane difficulty now has all prices like on Hard.
– [balance] Reduced monsters’ damage on Insane difficulty level.
– [balance] Armor maximum damage reduction increased by x0.5 (minimum damage reduction not changed). This means that armor can potentially reduce more damage (and reduces more on average) but has a higher variation.
– [balance] Actually a fix, attacks vs ALL party members were never causing status effects as those intended to. But since it was never mentioned it should work this way and it was playtested without this and therefore the difference here of being classified as a bug or a feature is my original intention, it was propagated from a bug to a feature… Yup, that’s the most logical approach. I know, life is strange.

Everything from Experimental Rebalance moved to regular ruleset:
– [balance] New hit chance formula (taking Dexterity into account more).
– [balance] Monsters got Dexterity attribute (Dexterity value depends on level, also Trolls got it significantly lower), which affect hit and evade.
– [balance] Offensive spells power +20%, level 1-29 offensive spells power +50%.
– [balance] Whirling item ability chance increased significantly (to 25%).
– [balance] Reduced griffin travel time (from 4h to 2h).
– [balance] Lava environmental damage x3, Extremely cold environmental damage x2 (lower grades of frost damage not changed).
– [balance] Troll Slayers got extra +2x HP multiplier (to a total of 9x HP), making the class the highest HP in the game (to compare: Warrior has 6x HP and Knight 7x HP).
– [balance] Archers got +x1 Damage multiplier and +20% Critical Hit Chance (previously +10%) when using bows.
– [balance] Bards (and Troubadours) got +1x MP multiplier.
– [balance] Mage Knights got +1x HP multiplier and +1x Arcane multiplier (on par with Wizard) also access to Resist Elements spell.
– [balance] Dragons got better armor.
– [balance] Snow/Ice/Great Ice Lizards got significant level up.
– [balance] Barbarians got level up (from 15/20 to 20/25).
– [balance] Trolls got Fear attack.
– [balance] Green Beetles level increased.
– [balance] Mantis level increased and more deadly attack types added.

– [content] Magic shop adjustments: prices reduced significantly (almost halved), new items available (weapons, arcane sources, etc).
– [content] New item: Ring of Arcane (common).
– [content] New location on East Marshes with high level enemies (to explore in the late game).
– [content] Removed some Barbarians and added some Grey Snakes in the beyond Bardacia region (there were too many identical monsters).

– [interface] Hit/Evade tooltip lists chance to hit table vs example values.
– [interface] Shows Critical Hit Chance on the Character/Hit tooltip.
– [interface] Added Overburdened and Ranged wrong position on status list (on the Characters stats screen).

– [fix] Incorrectly enabled quick exit DEV mode hotkey, disabled now.

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!

Legends of Amberland II version 1.16

Version 1.16 released

This version proudly presents localization. For starters German, French and Polish language with more to come later. Next there were adjustments in spells. A new “Improved heal” spell (accompanied with “mass” version) were introduced to act as a solution for the healing gap around level 20. This went straight into regular features (omitting experimental rules) because I concluded it does not upset balance and is really, really needed. Also continuous heal spells type added. Those are pure convenience heal spells which can be used outside of combat only. Another nice feature was redesign of the interface to allow better items comparison when shopping. Technically, no new feature was added, but the small adjustments how the UI behave made comparing items while in shop much easier (now the interface will be smart enough to guess you just want to check items and will try to allow you to do it without exiting shop and will adjust it’s behavior accordingly). I tried it and it works quite nice in my opinion (but if there is still a need for it, we could think of a full blown compare items feature I guess). Some traditional fixes and experimental rebalances entered the scene as well.

And a small announcement some of you waited for a long time. Most likely this is the last version before the big rebalance one (v1.20) where a bunch of rebalances will be introduced all at once (everything in experimental rebalance and many more). As usual in such case, the old branch v1.1x will be preserved as an optional Beta branch in case you wanted to finish your existing game using the old rules. Note the rebalance version will auto convert old saved, so you can switch in the middle.

If you wanted to take part in the Big rebalance version testing, hop in to the Discord where we organize such things. Thanks!

– [feature] Continuous heal spell type introduced. Variable cost spell which can be used outside of combat only. It will heal the target to full heal by spending X MP per Y HP healed.
– [feature] If started with fewer party members than 7 (using “Extra New Game options”), then experience required to level up is reduced by -10% per missing party member. Works retroactively with old saves.

– [misc] Game was localized to German, French, Polish (more to come). Might be incomplete and/or full of mistakes (will be improved later is needed). Also manual was not translated yet (this will be done after Big Rebalance version).
– [misc] All professions with access to “Heal” spell got a new spell “Healing Touch”, which is a continuous heal.
– [misc] Elven Touch spell redone to continuous spell. Note it still has remove poison which makes it distinctive from the regular “Healing Touch” spell.
– [misc] Added Improved Heal and Improved Mass Heal spells (better than Heal, worse than Power Heal).
– [misc] New icon for Heal all party members spell, to distinguish from Heal a single target spell.

– [balance] Replaced most Snow Lizards with more dangerous Ice Lizards in Northumbia (this affects new saves only, you will see no change in your old game in progress).

– [experimental] Only if enabled Experimental Rebalance: Snow/Ice/Great Ice Lizards got significant level up.
– [experimental] Only if enabled Experimental Rebalance: Barbarians got level up (from 15/20 to 20/25).
– [experimental] Only if enabled Experimental Rebalance: Trolls got Fear attack.
– [experimental] Only if enabled Experimental Rebalance: Green Beetles level increased.
– [experimental] Only if enabled Experimental Rebalance: Mantis level increased and more deadly attack types added.
– [experimental] Only if enabled Experimental Rebalance: Shows Critical Hit Chance on the Character/Hit tooltip.

– [interface] Redesigned interface behavior to allow more convenient items comparison while shopping. Now, when entered shop, the interface will enter a special mode in which it will attempt to conveniently show you inventory whenever possible without exiting the shop. For example clicking on character portrait will bring you to inventory by default and when you close inventory (or any other screen you attempted to visit) you will be back to shop. Works with keyboard, mouse and gamepad. This, while not a full fledged “compare items” feature by itself, greatly improves shopping interface and should remove most of the annoyances related to shopping.

– [fix] Not a fix, but added several safeguards to interface modes, so some potential low priority interface bugs should be avoided.
– [fix] Info button did not close the screen when clicked.
– [fix] Was able to illegally enter magical restricted zones using Flee from combat option.
– [fix] Incorrect tooltip for Griffin when on Desert/Lava or Boat/Ship.

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!

Stellar Monarch 2 version 1.18

Version 1.18 released

This version is a bag of various changes. First, the bankruptcy mechanic was redesigned. Now you don’t get a direct stability drop from negative treasury but it causes a small penalty to administrative points generation and triggers bankruptcy audience events. The end result is similar, the fall of the Empire due to stability drop if treasury is negative for too long, but now you have more options to react to it and you can pretty safely allow to run negative for a few turns. A similar mechanic for private treasury was introduced, but with less severe penalties and events. Next, the Houses minimap mode was removed. This was a think I thought for a long time but I don’t want to drag it any longer. The placement of fiefs is too distracting, sure, it looks cool but it plainly do not work. And I don’t like to keep things that do not work, so removed. Now the exact placement of fiefs is irrelevant. Next, a small rebalance to Centralization was done, the tax efficiency boost might seem like not useful in practice but it’s logical, intuitive and might become more important once I implement some events I planned for future. The last thing is a bunch of smaller changes and traditional fixes.

– [feature] Negative Imperial treasury causes penalty to Administrative pts generation (at least -10 per turn, increases over time).
– [feature] Negative Imperial treasury triggers an event each audience which makes you select one penalty (default being Stability loss). The longer the deficit the higher the penalty.
– [feature] Negative private treasury causes penalty of Authority -10 for the Royal House (lifted after balance is positive).
– [feature] Negative private treasury triggers an event each audience which makes you select one penalty.

– [remove] Removed stability drop from negative money mechanic (replaced with Bankruptcy audience events).
– [remove] Removed Houses minimap mode (it made an incorrect impression that the location of fiefs is very important). Also removed all mentions of Noble Houses Homeworlds from all tooltips.

– [misc] Mechatrons will now run out of supply after around 100 turns after unburrowing (no more reinforcements). There is a proper event announcement about it.
– [misc] Hidden battle markers on starmap when there is no Recon (it was plain confusing).
– [misc] Removed dev “triangle” notice (to avoid confusion).
– [misc] Removed the option to Expand Ministry of Protocol (Ministry of Protocol has no bonus, therefore the option was pointless).

– [balance] Centralization decreases legislation points needed to pass laws to -2% per Centralization point (before -5%).
– [balance] Centralization increases Tax Efficiency by +1% per Centralization point.

– [interface] Improved Corruption tooltip to clarify that all income is affected by Corruption.
– [interface] Houses summary screen lists grudges next to relations.
– [interface] Rebels tooltip improvements: Removed rebel points gained from events (this information is redundant here and just confusing) and cleaned up the tooltip so % modifiers are listed separately.

– [fix] Cities started being constructed before colonization is completed. Same for infrastructure points generation.
– [fix] Main menu help right side section items (left side was correct) “Back” button closing the whole help screen instead of moving one level down.
– [fix] “Unexplored” was off on the planet short info box.
– [fix] Spelling corrections.

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!