Devblog 16 - Full Release Plans

The Black Grimoire: Cursebreaker

A story driven solo RPG inspired by oldschool games like RuneScape and Ultima Online! Explore a sprawling medieval fantasy world full of npcs with dialogue, level skills, fight varied monsters and uncover the story of Rothar Aercrest – the cursed lord to the remote woodlands of Imberthale.

Greetings adventurers! Welcome to a devblog / news post, where we detail what we’ve been working on and what’s coming next for the game. As we’ve previously stated, we’re now focused on delivering the Cursebreaker Release Update, to bring the game out of early access. Since our last content update we’ve also delivered a number of invisible bugfix patches to the game, we’ve recorded a list for some of those at the end of this post. So what new will we bring to the game at release? First of all, we’re raising the maximum achievable skill level to 100 for the most dedicated players to work towards. This increase in the level ceiling will be accompanied with appropriate unlockable milestones, so plenty of new harvestables and craftable items. To help accommodate the increased skill cap, we’re expanding the outdoors map with a new ogre mountain area named Amarien's Foothills. [h1]The Ogre Mountains: "Amarien's Foothills"[/h1] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37778218/ab58c35a9156d75fc1246b82ac8451d02e2fe7d9.gif[/img] The mountain parts are more of a late game area that’s to be unlocked through completing certain quests on the “mainland”. To this end, we're finishing off the loose end that is the bandit fortress in Haywind. Completing these "prequel" bandit quests will through twists and turns lead you to the ogre mountains. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37778218/b3d81263437a7ea8b29a984f40bf91c7cc3ee584.png[/img] As you travel to the new map, you will initially encounter a wide outdoors area and battle high level ogres who’ve begun attacking human settlements. Beware, nasty barbarian foes may also be camping at remote mountain corners. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37778218/0b85a0f4615a48c62f3686ad73f61734df37d5c5.png[/img] Venturing deeper into the mountains, you will discover dark caverns where the ogres have fortified themselves. Deeper in the climate starts getting quite cold, and eventually these caverns lead down to the nest of a mighty beast even the ogres have learnt to fear… [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37778218/e285fef53142ba8fc746f6261d61123ed2d56166.png[/img] [h1]Expanded Crafting[/h1] Higher skill levels naturally require powerful unlocks, and we've already started with new tiers of craftable armors. After all, it will be important to display to all the peasants your new heights of power. Here's a peek at some of the new gear that will be obtainable. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37778218/b74d5ddc45885fd7770fd6ed3caa78912f90efff.png[/img] [h1]Achievement Content[/h1] We've already mentioned achievements a few times before, but as a reminder, the release update will add achievements to the game and with them, a lot of small form side content all across the world. We have upwards of 200 achievements lined up that mainly consist of exploration, small helper tasks and grinding out enemies and resources. Being a helpful busybody and completing tasks and achievements will also earn you ingame rewards. You will be able to retroactively earn achievements with save games you've started during early access and those saves will continue to be playable. [h1]Timeline[/h1] We're now targeting to deliver the release update around August/September, but we're reluctant to give a strict date as of yet, as there's a lot to go through and we essentially only have 2 pairs of hands working on the game full time. With that said, we're making progress as swiftly as we only can, and we'll make sure to announce the exact release date as soon as we've confidently decided on one. [h1]Latest Bugfixes[/h1] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37778218/cc6b87bd09724ce03f99ce4e50b99b840348c667.gif[/img] As mentioned in the intro, we've implemented a number of silent bugfixes to the live game over the past month or so. For the record, here's a list of notable fixes we've applied: [list] [*]Removed a duplicate spawner of the grimoire quest item in Etherlight dungeon, which had the potential to break the main quest chain. [*]Added item descriptions to cannon part items in thornhill academy quest, which were previously missing them. [*]Fixed broken player house in Timberwell. [*]Nails may now be bought at general stores. [*]Torches may now be bought at general stores. [*]The journal entry in the quest "Bearer of Bad News" now gives instructions on where to find Haywind Town Hall. [*]The hatchet requirements in the quest "Logging Issues" now make sense and the quest giver gives accurate information on which hatchet is needed and where to get it. [*]Fixed an alchemy table in east Thornhill, which had stopped being interactable. [*]Journal entries in the quest "Garden of the Witches" now give accurate information on the amount of herbs that are needed. [*]Fixed Agathe's dialogue during quest "Garden of the Witches", which contained placeholder texts when asked about the herbs that grow in the swamp. [*]Fixed the bookshelf of magical knowledge in Greywall Dungeons, which gave out a quest item spellbook at inappropriate times. [*]Fixed a floating fishing rod in the Spruce Shade crypts. [*]Added directions to journal entries in the Hunting for Perfection quest, and made the packet of critterskins recoverable if by some means lost. [*]Fixed interactable overgrowth blocking the way to the Hidden Grove not functioning properly. [*]Halloween arena final fight should now reset upon losing. [*]Staff of Spiteful Seas should now function correctly. [*] + a number of typos and small visual and pathing glitches... [/list] As always, if you have any burning questions, we'll do our best to answer them on our discord server. which is where you're most likely to get a hold of us - the link's included down below. With that said, it's time to wish you all happy gaming and enjoyable summer months! Regards, Pura [url={STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37778218/1cef0cb9a4965046e3f72edfc2c36bd6d8531a88.jpg][img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37778218/247aa3eb17d926c35e32b2c1920b1021b6c8e16a.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://discord.gg/gsBnQAbJ6t][img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37778218/85f1405872107bb94b9cc4556c6786a5badda02b.png[/img][/url]