Hello, Merchants! We wanted to give another quick update to reassure everyone that work is still going strong on The Merchant’s Guide to the Kingdom, and we are making steady progress toward the largest update to the game we have ever made! We still cannot give an update on when this patch will hit, but our next State of the Game will have that for you, and then soon after that we should be able to come up with a solid timeline for the official release of v1.0! We do want to give a quick reminder on what this update is and why it is taking the time that it is. Yes, it is a complete visual overhaul of every User Interface aspect of the game, but while we are under the hood changing the look of every feature and mechanic, we are making updates to the functionality both within the code, and in a lot of cases, how it actually works in the game. There are many features that we wanted to update since they first got implemented, and we figured instead of slowly trickling them in after the UI update, we would just go all out while we are updating the visuals to get them all done at once. This means that veteran players will find a fresh experience, requiring them to relearn several mechanics. While we do expect that existing games will function the same, there will be some pretty massive changes which may break some builds, game states and visuals. Please prepare for that possibility by finishing any active games you may want to finish before the patch hits. We will give as much warning as we can in our next State of the Game with a release date to help you better prepare. The results of these changes are also going to mean that a lot of the behind the scenes coding will be more efficient, which means better game performance overall. All that said, we don’t want you to leave this post empty handed! [u][b][h3]New Main Menu Music[/h3][/b][/u] Below you will find a video link which shows a work in progress for our new main menu screen! The UI and background scene are still works in progress. However, we’re excited to highlight the brand new Menu Music track created by our extremely talented composer, Matt Warren! https://youtu.be/gQIYZhuMYes This is just one track coming to Merchant’s Guide, and we can’t wait for you to hear what else Matt has been cooking up for us all! [h3][u][b]New UI Teasers[/b][/u][/h3] We also wanted to showcase a few more teasers of some of the upcoming UI visual changes. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42535422/36c1c27ee462b782083750b28c5437589509b965.jpg[/img] Here’s a look at the redesigned Item Manager, previously known as your inventory, as well as your storage and…well…several other screens. From here you can see and manage all of your gear across all of your storages, including gear swapping for all of your heroes, opening containers, feeding officers, selling items and even salvaging items all from this one panel! [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42535422/5b47cad2c18756ca481dce3f63222a0de0fc5b39.jpg[/img] Here is a new look at the Kingdom Manager, specifically looking at the Dungeons. From this one panel you are able to look at any and all details for each dungeon in the Realm that you have access to without having to navigate multiple locations or popups. All the information you need is built into this single Kingdom Manager for the Dungeons as well as gathering nodes, fishing nodes, hero information, guild information, the realm map and more! You will also notice on the left side is contained the notifications panel in the top left and your Guilds dungeon status in the left for easier, at-a-glance information and navigation. And finally, the Guild Emblem and name are now prominently displayed. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42535422/ca27e4f8c57bb5d2c8ab02309ec511ca5fd1beb7.jpg[/img] Here is that same view, but showcasing that if you want to, you can collapse those left panels to keep your screen showing as much or as little information as you want. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42535422/9d7175befc673f82e90512e3b892bc56ff33bfbb.jpg[/img] Another view of the Kingdom Manager, but showcasing the Realm Map, which will be getting more work for itself as well! [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42535422/9741ec026c00f28eca583e7f2fb6be2b0d8ce0fc.jpg[/img] Finally, a brief look at the Player Manager, which allows you to do a wide range of things all in one place as well such as crafting, XP Token management and more! You may notice a running theme here. The Player, Kingdom and Item Manager are your three main panels now, from which you can do and see just about everything the game has to offer. This reduces the menu count for the UI by a substantial amount, making navigation the game easier and quicker. Take a look at the new Hero Customization below! [h3][u][b]Hero Customization[/b][/u][/h3] We will be releasing the Hero Creation in a state which has the option of changing hair color and skin color, but we have plans to add in outfit coloring in the future as well. We are waiting on the outfit colors because we have more outfits coming in for Ogre’s and doing all the outfits with the outfit colors at once will be more time efficient. Another side note is that we are taking away some of the options for outfits, namely from the human males, so their overall outfit count is lower. We are also disabling the ability to choose different tops and bottoms for the heroes and allowing you to choose full outfits instead. We’re testing this approach to enable the creation of higher-quality outfits without worrying about mismatched pieces causing clipping issues, so while this may be limiting in one way, it will allow for better outfits in the future, as well as higher quality coloring of those outfits. That said, we are certainly open to feedback on this change. We also want to assure you that the extra outfits we took away for this patch are not staying gone. We simply want to establish a nice and equal baseline for each race and gender as we continue to build up the choices of outfits and styles while we go. Here are a few quick samples of the new screen, and a glimpse at some of the color options available. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42535422/4a6b96067cf5cd96d9fec16aaaf7075680fbf458.jpg[/img] Dwarf Female hero creation. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42535422/d1017a9ac744142fe3923e84de2fa9fca74082d4.jpg[/img] Human Male hero creation. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42535422/85ce2418088c626f55d89e2d27d756249ea03aa6.jpg[/img] Ogre Male hero creation. [h3][u][b]Upcoming Uniques[/b][/u][/h3] As many of you know, we have a long list of Uniques which we will be implementing into the game, and it is constantly growing. We have over 150 uniques planned now, and while we do plan on implementing them slowly with various patches as we go forward, we do expect a large amount to be added with the final launch of the game all at once. That said, we wanted to give you a few more teasers of what’s to come in future patches. First up is a simple yet effective utility unique which cuts travel time down by…well…a LOT! [i][b]Seraph’s Wings[/b] Mid The wearer is able to teleport to their destination. Flavor Text: "Is it teleportation, or just really, really fast?" [/i] Next is an item which gives a devastating finisher to any attack. [i][b]Executioner’s Decree[/b] Hands Any damage you deal against a target with [15-20%] or less health will kill them instantly. Flavor Text: "Off with their heads."[/i] Finally, we wanted to showcase that while many uniques will have a relatively simple but powerful unique affix, another great many will also have some very specific and build changing unique affixes. [i][b]Halo[/b] Upper You will not be directly attacked by any enemies unless you are the only available target. Flavor Text: "They dare not scathe your innocence."[/i] Halo is a special item in that it will allow you to protect your healers to ensure they are alive to keep the rest of your party alive. Or, to get more creative, ensure your highest dps hero can build pure DPS gear along with the Halo, not having to worry about defensives at all so long as someone else in your party is alive. But note that wording is important! Halo says you will not be targeted by “direct” attacks. This means that while you will not be targeted with Halo equipped, some enemies may still damage you with area of effect attacks, so properly using uniques and putting them to their maximum effect will, in some cases, take some extra attention. We want unique items to bring flavor and, more importantly, fun to Merchant’s Guide by allowing you the opportunity to make different builds using various interactions and gear combinations to achieve some wild results and push builds to the limits! And don’t worry, we will be adding in appropriately difficult content to test those limits. ;-) We are closing in on a release date for this patch. The patch will first be released in beta for testing and feedback before it is considered fully done, so keep an eye out for that! Thank you all for reading, and rest assured, we are as eager to release this content as you are to see more game updates, but we believe it’s very well worth the wait! We wish you the happiest of holidays in the upcoming weeks, and will see you all again very soon! -Devs