Exile Princes Closed Beta Testing

[Jubal]

OK, I'm going to tentatively start punting copies of this to a small group of testers. Please report bugs here, and also shout here if you want in on the betas but don't have a copy yet.

Open Bug Reports
> Apparently cities can vanish in some circumstances. Not been able to replicate this yet.
> Factions can declare war on each other multiple times for some reason.
> Saving in the tutorial doesn't work
> Staying at taverns when there's an end week and a quest trigger shouldn't avoid the quest trigger

Open Feature Requests/Plans
> Maybe make "you caught them unawares" more explicit when you fight unarmed fugitive
> Clarify search boost somehow
> Make last message clearer in log?
> High taxes needs a penalty for the AI
> Bigger or more common negative reactions to some bad quests from companions (eg assassination)

Closed Reports/Requests

Spoiler

Fixed in 012:
> "treasurer suggest"
> "Guildsmen... arrives"
> Getting the stick from the tree can sometimes cost money
Fixed in 011:
> "he is own room/tent"
> The altar event is frequently OP
> Check double spacing on "dangerous, and"
> More notes on weapon stats when swapping needed
Fixed in 010:
> Map now pans with player in centre (unless they're too close to the edge) rather than being so visibly separated into tile zones.
> Bottom right tile had onclick issue, now fixed.
> Wibulnib packs in farms seem to have a map clicking issue, now solved.
> Combat Stances has now been made incompatible with other attack abilities
> Updated core units file for tutorial
> Fixed and improved hotkeys across screens
> Should now say "silver" rather than gold consistently
> Players' relations with cities now have a bottom cap of -20
> Panning map makes it harder to discern when moving between map regions, which are important for some quests. (Hopefully resolved by varying map music by region & making region part of the z key readout)
> More hints for searching related quests in early game - given when you go back to the quest giver
Fixed in 009:
~None Yet~
Fixed in 008:
~None Yet~
Fixed in 007:
~None Yet~
Fixed in 006:
~None Yet~
Fixed in 005:
~None~
Fixed in 004:
> Bandit quest win may not be triggering if you fight it across a supertile boundary? (should be fixed)
> It says "clicked!" when you click the tutorial bandits
> Trying to move into enemy armies gives you the "impassable terrain" message
> Travelling armourer always uses "an" eg "an spear"
> Mark edges of map with a line of impassable terrain
> Note directions from city to city
> Hired swords may be OP
Fixed in 003:
> Add enter and backspace as hotkeys for aye/nay on decision screens
> Add hotkeys for battle commands
> How to heal your hero not explained in tutorial
> Troop upgrades not explained in tutorial
> Unclear for players what a troop can upgrade into: should show in army menu

Versions and Changelog
Current version: 011

Changelogs

Spoiler

011 to 012:

Spoiler

>

Spoiler

010 to 011:

Spoiler

> Romance: companions can offer romances to one another or the player, with fully-fledged romance plotlines. The core mechanic is that some romance activities are better or worse suited to different characters' personalities, and finding the right ones can let you progress through the romance better.
> Variable difficulty settings: now five options for this, two hard Roguelike ones, a super-easy Sandbox, and a lowered difficulty for new players as well as the "normal" mode.
> Character gender now can be set in the opening menus
> More character interactions where characters may approve or disapprove of the player and their actions. Includes e.g. expanding the sprites attacking woodcutters event.
> Honourable characters' sparring interaction now grants XP: this helps counterbalance the fact that Honourable characters are one of the most likely to object to the player's actions.
> City lords will now sometimes go out to battle with their forces.
> New city events that can come up in discussions: city rumours can comment on new rulers, current sieges, farm burnings, and elections.
> Mysterious altars nerfed somewhat
> XP gain for defender units increased
> Minor text and bug fixes

009 to 010:

Spoiler

> Map now pans with player. This slightly slows the game but seems to work OK in general.
> Autosave implemented.
> Music incl. mute key now implemented, and eleven different original songs can be found in taverns.
> Bravery and leadership now rolled into a single unified Spirit statistic.
> More detail added on what's in different areas of towns when choosing routes.
> Recruitment vignettes are now far more likely to give you some information about the character being recruited and vary according to character personality.
> Characters now have death scenes that vary according to their personality traits.
> New interaction vignettes available: these small random events allow the player to spend some adventuring points for a chance to improve their relationship with a character. 
> First six companion loyalty quests are available: one for each character class. Priests have a relic finding quest, sergeants must find an old comrade and fight them or help them rebuild their merc company, minstrels must go to the finest tavern in each city to play, scholars have a mysterious parchment of their own to decipher, squires must rescue an old mentor whose manor has been taken over by bandits, and rangers must hunt a particularly difficult creature. Companion quests trigger when the companion has high approval of the player. The relic finding quest adds three new enemies you could face: the Tower Gryphon, the Rostrulet, and the Spectre.
> Loyal companions will not leave even when morale is awful.
> Basic city events have started to be implemented: citizens will comment on one or two events when they happen, for example ruthless and iron fisted rulers may put the heads of enemies the player brings in up on spikes for a while which may be noticed around the city.
> Various bugfixes

008 to 009:

Spoiler

> Quest threading: Some lord quests now provide a new quest on completion.
> NPC companions can interact, talk, argue, and make friends or become enemies. There's a special interaction where you can spend Advp to resolve a dispute.
> New quests available: Potion making & Investigating landmarks
> New companions, Squire and Minstrel, added
> Starting quests and backstory added when you start a new game
> New companion abilities: Combat stances, Trample, Engineer, Calm Beasts, Critical Strike, Counterattack, Stand Alone, Camp Espionage, Panegyrist, Entertainer
> Upgrade your units at some city buildings
> Sea travel changed: you now walk to a sea tile and get a random time to wait for a ship (range varies by terrain type you're coming from)
> More variance in costs of opportunities
> Various minor fixes and name list additions

007 to 008:

Spoiler

> 2 new lord quests: trophy hunting and fighting duels
> Siege time - you now have to wait to assault a city
> Map stamina is no longer a standardly upgradeable stat, and resilience is now properly a separate stat to defence which can be upgraded in its own right
> Click go to castle to finish as well as start quests
> The quest log systems now change their text for some quests once you've completed a major element (e.g. the find person quest is different once you've found the person).
> Kinkladelets now have a different visual to kinklades
> Port cities can no longer get cavalry-only armies
> Various minor fixes and name list additions

006 to 007:

Spoiler

> Morale depth: more possibilities for both losing and gaining morale. Tavern stays can gain morale, and can prompt "buy the men a drink" events; getting caught in a storm while searching the wilderness can conversely lower morale. If morale gets very high you can get bonus XP for your troops or a small cash bonus.
> Ruined cart opportunity added and "decipher parchment" base quest created.
> New "eliminate a rival" assassination question, only given by rulers with the ruthless, conniving, or iron fisted traits.
> Character traits affecting gameplay:

• Honourable characters get upset if you retreat from battle or agree to carry out assassinations
• Kind characters get upset if you agree to carry out assassinations
• Kind characters will occasionally do good deeds in cities, boosting reputation among the local populace
• Welcoming characters will buy a round at the bar sometimes for a free morale boost
• Callow characters have a chance of avoiding injury thanks to being young and healthy
• Callow characters sometimes disobey orders when told to stop attacking an enemy
• Venerable characters will give tiny XP boosts to other members of your party as they share their advice and wisdom around
• Companions with "favoured child" will give you bonuses when election campaigning in a town
• Conniving characters may swipe some extra coins from you now and again
• Conniving characters may suggest you cheat in election campaigns
• Ruthless characters may suggest you try to intimidate your opponents in election campaigns
• Philosophical characters give you +1 search in cities before your men get tired of searching
• Philosophical characters may offer to organise debates during election campaigns
• Characters will get upset if you pledge things radically against their personal principles in an election campaign.

> City rulers who are sneering or conniving no longer give you such mean statements if you're part of their faction
> Welcoming city rulers have new additional flavour text
> New reclusive trait added for all character types
> Vignette events to show character traits added
> Lots of extra portraits added for major character types
> Limit on # scholar quests at any one time
> Character permanence added for nobles and scholars in escort quests - you can now get & shuttle around the same character several times in a game
> Companions can become lords, as can escorted nobles
> New terrain effect - charge ability for cavalry no longer works in forests, sieges, city fights, or tunnels
> Minimum number of cities at each map size (2 now absolute minimum)
> Hotkeys added in city menu
> Help (displaying hotkey options) added in city menu & battle screen
> Fixed bug where some seaside cities had no port

005 to 006:

Spoiler

> Areas of the map now have region names.
> Deep forests added
> People you're looking for can now turn out to be in taverns that you must then visit.
> Taverns now have flavour text and variable heal chance depending on their quality.
> Forest bandits now ambush you across the map - they can be spotted either by searching nearby or by a ranger character with the "spotting" skill.
> Ambush battles shut off the ability for the player to retreat.
> Captains and some NPC leaders can get the "rally" ability to return fleeing units to the battle.
> The tunnel network feature in cities is now a full scale dungeon crawl including tunnel forks, chests, and increasingly dangerous enemies.
> New enemy only in dungeon crawls: the Deciever. Takes on the look and stats of whatever it is fighting.
> Cutpurse thief event in areas with "maze of alleys": loses you some money.
> Charm sales event in "hero's statue" areas: the charm can revive your resilience or protect you from harm
> Pilgrim quest from city to city now exists
> Four legendary weapons have been added: you can gain one by completing a dungeon crawl.
> NPC cities can now sometimes train faction special units and armoured riders.
> Fugitive quest changes: you only get a certain number of battles to catch the fugitive, and fugitives will occasionally offer you bribes to let them go free if you defeat them in battle.
> Variation in hiring: rangers will now sometimes bring a small band of allies with them, and sergeants will ask for a prior payment.
> Companions now have personality traits in the code much like the city leaders do (this has no ingame effect... yet).
> Bugfix: text readout for find a person quest now tells you where the quest was for.

004 to 005:

Spoiler

> New special character type: sergeant. Has reasonable combat stats and the 'trainer' ability that lets him give XP to your other troops. Hireable if you find a barracks via city searches.
> New special character type: ranger. Has reasonable combat stats and some useful map skills available. Hireable via a forest search event.
> Ability to hire second-level troops via searches if you find a barracks or fortifications ward
> New quest: search for an NPC in another city. Given by standard city rulers.
> New monster enemy: Landfyches. Mysterious legged fish-like creatures that sit around on the shores of water bodies.
> New enemy/encounter: centaurs! These will either offer to tell your fortune (with various effects), or offer to join you, or will fight you.
> Your army should now return to its original order after troops flee, rather than returning the new troops to the end of the list.
> Bugfix: you could retain adventuring points between games (quit one game, start a new one, retain the total). Now prevented.
> Bugfix: NPC units get their HP restored after battles.

003 to 004:

Spoiler

> Added armourer as option in city search
> Added impassable mountains/water to map edges
> Fixed several minor bugs
> Changed image updates on main map, so fewer files are loaded and moves process much faster
> Added city to city directions as a rumour option when looking for rumours in a city.
> Dropped Hired Sword defence by 1

002 to 003:

Spoiler

> Added message pointing out that you type the hero's name in the white box, as this was unclear to one tester
> Enter and backspace added as "Yes" and "No" bindings for binary choice function
> Full set of key bindings for battles added: W for fight turn, A & D to switch Attack and Defence unit, S and F to switch attack and defence abilities on, and Z for retreat.
> Edited tutorial to clarify various points
> Army menu now shows what a troop type can upgrade into

001 to 002:

Spoiler

> Added more text variants for election events (2 rather than 1 for the ward amenity ones, and from 4 to 10 for ward targeting)
> Variable costs for ward and wealthy/poor targeting events
> Minor fixes to text widths etc
> Fixed problem with hero attributes list not refreshing after finishing the tutorial

[Tusky]

I'd be happy to test.

I don't have heaps of spare time but I'm sure I can make a bit.

[Tusky]

Few initial things, this is me trawling around the tutorial map

Observations

- You really can spam listen for rumors and search city
- I wanted to check my army menu within the city but didn't see a way so had to leave a few times, (accidentally ran a load of turns without realising in the process)
- I fought many times after searching the city - do you only get coin? I was expecting a district to like me more or some such. If they did there was no notification about it
- Hired swords appear to be op here, and destroying anything I encounter (ended up with an xp of 395). I'm no longer bothering with any citizens because I don't need to

Questions

- Is there a way to combine troops of the same type? I had a few citizens one with 2 one with 4 or so. Didn't matter too much since they seem to be cannon fodder but I did wonder

Bug

In the tutorial when I clicked on the bandits the information given was "clicked"



Nice...

[Jubal]

Thankyou!

You shouldn't be able to totally spam search city - after about five searches it should require you to either leave & re-enter or stay in a tavern before you can use it again (it may later drop to 1 attempt before having to do that, but I don't want to go there until I've got more possible results for the searches). The search city feature still doesn't have that many possibilities - eventually I'm hoping to put more sidequests there etc. What you get on that very much depends on what's in the city to start with, it sounds like Harionasis just has one of the combat missions (tunnels or ruins); in other cities, Search City can give you a couple of sidequests, weapon upgrades, or some hiring options. I might accelerate improvements to City Search up the to do list. OTOH I'm OK with rumours being spammable, I think most players will get bored with them fast anyway and info-gathering (especially if you're running up to an election and want detail on all the districts of a five district city) can already be a drag so I didn't want to make it harder on people.

I'm really not sure where I'd put a button that allows you to check army menu whilst in the city - would a hotkey to do it be sufficient? You can check your army easily enough in cities you own (by going Castle -> Garrison -> Your Army) but I just don't know where to put the extra button to allow it in other cities.

Noted on hired swords being OP. They should be pretty decent line infantry that can take on e.g. kinklades, wibulnibs, and be about even to most garrison troops like pikemen, shield guards, etc - maybe they're just too easy to get as an upgrade at the moment and I need the boost to cost more XP. You can't get them straight off as a first tier unit except in the tutorial, they're usually an upgrade for Hired Ruffians.

There isn't a troop combine option, as I don't know how I'd do that without allowing the player to make huge OP super-units (and what I'd do with combining XP tallies, any other bonuses, etc).

Thanks for the tutorial bug, that's easily fixable.

And yep, there's a goodly number of Exilian references in there

[HemingwayGames]

Nice work with this game, Jubal.  A few things came to mind while playing the game:

I missed a number of blue messages while travelling. I would often move quickly accross the terrain, and once I noticed the message, it was too late to determine where it occurred. Would it be possible to highlight these events on the map? Leaving behind a question mark icon on the square would allow the player to go back if missed. Another option would be to interrupt the game and showing the quote (with possibly an image). Example: "You hear tell of local rumours that suggest that interesting things may be searched for in this place"

I found I needed to use a number of moves to determine where the end of the map was. I would move over to the edge and test whether I could move across. Even if I couldn't move across, it wasn't clear whether I was blocked by the end or a obstacle on the adjacent page. To confirm, I would then test each cell on the edge. I think it's possible to determine this by the message; for example, "The terrain is impassable" means end of map, whereas "The terrain is high and impassable mountains that way" means otherwise. Is there a way to make the edge of the map more clear, so that the player doesn't need to use up turns?

I ended up failing a quest because I needed to deliver a letter to another city. I didn't know where the city was, so I ended up randomly searching and arriving late. It would have been a nice touch if I received the direction of the city (e.g. East) while listening to rumours in the city.

Also, is it possible to highlight the last message in the text? When doing the tutorial, I found myself skimming backwards through the lines of text to find the start of the message.

A couple of typos in the text:
- In the factions section: They have 1 cities.
- In the tutorial: Now, move away from the city anduse the X key...

[Jubal]

Thanks, that's all really useful!

The blue messages aren't super important, and they have an area/time effect so actually last for 2-3 moves rather than being locked to a specific tile - it's basically a search success chance boost. You can get interesting searches regardless (especially if playing as scholars), you just get a much increased chance to do so when the blue message shows. Given that, I can't mark them on the map and I don't want to interrupt for them (I think there'd be too many interruptions). Maybe I could highlight the search button whilst the search boost lasts?

I've been wondering whether to properly mark map edges. I'll have a go at implementing something for that - possibly some differently coloured mountain/sea tiles that are impassable.

City directions are a good point, will look into that.

Highlighting last message sounds difficult but I'll see if there's anything I can do.

Typos I'll get on and have a look at pretty soon!

[justatoady]

very fun so far^^
the battles go very quick, which i like, and the old timey designs feel very consistent

random things i noticed:
- when you try and move on a tile with a city's army on it, it gives you the "impossible high terrain" message from mountains

- when the travelling armourer offers you stuff, they always say "an" (see pic)

- when you start a new game you can spawn on a mountain

- i noticed i just ignored the rumors and city searches after a while and focused on the quests for one city,
so far i don't see much progress in our relationship, i did around 10 quests for them, and the leader still nods curtly, but maybe that's just him,

- possibly a spoiler, depending on how randomised this stuff is:

Spoiler

the murderers on the run were quite dissapointing bosses until zhia the hawk killed my chickens, which was very exciting! however, zhia seems to be a shapechanger, judging by the second encounter after he ran from the first (also see pic)... or he took his armour off

-yes, marking the map borders in some way sounds like a good idea

- semi-related: is there a way to get more chickens (faction related units) other than random overworld encounters?

[justatoady]

oops here are the other pics

[Jubal]

- when you try and move on a tile with a city's army on it, it gives you the "impossible high terrain" message from mountains
Noted, will look into that.

- when the travelling armourer offers you stuff, they always say "an" (see pic)
Ooh, noted, will look into that.

- when you start a new game you can spawn on a mountain
Yeah, that's a thing. I decided it didn't seem like it was worth changing?

- i noticed i just ignored the rumors and city searches after a while and focused on the quests for one city,
so far i don't see much progress in our relationship, i did around 10 quests for them, and the leader still nods curtly, but maybe that's just him,
Yeah, the leader's attitude to you is always static and based on their personality - your relationship is built up with the city as a whole, not with any one leader. This is currently even true for leaders who are your faction - I may add more depth to this at some point, but it'd be a relatively large task I think.

I think city searches should get more valuable when I add more options/possibilities - or do you think something else is needed there?

- possibly a spoiler, depending on how randomised this stuff is:
The idea is that sometimes you catch them unawares for an easy fight. Should I make that more explicit?

-yes, marking the map borders in some way sounds like a good idea
Noted!

- semi-related: is there a way to get more chickens (faction related units) other than random overworld encounters?
Not currently - Scholars and Phoenixes get their faction units by random encounters, Generals and Dragons get theirs via special adventure point upgrade events. Do you think there need to be more ways?

[justatoady]

Yeah, the leader's attitude to you is always static and based on their personality - your relationship is built up with the city as a whole, not with any one leader. This is currently even true for leaders who are your faction - I may add more depth to this at some point, but it'd be a relatively large task I think.
fair, i'm not sure it's necessary. they started doing elections now, and leader/rival personalities might actually distract from the whole city running simulation thing...

think city searches should get more valuable when I add more options/possibilities - or do you think something else is needed there?
i like having options in the city, but at the moment, there doesn't seem to be much incentive for searching, maybe if some quests required you to search or use hints from the rumors

The idea is that sometimes you catch them unawares for an easy fight. Should I make that more explicit?
i don't think you need to. it does explain what's going on, and i like ambushing the murderers, because searching and then fighting very weak enemies feels like a change of pace from normal encounters. there is also always the possibility they'll be serious and tough.
my point was just meant to be that zhia's sprite change felt a bit jarring.

Not currently - Scholars and Phoenixes get their faction units by random encounters, Generals and Dragons get theirs via special adventure point upgrade events. Do you think there need to be more ways?
i guess if the phoenixes are meant to be more like elite units, it's fine not to have too many,
maybe make sure players always have access to some low rank chickens to replace the dead ones or would that be too much of an avantage for the phoenix house. also depends on how common the random encounter is.

[Jubal]

> Leader/rival traits are already factored into elections: most leaders have some sort of viewpoint on society and how it should be run, and that's factored into election results (for example, a wealthy aristocratic ruler will likely do better in a wealthy city).

> Having some quests with city search incentives is definitely a good idea - I made the fugitive quest to do that for the main map searches a bit.

> Yeah, the sprites are a bit random - but since I'm not drawing any of them off my own bat really it makes it hard to get perfect ones.

> The random encounter for chickens is a moderately common search result any time you're in open/plains terrain (pangolins for the scholars are less common and in forest terrain, but pangolins are straight-out decent melee units whereas chickens need training).

I have now got a version of map edge marking working, though I'm not sure it looks right/it may be too obtrusive - I'll try and get screenshots sometime in the next 2-3 days.

[Jubal]

Quite a lot of updates and changes!

A big change to the way the game handles companion characters (that is, named characters who aren't the hero, enemies, or quest NPCs): they now can get wounded much like the hero, and can also gain stat upgrades over time. Also, hero upgrades will now get more expensive in adventuring points if your stats get above a certain level.

Plus - bugfixes, one new city quest, one new companion character type (the sergeant). Plenty more to do, but the 005 update will definitely have some decent additional content in it

[comrade_general]

Sounds great you'll have to give me the updated version at some point.

[Jubal]

Updated to show 005 as latest version.

New feature today - the map now has named regions which cover 1-3 screens. I'm not sure how useful this is but thought it might be kinda cool. There are also now deep forest screens which never spawn cities.

[Rovine]

Hey Jubal, thanks for letting me in on the closed beta test! I just playtested version 006 and collected some problems to report:

1. Things got very weird after my hero went down to 1 hp, after I got the message that I'll die in 10 days if I don't get help. First I was unable to move, then when I press ESC (which triggers the exit message), the screen goes to a seemingly random area on the map without me and my troops in it. If I press N to stay in game, I still can't move.

2. The tutorial doesn't seem to work. I just get this:


Loving the concept of this game. Reminds me of something like Wasteland where you never know what you'd end up in every step. The discovery is quite addictive.