Wonder what’s been happening at Citadel Studios since our Kickstarter was funded?
In this month's newsletter we will be highlighting player housing, modding contest, UI improvements, and more.
- Player Housing Unveiled
- Letter from the Project Lead
- Featured Player House: Infusive
- Designer's Den: Creating an Engaging and Balanced Economy
- September 26th Playtest and Roundtable
- So You Think You Can Mod
- Want To Play?
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Player Housing Unveiled
Player Housing Unveiled
Watch this feature on the results from the latest player housing playtest
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Letter from the Project Lead
Letter from the Project Lead
Wow! August came and went. Time has been flying because the team has been so busy preparing Shards Online for Pre-Alpha 3. At this point, we have narrowed our team focus to 3 core areas: Game Balance, User Interface, and Polish. These are the areas we have identified as being the biggest barriers to fun in the game right now.
This milestone we turned Austin's attention to game balance to make sure the character progression for each of the different "professions" in the game are rewarding and balanced against each other. You can read all about that in this months Designer's Den further down the page.
Our new and improved UI for Pre-Alpha 3 has a ton of improvements. The biggest of which is the fully dynamic hotbar that lets you activate all of your spells, combat abilities, skill abilities, and consumable items with a single keystroke. Beyond that, we are tackling new conversation, crafting, and taming windows. I could go on and on about it but I think the screenshots speak for themselves.
Our Pre-Alpha Admin group has been kicking some butt too. Every day I hear about something new and cool they are working on for their mods. We are excited to announce the modding contest (read below) in which every single one of you Alpha backers will be get to be a judge.
We are currently looking at a Fall release for Pre-Alpha 3 and Alpha tier game access. I know this is a bit later than we originally planned, but we as a team need to make sure the game is completely ready for the influx of players. Citadel Studios will never release something before we feel it's ready. It's one of the advantages of not having big company executives dictating our schedule. One thing we can promise, when Pre-Alpha 3 arrives, it's going to be a blast.
Derek "Supreem" Brinkmann
Project Lead
This milestone we turned Austin's attention to game balance to make sure the character progression for each of the different "professions" in the game are rewarding and balanced against each other. You can read all about that in this months Designer's Den further down the page.
Our new and improved UI for Pre-Alpha 3 has a ton of improvements. The biggest of which is the fully dynamic hotbar that lets you activate all of your spells, combat abilities, skill abilities, and consumable items with a single keystroke. Beyond that, we are tackling new conversation, crafting, and taming windows. I could go on and on about it but I think the screenshots speak for themselves.
Our Pre-Alpha Admin group has been kicking some butt too. Every day I hear about something new and cool they are working on for their mods. We are excited to announce the modding contest (read below) in which every single one of you Alpha backers will be get to be a judge.
We are currently looking at a Fall release for Pre-Alpha 3 and Alpha tier game access. I know this is a bit later than we originally planned, but we as a team need to make sure the game is completely ready for the influx of players. Citadel Studios will never release something before we feel it's ready. It's one of the advantages of not having big company executives dictating our schedule. One thing we can promise, when Pre-Alpha 3 arrives, it's going to be a blast.
Derek "Supreem" Brinkmann
Project Lead
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Featured Player House: Infusive
Infusive's house is really impressive, so impressive that we felt the need to feature him in this newsletter. All of the decorations inside and out were placed by him.
Full credit for the comic below goes to Infusive, enjoy!
Featured Player House: Infusive
Infusive's house is really impressive, so impressive that we felt the need to feature him in this newsletter. All of the decorations inside and out were placed by him.
Full credit for the comic below goes to Infusive, enjoy!
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Designer's Den: Creating an Engaging and Balanced Economy
Austin Fain
To keep Shards Online a fun and playable experience for years to come, it needs to have a fair and balanced economy. My focus right now for our upcoming Pre-Alpha 3 release is to perform a complete balance pass on every item in the game.
The key to an economy that feels real and dynamic, is to have all types of items, big and small, have real value. One of the goals of Shards Online is to immerse the player in the game world as much as possible. When a player goes to buy an item from a vendor, they actually browse items that are placed in the physical world. Items are not just displayed in lists like most other games, they are physical objects within the world, filling up your backpack, chests, or house. You can place them anywhere in the world, trade them, use them for crafting, sell them, etc. Every item, whether it be an apple or a house, has a value and importance in Shards Online.
The goal is to make every play style fun, rewarding, and balanced. Every job or craft that the player invests in is beneficial. For example, a warrior might make his living from of hunting monsters. A blacksmith can make his living off of crafting and selling weapons. We accomplish this by balancing the amount of income you are getting through each task against the skill level and amount of time invested. If you have a mining skill of 30, going out into the world and mining ore will net you a comparable income and experience to a player who a has a melee skill of 30 and is fighting monsters.
The economy is set up in way that allows player interaction and trade. Players are encouraged to buy and sell with other players in two ways. First, let's say you have maxed out your Apothecary skill. You will be able to craft better recipes and potions then any other NPC vendor in the game. The second reason you may want to deal with a player instead of a vendor is vendors buy at low prices and sell at high prices. That super rare sacred cactus you just found is much more valuable to players who love to cook than your average street vendor.
Designer's Den: Creating an Engaging and Balanced Economy
Austin Fain
To keep Shards Online a fun and playable experience for years to come, it needs to have a fair and balanced economy. My focus right now for our upcoming Pre-Alpha 3 release is to perform a complete balance pass on every item in the game.
The key to an economy that feels real and dynamic, is to have all types of items, big and small, have real value. One of the goals of Shards Online is to immerse the player in the game world as much as possible. When a player goes to buy an item from a vendor, they actually browse items that are placed in the physical world. Items are not just displayed in lists like most other games, they are physical objects within the world, filling up your backpack, chests, or house. You can place them anywhere in the world, trade them, use them for crafting, sell them, etc. Every item, whether it be an apple or a house, has a value and importance in Shards Online.
The goal is to make every play style fun, rewarding, and balanced. Every job or craft that the player invests in is beneficial. For example, a warrior might make his living from of hunting monsters. A blacksmith can make his living off of crafting and selling weapons. We accomplish this by balancing the amount of income you are getting through each task against the skill level and amount of time invested. If you have a mining skill of 30, going out into the world and mining ore will net you a comparable income and experience to a player who a has a melee skill of 30 and is fighting monsters.
The economy is set up in way that allows player interaction and trade. Players are encouraged to buy and sell with other players in two ways. First, let's say you have maxed out your Apothecary skill. You will be able to craft better recipes and potions then any other NPC vendor in the game. The second reason you may want to deal with a player instead of a vendor is vendors buy at low prices and sell at high prices. That super rare sacred cactus you just found is much more valuable to players who love to cook than your average street vendor.
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September 26th Playtest and Roundtable
We have invited several guilds to help us with one of our last playtests before Pre-alpha 3 launches. These guilds have shown support for Shards Online from the beginning and have helped with several other projects in development. We reached out to these groups so they could give us feedback regarding the new player experience.
We may have several other playtest events in the future. If your guild or clan is interested in these types of opportunities please send an email to[email protected]
XTC's undertaker house from Test ServerSeptember 26th Playtest and Roundtable
We have invited several guilds to help us with one of our last playtests before Pre-alpha 3 launches. These guilds have shown support for Shards Online from the beginning and have helped with several other projects in development. We reached out to these groups so they could give us feedback regarding the new player experience.
We may have several other playtest events in the future. If your guild or clan is interested in these types of opportunities please send an email to[email protected]
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So You Think You Can Mod
In January we will be holding a modding contest with all of our Pre-Alpha Admins. I know, why are you announcing this now? January is cold, wintery, and so far far away. The simple answer is this, we want to make sure our Pre-Alpha Admins will have enough time to go as elaborate as they want to.
We're not giving any dates away, but by January 2016 everyone who has pledged at least $40 will be able to log in and vote for their favorite mod. There will be two prizes: Player's Choice and Developer's Choice. Both winners will receive a $200 gift card that could be put towards hosting for their community server.
So You Think You Can Mod
In January we will be holding a modding contest with all of our Pre-Alpha Admins. I know, why are you announcing this now? January is cold, wintery, and so far far away. The simple answer is this, we want to make sure our Pre-Alpha Admins will have enough time to go as elaborate as they want to.
We're not giving any dates away, but by January 2016 everyone who has pledged at least $40 will be able to log in and vote for their favorite mod. There will be two prizes: Player's Choice and Developer's Choice. Both winners will receive a $200 gift card that could be put towards hosting for their community server.
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Want To Play?
If you haven’t pledged your support yet or if you have been dying to upgrade to a better pledge package, now's your chance! Head over to our pledge page right now and secure your early access to Shards Online. This project will be successful because of your support.
Want To Play?
If you haven’t pledged your support yet or if you have been dying to upgrade to a better pledge package, now's your chance! Head over to our pledge page right now and secure your early access to Shards Online. This project will be successful because of your support.