Author Archives: Chris

I’m working on the first expansion for Stellar Monarch

A long, long time ago I promised that one day I will make an expansion for Stellar Monarch. This day is near, in a few days I’m starting to work on it.

Actually, I have it like half done already since between releasing new versions of the base game I was testing various concepts. I plan to release it somewhere this year.

BASIC INFORMATION:
* name of the expansion: Stellar Monarch: The Age of Technology
* planned release date: December 2019

ABOUT THE BASE GAME:
Stellar Monarch is a grand strategy 4X where you are the emperor not a logistics officer. It focuses on the grand scale of things with no micromanagement. There are rebels, assassins, court factions, disloyal admirals. In addition to traditional 4X mechanics you also deal with internal affairs of the empire.

ABOUT THE EXPANSION:
The expansion Stellar Monarch: The Age of Technology focuses on technology and science. It will have an improved research mechanic (optional random and hidden technologies, additional technologies, etc), terraforming mechanic, new alien races and an option to construct a fearsome mobile star fortress. Possibly other minor things will be added as well.
What exactly will be in the expansion is determined also by the final tests, so some of the planned features might be removed in the final version if those prove to be not fun during tests.

There will be also an option to disable the expansion for people who prefer to play without it and most likely an option to enable only some of the features of the expansion, so everyone can customize the gameplay to his/her own taste, especially for the most game changing features.

MAJOR FEATURES:
1) Research mechanic improved (hidden technologies option, random technologies option, additional/alternative technologies)
2) Terraformation mechanic
3) Ability to construct Star Fortress, a fearsome mobile station
4) New alien races (probably around 3 new races)
5) Smaller features (new planet type, maybe a new Scientific Glorious Achievement, etc)

Stellar Monarch version 1.31

Version 1.31 released

Small update containing some fixes and an engine upgrade.

– [misc] Technical upgrade (new 3rd party libraries) also engine upgrade (small improvements like mute on focus lost).
– [misc] New buttons on main menu page (Discord, Website, etc).

– [fix] Rebels not progressing in the Birth of the Empire game mode. It also fixes your older saves.
– [fix] Crashes during Rename fleet when Delete key is pressed (it seems over the years no one ever tried to press that key, so the bug was unnoticed for so long :D)

Legends of Amberland version 1.12

Version 1.12 released

Technical update, several 3rd party libraries were updated to the newest versions also a few interface tweaks and minor fixes. Note that if you experience any technical problems (which might be possible since in this version many libraries were changed) you can roll back to the old version via Steam/Beta branch system (also please report that you experienced problems).

– [misc] Technical upgrade. Now the application should launch faster.
– [misc] Adjusted some audio files.
– [misc] Added to Wizard’s Council quest tooltip tips about location of Council Members.

– [balance] Champion’s Helmet encumbrance reduced by 1 (Champion was staring over encumbered due to starting equipment encumbrance which was very confusing).

– [interface] Added Over Encumbered warning to both Damage and Arcane tooltips (since those are affected by it).
– [interface] Fixed map buttons showing on the map area in some resolutions.
– [interface] Fixed game over & congratulate screens so the “Back to Main Menu” button does not cover the “Quests completed” on some resolutions.

– [fix] Elfengard was giving a second Council Letter after the quest was finished.
– [fix] Other tiny low priority technical fixes (not affecting the gameplay).

Legends of Amberland version 1.10

Version 1.10 released

The first after release version. Contains traditional fixes, some additional graphics and one interface improvement.

– [interface] Added Overburdened notice on Magic screen (to make it more clear that Arcane is affected by exceeding maximum encumbrance).

– [gfx] Added some missing properly scaled minimap object icons (orbs, crystals, etc).

– [fix] Killing ogre leaders quest (if you have an old save you need to reenter both forts for this quest to register, then you can report to the castle for the reward).
– [fix] Removed useless levers in Crystal Tower (leftovers from EA).
– [fix] One of the plaques in Watchdog Castle had no text.

Legends of Amberland version 1.00

Version 1.00 released

Finally, the game leaves Early Access. After several years of working on this (when I add up all the abandoned prototypes, rewrites, reuse of older code and so on, this would be the longest in development game I made), the game is going to be released. I’m quite happy with the state of the game, of course one could always improve something and could do it for another 10, 20 or even 30 years and one still have the filling something more could be added or improved. But one need to call the end one day and push it out of the door for players to enjoy.

What’s next. First there are some minor things (linguistic check was not fully completed yet, a few images are still missing and some other cosmetic things need to be done, it will be done in versions above 1.00+ during the next 3 months). So please overlook the minor things during next few months, I’m aware of those and those will be dealt with. But other than that the game is complete. There might be some balance tweaks if needed (especially for Hard and Insane difficulties), interface improvements and other minor things, but I will not touch gameplay (quests, story, world, etc), the game is complete in this regard.

Version 1.00 is mostly polish and last minute changes. There is one important change, monsters can’t move through doors now, I believe it adds another layer of thrill and tactics plus it solves some minor problems and inconsistencies.

– [feature] Monsters can no longer move through doors. It is more interesting gameplay wise (danger of monsters preparing an ambush just after the player passes through the door, adds some thrill and more meaning to doors), it’s also more consistent with how the player moves.

– [balance] The last boss made stronger.
– [balance] The Red Knight made stronger.

– [misc] Files cleanup (removed test files that were used during Early Access, this makes the package smaller).

– [design] Watchdog castle enlarged.

– [gfx] New icon for the application.
– [interface] Adjusted checkbox button (made it pixelated like the rest of the UI).

– [fix] Occasionally monsters being able to move through walls.

Legends of Amberland version 0.92

Version 0.92 released

This version deals with some last minute bugs, contains finished descriptions for all quests and locations and has balance adjustments for Hard and Insane difficulty levels.

– [design] Added detailed tooltips for all quests.
– [design] Finished descriptions for all locations.

– [misc] Removed “Fix #1 – Emergency Teleport” option since it’s no longer needed.
– [misc] Removed Hot Keys list from help screen (redundant and misleading since those can be checked and rebinded on Options/Controls tab).

– [manual] Updated in-game manual.

– [balance] Hard difficulty: damage of monsters increased slightly.
– [balance] Insane difficulty: damage of monsters increased significantly.

– [interface] Adjusted links on main screen.

– [fix] Two unreachable gates in the Tower of Lava.
– [fix] Ice Queen quest bug.

Legends of Amberland version 0.91

Version 0.91 released

A boring version containing fixes mostly. Also finished audio and made all trolls resistant to cold.

– [design] Added third exotic food (somehow I forgotten to add it earlier so the cook quest was impossible to finish).

– [misc] All trolls are resistant to cold now (it’s more consistent and intuitive).

– Finished audio (replaced remaining placeholder sounds with proper ones).

– [fix] Heavy Forge Armor was giving immunity instead of resistance.
– [fix] Magic doors in Ogre forts were unlockable.
– [fix] Description of Character button was showing wrong default hotkey.
– [fix] Healer’s Regeneration spell was not working under certain conditions.
– [fix] Arcane Mastery talent not working.