Category Archives: RPG

Legends of Amberland version 1.13.2

Version 1.13.2 released

This version fixes two bugs, one of them being quite annoying and adjusted the map a tiny little bit to allow you to uncover 100% of the overworld. Plus standard improvements.

– [misc] Slightly adjusted the map to allow you to uncover the whole map (cosmetic change which allows you to uncover the whole mountain range). It does not affect the gameplay in anyway, just changed some mountains to water tiles, it does not open any new routes or anything. It’s purely for people who want to uncover the whole map.
– [misc] Improved monster dying animation.
– [misc] Changed description of two locations.
– [misc] Spelling fixes.

– [interface] Adjusted the color of an unselected button.

– [fix] Hit icon sometimes not being displaying if the monster attacks.
– [fix] Highlighting non-existant characters during combat if less than 7 characters are selected upon game start.

Legends of Amberland coming to Nintendo Switch

It’s official now, Legends of Amberland: The Forgotten Crown is coming to Nintendo Switch this year!

In the last year I was pestered by various individuals about the Nintendo Switch. They claimed it would be a sure hit on Switch. For me, never really playing on consoles, it was a black magic and I was kind of sceptical. But why not I thought, if it was to be someone else doing the port I could go for it. Shortly after I started looking for someone to do the port, I was contacted by a mysterious company called Pineapple Works. They preyed their eyes on Amberland for a while and were just waiting for the right time to make the offer. They were quite enthusiastic about it and the deal was fair and decent. So, I went with it.

Soon after, when we met at GIC in Poland, they handed me their Nintendo with Legends of Amberland running. I started to play and… then it instantly struck me, IT MIGHT WORK! No, IT WILL WORK! If someone like me, who never owned a console could instantly go into it and play it and it was so flawless, and mind you it was just a quick dirty tech version for my eyes only, then how it will be perceived by people who know how to play and after it’s finished and polished? That’s the time when I believed in it.

Many months later, after a long and uneasy journey they said the Nintendo Switch version is ready. One thing I would like to mention and assure you is that I was involved in the process and I can guarantee that the story and gameplay was not watered down in any way. It is a faithful and a very accurate port, just as the author envisioned. The people from Pineapple Works made a really good job! It’s a fine port for sure.

The Nintendo Switch release is planned for late March 2020 and it will be localized to several languages. The exact date and exact languages will be disclosed later.

Legends of Amberland version 1.13

Version 1.13 released

This version focused on spells balance adjustments and improving 3D perspective (by popular request “make it look more like in those old games” and making it look better on odd resolutions). In addition the first linguistic QA was completed, it’s a bit rough but like 95% of spelling mistakes should be dealt with in this version.

– [balance] Power Heal / Mass Power Heal higher efficiency and lower cost.
– [balance] Offensive spells adjusted, especially the high level ones which got cheaper.
– [balance] Rebalanced target all enemies vs single target spells.
– [balance] Cold spells rebalanced (overall those have now a bigger range of damage but slightly higher average damage than fire spells).

– [misc] 3D perspective greatly improved. Now it looks more like in the old games and overall feels more natural.
– [misc] Minimum screen resolution changed to 1280×720 (so, one more screen resolution supported).
– [misc] Spell check (all text files), first QA pass completed.

– [fix] End screen was showing an incorrect years passed count.
– [fix] In some cases the monsters damage marker disappearing too fast.

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.