Posted in: Games, Video Games | Tagged: Early Access, HRL, Phanged, Poysky Productions, Regions of Ruin, Steam, vox

Regions of Ruin Has Made an Absurd Number of Changes in Early Access

Published Sat, 02 Dec 2017 15:45:24 -0600

It isn't all that strange to see a game get a lot of tweaking during Early Access, but Vox's Regions of Ruin has had an insane six weeks since it launched. The game has seen 65 new areas added, 15 new mobs, eight building upgrades, two new building types, new artifacts, a bounty contract system, controller support, mini bosses, improvements to the companion system, improvements to worker management, forging, and crafting. Oh, and even implemented status effects on weapons among the more typical balance and bug fixes.

This either means the game launched too early or it took off a hell of a lot better than the developers expected, prompting them to roll out changes as quickly as they could to keep up with a rabid fan base. And considering what I've seen on the Steam community page, social media, and even their tiny subreddit, I'm inclined to believe the latter. The game may not appear to have the largest following of any Early Access game I've ever seen (it is hard to keep up with PUBG after all), but the players seem dedicated and extremely happy with the game so far.

But if you don't think the changes I mentioned were a lot, well, here's a look at the "Consolidated" patch notes from the last six weeks. To be fair, they had me at "(red slugs!)."

Week 1:
Brief:
 11 new areas
 4 enemies
 2 building upgrades
 1 item
Detailed:
 added six new cave locations
 added three new forest locations
 added two new ruin locations
 added more graphics and visuals
 added campfire level 3

 added trade depot level 3
 added a new artefact 'Grondularis'
 (blue slugs)!
 (red slugs)!
 (sneaky crawlers)!
 (troll boss)!
 large wounds are removed properly from large bandages
 enemies will no longer charge power attacks when stunned
 companions will no longer get stuck chasing dead targets
 slightly reduced the length of stuns for several enemies (mainly orcs)
 companions are slightly stronger
 clicking an icon on the map will tell you immediately if it is under development or not
 no longer start each scene with slightly less health
 reduced the delay time for some enemies between attacks
 lowered crit chance generating on sword drops
 improved accuracy of mob projectiles
 companions will now follow by using ladders and dropping through platforms
 can no longer use cave walls to propel into the void!
 new Death SFX for player
 increased the speed of dashes, and reduced its cool-down (to make dash/backstab
tactic quicker and easier)
 increased dash stamina cost by 10%
 can no longer dodge orc attacks by standing still
 made the crazy librarian a tad bit stronger
 reduced the lag in large mob groups
 the player can now receive burning damage over time
 fixed adamantine armour animation on player jumping
 many minor fixes!

Week 2:
Brief:
10 New areas
5 enemies
6 building upgrades
2 new items
Detailed:
 added another artefact 'Rodenrens Plate'
 added another artefact 'Rodenrens Ring'
 added three new books to gather
 added some new visuals

 fixed the free money bug from quick saving/loading <.<
 fixed the shop click/spam free money bug
 fixed the increasing page tally on library menu
 cleaned cave ground/edges to black space
 can no longer talk to NPCs when you have a menu open
 talking to a trader while upgrading depot will no longer freeze dialog
 added hints to get the 'Grondularis' artefact
 added level 3 trade depot
 added level 3 refinery
 added level 3 Library
 added level 4 Tavern
 added level 4 Blacksmith
 added level 4 Storage
 added three forest locations
 added five ruins locations
 added two new cave locations
 added red kobolds
 added purple kobolds
 added rare black bunnies
 added orc mage (introducing cold damage)
 added sentinels (Electric damage)
 added stone to more regions
 implemented boosted health regeneration on special items
 implemented weapon % damage boosts (throwing/overall damage)
 implemented the % overall resistance boost on rare drops
 boosted the stats on the orcbane (again)
 companions have double base health when generating
 companions have more base damage when generating
 companions are – even more – cheaper to hire
 forging weapons now creates the weapon you selected (not random ones)
 bandages should now heal as intended (one wound at a time)
 added health bars to boss-like mobs
 added cooldown on critical hit slow motions
 rescued workers will now stay for 12 seconds before running off
 fixed the free money bug from quick saving/loading <.<
 fixed the shop click/spam free money bug
Week 3:
Brief:
 10 New areas
 2 enemies
 new Feature bounty contracts (tavern level 2 and up) – still being balanced

Detailed:
added five forest locations
added one fort location
added two town locations
added two ruins location
added a few new artefacts
added blue skin goblins
added druids (hippies!)
implemented life steal ability on special weapons
trolls no longer attack from the grave
lots of minor fixes
Week 4:
Brief:
 8 new areas
 1 enemy
 2 new buildings
Detailed:
 added new market building (levels 1 – 3)
 added new runeforge building (levels 1 – 2)
 added two forest locations
 added four ruin locations
 added two desert locations
 added new mob – armoured blue goblin
 added three new unique items
 added a 'cleanup' button to organise inventory
 implemented cold effect on special weapons
 changed one of the shielding skill tree abilities
 buffed the orcbane (again)
 'area cleared' is now much more readable
 fixed bug companions locked into walking one direction
 strength now affects max stamina by half
 constitution now affects stamina regeneration (instead of strength)
 now move faster with shield ability for 100% block
 100% block-ability movement speed doesn't get overridden with other skills
 minor changes to resistances and stats
 health regen (out of Combat) will only stop if hits create health loss
 burn damage is slightly slower, and less damaging
 you no longer get 2x critchance on stuns
 you now get 2x critchance on attacks from behind

 throwing axes now get crit and damage bonuses from hitting behind
 slightly increased the radius of shield-bash/charge
 some balancing of contract mobs and minions
 some more fixes to resistances (Thanks Lorebot!)
 fixed some quest items from duping
 NPCs will now break down barricades
 Fixed some unending quests
Week 5:
Brief:
 15 new areas
 1 enemy
 2 new items
Detailed:
 added one cave location
 added one desert location
 added two fort locations
 added one forest location
 added five ruins locations
 added four snow locations (new soundtrack for snow regions)
 added one town location
 added new mob 'Worg'
 added dwarf crossbow companions
 added two new artefacts
 minus stats on items can no longer exploit enchanting
 fixed runeforge from being able to enchant nothing (empty slots)
 runeforge is now explained in more detail, and has quest to build
 fixed another unending quest (for real this time)
 fixed 100% block ability from not working on harder difficulties
 fixed brekar quest item drop duping
 put a maximum demand cap on market buy/sell
 market resource demand equalises over time
 implemented push force bonus on special weapons
 implemented bleed bonus on special weapons
 implemented poison bonus on special weapons
 increased gold coins worth from 10 to 50
 reduced gold coin and silver coin drop rates
 barrels can now be used as cover

Week 6:
Brief:
 10 new areas
 2 enemies
 3 new items
Detailed:
 groundwork for controller support and mouse free navigation
 added two forest locations
 added one ruins location
 added four cave locations
 added one fort location
 added two desert locations
 added mob 'thorn plant'
 added ice slugs!
 added three new artefacts
 implemented 'freezing' to special items
 fixed some building upgrade transition bugs
 changed rune forge level 2 recipe
 no more flying caravans!
 fixed perpetual camera zooming
 fixed the bug that blocks all interactions
 fixed contract reward amount (and gold coin value)