Sword Coast Legends: State of the Game

Sword Coast Legends: State of the Game

Posted on 30/10/2015 - 8:58

Sword Coast Legends: State of the Game
by Dan Tudge
Director for Sword Coast Legends & President at n-Space

This is Dan Tudge, Director for Sword Coast Legends, President at n-Space, and stalwart party member, here with our first post-launch State of the Game.

Sword Coast Legends launched last week on PC, Mac, and Linux. We've worked closely with Wizards of the Coast to bring this Dungeons & Dragons experience to you. The D&D team has been involved the whole way, and we know they share our excitement about the many adventures that will be had as a result of Sword Coast Legends. Together, we set out to deliver a compelling, fresh RPG with an epic storyline, co-op gameplay, and even some extra twists on dungeon crawls with a real-time DM mode. The end result is something we're extremely proud of -- something we all believe fits nicely into the diverse catalog of D&D titles spread across different genres, be they MMO, action RPG, conventional CRPG, or even arcade hack 'n' slash.

However, early user impressions for Sword Coast Legends have been polarizing. While many players love it, it is clear that for many, Sword Coast Legends did not meet their expectations. For those who have expressed disappointment in the game, I have just one thing to say: "We hear you." We are a very small, independent development team, and we would not have made it this far without you. We thank you for your continued support. In D&D, the party is everything, and you are the best party to have, by far.

As much and as long as we've labored to launch SCL, this is really just step one, a foundation for an even greater experience we have always intended to improve and expand. Our goal has always been to put Sword Coast Legends into the hands of would-be adventurers and to work with them to improve that experience. We have an aggressive list of content and updates planned for the near-term... one that will be delivered to you at no additional charge, starting TODAY!


Halloween Update: "The Pumpkin Patch": October 30th

  • New "Liars' Night" themed area and placeables in the spirit of Halloween
  • Cemetery DM location with over 35 new placeable objects and new player gear
  • Screen nudge with mouse (toggled option)
  • Players will now be able to move the camera by nudging the edges of the screen. The WASD keys and the middle mouse button will still work the way
    they currently do.
  • Auto-heal at Adventurer's Camp
  • When entering the adventurer's camp, the party will heal any damage previously taken.
  • DM collect quests will display "x of x found" on the HUD
  • Hotkey added to re-center camera on player
  • Doubled the max length for DM quest conversation text
  • Added the option to lock your cursor to the window
  • Bug fixes


    Community Pack 1: Week of November 9th

  • Companion-Specific Skill Trees Unlocked for Players
  • Existing unique companion skill trees will become available to players
  • Nature Set
    New outdoor area cleared and ready for customization with over 150 new placeable nature objects for DMs.
  • Ability Respec
    Characters wishing to forget their prior training will be able to do so. All character points will be refunded, allowing players to change builds or
    reselect their characters' abilities.
  • Player Stash
    Players will be able to store additional items within their own personal stash.
  • Skill Rolls
  • Players will be able to use ability rolls that take their character's bonuses into account. For instance, characters will be able to specifically make a
    "Strength" roll and have their Strength modifier automatically added to the roll.
  • Increased Number of Available Monster Abilities
  • Custom creatures will have additional monster abilities available to them.
  • Bug fixes and additional community feedback items as time allows


    Community Pack 2: Week of November 30th

  • Address concerns with ninja looting in multi-player games
  • New Playable Sub-race: Drow Elves (including access to Darkness and Faerie Fire abilities)
  • DM-placeable visual effects (fire, smoke, etc.)
  • Revisions and improvements to the rules for death, party wipe, and stabilize, including new options for players that want more challenge
  • Village area and village-related placeable objects for DMs to use in their modules
  • Ability to give ambient text to NPCs on select
  • Ability for DMs to change the randomized interiors of every tile
  • Lock/unlock locations on all quest states (give/update/complete)
  • Bug fixes and additional community feedback items as time allows


    Community Pack 3: December

  • Official introduction of mod support, including
  • Tile based level editor
  • Branching dialog editor
  • Adjustable game systems, ex: round timer, loot tables, etc.
  • Community facing development of these features to begin immediately
  • Option to disable monster level scaling in DM campaigns
  • Bug fixes and additional community feedback items as time allows


    Rage of Demons: Coming Soon

    Return to the Underdark in this all-new adventure taking place as part of D&D's "Rage of Demons" storyline, featuring the legendary outcast drow Drizzt Do'Urden and some of the deadliest enemies ever to terrify Faerûn.

  • New Rage of Demons tile sets and placeable objects
  • New playable race: Tieflings
  • New creatures available for DMs
  • New Playable class based on community input
  • Allow player-created characters as companions in story mode
  • Enable players to control their characters' movement with the WASD keys
  • Bug fixes and additional community feedback items as time allows

    We intend to continue this effort into the new year, but not just with content and free DLC. We have been collecting your feedback and incorporating it with our own plans. The resulting changes and additions will be published [HERE]later this week and we welcome all feedback on this living document.

    I would like to extend my sincerest thanks (and the endless gratitude of our entire development team) to everyone from our community and Design Council for their amazing support ever since Sword Coast Legends was first announced. With over 82 years of total playtime logged from previous Head Start access weekends and last week's launch, Sword Coast Legends players have adventured extensively. That's a lot of dungeons explored, content created, bosses downed, loot gained, and campaigns run. In this sense, Sword Coast Legends is a game that belongs to its players as much as its developers. We'd love to hear your thoughts so we can work together to make Sword Coast Legends even better. Share your feedback on the forums and drop us a review if you've been playing. We are hard at work on developing new content, addressing bugs, improving the overall experience, and providing players with more robust Dungeon Master tools.

    This is truly just the beginning. We hear your concerns, wishes, and desires loud and clear, and we are already working on them and hope you stay with us to continue the adventure.

    Sincerely,

    Dan Tudge
    Director, Sword Coast Legends
    President, n-Space