Game Update: Structures, Crafting, Magic, Lore & Design Changes

BlackLotusDragon

It's been a while since I posted here but there has been tons of news and updates regarding Trials of Ascension in the past few months I think is worth sharing. The devs posted an update detailing several changes to Trials of Ascension including Structures, Crafting, Magic, Lore & Design Changes. This update is a few months old but the information is still relevant:

There's been a lot going on behind the curtain and we still have a mile long of to-do's to tackle, so let's just get right to it.

First up is structures. Our goal for structures has always been to give you as much freedom as possible while still keeping true to the aesthetic we want to achieve. I can tell you this has been no easy task and we quickly realized why so many other games have gone with "insta-housing" (where you click a location and pop! your house appears), but if we are anything it's tenacious and we've come up with a preliminary system that is pretty darn cool! Another goal we've always had for structures is for it to take time to build your house, castle, tower, etc. We believe you should witness (and be part of!) the growth of settlements over time. We've achieved this as well thanks to our crafting system that I'll get to in a bit.

With our structure system, you will use blueprints to construct just about any style of structure you want. Each blueprint has a list of modules according to a preset style (rustic, mud, etc) you can build that you simply select and place or snap to other pre-existing modules. A module can be a type of foundation (corner, interior, etc), a wall type (solid, windowed, door frame), and roof type (standard, end cap, dormer). Once placed, the module has to be built using a serious number of crafting actions before it changes it's look to the next construction stage. This continues until the module is complete. Here's an example of multiple modules in their various stages of construction:

This modularity can allow for an insane amount of customization! We constructed the following frameworks of houses using only about a half dozen modules.

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Next up is crafting.

The foundations of the crafting system are being coded as I type this. After hours and hours of discussion, we came to the conclusion that an overhaul of the system was needed. It wasn't streamlined enough in that we want to build a system where we could later exponentially widen the breadth of the system without having to (re)write whole new systems. So after more endless hours of talk, we've created a new system that does just that and a whole lot more!

The new system leans very heavily on the process of making an item. We are the antithesis of 'combine, click, create'! We are breaking every item down into crafting steps (that we call actions) that you must do to create an item. A very exciting aspect of this system is we've come up with a way where multiple crafters can work on the same object at the same time! More-so, there will be actions that require multiple crafters such as lifting a big timber to the top of your wall frame, or having one crafter hold an iron bar while the other pounds it into shape. In short, we've taken cooperative crafting to a whole new level!

Another angle we took with the new system is multitasking. In other MMO's, you focus solely on one item at a time. Why can't you have a half dozen hides stretching on racks that you occasionally adjust, work on forming some pieces of leather and maybe stoke the fire on your smelting pot in between those adjustments? Your production rate will depend on how efficient you can become at all the things you can do.

All of this allows for apprentice/master opportunities which we have wanted since the early days of our design. Imagine owning a shop and being able to pass off the lesser skilled actions to apprentices, which in turn are getting experience for helping out, leaving you to handle the actions that require the eye of a master crafter!

Read the crafting page in the ToA guide for more details.

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Magic is next.

The roadmap has been updated to reflect the work we've done on magic so far. Our resident goblin has been hard at work at building the animations and spell effects for the spell we'll be showing off for the demo. We're not quite ready to show it off in its full glory yet, but here is a sneak peek.

I should be clear that while we'd love love love to build a complete spell system, we are focusing on what we've promised in our roadmap -- "the casting of a spell". The idea is to show the insane power a mage could achieve in an otherwise low-level magic world like TerVarus.

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Next -- design changes.

The crafting system changes caused a massive rippling effect on the skill system and skills list. First, we have done away techniques, which was basically the sub-dividing of a skill into action based components of that skill. To ensure nobody can be the best at all things (which is what techniques did), we are limiting the number of skills you can raise beyond artisan. You will be able to take ten skills to expert, five skills to master, and one to legend.

You will do this by manually accepting an increase in rank when you have acquired enough experience in that skill. For example, you're an artisan at swords and you've just gained enough experience to go to expert. You must click a button on the skill before you gain the new rank. The system will remind you that you only have so many slots left for expert, master and legend. You can continue to use a skill without clicking the 'promote' button (note to self: come up with a better name), you just won't gain any skill in it. This system results in the exact same things techniques were going to offer us, but in a much more direct and easier to understand manner.

Check out the skill system page in the guide when you get a chance to learn more about the changes.

We also realized that our skills are more class based than action based, and we used techniques as the actions. With the new setup in crafting and removing techniques, it made perfect sense to break out the skills based on action rather than class. For example, tailoring is a class based skill in that it implies you know how to spin wool into thread, weave the thread into cloth, and sew the cloth into clothing. We've broken those actions out into their own skills, so now you have spinning, weaving, and sewing. We are very excited about this change as it allows each of you to be even more unique and even though it dramatically increased the skill list, the work it added for implementation is minor.

We have decided to allow housing to be created outside of settlement borders. It's obvious that many of you want such an option and we are happy to oblige but it will come with some compromises.

- You can only own land if you're a subscriber. This isn't new but for the sake of clarity I thought I would mention it.

- You'll only be able to own so many plots of land per account. This is to stop monopolization of an area and was in place well before allowing housing in the wilds.

- There will be a minimum distance required between house plots in the wild.

- Civic structures cannot be built in the wilds. They can only be built within the borders of their settlement.

- If a settlement claims land that had a ‘wild’ house on it, that house is automatically annexed into that settlement.

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Last but by no means least, the lore team has been hitting breakneck speeds building the backdrops of the world. They took it upon themselves to double their weekly lore output to two stories, and they're nearing completion of a massive story that will be revealed throughout our Kickstarter!

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Thanks for reading and being a part of this amazing journey!