Update on Vagrus Localization
Hello everyone,
The first one is going to be an update on localization. A while back, we cited the game’s complexity, size, and it being a niche game that resulted in a relatively low sales volume as factors that made any kind of localization unlikely. Despite that, we have been encouraging players to still wishlist the game and let us know what languages they would like to see it translated into in a dedicated localization thread and promised to reassess the situation after a while to see what is desired and viable and what is not. A year has passed since, and it is time for us to do just that, which led to a good and bad news kind of situation. The bad news is that sales figures and declining wishlists in non-English-speaking regions made the prospect of official translations not viable.
BUT the good news is that we have been – and still are – eager to reach people to show them the world of the Riven Realms. We would like to ensure that even those whose level of English proficiency represents a language barrier can have a chance at adequately understanding and enjoying the game. Thus, we have already started working on things that would help them. Sadly, the way we built the game and stored data were unconducive for effective localization. We had to restructure our Event Editor tool and change several things in Unity, etc. This was quite tiresome and the process has been ongoing for months now. However, we’ve been gladly dedicating working hours to pave the way to localize larger chunks of text. Smaller things in the UI, however, are very tedious work, so we cannot promise to make it work for every little detail. Admittedly, our focus lies in making the story and the most used elements translatable.
Since the base game and the DLCs combined contain about 1.3 million words’ worth of text, volunteer translators are unlikely to pop up. As a result, our approach was to subscribe to a machine translation tool called DeepL and generate localization files in various languages that will be made accessible and editable in order to facilitate fan translations through polishing said files. We are still not entirely sure as to the demand for such an endeavor or if the underlying technical facilities are indeed there. In case it could work and it garners sufficient interest, we are planning to allow fan translation groups to add their own translations and improved machine translations through Steam Workshop. Signups for such groups will be open for whoever wishes to undertake translations. This is all still subject to deliberation along with the exact details and the way of going about the entire process. A reason for this approach is that we are not planning to actually incorporate the fan-translated texts into the game proper, merely to facilitate translation for community translator groups who would be actually working on them and under whose banner their respective addons will run.
As a result of all that outlined above, we still don’t know how much interest this project will generate and how enthusiastic our players will be, so we are not expecting quick developments in the matter. Naturally, the quality of machine translations is very far from the level of an official translation, making them rather unfit to create the kind of atmosphere and immersion we believe is needed to fully enjoy the game. Thus we cannot in good conscience recommend using them as the main language, of course. In short, these machine translations are more likely to be a sort of an aid for those who, from time to time, wish to look at raw translations in their native tongue. The player will first have to acknowledge a disclaimer stating that what is to follow is machine translated and not intended to be taken as a full-fledged official translation for the game. Once that is out of the way, the player will be able to set a primary and a secondary language through the UI. All events and codex entries will be displayed in the primary language and the secondary language texts will assist in understanding the primary language texts.
The machine translation tool DeepL has its limitations and so we go as far as the subscription options go. Thus, initially, only some supported languages will be covered. We aim to create this localization model in a way that will allow contributors to set up files that match the structure. The game itself will then be able to manage these files and make new languages selectable as primary and secondary languages in-game. Due to version tracking, every non-translated text will automatically be displayed in English.
That said, we are looking for community translation coordinators for each language. Since we are not going to have adequate capacity or competence to review translations, we welcome volunteer groups to form and start working together, but we cannot take on the role of an arbitrator either. Eventually, if enough progress is made and the files become available through Steam Workshop, they can be submitted and maintained by said volunteers as well. Coordinators will receive beta branch access to the game to cooperate with us to set up this localization file system. During the selection of coordinators, prior participation in such projects and credentials will play important roles to make sure they are reliable and competent, as they will be responsible for the translations and reviews. In order to improve translations based on machine learning, compiling a dictionary of specific words and expressions for the machine would go a long way, so that the AI does not come up with its own strange translations. Teams working on such a dictionary will also be encouraged.
Last, but not least, we are overjoyed to have been able to afford long development hours to lay down the groundwork for the localization environment and for the whole thing to even be able to kick off. The whole venture, however, will be tons of effort and consist of countless iterations, so we kindly ask for your patience.
Scouting Rework Video
As a follow-up to our recent scouting revamp, we’ve put together a short video showcasing the new and improved Manual Scouting and the recently introduced Auto-scouting. You can check them both out below – manual scouting covers the first thirty-five seconds of the video, while the rest is dedicated to auto-scouting.
For a full breakdown on the nitty-gritty of the changes, you can take a look at our detailed design post on Manual Scouting here, and for Auto-scouting here. Many of the changes made are showcased in this video: Manual Scouting through the ability to scout a radius around your comitatus and the option to use resourcefulness to guarantee your desired results. Auto-scouting, on the other hand, allows savvy vagri to scout directly ahead of their caravan’s trajectory, or, to cover every adjacent node while traversing the wasteland, and all for a very minimal investment indeed.
To make matters even better, scouting results now stay pinned as icons on the map for three in-game days, making the excursions and resources spent to make them a useful investment. All in all, we’re quite proud of the changes we’ve made, and we look forward to further tweaking systems such as these moving toward the future.
Change in Push and Pull Skills
Next, we have tweaked push and pull effects in Companion combat – something we have been looking to do for a while. Until now, upon being successfully targeted by push or pull Skills, characters switched positions along horizontal lines. From now on, however, they may move diagonally as well, depending on the positions of the attacker and the defender. This means that the positioning of Companions will have a larger influence on what happens during combat, thus introducing an additional tactical layer.
In case the character executes a pull Skill while being positioned in a different line than the target, the affected character will be moving forward diagonally instead of simply moving forward.
In case both the attacker and the target are in the same line during a pull action while there is an obstacle in front of the target, it will move to the front row diagonally, too. In case there is more than a single free position in the front, the “destination position” will be decided at random.
In the same way, a character can be pushed from the front to the back: the direction the attack is coming from will influence the “destination position” of a character affected by a push or a pull action. In case there is more than a single free position in the back row, the “destination position” will be decided at random.
For example, if a push action is executed from the front bottom position, the target will simply be relocated to the top back position.
These changes are also important because we are going to introduce obstacles into Companion combat soon, resulting in more immovables and cover on the battleground. We will discuss those in a future post.
Overwatch Rework
In our bid to improve Companion Combat, we have already tweaked Push and Pull effects. Now, we are implementing changes to increase the utility of Overwatch Skills. These tweaks will soon be available in the Beta branch and then go live in our public build as well.
Until now, Overwatch Skills could be used on an empty position. If a viable target stepped into said position, it triggered Overwatch, and the target was attacked. Move and attack actions were also interrupted, which means that, after having moved into the overwatched position, the target did not execute its attack.
The changes to these Skills are twofold. Firstly, any position can be targeted with an Overwatch Skill, not only unoccupied ones. If an enemy leaves the overwatched position, the Skill will not be triggered. However, if another enemy enters, Overwatch will be triggered.
Secondly, if nothing triggers it while someone is overwatching a position, the Skill will trigger automatically just before the Companion activates again in the Initiative order but only when there is a viable target.
This will motivate an enemy occupying an overwatched position to vacate it and deter other enemies from entering an overwatched position in order to avoid damage. In the video above, Eylani overwatches the bottom front position, while Criftaa follows suit with the bottom back position. Harvek is in the same line as the enemies, allowing him to kick the one in the front, forcing the two enemies to switch places, thus triggering both Overwatch Skills.
These changes will add an additional layer to combat tactics, as this can be used in combination with other Skills, such as ones causing Push or Pull. We hope you will have lots of fun with the reworked Overwatch mechanics!
Expansion Announcement: Sunfire and Moonshadow
The time has finally come to announce our upcoming expansion for Vagrus and go into a little detail about what we’ve been working on for the past seven months. It’s been a long, hard road, and while we’re slowly making our way to the finish line, we still have a great deal of testing to do, plus numerous final touches to iterate upon. It’s a terribly exciting time at Lost Pilgrims Studio, and it’s time to share at least some of it with those who made it possible: you, the players. The expansion’s store page is available for viewing and is ready to be wishlisted on Steam, GOG, and Epic.
Those of you who watched Tacticon may have already seen our short teaser, but rest assured, we’ve embedded it in this post for your perusal (and speculation!). First, we want to answer the most pressing question, however – what exactly is this expansion about? We’ve put together some of the key details below, as well as the trailer beneath it:
Occupying the northwestern corner of the continent of Xeryn, a desert older than the Calamity lies between the Brown Mountains and the River Lethe: the Bronze Desert. It is a realm torn by war in more than one way. The Empire rallies its immense legions here, sending them north toward the Green Continent to lay waste to its lush lands while the elite Chimera Legion remains behind to oversee this arid staging ground. Deep in the desert, however, lurks a different threat – that of the Ahari. Birthed by the native Bandul and tempered by their unwillingness to yield in the face of Imperial oppression, the Ahari seek to win back their sacred oases and holy sites, fighting an impossible campaign of terror. Amidst it all are the Handjari, sworn allies of the Empire and stewards of the greatest city in all the Bronze Desert – Kabur, the Jewel of the North.
The stage is set, the stakes are high. Who will you, a mere vagrus, align yourself with? The mysterious Ahari and their Sun God or the cruel Chimera Legion and their ruthlessly pragmatic leader, the Legate? Your decisions will shape the fate of the region writ large, paving the way for a new, uncertain future throughout the Realms.
Sunfire and Moonshadow offers a new, vast region to explore complete with a swathe of new settlements, new enemies to conquer, new stories to be a part of, a large cast of characters, and new quests to complete through which your vagrus may make their mark on Xeryn. With all this, as well as the introduction of a central conflict involving three new core factions – the Ahari, the Chimera Legion, and the Handjari – the expansion features content roughly one-third the size of the core game.
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Patch notes v1.1.340510E
User Interface Improvements
- Removed the option to show the current version number in the upper right corner. It is still visible in the main menu under the “Currently Known Issues” section.
New/Updated Features
- Redesigned Overwatch mechanics.
- Implemented a new diagonal Push/Pull feature that opens up more strategic opportunities and challenges for Companion Combat.
- The Main Menu background can be changed now with the corresponding button on the bottom-right of the screen.
- We have added a wider range of available resolutions.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed a bug where the enemy Flee chance increased with actions that give additional Chase.
- Implemented an array of controller improvements.
- The tooltip of Explore is now fixed on the node radial menu.
- We have made some fixes related to the Settlement UI.
- Fixed a bug where there was no sound the first time a new game was started.
- Fixed a rare crash at the beginning of PotW.
- Fixed a bug where the quantity of remaining goods were displayed incorrectly when a stack was bought by dragging.
- Some faction related UI issues were fixed.
- Fixed crashes caused by gears in the deploy.
- Fixed a crash related to scouting.
- Longer tooltips can no longer go out of the screen.
Known Issues:
- Escort Tasks and related anomalies.
- The Event UI can act funny in 21:9
- Blank Equipment icons if the throwout UI is triggered from a Settlement (they refresh later)
Coming Up Next
- Obstacles in Companion Combat.
- Outpost UI
We hope you’re as excited as we are to return to the Riven Realms and explore and exploit an entirely new region. We’ll keep updating you on the exact date of the release as we know more, but for now, rest assured – the expansion will drop sometime in Q3 of 2023. Until next time, stay vigilant, stay awesome, and conquer the wasteland!
The Lost Pilgrims Team
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