Forged of Blood Patch v1.1.4502 Released – Sandbox Mode Added

Forged of Blood, Critical Forge’s turn-based tactical RPG, launched earlier this month. And apparently, some of those who purchased the game were displeased with its time restraints and alignment-related desertion mechanics. As a result, we get this new patch that introduces a time limit-free sandbox mode and a special Philosophical Distance Threshold slider. Here’s a bit about these two new features and a quick look at what awaits the game in the near future:

Attiras at war, your sandbox.

Let’s start with the biggest and most requested feature: the sandbox mode. One of the most highly debated topics in our game is the presence of the timers that drive the game narrative and pacing. While I remain steadfastly behind our design and narrative decisions to have them there, I also recognize that it is not for everyone and have taken measures to address it via the implementation of our sandbox mode, titled: the Attiran Conquest.

The new Attiran Conquest mode is a new mode that players can enjoy free from the narrative and time restraints that are present in the main game. Upon completion of the first act, players can start a new campaign that jumps straight into the war without any preamble. For this mode to work, all faction and character arcs have been removed and while certain events will remain in the game, no additional events will happen past the main game’s end date – but the player is free to continue questing and conquering the world until the end. This also means that this mode will only have one outcome: outright victory or death.

Note that this mode is not the original intent of the game or the narrative, and thus certain aspects that remain in this mode may feel out of place.

Through thick and thin.

Our second biggest implementation is in direct response to many players who found the rigors of command to be particularly taxing and were plagued by desertion. Of course, our intent with this system to highlight those exact challenges faced by those in leadership positions – constantly on the razor’s edge of your own personal ideals and that of those who follow. To that end, the implementation of a slider that allows players to enlarge the Philosophical Distance Threshold in their game empowers them with the choice to set the challenge they want. And yes, for the masochists out there you do have the option of reducing the threshold as well.

The future that awaits.

Now I’ll leave the myriad changes for you to browse below as they are a bit of a mouthful and I would like to address some of the things we have in the pipeline.

The codex is top priority and the sheer bulk of all the systems, mechanics, and lore that we are compiling for it is rather staggering – so, know that it is coming but it will take some time. As always, we are pretty active on the community hub and Discord if you have any questions, that remains an open line of communication for those who are keen to talk to us.

We are also working on a new mechanical feature that would allow players to play the game with our balanced settings but not be too severely punished for their philosophical choices. This will also take a hot minute to implement and test, but it should provide a lore friendly way to alleviate our player’s frustrations.

Finally, I am very happy to confirm that achievements are coming. We will have over eighty in all and we are awaiting final implementation and testing for the triggers.

And with that, I’ll end it there. Thank you so much for your patience and continued feedback. This patch is a long time coming and we’re thrilled to push it out tonight.

Cheers,
– Igor