Version 0.4.01 (Patreon)

As promised and with a ton of mechanical improvements. :)

Forgot to mention, due to the raft of changes: YOU WILL HAVE TO START A NEW GAME.

Win / Linux
Mac
Android


Release Notes:

New Events

• One new Fae event (with two sex scenes)
• One new Goblin event (with two sex scenes)
• One new Andras NPC arc event (with three sex scenes)
• Four new Helayna scenes (with four sex scenes)

Reworked Events

• One reworked Helayna scene (Dinner is Served)
• Cliohna Introduction and the first Abbey scene have been slightly reworked

Art

• Sixteen new CGs (with forty-two variants)

Plot & Event Changes:

The deadline for the Astarte battle has been moved from week 60 to week 70, giving the player more time to explore the map and complete some of the castle’s storylines.

A small number of events featuring Alexia will now trigger at the start of the exploration segment, as jobs events do.

Completing Orciad and Blackholt will now give weekly rewards, giving the player incentive to complete them earlier over exploring the map during the midgame. Currently only Orciad bonuses are added:

• Ulcro: +2 orcs per week, +0,5 morale per week.
• Batri: +2,5 orcs per week.
• Tarish: +1 orc per week, +1,5 morale per week.
• Delane: + 1 orc per week, -0,5 morale per week, weekly guilt decrease. (WIP)

New Journal and Incursions:

A new type of quests are now available, “Chaos Incursions”. Incursions are optional sidequests which often involve several outcomes, give more Exp and provide substantial rewards.

Whenever an incursion is unlocked the player will be informed about it via a unique message that appears after the Start of Week status screen. Each incursion is started by viewing the debrief event found in the throne room (or the respective NPC room), and can then be found on the Rosaria map in a predetermined tile. You can track its progress via the new Journal, which will also provide a visual hint on the tile location.

The Quest Chain involving the struggle between the dragon ogress Ygriss and the dryad Isdriuel, The Grudge of Thorns, is now implemented as an Incursion. This plotline has been in the game for a while, but due to the complicated conditionals for its event it was very difficult to trigger, so we’re looking forward to your feedback on it.

Four other events have also been adjusted to act as incursions, as originally intended:

• Cormalda Calling
• Elf Smuggler
• Rip and Tear
• The Crooked Priest

General UI Changes:

Prisoners are now visible on the top-bar resource tab, with a placeholder icon for the time being.

Arzyl and Whitescar now have their own rooms in Castle Bloodmeen. Fae events are no longer accessible through Jezera’s “visit” button. Heartsongs’ dream will trigger on its own if the player decides to keep the Fae, after which Arzyl and Whitescar events will both be accessible through their new rooms in the castle’s main floor.

Map and Portal UI:

Both the exploration map and the portal UI have been reworked from the ground up.

Rosaria is now split into 6 regions, each with a portal in the middle of it. Each region is split into 2-3 provinces, and should the player research “History of Rosaria” (though the option is enabled by the default for now) they’ll be able to check what resources can be found in each province.

The portal UI now allows the player to resume traveling simply by clicking Rowan’s portrait on the map. It will also mark the location of all important Quests and Incursions.

The map itself has received a visual upgrade, with new Forest, Raeve and Orciad tiles. It was also populated with more resource tiles, and several areas have been reworked to better reflect the history and current events of Rosaria.

Cla-Min shop:

“Ploys” have been added to Cla-Min’s shop. These strong but temporary castle buffs can be bought with Rowan’s personal gold at the player’s convenience. Players can now decide what they wish to focus on - the Castle’s development, or Rowan’s personal abilities.

Cla-Min’s shop has also been moved closer to the center of the Castle UI, for player convenience.

Research and Buildings:

Research has been heavily reworked. Several techs have been rolled into one, new optional research has been added, and new tiers of tech have been added, allowing the player to fully restore the castle.

Several buildings can now be fully upgraded:

• Orc Barracks can be upgraded to level 4.
• Dark Sanctum can be upgraded to level 3.
• Breeding Pits can be upgraded to level 3.
• Arena can be upgraded to level 3.
• Library can be upgraded to level 3.
• Forge can be upgraded to level 3.
• Tavern can be upgraded to level 3.
• Brothel can be upgraded to level 3.
• Castle Hall can be upgraded to level 3.

Nasim’s Transformation Chamber is also no longer lost, and can now be properly excavated.

Building order has been adjusted. It’s no longer alphabetical, but instead sorted depending on how important a building is for long term expansion.

Army:

Bloodmeen army has heavily been rebalanced, allowing the player to field a far, far larger army. The military power of orcs, cubi and driders has been reduced, but so was the upkeep.

Units have been split into two categories - Retinue, and Reserve.

Retinue is Rowan’s personal troops he can command as he sees fit. They’re soldiers who take villages and fight at Raeve, and once Rowan takes to the field in Astarte, these will be the men, demons and beasts who follow him into battle.

Reserves are troops outside of Rowan’s direct control. While they can’t be used to take villages, the player pays only 25% of their upkeep, and they will be fully mobilized to fight the armies of Rastedel when the time is right.

Bloodmen’s army will now also benefit from Other Bonuses - unique individuals or resources the player managed to find in their travels.

Acquiring a large army will be the focal point of Rowan’s effort in Rosaria after the fall of Raeve keep. While players who wish for Bloodmeen’s eventual demise may find little benefit in expanding it beyond what the twins’ require of them, all Rowans will benefit from increasing the army’s War Readiness - a unique variable that tracks the level of intelligence Rowan has gathered on the Rosarian army.

Managing Morale.

Proper morale upkeep has been reimplemented, together with Low Morale consequences. Should the player fail at keeping morale over 50%, they may experience one of the fourteen new negative events that address the issue. Failing to deal with the problem for an extended period of time may result in Andras stepping in to bring the orcs to heel -  something no Rowan wants.

Other Fixes:

• You can now meet Cliohna in the first Abbey you visit even before meeting her in Bloodmeen. Tutorial Abbey now also gives a research bonus, as it should.
• Spy efficiency now works properly.
• Allying Maud on Werden’s route should now properly trigger Rastedel Finale.
• Trading with human settlements no longer gives ten times the intended treasury reward.
• Minor mine fixes.

Renpy 8.

Seeds of Chaos has been upgraded to Renpy 8.

Future plans - The upcoming Astarte Rework.

Much of the work related to research and building has been in preparation for allowing the player themselves to build Bloodmeen’s army from the grounds up, so it is their very own soldiers that meet the Rosarian on the fields of Astarte. While the Astarte Rework is a work in progress for now, all players can share how well they were able to manage the castle’s expansion segment.

Right at the start of the battle, the game will copy to clipboard a handful of Stats related to your current game state. Please paste them into the SoC Alpha Astarte Army channel on discord, or share it on Patreon. If you have a moment, add something about your playthrough - like “Tried to be as evil as possible” or “Opposed the twins at every step, never burned villages, always traded with them.”, so we can compare how they impact the player’s army strength.