The free and open source roguelike Tales of Maj'Eyal just had a huge update for everyone, with a lot more to come.
Version 1.6 was released yesterday and it's massive. Here's an overview of what's new:
- Revamps many classes and races to improve their fun/gameplay.
- Revamps many scaling systems, making the difficulty curve smoother for more race/class combos.
- Revamps a huge variety of items.
- A huge number of misc quality of life improvements.
- New and much smarter AI.
- Many new cosmetic options for everyone.
- The Forbidden Cults, Embers of Rage and Ashes of Urh'rok expansions all saw plenty of updates too.
Something that's proven to be a little controversial is their inclusion of micro-transactions. They say these are only for special cosmetic items to support further development, along with additional online Vault space, special community events and a really dumb sounding "pay2die" system that spawns impossibly strong monsters. It's a little confusing though, they need to make it a lot clearer on the how/where you actually get them. It can only be done currently when you're in-game, by a little coin icon next to your character name.
As for what's coming next. A new Annihilator class is set to launch for owners of the Embers of Rage DLC next month. These Annihilators use "steamguns" and new heavy weapons including "flamethrower, shockstaff and boltgun", with the ability to deploy automated steam turrets—sounds like a fun character class to play with.
After that? The next "full expansion" titled Tales of Maj'Eyal: Lost Land is currently in development for launch sometime next year. This expansion will include two new classes, six new races, a "half-campaign" which replaces the first half of the normal game plus new lore, artifacts, NPCs, achievements and so on. You can see a teaser for Lost Land below:
Direct Link
They're also working on a new rendering engine, it's something that's going to take a long time though.
You can buy a copy of Tales of Maj'Eyal on GOG, Humble Store, Steam or free (and open source) from the official site. As I understand it, if you buy it from one of the stores you get a few special bits that people who donate on the official site would get.
(Other packaging systems are available. Your credit score may be affected. Do not feed after midnight.)
At the start can be a little confusing, but once you learn the basics, the possibilities in the character creation and development are so vast that make impossible to just play it one or two times.
The lore is fascinating too, and cannot be learned in one run.
Expect to die all the time, but don't get frustrated. In most of the cases is for your own fault xD In this game i learn the importance of mobility
Quoting: NezchanI like ToME, but haven't played it in ages due to two big frustrations: OOD monsters in early dungeons and the game being very unclear about the next things to do after the first few dungeons. If they've done something about the second one at least, I'd be interested in giving it another try.
http://forums.te4.org/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=48660
this is a great guide for the progression of the game. You can use it, but i recommend to read all the lore that you find to understand the plot. After a time playing it, you are going to recognize the lore that don't lead to nothing, and its just for give more deep to the world, or, in other cases, just for fun
Quoting: igimenezExpect to die all the time, but don't get frustrated. In most of the cases is for your own fault xD In this game i learn the importance of mobility
That's kind of what puts me off rogue likes in general. If the run is short i don't mind. Been enjoying Risk of rain wih friends recently.
But when the game is huge , there's a story , a lore you get immeresed in only to have the rug pulled from under you for one mistake is just too frustrating.
I think TOME does a good thing in giving you a n00b option. And the diversity of races/classes etc is still there for me to enjoy.
A bit peeved they added microtransactions.
Quoting: razing32Quoting: igimenezExpect to die all the time, but don't get frustrated. In most of the cases is for your own fault xD In this game i learn the importance of mobility
That's kind of what puts me off rogue likes in general. If the run is short i don't mind. Been enjoying Risk of rain wih friends recently.
But when the game is huge , there's a story , a lore you get immeresed in only to have the rug pulled from under you for one mistake is just too frustrating.
I think TOME does a good thing in giving you a n00b option. And the diversity of races/classes etc is still there for me to enjoy.
A bit peeved they added microtransactions.
Wait, there's microtransactions now? I haven't played for a while, so I wasn't aware of it. What are you paying for?
Also, permadeath in Caves of Qud is a similarly silly thing to have by default. It's great for challenge runs, but in a game that's centred around a larger story, I dunno if that works. Doubly so since deaths there are often arbitrary.
Quoting: NezchanQuoting: razing32Quoting: igimenezExpect to die all the time, but don't get frustrated. In most of the cases is for your own fault xD In this game i learn the importance of mobility
That's kind of what puts me off rogue likes in general. If the run is short i don't mind. Been enjoying Risk of rain wih friends recently.
But when the game is huge , there's a story , a lore you get immeresed in only to have the rug pulled from under you for one mistake is just too frustrating.
I think TOME does a good thing in giving you a n00b option. And the diversity of races/classes etc is still there for me to enjoy.
A bit peeved they added microtransactions.
Wait, there's microtransactions now? I haven't played for a while, so I wasn't aware of it. What are you paying for?
Also, permadeath in Caves of Qud is a similarly silly thing to have by default. It's great for challenge runs, but in a game that's centred around a larger story, I dunno if that works. Doubly so since deaths there are often arbitrary.
Uhm , form the article :)
QuoteSomething that's proven to be a little controversial is their inclusion of micro-transactions. They say these are only for special cosmetic items to support further development, along with additional online Vault space, special community events and a really dumb sounding "pay2die" system that spawns impossibly strong monsters. It's a little confusing though, they need to make it a lot clearer on the how/where you actually get them. It can only be done currently when you're in-game, by a little coin icon next to your character name.
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