Soulblight - Dev Blog

Hi Everybody
So we're finally here - Just a moment ago Soulblight when live on Steam.

store.steampowered.com/app/530930/Soulblight/




As you might know Soulblight is a personal project for us. For this special day I asked our story designer Jurek to tell you about it:

=========================================

Hi, Jurek here
Today I wanted to tell you about a week when I got really annoyed with Kuba - Soulblight's designer, programmer and generally the heart and soul of the project.

With our release date approaching Kuba wanted me to write something personal about our game and about what we wanted to say with it. I wasn't really happy with the idea, for two reasons. Firstly, everything I wanted to say with Soulblight I already said in the game using all the tools we had to convey it. I feel that retelling it here would spoil it for those who are actually going to play the game. And secondly, I don't think it's ever a good idea to interpret any piece of art form for someone else. That's something that has to come to every single person individually.

But Kuba insisted. We argued a little bit about it, I tried to explain that I don't know anything about marketing, and of course as a writer I had to throw in "I'm not a salesman" somewhere into the discussion. But it still didn't change his mind.

So I sat down and tried writing knowing that I will fail so that I could show him the results and say "See, I told you so!"



I tried approaching it from many different perspectives. I started by explaining why we wanted to make a difficult game. The obvious reason being that those are the games that we ourselves enjoy. We like the challenge whether it be a From Software production or something conjured by the likes of Bennett Foddy. I would also slip in something about how what we wanted to say would not work had the game been easy.

But I wasn't quite happy with the result so I tried another approach



I started writing about what kind of a gamer is a rogue-like player? Someone who is willing to lose all the in-game progress with every attempt and what does that say about them and their determination? Then I started to wonder what would happen if they were presented with another way? A short cut. Would they take it? What if we tempted them enough? Then I touched a little bit on morality systems in video games and how we wanted to incorporate them in Soulblight.

But again it seemed that with every word I wrote I got further away from what's my personal take on this game.



So I wrote about how the idea of Soulblight came to be. I explained how Kuba surprised me when he told me about wanting to make a story-driven rogue-lite. I didn't expect that since it's not typical of a game of that genre.

But I didn't feel that it was good enough either. I told Kuba that I don't know what else to do, but he annoyingly (to me at that time) said "keep trying and remember keep it personal". I felt hopeless and angry.

I needed some way of venting my frustrations. So instead of writing I, naturally, started to procrastinate. After a while I decided to pick up a controller and play our game, you know to "look for inspiration". It successfully managed to distract me from what I was really supposed to do. So I played and I died a couple of times, as I usually do. But I didn't quit, knowing what's waiting for me as soon as I'm done. With each play through I got a little bit further. After a couple of hours of playing something unthinkable happened. I managed to beat that one boss that I always lose to. I couldn't believe it. I had to adjust myself in my seat as I continued to play. I got a little further then I beat another level and then another boss. That's when my palms started to sweat as I knew I was getting closer and closer to the end. Then another boss fell. Despite the fact that I knew exactly what would happen next I got nervous and a thought came to my mind "Oh my God, I'm going to do it! I'm going to beat this game!". After an evening of avoiding responsibilities I did it, for the first time since the beginning of the production process I managed to beat our game from beginning to end.

As a game creator you hope to invoke partilucar feelings in people playing your game. But because you yourself designed it, wrote it and seen it numerous times you can't know for sure if you achieved that effect. So the only thing you can do is to hope that it's there and that the players will know what you meant. And when I finally beat the game, despite hundreads of hours of testing I have a feeling that maybe they will. That's when I thought "Maybe that's something worth telling people about?".



That's all I wanted to say. Sorry it took this long to say it, but if I was to shorten this whole thing to a single line, I don't think it would do us any good - "Soulblight - it's more fun than writing a paper".

Lastly, if you got through this whole text, I applaud you. That's a good indicator that you don't give up easily, so maybe, just maybe you're the person we're speaking to.

That's it from me. I really hope you'll enjoy our game.
Jurek

*Before writing this I didn't realize that I'm this childish.

Hey Everybody
Before we move on to this week's topic Let's tackle the official part first - New Soulblight update has just went live Here's the change log:

• New Language Support: French
• New Language Support: Italian
• Stamina Cost of Block lowered (We want for it to be more useful for heavy armored characters)
• Pad control schemes with inverse block and dash buttons added
• Every locked chest will now contain at least one item
• Slight re-balance of Dr. Morikay Boss fight. (More info here: steamcommunity.com/app/530930/discussions/0/2650805212060856683/)
• Other minor bug fixes

Although the game has already been released we'd like to continue improving it on weekly basis. I've sat down this week and wrote up a roadmap. I decided it would be best to keep you guys up to date so here's the plan for 3 upcoming weeks:

• Taint Room progression
• Leaderboards
• Two additional taints

If you guys have any ideas on what you'd like to see added to the game feel free to post them on our subreedit - r/MyNextGames

Cya Around
Kuba

P.S
And of course dev vlog for this week

And here's combat mechanics discussion thread I mentioned:
steamcommunity.com/app/530930/discussions/0/1697168437869857476/

Hey Everybody
As you might know on Saturday we were celebrating Soulblight release in Kraków

I stayed up a bit longer on friday to finish adding leaderboards to the game. And so the new the update is live Now the players will be ranked by two factors. First base on their progress, then base on their time. When you launch the game you might realize that actually it includes two simular rankings.

As I plan to regularly update the game to keep results relatively comparable the scores from the last few updates will be stored in the "THIS ROUND" category. This leaderboard will be cleared on month to month bases. Don't worry though, we won't let your best runs to fall into oblivion Thous will be stored in "ALL TIMES" category as well If you've been able to pull of particularity good run before this update and you have it on your Save Slot it should be included in the ranking as soon as you launch the game.

Hope to see some of you tomorrow in Kraków
Cya Around,
Kuba

P.S
And the dev vlog for this week

This week somthing for speedrunners - The Impatient Taint

And of corse the dev vlog for this week:

And if you're intrested in Hyperion audiobook I mentioned here it is:
www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/Hyperion-Audiobook/B002V5BLIW

Hello everybody,
This week we added three more gauntlets. They will empower your fist fighting efficiency or can be used in combinations with other weapons as well.

As you can see, we keep adding new stuff on weekly basis. We have lots of ideas for how to enrich the game and we want you to help us choose thous we should go with first This is why starting today once a week we will set up a poll on our Discord channel. Currently we're considering witch of the light armors we should add in the next update - sneaky Nerajatan Robe and spikey Camahueto Armor!

Here's the link to the discord channel where you can vote: discord.gg/trP7mPE
Poll will be ending on next Wednesday

Cya Around
Kuba

Hello everybody,
This week Soulblight armory have been enriched by Bull-leaper Suit which you've chosen in our Discrod poll! (www.discord.gg/trP7mPE) Although it offers small protection value its power lies with “Faster Sneaking” unique property. Thanks to this you’ll be able to avoid damage in another, more gentle way

Also this week we’ve added an utility feature that you all might find very useful - a chance to preview the taint before acquiring it! Just walk onto the selected platform and the card with all the info will appear. Now, you will never be forced to blind pick the taint when you don’t remember it’s symbol.

And of course the poll. This week it’s a bit different as you are choosing between two taints: Superstitious and Slothful.

Which one should we add to the game first? Let us know by voting at our Discord channel: www.discord.gg/trP7mPE
Poll is ending traditionally next Wensday.

Cya around,
Kuba

P.S
I bumped into NetMoverSitan Soulblight series this week. Love his voice over for characters and epic episode cliffhangers Go check it out:

Hello everybody,
Today we have a little surprise for you all This week we’ve launched Soulblight Demo on Steam! We will be updating it along the main game. If you’d like to follow our and you don’t own the game drop by our Steam page and Downlaod the Demo
store.steampowered.com/app/530930/Soulblight/

Our first Weekly Soulblight Challenge is behind us. Let’s all congratulate NetMoverSitan for winning this round!

To those who didn’t make it - don’t warry, The next Soulblight Weekly Challenge is about to begin! This time you are fighting for “Archaica: The Path of Light” - The game made by two brothere Marcin and Piotrek Tureccy also know as The Two Mammoths.
store.steampowered.com/app/550590/Archaica_The_Path_of_Light/
As to our weekly poll - you’ve chosen the Estaut Armor to be added to the game. It’s a fancy one yet boosts your sneaking ability! It’s another one with “Faster Sneaking” special property. It seems to us you like this ninja-like approach to the game

And of course a new weekly poll is already live! This time your choosing on of two taints based on diferen designe aproach. Insted of granting you ability to build up synnergy they ofere a you a small fixed bonus and a powerful combat altering mechanics empowering certain equipment builds.

Let us know witch of these should we add to Soulblight this week by voting in a poll on our Discord channel: www.discord.gg/trP7mPE
Poll is ending traditionally next Wensday.

Cya around,
Kuba

Hello everybody,

And another Weekly Soublight Challenge is over! This time, Kruker is the winner of Lust for Darkness steam key! Congratulations!



We don’t slower the pace - the next prize to win in your struggle will be demo of a photorealistic survival horror game - The Beast Inside!



store.steampowered.com/app/792300/The_Beast_Inside/

Armor of Oblivion turned out to be our weekly poll winner!

This nice piece of armor have a fine protection from distant strikes and gives you a passive damage bonus, when you are in close combat!



And finally, our new weekly poll is already live! This time we are moving to more advanced taints from second level. You’re choosing between Stubborn and Sly. The first one is for fanatics of exploration and long Soulblight sessions The second Taint make your character borned with a silver spoon in his mouth - you obtain a chance of doging the atack, when you are seconds away from getting injured or even killed.



Let us know which of these should we add to Soulblight this week by voting in a poll on our Discord channel: www.discord.gg/trP7mPE Poll is ending traditionally next Wensday



Cya Around,

Kuba

Hey Everybody!
It’s Friday evening and the 5th Weekly Soulblight Challenge has just ended. This week's winner is NetMoverSitan. Besides claiming the reward he is also the FIRST PERSON EVER to reach 100%. This means he has not only reach the end of the labyrinth but did so without using any taints! We will need to find a special way to commemorate his achievement

Meanwhile the new 1.16 game update is up. Here's what's new:
We’ve added the weapon that you’ve chosen in this weeks discord poll - The Corsair.
Shields in the game from now on posses special PARRY property. Equipment with this tag will not decrease your blocking speed. Now the shields will no longer feel counter-intuitive when it comes to blocking. To balance this out we’ve also decrease the defensive stats of all shields. To use them effectively you will have to actively block the incoming attack. This will differentiate shields from other pieces of armor.

As to our weekly poll. Once more you’re deciding on a new armor set that we’re about to add to the game next week. Poison Armor (Left) Boilersuit (Right) - Vote on Soulblight Inner Circle Discord Channel - www.discord.gg/trP7mPE

store.steampowered.com/app/390290/Bulb_Boy/
And of course “This Round” leaderboard has been reseted and the new Soulblight Weekly challenge is now Live. The reward this time - Bulb boy. Person on the top of "This Round" leaderboard next friday evening will be receiving the Steam key

That would be all for this week folks!

Cya around
Kuba

Hello everybody,
It’s time for another weekly update! This time we have many intresting new staff for you.
Let’s start with our traditional poll - this time you’ve chosen a Silent Guardian - quick and beautiful piece of steel, isn’t it?

On current poll we move back to the taints. Enter our Discord ( www.www.discord.gg/trP7mPE ) and chose between Stubborn and Slothful!

Also, this week we were improving our tutorial sequence to make it more clear and help you to learn how to survive in Sanctuary, using some fancy prompts and cut scenes like this one:

Another thing we added is a new mechanics which allows you to learn recipes and brows them in character information menu:

At the end we are proud to announce that the winner of our Weekly Soulblight Challenge is NetMoverSitan!

His award is key for Hearts of Iron IV! This week you're fighting for Interplanetary: Enhanced Edition steam key!
store.steampowered.com/app/650220/Interplanetary_Enhanced_Edition/

Good luck!

Cya around
Kuba

Hello Everybody
Kuba from My Next Games here. How's it going? For us it's been very intensive two months. If you follow our social media or steam/discord weekly updates you probably know there's been a lot of new features coming to Soulblight recently. I will soon write an article summarizing all the changes but today I would like to tell you about our recent trip to Chinajoy.

It all started very suddenly when we've been contacted by people from Foundation Indie Games Poland (IGP). They've asked us if we would be interested in becoming a part of the Polish Game Stand at Chinajoy this years. To be honest I was a bit surprised. I knew the event was in just one week but we weren't planing on participating. We didn't even apply for the IGP recruitment for it. The representative of IGP explained that one of the games that was supposed to participate dropped out on the last minute and that they are looking for a replacement. As Soulblight was already a part of the IGP Stand at PAX West Seattle twice they though that it would be a good game to showcase in China as well .

I've never been to China so I said - Let's do it!

Day #1
After a week of intensive preparations and over 12h flight we landed in Shanghai. The airport looked like a regular European airport only bigger. The first noticeable difference was the wave of heat that struck us when we left the building. We were very glad that our hotel seemed to be not too far. We soon realized it wasn't exactly true. Taxi trip took us almost 45 minutes! It looks like everything is bigger and further away here. The rest of the day we spend sleeping of the trip.

Day #2
After good 12h sleep we woke up at 10 A.M. The Chinajoy was still one day away so we decided to spend the day sight seeing and getting acquainted with original chines food

Day #3
The first day of the event. We woke up at 6 A.M so we can get to the venue earlier and set up the stand. Here's how it looked like:

After the event we went for the Polish party organized by IGP and Polish Institute in Beijing. We didn't realize that It took place in fancy five star hotel. When we got to the sight we felt a bit under-dressed wearing our regular cloths. Fortunately when guests started to arrive the feeling disappeared. The party was specifically designed to promote Polish games. There were even a dedicated stations provided by the organizers with our games so the guest can check them out.

Day #4
The second day of the event. Today we decided to get to the venue by subway. We didn't realize we'er going to travel during the rush hour. It was so crowded that despite all the air-conditioning and ventilation it was still hard to breath. Fortunately the Subway is very efficient and we were able to get to Chinajoy without any delay.

After the second day of the event we got invited to the party organized by Sina Games. It took place in an exclusive Light Club in the city center. The Club itself had this awesome cyberpunky feel to it.

Day #5
As usually on this kind of events the last day was a bit slower. We got to the stand 15 minutes late but fortunately at the business section people started to show up that day an hour later. Evening that day we decided to take a bit slower as well. We went for a little evening stroll by the river.

Day #6
It was the last day of our stay in Shanghai. We woke up around 11.00 A.M and packed up. Our Chines adventure was over

Cya Around
Kuba