We updated the pre-release version of Skystone today with a couple new quests, and a variety of new clothing and furniture for non-members and Nidarian Guard members.  Since there are a lot of new items to take in, we took some screenshots of what’s new in the stores today:

Lana’s Clothing Emporium has some new items for the Stiltskin outfit, as well as new styles for the Aeronaut lines of clothing shown above.  The yellow-and-brown Bombradier clothing and the blue-and-white Flyright clothing will be featured in Lana’s store and replacing the Aeronaut Basics, which will still be available as starter clothing when starting the game.

Wystan’s Furniture Outlet is featuring a new line of Game Room furniture, which includes billiards, darts, and Pin the Tail on the Pustosser.  A handful of new drinks and snacks are also available in the furniture store, as well as a line of Grubskin beanbag chairs styled like Blowgrubs, Firegrubs, and Cactigrubs.

For Nidarian Guard members, the merchant Emma will be selling the above Steamphonic Instruments as props for your Float.  The line includes a guitar, bass, and microphone (all with attached tube-powered amps), and a large drum kit.

Aspen, the Nidarian Guard merchant in the Boiler, is featuring a new line of natural furniture for your Float.  There are a number of log stumps and rocks that are used as seating, some large trees which work nicely in the foreground, and a large animated waterfall.  Packs of water tiles can also be purchased to design a winding stream along the floor.

Also for Nidarian Guard members, the merchant Rusty is selling a line of Caverns-themed furniture similar to the style used in Co-op Trailblazing.  This series includes wall and floor treatment, a number of holes to place on the walls and floor, and some stone-carved tables, stools, and pillars.  Completing the series are three sizes of stalagmites to place in your Float.

These updates are available today for players that currently have access to our beta/pre-release version of the game.  We’re gradually letting more Kongregate users into the game, so if you haven’t had a chance to try Remnants of Skystone yet, you may be able to join soon.

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Happy holidays, everyone!  As of today, anyone who signed up to be a Beta tester for Remnants of Skystone on the Kongregate forums should have access to the game for testing.  If you signed up, you just need to log into your Kongregate account first, then go to this link here.  After you’ve started playing, you can submit bug reports, give us feedback, and chat on the forums on the links found on the game page.

Thanks to everyone who signed up!

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It’s been months in the making, but today we are finally updating the Skystone Beta with a ton of new additions!  There are lots of changes across the game, so we’ll try to highlight the biggest new features in this post:

Nidarian Guard

This major expansion includes the recently-announced Nidarian Guard, which players can join via subscription to gain access to a number of exclusive features.  Nidarian Guard members can take part in new weekly Co-op Trailblazing for members, including new Mimics and challenging bosses, as well as learning two new moves for each class.  The Spectra Circuit is also unlocked for Nidarian Guard members, who can earn Circuit Points and collect Ores and Geodes in order to gain permanent stat boosts on their characters.  Guard members will also have access to a variety of exclusive Daily Quests, which are also new to Skystone.

Daily Quests

Daily Quests offer a number of activities and missions that will change on a daily basis, earning rewards each time the Daily has been completed.  The majority of Dailies are exclusive to Nidarian Guard members, though a couple will be available to non-subscribers as well to try.

Otto von Tesla has a special type of Daily Quest to offer to Guard members, where monstrous Mimics called Golembombers are patrolling the ground, and can’t be attacked by normal means.  These Dailies require the player to cloak themselves in Sporedust, disguised from aggressive Mimics while they sneak across the land, taking out the Golembombers with stealth.On top of the Nidarian Guard and new Daily Quests, we’ve toiled away to have another surprise addition in our massive update:

World 3: Ridgeback Highlands

The third world is finally here, where players can travel into the land of the Crags!  After revealing the lands and heritage of the Aeronauts and the Ferrics, it felt too empty by leaving out the lore of the Crags, so we’ve completed the puzzle with the Ridgeback Highlands.  This world is the largest of the bunch, and offers up a whopping 18 new Mimic breeds, as well as 10 new Missions, three new sub-areas, and a handful of new characters to meet across the land.  The challenge is also higher in this area, with more aggressive Mimics, a new type of Mission, and new environmental hazards to navigate on your way.  Both members and non-members will have access to the third world, continuing the story of the Nidarians reclaiming the ground and their search for Skystone Remnants.

And much more!

Players will also notice a bunch of other changes across the game — ranging from the new premium currency called Brass, to checkpoints giving you health, to your Skill Meter being reserved for Nidarian Guard attacks (and getting unlimited jets and climbing in the process).  For more information on what has changed, you can check out the change log on the forums.  Current beta testers should already have access to the new expansion, and we’ll be letting in waves of new testers soon!

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Every day, members of the Nidarian Guard will find up to a dozen Daily Quests offered by Nidarians and others on the ground, each with a specific task to accomplish that day.  For example, Cypress will have a Daily Quest to hunt down a new breed of Mimic, while Admiral Stanton may have you fighting Mimic Guardian bosses in other areas on the Ground.

While the theme of each Daily Quest will be similar from day to day, you won’t be doing the same thing each day when you start the Daily Quest:  On Monday, Cypress may ask you to hunt down the new breed of Harpoon Mimics that have invaded Steam City Ruins, while on Tuesday his Daily Quest may instead have you searching for Coaltossers in Camp Calluna.  Even if you eventually have to hunt Harpoons again in Steam City weeks later, you’ll find them in different locations this time on the Ground.

When you finish a Daily Quest, you’ll be rewarded with one of the three types of Coins, which you can accumulate to buy items from the Traders in town.  That Daily Quest will be complete until tomorrow, when it may change to a different task - though you’ll still have multiple other Daily Quests from other NPCs to do that day, earning you even more Coins to spend.

Once you’ve collected some Coins - the Aeronaut Shiners, Ferric Hatches, or Crag Tinchips - you can shop with a Trader in Nidaria who accepts each type of Coin.  You might find some familiar items that are available in other Nidarian shops, as well as exclusive items only available with these Coins.  The Traders may also occasionally get an early-bird special on clothing and furniture that haven’t shown up in stores yet, so Nidarian Guard members can pick up some items before their fellow recruits.  For players that would regularly make store purchases in Kreds, the Nidarian Guard package gives you a new rewarding way to pick up high-quality items without spending more.

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Posted by Matt under Game Design, Gameplay | Comments » (11 comments) |

We’ve been busy working on Remnants of Skystone, fine-tuning and adding features since our closed beta started in May.  Things have been quiet lately in the beta, but we’re happy to finally announce some of the new exciting additions we’ve been working on for Skystone!

We have a number of changes and improvements to the main game in store, including a new context-sensitive training to help new players learn about Spores, Geodes, and map-traveling early in the game.  We’ve also been working on improved drop rates, new critical attacks and dodging, and enemies that level-up in difficulty.

The biggest addition however will be arriving as a massive package of brand-new features and content, available for members of the Nidarian Guard!  The Nidarian Guard will be offered as a monthly subscription, where players can enlist to gain a ton of new abilities, power-ups, quests, and rewards in Skystone.  As we get closer to testing and release we’ll go into more detail, but here are some of the new additions in store for Nidarian Guard members:

New Attacks

We’ve listened to player requests for alternate weapons and attacks, and crafted two special attacks for each character class.  Each character will have a close-range Melee Attack that can be used by holding down the attack key, useful when in tight places or when surrounded by Mimics.  Each class will also have its own Charged Attack, which can be charged and unleashed for a more powerful attack.  These new attacks are powered by the player’s Skill meter, and can be improved by boosting the Skill and Stamina stats using another addition for members:

Spectra Circuit

The old Tube Circuit has been removed and replaced by the Spectra Circuit, which members can use to permanently boost their player stats.  Members will earn Circuit Points along with the usual Experience Points when fighting Mimics, which can be used to add and upgrade Sockets on the Circuit.  Ores and Geodes can then be used to craft Etherillium Tubes to use on the Circuit, which won’t burn out like the older Tubes.  The Spectra Circuit pattern can be designed any way the player likes, with some combinations of Tubes and connections giving boosts or drains to the affected stats.

Members Co-op

Each week, members will have access to a special Co-op Trailblazing map with brand new Mimics and new bosses to fight.  These new Mimics will only be available in these Co-op maps, and each will have a series of trophies to earn for your display case or Float.  Newer, more aggressive bosses will end each of the trails, offering a new challenge in combat and ranking on the leaderboards.  Non-members don’t have to be left out either:  Members can send an invitation to team up with anyone in Floats or Nidaria, so everyone can get a piece of the action.

Daily Quests

Along with the usual missions and quests, members will have access to new Daily Quests in Skystone.  Every day, a number of these new quests will be available, which can be completed for experience and rewards.  Some Dailies will task you with finding certain items on the Ground, while others will feature more brand-new Mimics and new methods of playing the game.  Many of the Daily Quests will also have trophies involved (such as for new Mimics), and each will earn the player a special Coin:

Class Coins and New Nidarians

Starting with the Reclamation Effort in recent years, Spores have become the primary currency in Nidaria.  Before this point however, each culture had its own type of coins used for exchange.  Some groups continue to use these older currencies, and a number of traders have recently arrived in Nidaria who will only accept these coins when selling their goods.  Each Daily Quest will reward the player with one of these coins, which can be redeemed for a number of different items and exclusive wares from these traders.

And More!

We’ve just scratched the surface of these new features, which pump a lot more content and depth into the core game.   Over the coming weeks we’ll go into more detail about the Nidarian Guard and more of the improvements we’re working on for Skystone, for Guardsmen and recruits alike.  Stay tuned!

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Posted by Matt under Game Design, Gameplay, Personalization | Comments » (10 comments) |

Last week we updated the Remnants of Skystone Beta with some new features, which may not be noticeable unless you’re checking out some long-unused menus:  Friends and Options are now available in the Main Menu!

Friends Screen

The Friends Screen shows a listing of Skystone players who are friends on your Kongregate account.  Online players are shown first, with an option to join them if they’re in Nidaria or a Float.  You can also jump directly to your friends’ Floats from the Friends Screen.

Options Screen

Long overdue, the Options Screen lets players customize their keyboard controls across all areas of the game, as well as setting up shortcuts to open each section of the Main Menu.

On top of keyboard controls, we’ve added a few other options related to co-op and Floats:  Players can decide if anyone can ask to team up with them for co-op, or if it should be limited to friends only (or nobody at all).  You can also choose whether co-op requests can be received anywhere, or if you want to turn off requests in town so you can make it to Mission Deployment without getting sidetracked.  If you change your Team-Up options, players who send a request will receive a pop-up explaining that you’re not receiving that type of request if they don’t match up with your settings.

Float options have also been added, so you can allow only Kongregate friends to enter, or lock your door completely.  Players can also kick users out of their Floats, and prevent others from entering while they’re editing the Float.  Messages on the display case’s message board can also be filtered, where each new message must be approved by the Float owner before being displayed for everyone — and Float owners can still delete messages as they like.

The latest updates are available now in the beta on Kongregate for current testers.  See you in Nidaria!

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Posted by Matt under Game Design, Gameplay, Personalization | Comment » (1 comment) |

We have a small update to the Remnants of Skystone Beta this week, with a number of bug-fixes and some new furniture hitting the store in Nidaria.

The Vertigo line of furniture gives a velvety, moody feel to your Floats:

In similar fashion, the Rustic Bar furniture gives a more natural look to your bar or lounge:

Some bugs when using machinery and gardening have also been fixed, as well some issues with furniture.  We’ve also added new Extermination Duties, with both Stiltskin and Pidgebomber duties available to earn the first Deluxe Silver trophies for these Mimics.  Beta testers will be able to find the newest version on Kongregate today, and if you haven’t gained access yet we’ll be letting more testers in shortly.

The full change log can also be found here.

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Posted by Matt under Uncategorized | Comments » (2 comments) |

Now that we’ve reached the Beta stage and are updating the game with new content regularly, we decided to use the development blog to keep players up-to-date on the latest changes to the game, as well as letting others know what’s in store when we finally launch.

This week, we’re updating Remnants of Skystone to version 0.7, which centers primarily around Floats.  The biggest change is the new “Float of the Week” voting, where each player gets a pool of votes to award towards others’ Floats when visiting.  If you really like someone’s Float, you can give up to 3 votes from your pool of 50 for the week.  You can keep awarding votes until you run out, and you can remove some of your previous votes if you find a new place that you think deserves them instead.  At the end of the week, the top three players with the most votes will be awarded plaques to hang on their wall, and the First Place winner will be featured as “Float of the Week” from the Rankings Board and from players’ maps.  Also, each player will also get 1 Nidarian Point for every vote they cast at the end of the week, as well as a new pool of votes for the next week.

Along with the new interface for casting votes, we’ve also adjusted the “Changing Floors” interface to move between Float floors quickly.  Along the side of the screen, numbered tabs will appear for each floor in the Float.  You can click on a tab to jump to that floor, and a tab will be colored green if other players are hanging out on that floor.

We’ve also added the rest of the bronze Extermination Duty missions for Admiral Stanton, so every enemy now has a mission and trophy for this level.  Maps have also been improved, with clusters and floats being able to sort by ranking, and floats able to sort by activity now.  You can also hit enter to search at the bottom of the map, instead of clicking the Search button.

For anyone interested in moving their Float to a new cluster, we now keep track of your original cluster — so even if it’s locked, you’ll be able to return later if you change your mind.

We’ve also launched a new line of furniture at the Furniture Outlet:  The Brass Lounge debuts with a variety of hardwood bar counters, tables, couches, and more.  This new line was designed to be modular, so players can create bars that stretch across an entire room, or create a mini bar in the corner.  Seating is also modular, letting players create their own type of couches, booths, and seating that wraps around walls and corners.

No lounge would be complete without food and drink, so we’ve added a few types of bottles, glasses, and snacks to the store as well, as well as a shiny brass cash register to ring up your patrons.

We’ve also added a handful of new quests for a variety of NPCs.  Be on the look-out for new quests from Lana Westwood, Rook Maxwell, Chief MacGregor, Admiral Stanton, Madam Bristlecone, Captain Meelie, Wystan, Otto von Tesla, and Hawthorn!All current beta testers should find the update on Kongregate today.  For everyone else that signed up for beta testing but haven’t gained access, we’ll be letting in more testers soon!

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Posted by Matt under Uncategorized | Comments » (2 comments) |

We’re getting closer to the Beta version of Remnants of Skystone, and the sign-ups have started for anyone interested in joining the group of testers.  You’ll need to have a Kongregate account to join in the action, and you can put your name on the list by posting on the Kong forums here:

Beta Testers Needed for Remnants of Skystone

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Posted by Matt under Game Design, Gameplay | Comment » (0 comments) |

We’ve been busy working on the new quest system for Skystone, and a handful of other updates and features for the Beta version of the game.  While we don’t have any major posts on the blog, you can get a glimpse into our day-to-day updates by following us on Twitter.  We’ll look for a good widget for the blog, but in the meantime you can follow these links:

Matt on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/flipline_matt

Tony on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/capital555

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