June 22, 2010

Double NP Weekend!

Double NP Weekend

This weekend, we’ll have our first special event in Skystone with double Nidarian Points awarded when completing a Co-op Trailblazing match!  Join us this Friday, June 25th starting at 9AM Nidarian/Pacific, and rack up double NP in matches over the weekend lasting until Monday, June 28th at 9AM Nidarian/Pacific.  See you in Nidaria!

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April 27, 2010

Weapon Armory is Open!

The Weapon Armory in Nidaria has opened its doors today, where you can buy and equip new weapons to replace your standard-issue blasters, beaks, and grapple arms.  You’ll still be able to get by with your normal weapons and stats, but if you’re looking for a new look or an extra edge in battle, these new weapons will help give you a boost.

Weapon Armory Outside

The Weapon Armory is located on the Main Dock of Nidaria, near Admiral Stanton’s usual post.

Weapon Armory Inside

Once inside, you’ll meet Travis, the designer and craftsman of these new weapons, many of which are on display.  To shop for some new weapons, talk to Travis to start browsing.

Weapon Levels

Instead of relying on your character’s level to determine which weapons you can equip, all players now have a new Weapon Mastery Level.  Everyone starts out at Level 1, so only the Level 1 Weapons can be equipped from the start (your standard-issue weapons are treated as Level 0).  To increase your Weapon Mastery Level, you must equip a weapon of your current level to earn weapon experience.  Once you reach Weapon Mastery Level 2, you’ll be able to equip Level 2 Weapons, which offer different styles and higher stat boosts than the previous level.  You won’t be able to level up your Weapon Mastery any higher unless you equip the next level of weapons, so make sure to upgrade when you can.

Purchase Preview

Each weapon in the Armory looks different, and gives three different boosts to your stats.  Higher-level weapons offer stronger boosts, and each weapon may balance the stats a little differently: One may have a high boost for Attack and a low amount of Luck and Defense, while another may have a high boost for Defense and medium boost of Health.  Each Class also has their own selection of weapons — Ferrics will stick to arm-mounted blades and claws, Aeronauts have various designs of blasters and jetpacks, and Crags will have different types of grapple arms.

New Stats Screen

The Stats Screen in the menu has also received a redesign to help keep track of your equipped weapon and your Weapon Mastery progress.  You can view the weapons on your character here, as well as see how much weapon experience you need to increase your Mastery.  All of the stats have been moved to the right edge, so you can see your overall current stats, your equipped weapon and its stat boosts, and your Spectra Circuit and its boost (if you’re a Nidarian Guard member).  If you want to change the weapon you have equipped, you can click the button on your Stats Screen (as long as you’re not on the ground), or visit Travis in the Armory.

Equip Weapon

You can preview each of your purchased weapons from the equip screen, as well as see their stat boosts and how they will affect your stats.  You can also switch back to your standard-issue weapons from this screen.We’ve released 53 weapons for each class today, for a total of 162 possible weapons to equip in Remnants of Skystone!  To check out the new Weapon Armory and all of the weapons in stock, join us in Nidaria at http://www.kongregate.com/skystone

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March 31, 2010

New Ridgeback Highlands Quests

ridgebackquests.jpg

A week after launching Skystone, we have our first content update for the game, including a brand-new batch of quests that take place in the Ridgeback Highlands.  If you’ve already completed the third world area, you can check with Otto von Tesla, Bandero Grit, and Skylark Rook Vesper to start each new chain of quests.  We also have a few holiday-themed items available for a limited time, so be sure to check with Wystan and Lana on the Merchant Deck of Nidaria to get these while they’re in stock!

Rounding out the update are a handful of bug-fixes, some updates for the Nidarian Guard, and some changes in how quest progress is tracked.  You can now view the current objective for each of your active quests right on the Quests menu instead of needing to drill down into each, and for quests that require a number of items or enemy kills, we now have your current tally pop up on screen as you go.

Remnants of Skystone is available for everyone to play now, so come join us in Nidaria at www.kongregate.com/skystone — hope to see you there!

Posted by Matt under Gameplay | Comments » (4 comments) |

March 22, 2010

Remnants of Skystone Launches!

We’re happy to announce that Remnants of Skystone has launched today!  Come join us in a Steampunk world of 2D platforming gameplay, massive maps, and co-op multiplayer action, exclusively on the Kongregate website:  http://www.kongregate.com/skystone

A huge thanks to everyone at Kongregate for the support, especially getting ready for release, and we can’t thank all of our alpha and beta testers enough for all of the hard work they’ve put into helping us.

Full Float

Hope to see you all in Nidaria!

Play now:   http://www.kongregate.com/skystone

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March 16, 2010

Second Stress Test on Thursday!

We’re doing a second stress test, where we try to get a lot of players on at once to see how well the game and servers hold up.  This time, we’ll be checking if our fixes from the previous stress test are helping out, and also focusing on co-op gameplay to make sure it can handle lots of co-op matches at once.  We’ll have a special repeatable quest running during this test as well, rewarding players with Brass and an exclusive poster for your Float!

The stress test with be this Thursday, March 18th at 1-4PM PDT/Nidarian Time (that’s GMT-7).  If you already have access to the game, stop by during that time-frame to help us test as we get ready for launch!

Update: The special quest won’t be repeatable, but you will still be able to pick it up any time between 1-4PM Nidarian on Thursday!

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March 09, 2010

Skystone Stress Test this Thursday!

We’re doing a stress test on the game and servers Thursday March 11th, from 1PM - 4PM Nidarian / Pacific Time.  We’d like to get as many of our current testers as possible online during that time, to make sure everything is running smoothly as we get ready for launch.  If you currently have access to Remnants of Skystone and would like to help out, please drop by between 1PM and 4PM (Nidarian/Pacific Time) on Thursday!

As an added bonus for anyone coming for the stress test, we’ll have a special quest running during that time where you can earn Brass currency and an exclusive Stress Test poster for your Float, and you’ll be able to repeat the quest for more Brass rewards during that time!  Hope you see you there!

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February 09, 2010

Love Ninjas, Scallywags, New Site, and Trailer

We just updated the Remnants of Skystone pre-release version with some new pirate-themed Scallywag clothing, some new colors for Crag clothing with the new Rockytop line, and some modular colored tiles you can place on your walls and floors of your Float to create mosaics and patterns.

Scallywag

And as a special limited-time outfit for Valentine’s Day, we have the elusive Love Ninja outfit pictured below:

Love Ninja

Last week, we also officially launched the Remnants of Skystone website, with a brand-new trailer showcasing all of the features of the game.  Head over to www.remnantsofskystone.com to view the trailer, browse through screenshots, and find wallpaper and other goodies related to the game.

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February 02, 2010

Skystone Update (version 0.8.09)

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:

Bombradier and Flyright Clothing

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.

Game Room

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.

Steamphonic Instruments

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.

Nature Series

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.

Caverns Series

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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December 28, 2009

Beta Testing Update

 Holiday Float

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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December 22, 2009

Massive Update

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

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

Dailies

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.

Sporedusted Daily Quests

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

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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