Hey everyone 👑

As promised, here is the first major update in time for the holidays!

The elves do now also have a building: The Observatory!

It makes all the buildings with a progress bar faster. Having a different way to do so should increase some builds viability and allow more strategies. Especially making mineshafts faster will be very interesting.

Then we have a new type of items with targeting items. With them, you can adjust which monsters your units target. This is probably one of the most requested features, and I am very happy to have found a solution so fast that is still rather tactical. In many tower defense games you can switch the targeting at any time, but it would've been very annoying to switch targeting on multiple units whenever certain enemies appear. Like this, whom to adjust is a build crafting decision and you need to use an item slot for it. Be aware, this is not tested for balance yet. Some crazy combinations will be possible now. Have fun :)

Playing the undead kingdom is optional now, so you can play them in any order you like. To still have access to all the variety, you unlock the other half of the units by leveling your kingdom instead. That also means that the progression is more stable and faster now.

I have seen feedback about liking the way it was, and to be honest, it was a hard decision for me as well. The idea was a metroidvania-like feeling, where you switch between the kingdoms to find new units and then have more options in the other one. And when a player accepts that and goes with the flow it worked out really well. But the reality is that there are multiple valid reasons to feel different about that. Some just do not like a certain kingdom, others don't want to learn two concepts at the same time, and then there was the general problem of feeling forced.

We do have very different types of players and I need to find a good solution for all of us. So, for me this is an experiment. First we had the very guided experience, now we try a more individual and faster progression. I will watch out for old and new players' feedback, to use that in a bigger evaluation on where to take this project. If you have some time over the holidays, please try how it feels now on another profile and share what you think about it.

A big portion of this update is also clarity again. All achievements do have a hint and a spoiler now, which also act as an extended tutorial that does not get in the way for players that don't need it. I hope this will make new players experience with the game a lot smoother.

How units display their stats has also been improved. They can also only equip items for those stats, preventing you from wasting items.

In the old system, the randomness when raw meat or fish was eaten was a problem for many players. The fish filet relic was also too strong, and souls were very easy to upgrade in the undead kingdom. Now they never pick the meat first anymore, but instead the amount of meat (or souls) that can be upgraded each night is limited instead, and you can upgrade the tavern to increase that limit. That should help with all of these problems and also explain the whole system better.

Please make sure to leave a Steam review, sharing your thoughts and feedback about Super Fantasy Kingdom. They're a powerful way to let me know what you think and help out quite a bit! I'll continue to look through them as more patches come out.

Wishing you all great holidays!!

Feryaz

New building

- Added a new building: The Observatory from the elven kingdom

New art:

- Added character art for the scientist

Items

- Added 9 new targeting items to the kingdoms caravans

- Added a new targeting mode: Special

- Added a new targeting mode: Unaffected

- You can exchange items for faith at the church during the run

- You can melt down excess starting items for shards in the throne room

Progression

- You do not need the stars from the other kingdom

- The remaining units get unlocked by leveling your kingdom instead, making the progression more stable

Clarity

- New hint system for all achievements

- There is a hint and a spoiler for every achievement

- They also act as an extended tutorial

- Units display all stats they use now

- Units cannot equip any items that wont help them anymore

- Pause menu added button to read tutorial messages again

- Hovering any deposit displays its explenation

- Added tutoral for game speed when you play at normal speed

- The ALT tutorial only ends once you release the button, giving time to understand it

- Catalog economy relics display at what kingdom level they get unlocked

- The blacksmith has an exclamation mark before until unlock him

- Poison damage is called toxic damage

- Rock damage is called earth damage

Food system

- Fish get's always eaten before raw meat, bread always before cooked meat

- Only 1 meat (2 souls) can get upgraded each night by default

- Upgrading the tavern increases that amount

- The amount is displayed in the tavern UI

Glory changes

- World event monsters drop a shard when provoked

- World event monsters are always the same level when the first spawn, and stay on that level (day + curse level)

- World event monsters say what level they are

- Amount of daily monsters spawning is always the same

Balance

- Cadus increased shield scaling greatly

- Colossus increased area

- Devil reduced damage scaling very slightly

- Druid active upgrades do not reduce cooldown by as much

- Druid passive increased cooldown 3.33s > 4s

- Druid passive reduced effect on last upgrade 5 > 4

- Halfling increased base damage 2 > 3

- Paladin increased area

- Qhe'la reduced cooldown reduction of one upgrade 30% > 25%

- Qhe'la increased cooldown 1.5s > 1.6s

- Werewolf increased upgraded cooldown 0.01s > 0.1s

- Relic Big Daddy costs 13 coins

- Item Armor increased effect 10 > 20

- Item Resistance increased effect 10 > 20

Fixes

- Fixed villains or projectiles getting stuck

- Fixed duplicating resources when setting guard mode when a carrier already started the job

- Fixed sacrificing unit reducing hungry units counter by 2

- Fixed collecting random item in forest while a guest is visiting

- Fixed banishing a unit after minimizing after banishing a unit

- Fixed boosting applied in order of level instead of experience

- Fixed generation buildings timer when upgraded cannot be below generation duration

- Fixed gamepad selection in building overlay without a tutorial

- Fixed cooldown reduction items, relics and upgrades interacting with bard passive

- Fixed Gnomes cancel button not labeled "No, thanks!"

- Fixed UI unlocks catalog elemental and siege units appearing to be examinable

- Fixed UI unit sheet before you have the unit sometimes ability data incorrect

- Fixed UI unit sheet ability description out of box

- Fixed UI alerts moonrise and nightfall messages swapped

- Fixed UI earth damage being white

- Fixed Humans Builder not offering the undead building blueprint

- Fixed Humans Fisherhut not clickable after upgrade

- Fixed Humans Forager not clickable after upgrade

- Fixed Humans Geologist Hut not clickable after upgrade

- Fixed Humans train tracks when destroying the target building

- Fixed Undead Ooze pools hitbox beeing too big

- Fixed Undead dialogue with Mio

- Fixed Item Shield cannot be equipped by units without base shield

- Fixed Item Rage cannot be equipped by units without base rage

- Fixed Relic Destiny working against the unit critting

- Fixed Relic Dice does not appear to be locked behind kingdom level anymore

- Fixed Unit Bee last upgrade piercing stat amount

- Fixed Unit Cannon using Catapults ability description

- Fixed Unit Crossbowman displaying wrong attack multiplier

- Fixed Unit Ghost evolution changing damage element

- Fixed Unit Halfling evolution upgrade description being incomplete

- Fixed Unit Headless passive last upgrade description

- Fixed Unit Jouster passive not being categorized as support

- Fixed Unit Leech last upgrade description not mentioning the cooldown reduction

- Fixed Unit Lightning Elemental ability description

- Fixed Unit Lightning Elemental not showing piercing stat

- Fixed Unit Palisade not waiting in the city when there is no space

- Fixed Unit Pixie not using mana to attack

- Fixed Unit Psion displayed range stat

- Fixed Unit Stormcaller evolution upgrade description

- Fixed Unit Swordsman passive not being categorized as support

- Fixed Unit Yeti having the keyword for freeze instead of taunt

Come be part of the Super Fantasy Kingdom community. Join us on Discord[discord.com] to talk with other players, share your kingdoms, and see what others are building. You can also find updates and discussions on Reddit, follow news and posts on Bluesky[bsky.app] and Twitter, and YouTube.

If you'd like to get a leg up on ruling your kingdom, we do have a beginner's guide for you to check out and a free community wiki[wiki.hoodedhorse.com] updated by members like you.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3595551008

Thank you to everyone for trying my game and giving all the wonderful feedback!

I've been overwhelmed by all the interest in Super Fantasy Kingdom. But I've seen many questions about the future of the game, so I want to provide some information and context about my plans. I want to be very transparent about where we stand, so you can understand what's going to happen next.

Super Fantasy Kingdom is a very personal project. I spent the last four years making it. It is my first game, so I had to learn a lot. There was one moment, a few weeks after I first started, where the whole concept came together and I realized how it should play and feel, and how the progression would continuously change how you build your city. It was a crazy feeling. I was never so sure of anything before. And since that moment, I did nothing but work on realizing that. It just had to be done. I adjusted my sleep rhythm and eating habits while working in a small kitchen, all to make sure I'd have enough time to complete that vision. I'm not saying that to get pity, but I want you to understand how much work and love went into this game.

And then came the release with a crazy amount of players (up to 12,500 players at the same time!). I thought they'd all enjoy what the game has to offer. Such a big release could cause hype, good word of mouth, and lead to coverage of the game.

But then the first progression and balance problems turned up. Deservedly, the reviews started to reflect that. I will admit, I was surprised by how some players felt. For example, the game was never intended to feel overly grindy. It is supposed to be a challenge. I have purposefully avoided any systems that reward doing the same thing over and over again, but that means when you are stuck (because of the difficulty problems, or just because something was not explained properly by the game) and do not progress, it does feel as if there is only one path to victory and you just do not find it.

After fixing many of those problems, more and more people were able to really get into the game. The ratings climbed, and some reviews even switched from negative. The playtimes are also crazy so soon after release. I'm happy to see that many players report how experimentation was key to their first victory now. I've even heard from some who are still feeling that excitement of discovery and learning after playing the game for over 120 hours. THAT was my vision, and I feel so proud that it works and you are enjoying it.

Many of you are hoping for new content fast, but the first priority for me will be polishing and improving in response to feedback. After so much time working on it in isolation with a few testers, the game does need some time to be refined with the community. I have noticed how even the smallest problems can irritate people greatly, even if they love the whole game otherwise. And this game has so many gameplay elements. Each of those needs time to find its place.

If the big goal is producing more content, I also need to stop sprinting and learn marathon mode. I want to keep up this motivation for the years to come, so I do need to take better care of myself. For that, I'm also thinking about growing my studio and hiring a dedicated programmer to assist me, so I can concentrate more on the creative side.

Considering all that, it makes it very clear what I need to do: I will use the early access period to make this game as great as it can possibly be. I want to openly work together with the community on refining the existing content and adding more heroes, units, relics, items, or even buildings to complement that. I know many developers say that but have everything planned out already and only make small adjustments. I don't. It will be a real collaboration. You can come into Discord or the Steam forums, suggest something, and if I like it, you could potentially see me testing it out on the very next day. If that sounds cool to you, please join in the process!!!

• Remove the need to play both kingdoms

• Rework game progression to be smoother

• Improve clarity and tutorials

• Add more variety

• Give the player more agency (targeting items for example)

• Undead kingdom needs more love

• Reduce frustrations

• Endgame

• Add the remaining character art

• And of course the hero evolutions

Since release, I've worked hard on the patches, and I will keep improving the experience for all of you. I think even players who have beaten both kingdoms now, just waiting for new content, will be happy about this "foundation work" in the end. I also want to rework how the endgame plays, with the intent that it becomes the real meat of the game someday, where you can apply everything that you learned now. That would be very cool. Again, if you have any ideas on that, please share them!

Again, thank you so much for being part of my journey and for playing my game. I could not have imagined this kind of interest when I started working on this game.

Feryaz (and Mio)