Greetings, Viceroys!
As the dust from the recent Update 1.5 slowly settles, we have a huge favor to ask. You've probably noticed by now…
… that it’s the Steam Awards season. It would be an honor for us if you considered nominating Against the Storm in the Most Innovative Gameplay category.
We know it’s very bold for us to ask, especially given how many great games deserve this award. But your votes can help spread the word about the game and introduce new players to the world of Against the Storm.
So, on this occasion, we’d also like to share some of our thoughts on how developing Against the Storm along with the community helped bring innovation to the genre.
Created with a clear goal in mind
Against the Storm is a game that aims to solve a very specific problem you can encounter in the city builder genre. More often than not, exciting and interesting choices and trade-offs are gradually replaced by micromanagement and the steady execution of an already-acquired advantage. To change this, Against the Storm tries to capture what might be the best part of any city builder - the early game. The first two hours of gameplay revolving around survival, solving overlapping problems, and planning the layout of the new city. The idea for Against the Storm was to create a city builder with clear win/lose conditions, one that could be played over and over again in short bursts. A title that captures the rush and excitement of the early game and ends each run just as it starts to feel too safe.
How it started vs. How it’s going
But this idea creates a new problem. There's a reason why restarting a city builder usually doesn't feel like much fun - even on your first run, you've probably already experienced most of the content the game has to offer. Doing it all over again might feel exciting at first, but sooner or later boredom sets in - the production lines are all the same, and the rules of the game don't change. So to combat that, it needs to introduce a lot more variety.
One of our favorite ways to find inspiration and new ideas is to look at other genres. And one of the genres best known for its emergent gameplay and almost limitless variety are roguelikes.
This led us to an exciting journey of discovery - how to translate roguelike mechanics into a city builder? What would questing look like? Who or what is the player's avatar? Are there items and stats? How do we create synergy? Is there a way to achieve the ultimate power fantasy in a city builder-roguelike hybrid?
After months of focusing on all these weird questions, a very unique game began to take shape. And it quickly became clear that we were not the only ones out there who wanted to see this kind of city builder come to life. Against the Storm attracted a large and very passionate group of players, and with their help during Early Access, the game grew in scope and success beyond our wildest dreams.
We truly believe that this last piece of the puzzle - the community-driven development that we focused so heavily on - was the main factor that catapulted Against the Storm to new heights. While the initial idea was fun and interesting, it was the players who helped us shape it into something truly unique.
Refined with the community
Great games are not born in seclusion. Only by refining Against the Storm with you - the players - could we bring it to its current shape. Since the very first public demo released in 2020, we have been open to feedback and provided tools for you to share your ideas. Those include our feature request board, a direct in-game reporter, a public bug tracker, and plenty of discussion channels which we monitor on a daily basis. Out of the 5472 changes added to the game since its release, 62% were inspired by your feedback. We also organized in-game community votes, where you got to choose which species would be added to the game (those turned out to be Harpies and Foxes).| Number of changes since release | Inspired by the community | [/tr]
|---|---|
| 5472 | 62% | [/tr]
In the latest Update 1.5, which we released two days ago, we introduced new free content for both the base game and the Keepers of the Stone DLC. All players can now encounter a brand new World Event - Forsaken Town - where you're tasked with rebuilding settlements that have been abandoned by their Viceroys. We also listened to your feedback that the DLC could be beefier and have added a whole new biome to it - the Ashen Thicket - where you can craft your own Cornerstones. As always, we also packed it with several requested UX improvements and other features.
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1336490/view/6831492164258627849
But the journey isn’t over yet and there’s certainly more to come for Against the Storm.
