Updates from Mythron – May 2024

Hey all! It’s been a while! Since we haven’t talked since last year, we figured it would be good to catch you up on what’s been going on and where we plan to go.

In case you missed it…

Before we dive into the new things, here’s a recap of some of the things we’ve done since the last Updates from Mythron post:

• Founder’s Collection mini-set is complete!
  • All* Kickstarter backer-designed cards are in the game now, with the third and final wave released late October 2023. We’ve also released a Founder’s Collection set in the shop containing all of the cards in one handy bundle.
    • Technically, there is one backer (Khoa) who has not responded to our outreach, but if they do come back, we will retroactively add their card to the set, and grant it to everyone that bought the Kickstarter bundles.
• Wave 1 and 2 of the Timeless Beginnings expansion released!
  • The first half of the expansion released back in December with 21 cards with the second half releasing last month. Both had quite an impact on the meta. You can read about @blatm ‘s designer thoughts on the expansion in this devlog.
• The Prime Intellect Boss Battle
  • We released the second boss battle against The Prime Intellect, with some crazy time warping powers and an exclusive Superintelligence title! You can read some of the lore behind the boss in this post by @anjo. We have another boss battle in the works that’ll be quite the party!
• More Kickstarter backer rewards
  • Along with more backer skins, we released custom titles and backer-exclusive profile icons as part of our Kickstarter reward fulfillment effort. Backers at the Mythron Conqueror tier and above have received their custom titles, and Mythron Acolyte and above have received their all-original backer-exclusive profile icons as well. We’re hoping we can deliver all of our Kickstarter promises by the end of the year, so stay tuned! 🤞
• Frostfire Festival Game Mode
  • The Frostfire Festival game mode was a fun, unranked custom game mode in the original Duelyst that we brought back for a few winter months!
• Amazyng Race Game Mode
  • Our second game mode released in March and is still available, inspired from a fan-made mode from the community where in order to win, players needed to place their General on all 4 corner tiles.
• Enhanced Friendlies
  • Along with adding the Amazyng Race game mode as a playable mode in friendly matches, we’ve added more options to friendly challenges, allowing players the ability to try out formats with different rules and restrictions with their friends! While doing this, we’re also building up the foundations for sharable custom community game modes and rules, so look out for future updates to these features to explore even more ways to enjoy Duelyst!
• Epic Series 4 Tournament
  • In patch 0.2.24, we mentioned that we partnered with the Epic Series 4 Tournament organizer to make the prices bigger and more exciting. One of the prizes mentioned was 3rd-1st place having the option to revamp cards of their choosing for one month. The tournament has concluded and the winners are in the process of coming up with card changes, so look out for those in the next patch 👀
• Orb Price Adjustment and Orbmas 2023
  • When the open beta launched in December of 2022, we rained down Spirit Orbs to players and the community dubbed it “Orbmas” – it was so much fun, we thought we’d do it again! 😄 All players that purchased orbs with Gold or Shards before we permanently cut orb prices in half received orb for every orb purchased. Some players saw triple digit orb drops!
• Makeship Snowchaser Plush and Rewards Delivered!
  • Everyone that purchased a Snowchaser plush from our Makeship campaign should have received their plush and in-game reward code by now. There were only 211 of these plushes made in the world, so enjoy your adorable and rare Snowchaser if you have one!

Team Updates

We want to take a moment to acknowledge that things have not been running smoothly recently. There has been a slowdown in updates, communication has been lacking, and we have put out changes that have not been as polished as we would like them to be. We would like to apologize to our truly wonderful community for this. We also realize that we need to put actions behind these words. 

We want to start by providing some context to what is going on. All of our full-time contracts have been completed, so we no longer have any full-time folks on the project. In addition, we’ve had members of the core team that have had to leave the project for various reasons or reduce the amount of time they can give to the project due to life, work, or just pure burnout. We are eternally grateful for all of the contributions that everyone has made, all of which have helped to shape this project into what it is today.

This is the reality of a project relying on volunteer work and crowdfunding. Unfortunately, it has left us in a position where we are currently understaffed for the goals we want to accomplish on a timescale we would like.

So, what now?

For starters, we have been reaching out to the talented Duelyst fanbase for more support. We have already gotten some more help (more info on this soon), but could always use more. If you or someone you know is interested in contributing, please fill out this Google form to express your interest and someone from our team will reach out to you.

Secondly, we are reevaluating our process. We are taking a look at how we are organizing, working, and communicating, and finding ways to improve it. Our first goal here is to get to a point where we are reliably releasing regular, polished updates on a quicker cadence than we have in the past and in a more manageable way. We expect the specifics of what this looks like will change over time as we figure it out, and we will keep you updated on what it looks like as we go. Our second goal here is to better insulate us against changes to the team. We know that due to the nature of the project, people will come and go. We want to make those transitions as non-disruptive to the short term content release schedule as much as possible, and want to keep the overall design philosophy more stable so players know what to expect.

Changes like these aren’t going to happen overnight, as much as we wish them to. We acknowledge that this is a “you’ll believe it when you see it” situation, we just ask for a little bit of patience and support as we iron this out. We are optimistic that we can get here sooner rather than later, and the end result when we finally leave beta will hopefully be a highly functional working environment and team that can support this game and its players for many years to come!

New Content Release Cycle

Our goal is to keep the game fresh and exciting, and introduce some additional flux to the metagame (while also not burning ourselves out). Making entire sets is a lengthy process, and only getting simple balance changes for the months between them isn’t the most fun. In an effort to address this, patches will be split into 4 types: Full expansions, variety sets, revamp patches, and balance patches.

Full Expansion

These are honestly just the most fun parts of a CCG and we know it. New mechanics, new decks, and tons of new cards to explore all in one cohesive package. We absolutely want to provide this experience, we just don’t have the resources to be constantly churning these out. We aren’t going to commit to any timeline on these given the nature of the project, but rest assured we will be working on them. They will just come out when they are ready to go.

Variety Sets

These are small sets of cards that will be released more frequently. Think of them like a booster pack or a small mini-expansion. We want to use these to introduce new cards to support existing archetypes, address some problems in the game, create new decks, and introduce fun moments. These may be part of a larger coherent set, serve to supplement an expansion, be a standalone unit, or just be some cards that we think are cool and interesting that are in no way related to anything else. There’s a lot less work here than in making a full expansion, but it’s still significant.

Revamp Patch

It’s natural in card games to have some cards see more play than others for one reason or another. We will periodically be looking for underutilized cards, and either buff or rework them so that they hopefully get their moment to shine. There are some caveats here; some cards are kept simple and basic to help new players learn the ropes, while others primarily serve to provide early deckbuilding options for players with sparse collections, so not all are available to get this treatment. We may also use these patches to significantly rework problematic cards. Since these are cards that are already in the game we get to take advantage of already done work to get these patches done faster.

Balance Patch

These patches will not be the only times we’ll be making adjustments to the game to ensure the meta is in a healthy and fun state, but are dedicated spaces where we’ll be focused on addressing anything that may have room for improvement. We’ll be looking at ranked and tournament data, and listening to player feedback to ensure that the game feels both fun and fair. We will try to only be making relatively minor changes in these patches, both to be able to more quickly test and roll them out, and because we don’t want to always be making huge changes to the metagame.

Roadmap Status

Here’s an updated roadmap since our last Updates from Mythron post, with the things we’ve completed in green and things in progress in various shades of yellow based on how far along we are:

Godot Client

In our last devlog, we mentioned that we’d have a beta version of our Godot client ready within the next 3 months. Obviously that didn’t happen. The client’s performance while playing a game is not where we’d like it to be, and these performance issues have been more deep rooted than originally thought. Simply put, it is taking a significant investment of time to fix. On top of that, the contractors who were working on the client are no longer with us. However, the community support and changes to the update schedule will help the team prioritize development of the new client so that it gets the attention it needs. We’ll be sure to post more frequent updates once we’ve made more significant progress on the client.

Kickstarter Rewards Fulfillment

We have gotten quite a few questions through email about the remaining Kickstarter rewards and wanted to clarify the current status of all remaining rewards.

Most rewards that are feasible in the current client have been delivered to backers. As mentioned in the “In Case You Missed It” section above, this includes backer-exclusive profile icons designed by Alga. The following rewards have not been delivered for any backer yet:

• Backer exclusive replace animation
• Backer exclusive golden cardfront
• Name in credits
• Some custom backer skins (there are a few that still need to be finalized with backers).

The replace animation, cardfront, and in-game credits are planned for the new client.

All other rewards should have been delivered (or will be delivered imminently). The following list can be used for reference, with the full set of rewards broken down by tier from the campaign page, and the ones that should have already been delivered highlighted in green (please email [email protected] if you are missing any rewards that you should have according to this list):

Supporter

• “Founder” Discord role

Mythron Disciple

• “Founder” Discord role
• 10 Spirit Orbs
• Titles:
  • Mythron Disciple

Mythron Acolyte

• “Founder” Discord role
• 25 Spirit Orbs
• Titles:
  • Mythron Disciple
  • Mythron Acolyte
• Skins:
  • Kickstarter Healing Mystic
• Backer exclusive profile icon

Mythron Warrior

• “Founder” Discord role
• 50 Spirit Orbs
• Titles:
  • Mythron Disciple
  • Mythron Acolyte
  • Mythron Warrior
• Skins:
  • Kickstarter Healing Mystic
  • Kickstarter Primus Fist
  • Kickstarter Primus Shieldmaster
• Backer exclusive replace animation
• Backer exclusive profile icon
• Name in credits

Mythron Patron

• “Founder” Discord role
• 80 Spirit Orbs
• Titles:
  • Mythron Disciple
  • Mythron Acolyte
  • Mythron Warrior
  • Mythron Patron
• Skins:
  • Kickstarter Healing Mystic
  • Kickstarter Primus Fist
  • Kickstarter Primus Shieldmaster
  • Kickstarter Dancing Blades
• All four premium Battle Maps
• Backer exclusive replace animation
• Backer exclusive profile icon
• Backer exclusive golden profile icon
• Backer exclusive golden cardfront
• Name in credits

Mythron Noble

• “Founder” Discord role
• 120 Spirit Orbs
• Titles:
  • Mythron Disciple
  • Mythron Acolyte
  • Mythron Warrior
  • Mythron Patron
  • Mythron Noble
• Skins:
  • Kickstarter Healing Mystic
  • Kickstarter Primus Fist
  • Kickstarter Primus Shieldmaster
  • Kickstarter Dancing Blades
  • Kickstarter Saberspine Tiger
• All four premium Battle Maps
• All premium emotes available at beta launch
• Complete faction recolor bundle of your choice
• Backer exclusive replace animation
• Backer exclusive profile icon
• Backer exclusive golden profile icon
• Backer exclusive golden cardfront
• Name in credits

Mythron Emperor

• “Founder” Discord role
• 250 Spirit Orbs
• Titles:
  • Mythron Disciple
  • Mythron Acolyte
  • Mythron Warrior
  • Mythron Patron
  • Mythron Noble
  • Mythron Emperor
• Skins:
  • Kickstarter Healing Mystic
  • Kickstarter Primus Fist
  • Kickstarter Primus Shieldmaster
  • Kickstarter Dancing Blades
  • Kickstarter Saberspine Tiger
  • EXCEED mech skins
  • All 18 MK II General skins
• All four premium Battle Maps
• All premium emotes available at beta launch
• All profile icons available at beta launch
• Complete faction recolor bundle of your choice
• Backer exclusive replace animation
• Backer exclusive profile icon
• Backer exclusive golden profile icon
• Backer exclusive golden cardfront
• Name in credits

Mythron Conquerer

• “Founder” Discord role
• 250 Spirit Orbs
• Titles:
  • Mythron Disciple
  • Mythron Acolyte
  • Mythron Warrior
  • Mythron Patron
  • Mythron Noble
  • Mythron Emperor
  • Mythron Conqueror
  • Additional in-game title of your choosing*
• Skins:
  • Kickstarter Healing Mystic
  • Kickstarter Primus Fist
  • Kickstarter Primus Shieldmaster
  • Kickstarter Dancing Blades
  • Kickstarter Saberspine Tiger
  • EXCEED mech skins
  • All 18 MK II General skins
  • Chromatic Jax Truesight
• All four premium Battle Maps
• All premium emotes available at beta launch
• All profile icons available at beta launch
• Complete faction recolor bundle of your choice
• Backer exclusive replace animation
• Backer exclusive profile icon
• Backer exclusive golden profile icon
• Backer exclusive golden cardfront
• Name in credits
• Custom skin for a card of your choosing*
• A free Spirit Orb given to 1000 random accounts in your name

Mythron Champion

• “Founder” Discord role
• 250 Spirit Orbs
• Titles:
  • Mythron Disciple
  • Mythron Acolyte
  • Mythron Warrior
  • Mythron Patron
  • Mythron Noble
  • Mythron Emperor
  • Mythron Conqueror
  • Mythron Champion
  • Additional in-game title of your choosing*
• Skins:
  • Kickstarter Healing Mystic
  • Kickstarter Primus Fist
  • Kickstarter Primus Shieldmaster
  • Kickstarter Dancing Blades
  • Kickstarter Saberspine Tiger
  • EXCEED mech skins
  • All 18 MK II General skins
  • Chromatic Jax Truesight
  • Diamond Serpenti
• All four premium Battle Maps
• All premium emotes available at beta launch
• All profile icons available at beta launch
• Complete faction recolor bundle of your choice
• Backer exclusive replace animation
• Backer exclusive profile icon
• Backer exclusive golden profile icon
• Backer exclusive golden cardfront
• Name in credits
  • Credited as a designer
• Custom skin for a card of your choosing*
• A free Spirit Orb given to 1000 random accounts in your name
• Design a neutral card for the Kickstarter mini-set using existing assets

Mythron Deity

• “Founder” Discord role
• 250 Spirit Orbs
• Titles:
  • Mythron Disciple
  • Mythron Acolyte
  • Mythron Warrior
  • Mythron Patron
  • Mythron Noble
  • Mythron Emperor
  • Mythron Conqueror
  • Mythron Champion
  • Mythron Deity
  • Additional in-game title of your choosing*
• Skins:
  • Kickstarter Healing Mystic
  • Kickstarter Primus Fist
  • Kickstarter Primus Shieldmaster
  • Kickstarter Dancing Blades
  • Kickstarter Saberspine Tiger
  • EXCEED mech skins
  • All 18 MK II General skins
  • Chromatic Jax Truesight
  • Diamond Serpenti
• All four premium Battle Maps
• All premium emotes available at beta launch
• All profile icons available at beta launch
• Complete faction recolor bundle of your choice
• Backer exclusive replace animation
• Backer exclusive profile icon
• Backer exclusive golden profile icon
• Backer exclusive golden cardfront
• Name in credits
  • Credited as a designer
• Custom skin for a card of your choosing*
• A free Spirit Orb given to 1000 random accounts in your name
• Design a neutral card for the Kickstarter mini-set using existing assets
• Design a neutral card for the Kickstarter mini-set with brand new art
• Design an emote featuring your new minion

* items with an asterisk should be finalized over the next few months.

The Roguelike Gamemode

Since announcing that we’ve reached our roguelike gamemode stretch goal for our Kickstarter campaign, we’ve been silent about our progress on it. One member of the team was excited about trying their hands at adding roguelike elements to the Duelyst formula we all know and love and has taken the lead in its development. Progress has been coming along, with internal play-tests positively received. As is always the case in game development, the developer became more and more ambitious as time went on, and the scope of the gamemode has increased significantly. So much so that the roguelike will release as a standalone singleplayer game! While it’s still too early to go to into much detail about it, we figured we can share a few clips showcasing some aspects of it, built on top of our original Godot build and C# backend (which we built from the ground up, prior to obtaining the original Duelyst’s source code).

The world of Mythron got an upgrade.

So many places, both old and new.

Warm and comforting campfire.

Disclaimer: All footage here is a work-in-progress and subject to change!

If you like what you see, give its X/Twitter page a follow! 👍

Dream Sloth Labs

The Duelyst community is full of creative and industrious minds, and since Dream Sloth for us has always been about making our lazy dreams a reality, we wanted to help others do the same! Members of the team have used Duelyst II for academic projects, for internships, and for experience to put on their resume. Have an idea for something you want to build for Duelyst II? Want to organize a tournament or event? Send us an email at [email protected] with your idea to start a conversation!

Final Thoughts

Despite what may seem like mixed news here, we are feeling optimistic about 2024. We hope that our new content release cycle keeps the game fresh and fun while we pursue our larger goals. Player feedback and bug reports have been absolutely vital in helping us improve the game, and although we haven’t been able to address all of the issues that are brought up in a timely manner due to our small team size, we’re doing our best to track and prioritize everything that comes up. Since the Open Beta began, we’ve had many ups and downs and have had to learn quite a bit about what it takes to run a live service game. We’re taking what we’ve learned over this time and refining our processes and team culture so that we do leave beta and fully launch the game, we can be confident about what’s to come. Thank you to all the community leaders and players that have helped us by identifying bugs, reporting issues, and suggesting new features! Please continue to provide us feedback through Discord or Canny so we can do our best to make Duelyst II the best game it can be! 🙂