Dear Traveller
Time certainly flies - it’s October already! We hope that you're enjoying your autumn season and are playing lots of good games. How is it going on our end, I hear you ask? Well, we’re making good progress on Book of Travels and are hitting a new milestone very soon! This month marks our second anniversary since we launched the game into Early Access on Steam, and we have some exciting news to share with you today.
In celebration of this anniversary, today we’re releasing the biggest content update of the year for Book of Travels.
Firstly, we have 15 new achievements for you to work towards as well as 8 new events that will lead you to new areas and introduce you to new characters and merchants. Amongst these new areas are the update’s 5 new locations; the Cistern, Knalla Tunnel, a mysterious shipwreck, a dark outhouse and the Siram Watchtower. You’ll also find several new items that will aid you on your journey in Braided Shore.
Another exciting ingredient to this update, which we think lines up perfectly with the Halloween season, is the reintroduction of death in Book of Travels. Braided Shore is a place of magic and spirits. Here, death doesn’t have to be permanent. If you find yourself slain by bandits, or poisoned by blowfish, your spirit will not find rest. Instead, you will traverse the realm beyond death, and search for the passage back. You took a risk and gambled with your life - now, you may risk it all to return from beyond the grave.
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There’s also a reward for fans who venture out to Traveller’s Meadow, where (for a limited time of two weeks) there will be an encounter that upon completion gives you a flower crown. It’s made from the petals of the flowers found in Traveller’s Meadow, which fans will remember was covered with one flower for every individual Kickstarter backer - so we consider it very special.
This anniversary marks a milestone, as we’re now moving ahead with a steady release cycle of new content - moving closer to exiting Early Access and entering 1.0 release. Our focus is on expanding the game world with new locations, encounters and storylines, while we, in parallel, work on polishing old features, as well as introduce completely new game mechanics. Our goal during this time is to realise the full vision of the game, and make sure that every core feature of the original design is represented.
The team and I think you’ll enjoy what we have to offer with this update but we’re not done yet, as there are things still on the horizon to look forward to. We’ve mentioned previously that we are actively working on redesigning combat, and soon we will have something to show for our hard work. Within a few weeks time, we will publish a Preview of combat, separate from the main game. With this, you will be able to test the system itself. It will still have placeholder UI, UX, audio and animations, and you will be limited to only using a sword for the time being. Over time, we will update the preview with more combat features, and we invite you to offer feedback on the system - this will be your chance to make your voice heard. If you want, you’ll be able to follow along on Preview as we finalise this feature, but if you’d rather wait until it’s complete, you’ll find it in the main game soon enough.
Further ahead you can also look forward to more Southern locations, new mystery areas to explore, a complete inventory redesign (that lays the groundwork for several features that are dependent on easy item management), the beginning of survival gameplay like cooking as well as new combat encounters and skills.
Also, you may know we’ve been working on getting a merchandise store up and running. We’re happy to announce that it will launch in time for this holiday season. We will get back to you with the details when it’s live but we can say that on day one, our stock will include t-shirts, tote bags and teacups - with more kinds of items coming further down the line. Here’s a small sample of our initial offerings.
Lastly, we’re glad to announce that we’re launching our Book of Travels Lore Page today as well. On it, you’ll be able to read up on the ins and outs of Braided Shore lore, straight from the source. We know that there are lots of lore fans amongst you and we expect that a site with all of that juicy information will tickle your fancy. Click here to visit the page, and do let us know what you think!
All in all, a lot of stuff is happening in MaD land. We’re excited to hear what you think of all this when you've had time to get your feet wet!
Until then, may your tea never grow cold.
Oliver Thulin
Community Manager, Might and Delight
