I have added an FAQ page to the website. The same has been available on Steam for quite a while, but I thought it would be useful to have it here too. Whether you are looking for clarification about some aspects of the game, need help or want to know about future plans, hopefully you may find an answer right away.
Today’s update comes close to the first anniversary of the game’s release. It offers a description for each enemy type, a few little improvements that should help new players get their bearings faster and a couple of minor balance changes.
The main reason for today’s update is to fix a couple of bugs that have been reported recently. While very difficult to stumble upon, they had the potential to be fairly annoying.
I have also taken the opportunity to apply a few minor balance tweaks.
I have also updated the free demo.
The changelog can be found here.
Over the course of the last months Steam user flori2412 has been working on a fan-made, entirely volunteer German translation of A Legionary’s Life. Now this considerable amount of work (the text is nearly as long as an average novel) is completed, and his translation is available to everyone with newly-released version 1.3.5. You can set the language in the main menu: the control is in the top-right corner of the screen.
Despite the fact that it is a fan-made translation, the attention to details and the care that emerged while talking with Flori are nothing short of professional work. This is a difficult game to translate; quality work requires an excellent knowledge of both the game and its historical context. Flori, you have my deepest gratitude for this extraordinary contribution.
There are several important news regarding the combat system.
Visible chance of full success for Feints and Shield Attacks
Actions like Feints and Shield attacks have always had two indicators: the first represents the primary, mostly Skill based check, and the second represents the chance to overcome the opponent’s resistance (based on Awareness for all Feints, but also on Quickness for Quick Feints). A full success requires the attacker to pass both checks. When they saw two circles showing a chance of success of about 70%, some players assumed that the overall chance was about the same, but combined probability doesn’t work that way and the chance was much lower than they expected. This led to a lot of misunderstandings about the fairness of the RNG. To avoid such confusion in the future, I have added a third indicator that calculates the combined probability for you and shows the overall chance of complete success.
A note to veteran players: nothing has changed in the mechanics of Feints. They work exactly as they did before; there is just this further bit of (hopefully useful) information shown.
Partial hits
I have introduced these to address extremely lucky shots by weak AI controlled characters happening even if the player was being careful. You won’t see them often, because they only trigger when attacks with a very low chance to hit connect, but they are there as an additional layer of protection against vastly inferior and unskilled enemies—providing your defensive position is good enough. More details are in the changelog.
Changes to javelin throws
Let’s face it, some of those one-shot kills were fairly anticlimatic, especially when they happened on a fluke. Bull’s-eye shots are still possible, but only when the chance to hit is at least 50%.
I have also changed the way javelins can break shields: now the rolls are more dependent on your chance to hit and influenced by your Attitude.
The demo has been updated too.
Thanks to all of you who have expressed support and encouragement!
I had to fix a glitch affecting the Health bar and wanted to add a very small feature that was quite straightforward to implement, then I decided I might as well try tweaking a few parameters.
The changelog is here.
Several months after its release on Steam, I am happy to announce that A Legionary’s Life is now also available on GOG.com, DRM-free!
Today’s update is very small, but important. Besides a minor accessory improvement to the engine, I have made a few tweaks that will affect the balance of the earlier phases of the game.
Your Sword, Shield and Javelin Skills will start at 29, 29 and 26 respectively, instead of 29/29/29. However, now after the first main battle you get a 5-point bonus to all your Skills instead of 3, and 4 points after the second.
This is to reflect the fact that his first real combat experience and his first pitched battle should deeply affect your legionary’s confidence and reliability in a fight.
To accomodate for the lower starting value of the Javelin Skill, the safe option for your first javelin throw (the one where you just aim for the mass of enemies in front of you instead of picking off a specific target) is less demanding.
More importantly, improvements while using the basic sparring training (the one that is always available, regardless of your relationship with your fellow legionaries) are a little easier, especially between 40 and the low 50s.
These changes should make the first campaign easier to survive, its two middle sections in particular. It won’t make it a cakewalk. The way you manage your legionary in and outside of combat is still of utmost importance for his survival.
I have also updated the free demo with the latest changes.
This version introduces full support for localization, plus other changes and fixes. I had already developed the game with potential localization in mind, but some less urgent aspects were postponed.
The full changelog is available here.