Wild West and Wizards Has Officially Launched!


Howdy everyone!

The day has finally come. Today Wild West and Wizards officially launches on Steam, leaving Early Access. I want to go over what has changed since the Early Access launch and what updates are coming to the game after launch.


WHAT’S CHANGED SINCE THE EARLY ACCESS LAUNCH?


Since the launch on Early Access back in August we’ve added a slew of new content and improvements to the game. Our main goal was to get the game more polished and make sure there was plenty of content to keep you engaged while you explore the new frontier. Here’s a list of some of the major changes we’ve made since then. 

- Two brand new classes have been added: The Witch Doctor and The Gunslinger. These classes come with unique starting abilities and their own talent trees changing the way you play the game. 
- New Map UI and quest marker system making navigating more fun but still leaving a sense of raw exploration to the game.
- Graphics improvements such as volumetric lighting and an updated UI
- New AI animations and physics
- A complete main story quest line with access to all three wizard tower dungeons
- New points of interests, puzzles, items, abilities, and side quests added throughout the world
- Performance improvements and bug fixes

These are just some of the changes we’ve made but overall we’re very happy with the state of the game and feel there is a ton of content to experience that should keep you busy exploring the Wild West for quite some time. 


WHAT’S TO COME


Our main focus with the post launch updates is to continue to add content such as quests, new points of interest, and new items for you to earn. The next update will feature multiple brand new high level bounty quests you can pick up in the various towns. These quests will take you to new dungeons and caves with puzzles, new enemies, loot, and of course, secrets. We also are planning some updates to add more quests to the guilds such as The Assassin's Guild and The Bounty Hunters Guild. 

We will share more about these new updates in the coming weeks.


WHAT’S NEXT FOR LAVABOOTS


In addition to working on new content for Wild West and Wizards, we are also working on our next project, a sequel to our open world pirate game, Salt. Salt 2 is still early in the works but we can’t wait to share more with you. Follow us on our social channels such Discord, Twitter, and Facebook for updates. 


Thank you so much to everyone in our community who has helped us shape Wild West and Wizards into the game it is today. Happy questing!

Leaving Early Access and What's Next


We are excited to announce that Wild West and Wizards will be officially launching on Steam, leaving early access some time next week. We've had such a great time developing this game alongside the community and are proud of the world we've created together.

I want to go over what this means in terms of support for the game going forward, as well as what our plans are for the next project.


Post Launch Updates


We started working on Wild West and Wizards a little over two years ago. One of our main goals with this game was to cut our development time down to a two year cycle, but also increase the quantity and quality of content compared to our previous game, Salt. This was a challenge because this game, unlike Salt, was not procedurally generated. This means we had to build the entire world by hand which in theory takes a lot more time. 

Overall we are very happy with the amount of content in the game. Currently there are over 200 points of interest to discover, over 80 quests, three classes with unique talent trees, hundreds of items to loot, and a lot of secrets and puzzles spread across the world. Right now our development team only consists of two people, which means it can be a huge challenge trying to balance content, quality, and time with development. A lot of this also depends on how well a product sells which heavily influences how long we can support ourselves and the game. 

That being said, Wild West and Wizards didn't perform as well as we'd hoped but we were still able to complete our roadmap for the game and implement a ton of content. After launch, we'd like to continue to support the game with a least a few more content updates. The updates will include things like brand new bounty quests to complete, new large points of interests to explore, new quest lines, and new gear and loot to earn. We will also be fixing bugs and things of that nature as well.

From Desert to Sea


So what is next for us at Lavaboots? Some of you will be happy to know we will be working on a sequel to our open world pirate game, Salt. With Salt 2, we'd like to drastically improve the visuals and aesthetics of the game from the original, as well as focus on what made Salt so fun to play and add some new twists as well. A large focus with the sequel will be on exploration, crafting, and ship customization. We want you to really be able to make a cozy home on your ship and spend a lot of time crafting and making it unique to you. 

Obviously right now we are in the very early stages of development and design with Salt 2, but we will be releasing more info on that soon. We plan on taking the same approach that we did with Wild West and Wizards, which is to increase quality and content, but decrease the development time so that you can play the game quicker and get updates faster. 


We are so appreciative of our community and couldn't make these games without you! Stay tuned over the next few months for more updates on Wild West and Wizards, as well as updates on the development of Salt 2. 


Thanks for reading!

Dev Update: New Map and Expanded Main Quest


Howdy everyone!

We're happy to have finally our next update out which includes a lot of great new changes. Let's dive in.

MAP UPDATE




One of the major features of this update is a brand new map interface. It features a full 3D top-down view of the world and shows your current position, points of interest, teleport runes, and waypoints for your current quests.

MAIN QUEST



The update also includes expansions to the main quest line through unlocking and completing the second wizard tower located in the plains.

WHAT'S NEXT?


Next up, we will be working on expanding the main quest further up through the completion of the third and final wizard tower located in the forest. Additionally, work will begin on creating a second class to choose upon character creation.

CHANGES


- Updated map.
- Progressed the main quest.
- Added map button to journal quest entries which opens the map to that location.
- Added new sign posts to the desert to help more easily discover new points of interest.
- Added new points of interest to the plains.
- Added some new lore books.
- Fixed an issue with the portal in the abandoned church near mountain town not staying active.
- Fixed problem where bullets would hit an invisible collider near where you start.
- Fixed an issue with the key to the Byrne residence not spawning.
- Reduced stamina cost per second to sprint from 5 to 0.
- Fixed problem where you would get the like the dead debuff in the chamber of mourning.
- Fixed problem where temple of desolation entrance visuals would pop into view.
- Fixed a lot of deformed chests.
- Added colliders to top of glass cases.
- Fixed desert lockstones setting quest values no matter if you had finished the quest already or not.
- Fixed finley being back up in the air after you saved him already.
- Fixed some instances where cemetary fences didn't have colliders.
- Fixed collider on "lone statue" in forest.
- Harvey is no longer a chair if you return to him after you have finished his quest.
- Fixed where you could bypass the lock to get into dimlight cavern.
- Fixed down tree clipping through rocks near forest wizard tower.
- Fixed problem where statue of salena would not appear after you got the quest if you didn't unload the area first.
- Fixed fence going into d1 from c1 popping out of nowhere when the sector loads.
- Fixed possible sequence breaking of private eye quest. It now updates if you teleport out of the locked cellar.
- Abigail now checks your inventory space before giving you a key.
- Journal in Dustbone Cemetary now has a name.
- Fixed Westshire Cemetary fence having no colliders.
- Fixed alchemist's shack in desert not visible until you get right up to it.

New Update: Fire Wizard Tower, Balance, and Fixes


This update is primarily focused on progressing the main quest line, which now takes you up through the first wizard tower. It also includes a number of bug fixes and other minor changes.

The plan for the next update is to continue work on finishing the main quest line. Additionally, we will be looking into improving the map to be more user friendly.

Changes


- Continued the main quest up through completing the first wizard tower.
- Added resolution and full screen options in the in-game settings.
- Updated the fire rate on some revolvers.
- Added a new Arcane Orb ability.
- Most torches now have holder models.
- The Prophet's Sanctum jump puzzle is now a little easier to complete.
- Fixed some visual issues in The Shimmering Chasms.
- Added volumetric lighting to some caves.
- Added new teleport runes to some areas.
- Fixed a problem where the door to the building for "A Treasure Hunt" quest would not open.
- Added dynamic and more descriptive bullet points for all stats in the inventory screen.
- Fixed an issue where the Dragon Lilly sometimes wasn't lootable.
- Fixed an issue where Esther wouldn't open her merchant interface after you completed her quest.
- Fixed an issue where you couldn't loot a key in a bucket.
- Fixed a bug at the Landry Residence that prevented a door from opening when reloading the game.
- Fixed some visual issues in the B1 church cave.
- Fixed an issue where a key in Evior's house didn't go to anything.
- Bert now knows if you've rescued Emily.
- Fixed some typos.
- Fixed colliders on some cliffs not being right.
- Some nature abilities are no longer tagged as heat abilities, which caused them to activate heat-based talents.
- Hollow Point Ability now deals more damage.
- Packed show now costs less mana.
- The cost reduction of leveling hollow point and packed shot are no longer as dramatic.
- Fixed the Unearthed Behemoth spawning before the statues are deactivated.
- It will now alert you if you are out of inventory space when trying to pick up certain items.
- Ice Mage and Fire Mage talents now have increased effects.
- It now saves that you have rescued Rosie, and she will no longer spawn in the cage after that if so.
- You can now ask the wizard for another draught of death potion even after you have finished the Hall of the Dead quest.
- Harvey's curative potion is no longer able to be sold.
- Fixed the timeless revolver special effect increasing damage on all types of ammo if you had basic ammo selected.
- You can no longer upgrade the ability granted by the mask of the assassin.
- Fixed effect on the healing hat.
- Enemies no longer play a queued stagger animation after a spell cast animation.

New Update: Main Story Quests, Boss Mechanics, New Abilities, and More!

Howdy everyone!

Here's a look at some of the new content you can expect to see in today's update.

Main Quest



A main focus with this and the next couple of updates revolves around the implementation of the main quest line. We plan to add a little more of it each update until it is complete. This update extends the quest from where it left off before. If you have previously worked on the main quest, you should find the quest in your journal to know where to continue.

Boss Mechanics



As part of some of the future elements of the main quest line, we will require a system to create boss battles with more interesting mechanics. We went ahead and implemented the basics of the system and updated the boss in the Edge Town Cave to be a slightly more interesting boss battle. We will update more world bosses in the future.

Interface Improvements



This update includes a few additions to the interface. We have added the ability to compare an equippable item with one that you have equipped. To do so, mouse over the item and press shift. Rarity colors that were previously hard to read have been adjusted slightly for better readability. Quests that are part of the main quest line are now visually different from other quests in your journal. Some items in your resource tab now have small icons in the top corner to indicate if they are quest items or just strictly for selling in order to make it easier to decide what to sell at merchants.

Abilities




We have added some new abilities that can be obtained throughout the world. These include two types of healing spells, an ability to regain mana, and a short distance teleport. We have also made changes to some abilities. There were a number of abilities (such as those that affect weapons) that naturally improved with your character or equipment level, but for which the ability level had no effect. These have been changed where they will increase in mana cost as you gain levels, but upgrading them will reduce their mana cost.

We have added the functionality required for abilities that buff you to be toggled on and off. A number of spells of this nature no longer grant you a temporary buff. Instead, they can be toggled on and off. Note that removing an ability from your ability bar will now remove all buffs given by that ability. We have also enabled abilities to be removed from the ability bar by dragging them off.

Patch Notes


- Fixed an issue where you could see areas with no terrain from certain spots in the plains.
- All buff abilities can now be toggled.
- Increased the number of upgrade orbs needed to upgrade items past lvl 20.
- Fixed a bug where the second level of the Ice Affinity talent did not modify the correct stats.
- Cave engineer's boots are now uncommon items instead of common.
- Fixed a bug where you would rarely hear a female greeting sound when reading lore books.
- Fixed an issue with Anna the merchant selling only one of some bullet types.
- Reduced the amount of armor that ice armor grants.
- Reduced the cooldown time of packed shot and hollow point abilities.
- A number of spells that used to not be able to be upgraded or did nothing when upgrading have - been fixed. Generally, upgrading these spells reduces the mana cost.
- Added some new abilities.
- The color of damage taken numbers is now dependent on the type of hit or healing.
- Fixed bug where an enemy's shouts can cause friendly npcs to attack you.
- Enemies can now hear your footsteps if you are close enough.
- Slightly increased the chance of wizards to drop spell scrolls.
- Added new quests and areas for the main quest line.
- Added new boss mechanics to the boss of Edge Town Cave.
- Added boss health bar that appears when fighting certain boss enemies.
- World health bars now have a slight animation when health is reduced.
- Adjusted atmospheric visuals in Edge Town Cave.
- Fixed a problem that would cause interface elements to not scale right with very wide resolutions.
- You can now drag abilities off of your ability bar to unequip them.
- You are now asked "are you sure?" before quitting.
- Made rare and epic rarity colors easier to read.
- Fixed bug with scarlet repeater and Soul Taker where the special effect would not always work properly.
- Important quests are now visually different in the quest journal.
- When some buff abilities are unequipped from the hotbar, the buff's effect is now removed.
- Some abilities can now be toggled on and off.
- Abilities can no longer be changed while in combat.
- Added compare inspection window (Press shift while inspecting an item).
- Adjusted enemy AI so that they now can lose sight of you correctly in certain circumstances.
- Added icons to quest items and sellable only items.
- Added hotkeys for count selection UI (when selling/buying items).
- Improved scorpion lock-on location and increased their XP value.
- Fixed inanimate objects sometimes having an audible dialogue greeting.
- Fixed a typo in Lulu's dialogue.
- Fixed some scaling issues in the A1 wizard basement.
- You now pull out your weapon from the bottom of the screen instead of the top.
- Fixed health potions not always healing correctly past maximum.
- Fixed bandages removing all over-maximum health.
- Added bullet point indentation to the description window.

Dev Update: Improved UI, Performance, Volumetric Lighting, and More!


Interface Updates


A large focus of this update was to upgrade the look of the interface. Most placeholder interface elements have been replaced. There are still a few elements which still need to be udpated such as the stat bars for instance, so look for that to come later.


Performance Improvements


We have made some changes that will improve performance for some players, especially those who are CPU bound. The day/night cycle in particular was a source of a lot of CPU overhead. Instead of updating the sun and moon positions every frame, we now keep up with what time it should be internally, but update it visually only at strategic times, such as when you are going through a door or teleport. This will hopefully improve frame rate overall.


Volumetric Lighting


We have added volumetric lighting to the world, which adds a slight fog to the distance, and adds sunshafts. We think it especially improves the look of night-time. This can be disabled in the in-game options if you prefer it the old way.


Content


While a large part of this update was focused on interface, performance, and graphics, we also added in a couple of new quests and points of interest to further progress on our mission to pack the world full.


Patch Notes


  • Performance improvements.
  • Updated much of the user interface.
  • Removed the additional keybinding (I) for opening your inventory.
  • You can now rest for certain numbers of hours in beds.
  • You are now healed by resting in beds or sleeping bags.
  • Made jumping a little easier.
  • Weapons are no longer holstered by default when you equip one.
  • Added tips that pop up near the beginning that teach some basics of the game.
  • Fixed loading screen fading before the world fully loaded.
  • Added tips to loading screen.
  • Adjusted the revolver held position.
  • Added volumetric lighting. This can be turned off in the options.
  • Implemented a couple of new quests.
  • Fixed an issue with the Statue of Selena respawning after being looted.
  • Epic weapons now sell for more gold.
  • The chest in the ruins graveyard shed now is a safe more level appropriate items.
  • Fixed an issue where you could get through the Brinwall Hollow gate without a key.
  • You can no longer fall through the world when entering Ryan's cellar.
  • You can no longer interact with the blank scrolls on bounty boards.
  • Fixed an issue with the cemetery fencing near Sureshot's Retreat not having colliders.
  • Fixed some visuals with the fencing around the Chapel of the Righteous.
  • Fixed an issue with one of the buried statues not having a collider.
  • Fixed an issue with some abandoned cabins not having wall colliders.
  • Fixed some visual issues in Scarlett's Estate.
  • Fixed visual issues with some bandit camps in the desert.
  • Fixed some typos.
  • Fixed some bugs with the "Witch's Brew" quest.
  • Fixed bug where some enemies would not change levels in the Yonder.
  • Hitting the holster weapon hotkey will now toggle your weapon's holstered state.
  • Fixed bug where holstering your weapon while you only had one equipped would keep you from pulling it back out.
  • Increased the value on tier1 upgrade orbs.
  • Moved the starting location outside of edge shack.
  • Slightly increased the chance of weapon chest key fragments to drop.
  • Fixed some issues where you sometimes couldn't read the books in the "My Precious" quest.
  • Fixed description on health potions.
  • Fixed not being able to click the buttons on the bottom right of the screen very well.
  • Opening the map now defaults to the teleport rune map.
  • Removed screenshots from feedback reports to make them a little faster.
  • Fixed a bug where volume settings wouldn't save correctly.
  • New characters start with more bullets.
  • Increased the duration of ice armor and cloak of flames.

Wild West and Wizards Early Access Launch


Howdy everyone!
We are so excited to be releasing this game for you all and can’t wait for you to start your journey. 
Here’s a quick link to our launch trailer if you’d like to see what the gameplay is all about. 

A Look At What’s To Come
As you start your adventure in the wild west you’ll be set free to explore at your own pace and discover the world of outlaws and wizards. There are three huge zones for you to explore: the desert, plains, and the forest. Each zone has quests, tons of points of interests, loot, puzzles, and secrets to discover. Here’s a look at just some of the content we plan on adding during the early access period. 

 - More player classes and abilities
- More enemy types and AI improvements
- Additional end-game content with a quest line, multiple new dungeons, and bosses
- More clothing models and other visual assets
- More quests and points of interests to discover
- Bug fixes and polishing


Current Features

Cast Your Spells - Learn new abilities, cast an array of unique spells, and become the most powerful wizard in the west.
Discover the World - Explore a vast re-imagined wild west with over a hundred points of interests including homes, settlements, bandit camps, churches, cemeteries, caves, and more! All filled with quests, secrets, and puzzles.
Shoot and Loot - Loot tons of rare armor, weapons, and gold earning your fortune as you fight bosses, find secret treasure chests, and complete quests.

Customize Your Character - Level up your character and unlock new talents unique to your chosen class.

Stop by the Saloon - Discover towns and settlements filled with people, quests, and unique items to buy.


Also, don't forget to join our communities and let us know your feedback! Thanks for reading!
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