The Next Quarter and Beyond
almost 4 years ago – Fri, Apr 08, 2022 at 10:57:53 PM

Dear Traveller,

It’s been seven weeks since we put out any sort of community update, not counting the set of patch notes that has gone out between then and now. We’ve been very busy with our work to get Book of Travels to a good place and the studio is going through some important changes to that end, both in terms of how we structure and organise our workflow and in terms of leadership. 

You may remember our last communication in which we detailed our plans for the future development, and in broad strokes that plan still stands. What I want to do today is bring further clarity on what is being done and what is going to happen in the near future. 

Just like I put it on the table seven weeks ago, we are in a development phase of going back to the foundation and untangling the messier parts of the game code. To that end we’ve called in help from old friends with large amounts of experience dealing with situations like ours. You’ll get more details about these additions of talent and what it means soon. 

For now, know that we’re taking the necessary steps to ensure we get to a place where we can efficiently build a better foundation for Book of Travels to grow on. 

So, you may wonder what these actions mean for you as a player. Here’s the deal: 

• For the next 3 months we’ll focus on more large scope tech issues. These won’t be specific bugs or glitches that are typically visible to the player, but more world encompassing system issues that need to be addressed in order for the game as a whole to be more fertile ground for us to start eradicating the comparatively smaller problems that actually are evident to the player.
• During this time we may appear to be quiet or seem inactive. This is just because we will be very busy. Since the nature of these larger scale issues don’t always make them suitable for traditional patch notes, you won’t necessarily see a typical flow of those during this period. You will, however, notice the game getting updated in the Steam client, and if an update doesn't come with the traditional patch notes – now you know why.
• After this period we’ll resume with the releasing of additional content. By this point we plan to have the game’s foundation solid enough to allow us to start growing it again. We have lots of cool things that we’re dying to get into your hands. The city of Kasa, for instance, is very close to being finished and we know you’re excited for the deeper character customisation tools that we’ve talked about in the past. But this doesn’t mean that we’ll be done with fixes, just that we can start doing both fixes and fun new content.

So that’s the gist of it. We have a plan and the means to execute it. I hope that this has been informative and clear, and that you share our confidence in the project’s future. As always, we’re enormously grateful for the patience and the excitement that you continue to show us. See you in Braided Shore! 

Best wishes,

Oliver and the team at Might and Delight

An Update on the Near Future for Book of Travels
about 4 years ago – Fri, Feb 18, 2022 at 10:41:31 PM

Dear Traveller,

Before we get to the matter at hand I’d personally like to thank you on behalf of the entire team at Might and Delight for playing Book of Travels, engaging with each other on our social platforms and providing us with the invaluable feedback we need to improve and grow the game.

Now, we’ve always said that we’re going to be communicating our plans and priorities with you as they take shape and today I’m going to tell you about how they’ve changed recently.

Our original plan was, as you may know, to continually flesh out the game with content in the form of additional features, levels, character forms and more – all of it along with a flow of patches with fixes on a regular basis throughout the Early Access period that we call “Chapter Zero”.

But the truth is – and this is the part where we need to be brutally honest with ourselves – Book of Travels is nowhere near the level of polish we expected it to be at this point in its life cycle, nor where we need it to be to make it a successful product in the long term. New content tends to birth new problems for us to deal with when they get added, and for a team as small as ours it quickly becomes unsustainable.

Simply put: we need to get Book of Travels to a place where we can start building it with brick and mortar rather than putting bandaids on it. And for that to happen we need to go to the foundation.

Waging War on the Bugs

It’s in light of this that we have decided to completely focus on fixing the game for the next few months, instead of having our attention split between fixes and new content. Of course, we realise that the fact that the game won’t see any new major content additions for an undetermined amount of time will disappoint some of you. But we also believe that any player who has invested any kind of significant playtime in the game knows as well as we do that this is what Book of Travels needs.

Last week we put out a form open for any and all of you to fill out, and in it we asked you what technical area we need to focus on getting better first. As you can see above, the majority of you want the gameplay bugs to be taken care of primarily, whereas the server stability/functionally got the most votes as a secondary objective.

This data didn’t surprise any of us, and we think that’s a good thing. It serves as a nice confirmation that the path we’re about to set out on is the right course of action. We do have the talent onboard to straighten this out, we really believe that. And with this new focus on fixing what’s wrong with the game, all hands on deck, we’re going to put everything we have into the betterment of Book of Travels. And hopefully, with that, we also secure a stable future for the world of Braided Shore.

That is pretty much everything that I wanted to tell you for now. While this new, aggressive campaign of ours indeed does mean that the output of new content will be put on hold, rest assured that we won’t go into complete radio silence. Whenever we reach milestones you will hear from us, you will get the patch notes and we are interested in doing more forms that you can participate in further down the road. And I will be here, lurking, and forwarding your will to the powers that be. Because your input, your voice will continue to be vital for our progress.

Thank You and Best Wishes

Oliver and the team at Might and Delight

New Places to Discover and Get Lost In
about 4 years ago – Thu, Feb 10, 2022 at 04:41:36 AM

Dear Traveller,

Today we rolled out a new update to Book of Travels, which we've been calling World Update 0 internally. It contains some fixes, all of which we detailed in the patch notes yesterday. But the update also fleshes out the world of Braided Shore with new areas for you to travel and explore. We know that some of you have been clamoring for more places with new mysteries to unearth, so we're happy to be able to oblige!

We've mentioned this expansion of land before, and here we are. The first of the two new areas we've added today is a little more of what you've come to expect of the Braided Shore wilderness: a mountainous forest area that connects the central western parts of Charwood to Lakatos Inlet.

It's lively, beautiful and inviting – a perfect spot for a stroll when you're in a serene mood.
 

But we're the first to admit that this isn't the most exciting of prospects, even if we all obviously also want these additions to the "overworld". That's why the second area is the one we're most happy about bringing you today! An all new outmark, which is what we call our game's basic equivalent to "dungeons". The reason that we try to avoid that word is because an outmark can be anything ranging from, indeed, a literal dungeon to building interiors and islands – but the concept is just what a seasoned RPG player would expect: an area, or level if you will, of particular note with compelling secrets to discover and gameplay challenges that goes beyond what you'd generally experience on your average everyday travels.

The Underbelly is an ancient underground area that holds many mysteries of its origins. We're not going to spoil how one would get access to these subterranean ruins, as we believe that it's part of the thrill to find your own way forward. But it is out there, ready to be found and searched by you.

And with that I say happy travels, my friends! We will have more to bring you soon, but in the meantime we hope that you will enjoy the new areas and what they have to offer you.

Thank you for your attention, your love and your support. It's what drives us forward!

Best wishes,
   Oliver & the team at Might and Delight.

An Update on Current Affairs at Might and Delight
about 4 years ago – Wed, Dec 22, 2021 at 07:42:49 PM

Community members, Travellers, Friends

The past months have been the most revolving, intriguing and emotional that we have ever experienced at our studio. Releasing Book of Travels in Early Access and trying to keep up with the logistical and emotional aftermath has been both fun and challenging. It's safe to say that this period has been unique for us.

It's in the wake of these events that we reach out to you with some important news. With the ambition to be both transparent and concise, we want to share the current status of our company to you all. Our goal is always for you, our community, to know who we really are - whatever that may be.

In light of the launch not going quite as well as we had hoped, we have had to make some rather big, and difficult, cutbacks to our beloved team. In order to stay alive, we have been forced to cut down our team from around 35 people to 10 people. Saying goodbye to so many skilled, trusted and loved Might and Delighters has been, without a shadow of a doubt, our most difficult test in our 11 year history.

Understandably, many of you will wonder how this is going to affect the game going forward. We have suffered a setback and as a result the production pace of coming content WILL be affected. We want to be transparent regarding that. However, we also want you to know that the team that remains is determined and hell bent on two things: surviving and bringing the best possible content to the game. We will do whatever it takes to keep Book of Travels going, and continue to bring it and the company forward together with you.

We want to end by sharing this sentiment; Might and Delight have always been a company that has thrived on the edge and in the margins. We have always sacrificed much in order to bring our visions to life, sometimes going against the smartest strategy in favour of a path closer to our hearts.

In the coming days we will be releasing the game's Original Soundtrack and today we published a donation-like DLC called ”Cup of Kindness” that you can pick up if you wish to further support the project.

We sincerely hope that these news, grim as they are, reach you well. With hope to continue the journey together.

All the best,

Founders Anders, Jakob & Dev Team

Releasing Today: Skill Pack 1 & Achievement Pack 1
over 4 years ago – Sun, Dec 12, 2021 at 10:54:09 PM

Dear Traveller,

It’s been a while since one of these community updates were posted. Since last time, the team has been busy with ironing out bugs (as usual) but also with getting our first Skill and Achievement Packs ready for you. We’re pleased to announce that they will be released today! As you are aware, we refer to our Early Access period as “Chapter Zero”, and as such we like to call these content drops “Pages”. This is the next Page.

Let’s talk skills first

There are six of them in today’s content drop, two of which were designed by backers of our Kickstarter campaign! Being able to invite our audience to directly participate in molding Book of Travels with us is one of the wonderful benefits of having done that campaign, and we’re very happy with how that collaboration has taken shape so far.

So without further ado, here are the new skills that your Traveller will be able to learn from now on:

•  Glitterfall
  Wind: South
  Type: Knot
  This spell sets the air alight with a glamorous waterfall of sparkles. Credit goes to Ashley Corkill for coming up with this spell.
•  Summon Spirit Familiar
  Wind: West
  Type: Knot
  This spell summons a travel companion from the spirit world to the binder’s side. Credit goes to Dennis, Savinien and Kaz Floyd for coming up with this spell.
•  Keen Eye
  Wind: East
  Type: Passive
  Your sharp eyesight allows you to highlight collectibles around you more often.
•  Knot of the Infamous
  Wind: West
  Type: Knot
  This spell permanently changes the knot binder’s eye colour to a random hue.
•  Rain Ward
  Wind: East
  Type: Passive
  The natural power of rain resonates strongly with you, strengthening your resolve and raising your Ward as a result.
•  Knotbinder’s Fervour
  Wind: North
  Type: Passive
  The mystical energies that surround you sometimes makes your knot spells take effect instantly.

Now, how you actually acquire these skills for your Traveller is going to remain a mystery. And you wouldn’t have it any other way, surely? We are going to say that these skills will be in the possession of certain inhabitants of Braided Shore, and we do encourage you to share your findings with your fellow Travellers on popular meeting grounds such as the Steam forums or our Discord server.

How fast will you be able to claim them all?

Achievements to mark your accomplishments

Like already stated, the Skill Pack isn’t the only thing to get added to Book of Travels today. We also have the first Achievement Pack. Below you will find a list of the ones that the game gets right now. We won’t tell you how to achieve them though! There will be more to come as we continue fleshing things out during the Early Access period.

Note: Unfortunately, these won’t be unlocked retroactively if you already have fulfilled the requirements. They will need to be earned from scratch.

• Survived Character Creation!
• Journey Started
• Reached Safety
• Bat Saha
• Dandelions
• Learn Vellan
• The Dandelion
• First Trade
• Gather Your Party
• Party of Heroes
• A Bag of Riches
• Robbers Delight
• And other, hidden achievements!

Lastly, I would once again like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support. We believe in the vision of this game, and it’s incredibly gratifying to see so many of you doing the same. Needless to say, this batch of content is the tip of the iceberg of what we’re planning for Book of Travels and its future. Have fun with these new additions in the meantime, and we’ll talk again soon.

Best wishes,
Oliver & the team at Might and Delight