Posted April 26, 2022
General
Q: What is the scope of the demo?
A: The demo consists of a small map (~5% of the final game) and a level cap of 3, it has no ending and its purpose is to familiarize yourself with most of the game's mechanics to see if the game might be a good fit. Aside from the bigger map, the full game also introduces god battles mid to late game.
Q: I can't seem to find a way out?
A: Use the left shift to look at tiles and try to find the stairs. When available, walk into the tile and press "z", or use the action button that will show up.
Q: I accidentally unlocked all tutorials, can I restart them?
A: Change all "true" values to "false" inside <windows drive>:\Users\<your user>\AppData\Roaming\WizardsOfTheCode\Soulash\data\tutorial_values.json
Q: Can I zoom in?
A: You can increase tile size in Options.
Q: Will the game be developed further or is it the end of development?
A: This is a complex topic, and I'll make a detailed announcement when the dust from release settles, but for now our plan is to fix bugs and add some quality of life features which will likely be our focus for the first month. Then I'll have to look at the revenue from the game and decide what can we do further. The game was released as a full version, and we believe it is great as it is, although as it is in a true roguelike nature, such games are never finished, only abandoned. We can't re-release Soulash at any point in time, as we could have done before with the Itch alpha release, and if we won't get to a certain revenue number we won't be able to continue on.
One potential direction could be going towards the stretch goals that we wanted to have in our failed Kickstarter campaign last year - Factions, Building, New Skill-based progression system, Procedural World, and Servants. In my personal opinion that would be the best direction to take the next steps, but it's a multi-year adventure, and a very high cost, maybe more suited for a sequel now. I'll decide after I know the resources we'll have, as so far I've been working essentially 2 jobs for 5 long years to deliver Soulash to you all, it's been very taxing on me, and I'll have to make a change.
Q: How to contact the developer?
A: The fastest way to discuss the game or get help is our official Discord channel (link in the game's main menu).
Q: How to mod the game, is it difficult?
A: Soulash comes with a couple of in-game editors and you can change a lot in the game through additional JSON files. It doesn't require coding knowledge to add or change things in the game. You can find instructions in the game files under Soulash/data/docs/index.html.
Technical
Q: My game starts with ASCII characters ... how do I enable graphic tileset?
A: Select Mods in Main Menu and check Core GFX, there was an error that might have caused it to be not enabled by default. This will apply changes to new games, as the world has to generate with all of the mods used.
Q: I see a green flickering screen, what's going on?
A: It's likely related to outdated drivers, please first make sure your graphics drivers are updated to the latest version, for example using Nvidia experience for GeForce users.
Q: My game shuts down immediately and it doesn't start, what do I do?
A: Check your games directory and go to logs/errors.log, it should contain more information about potential issues. When reporting a bug, please paste the contents of such a file, at least the parts that may seem relevant.
The common one could be something like this "Mix_init error: WASAPI can't initialize audio client" - which indicates that the game can't find a sound output device - could require enabled laptop sound, headset, or loudspeakers.
If a window with BugSplat shows up, please input as many details as possible that could have caused the crash.
Q: I see a black console window and a white window opens up, the game is stuck and doesn't start
A: On some machines, the first execution of Soulash can take a moment, there are a lot of data files and assets to load and Windows optimizes this on further starts. Try to leave it for a couple of minutes before closing.
Gameplay
Q: I don't really feel tank controls. Are there any plans for an alternative movement?
A: Camera-relative controls are available in the Options -> Key.
Q: I really don't like durability, can we toggle it off?
A: In v1.0.10 coming soon there will be difficulty settings where it will be possible to increase the durability of items. Removing durability through Entity Editor from all items is also possible by simply disabling the "Durability" component (see Soulash/data/docs/index.html for instruction).
Q: I'm having a hard time starting, can't escape, my weapons break constantly, I'm dying too soon...
A: Try an easy character first, for example, a full-strength orc berserker with rage will destroy early enemies and give you an easier time to familiarize yourself with different mechanics, tactics, and enemies, while quick kills will ensure the weapons dropped by your foes will not be already broken. Some characters are more difficult than others, but all are viable.
Q: My tools keep breaking due to autoequip. Can I do something about it?
A: The way autoequip works is that the next viable weapon is selected by scanning the backpack grid from the top left, moving to the right, and ending at the bottom right. The same types of items are prioritized (if you have a bow equipped, it will try to replace with another bow if possible). Place them near the bottom right corner of your backpack or on the second page to preserve your tools.
Q: Are enemies respawning?
A: No, everyone is generated during the world creation process including their gear, you can kill everyone in the world and the world will be empty.
Q: Can I set up a base?
A: You can take over an area by clearing everyone there. The items left there will not disappear.
Q: What is the scope of the demo?
A: The demo consists of a small map (~5% of the final game) and a level cap of 3, it has no ending and its purpose is to familiarize yourself with most of the game's mechanics to see if the game might be a good fit. Aside from the bigger map, the full game also introduces god battles mid to late game.
Q: I can't seem to find a way out?
A: Use the left shift to look at tiles and try to find the stairs. When available, walk into the tile and press "z", or use the action button that will show up.
Q: I accidentally unlocked all tutorials, can I restart them?
A: Change all "true" values to "false" inside <windows drive>:\Users\<your user>\AppData\Roaming\WizardsOfTheCode\Soulash\data\tutorial_values.json
Q: Can I zoom in?
A: You can increase tile size in Options.
Q: Will the game be developed further or is it the end of development?
A: This is a complex topic, and I'll make a detailed announcement when the dust from release settles, but for now our plan is to fix bugs and add some quality of life features which will likely be our focus for the first month. Then I'll have to look at the revenue from the game and decide what can we do further. The game was released as a full version, and we believe it is great as it is, although as it is in a true roguelike nature, such games are never finished, only abandoned. We can't re-release Soulash at any point in time, as we could have done before with the Itch alpha release, and if we won't get to a certain revenue number we won't be able to continue on.
One potential direction could be going towards the stretch goals that we wanted to have in our failed Kickstarter campaign last year - Factions, Building, New Skill-based progression system, Procedural World, and Servants. In my personal opinion that would be the best direction to take the next steps, but it's a multi-year adventure, and a very high cost, maybe more suited for a sequel now. I'll decide after I know the resources we'll have, as so far I've been working essentially 2 jobs for 5 long years to deliver Soulash to you all, it's been very taxing on me, and I'll have to make a change.
Q: How to contact the developer?
A: The fastest way to discuss the game or get help is our official Discord channel (link in the game's main menu).
Q: How to mod the game, is it difficult?
A: Soulash comes with a couple of in-game editors and you can change a lot in the game through additional JSON files. It doesn't require coding knowledge to add or change things in the game. You can find instructions in the game files under Soulash/data/docs/index.html.
Technical
Q: My game starts with ASCII characters ... how do I enable graphic tileset?
A: Select Mods in Main Menu and check Core GFX, there was an error that might have caused it to be not enabled by default. This will apply changes to new games, as the world has to generate with all of the mods used.
Q: I see a green flickering screen, what's going on?
A: It's likely related to outdated drivers, please first make sure your graphics drivers are updated to the latest version, for example using Nvidia experience for GeForce users.
Q: My game shuts down immediately and it doesn't start, what do I do?
A: Check your games directory and go to logs/errors.log, it should contain more information about potential issues. When reporting a bug, please paste the contents of such a file, at least the parts that may seem relevant.
The common one could be something like this "Mix_init error: WASAPI can't initialize audio client" - which indicates that the game can't find a sound output device - could require enabled laptop sound, headset, or loudspeakers.
If a window with BugSplat shows up, please input as many details as possible that could have caused the crash.
Q: I see a black console window and a white window opens up, the game is stuck and doesn't start
A: On some machines, the first execution of Soulash can take a moment, there are a lot of data files and assets to load and Windows optimizes this on further starts. Try to leave it for a couple of minutes before closing.
Gameplay
Q: I don't really feel tank controls. Are there any plans for an alternative movement?
A: Camera-relative controls are available in the Options -> Key.
Q: I really don't like durability, can we toggle it off?
A: In v1.0.10 coming soon there will be difficulty settings where it will be possible to increase the durability of items. Removing durability through Entity Editor from all items is also possible by simply disabling the "Durability" component (see Soulash/data/docs/index.html for instruction).
Q: I'm having a hard time starting, can't escape, my weapons break constantly, I'm dying too soon...
A: Try an easy character first, for example, a full-strength orc berserker with rage will destroy early enemies and give you an easier time to familiarize yourself with different mechanics, tactics, and enemies, while quick kills will ensure the weapons dropped by your foes will not be already broken. Some characters are more difficult than others, but all are viable.
Q: My tools keep breaking due to autoequip. Can I do something about it?
A: The way autoequip works is that the next viable weapon is selected by scanning the backpack grid from the top left, moving to the right, and ending at the bottom right. The same types of items are prioritized (if you have a bow equipped, it will try to replace with another bow if possible). Place them near the bottom right corner of your backpack or on the second page to preserve your tools.
Q: Are enemies respawning?
A: No, everyone is generated during the world creation process including their gear, you can kill everyone in the world and the world will be empty.
Q: Can I set up a base?
A: You can take over an area by clearing everyone there. The items left there will not disappear.
Post edited April 28, 2022 by Godfryd123
