Version 0.800a

Teddy

Developer
Staff member
Summary: Arcade mode is on Stable! Woo!

Recommended level: N/A

About the Arcade Mode update

(Those of you who've already read the frontline news can scroll past this part!)

Until now only a small percentage of players got much enjoyment out of Arcade Mode. The mode was a cold, hard place with little of Story Mode's charm, but with all of the combat's brutality. Basically, we didn't feel like the game mode felt much like Grindea, and we wanted to change that, while also giving players who previously loved the mode more varied and interesting stuff to sink their teeth into.

We did several things to improve the general Arcade Mode experience, but the biggest by far is the complete revamp of the hub town, Arcadia. Before, your total score made some minor changes to the town and added a few NPCs with quests. Now, you earn gold by doing runs, which you can then spend on different buildings that all provide some useful or not-so-useful feature! Among the useful features, you'll now be able to practice against bosses you're having trouble with, make the mode easier (or harder) with treats and curses, train perfect guarding in the dojo, and getting potions to help you out.

We hope having this anchor will help people find purpose with the mode, and perhaps accidentally find meaning with becoming better at the game as well!

Aside for that we've made some pretty big changes inside the runs as well, like new Event Rooms that buff you or give you special treasure, and new NPCs that help you out in different ways.

Four new floors have also been added, ending the mode on floor 16 instead of floor 12 (featuring Mt Bloom and Tai Ming).

...but most importantly, you're now accompanied by your new best bud Trunk!

Regardless if you enjoyed the mode before or didn't care for it much, please do try the revamped version out! We hope with these changes we can capture the hearts of more players now than before!

The Future of Arcade Mode

We feel we now have a very solid foundation for Arcade Mode, which we can expand upon quite easily in small bursts by adding new NPCs, upgrades and quests bit by bit.

If you get good at the mode you're probably going to notice a shortage of quests that take place on the final floors; the idea here is that we're going to make some of the buildings upgradeable, and these upgrades unlock higher level quests (like adding a second floor to the tavern, for example). That's for another time, though!

Next Up: It's (let's all say it together) finally time for me to start implementing the next part of the story, which takes place in a desert and a port town! I'll put the Stable build in its own dev fork and parallel to doing desert stuff I'll fix any serious issues that might've escaped the Frontline crowd.
 

The G-Meister

Giga Slime
I would assume a good few months away now, at least for a Frontline update. Likely to be at least until christmas for a Stable update.
 

BL00DB4TH

Green Slime
Love the game, but please add more story content. I completed in less than a days time and paid $14.99 for it on Steam which has me pretty disgruntled. I expected a buggy game, not an incomplete one and I'm actually pretty upset with it because of how much I enjoy the game and want to progress in it.

The gameplay thus far is Beta but since incomplete overall the game should be titled Alpha due to misleading potential consumers into thinking it at least has a start and a finish...

Not too happy...
 

KoBeWi

Jumpkin
@BL00DB4TH More story content is obviously coming. If you read the Early Access description on store page, it clearly says they need to finish the Story Mode content, which may suggest that you can't reach the end of the story yet. Well, you can try Arcade Mode or consider it pre-order and just wait until the game is finished (although it will take a while). You can also become a part of the community and shape the final game, because Grindea's devs are really open to feedback.

I agree about the Beta part though. The game is technically still in Alpha (but being feature-complete it's not pre-Alpha).
 

BL00DB4TH

Green Slime
Dont get me wrong I 100% thoroughly enjoy the game and am actually playing it at this moment in arcade. Just kinda bummed on the length of story available right now.

I'm yearnin' for adventure but lack of side quests, story quests, crafting, and treasure maps is kind of concerning. I feel like story mode should be a lot more for as long as the game has been available and since it has always been $14.99 which is as much as similar full length games...

I do also understand that the devs are taking their time due to wanting to release a 100% perfect product to the end-user, and I respect the idea...but production time is taking years at this point...even if not main story being added on to for some time, why not more sidequests, loot, treasure maps, puzzles, NPC,crafting... I mean, anything to keep the player interested in story mode (the game itself).

I played the demo when it released on steam and loved it, I just purchased it the day before last and beside arcade (which isn't really my cup of tea) I cant find anything else to do in story and feel forced to have to put down the game until holiday season when (maybe) the next portion of story comes out...that sucks...

It also makes me wonder, will this game even be finished before the time it is considered outdated and the playerbase is dead?

Love the game, just want more of it.
 

KoBeWi

Jumpkin
It also makes me wonder, will this game even be finished before the time it is considered outdated and the playerbase is dead?
The playerbase right now are mostly dedicated players that either test newest versions to find bugs or beat high-scores in Arcade Mode. The forums are pretty much dead between updates mostly, but when update comes, there's a noticeable activity and feedback from the update. Nowadays, there's more happening on Discord though. The only "outdated" thing are development tools used to create this game :chicken:

Right now the game isn't even really popular, because devs don't want too much publicity before the game is finished (no one needs a flood of disappointed players). Although you made a good point about length of development, because I'm personally also worried that it takes too long. I mean, Pixel Ferrets plan on making more games, right? Grindea is being developed for 7 years already. Games like AM2R and Iconclasts got their releases finally, while being made by one person for similar time.
 

BL00DB4TH

Green Slime
Well, thanks for your prompt reply and your explanations in why some of it the way it is.

Love the game, only opinion I have is "take your time, quickly". Hope to see more content added to story and not in lengths of every 2-3 months.

To me, it's the "meat and potatoes" of buying the game and therefore should be far more developed than it is, for as you said ,7 years of production.

I was 18 when it started development, will I see a finished working title before my 30s? I surely hope so because this game is amazing and I want to see it through and not forget about it because of passing time.
 
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