Greeting Archfiends!

Exciting news today! We have created a totally new and updated demo for Solium Infernum that anyone who hasn't purchased the game can play free of charge on Steam.


This new demo includes the complete tutorial from the game, allowing prospective buyers (and Archfiends) to not only get a feel for whether Solium Infernum's particular breed of strategy game is for them, but to experience the mayhem of a full, open-ended 50 turn match!

It also includes access to the full Encyclopaedia Infernum - Solium Infernum's in-game codex and manual.

All multiplayer functionality, as well as Singleplayer chronicles and Skirmishes are not available in the demo. Naturally, this means that the only playable Archfiend is Astaroth.

It is literally just the complete tutorial and the Encyclopaedia Infernum. But still, that is 2-3 hours worth of open-ended content, and almost every Legion, Titan, Artefact, Event, and more could find its way into that tutorial match.

We've worked hard to find the best balance of giving people a very generous treat in regards to playtime, being able to finish a full match, and learning the ropes, whilst ensuring there's still seven more Archfiends and dozens and dozens of hours of value still remaining in the full game.

Great question. We did this for two reasons:

Many of you from the community have asked many times, "how do i convince my friends to purchase this game so we can play together?"

While we can't magically make the game free for friends, cut the price in half permanently or offer four packs, we can provide your friends with this free demo.

Now your friends can not only try Solium Infernum for free, but because the demo is the complete tutorial from the full game, when they're done they will have all the basics down pat and ready to dive straight into a game of multiplayer... where you can then swiftly and mercilessly destroy them.

Best of all, because the tutorial is open ended, for those of you who are super invested, once Belial has released them into the wild ashen plains of Hell, you now have the opportunity to step in and guide them (via Discord or over their shoulder, etc) through the mid and late stages of an entire game of Solium Infernum.

It makes us incredibly proud to say that Solium Infernum is one of the highest reviewed games of the year[www.metacritic.com]. Critics love it. And the vast majority of players love it. However, we do get reviews like, "Too slow for my taste," or "most boring game i've played," or "extremely infuriating," or my favourite... "Starcraft 2 was released without a single player campaign."

These are all real quotes from negative reviews. lol

Because Solium Infernum plays so differently to almost every strategy game ever made, it has always been incredibly hard to properly educate folks and set expectations of what they're getting themselves into. We were able to do this for the press with some success, and we invested heavily in content ahead of launch like Between Two Infernos to help educate players, but it's clear that there is a small number of folks purchasing Solium Infernum who probably should never have done so in the first place.

If Solium Infernum is absolutely your kinda game and you still don't end up liking it for whatever reason, that's a bummer, but hey, that's how it goes sometimes. But it bums us out way more to think that these folks (and a bunch of others) purchased a game that they would never have been into in the first place.

And we'd like to help those people keep their hard earned money - or spend it on a game more up their alley!

We're not here to sucker people into a purchase, so though we'll no doubt lose a few sales upfront this way, we feel that ensuring people who purchase Solium Infernum do so knowing (and excited for) what they're getting themselves into is a long term investment not only in the health of our community, but in the review scores you see on our Steam page.

Solium Infernum just isn't for everyone. And that's okay.

Considering everything I've explained above, our plans at this stage are for the demo to stay online and available for free in perpetuity.

Obviously, these plans may change should the demo negatively impact sales in a significant way (always a risk with demos), though we're quite confident that shouldn't be the case here. Quite the opposite actually, hence why we're doing this.

For those of you who have been trying to get your pals into the game, here's your chance. The game's currently 40% off and there's less than 48 hours in the Summer Sale so now's the time to pounce! Go, go, go!

And don't forget to vote for the Solium Infernum OST in the World Soundtrack Awards! Details on how to vote can be found here.


See you in Hell!

<3 LoG

Hail Archfiends!

Exciting news today... Michael Allen's soundtrack for Solium Infernum has been nominated for a World Soundtrack Award[www.worldsoundtrackawards.com]!

The best news is that the winner is chosen by vote and it's open to the public! So you can cast your vote for Solium's score to win the category.

We're up against some fierce competition this year, and voting requires an account on the World Soundtrack Awards website (which you can easily create for free), so we'd love for us all to come together and give this incredible soundtrack one Hell of a shot at winning! 🗳💪

1. Log in to your MyFFG account on the World Soundtrack Awards website[www.worldsoundtrackawards.com] (see the top of their website). Don't have a login? You can easily create one here[www.filmfestival.be].
   
2. Once you are logged in, you have access to the WSA tab[www.filmfestival.be] in your MyFFG account.
   
3. Go to the voting platform and cast your vote!

Michael Allen is LoG's longest running collaborator and has provided the soundtrack to every one of our games. We'd love for the community to rally around him right now and try to get him this award that he is so incredibly deserving of.

Not to forget the killer track Sarah Wolfe and Xavier Dunn laid down, Eternal Nights. Ooooft!

If you haven't spent some time listening to the Solium Infernum Original Game Soundtrack, it's well worth your time and you can purchase it on Steam, or listen to it on Spotify[open.spotify.com] and Apple Music[music.apple.com].


Vote now!


<3 LoG

PLEASE NOTE: We have updated the server to facilitate this Patch. If you experience any ongoing connection issues (like turn timers zeroing out or error messages) please just exit the client - do not forfeit/abandon your games! - download the update via Steam, and dive back in. If you were in a sessional game, it will remain in progress and you will be able to re-enter via the main menu.

Hail Archfiends!

We have a little hotfix for you today to just clear out a small issue with supporting Legions not triggering correctly when attacking Panda.

• When attacking Pandaemonium to seize it, and you are not currently excommunicated when beginning the attack, support from your other Legions will now correctly apply.

That's it. Just a small (but obviously extremely important) fix today.


See you In Hell!


<3 LoG

PLEASE NOTE: We have updated the server to facilitate this Patch. If you experience any ongoing connection issues (like turn timers zeroing out or error messages) please just exit the client - do not forfeit/abandon your games! - download the update via Steam, and dive back in. If you were in a sessional game, it will remain in progress and you will be able to re-enter via the main menu.

Hey there Archfiends, what a cozy little day in Hell it is!

So cozy in fact, that we have a little patch for you. That's right, it's the one we teased last week, so you know we've got some Hot New Content™ in v1.1.2 that should serve even the most evil of Archfiends' devious plans. Full patch notes to follow!

• New Place of Power - Pillar of Skulls
  
• New Artifact of War - Wyrmm Mounts
  
• New Artifact of Sorcery - Skull of the Vile Saint
  
• New Artifact Ritual - Ashen Aegis (Granted when Skull of the Vile Saint is installed)
  
• New Ritual - Raid the Library
  
• New Ritual - Blight Wisdom

You can get more info (and peep the card art!) on this content in the reveal post from last week.

• Various VFX fixes.
  
• Fix for NMA caused by attempting to maintain Rituals that require no cost to maintain.
  
• Fix for NMA that can be caused by promoting a Place of Power.
  
• Praetor teleport animation fixes (might still be something broken here, but we can't repro. Bug it up if you see any issues!).
  
• When the 'Dark Clouds Gather' Edict is active while Regent, you are now presented with a single prompt in the turn log to select which Event card to retain instead of having no ability to keep the card presented via Regency.
  
• Fix for 'Buried Fountain' Place of Power sometimes being too buried.
  
• Fix for Stratagems sometimes using the wrong string in modifier lists.
  
• Correctly display the cost of 'Scour the Wastes' Dark Art Ritual in its description.
  
• Properly update turn submission status fire urn UI element when turn order is adjusted by Regency Contingencies.

• Praetor default duelling moves added to the encyclopaedia.
  
• If a Praetor move is upgraded before a Praetor duel is resolved, the new, upgraded Praetor move is used.

Hope you have a blast digging into all this, and don't forget to log any bugs you see via the in-game bug sender. For those who haven't heard, we're taking a long, much needed break over here at LoG - don't worry, we'll be around in case anything sets on fire (it is Hell after all). You can read all the details here.

See you in Hell!


<3 LoG

Also, if you haven't had the chance to check him out yet, we've released a brand new Archfiend! Get acquainted with Belphegor, the Paragon of Impiety, below!

https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/app/2893270/Solium_Infernum__Belphegor_Paragon_of_Impiety/

Greetings Archfiends!

We don't usually reveal content coming in an update ahead of time, but we were so moved by all of your responses to our recent update about taking a much-needed break and the future of Solium Infernum that we couldn't help but share what we've been working on with you all. So here it is, a little glimpse into the content side of what's to come for our favourite underworld and Solium Infernum's next update.

...and a bonus ritual.

Artifact of War
Mounts are not adult wyrmms. They are juvenile creatures whose body masses typically double during metamorphosis. Mounts rarely resemble the image of their adult form, they remain in larva state for nearly a century, and they peak in physical size and intellect four or five years prior to maturation. Since metamorphosed wyrmms have a short life cycle--typically one month for feeding and reproduction--juvenile wyrmms are preferred for their transportive and, occasionally, combative functions. Larvae spend most of their time underground, feeding off minerals of the land, and so their presence above ground is uncommon. --The Diabolic Encyclopedia


Artifact of Sorcery
Tonight I drink from the bottom-side of an ivory and ash chalice. Palm and two fingers cup it by its grooves. Marrow, thick and yellow, boil within its hollow. And the smell of warming sulphur dances up in fumes. Tonight I drink to my longevity. To the pock-marked soil. To the grooves in my face that run like tilled land. I drink to my enemy. May his soul be cast further into the depths of Tartarus, and may I ride a voluminous steed of grey and petrified flesh. --A common toast often associated with drinking from the Vile Saint Skull.

Once equipped to a Ritual Slot, The Skull of the Vile Saint will bestow the below ritual, Ashen Aegis.
Artifact RitualYour garrisons' hearts harden: the Max HP of Places of Power under your control is increased by 6.



Place of Power
The Pillar of Skulls is a totem of large, squat skulls with enlarged proportions and exaggerated facial features, each representing a Son of Typhon lost to battle. Closer observation reveals the etchings of stairs that circle upward and around the pillar's girth. The stairs are masked by the contours of teeth, jaws, and those cranial grooves indicative of battle. --The Diabolic Encyclopedia

There are two new Level 5 Rituals designed to arm late-game Archfiends with the ability to target an opponent's industrious manuscript collecting efforts.
Ritual - Available at Destruction Power 5
Destroys 2 - 3 random manuscript fragments belonging to the target.Ritual - Available at Deceit Power 5
Steals 1 - 2 random manuscript fragments from the target’s library and adds them to your own.
Hopefully this little preview of content to come gets conversation fired up enough to tie you over until the update drops. For those sickos among us who love all the gory details, full patch notes will of course be made available alongside the update's release in coming weeks.

Until then... See you in Hell.


<3 LoG

We have some news to share on the future of Solium Infernum.

Today we announced[leagueofgeeks.com] that after more than 13 years of makin’ games day in and day out, we’re gonna take a break over here at LoG and put the studio into hibernation for a while.

If you’ve been paying attention to the games industry over the past couple of years you’ll know it’s been truly horrible with the major contractions in funding/investment and the resulting studio closures, mass layoffs, game cancellations, etc. Though we tried as much as possible to protect our team and projects, we weren't immune to these shifting winds, and admittedly our games have not made enough to ensure such immunity in a time like this.

By hibernating and reducing costs we can protect the games we have made, and ensure they stay live and playable, whilst getting a much needed break and the chance to survive our industry's economic contraction. Any roll of the dice on further development would have risked total shutdown, which would obviously have been irresponsible to our players and games' communities.

So, with Solium Infernum three months post launch, a DLC launched and the game stable and humming along in a great place, we're gonna take this opportunity to hunker down and wait out this economic winter.

“But what about Solium Infernum?!” you say. Well, I’m glad you asked.

The plan for Solium Infernum was always to release a fully realised game that we can expand upon should the game find commercial success.

While a critical success we’re immensely proud of, Solium Infernum (and every game we develop) had sales targets that it needed to meet (and sustain) to perpetuate active development on expanding the initial experience offered at launch (DLC, updates, etc).

Unfortunately, Solium Infernum has failed to hit those revenue targets that would fund ongoing and active development of additional content.

In its current state, Solium Infernum is a critical success and an experience we are immensely proud of. It remains in Open Critic’s 2024 Hall of Fame (at number eight!) and is #20 on Metacritic’s best games of the year so far! And those reviews came in at launch! Since then, there has been more than three months of additional content, major updates and a brand new DLC.

Whilst it is by no means a perfect game, and we could have easily and happily continued to expand and add to Solium Infernum for years to come, we not only feel very proud and content with the game we have today, but confident that it can stand alone as a valuable experience for years to come.

I understand that Solium Infernum is near and dear to many of you - this weird strategy game Vic bore unto this world has a way of working its dark tendrils into one’s heart - and so I empathise that this will not be the most welcome or pleasant of news. But alas, we cannot continue active development with a full team, expanding upon a game, if that game is not earning the revenue required to fund its expansion. So many of our team have moved on to new, exciting endeavours and a small core team remains at LoG with a goal of ensuring the stability and perpetuity of our existing titles, Solium Infernum included.

With full scale active development not an option, we’ll be taking a slower, long term approach to Solium Infernum's support, where we can poke and prod at the meta from time to time as needed and clean up any pesky bugs that remain - or rear their head.

We’re so immensely grateful for all of the support you’ve provided us in the lead up to and beyond Solium Infernum’s launch. From the early technical playtests through to the constant running feedback and commentary, you’ve helped us make a game that is far more than we could have achieved on our own.

I’m sure a bunch of you have questions, so I’ve posted a quick little speed round FAQ below and will answer questions for a while on this post.

Other than that, see you around! We may be taking a break, but we’ll be around keeping an eye on things and tweaking stuff when and where necessary. We're actually in the process of testing our next little update right now. So, as we always say…

See you in Hell!


<3 LoG



Will the servers/multiplayer stay online?
Yes, multiplayer was specifically engineered to be as light as possible when it came to server overheads, and the game is making more than enough money to cover all server costs and maintenance for the foreseeable future.

So that’s it? Will there be any more updates at all?
Obviously we love this hellish strategy game, so we do still have a couple of small items up our sleeve, and are working on a small update now. Other than that, as mentioned, we’ll be keeping an eye on things and making sure it’s running as smoothly as possible.

Will there be more Archfiends or DLC?
Whilst the uptake on the Belphegor from our existing players has been great, unfortunately, the base game has not sold enough units to provide a user base large enough to support development of additional DLC. So, no, there will be no more DLC or Archfiends for Solium Infernum.

Wait! What about X or Y bug?!
We have worked hard and will continue to do our best to eliminate any remaining critical bugs (we’ve still got an active bug hitlist), but as we move through the critical bugs and the game stabilises more and more, you’ll notice we will begin to only action bugs on a must-fix basis. Fixing one bug always presents the possibility of introducing more bugs, so slow and steady is the way forward.

All that said, naturally it is in our best interest to ensure the game is functional and stable and we will outlay costs at our expense where necessary (and possible) to ensure the game remains that way.

You can’t stop development now, the game is unbalanced! Read my essay on why and how!
There's not much better than an inspired community rant on game balance so don't ever stop sharing, but I will say, we have spent the last three months post-launch listening and reading and watching and poking and prodding and iterating and are very happy with where the game’s balance currently lies. You may disagree, and that’s okay, but Solium Infernum is a large, unwieldy and maniacal beast of labyrinthian connections and devious exceptions. Our goal was never to achieve some state of “perfect balance” for this game.

Vic’s iteration of Solium Infernum was far from perfect, far from complete, far from balanced, but it provided an arena for the most dastardly and daring of us to exercise our demonic machinations for well over a decade. Our humble hope is that LoG’s re-imagining and modernisation of his classic provides that same opportunity for our community.

And fear not, should some wild meta appear that compromises SI’s integrity at some point in the future, we’ll reach into the beast and poke and prod until it sings its forlorn song once more. As mentioned, we will just be taking a slower, more methodical approach to balance and fixes moving forward.

But the Original Solium Infernum had X Legion and Y feature and yours doesn't!
Our intention was never to recreate the perfect replica of OSI. We have carefully chosen which Legions, Artefacts, strategies, features, etc, to bring into our reimagining. If there's something not in the game it was either completely out of scope or not on our original roadmap for various reasons. Of course, we had grand plans should the game have made bajillions and we could continue expanding it for years and years, but as I said earlier, the Solium Infernum you're playing today was designed to be a full product at launch and is very much our intended vision for the re-imagining.

Besides, never say never. We might chuck a Legion or two into the game in future. ;)

Hey that sucks, I’m super bummed, but thanks for all the work you’ve done so far. Love the game and I’m sorry post-launch development didn’t work out!
Hey! Thank you! We appreciate you. Honestly, whilst makin' a bunch of dough would have been great (we are a business after all) the most important objective for us was to take Vic’s masterpiece, this “diamond in the dark”, recut it and bring it out into the light so that those who never knew of OSI could appreciate its brilliance, and those of us who knew its dark embrace, could experience it all over again.

Admittedly, re-imagining Solium Infernum was likely not the greatest economic play, hence why we worked so hard to make sure it was solid before we had to go tools down. But we're so infinitely glad we had the honour and pleasure of resurrecting this magnificent cultural landmark for a new generation. So If you’ve been with us since before launch, we see you and appreciate you. And for the rest of you, we love you too. ;)

Well howdy there demon lords!

Quick lil hotfix for y'all just stompin' a couple bugs.

BUGFIXES

• Fixed a bug where Dutch was erroneously displaying as a language option.
  
• Feretory of False Prophets (Artifact of Pride) now correctly gives +1 Healing rate to all units when attached to PoP.

That's it for now. While you're here, why not regale us with a tale of how you oh so beautifully betrayed a "friend" in Solium Infernrum?


<3 LoG

Also, new Archfiend, Belphegor, Paragon of Impiety was released just last month! For those who haven't had the pleasure of meeting him yet, check him out in all his glory below!

https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/app/2893270/Solium_Infernum__Belphegor_Paragon_of_Impiety/

PLEASE NOTE: We have updated the server to facilitate this Hotfix. If you are experiencing any connection issues (like turn timers zeroing out or error messages) please just exit the client - do not forfeit/abandon your games! - download the update via Steam, and dive back in. If you were in a sessional game, it will remain in progress and you will be able to re-enter via the main menu.

Hey fiends!

Just swingin' by with a little hotfix the team have cooked up for y'all that stomps some pesky bugs.

• Added scrolling to the Notepad - for real this time.
  
• Fixed some issues with tokens being sorted into the payment tray during payment or consolidation.
  
• Fixed an issue with Extort orders where the item type could not be changed after reprogramming the order.
  
• Fixed an issue where Legions could receive double healing by standing between two captured Places of Power.
  
• Fixed an issue where Schemes could appear as completed in the Select A Scheme window.
  
• Fixed an issue where tokens allocated to orders were not safe from Corrupt Tribute or Loot The Vaults.
  
• Fixed an issue where Masked Ongoing Rituals would not appear in the Affected By domain tab.
  
• Fixed an issue where spending one token on the ritual Convert Tribute would not work.
  
• Fixed an issue where Lava Damage would not destroy board pieces.
  
• Fixed an issue where Crown of Bureaucracy and Infernal Taxes could prevent a player completing a Seek Tribute action.
  
• Fixed an issue where Turn Playback might not start.

That's all for now folks! See ya in Hell!


<3 LoG

And don't forget, for those who haven't seen it yet, we recently released a brand new Archfiend! Check out Belphegor in all his glory below!

https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/app/2893270/Solium_Infernum__Belphegor_Paragon_of_Impiety/

Hey Archfiends,

We just pushed a quick lil Hotifx following today's patch to resolve some issues where games wouldn't load properly if there were ongoing masked rituals in play, which should be resolved now.

We'll be leaving turn timers paused for a little while longer to ensure proper propagation of this fix. If you experience any ongoing connection issues (like turn timers zeroing out or error messages) please just exit the client - do not forfeit/abandon your games! - download the update via Steam, and dive back in. If you were in a sessional game, it will remain in progress and you will be able to re-enter via the main menu.

Cheers, pals!


<3 LoG