Shipping rewards and DLC plans
8 months ago – Tue, Aug 29, 2023 at 06:51:08 AM

Ho there, adventurers!

Now all physical rewards are packed and ready to be sent. We truly hoped that we could make this happen in August, but we need a couple of weeks more to actually deliver them to you who still haven't received it. 

Since rewards are delivered to all over the world, and more than half of the packages will be sent outside the European Union, they will be subject to customs clearance as well. This makes the whole process more complicated, because we want to make sure everything is set perfectly even for the packages that will be delivered outside the EU (it seems that this was easier for crowdfunding rewards a couple of years before, but not anymore). We could send the packages at different times in different batches (e.g. EU, USA, Asia etc.), but then we would lose a major discount that we get for the very high number of packages (making our finances even more difficult).

To be brief, you should receive all your physical rewards before the end of September. Thank you for your patience. 

Game Localizations

Besides English, the game is now also available in Brazilian-Portuguese (released today!),  French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish,  Spanish, Latin American Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Russian, and Turkish. 

Future of the team and DLC plans

As far as the future of Black Geyser and our studio is concerned, we are truly grateful for your extremely valuable feedback that you provided here on Kickstarter and via our Google survey  as well (the survey will remain open for some more time). Based on the results, we have decided to organize a Kickstarter campaign for the DLC in the near future. We also managed to secure the required minimum budget for organizing such a campaign. For more details on the planned DLC, see this forum post.

If the Kickstarter is successful, our team will be able to stay together and create a DLC for the game. In this case, a free fixpack will also be developed for the base game, which will be delivered as a free regular update to all owners of the game (you won't need to own the DLC to receive this update). Even though we call it a fixpack, it will contain new features and important QoL improvements as well (check out this post for the complete list).

Since a successful Kickstarter campaign for the DLC enables the Black Geyser team to stay afloat, it will also allow us to plan a Black Geyser sequel in details and launch another Kickstarter later to fund its development. Sadly, if the DLC Kickstarter fails, our studio will most likely be forced to shut down.

We will inform you as soon as we have more details to share about the upcoming Kickstarter. This update should happen within two weeks.

The Black Geyser Team

We Need Your Feedback
about 1 year ago – Fri, Mar 03, 2023 at 07:43:44 PM

Greetings adventurers,

Our team is currently facing financial difficulties. It's not getting any better for now, but we have some hope here that we want to share with you. The current post will discuss two topics: delivering Kickstarter rewards to backers (this is not in danger), and the overall project status and future of our studio (this is a big problem currently).

If you have no time now to read further, please skip directly to our Google survey.

Delivering boxed editions soon

First of all, we are truly sorry about the big delay many of you might be experiencing in receiving your physical Kickstarter rewards. All digital rewards (lorebooks, original soundtrack, digital wallpapers etc.) have been sent a couple of days ago - if you haven't received yours, please let us know and we will look into it immediately.

Good news is that all physical rewards (premium and normal boxes, books, cloth maps, T-Shirts, mousepads and keychains) have been produced except a last batch of lorebooks. This final batch of books rolls off the production line in 2 weeks and will be delivered to us immediately. This means that all physical rewards should be ready for shipping before the end of this month. In what follows, we will discuss the reason of the delays.

Delays regarding Black Geyser almost always have financial reasons, and reward delivery was no exception. When the full version of Black Geyser finally launched in March 2022, the war was already active in our neighbor country Ukraine. Inflation in our country increased significantly, and the international shortage of pulp and paper already affected the printing/manufacturing industry in most countries. Manufacturing prices increased a lot compared to our original financial plan, so we needed to start making new reserves to be able to produce the physical rewards. There were other difficulties as well - negotiation and special deals for each reward type. For example, even before the war, we were not able to find a high-quality printing company that offers custom box manufacturing in quantities smaller than 500 copies (per box type). Not even for a higher price. Similar issues arose for other reward types as well before we finally managed to find suitable partners for everything.

Future of the Black Geyser Team

First and foremost, a reminder of who we are and what Black Geyser is. We are a very small indie team, and Black Geyser has always been a community effort. Without your support, it wouldn't exist at all. Sometimes we receive feedback where disappointed players seem to believe we are a mid-size indie company. We are not, and it's definitely our mistake if we have set exaggerated expectations with Black Geyser for some backers. Having said that, we sincerely believed in every single objective that we ever set for Black Geyser. It is our very first videogame product, and we learnt really a lot from this project. We made mistakes of varying severity in management, planning, scope, writing, design, character depth and so on. Still, we created a serviceable game (that is hopefully still enjoyed by many), with a Steam rating of 71% and a GOG rating of 3.9 out of 5. This is as far as we could get with our limited budget.

We learnt from our mistakes, looking at Black Geyser as a first lesson. We want to finish its DLC, and we would love to create a sequel as well - a sequel 10 times better than the original Black Geyser. Unfortunately, however, we encountered an obstacle that we cannot defeat alone: funding our team, even short-term. A Catch 22 situation. We are constantly supporting Black Geyser and trying to address several issues, but current sales are no longer enough to keep our studio afloat. In fact, sales are decreasing as Steam rating is gradually reduced by the reviews of disappointed players. There are more than 80,000 wishlists currently, but they do not convert to sales. There we are, a Catch 22 situation. At the same time, living costs have greatly increased here due to inflation, and our team members have to make a living, too.

Regardless of what happens, all Kickstarter rewards (boxes, books etc.) will be delivered. We have got you covered here.

Black Geyser and creating further RPGs have been our dream. However, unless we get a clear signal that players want us to keep developing games, it might be soon the time to move on. The current situation is not good for anyone: we cannot deliver the quality and gaming experience to you that we would like to, making you disappointed. At the same time, several team members already left, and our core team is in danger as well - we can no longer make a living in these circumstances.

Therefore, we ask your sincere feedback about Black Geyser and our future projects (including Kickstarter campaigns). We ask you to fill this Google Forms survey (it is very short) and spread the word about it as much as you can. 

What We Can Do

Without support from the fan base, we will have to close our studio after all Kickstarter rewards are delivered to backers. On the other hand, if we get the necessary support from you in a Kickstarter campaign, we will be able to finish the DLC development this year and will also start working on the Black Geyser sequel. (See planned DLC features.) In details:

What we have:

• We have a fully functional RPG game engine in place that we only need to improve. This is much, much, much cheaper than developing an engine from scratch based on Unity.
• A still strong team with many lessons learnt from Black Geyser 1. A team that has leveled up several experience levels.
• Former team members of great expertise who will return to us once we can afford their positions.

What we need for the DLC and the sequel: 

• A Kickstarter to fund the DLC and then the Black Geyser sequel. So we don't ask support for any ongoing operation but for developing something new. First, developing a DLC, then a sequel.

Frequently Asked Questions:

We have posted a detailed FAQ on Steam that will answer a lot of questions you may have about the current topic.

Again, please fill in this short Google Forms survey if you have time. It would help us a LOT. 

Thank you for your feedback in advance!

Black Geysers Officially Launches
about 2 years ago – Thu, Mar 17, 2022 at 02:06:13 PM

Ho there, adventurers!

After years of development, a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign, and over 6 months of Early Access, Black Geyser officially launched into 1.0 today. In that time, we've worked incredibly hard to implement your feedback and improve on the things that matter to you.

We will soon be back with more information on the schedule regarding the delivery of Kickstarter-specific rewards (both digital and physical). In the meantime, here are some improvements that happened during the Early Access period:

What We've Improved

Black Geyser's most requested improvement.

We've vastly improved load times to significantly improve the speed at which you can enter and exit buildings and zones. We continue to work hard on improving these even further.
 

You suggested, we delivered.

Our tutorial wasn't perfect, and Black Geyser was difficult to start out in. We've overhauled the tutorial, cleaned up our signposting and given players much more help through its opening hours.
 

Magic lacked spark.

You right highlighted that casters were far too weak compared to other classes in Black Geyser, so we completely reworked their abilities and balance to significantly improve their potency.
 

You wanted even more content and we were happy to oblige.

Black Geyser was already a large game, but when it comes to old-school CRPG's, we agree you can never have enough. We've implemented all new quests, Chapter 3 of the core story and made significant improvements to plenty of others.
 

Hitting like a wet noodle is never fun.

Many players raised concerns that their characters and their abilities weren't scaling properly, leaving them feeling far too weak against ever tougher enemies. We've fixed this, so you'll feel much stronger as you explore the wilds of Yerengal. 

Everyone should be able to play Black Geyser.

Mac & Linux support were important for us and our community, and never more so than with the Steam Deck having arrived (we have hopes!). We're pleased to say Black Geyser is now available on both.

We want our encounters to be tactical and challenging.

We've added all new boss mechanics and unique encounters to Black Geyser. These are designed to make fights much more tactical, while ensuring greater difficulty for those who choose to seek out these enemies. 

Wrap up warm for these cold spots.

You can now explore the northern frozen harbour of Freynagar, separated from the city by a huge ice dome, or take a trip to Amanuel's Hoard, the seaside fort owned by the greediest man in history. These new zones come with a cold warning. 

Love to make potions? Its got much better

Our crafting wasn't as intuitive as it could be, and it was too time consuming. We've streamlined the process, implemented automated recipes (have the items in your inventory? You'll be able to craft at the press of a button) and refined the process by making it much more accessible.

Finally if you've missed it, we've a launch trailer below!

Thank You

Thank you to everyone who has been on this journey with us and don't worry, we're not finished yet. We've plenty of updates on the horizon. For all those diving in for the first time, be sure to stop by our Discord and chat by the fire.

The Black Geyser Team

Let Your Greed Grow On March 17
about 2 years ago – Sat, Feb 19, 2022 at 06:25:02 AM

Greetings, adventurers!

We're happy to announce that Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness will be released on 17th March 2022!

Since the game released into Early Access in August 2021, we've been blown away by the sheer amount of feedback and support we've received. We knew that the game wasn't quite where we wanted it to be, and we wanted to work hard and use this time to refine our vision. In total, we've delivered over 19 huge updates. From significant improvements to loading times, all new quest chapters, to a fully reworked tutorial and fresh zones: explore the northern frozen harbour of Freynagar, separated from the city by a huge ice dome, or take a trip to Amanuel's Hoard, the seaside fort owned by the greediest man in history. 

Going back in history a bit... One of our key milestones in the project financing was our campaign on Kickstarter. It is the contribution and awesome feedback of our crowdfunding backers that made this project a reality. THANK YOU!

Last year, before finalizing the custom content, we sent e-mails (both manually and via BackerKit) to contact all backers with a game design related reward tier (such as the Undead Miser hoard design). Even though we used a different e-mail address for the reminder emails (hosted by distinct major providers, including Google) to ensure our emails don't end up in spam folder, a small percentage of backers could not be reached in any way. In their case, we assumed that they didn't intend to participate in the game design. Thank you everyone again for your support and contributions!

If you have used your Steam/GOG key to activate your Early Access version of the game, then you will receive the full release automatically via your client software. If you haven't yet activated the game, you can find your key(s) in your BackerKit account.

Most extra digital rewards will be delivered at launch, while a smaller part of them will be delivered a couple of weeks later. Boxed editions and physical rewards will also be delivered later (we will inform you as soon as we know more information on this), but the digital keys that belong to them are already available in your BackerKit account in the "Downloads" section, so you can play the full version of the game immediately at launch.

We will keep you updated!

The Black Geyser Team

Improved bug reporting tool with new fixes
over 2 years ago – Fri, Jan 14, 2022 at 02:04:52 AM

Greetings, adventurers!

Our nineteenth round of fixes and improvements is here! It includes the option to regulate the AoE spellcasting behavior for your Party AI, as well as increased stability and usability for the integrated bug reporting tool - you can activate it by pressing the Alt+B key combination! You can read the complete list below:

• Added AoE spellcasting behavior selector to party members (including Reckless behavior!)
• Improved stability and usability for the bug report tool
• Upgraded visuals for the Broken Monastery
• Upgraded visuals for Freynagar's ice dome
• Fixed lighting in the Underground Cave, Time Cave and Dream Cave
• Fixed spawn points and orientations in many areas
• Party members now spawn facing enemies on random encounter areas
• Fixed a cutscene bug when entering Deron-Guld without the diplomatic escort 
• Slings now count as one-handed weapons
• Fixed Jade's recruitment dialogue
• Jade's diadem can now be removed or equipped after purification
• The Old Beginnings quest now gives proper rewards and causes greed and reputation changes
• The Old Beginnings quest now results in proper greed and reputation changes
• Damage profile and hit ratio for summoned spiders and wolves has been adjusted
• Recipes cannot be learned any more by inspecting their descriptions in shops
• Members removed from the party no longer show their current HP in empty party slots
• Creature nameplates from the previous area now disappear properly during transition
• Several unlootable containers have been fixed
• Race and Class descriptions now fit their respective panels in Character Generation
• Several stairs have been fixed where party characters would spawn under them
• Weapons are no longer teleported away from creatures when looting their gear
• Several locations have been fixed where invisible / stealth characters were seen by npc-s
• Sparing the enemy is now handled properly in "Galdrigerr's Raider Problem"
• The door to Beline's home now appears properly in the revolt of Chapter 3
• Siding with Aldnar in Chapter 3 now makes his gate guards friendly upon exit
• Formula of the Pick Locks skill now works properly
• Weight calculation now works properly for all party members
• The bridge of the Crimson Crossing is now properly clickable
• The Entangle spell now correctly creates the Immobilize effect
• Crowd chatter and noises are inactive at the Wardenhaft Academy during night
• Inn room descriptions now fit their UI panels properly
• Information on multi-selecting items is now displayed in the Shop Tutorial
• Added missing "Poisonous" stat to ingredients
• The Panic effect of the Coat of Darkness spell is now visible in the combat log
• The Talgorn Inn's name is now properly displayed in the minimap
• Spirits of Beline and Fidelio are now exempt from spells and damage
• Added dialogue to the Red Damsel innkeeper
• Door highlight of the Frozen Spirit inn is now displayed properly
• Added stat description to the Poison Weapon spell
• Blade of the Widowmaker greatsword now faces the proper direction
• NPCs in the Valley of Singing Trees now help defeat some local enemies if needed

The Black Geyser Team