Dev Diary 69 - Demo Release!

August 2, 2025 · 4 min · Vsevolod

And, this update is an even more important milestone that the previous one! :) After years of development, I finally completed a demo build and it was finally released on Steam. Watch a new trailer about it and read the full article to know more details!

Or just play it!

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I’m really pleased with how people met the demo! There has been a lot of feedback and improvements since release, and I’m so thankful for that and for all the kind words, this is really inspiring. I’m really curious about what happens in the following months.

I literally jumped when I learned that Nookrium released a video where he plays the game!

Also, Hawksu has released a 2H letsplay with Colossal Citadels.

Thank you guys!!

Currently the demo has been through 2 festivals and there is one more coming that I’m really looking forward to: Steam 4X games festival!

Updates

Besides A LOT of bugfixing, something was actually added to the game.

First of all, spell tooltips now finally display range and targeting type:

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There are some new spells that boost production now. For example, a Whip spell that does some physical damage, but boosts production speed.

Creature descriptions in “Story” tab now contain more info. Some monsters have quite extensive descriptions! I try to come up with some facts and stories about monsters. There are too many of them. If someone wants to contribute, send them to me and I’ll feature you in thanks section of credits! Here is an example description:

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Firs ON CONSUME effect was changed to much more interesting one: it gives 1 exp to a random creature. Moreover I fixed an issue that prevented some of exp sources being activated sometimes, so now exploration gives more exp! Generally, exploring 1 tile gives someone 1 exp.

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There were some more small changes and rebalancings (see the full log).

Tutorials

While I’m still continuously improving the in-game tutorials experience, it still far from covering everything. I tried to sum up most of the important things in detailed tutorial guides.

This one is a Quickstart Guide, covering all the basics:

  • Faction Selection

  • Objectives

  • UI Rundown

  • Movement

  • Productions

  • Understandings (tech)

  • Tooltips

  • Building Houses

  • Creature Stats

  • Battles

  • Weapons

  • Elemental Gems & Abilities

  • Fortification Building

And this one is more advanced, even covering some strategic information. It contains some things you won’t learn by yourself because they aren’t covered by tutorial yet - such as spell autocasting.

  • Enchanting Characteristics and Spells

  • Passives and Upgrading

  • Deck of Understandings

  • Redraw

  • Upkeep

  • Autocast

  • Damage Estimations

  • Skill Costs

  • Movement Predictions and Strategic Mode

Changelog

And here is the full changelog since the last update on the blog! From I also list all the bug fixes, not just features. All these updates were posted to game updates on Steam.

  • Creature “Story” tab was improved with more descriptions. Some monsters now have extensive descriptions.
  • Spell targeting type and range is now shown in spell tooltip
  • Fixed link to creatures and resources in tooltips displaying nothing instead of the item
  • Improved tutorial flow (fixed some parallel tutorial tracks starting at the same time)
  • Buffed “Heroism” belief (now it accounts non-producing workers in the group, gives much stronger bonus, but only to them)
  • Updated Chinese translation (all creature names are translated now)
  • Fixed issues with settings/unlockables don’t save if the game crashed
  • Fixed issue where tutorials were displayed again or when tutorials were disabled
  • Fixed issue where borders weren’t updated if a production change affects them (e.g. with repositioned creatures)
  • Fixed issue with wrong engineering production counts being limited
  • If you can’t place movement order due to no orders, creatures will still be repositioned next to right click
  • Fixed disappearing tooltips in ability list
  • Reward hint is more visible
  • More fixes with tutorials blocking gameplay
  • Esc hides shown tutorial now
  • Buildings (excluding fortifications) production count is now limited
  • Fixed the issue when consumables were applying effects permanently
  • UX improvements in settings and tooltips
  • Can select language in main menu
  • Version number in main menu
  • Fixed crash with some of the training productions (but couldn’t reproduce the issue with workers not being assigned yet)
  • Some event choice texts were bigger than their buttons
  • Fixed tooltip issues
  • Fir’s On Consume now gives exp instead of something useless
  • Crystals can now be mined 5 times instead of 2
  • All metals can be mined for a bit more
  • All creature sources can be mined less times
  • Fixed issues with adding exp on productions
  • All production and exploration now gives a little bit of exp as intended
  • Resources list (top left button) has received some love and you can use it now
  • Ending turn closes extra windows
  • Rotated that sword in the main menu…
  • New resources notification now doesn’t stretch offscreen
  • New resources notification now hides resources you’ve already seen
  • New workers notification now doesn’t stretch offscreen
  • New production-related spells: Whip, Sloth, Endure, Supervise
  • Commander training now gives some of these spells instead of WIP ones
  • Clearer short descriptions for Influence and other understandings like it
  • Fixed remaining issues with tutorials appearing even when they are disabled

Have a nice day!