We’ve pushed a pair of patches on to the test server this week and have been paying close attention to community feedback. Let’s talk about Echoes progress and showcase some of the custom matches our testers have created.

Echoes progress

We’ve implemented the planned cross-faction treaties on the test server, which means we are almost “spell complete”in regards to Echoes production. While a few spells and enchantments remain, the majority of remaining Echoes content is going to be generally the more visually interesting types of scrolls: Units.

Speaking of visually interesting things, we have an update for you on our asset progress for Echoes. Our trackers now show that we are 89% complete in regards to art assets needed to make Echoes a reality. In the following weeks, expect a lot of new creatures and structures to be popping up on the test server, including our old friend Varas, seen above.

We worked hard to get the four new treaties out in the middle of this week, but unfortunately that means we don’t have a new scroll to reveal to you today. We recognize how important it is to be fed new content regularly as a player – and it is personally one of my highest goals as a community manager. That said, we’ll have more to serve up next week!

Custom matches

If you didn’t notice from the patch notes earlier this week, the custom match feature now functions in games against the AI. This makes it a lot easier for testers to play around with it, which means a lot of new funny/creative match scenarios have already appeared. Players are already tossing around ideas of special tournament formats that were never possible before. I see a lot of potential in the custom match feature, and I think it’s worth showcasing a few of the more interesting settings I’ve seen. I apologize for not having the names of who created them, but you know who you are.

Shambler Sickness party

Is there anything better than a Shambler Sickness party? The answer to that is probably yes, but in this custom match, each unit you summon begins with three copies of Shambler Sickness enchanted on to it.

Shambler Sickness is one of the community scrolls that won the Scrollsguide design contest, and forces a unit to behave like a Mire Shambler – moving randomly before it attacks. What happens when you put three on a unit? Let’s hit end turn and find out.

…I guess his home planet needed him.

To be fair, I probably could have done a better job of keeping him still.

I am the Jarlax, I speak for the trees

A Dr. Seuss inspired player creation, this custom match puts you in control of an industrial and poisonous combination of Energy/Decay structures. Your task is to destroy the innocent forces of Growth, and it’s giant Jarl-like guardian.

It’s scenarios like this where players would love to be able to control “tutorial like” text boxes during a custom match to assist in story telling. Aron made a comment on this a couple days ago on the subreddit, but in short this might create a very confusing lump of custom match code in order to get working correctly. We can’t make any promises on whether or not a feature like this would make it in – but this custom match is a great example of how a story can be told without a single text box. On the other hand, it would be very interesting to see stories like Dr. Faust‘s Jack and the Death Machine come to life.

23 Kinfolk Braves

There is, of course, the custom match where your deck consists only of 23 Kinfolk Braves. Why 23? I don’t know, but that’s exactly what it is. Maybe 24 was too many. You are faced with many important decisions each round. For example: should you summon a Brave, or perhaps two Braves? I chose to summon many Braves, and it worked out pretty well.

There are many more custom matches out there, some more crazy than others. This is just on the test server – I’m looking forward to seeing what shows up when Echoes goes live.

Community spotlight

We’re transforming the heads of a couple helpful individuals today. If you see them around, give them your thanks!

Cradstache : You may recognize him as the in-game Moderator that is often around helping out new players with questions or collecting feedback for the developers in various ways. While he does have an unhealthy obsession with turtles, it’s no question that he has made, and continues to make, a positive impact in our community!

: You may recognize him as the in-game Moderator that is often around helping out new players with questions or collecting feedback for the developers in various ways. While he does have an unhealthy obsession with turtles, it’s no question that he has made, and continues to make, a positive impact in our community! Lord_Ralex : The IRC Scrolls help guru. If you’ve ever been to the #scrollshelp IRC channel recently, you’ve probably spoken to this guy. He has an answer for everything and tries very hard to make sure your problem is fixed, which is almost always the end result.

While we’re on the topic of community contributors, Dialex has posted yet another Meta update on the current state of Ranked play. It’s worth a look if you haven’t read it already.

ESL Scrolls Open – Sunday, May 2nd

Only two cups remain in the current season of ESL Scrolls. There’s still plenty of chances to earn your spot in the playoffs.

Sign up here!

See you next week. Hope your Walpurgis Night was full of Walpurgis!

-Gary(@Atmaz)