G’day all!

We’re very happy to be bringing you our second major update since launch. This should be considered more of a hotfix than a major content update (although that is in the works) as it addresses many small bugs, quest logic fixes, a late-game issue that could cause a soft lock for some players, item and container fixes to vendor inventories, tweaks to certain skill checks, and more.

We’re also very excited to announce two additional Narrative Consultants who are now working with us to make Broken Roads the best game it can be, and you’ll start seeing their changes in our next content updates.

So, without further ado…

George Ziets and Olga Moskvina have joined the team!

We’re extremely pleased to announce that two very experienced RPG writers and designers are now working on Broken Roads. George Ziets, whose titles include Fallout New Vegas, Neverwinter Nights 2 and more recently Wasteland 3, and Olga Moskvina, who worked on Disco Elysium and Stasis: Bone Totem, are on board as Narrative Consultants.

George and Olga are examining every part of the narrative and quest design from origin story through to the end of the game and we’ve already started making numerous small tweaks and improvements throughout.

We’ll share much more in the coming months, with full breakdowns (we’ll try avoid the spoilery stuff as much as possible!) of the edits and additions for those interested. We’re unsure of the exact word count we’ll be adding, but our last patch introduced over 10,000 words for the origin stories alone (and some small mid-game tweaks and changes), so expect much more to come.

RECENT Steam User Reviews have now reached Very Positive

We wanted to send a huge thank you to everyone who has taken the time to post a review on Steam. Nothing helps indie developers before launch as much as wishlists, and nothing helps indie developers after launch as much as posting a review.

Over the last month our recent user reviews have gone from Mixed to Mostly Positive to Very Positive, and at the time of writing we’re at 86%. It’s incredibly rewarding to see the work that the team have put into improving the game since launch paying off. We know it takes players time to write reviews, so every single one of them is appreciated!

Steam Summer Sale Discount

The Steam Summer Sale has just begun, and we have discounted Broken Roads on Steam by 20%. If you’ve been waiting for a sale or a new patch, now’s the time!

Auto-Assigning Companions on Level Up

At launch, companions in Broken Roads would level up automatically. We received feedback from players that they would rather manually level up everyone in their party, so added the ability to do so.

Those who still prefer to focus on their player character only can use Auto Assign on each level up (and can do so in Merredin even if your companions are not in the party). Look out for the exclamation mark over your player character or any companions which indicates that you can them up.

We’ve also added a dialogue option, shown below, to back out of assembling your companions before departing Merredin. A small quality of life improvement if players happen to accidentally access the Overworld Map without meaning to.

Backing out of assembling your companions if you don’t want to access the Overworld Map.

Version Numbers

We’ve had some players point out that the version numbers between the various PC platforms are not always the same. That’s just a part of the build process we have in Unity, and can assure you the contents are identical. Here’s where we are at the moment with regards to the different PC version numbers:

Steam: 1.2.8883
GOG: 1.2.8884
Epic: 1.2.8886

Patch Notes

Details of what you can expect in this update are below, split between general fixes and origin story changes up top, with mid/late game spoiler fixes in their own section afterwards.

Thanks and have fun playing!

- The team at Drop Bear Bytes

Full patch notes (early game and non-spoiler fixes):

Cats once again meow when you pet them.
There are now more goats on things.
Adjusted pricing of certain items.
Changed some skill check and attribute check values.
Some vendor inventories have general and junk items removed.
Some vendor inventories now contain more items used for different quests across the game.
The Greater Good and Dignity for All moral traits now checks if the targeted enemy is directly between the player character and the allied combatant, and no longer prevents attacking if so.
Fixed an issue where setting keybindings would not sometimes persist when reloading.
Fixed an issue where the SR98 +1 variant needed 4AP to instead of 3AP to fire.
Fixed an issue where a death container had the wrong name for the Jackaroo Origin Story.
Alanna now spawns inside of Taylor’s Farm during the Jackaroo Origin Story to reduce load times.
Fixed an issue where Sean would be holding the wrong weapon model during the Jackaroo Origin Story combat.
Fixed where the player and their party stand when speaking to Charlie Evans during the Prelude.
Fixed an issue where an incorrect voice line played for Tina in Kokeby.
Added titles to death containers that were previously empty.

Alanna now spawns inside of Taylor’s Farm during the Jackaroo Origin Story to reduce load times.

Possible spoilers below:

Fixed an issue where The Sickness Unto Death quest would not fail after the attack on Brookton.

The Sickness Unto Death quest is now marked as abandoned if players do not complete “Talk to Damo Lane in the marketplace about his sick friend“ before Jess puts Sid in the camel cart.
Fixed an issue where an objective during The Sickness Unto Death quest would not complete at the appropriate time.
Fixed an issue where Cole could be asked how he felt about Ian Mason being killed in Kokeby even though the player is of Surveyor origin.
Mick and the player stand closer when speaking after fleeing the attack on Brookton combat.
The medkit Sarah asks you to collect during the attack on Brookton now disappears if you tell her to leave before collecting it.
Fixed an issue where Alanna would spawn in Merredin even if she was left behind in Brookton.
Fixed an issue where Sid would spawn in Merredin even if he was killed or left behind in Brookton.
Fixed an issue where retreating from the kangaroo combat in the Plane Crash scene could lead to a soft lock.
Cleared more Fog of War when the Plane Crash tyre tracks combat is about to start.
Removed a tree that was making it hard to see what was happening during the kangaroo combat in the Plane Crash.
Fixed an issue where players had to walk all the way to a character during the Plane Crash just to see their bark.
Players can now select “(Don’t leave just yet)” at the start of the party selection process in Merredin.
Matty Opik’s name is now revealed much sooner when you meet him in Southern Cross.
Fixed an issue where Numbat would spawn in her home in Merredin at night even if she didn’t live in Merredin anymore.
Fixed an issue where players could not give Uncle Koya the necessary items to complete The Use Of Spies.
Fixed an error that would appear when speaking to Dead Ringer in Ardath.
Added a camera pan so players can see the sprinkler Denny is having issues with in Lake Deborah.
Denny now gives a reward when you fix the sprinkler for him in Lake Deborah.
Fixed an issue where players were not allowed into Kalgoorlie if they had fired the Device even though they had done the requisite number of jobs.
The objectives “Enter Kalgoorlie as a Scientist” and “Enter Kalgoorlie as a Trader” now close if players lose access to Southern Cross or Koorda respectively while Of A Future State is active.
Djet can also be considered sent to Kalgoorlie if Julianne Wakefield keeps her in Aldersyde during The Attack by Fire quest.
Fixed a bug where it was possible for Machiavellian players to get the gold nugget from Ruben more than once.
Fixed a possible softlock where Ruby Squier would not spawn at the Ingot in Kalgoorlie.
Adjusted visual FX timings when using Sally’s Leg as a weapon so enemy is not shown as hit earlier than they should be.
Fixed an issue where Kev’s model and portrait did not change to be the opposite moral quadrant of the player.
Players now get arrested right after saying no to planting bombs for Ruby Squier in Kalgoorlie.
The skeletons you can loot during an Overworld encounter now use the correct SFX.
Pan speed during Fast Mode when using a controller has now been normalised.
SFX has been added to Auto Assign when using a controller.
Revealed some of the Fog of War near the Flaming Galah and Hunters and Collectors after you first speak to Holly and first enter HnC.