Happy New Year everyone! We've been a bit silent since the holidays, so wanted to take a moment to update everyone on where the game is at and let you know that Cantata is featured in the Steam Base Builder Fest, with a new Demo for you to try out! You can explore Shoal either solo or with your friends in multiplayer mode!



To recap, let's talk a bit first about some major things we did in 2022! Firstly, some of the things below were already on our roadmap, but it should really be emphasized that many of the game's design changes and tweaks came directly from community feedback. To everyone participating in early access and giving us feedback, THANK YOU! You are helping make this game be the best it can be! Okay, let's get into it!

Early Access To Date

VERY POSITIVE!

We recently hit a "Very Positive" review score on Steam! To everyone that's left a positive review, thank you! As a reminder, if you enjoy Cantata, leaving a positive review REALLY helps us for visibility on Steam's end. Again, THANK YOU!!

Massive Supply Line System Overhaul

If you haven't played Cantata since the initial early access release, this is a major change. We saw how tedious it was to manage the game's supply lines, and as such effectively axed the system in favor of something that retains their intended purpose while also just being much better to deal with (and give more creative possibility). Read more here for a better overview.

Ammo

Many units now require ammo to attack. A far cry from just being some new micro system, ammo instead forces you to think strategically about captured regions and production.

Region Infrastructure / Supply

As part of the above changes, we also fundamentally changed how things are built. Instead of a global building menu and global supply, buildings are now built per region, using the resources that are stored in a region from the buildings that produce inside of them. Connected regions form an automatic supply network and share an inventory, making keeping your regions connected and defended much more important now.

Hotseat and Online Multiplayer

What it says in the title! We added the ability to play Cantata online with other people. The maps available for this are limited for now, but will be much expanded in the future with workshop support (see our update next week).

Map Editor

We've said it a million times, but the editor we ship with the game is the same editor we use to design ALL the maps in the game (including the campaign!). We actively use the tool and are constantly improving it and adding features to help us make Cantata, and YOU get to also benefit from that. Since Early Access we've added a litany of new features — variables, new trigger actions and conditions, UX improvements, etc. We not only use the tool but make sure that the tool is *useable* by the average player. If you haven't ever jumped in to give it a shot, we highly recommend you check it out!

That's a brief overview, but there's obviously so much more. Unit changes like radiant passives, tech tree changes, tons of unit balance and tweaking. Plenty of audio enhancements and new music, new art, etc. Check back in next week when we'll run you through our plans for the upcoming Orbital Drop (New Story Chapters 👀) and what to expect in the coming months.

Thank you,

Afterschool & Modern Wolf



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