- Long Time Coming - A Big Update - 10 June 2026
Ahoy, Captains!It's been a long while since our last major update, and we have been busy. The waters have been rough, but we've charted a new course and made significant progress toward the full release. Jack and Jeff have been working hard to get all these big overhauls out the door for yall. I know yall know how tough it is for indies out there and that this project has been a heavy load to carry so far for so long.Please excuse/permit the tool assisted format of the update below, it really helps to organize all the code changes for this update, it was a big one. I won't make a habit of this. Here's what's new in the world of Levantera.Please note these updates are all only available on the Beta branch. Please go to properties and check out the beta branch to try out these features. ⚓ New Story & World ProgressionThe narrative has been significantly expanded and restructured:Carden Ci…
- Stars in the sky! - 11 December 2024
Howdy! It's Jack again. Little patch for the beta build; I fixed the stars in the sky drawing strangely and a couple of critical crashes preventing progress in chapter 1. There are still a bunch more but I fixed a few of them! Let me know if you see any improvements and let me know if you like this type of update style!
- Engine overhaul on beta branch - 10 December 2024
Howdy yall, it's Jack! The beta branch now has a highly unstable build of 6.0.0 with lots of bugs, it is merely a tech demo of the new combat system. This project has been through a lot over the years, and the team and player community has experienced a lot of highs and lows around this title. There have been a lot of missed opportunities, unmet expectations, and struggles with designing and developing this game. It has sort of served as the background project for developing Lasso Games as a company, and as a result of not turning away other opportunities that have presented themselves, we have gotten to do a lot of really cool things with other more successful projects and endeavors that you may have seen. (See MiniLaw and Highway Rampage) I have been pushing myself lately to try and make progress on this title, in spite of all the struggles, roadblocks, rocks, broken glass, spiders, a…
- Planning to set sail once again! - 6 May 2024
Hello everyone! It's Jack. I know it has been a long time since the last update. I have good news this time! Lasso Games has recently converted into a worker co-op and has gotten a lot of new activity lately, and I think we are going to be able to put together a plan to get this game finished! I'm providing a super high-level development road map to let yall in on what we are planning. Levantera: Tale of the Winds Game Development Roadmap Phase 1: Framework and Core Mechanics Objective: Establish the basic framework and core mechanics of the game. Tasks: Develop the combat system, including mechanics for defeating enemies and bosses. Implement the ship combat mechanics, focusing on ship-to-ship battles and boarding actions. Design resource gathering and trading mechanics to support the player's progression and ship upgrades. Create a system for inventory management and item durability,…
- A Long Journey, Concluded - 25 October 2022
Howdy everyone, Jack here. I've spent a little over a month trying to figure out how to write this announcement. The Post-Mortem There has been a lot of heavy weight on me to deliver something to yall and to complete this title as promised, but it seems as though at this point in time, the trajectory of completion is going to result in a final product that is nowhere near what I intended this game to be when it was conceptualized in early 2015. Myself and a small group of developers started Lasso Games as a partnership in 2015. Levantera was just a little tech demo I called "Project Tradewind" and it looked like Simon Belmont jumping around on some blocks. It looked hilariously bad and I never really intended, at that point, for it to be a commercial "product." https://i.imgur.com/texnc67.png Shortly thereafter, a small group of friends of mine who were talented artists, musicians, and…
- Development is not dead! - 19 November 2021
Howdy, Jack here. I know a lot of yall have been wondering why there have been no updates to this game in like...a long time? Well, the folks that have been hanging out in our discord, following us on twitter, and those that know us personally know that there have been a lot of things going on behind the scenes this whole time, and a lot of things that have come up in our personal lives that took Lasso Games off track a bit. But! This is not a bad news announcement. It's a good news announcement! A lot of major overhauls are underway that will completely transform the gameplay experience of this title. A couple examples: https://i.imgur.com/HQ9QDdo.gif The combat system is getting completely overhauled. We are looking to totally transform the way combat is done in this game. As much as I love the old school Castlevania style combat, we just don't think that it is going to make for an en…
- 0.4.0 [Windows] - The Heat Is Back On - 2 June 2019
Howdy! Jack here again, I know it's been a very long time. Before we get started, I just want to remind and reassure everyone that this project is still very much underway and we have no plans of giving up on it. At all. Ever. It's going to be finished and that's that, so you are stuck with us. This update is primarily bug fixes, but there has been quite a bit of content added that I think will give mid-game play a lot more mileage. We are in the middle of a major re-balancing so feedback on weapons, item drop frequency, and overall gameplay is always welcome. Do be aware we did not fix every bug so the forums will still act as the top priorty bug report but there are many channels to get your feedback to us for action. **WARNING: YOU WILL NEED TO START A NEW GAME FILE DUE TO IMPROVEMENTS WITH THE SAVE SYSTEM. THESE WILL ALLOW US TO IMPLEMENT MULTIPLE SAVE SLOTS IN FUTURE UPDATES.** Her…
- 0.3.1 [Windows] - The Big Treant! - 28 August 2018
Howdy! Been awhile since the last update, but we've got a big hinge in place now to springboard gameplay to the end of the main story. Here's some of the stuff that got done: Added a few Sea Devils players around Cerrawyn. Currently playing the game has no stakes or real benefit, but it's coming! Added some dialogue lines to late-game bosses to explain what to do. Added basic animation to the bear quest mini-boss. Fixed mana drops to occur after you can cast spells. Added self-portrait to the wisp at the end of the huntzone to prompt return to ship. Added some new mechanics to the big treant boss fight to make it less lame. https://i.imgur.com/HHfHdzp.gif If you are in the Huntington, WV area this Saturday, Sep. 1, come to Big Sandy arena and see us at Power Up Retro Gaming Convention and play Levantera and MiniLAW and meet up! :D As always, be sure to click Follow to be notified of ann…
- 0.3.0.1 - Windowed Mode Hotfix - 24 June 2018
There was a window-sizing bug that went unnoticed for a few days that was induced in one of the recent updates, and it is now patched. Thanks for the reports in the bugs forums! Still working on the Linux controller crashes, hope to have something in there in the next update.
- 0.3.0 - It's been a bit! - 1 June 2018
Howdy! Took a long Memorial Day vacation to meet up with my family and some of the long distance dev team! Was good to get together, but ready to get back to work. Couple big things we are trying out in this build. One major bug that was fixed was highlighted in a couple stream events I had the pleasure of seeing last week, and that was a sequencing bug with Crow's back story. The flashback sequence should be a little more palatable now and less prone to bugs. https://i.imgur.com/YllPEDv.gif Another thing we are kicking around is a prototype of a card game called "Sea Devils." It's going to be a narrative device for another crew back story but if I can get the gameplay nice and balanced we will probably deploy players around the world of Cerrawyn and implement some kind of extra-curricular gameplay goals. :) https://i.imgur.com/yqDGq2B.gif If you can figure out how the system works, fee…
- Low-Key Linux Release - 6 May 2018
Uhhh waddup...it's Jack! I got a Linux build pushed out to a new OS depot and updated the store page. I got the Linux build to compile on a VM but I can't exactly playtest it in that kind of environment, so the ball is in your court! I added the Linux depots to the default branch and will try to keep them up to date alongside the Windows builds. Let me know if you have any questions or bugs with installation and I will try to get them sorted! https://i.imgur.com/xu3yz0q.png Also, let all your $root sudo apt-get install -y cmd penguin hat notwindows buddies know there is another game out there for you! (Sorry I'm a Linux noob, forgive me!) As a tiny indie studio trying to make ends meet, the future of our development depends on your support, mostly in the form of spreading the word! Always hit us up on social media and help us get the word out! As always, be sure to click Follow to be no…
- 0.2.9 - This Wasn't Here Before! - 28 April 2018
Howdy! Jack again. This time with patch notes for a minor update. I have spent a lot of time in the last 2 weeks fixing bugs from the forums and adding new content to Cerrawyn! Hope you guys have a more enjoyable play experience and find some new things in familiar places. New Stuff Key Customizer works and saves from an active game session. Technically it works from the menu screen too, but it doesn't pass through to a new game. Some slight improvements to Crew AI. They should put up a better fight in the hunt zones now, though they still have a long way to go with navigating terrain and having cool animations. https://imgur.com/bZMWb46.gif Added a tiny island somewhere with a fun crossover from another developer friend. (If you haven't checked out Ocmo on iOS, you really ought to! https://imgur.com/6law4jH.gif Added a little location display for when you first set foot on land. Should…
- 0.2.8 - Get Movin' - 13 April 2018
Howdy, Jack here. This new build has lots of improvements on things that have been reported in the community hub, and a couple of things that have just been outright broken. Broken stuff: Key customizer just straight doesn't work for now. The guts are hanging out of it and it is passing inputs from keyboard and controller and storing aliases properly, but we need to do some more work on it to get it to detect key conflicts and some other stuff. We are going to try and have a new build up tomorrow with this fully functional. Fixed stuff: Lots of improvements to player movement and collisions. Should be a lot tougher to get stuck in corners, and a lot of jittery movements have been remedied. Also you can change direction properly in midair now. Quest added, see if you can find it. Fixes to some area music and odd teleports. Made bomb explosions break breakables. Added some stuff to "log e…
- 0.2.7.2 - Yall Are The Real MVPs - 9 April 2018
Howdy! Jack again. You guys have been absolutely shredding the bug reports! We've been trying to keep up. Here is another build as promised with the following fixes per your requests: Master Audio now saves and loads Cleaned up an incorrectly pointing door in Beckberry Fixes to ship collisions and some collision masks for enemy ships. (They will still chase you through land, though. Still working on that one!) Applied another fix to some huntzone stuff to prevent freezes and a crash when you try to go on land from a load game. Added some log entries for when the lumberjack is defeated to explain how to use backdash and give you a hint about where to go next. Further options menu cleanup to prevent crashes. You should be able to use the keyboard or controller to navigate the key customizer, but it doesn't record controller input just yet. I'm going to continue moving bug discussions to t…
- 0.2.7.2 - Yall Are The Real MVPs - 9 April 2018
Howdy! Jack again. You guys have been absolutely shredding the bug reports! We've been trying to keep up. Here is another build as promised with the following fixes per your requests: Master Audio now saves and loads Cleaned up an incorrectly pointing door in Beckberry Fixes to ship collisions and some collision masks for enemy ships. (They will still chase you through land, though. Still working on that one!) Applied another fix to some huntzone stuff to prevent freezes and a crash when you try to go on land from a load game. Added some log entries for when the lumberjack is defeated to explain how to use backdash and give you a hint about where to go next. Further options menu cleanup to prevent crashes. You should be able to use the keyboard or controller to navigate the key customizer, but it doesn't record controller input just yet. I'm going to continue moving bug discussions to t…
- 0.2.7.1 - Little Patch! - 8 April 2018
Howdy! Jack again. Turbulent waters for launch week! Glad you frontliners have been here to help us swat the bugs! Here's some stuff I did for the patch: Fixed Beckberry quest line and level inconsistencies. Should be able to complete that one now. Fixed a bug with Foreman Mev not taking damage. Remedied a freeze in the deepcaves below the well. Added a feature to hold up or down for a second to move the camera up or down, respectively. Couple more menu tweaks. Thanks again for all your reports! We've also added a "Resolved Issues" forum that I will be trying to sort bug reports into them as they are addressed and fixed. As always, be sure to click Follow to be notified of announcements like these! Also, check us out on social media. It always helps to have people like and share our social media content. If you're on facebook or twitter, look us up! :D https://imgur.com/spPwkau.png Leva…
- 0.2.7.1 - Little Patch! - 8 April 2018
Howdy! Jack again. Turbulent waters for launch week! Glad you frontliners have been here to help us swat the bugs! Here's some stuff I did for the patch: Fixed Beckberry quest line and level inconsistencies. Should be able to complete that one now. Fixed a bug with Foreman Mev not taking damage. Remedied a freeze in the deepcaves below the well. Added a feature to hold up or down for a second to move the camera up or down, respectively. Couple more menu tweaks. Thanks again for all your reports! We've also added a "Resolved Issues" forum that I will be trying to sort bug reports into them as they are addressed and fixed. As always, be sure to click Follow to be notified of announcements like these! Also, check us out on social media. It always helps to have people like and share our social media content. If you're on facebook or twitter, look us up! :D https://imgur.com/spPwkau.png Leva…
- 0.2.7 - Stopping the Showstoppers! - 6 April 2018
Howdy! Jack here. So, for our first update, we wanted to focus on squashing as many of the major complaint bugs as possible in the shortest time frame. You guys have been phenomenal at reporting bugs and giving feedback and we owe it to you to follow up with action! Many have asked what engine was used to develop this project. We started out using GameMaker: Studio 1.4 and several month ago converted the project to GameMaker: Studio 2 (Highly recommend checking out the /r/gamemaker subreddit, they are an amazing group of talented and helpful developers). In the conversion process, there were a lot of compatibility glitches and minor hiccups here and there that resulted in an amateur hour look in some places, and we are still swatting those bugs daily. Hang with us! We are making good progress. Here are some of the things we've fixed since the first release: Ram enemy will now charge at…
- 0.2.7 - Stopping the Showstoppers! - 6 April 2018
Howdy! Jack here. So, for our first update, we wanted to focus on squashing as many of the major complaint bugs as possible in the shortest time frame. You guys have been phenomenal at reporting bugs and giving feedback and we owe it to you to follow up with action! Many have asked what engine was used to develop this project. We started out using GameMaker: Studio 1.4 and several month ago converted the project to GameMaker: Studio 2 (Highly recommend checking out the /r/gamemaker subreddit, they are an amazing group of talented and helpful developers). In the conversion process, there were a lot of compatibility glitches and minor hiccups here and there that resulted in an amateur hour look in some places, and we are still swatting those bugs daily. Hang with us! We are making good progress. Here are some of the things we've fixed since the first release: Ram enemy will now charge at…
- What Are The Devs Doing?! - 5 April 2018
Howdy! Jack here. Super thrilled that you guys are into Levantera and have been posting bug reports. I wanted to give you a look at what we have worked on since launch! Last night our good friend Highsight did a short gameplay event for Levantera and brought up some great feedback, much of which has also been brought to our attention here in the Steam Community Hub. We are currently prioritizing the hub and emailed bugs as #1 issues, and are devoting all our development time to fixing those bugs and managing those reports. Here's a look at our commit log from the last day: Overhauled ram object. Made the game restart when backing out of gender select. Changed some layer issues in Midorisama wilderness. Added flicker effect sprite that uses image alpha instead of visibility. Started work on unifying Options menu object for universal key input Added new flicker effect to all enemies. Adde…
