Hello everyone,
It’s been a while since the last update, as I was aiming to reach the story-complete testing build before posting, but with September gone, I realized the gap between updates would just grow too long, and wanted to keep you informed on what’s happening with Sacred Fire.
Beyond the usual real-life mini-bosses to take care of (money, health, family), the main reason for the slower-than-anticipated progress is the complexity of the Act 3 final scenes. Even in mid-summer I was optimistic, but then the main siege scene took seven times longer to set up than a standard two-NPC dialogue scene, because of the clashing forces visuals and many NPCs and game states.
Which one of the Roman commanders is still alive matters a lot
While I was in the end able to implement this most complex Act 3 scene, and the story will be delivered in an uncompromised scope, the tradeoff is delay.
My immediate goal is to provide the story-complete testing build during this year’s Czech and Slovak Games Week on November 17th.
The road to 1.0 is outlined below, and it’ll take at least 3 months, after the story-complete testing is done. I’ll let you know about an exact 2026 release date as I get closer.
Act 3 brings conclusion to many narrative arcs
It’s not the good news we all hoped for, though some of you probably already expected it. I myself have long-term plans involving Sacred Fire after 1.0 that I’m eager to get to, so the slow progress is an exercise in patience for me as well.
But then I look at this from the perspective of being a solo developer who set out to innovate a genre and tell a full-fledged story in this new format, and I can only thank you all for helping me get this far, and for your feedback and support throughout this ultra-marathon-sized journey.
While a good ending is possible, it’s elusive
The silver lining is that as of today I’m 93% of the way toward the story-complete build, which means I can already smell the finish line, and that helps me stay committed to delivering a satisfying narrative conclusion and great experience with the 1.0 release.
The following text contains some minor spoilers.
Here is a detailed list of new scenes you can play in the testing build accessible via our Discord:
cover the queen’s retreat as she destroys the Roman siege machines: 2 variants: join the rear guard, or stay on the ramparts and provide cover fire
companion moments after the night raid and before the siege
main siege scene with multiple risk chains and multiple variants for both PC and different NPCs acting as the siege commander
Treasure Heist ending and epilogue
several cowardly endings and epilogues
epilogues to all siege results detailing the fates of companions based on your choices
the Act 3 save children loop bug is fixed now
We’ve prepared some rare ending states to explore…
And here is a list of scenes left to do to achieve a story-complete testing build:
Peace Talks scene (including a deadly duel before you even get the opportunity to negotiate)
alternative Siege Start (staying out during the night attack and freeing the captives in the Roman camp once the siege starts, and attacking the rear of the Roman besieging force once they breach the gate)
optional siege scenes: climb to the top courtyard risk chain, standoff scene, and a flanking scene that can turn the battle
…and some epic stands to survive
Road to 1.0
Once Act 3 testing is complete, the final steps before the 1.0 release include:
Localization support
Voice acting
Character art variety
Community features like Achievement, and, based on your feedback, hopefully also Steam Cloud Saves (we'll run some testing first)
You can help shape this final phase by joining the Act 3 testing build via our Discord. Your feedback will help us polish and fine-tune these changes before public release.
Thank you for your support and patience.
Sacred Fire
Iceberg Interactive
