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Below the Stone News

Below the Stone at PAX EAST 2024!



Below the Stone will be featured at PAX EAST!

PAX East is gaming convention that takes place from the Thurs 21st - Sun 24th in Boston, MD, at the Convention and Exhibition Center. It's always a gem for our team to get to witness people in-person playing Below the Stone, and meeting up with fans who get to tell us their ideas and their experience with the game we created, and have new people discover us. Our Discord will be featuring a "virtual booth", where you can see updates going on, pictures, and what we're up to at the show. We cannot wait to see you there!

Please stop by and say hi if you have a chance!

Demo Update + 300 Reviews!



[h2]Below the Stone Demo has been updated![/h2]

Fellow miners,

While we were focusing on many of the new features of the full game, many users reported that the demo we had up had a bug that would end many first-time-fan's runs. This is no Miner change, as we have noticed this being a repeating issue for a while. We wanted to address this now before turning our focus to the Caves Awaken update, where we will be adding some much needed content that players have been asking to dig into. This will include much more to do during your descents in Below the Stone, events to take part in while in the caves, and treasures to hoard and build your kingdom.



MILESTONE - 300 reviews!


This is a huge milestone for our small team, and we've been watching closely to player feedback throughout the early development of the game. Below the Stone is a big project, much bigger than we had ever anticipated, so having players give our small team honest feedback, and help us improve the game has always been incredibly welcome for us. We all know big things come in small packages, so it is very fitting for our team to be working on a dwarf themed game for you. We hope to continue improving the game more and more for you, and making Below the Stone the full vision we've set out from the start to make.



[h2]NEXT STEP - So, what now?[/h2]

CAVES AWAKEN, my fellow diggers!

Caves Awaken part 1 & 2 are meant to be our Rock and Stone/Bread and Butter when it comes to player feedback and content that we plan on introducing. More to do in the caves and kingdom has always been our plans, and this is the realization of those plans coming to life. If there are any features, fixes, suggestions you look forward to most, please let us know either here on Steam discussions, or in our Discord Channel

The "Dripdate", Dwarf Drip Update + Changelog

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]Dapper dwarves, our fashion and quality of life update is here![/h2]

This update is focused around player reception and feedback we have received for the game after our Early Access release. We wanted to address immediate suggestions by players before we begin to turn our focus to the future major content updates like Caves Awaken Part 1 & Part 2. Everything we do as a development studio is based off player reception, so please write your suggestions and ideas in the comments!



[h2]Keybinds[/h2]

As a dwarf, you are in control of your destiny. We recently added the keybinds menu to the game, to allow keyboard and mouse users to customize their controls. We will soon follow up and do the same for controller users as well. This was a much requested feature that we wanted to deliver to everyone for a long time, and got it ready for this dripdate.



[h2]Wardrobe/Cosmetic[/h2]

Before you tunnel your way Below The Stone, it's time to slay with your fashion! A new wardrobe has appeared in your dwarven fortress, allowing for new styles to be equipped without risking their loss. Items equipped here will appear on the player, but not alter your current stats. There are 16+ new rare cosmetic items to find, with more to come in future updates.



[h2]PLAYER CUSTOMIZATION[/h2]

Strut into the depths with style that'll make the baddies jealous. From Mithril chic to bedazzled battle gear. Dwarves can now stun their enemies with new beard and hair customization options. Drag the perfect ensemble to match your stout heart. Remember, in the deep dark, it's not just about fighting; it's about shining. As more updates go out, we plan on expanding this customization further!



[h2]Testing QOL Features[/h2]
(New Descriptions, ALT key Functions)

New item descriptions will be more accurate to what the items do, and more helpful with guiding players in the future. Healing items will now show the exact amount of health they heal, and items which apply debuffs will show their effects.

[h2]CAVES AWAKEN Pt 1 PREVIEW[/h2]

As our roadmap has shown, Caves Awaken part 1 and part 2 will focus primarily on adding more to do in the caves, and more meta-style progression to the kingdom. The caves will have new events which will challenge players to spend too long in the caves, while also adding more things to do while on your descents. We will also be adding more meta-styled progression to your hub, allowing you to do more quests, upgrade your kingdom, and save new NPCs.

"Shade" enemies which will begin to spawn and threaten your runs!

Join our discord for more recent news!

CHANGELOG: Alpha 0.4


[Cosmetics]
* Player now has "cosmetic slots" that affect how your dwarf looks, but retains all the power of your legendary armor in your main armor slots.
* Added wardrobe to the kingdom, introducing the Cosmetic Item Slots feature. Where you can equip items and have them override your appearance, without affecting your armor stats.
* Added 16+ different cosmetic items that you can collect to customize your dwarf (which you can equip in the wardrobe)

[Dwarf Customization]
* Updated the interface to exist within our special "menu interface"
* You can now back out of the character customization ui on the main menu
* Added several new beards and hairs to choose from when creating a new dwarf.
* Added a green hair color type.

[New Features]
* Added a keybind system and UI to allow players to customize their controls (currently keyboard only).
* Added "Ore Identifier" visual to allow the player to know what ore they are looking at.
* Added "Alt Text" UI system to allow you to identify various nearby objects. You can press the "Alt" key to toggle this feature.
* Updated the "item pickup indicator" to show the item name, and is also now anchored to the top of the screen, and can show multiple item pickups.
* Added new visual indicators for throwable items and ranged weapons. Now you can snipe those kobolds and skeletons with a lot more ease!
* Improvements to throwable/ranged weapons on gamepad.

[Shopkeep]
* Fixed the Shopkeep tabs not being in the right position at some resolutions.
* Fixed issue where a sound would somtimes play very rapidly when opening the Shopkeep interface.

[Journal]
* You can no longer flip pages infinitely.
* Added "spam guard" on page flipping to avoid issues with too many page flips happening and causing visual issues.
* Various other fixes to page flipping.
* Added UI buttons for paging left and right in journal.
* Fixed controller icon still being visible when using keyboard.

[Improvements]
* Improved hitboxes on player and various static objects, including making many hitboxes smaller.
* Updated tooltips of consumable items (food items and potions, for example).
* Updated melee weapon tooltips to include info about effects they may apply.
* Updated various ore wall sprites, to help make them a bit more distinguishable.
* You can now skip the main menu animation by pressing space, to get into the game faster.

[Layer 2 Fixes]
* Exit points will now tell you on layer 2 that they will bring you back to the kingdom.
* Moving from layer 1 to layer 2 will no longer count as an embark.
* Exiting the cave at layer 2 via portals or holes (exit points) will no longer bypass your escape rewards; you will still get bonus chests in the kingdom.
* Leaving layer 2 via an exit point will count towards your "Total Successful Embarks".

[Fixes]
* Fixed item duping bug related to consumable items.
* Fixed spark effects playing at world origin.
* Projectiles will no longer hit "fallen rocks" (for example, an arrow hitting a falling rock from cave-ins or cave troll attacks).

Next Update Release Date + Beta Test Sign Up

The Below the Stone team has been spending the month of January unearthing the Fashion + Quality of Life update, and expect to have it out February 16th for you to dig into. We also have a special announcement for those who are interested in seeing what we're working on ahead of time...



BETA TESTING:


We've done beta testing throughout the entire development for Early Access, and we'd like to open the mines again for all the new followers who yearn to tunnel their way to new adventures. If you'd like to take part this week, it only takes a minute or two to sign up for an early test of the game. ːcraftsdwarfː

Sign up here: [h2]https://forms.gle/Cp54ASVNSGVyYhu87[/h2]

Promising dwarven roguelike indie game readies four big updates

A lot of fantastic roguelikes hit Steam throughout the past twelve months, but Below the Stone charmed me perhaps the most among them all. Mixing the top-down cave exploration of Crypt of the Necrodancer with the spirit of Spelunky and the rambunctious dwarven spirit that makes Deep Rock Galactic such a joy, this Steam Early Access indie game has my full attention, and I can't wait to see what gems developer Strollart digs up over the coming months.


Read the rest of the story...


RELATED LINKS:

Spelunky and Deep Rock Galactic collide in new Steam roguelike