The Curse of Feldar Vale News

Hi All.

This update introduces three new features as requested by the Community and fixes a couple of bugs that we have found during testing.

• New Feature: Weapon Loadouts
  
  A unit's Inventory page now has a new button available to create/modify weapon loadouts, as shown below.
  
  
  
  Clicking the button will switch the 'paper doll' display to the display shown in the following image:
  
  
  
  To create a loadout you can either:
  
  a). Drag and drop an item from the Party Backpack to an appropriate slot.
  b). Click the Current button on a loadout slot (1) to select the items currently equipped.
  c). Drag and drop an item in a loadout to a different slot to 'clone' it to that slot.
  
  Throwing weapons must be unique within the range of loadouts but melee and ranged weapons can feature in multiple loadouts. So, for example, you could create a slot with a Longsword +1 combined with a Spiked Shield +1 (giving an offensive combo as the shield adds extra damage) and another with a Longsword +1 and an Imperial Round Shield +2 (giving a more defensive combo as the shield provides extra protection).
  
  To switch a unit to a new loadout, click the Select button (2) on any slot. Note that if the inventory is locked for any reason, a loadout cannot be selected (the same as a unit cannot be re-equipped if the inventory is locked). You can however still create and/or modify loadouts.
  
  When a loadout is 'selected' the matching items must be available in the Party Backpack. The items will then automatically be equipped on the unit and the items they currently hold are returned to the backpack.
  
  It is possible therefore to have only one of an item in the backpack but create loadouts on two different units with that item. The first unit to 'select' the loadout will get it from the backpack while the button on the other will be inactive as there will no longer be an item in the backpack to fulfill the loadout.
  
  Items that are assigned to loadouts will not be available for sale at the Market. They are effectively 'reserved' to avoid you selling them by accident. The Market Dialog has a new field displayed to inform you of the number of items so reserved, as shown below.
  
  
  
  
• New Feature: Split Movement
  
  A new Advanced Rule - Unit Movement has been implemented to allow split movement such that any unit can move multiple times during the player's turn (up to the limit of their Movement Points). Combining this rule with the 'Unit Actions' rule will give different challenges as to how the game is played.
  
  
  
  
• New Feature: Re-Equipping a Unit After Death
  
  Units will no longer have their equipment stripped when they die. They will retain all their items and they can be freely equipped/unequipped from/to the Party Backpack at any stage. If a dead unit is dismissed, its equipment will automatically be returned to the Party Backpack.
  
  
• Fixed: A sneaking unit entering a teleport could cause a program crash. [Internal Bug]
  
  
• Fixed: When neutral units turn into enemies, their background color does not change as it should. [Internal Bug]
  
  
• Fixed: After victory, it was sometimes impossible to export the party if it contained a dead unit (exporting from a battle scene was ok). [Internal Bug]
  
  
• Fixed: When equipping a weapon from a loot chest, occasionally the unit would not be able to use that weapon until the next turn. [Internal Bug]
  

Please let us know if you have any problems with the update and we hope you enjoy the new features.

All the best.

Ian & Jann

Hi Folks.

Just a quick heads-up to let you know we have found a small 'glitch' in testing that could cause a game crash. The good news is that there is an easy workaround.

When using the teleporters in The Old Mill it is possible for a sneaking unit to cause the error. A teleported unit always loses its sneaking condition anyway, so the easy solution is to 'un-sneak' any such unit before entering the teleport tile.

We will have a fix for this in V1.015 which is in release testing at the moment and will be with you hopefully in the next few days.

Apologies if you have already been tripped up by this issue but the workaround described will stop it from happening again.

All the best.

Ian & Jann

Hi Folks.

This update fixes a couple of bugs that have been reported by the Community as well as a couple that we have found ourselves during testing.

• Fixed: Using the Change Grid Levels button (in the button group at the bottom right of the battle screen) could cause a crash when playing The Old Mill and the party was split between levels. [Community Bug]
  
  
• Fixed: Movement costs for ascending/descending stairs were not being calculated correctly such that some units were losing movement points for that turn. [Community Bug]
  
  
• Fixed: The 'Buy' button for Supplies in the Market is not reset correctly when spending all Qaedi and then sell items to get more Qaedi. [Community Bug]
  
  
• Fixed: The battle grid stays active in certain situations when using the Save Game dialog and it was possible for a unit to move behind the dialog unintentionally. [Community Bug]
  
  
• Fixed: Using the 'Space' bar as an End of Turn shortcut could invoke another UI button that last had the focus. [Internal Bug]
  
  
• Fixed: Items placed in the Party Backpack when creating a party were lost by the time the party gets to the first scene. [Internal Bug]
  

Please let us know if you have any problems with the update and apologies to anybody who has suffered in their game play through any of the bugs.

All the best.

Ian & Jann

Hi All.

This update adds a new feature from the Feature Changelog, as well as a fix to the game mechanics for weapons with built-in abilities.

• New Feature: Compare Tooltip.
  
  With this change you will now be able to select an item on a character's Inventory page and compare its stats to other usable items of the same type.
  
  
  
  In the picture above you can see that the Power Sword is selected on the paper doll by left clicking the item and it is outlined in green (1). All items of the same type that are usable by the character are outlined in the Party Backpack in white (2). To compare one of the items in the backpack with the one the character is currently using, hover over the item in the backpack and the Compare Tooltip will be displayed as shown in the picture below.
  
  
  
  The values shown indicate the improvements to a character when the item is equipped (3) as well as the difference when compared to the other item (4). The Special Features section (5) displays any built-in ability that the item possesses.
  
  You can also use the feature in reverse by left clicking an item in the Party Backpack as shown.
  
  
  
  In this case you can compare the item with a similar one that is already equipped or you can compare two items that are in the backpack with each other.
  
  Please note that the Compare Tooltip is currently only available on the unit's Inventory page. We have added a task to the Feature Changelog to roll out the change to other dialogs. We also intend to improve the Special Features section (5) of the tooltip to display built-in attribute improvements (e.g. +10 Scouting) as well as built-in abilities (e.g. Shock).
  
  We have also improved the standard tooltip when hovering over a weapon to indicate the actual damage it will do when equipped based on the character's choice of Weapon Specialization.
  
  
  
  
• Fixed: Damage displayed when using a weapon with a built-in ability, for example the Power Sword, was +1 greater than the actual damage caused.
  

Please let us know if you have any problems with the update and we hope you enjoy the new features. Next up is the Weapons Loadout feature which we are designing at the moment.

All the best.

Ian & Jann

Hi Folks.

This latest release, adds a couple of new connected features from the Feature Changelog, as well as a fix to re-spawn any lost quest items (the cause of this was fixed in V1.011).

• New Features: Custom Portraits and Free Choice On Portraits.
  
  We have redesigned the 'Choose Portrait' dialog as shown below:
  
  
  
  The buttons (1) will now allow you to make different portrait selections.
  
  'Female and Male' will display all portraits for the unit's Species (3). The 'Female' and 'Male' buttons will filter by Species.
  
  Free Choice displays all portraits (including Custom Portraits which will be displayed last). If there are more portraits than can be displayed on a single page, the 'Previous' and 'Next' buttons (2) will be activated.
  
  'Custom' will allow you to load your own images to use as avatars. Please note the instructions (4) on how to deploy your portraits.
  
  
• Fixed: Loading a battle scene will make a one-time check to see if a Quest item has been stolen by the Quezzits in Feldar Palace. If so, it will be re-spawned into the Party Backpack.
  

Please let us know if you have any problems with the update and we hope you enjoy the new features. Next up is the Compare Tooltips feature which we are designing at the moment.

All the best.

Ian & Jann