V184: Token animations in encounter
We released version 184 on Steam on Friday, but it happened so late that we simply didn't have the time and the energy to finish writing these release notes until now ;-). This week, we're already knee-deep in work on version 185, which bring similar improvements to the encounter flow.
Detailed release notes for version 184: on the game's forum, as well as below.
CONCEPT
This week we continued to work on the way that we display the encounter mechanics. The user interface of the game is catching up with the game's logic as we learn to show to players everything that happens. There is still a way to go, but we've already managed to upgrade the way that the token combinations. On top of this, we made a few improvements in the overall user interface, and worked hard on larger issues that will ship with the forthcoming updates – such as mood and personal traits. And, as usual, the game received another batch of new sound effects, and another batch of translated texts (Japanese, Simplified Chinese and Korean).
MOVE POINT INDICATOR IN TRAVEL MODE
This has been on our todo list for a while. Now there is a move point indicator in the travel mode, which shows how many move points are left in the current day. Why do we need it? Because in the future, player party may have more or less than the current standard of 3 points per day. Thus we need to get the interface ready to inform you about the changes.
COMBINATIONS OF TOKENS NOW HAVE UNIQUE ANIMATIONS
This is the main feature of this week's update: now, when tokens combine, they have relevant animations (for example, Damage clashing with Protection in) and the description of the result (the result of this combination would be "Absorbed!"). This makes the encounter much easier to understand, and will allow us to shorten some of the timers since things became more obvious with this change.
INVENTORY COUNTER FOR ENCOUNTER USE
A quality of life improvement: there's now an indicator next to the inventory button in encounters, which shows how many items you have already used in the current round (by default, you can use only 1 item in 1 round).
LOOT ICON GOT UPGRADED, NOW HAS A COUNTER
Another quality of life improvement: we changed the loot icon (earlier, we just re-used a sack from the 2019 version) and added a counter next to it, so that you can see how many items have dropped there at any given time.
"VICTORY OVER A STRONGER OPPONENT" ICON UPGRADED
And yet another small improvement: we updated the icon that indicates, whether or not your party is eligible to the reward for victory against a stronger opponent, to match the overall style of the user interface.
"MORALE BOOST" INDICATOR UPGRADED
Finally, the indicator used to show the progress of the Morale Boost mechanics (cast 3 spells in 3 rounds or less) got a facelift. It also flips over once the 3 rounds have passed or the boost has been deployed.
WHAT'S NEXT?
With version 185, we will continue working on the visualisation of encounter mechanics as well as prepare the ground for a few new features: the mood (you'll see Character Sheet change to accommodate the mood scale initially, and the mechanic itself is scheduled for versions 186-187) as well as the transition from biome effects to encounter conditions (currently: Forest has a condition that applying Fire there runs a chance of triggering Burning ground; in the future: Forest will have an encounter condition "Flammable environment", and that condition starts Burning ground when enough Fire accumulates) and the groundwork for game log and the notification system.
We have to restrain ourselves from adding new content right now, as we want to first of all ship all the tasks that are already open. Nothing is as fun as creating new creatures! But we must be cook cooks, and clean the kitchen table before starting on the next recipe =).
Stay well, and see you in a few days!
Detailed release notes for version 184: on the game's forum, as well as below.
CONCEPT
This week we continued to work on the way that we display the encounter mechanics. The user interface of the game is catching up with the game's logic as we learn to show to players everything that happens. There is still a way to go, but we've already managed to upgrade the way that the token combinations. On top of this, we made a few improvements in the overall user interface, and worked hard on larger issues that will ship with the forthcoming updates – such as mood and personal traits. And, as usual, the game received another batch of new sound effects, and another batch of translated texts (Japanese, Simplified Chinese and Korean).
MOVE POINT INDICATOR IN TRAVEL MODE
This has been on our todo list for a while. Now there is a move point indicator in the travel mode, which shows how many move points are left in the current day. Why do we need it? Because in the future, player party may have more or less than the current standard of 3 points per day. Thus we need to get the interface ready to inform you about the changes.
COMBINATIONS OF TOKENS NOW HAVE UNIQUE ANIMATIONS
This is the main feature of this week's update: now, when tokens combine, they have relevant animations (for example, Damage clashing with Protection in) and the description of the result (the result of this combination would be "Absorbed!"). This makes the encounter much easier to understand, and will allow us to shorten some of the timers since things became more obvious with this change.
INVENTORY COUNTER FOR ENCOUNTER USE
A quality of life improvement: there's now an indicator next to the inventory button in encounters, which shows how many items you have already used in the current round (by default, you can use only 1 item in 1 round).
LOOT ICON GOT UPGRADED, NOW HAS A COUNTER
Another quality of life improvement: we changed the loot icon (earlier, we just re-used a sack from the 2019 version) and added a counter next to it, so that you can see how many items have dropped there at any given time.
"VICTORY OVER A STRONGER OPPONENT" ICON UPGRADED
And yet another small improvement: we updated the icon that indicates, whether or not your party is eligible to the reward for victory against a stronger opponent, to match the overall style of the user interface.
"MORALE BOOST" INDICATOR UPGRADED
Finally, the indicator used to show the progress of the Morale Boost mechanics (cast 3 spells in 3 rounds or less) got a facelift. It also flips over once the 3 rounds have passed or the boost has been deployed.
WHAT'S NEXT?
With version 185, we will continue working on the visualisation of encounter mechanics as well as prepare the ground for a few new features: the mood (you'll see Character Sheet change to accommodate the mood scale initially, and the mechanic itself is scheduled for versions 186-187) as well as the transition from biome effects to encounter conditions (currently: Forest has a condition that applying Fire there runs a chance of triggering Burning ground; in the future: Forest will have an encounter condition "Flammable environment", and that condition starts Burning ground when enough Fire accumulates) and the groundwork for game log and the notification system.
We have to restrain ourselves from adding new content right now, as we want to first of all ship all the tasks that are already open. Nothing is as fun as creating new creatures! But we must be cook cooks, and clean the kitchen table before starting on the next recipe =).
Stay well, and see you in a few days!