0.96 – a HUGE “transition” patch!

HELLO, HELLO, HELLO!

We have plenty of great news for you today. It’s been 3 weeks since we’ve released our last patch and we’re finally updating the game with some new features and fixes. It’s been a while... but it must’ve been a while since we burrowed ourselves in some really tough changes which were touching the very core of the game.

The most important one:





What this means is that we’re finally able to make the game prettier AND smoother. The major idea, in short, is that things we had to use in order to make the game relatively pretty on the former pipeline were extremely heavy on CPUs/GPUs. Now, even better results are easier to achieve (since we have more tools, etc.) and they are also less demanding in terms of processing power. It's a simplification, but we don't have time to dig deeper into all these technical details ;)



So far we’ve been focused on fixing and improving the exploration aspect of the game because it was a tough thing to do and to get right. We’re almost there (certain things still need some polishing and adjustment – like, for example, the village) but already it’s one of the biggest leaps we’ve made so far in terms of visual upgrades.



This transition should also, paradoxically, make the game run smoother. So far we’ve seen reports that it’s running as it was or, in some cases, better on low-end machines than it used to. We’re pretty sure we’ll be able to make it run even better in time - but that’s something that we’ll be working on until the end of production.





We’re finally pretty happy with how cameras work in the game. In our new build, you’ll get to choose your starting view (but no worries: you’ll be able to change it anytime you want) and the game should be playable and enjoyable in both modes. The point is that we’ve made major improvements to the Third Person Perspective mode – the camera is now following you properly and it’s smoother/easier to play using your keyboard for movement.

We’ll be doing more tests with that at some point but we’re pretty happy with how it works now (and we’re another step closer to making the game playable on gamepads). Let us know!





Another huge change we’re introducing, and we’ve already heard some players responding positively to it, is the Corruption rebalance.

This is a complex topic so let me wrap-up what’s going on:

• We’ve raised the default difficulty level for the game – just a bit. For example, before today, enemies on Corruption #1 and #2 had -25% Armor, Health, and so on. This made the game much easier. We’ve changed that, among other things, and they start on default stat levels and they get modified much more slowly than before. Additionally, up until a certain Corruption level, enemies receive new attacks and behaviors, so that some of the enemies that you’re used to might surprise you when you meet them later on in the game.
  
• At the same time, we’ve introduced an Easy Mode for all of you who aren’t in the mood for a challenge or just want to show the game to someone who’s not experienced in roguelikes or card-games. It’s a hybrid between the C1 and C2 we’ve had before this patch. You can find it in “Scenarios”.
  
• In terms of raising difficulty – enemy patterns were changed and boss fights were revamped. In order to make the game feel smoother and more interesting, we’ve made a couple of changes to enemy behaviors, and so the thing you encounter should appear in more interesting patterns than before and should present you with more interesting puzzles (enemy configurations). We’re not done here but it’s a start! Also, we’re pushing changes to all boss fights in the game now: you’ve seen some of them already, but we’re pretty sure you don’t expect the last boss to be what it is now. Also, we know he’s really easy to survive a fight with… but since it’s all about the leaderboard, it might be interesting to see what scores you’ll get within 15 turns to go and with his current patterns!
  
• The maps – and what’s happening on them – were changed, too. This is only a part of what we’re planning to do but a major change nonetheless. We’ve removed treasures from our maps and introduced minibosses that guard Big Treasure Boxes containing Big Rewards. You won’t get a bazillion consumables just by walking on the map anymore – you’ll get a really cool reward after beating an additional hard monster, though! We’re not done here, either, but it’s the first iteration of this feature and we’d really love to hear your thoughts.
  

The map adjustments in terms of gameplay don't yet work as well as intended but with our next patch we aim to introduce a lot of fixes to NPC encounters and other things like that... and it all should just "click" together in the end!



Gameplay-related changes and additions:

• We’ve introduced starting decks for every class. So, currently, we’re testing a new approach in which every class has a deck tailored to their basic playstyles. We’re having some internal… discussions about the way it’s currently implemented but we agree that some of those cards are really cool. Also, we didn’t do an editing pass on all our new text files so please forgive us for any inconsistencies or errors!
  
• Now it’s also possible to draw the same card multiple times after levelling-up. Yay, more Breath Controls per turn!
  
• However, we did introduce a limit to cards you can have on hand at any given moment. It’s been reduced from infinity to 15.
  
• A major change that will probably reduce insane damage numbers: we’ve capped negative armor at -500.
  
• We’ve reworked Stun mechanics. Now you can not only stack stuns, but it also changes the intents of enemies.
  

Quality of life stuff

• You can now equip runestones directly in the loot screen – this means you can prepare and plan your next moves right after you’ve won your combat rewards.
  
• So, in the Story UI, you can now see how many items of a certain type you have in your inventory before making a trade.
  
• Equipped runestones can be combined (and will be taken into account while clicking on). Effects of runestones are also visible during combat.
  
• We’ve removed the option to convert gold into wyrdstone from the Lost Soul’s shop. Gold will now be converted automatically to Wyrdstones after you’ve ended your run.
  

We're planning to release our next huge patch (0.97) before the Holidays. However, we want to say already that since it's a time of the year when people tend to take some time off we might run a bit late with that. We hope we won't, though.

What we want to introduce with our next big patch is in our Roadmap but, to specify, here are our focus points for the next few weeks

• Playable Necromancer class (almost done now, waiting mostly for art)
  
• New wyrdness-related systems (wyrdness is going to Do Something, finally!)
  
• A LOT of new runestones and consumables (already done, waiting for artworks)
  
• Redesigned locations, encounters, and a more robust passive progression in your village (we're waiting for some tools that will allow us to introduce this properly)
  
• Improvement to combat visuals (long overdue, but we're finally getting ready to do that!)
  

And a lot of different fixes, changes, ideas, like - for example - new, cleaner, and prettier HUD.

So, see you next time and definitely LET US KNOW what you think about the newest changes and fixes!