Mind Over Magic News

We've seen reports that some players are not able to start a new game or load existing saves after the most recent update. This is likely a timing issue on some hardware. Sorry about that! This hotfix is a likely fix for that issue.

This release brings a visual overhaul of Research along with the ability to queue it up as much as you'd like. The Groups UI has been been reworked for ease of use and more control over setting up groups of Mages. You can now even set Mage priorities by group instead of only by individual with the new Advanced Mode.

Thanks so much to our players during the prerelease testing for all their feedback.



[h2]Quality of Life: Research[/h2]

• Research now allows freeform queueing and automatically handles prerequisites. There is a drag and drop list to rearrange the queue.
  
• Selecting a Research node provides a dedicated area for information instead of relying on hover text.
  
• New visuals for the research tree and background.
  
• Find functionality more prominent with improved presentation.
  
• The research hierarchy has been modified slightly. If this directly affects your save game, you will get a notification when you visit the Research screen to explain what has changed.
  

[h2]Quality of Life: Groups[/h2]

• Improved layout throughout with options for condensed view and showing built-in groups.
  
• Updated UI and logical consistency for conditions.
  
• Added picker to replace the dropdowns and the ability to search for Statuses, etc.
  
• New conditions added: Time of Day, Wand Type, Trial and Medallion type.
  
• Each Quilted helper type now gets its own built-in group.
  
• Ability to enable and disable conditions without deleting them.
  
• Ability to Export and Import groups to clipboard or preferences.
  

[h2]Quality of Life: Task Type Priorities[/h2]

• Added default rows for Staff and Students.
  
• New Advanced Mode allows for using Groups in Task Type Priorities and ability to remove individuals so they use their first matching Group.
  
• In Advanced Mode, option to auto-add staff or students to the Task Type priority list. Defaults to off.
  

[h2]Gameplay Changes[/h2]

• Made breaks generally more robust so they have their intended effect more often.
  
• Binge break has additional Mage penalties if there is nothing to eat.
  
• Added custom difficulty option to start with just one staff.
  
• Haul Tasks now try to deliver larger amounts of resources to Refining Beasts so fewer trips are required.
  

[h2]Fixes & Improvements[/h2]

• Show Lightning Rod ranges during placement and when selected. More to come on Lightning gameplay in a future update.
  
• Improvements to many UI sounds.
  
• Sounds for phase-in / phase-out audio when ghosts pass through solid blocks.
  
• New feed notifications sounds for Mages achieving Fully Trained and Full Honors.
  
• Enchantophone music can now be muted in audio settings
  
• Added a new audio cue when Dusk falls.
  
• Mage/Creature sounds can now be controlled in UI settings.
  
• Tasks that use placemarkers (like Move) now use the priority of the placemarker.
  
• Fix inconsistent Access order in UI (mainly Staff/Students on teaching stations).
  
• Re-rolling Mages no longer changes manually set Mage names.
  
• Reduced length of Trial & Medallion names for a better fit.
  
• Fix to not being able to click on some auto-pause options in the gameplay settings.
  
• Fix animations when a Mage dies while At Death's Door.
  
• Move Task now has a right-click option for direct order on placemarker.
  
• Hauler Helper range and animations fixed.
  
• Fix for Underschool Doors and staircase animations so they start opened on game load if they should be opened.
  
• Loves Mining Medallion is no longer mis-named as Loves Harvesting
  
• The Light / Clutter / Filth filters will now say "will spawn when able" when the Voidshroom / Gremlin / Ooze is blocked from spawning in a room, rather than displaying a negative timer value.
  
• Roof pieces fixed so they do not overhang the back of the school
  
• Direct room upgrades will be prioritized for display by the room filter when showing possible changes.
  
• No longer show the Medical Rest alert for Mages already doing Medical Rest.
  
• Support for Thai glyphs.
  

These plans will evolve during development, but we are currently working on:

• Regular Release: Fast Travel #1 will include a couple of tools for speeding up movement above ground.
  
• Major Release: Student advancement changes.
  
• Major Release: Dragons!! Always with an exclamation. Or two.
  

This release was inspired by the resounding chorus of players looking for these tools to build with. Bridge blocks connect towering spires with an outdoor bridge or create walkways within school rooms. Glass Roofs are necessary to create a Greenhouse, but also can be mixed into other roofs.



[h2]New Gameplay: Bridges and Glass Roofs[/h2]

• New Construction Block: Bridge - Connects Floors, indoors or outdoors, without enclosing an area. They require less support than Floors.
  
• New Construction Block: Glass Roof - A Roof Block that is also a window.
  
• New Room Keyword: Skylit - The room is entirely covered by Glass Roof.
  
• New Room Type: Greenhouse - Shields plants from negative events and makes Tending more effective.
  

[h2]More Gameplay Changes[/h2]

• New Event: Wasting - All plants not in a greenhouse stop growing. Occurs in the mid-game for Balanced and Relentless Pressure modes.
  
• Unstable Anemones and Trapdoor Vines will not cast at Ghosts.
  
• Unstable Anemones and Trapdoor Vines can now only be harvested by Staff with 2+ Nature Skill or Quilted Harvesters
  
  

[h2]Improvements[/h2]

• Common Room, Nurses Office, Infirmary and Hospital have new materials and textures.
  
• Stair and Ladder termination alerts can now be dismissed in the feed.
  
• Vsync control added to Graphics settings.
  
• Display selection control added for when full-screen added to Graphics settings.
  
• Add icon for Taunt tracking during combat.
  
• Fog monster explosion sound! WHUUUUBOOOOOM!!!!
  
• Make crafting station output more likely to stack with previous outputs.
  
• Better audio handling for events with auto-pause disabled, so they are easier to hear in situations like disabling Gremlin/Voidshroom auto-pause.
  

[h2]Fixes[/h2]

• Fix wallpaper rendering for rooms at Hallway corners
  
• Fix for some cases where Support Arches weren't providing as much horizontal support as intended.
  
• Chained attacks no longer trigger too many retaliates or other damage related effects.
  
• When re-rolling appearance, also re-roll skin and hair/fur/crystal colors.
  
• Fix an issue with crafting Tasks being taken even though the ingredients aren't reachable.
  
• Fix permanent haste effects not being accounted for in the in the combat turn UI.
  
• Fix issue with the last combatant in round granting Haste to themselves but not getting a turn.
  
• Fix bug when one Mage is trying to deliver to multiple Construction blocks and a different Mage is given a direct order to construct one of those blocks.
  
• Fix Invasion creature not facing camera when exploding.
  
• Fix issues where crafting station outputs and byproducts could drop in the wrong room.
  
• Fix an edge case where the Invasion Creature sometimes isn't fully in the room it wants to invade and so it pouts and gets stuck.
  
• Fix for some back-compat cases where rooms could be fogged over without an associated battle being available.
  
• Fix the Dragon Wok being too loud.
  
• Reduce the playback of impacts on Acid Spit for Furry Mites.
  

These plans will evolve during development, but we are currently working on:

• Regular Release: Quality of Life focused improving Groups functionality and smorgasbord of other improvements.
  
• Major Release: Student advancement changes and a new way to get around the school.
  
• Major Release: Dragons! Always with an exclamation.
  

After that, we plan to attack combat and dig into the Underschool.

• Underschool Stone biome rooms spawn fewer Stone and Sculptstone mineable sources and more pre-mined Sculptstone to replace the latter.
  
• Adjustments to new game Pressure and Challenge selection to help make those more clear.
  
• You can now enable Invasions and Corrupted Mana Lantern events for Relaxed Pressure games, even though they are off by default.
  
• Fix bug where a nearly killed Fog Incarnate could trigger a broken battle.
  
• Fix bug where Stone and Sculptstone sources could spawn in the underschool entrance. Existing Stone and Sculptstone sources in the underschool entrance have been removed and auto-mined to remove any blocking.
  
• Fix for highest tier Corrupted Mana Lanterns occurring too early.
  
• Fix for potential crash when battle crystal is covered by Fog.
  
• Fix for potion reservations for battle when the battle prep screen is cancelled.
  
• Fix to prevent Mana Thirst from affecting 0 mana cost spells.
  
• Fix for taking potions to battle when they had an active Store task.