The Zone: Stalker Stories News

Hail and well met!

January has been a slow period for Zone, as I've been dreadfully preoccupied with job hunting (starvation holds very little appeal for me) -- but even so, we're still making important progress.

v0.6.7.3 features a few crucial fixes, and paves the way for better pathfinding, particularly for enemies. A frequent complaint I hear is about the combat being based largely on sudden random encounters, so one of my current goals is to make more encounters visible and predictable on the exploration map.

In less good news, controller support is clearly broken on many levels, so I've removed it from our store page until I can find time to completely reimplement it.

I've also been paying for some of the shortcuts I took early on in the shift to Godot. A number of hours have had to go towards tidying up and re-testing things I should've done differently in the first place... But it ultimately results in a better, cleaner codebase, so it's by no means a waste of time.

As always, I'm excited to keep rolling into the next update. Until then!


Changelog:

• Fixed crash on game load when using Crackling Eyepatch/Antenna
  
• Fixed bug when defeating sinkhole side job boss
  
• Fixed hospital endboss story/encounter
  
• Added flee option for hospital endboss encounter
  
• Combat can no longer immediately re-trigger on load or after death
  
• Fixed softlock on Cyn's Favour quest
  
• Fixed cards getting disabled when cancelling flee menu
  
• Text speed and volume settings are now properly applied after loading
  
• Added (almost) all missing boss sounds in Hospital biome
  
• Improved combat loading
  
• Fixed issue with player lighting in combat
  

It's that time of year, and what do we find in our stockings? Another update for Zone!

Thanks to several crucial bug reports, I've managed to fix a lot of persistent issues that really needed squashing, in amongst the new stuff. Work continues on the new environment, the Greenery, as we're in the process of finding a new artist to handle this.

An early sneak preview of the work in progress:



Writing-wise, I'm on the cusp of starting the explosive main event of Chapter 3, which will feature a serious crisis for you and all the survivors of Esper...

Stay tuned for partial excitement!


Changelog:

• Fixed softlock in Special Request quest
  
• Fixed potential crashes in Discretion Required quest
  
• Fixed card Drain targeting issues
  
• Fixed end-of-turn buffs not triggering properly
  
• Buff/debuff readouts now update correctly
  
• Added missing Chapter 2 story trigger
  
• Fixed crash when fleeing side job combats
  
• Accessing inventory during side jobs no longer boots the player back to Esper
  
• Fixed wrong Stamina assignment in side jobs
  
• Fixed several other side job issues
  
• Duplicate story events should no longer happen
  
• Fixed unintended music/ambient audio resets during story segments
  
• Fixed rain particle positioning in Wharf
  
• Added missing brittle star stunned pose
  
• Added missing Wharf loot stash
  
• Updated, corrected and expanded several quick ref/tutorials
  
• New boss encounter in Hospital
  
• Improved lighting in Hospital
  
• Added more radiation spots
  
• Saved games now track radiation buildup
  
• Expanded some dialogue options
  
• New battle backgrounds
  
• Reworked battle background loading
  
• Improved load times between stage transitions
  
• Added visual readout for Stamina above 100
  
• Tweaked other combat readouts for clarity
  
• Increased controller cursor speed
  

Hard to believe another month has passed us by! The biggest change is, I suddenly have a new computer. After several weeks of having my time wasted by repair shops, my old computer was officially pronounced dead. You can imagine how this might present some life difficulties.

The new one was bought on a very tight budget, but it has just enough oomph to allow me to continue developing Zone.

On the bright side, what was lost in coding/testing time was made up for in writing. I have been doing a lot of it, and as a result, the goal I set last month was hit: a completed Act 2! There is much escalation, culminating in a choice that changes everything... And even more sidequesty action.



In the next update I hope to have a new environment to show off, and see us well underway into the excitement of Act 3.

Finally, I wanted to say thanks for the support you've given us. The comments, reviews, and even the bug reports are what keep me going.

We're standing at 8 reviews at the moment, just two shy of the all-important 10. So if you haven't yet posted a review, or if you know someone who could, please please do -- it makes a massive difference to us tiny indies who don't have any external support!

v0.6.6.4 Changelog:

• Finished Chapter 2
  
• Two new story-based side quests in Chapter 2 or higher
  
• Fixed crashes after loading saved games
  
• Fixed buffs not triggering on their final turn
  
• Major overhaul of saving/loading
  
• Improved Confusion card handling
  
• Fixed some broken normal maps
  
• Fixed ship encounter not disabling after finishing
  
• Combat buffs now provide detailed breakdowns on mouseover
  
• Fleshed out combat encounters in Wharf biome
  
• Added extra flee option during train yard boss encounter
  
• Added sanity checks for some side quests
  
• Tweaked item drop rates
  
• Extended functionality for story triggers
  
• New item passive abilities
  
• Replaced more temp art
  
• Visual improvements on some NPCs
  

It's been a hell of a month -- I may make another update about that -- but I've managed to keep progress coming. Fixes, new features, new art, new content.

Next update should feature the conclusion of Chapter 2, which is exciting. It's a sprawling mess of a lot of interconnecting parts so I'll be glad when it's done!

v0.6.5.7 Changelog:

• Fixed area transition pop-up sticking around when it shouldn't
  
• Player can no longer transition areas during a combat encounter
  
• Fixed issue with combat slowdown after playing certain cards
  
• Fixed crash when using Grim Vision
  
• Fixed crash when mouseovering certain item passives
  
• Fixed items in shop not updating to new/fixed versions
  
• Fixed some card text displaying incorrectly
  
• Started adding missing sound effect for Hospital boss fights
  
• Added icon and explanation for two-handed items
  
• Added animation when Reflux triggers in combat
  
• Added animation when player gets an Ailment
  
• New Ailments now show up on the passives bar immediately
  
• Added more options to use adventuring rope
  
• Improved support for multiple story NPCs on screen
  
• Shop now occasionally clears sold items
  
• Added on-discard card effects
  
• Replaced temp battle background in train yard
  
• Reduced Blink Organ requirement for 'Organs for Dom' quest
  
• New visually-distinct Confusion card borders
  
• Brushed up old Psi card borders
  
• New worm anomaly
  
• New story NPC - Hunter Captain
  
• New Confusion cards
  
• New enemy
  

In the time since the last update, I've been chasing down every issue our wonderful players have reported, as well as many that went unnoticed. The list below is but a condensed version of all the fixes! (Trust me, it took up literal days.)

And in the between times, I've been working on furthering Chapter 2. Running into an old friend will raise even more questions about the mysterious Org and their activities in Esper...





Ambitions for next time are to have our fourth biome at least partly completed, and potentially to complete Chapter 2, which will be by far the longest in the game.

(If you know any artists who are okay working for tiny indie rates or rev share, please encourage them to contact me at [email protected] )

Remember to report any issues you might be experiencing -- it helps improve the game for everyone, and I want players to have the best possible experience!

Until next time... Happy Stalking, and see you out there in the Zone.


Changelog:

• Fixed multiple crashes related to enemies in wharf
  
• Fixed issues with wharf progression and ending
  
• Fixed crash in Buzzard side quest
  
• Fixed crashes and other problems when handing in story side quests
  
• Reworked side quest minimap behaviour
  
• Fixed some story combats not ending properly when lost
  
• Fixed issue with train yard area transitions showing up too soon
  
• Fixed options menu locking up on rare occasions
  
• Fixed problems with window focus on 16:10 screen resolution (hopefully!)
  
• Removed unstable right-click area transitions
  
• New NPC Kate with new conversations
  
• Added new encounters in wharf
  
• Added proper reward after wharf boss
  
• Improved wharf boss fight visuals
  
• Added some new cards
  
• New animations for certain cards