ENCHAIN News

[p]Greetings lantern wielders. ENCHAIN will release for Early Access on Steam this December 2021. (edit: delayed)[/p][p]See the announcement trailer: [/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]
This release will not be the final release. Think of this release as just the first episode of the full game, with much more to come in 2022.

[/p][h2]Why Early Access?[/h2][p]After spending some time developing and improving the game this summer, it was clear to me that I'd want more time to work on the full game. Life obligations were a bit more intense than I expected! My original 2021 release date unfortunately won't cut it. Still, I feel that Early Access is the next best thing.
The great thing about this is that I can take my time on the full game to make it into what I want. If I were to stick to releasing the full game by the end of 2021, I would have to cut many of my planned features. I don't want to rush too much on development. On top of that, I can continue to get direct feedback from you all as I develop the game. This is very helpful for me to fix issues I would miss otherwise.
The downside of Early Access is that this first release will not be the complete experience. When Early Access is near I will be giving details about the state of the game so that you know what to expect. This will hopefully not disappoint too many players, as that's the last thing I want. Please have patience for the full release as always, I'm working hard to make it happen as soon as possible.

More Early Access details are on the game page

[/p][h2]Roadmap[/h2][p]With Early Access you can expect me to give more detailed updates on the content I'm working on. Over the past few months, I've been testing new mechanics (you can see some in the trailer), and polishing out some issues players have mentioned.

Here's a general list of what I'll be making for the Early Access release:
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• [p] Better tutorials for core mechanics
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• [p] Improvements to stamina system and clarity
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• [p] More variety in enemy behaviors, with a dynamic difficulty mechanic
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• [p] Improvements to boss battle design and gameplay
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• [p] A few NPCs to meet
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• [p] More weapons/enemies/bosses/areas, as you would expect
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• [p] Improvements to movement feel (hoping to make it less floaty)
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• [p] Player moveset/grapple improvements
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• [p] Special stuff you can buy with the "lantern juice"
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• [p] Bug fixes, polish, better options, assist mode, etc.
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[p]
If I can hit all of these points then Early Access should go fine. If you have any reasonable suggestions beyond these points, feel free to use the Steam Forums and Discord!

Anyways, I just want to say I'm really happy with how much the game has grown recently. Thank you all for the activity, it's a strong motivator. Still, the community is already far beyond what I could have imagined, and it's getting hard for me to keep up with it. Between working a job and going back to college soon, I may go quiet from time to time. Just know that Early Access is cooking!

Thank you for reading and for your support.[/p]

[h3]Change notes:[/h3]

• Replaced unreachable chasm key with a large link
  
• Added dive-slide sign in chasm
  
• Lock in crypt now has tutorial prompt
  
• Gun charging bugs fixed
  
• Wall jump polished: cancels velocity if you're not wall-running to make wall jumps easier
  
• VSync no longer breaks when changing quality setting
  
• Fixed new game button bug
  

Thanks for all your reports! Other gameplay suggestions that didn't make it will likely need to wait until the final game.

Featured in the Next Fest, ENCHAIN is an upcoming mix of action, FPS, platforming, and souls-like gameplay! Still early in development, much is subject to change
Drop by the live stream to see the solo developer play the demo and answer your burning questions.

Going to probably focus on showing some sequence breaks and previously unknown movement tech, as that's what I expect to be most interesting for you all.

ENCHAIN links snappy platforming and hack & slash juggling with fast-paced retro FPS gunplay. Inspired by the competitive fighting genre and Quake, combo and smash the undead into pieces with your lantern hook and punchy arsenal of guns. And, with progression and verticality influenced by Metroidvanias and Dark Souls, tackle a single interconnected world chunk by chunk, retreading old paths and secrets.

• Grapple, swing, and impale enemies with the lantern hook
• Shoot, kick, and dive between platforming and combat
  
• Break open and harvest the bones of the undead
  
• Explore an intertwined, non-linear underworld
  
• Master an arsenal of explosive firepower
  

Welcome back, chasm climbers. Since the last demo patch, improving the experience for new players has been at the forefront of my mind. At the same time, I've been adding brand new features pulling from all your feedback in the Discord. Demo Update 0.2.0 is up, and you can read about all the new changes below.



[h3]Wyvern[/h3]
A new enemy has been added, and it can be found in a secret arena in the crypt! The "wyvern" mirrors the functions of the chaingun with its heated nail breath, only the nails stick into the ground as hazards for your movement. Expect this one to show up ready for even more action in the full game.



[h3]Enemy Stamina Bars "Bone Bars"[/h3]
Due to even myself not knowing the complete inner workings of the combat physics system of ENCHAIN, stamina bars that reveal qualitative information about the status of enemies are now added in by default. They will appear above the head of any targets you attack. I hope you will notice these stamina bars (or maybe I should call them bone bars) make the combat a bit more readable. The design of the stamina bars was also carried over into a new boss health bar design (more about boss changes below). The bars can be switched off in options if you prefer.



[h3]Starting Areas Overhaul[/h3]
In the crypt starting areas, many players had difficulties I hadn't gotten around to fixing: the dirt wall after the revolver, the first lantern room, the slide and dive room, and so on. Finally, I can say most of this issues have been addressed, with a new popup text feature used to indicate points of interest during tutorial sequences.

Beyond the tutorials, lots of the visuals in the demo areas have been revamped! The crypt got several little tombs added into the walls using a fancy stencil trick I learned. You'll see many rooms in the crypt with more detail than anything seen in the demo before. I do try to keep myself to a limit on these details, due to the overall lo-fi art style. Still, I hope this gives an idea of the standard I will keep for new environments in the full release.



[h3]Blood Decals[/h3]
Gibs paint the walls, as they should.



[h3]Boss Changes[/h3]
Players often had trouble with the boss battle of the demo. To address this, mainly stamina bars have been added to clear up how fighting actually works, along with many tweaks to the boss itself. I also snuck in a few visual tweaks to the boss as you fight it, just to give a taste of future bosses.

[h3]Move List[/h3]
Inspired by "Action Guide" menus of other platformers, the Move List menu gets its debut! Find it on the pause menu.

Keep track of the many actions of the basic moveset and how to perform them. The entries of the move list will not update based on player actions; instead, they are currently triggered by specific points in the tutorials. For the full game I will make the list respond closely to player actions. All supported entries will be revealed for you upon completion of the demo.




So, that's the bulk of the update. There were lots of other changes in there that I can only mention in the notes below. Lots of these were suggested by the Discord community, thanks again to you all!

This is going to be the last major demo update, as my focus truly needs to shift to making the planned areas for the full game. Like after the last patch, I will be working on new areas, mechanics, and story elements, with even more focus on the full game now that the demo is polished up. Expect much more content now that I've created a sturdy foundation.

There were many things I wish I could have finished with the game by now and had in this update. However, I've been busy with school the past few months, and I only recently got the time to make this update happen. Fortunately it has given me plenty of time to consider the different paths in front of ENCHAIN. As always, I'll take my time to make what I want to make. Thank you all for sticking around, I only ask for your patience on news about the full game.

Thanks for reading!



[h2]Full change notes:[/h2]

• Move List basic functionality added
  
• Hand of the Child visual changes
  
• Boss fight balance adjustments
  
• Boss fight health bar improvements
  
• Chasm areas adjusted
  
• New optional route through Rooted Tomb added to crypt
  
• Environments improved
  
• Some textures adjusted
  
• Tutorials improved
  
• Anchored text popups added
  
• Enemy blocking system, currently used with shoveler enemy
  
• Enemy stamina bars added (w/ toggle in Game options)
  
• Stamina system improvements
  
• Additional combat sound effects added
  
• Various grapple hook fixes
  
• Enemy head turning added (very subtle)
  
• Grapple pull head-hitting prevention
  
• Made kick-jumping knockback weak after successive hits (sorry speedrunners)
  
• Wyvern enemy added
  
• Improvements to playermodel/viewmodel (leg fix)
  
• warp command fixes
  
• Sub-areas show up in pause menu
  
• Blood decals added (w/ max tied to quality setting)
  
• New dynamic ammo UI added
  
• Menu UI modified
  
• VSync option added
  

Fan Art by crimebaby envy in Discord

Greetings crypt dwellers! After getting your feedback, I have put together the first post-demo-release patch to improve the experience for everyone, available right now. Read about the most important changes below! See the final comments for an idea where the project is headed next.

[h3]First up, Hook Magnetism[/h3]

This new feature allows the lantern hook to attract itself into enemies and grapple points automatically or on command. Many of you found that hook throws were easy to miss during gameplay, so this should help more of you connect with the main mechanic better. Full magnetism is enabled by default, with alternate options found in Settings>Game.

• Full - Hook throws will have a constant large hitbox around the lantern that immediately snaps the lantern toward enemy/prop targets for either a grapple or a hit.
  
• Hybrid - Hook throws work as normal but will have the hitbox passively checking for targets. If you pull the lantern (press the [Burden] button or double tap the [Hook] button) while the throw is still out in the air, the lantern will then snap to the last nearby target.
  
• Off - Hook lantern will work exactly as in 0.1.0 without any magnetism.
  

I will clarify that I don't consider this a handicap to the gameplay, which is the reason why it is now set to Full as the default option. Hook magnetism brings the game closer to my intended feel (it's probably the best idea to come out of the demo players), so don't be afraid of being impure by having it on!
I expect this behavior can use some fine tuning for all players, so please let me know your thoughts in the Steam Discussion board, or on our Discord.



[h3]Movement[/h3]
After many comments about the feeling of the movement, I have done a lot of small things to make running, jumping, and everything involving platforming a bit more pleasant and natural.

• Improvements to wall running: sticking to walls is now a thing of the past! You can now slide down walls normally unless you start moving into them; moving away will immediately end the wall run. This is how most games work and it already makes platforming feel a bit more natural. Try it out to see if it works for you.
  
• Another change to note is a bit more advanced: lantern air-cancelling will now only happen while air-crouching (throwing out some movement vocab). Lantern air-cancelling where you throw your lantern while in the air and your fall is cancelled for a moment. This is done to help with platforming, but many of you did comment that it was confusing your movement. With this patch, air-cancelling will not occur unless you are also air-crouching (air-crouching is where you hold the crouch key in the air). This might be hard to work into muscle memory, but I hope this will allow more control over air movement.
  

Many other changes were made to movement: slightly increased ground friction, fast-falling improvements, wall climbing nerf, dive-slide shortening, general sound effects to different air moves. The full details on what is different can be found in the below change notes.

[h3](Partial) Controller Support[/h3]
Initially promised for the full game, I went ahead and overhauled the input system to support gamepad input as well as keyboard input (I do not guarantee that the game is designed well for controllers yet! This is for those who wish to try it out). In order to set up controllers, go to Settings>Controls and rebind each action to a corresponding controller input.



[h3]Speedrun Mode[/h3]
There's now a speedrun timer that can be turned on in game options. This will count in real-time while the game is unpaused, just like the game timer shown on the pause screen. Perhaps later I can add in a completion counter/percentage if that would help your runs!



[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]
It goes without saying but this patch crushes a lot of small bugs and issues. High refresh-rates should be supported now. There is one out-of-bounds glitch that has been patched out (sorry speedrunners!) and doors have a glowing thing on them now. Signs also glow now. A handful of debug/cheat commands were added. Coffin lids (is that what they're called?) are less glitchy now.
Again, I tried to note everything at the bottom, feel free to ask for clarifications about any changes.





While there are still plenty of things I want to polish further (the boss, teaching mechanics), my priority will now shift to developing the rest of the game. Consider the demo to be a rough preview of the beginning of the game that will be polished over time for the full release. First priority now is more content like new areas, mechanics, and story elements that will be part of this full release.

With that in mind, please be patient for progress updates! I'm back in university for the time being so my free time will be very limited.
Please join the Discord to keep up to date on each milestone I make, and to chat with other fans/friends (perhaps even get involved with playtesting in the future). Supporting me in any way will help me a lot in the next few months. I'm also happy to hear feedback as always!

So, that's the whole deal. I apologize for the long wait for this seemingly small patch, but the past few months have been super busy for me (school). ENCHAIN will kick into full gear eventually.

Thanks for reading and have a good day!

Fan Art by crimebaby envy

[h2]Full change notes:[/h2]

• Choppy camera on higher refresh rates fixed
  
• Hook magnetism added
  
• Chasm reverb lowered
  
• Console commands added (full list of cheats are on our Discord):
  
  • fov [1-200] - sets field of view of camera
    
  • slowmo - toggles ultra slow motion (might cause some glitchy effects)
    
  • viewmodel - toggles arms/guns in front of camera
    
  • hud - toggles screen UI elements
    
  • warp [2-4] - sends you to a new area
    
• Help signs emission texture added
  
• Pause menu tweaked
  
• Gamepad input for controls menu support fixed
  
• Short dive slide (when not holding crouch after a dive landing) added
  
• Air-cancels happen only when crouching, not when falling normally
  
• Air-cancels now cancel all motion when not diving
  
• Movement sound effects added
  
• Pickup ambient sound effects added
  
• Slide bump under ceiling clipping glitch fix
  
• Ground friction increased
  
• Wall climbing weakened on second wall jump when on the same wall
  
• Demo end trigger fixed
  
• Jump platforms in crypt tweaked
  
• Door emission detail added
  
• Lantern room coffins improved
  
• Keybind prompts fixed to account for custom controls
  
• Great Chasm entrance area slightly tweaked
  
• Coffin jumping fixed
  
• Boss can now be knocked up by fire-dirt-ball projectile