Netherguild News

Summery of weekly updates over on the Netherguild Discord

Hey Guild Leaders! Here's some of what I've been working on in May.
It includes new content, new loot, and new systems in the works.

HYPE!

[h2]Visual Effects[/h2]

If you haven't read about the new visual effects yet, here's a link to a post where I explain more about it:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1464220/view/3187997689890117288
The tldr; Nice visual effects that are completely optional - they are enabled automatically on every visual setting besides the lowest one, but can be changed in the options menu.



[h2]New & Upgraded Loot[/h2]
This month, I rebalanced almost all the items you can find in chests and in the armory.
Making armors and weapons stronger and more valuable.



I redid my code so that now I can add a lot of "if x, do y" mechanics to attacks easily - and used it to spice up a lot of the existing equipment to be more interesting!



Another change is spicing up existing armor, so it's always an upgrade compared to the starter gear and more fun to use -



Finally, I also added a new heavy armor, a new light armor, and new boots - while removing one dagger.

[h2]New Systems![/h2]


[h3]Building Upgrading[/h3]
It is what it says on the box - this will let you upgrade your buildings in the overworld for increase capacity, utility, etc.
It's not 100% finished yet but it's getting close to done.

Not only does it give players a way to convert their coins into added utility in the overworld, it's also a method for adding new functionality to exiting buildings!

In the future I also want it to be more of a skill-tree, with some upgrades unlocking over time.


[h3]Hidden Talents[/h3]
What if every time a character leveled up and you picked a new skill for them,
there would be a 15% chance that they'd get a modified and slightly more powerful version of this skill, with some sort of a random upgrade?
Be it a few more uses between rests, a damage up, increased range, status or utility?

The idea is that it'd make for some characters that have unique skills that are perhaps more memorable - players could get more attached to them too.



This is a system I haven't added yet, though I have it thoroughly planned out so it'd be a relatively easy addition - of course it'd also mean adding a bunch of chance modifications to each skill.

How do you feel about it? Is it exciting, or not so much? let me know!

[h2]Next Fest[/h2]



Netherguild is going to be in the next fest with an updated demo!
Expect dev streams, streamers playing the game, and a lot more - if you have a favorite streamer, please tell them to check out the game during next fest too!

I hope you're as excited about this as I am :D

[h2]-Game Over-[/h2]

That's all for this update! Thank you for reading and see you next time (:

-David

Change log 26/5/2022 | Version 0.187(B)

New Content:

• Traveler's Boots - Can be obtained by having two Bluestone Crystals and 20 crowns
  

Character Hiring Changes, Fixes & Additions:

• Displays skill tree when hiring characters (on resolutions taller than 900px at the moment.)
  
• Says "Hire" on hired characters in guild instead of them disappearing after about 3 seconds
  
• Fixed clicking 'inspect' in guild hides currently inspected character
  
• Fixed clicking "Randomize" when a character is selected in guild hiring not de-selecting
  

Visual Changes

• Turkey leg is dark red now
  
• Added spark particles to fire effect in bonfire, pedestal torch oddity, and burning units
  
• Explosives healthbar is now dark red (instead of green)
  

Minifixes:

• Fixed moving hover from one enemy to another doesn't highlight them in combat order
  
• Lightly downgraded in-dungeon ambient occlusion from high->medium for the time being
  
• Added "[hold]" text to Camera tutorial.
  
• Fixed text of character name during equipment comparison
  
• Improved bonfire sound (not peaking, sounds more like a real bonfire)
  
• Fixed SFX settings not saving properly in main menu
  
• Improved width of lines when hovering over equipment
  

Change log 21/5/2022 | Version 0.187(A)

Bugfixes:

• Fixed hiding UI -> Killing Enemy -> Making UI appear again causing a crash
  
• Fixed ambient occlusion error in main menu
  
• RI.HID errors (Raw Input errors) no longer make an error panel appear but instead are added in a comment in error reports afterwards.
  This is because I'm not sure that RI.HID errors actually break anything, so adding a message in error reports should let me know.
  

Small fixes:

• Fixed cutscene split camera is too blurry
  
• Shortened "slanted sword" description
  
• Fixed leaving some oddities doesn't re-enable buttons
  

Recently, there was a big change to how Netherguild looks!!
I added an Ambient Occlusion effect (which basically makes corners a bit darker and nicer) in most places as well as a Depth of Field effect (which makes things that are "out of focus" blurry) in some places.

For comparison, this is how the main menu looked before:



Quite the big change!

Of course, these new effects are 100% optional and can be disabled in the main menu settings.
(they're also disabled by default on the lowest graphical settings but you can enable them in the options)



What do you think? Do you like the new change or not? Would you play with it on or off?
Do you think it looks nicer, or do you feel like it's not true to the colorful visual style of beforehand?

I'd love to hear your opinions! (:
If you're unsure, you can also try it out in the current demo on the Steam page.

I figured that if a game I played had a significant visual change like this, I'd probably like to know - hence the reason for this post.



Oh yeah, I also recently added a big patch to the demo that re-balanced (read as: buffed) almost all the loot and added some new game mechanics to attacks. Equipment you find in chests and in the armory is extremely fun now and actually makes you think about builds and combos!

And that's all for this update, thank you for checking it out! (:
-David

Change log 3/17/2022 | Version 0.187



Big Changes:

• Added ambient occlusion effect in most places and "depth of field" effect in main menu and overworld. If you dislike them, you may turn them off in the settings! Do note that it's disabled by default on the lowest graphical settings.
  
• Big balancing changes (detailed below)
  

Balancing:

• Rebalanced most existing equipment items to be more exciting and fun (and powerful). Applies for chests and armory.
  
• Simplified existing equipment hover text
  
• Added "assault armor" (heavy armor) and "hardboiled leather armor" (light armor).
  
• Removed stealthy dagger
  

Minifixes:

• Outlined "enemy turn"
  
• Equipment hover items are in top left
  
• Fixed extremely red tiles with "rain of arrows" skill (fixed an update or few back I believe)
  

Bugfixes:

• Fixed error with inspecting characters in demo end area
  

What do you think about the new ambient occlusion stuff? Do you dig it or feel like it's too much of a change? let me know. I might post a bigger update about it to ask for your opinion (: