[Neolithic]To the End News

English
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[Deal with the Devil]New offer: Spell Book: Darkness at the cost of 2% of your soul.
[Deal with the Devil]New offer: Skill Book: Devour Corpse at the cost of 2% of your soul.
[Devour Corpse]This skill can now be used outside a battle.
[Devour Corpse]Healing effect was reduced from 25% of MaxHP to 16% of MaxHP. (Eventually, we will face some enemies that have this skill as well. Thus, let's not make it too overpowered.)
[Deal with the Devil]New offer: Demonic Knowledge (+66% Mgi. until the end of the battle.)
简体中文
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【魔鬼交易】新的交易内容：法术书：黑暗涌动，价格：你2%的灵魂。
【魔鬼交易】新的交易内容：技能书：食尸，价格：你2%的灵魂。
【食尸】这个技能现在可以在非战斗时使用。
【食尸】治疗效果从25%的最大生命值下调到了16%的最大生命值。（之后可能会出现拥有这个技能的敌人，所以先削弱一下。）
【魔鬼交易】新的交易内容：恶魔知识（+66%的魔力，直到战斗结束。）

Hi, everyone. It's time for another week's developer's diary.

It's also the time to announce the main story in Queensmouth is complete.
(Well, as the development is endless, there may also be more to be added to this. For example, we just added another new path in today's update.)
A walkthrough of the quest "Sins of the Father" is now also on the wiki. Be alert, it contains spoilers.
https://neolithia.fandom.com/wiki/Quest:_Sins_of_the_Father

There are also memes:

Right after what happened in Queensmouth, the story shall move on to another new area which is a lost city in Egypt. However, just as the previous story is not quite linear, I pretty much want everything to have a certain degree of freedom. The new areas will not be blocked by the story.

But, there is no rush to add more main story content right now. The new Egypt locations need to be constructed before the story can get in. We also still have some unfinished business and more alternative solutions to the problems in Queensmouth and other existing areas. During the next 4 weeks, those will be worked on.

Something fun just happened this week. Our game got a very special change number on Steam among all games and software.
https://steamdb.info/changelist/15666666/
The change number 15666666 belongs to us. Cheers! :D

It has two sets of 666 in it. I wonder if it may be a sign or something.
So, we got a new game mechanic. Get ready to make deals with Mephisto at the cost of your soul. :)
Mephisto has been with us since the release of the game.
It's time to let him have more useful interactions than just appearing in stories.
Because of what happened in the Prologue, he is kinda trapped with you. So, you will become his only available client that can make contracts with him. He can use his demonic power to instantly restore your HP or MP at the cost of a tiny bit of your soul. (More deals will be added in the future.)
Well, of course, it's a trap. If you lose 100% of your soul, it's game over for you.
On the good side, we also have a Steam achievement for this. :D
(Alright, this is just as silly as the traffic fraud achievement. Please don't make deals with demons in real life unless you are desperate and it's totally necessary. Also, even in that case, you may want to make sure you have a lawyer on your side, and the said lawyer must not be another demon before you sign any contracts.)

Now, let's talk about what it means to the game itself when the main story of Queensmouth is finished.
As mentioned previously, the game price will dramatically increase. That will happen at least 4 weeks after this DD is published. Thus, expect that to happen sometime after September 12th. There will also be one last discount before the price increase. Something I suggested to Paradox before they increase their regional price last time. I consider it a good practice. So, I will do it as well.

Unlike other games that keep getting lower and lower discounts, the price of our game will always increase, as long as new content gets added. So, existing players will be rewarded both by receiving endless new game content and an increase in their Steam account value. As this is a true indie game and my personal project, I can care quite a bit less about taking efforts into marketing and attracting new players. However, as a cult leader, or so someone calls me, I care more about bringing more benefits to existing players. Just as I am always on the side of shareholders when I run a company. And, I am a shareholder of many game companies myself. I usually leave the marketing to other more talented people in this trade. Except, I don't have any in this indie game. But, so be it. I have no financial goal for this game at all. Let's just see what will happen. :)

Regarding the demo version. The previous plan was to retire it after the Queensmouth milestone is achieved. However, the demo version now has another purpose, which is to penetrate the censorship of China, to bring the latest news from Ukraine, and to let the truth be known by having that information among other game content. I have decided to keep updating the demo version until the end of this war.
It will still be free as I want to make it easy for people to acquire that information. Thus, technically, the game is somewhat free if you only play the demo version with no advanced steam features such as achievements and Steam Workshop. As I said, I have no financial goal for this game. And as Churchill once said, "The destiny of man is not measured by material computations."
Slava Ukraini!

So, the demo version will stay. It will just be moved to the right side of the store page instead of right above the purchase button to avoid confusion.


That's for this week. Let's march towards the future. One update at a time.

Today's changelog:
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[Sins of the Father]Added Deputy Judy's path to finish the story. (It will cause the quest <> invalid if not previously complete.)
[Sins of the Father]We now have 3 different paths to finish the story. The wiki has been updated.
[Queensmouth]Increased the width of Deputy Judy's dialog option window.
[Deal with the Devil]New offer: Restore full MP at the cost of 1% of your soul.
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[Sins of the Father]Added a walkthrough of this mission on the wiki. (Spoiler Alert!)
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Fixed a bug that a character's battle image may not display if they start the battle in an unmovable state. (For example, Sleeping)

English
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New game mechanic: Deal with the Devil.
When you leave the safe house for the first time after the Prologue, Mephisto will now talk to you.
He purposes you to sell a percentage of your soul to him in exchange for certain benefits that he can provide.
You will learn a new skill: Deal with the Devil. (Instant act, you can use this skill for an unlimited amount of time during each turn in a battle.)
You can use this skill at any time, during a battle, or from the menu.
You can ask him for more details and check what he offers.
However, if you lose 100% of your soul, it will be game over. (More details can be found in Mephisto's conversation with you.)
Current offer: Restore your HP at the cost of 1% of your soul.
Relationship with Mephisto can be improved when you sign a deal with him. However, it's not recommended.
New Steam Achievement: Not-So-Hostile Takeover
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Added the wiki page of Deal with the Devil: https://neolithia.fandom.com/wiki/Deal_With_the_Devil
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Made a change to the windows message class so that dialog in combat can be configured to follow generic rules. (Details are in Window_Message -> reset_window)
Added a new system module: SoulManager
Made the skill category window a bit wider so that localization texts in some languages will not get scaled down.
简体中文
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新游戏机制：魔鬼交易。
现在当你在结束序章后，首次离开安全屋的时候，梅菲斯特会和你有一段对话。
他提议你可以用你的部分灵魂换取他能为你提供的各种服务。
随后，你将学到一个新的技能：魔鬼交易。（瞬发技能，可以在战斗的一回合中使用无限次。）
你可以在任何时候使用这个技能，无论是战斗还是平时菜单中。
你可以在使用技能后询问他更多细节。
你可以检查他提供的服务内容和报价。
但是，如果你失去100%的灵魂，那么会导致游戏结束。（具体原因参照和梅菲斯特的对话。）
目前提供的服务：恢复你的全部生命，价格1%的灵魂。
每次和他签订契约都会增加和他的关系。但是，这并不是一种值得推荐的做法。
新的Steam成就：非恶意收购行为
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加入了魔鬼交易的维基页面: https://neolithia.fandom.com/wiki/Deal_With_the_Devil
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改变了windows message类，使战斗中的对话可以被配置为遵循非战斗时的通用规则。（具体参照Window_Message的reset_window函数）
加入了新的系统模块：SoulManager
技能选择界面上的技能分类选单宽度增加，确保了某些语言本地化文本不会因为过长而被缩小。

English
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Quest: "Sins of the Father" is now concluded.
Quest: "Lost in the Sand" starts.
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[Map Editor]Added a warning message when saving map data under the RGD environment. As RGD is not using standard RPG Maker XP data format, the map data exported this way will not work on other environments such as MKXP.
However, export map data without event data shall not have this issue. (No problem found during my experimentations.)
It's a warning, not an error. It shall not stop people who know what they are doing.
But, anyway, I'd recommend saving dynamic data in the runtime only under the standard RMXP environment.
An MKXP releasable beta version will not come any time soon. Because a lot of modifications to the code will be needed. RGD is still the main game environment.
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Fixed some color issues in the 1978 version of the Queensmouth Church. (Likely nbody even noticed that.)
简体中文
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任务【父辈的原罪】完结。
任务【迷失于沙之中】开始。
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【地图编辑器】加入了一条警告信息，在RGD环境下保存地图数据时提示。因为RGD并非标准的RPG MAKER XP数据结构，所以输出的数据通用性上会存在问题。无法在某些环境下再次读取，比如MKXP。
但是，如果只是输出纯粹的地图数据而不包含事件数据，那么理论上应该安全。（实验过程中未发现问题。）
这是一条警告信息，而非报错。所以不会阻止那些知道他们在干什么的人进行操作。
但是，总之，我依然建议只在标准RMXP环境中保存动态生成数据。
由于存在大幅代码改动的需要，一个MKXP的可发布的测试版本预计不会很快出现。RGD依然是目前的主要环境。
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修复了1978年版本的王后镇教堂的一些色调错误。（基本上貌似不会有人注意到。）

English
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New furniture: Sarcophagus (1x3 size. It functions just like coffins.)
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Major cleanup on all DLLs.
The following DLLs are now disabled on the code level:
1, SAPCNET my old Raknet-based 32bit online function library. It's not like we are going to have multiplayer of To the End anytime soon. (It's still working in SAPC++ if anyone wants to play.) Plus, Raknet has been acquired by Facebook(Meta) years ago.
2, SAPCPNG my old 32bit PNG library. It's no longer needed after we moved engine runtime from RMXP-ACE to RGD. It will also not likely be needed if operation [Data Redacted] is successful.
3, SAPCWINMESSAGE my old 32bit windows message library. Better methods than hacking windows messages to achieve some results have been implemented since 2013.
After the cleanup, we now only have three external non-Windows and non-RGSS DLL dependencies:
1, SAPCSTEAMBRIDGE for Steam interactive.
2, SAPCTIMER for time control. (And some weird functions.)
3, steam_api, this is Valve's DLL.
Added 64bit version of those 3 DLLs. (We will likely have all DLLs in the future have 2 versions.)
Added a global flag: $IS_64BIT to check if we are releasing a 64bit-only build. (It's experimenting. We still support 32bit systems for now.)
Restored the function to directly call the windows command-line. (Require SAPCTIMER DLL, ruby code: sys_wincmd(char))
Set RGD flags correctly on RGD-only features. (Mostly in gamepads.)
Made a placeholder function for video play just to stop the game from crashing if the current environment is not RGD.
Added global tag $IS_MKXP to mark if the current environment is MKXP.
The first MKXP version of the game was successfully launched. But, a lot of functions are not running correctly. (I am just making a basic evaluation regarding how much needs to be done if we go this way.)
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Fixed a bug that local achievement list has one less achievement than Steam.
简体中文
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新家具：石棺（1x3大小，基本上和棺材作用一致。）
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对现有的动态链接库（DLL）进行了清理。
以下动态链接库在代码层面已经不再使用：
1，SAPCNET，那个古老的基于Raknet的32位网络库。貌似我们短时间内还不会有多人联机游戏功能。（在SAPC++中依然存在。）另外，Raknet已经在很多年前被Facebook（Meta）收购。
2，SAPCPNG，那个古老的32位PNG库。由于游戏运行文件已经从RMXP-ACE转移到了RGD，该功能已经不再需要。并且如果【数据删除】计划成功的话，未来也不会再需要。
3，SAPCWINMESSAGE，那个古老的32位的黑掉WINDOWS信息的库。在2013年之后显然已经有了更好的方法。
在清理完毕之后，我们游戏仅剩下3个外在的非WINDOWS，非RGSS的动态链接库以来：
1，SAPCSTEAMBRIDGE 用于游戏和Steam交互
2，SAPCTIMER 用于时间管理。（以及一些奇怪的功能）
3，steam_api, 这个是Valve家的库。
对上述三个动态链接库加入了64位的版本。（之后如果有新DLL的话，预计都会有两个版本。）
加入了全局标记：$IS_64BIT用于判断是否当前版本是仅限64位使用的版本。（实验中。目前我们依然支持32位系统。）
重新加入了直接调用Windows命令行的功能。（基于SAPCTIMER 内的代码，Ruby侧调用： sys_wincmd(char)）
正确设置了一些RGD专用的标识符。（主要在于手柄方面。）
加入了一个占位用的函数，确保游戏不会在非RGD环境下崩溃。
加入了全局标签$IS_MKXP用于标记当前运行环境是否为MKXP。
游戏的第一个MKXP版本成功运行。但是，很多功能运行不正确。（我只是在初步评估如果部署一个这样的环境下的版本的工作量。）
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修复了本地成就列表比STEAM少一个成就的BUG。