Card Survival: Tropical Island News

Hello everyone,

It's time for the weekly update.
Today we'd like to start with a few announcements:

1 - Android Version: We have been working on an android version of the game and we are happy to say that it shouldn't be long until we are ready to release it. At the moment we're just working on further optimizing the game to improve its framerate on phones. If all goes well we believe it should probably be coming out at some point in January.

2 - Price Increase: Card Survival, starting from the 22nd of this month, is going to receive a price increase, from 7 to 10 dollars (or a proportional increase in your local currency). As the game grows in content and polish, we believe this new price will better reflect its current play value as well as our development investment. :)

3 - Holidays: We won't be releasing an update on the 29th of december, as we will be busy visiting family. We are planning on compensating for that however, by using those two weeks to finally implement the long awaited new liquid system! Which to be honest, has proved to be too large to be implemented in one of our weekly updates.


Now, here's the actual content:

[h2]New Filter System and Extra Bookmarks:[/h2]

We have introduced a filter system to help reduce the amount of scrolling during the game. There are four filters:
- Camping: Beds, Fires, Wood, Light Sources, Tinder
- Food: Anything edible, Cooking Stations
- Water: Liquids, Liquid Containers
- Crafting: Tools, Tailoring Items, Raw Materials
This is a first implementation and I'm sure it could use a lot of polish so feel free to give us any feedback or tell us if there's any item you think should go into one of the filters.

The old bookmarks now appear to the sides of the hand row, so we used the extra room to add two extra bookmarks to hopefully make game navigation easier. :)


[h2]Blueprint System Improvements:[/h2]

We have removed the confirmation step for placing blueprints, so now players will be able to check their requirements from the menu with a single click.
In addition to this we have also added an auto complete blueprint button that will fill all slots with available resources, making the whole process easier.


[h2]New Island Layout:[/h2]

The wetlands no longer connect to the mangroves and the jungle no longer connects to the highlands.
There is now a new environment, the grasslands, which connects the jungle, the mangroves and the highlands together. The old cliffs that could be found in the jungle still exist, but are now located in the wetlands, connecting this environment with the highlands as well. Be warned though, they are lot harder to climb now.
Accessing the highlands from the grasslands however requires no climbing, but still comes with its own dangers.



[h2]Grasslands:[/h2]

This new advanced environment is bit of a crossroads in the island and contains partridges, aloe vera and lemongrass like the highlands. When camping there, due to its open nature, you'll also have light during clear nights like in the beach.
The grasslands are also home to a new population of monitor lizards (that is connected to the mangrove one) and a new predator: the spitting cobra.
Spitting Cobras can be found here and in the highlands and will try to spit in your eyes if you bump into them. If they get you, you'll have to wash your eyes as quickly as possible, or end up with permanent eye damage. Finding them is not completely bad however, as they can also be killed and cooked for their meat.
It is also worth mentioning that monitor, cobra and partridge populations interact with each other. The more monitor lizards in the grasslands for example, the less partridges and cobras you'll find. Get rid of the monitors and you'll get more cobras. Kill all monitors and cobras and you'll get more partridges. :)


[h2]Minor New Features:[/h2]

Raincoat: It can be crafted with a plastic sheet and should protect you from the rain.
Mud Protection: You can now apply mud to your body to protect you from bug bites and the sun. It will make you very dirty though, so don't do it if you have open wounds.
Edible Aloe Vera: Aloe Gel can now be eaten to get an acceptable amount of hydration. It is highly diuretic however, so it will give you diarrhoea very easily.
Interface Improvement: The left side of the in-game area has now been improved to fit the new art style of the menus.
Killer Drones Perk: A new challenging perk that works quite well with the TV one. It will spawn aggressive killer drones in the island that you'll be able to meet while exploring.


[h2]Balance Tweaks:[/h2]
- The copper ore piece that could be found in the dark cave is now in the highlands instead, making it necessary to reach the highlands if you want to craft a copper axe.
- Optimist perk has been nerfed and bug resistant has been tweaked.
- Trees now take longer to cut with the stone axe.
- TV Perk capsules now fall every 2 days, and self destruct in only 2 days as well.

[h2]Fixes and Hotfixes from this week:[/h2]
- Fixed bug that would happen when you quit the game while exploring.
- Made it so that deployed tents drop their contents when dismantled.
- Fixed a bug that was causing the scrap tools not to work on certain recipes.
- Water reservoirs and raincatchers can no longer be placed on the raft.
- Kiln can now store unfired clay fire pits while not burning. 
- Leather Shoes now give stuff when broken.
- Made sure that Crop Plots, Stove and other structure can't be built in the raft.
- TV Collar can no longer be destroyed.
- Tweaked Capsule rewards.
- Fixed a bug that was causing the clay fire pit to not need firing.
- Fixed a bug that was preventing roasted prawns and roasted fish scraps from burning.
- It's now harder to wake up from sleep because of nausea.
- Sun Strength tweaks.
- Coops, Kilns and Mudhuts can no longer be built in the raft.


That should be all for now.
Have a nice week everyone! :)

Hello everyone!

Update time again. :)
Here's our content list:

[h2]End Game Sailing:[/h2]
The game no longer finishes when you push the raft into the sea, you will now need to survive on the raft until you are able to find civilisation. This could take a variable amount of time so you'll have to make sure you have enough supplies to survive the journey.



Here's a list of all the sailing stage features that are currently implemented:

- Wind System: Raise the sails when the wind is favourable to speed up your raft and reach civilization faster, lower them under unfavourable conditions to prevent damage to your sails and avoid losing distance travelled.

- Storms: Do not leave anything on the base row during storms, as big waves can strike the raft and make you lose many of the objects you have there. Make sure to store all your items on your hand or equipment inventories or in the secured supply chests, of which you can now build multiple.

- Sail Repairs: Your sail will lose durability over time, specially when open under unfavourable conditions. Use cord to repair it and don't neglect it. If it gets destroyed the journey might take a lot longer.

- Seasickness: Your character will get nausea when the sea is agitated so expect to throw up a lot. Fortunately, after enough days you should get used to the sea and stop being nauseous.

- Clay Fire Pit: Something of a portable campfire that you can actually light on the raft without burning it.

- Survival Guide: We've also updated the guide with sailing information.

There are still many things we would like to implement to this maritime section of the game, but it was all too big to implement in one single update so expect new features to come soon. ;)


[h2]Menu Revamp and Video Tutorials:[/h2]

We've given all the menus a visual rework to make them look prettier. Hope you like the changes!



In addition to this we've also added a Video Tutorial section to the Survival Guide that should hopefully help new players. All the videos there have been made by Neomare, a very nice youtuber who has been very active and helpful in the forums. He has a ton of Card Survival and Card Quest content in his channel, so make sure to check it if you are feeling like watching playthroughs of our games.


[h2]New Perks:[/h2]

We've added a couple small perks and one big one.
The small ones are:
- Nut Allergy (like shellfish allergy, but applies to coconuts and almonds)
- Sailor (makes you immune to sea sickness)

The big one is a difficult one made for those players who are looking for a challenge.
It makes you start in the island as if you were inside a game show. Every 3 days a supply capsule will be dropped somewhere in the island and you'll have 3 days to find it or a collar you have locked around your neck will electrocute you. If you manage to find all 8 capsules you'll win the game and become a millionaire (only in the game, not in real life).


[h2]Tweaks and Fixes:[/h2]
- Fixed a bug that was causing raincatchers not to give back stones when deconstructed.
- Monitor Lizards will be a lot less likely to attack during the first few Mangrove exploratory trips.
- Moonlight now provides less light when the weather is partially cloudy or cloudy.
- Spider Lily and Snakegrass crop plots now give more plants, ginger crop plots give less.
- Made partridges easier to catch with snare traps.
- Nipa Seeds can now be used for the jungle salad too.


Oh, and I almost forgot. We also added hand wrappings back into the game. :)
See you on the next update!

Hi everyone!

It's update time.
Here's our content list:

[h2]End Game Journal:[/h2]

We have added a new screen that can be accessed when you die or escape from the island. It contains a log of most of the important things you did during your run. This way, winning a game can feel more rewarding.
It is a first iteration and we will continue working on it, so don't hesitate to give us feedback. ;)



[h2]Item Naming:[/h2]

Storage chests and partridges can now be given names. Let me know if there are any other cards you would like to be able to name!


[h2]New Items:[/h2]

Metal scraps can now be found in the shipwreck and used to craft scrap knives and axes. These tools are similar to the copper ones but cannot be infinitely repaired like them.
You can now also craft leather trousers, which can offer protection against wounds, in particular against lizard bites.



[h2]New Ailments:[/h2]

You can now get parasites by eating raw food, drinking unsafe water or being very dirty. Parasites are not that harmful if your immune system is strong, but if you are feeling weak or you are not cautious, their numbers can start growing inside you and things can get out of control. Parasites compromise your immune system, consume nutrients and increase your appetite.
Antibiotics as well as spider lily and ginger teas can help you get rid of them.

You can now get camp fever during your second month in the island. It is transmitted by bug bites and will cause a rash, fever, diarrhoea and headaches. If you catch it, you will need to fight it for a at least week, so make sure you have the tools to keep it under control or it will kill you.


[h2]Balance Tweaks and Minor Additions:[/h2]

- Clothes can now get wet, and will keep you wet until they are dry.
- Palm Trees, Large Trees and Almond Trees can now be cut with Stone Axes again, but require multiple hits.
- Advanced axes also now require multiple hits to cut trees, but less than stone axes.
- You can now become obese by being too overweight, this will apply a penalty to movement.
- Ginger now also helps a bit with diarrhoea.
- A new portrait has been added.
- A couple new perks, obese and brave have been added.
- Increased probability of finding mud deposit in the mangroves.
- Large Trees can now be found in the mangroves.
- Tweaked courage requirements for washing different minor wounds with different things.
- Reduced the effects of raw ginger.


That's all for now.
Wish you all a good week! :)

Hello everyone!

It's time for the new update.
This time we have a big one that introduces a whole new environment along with new animals and plants. There's also a lot of tweaks to the nutrition and immune systems, and many balance changes.
I hope you will like them!

[h2]Mangrove Forest:[/h2]

The Mangrove Forest is a new mid-late game environment that can be accessed from both the beach and the wetlands, effectively looping the island.
While it contains many useful things, it is the most dangerous environment at the moment, so do not explore it too much if you're not prepared.



[h3]Monitor Lizards:[/h3]
These large reptiles are the apex predator in the island, and while not as dangerous as a tiger or a crocodile would be, can still be pretty nasty. They will fight back even if attacked with ranged weapons and will sometimes chase you if you choose to retreat. Their bite contains a lot of bacteria that will require attentive care if you don't want to quickly fall sick.
On the bright side, when killed, you'll be able to skin their bodies for leather and butcher them for meat. Although they won't give fat or as much leather as the boars. Be warned!

[h3]Sea Kraits:[/h3]
These snakes can be found when exploring or diving and will bite you if you are not wearing shoes or if your swimming skills are not high enough. If you are lucky, they will inject you little to no poison, but if you are not, you might get a paralizing effect that will make walking hard and can even cause you blindness.

[h3]New Fish:[/h3]
The Mangrove Forest is another shore environment with access to the sea and as such it permits fishing and diving. Two new types of fish can be found here: The Mudskipper which can be fished or caught on land with deadfall traps and the King Threadfin, a large fish of varying size from which you can harvest a large amount of meat.



[h3]Nipa Palms:[/h3]
Nipa Palms can be found here too and they have a large fruit with edible seeds. Once harvested, the plant can also be used to extract sap for wine and sugar, but without the need to climb or build a sap station. In their current form they are a new water source that is close to the beach, as long as you are willing to risk it of course.
The original Palm Tree Sap Stations have been disabled for now, I might add them back later again but for now, Nipa Palm is the only source of sugar and wine.

[h3]Ginger:[/h3]
Ginger can now be found in both the Mangroves and the Wetlands. Its roots can be ground and prepared into a tea with many health benefits:
- It helps increase your appetite.
- It helps treat nausea.
- It has a minor pain soothing effect.
- It has help you fight sleep when you are trying to stay awake.
- It has a minor antibiotic effect.

[h3]Mud Deposits:[/h3]
Lastly, depletable mud deposits can also be found in the mangroves. A new, closer source from which to bring mud to your base.




[h2]Balance Changes:[/h2]

[h3]Nutrition Changes:[/h3]
Characters now start with a higher weight and will burn calories depending on their weight. So thinner characters will consume less energy and therefore lose weight slower while larger ones will lose weight faster.
This should make it harder for characters to go underweight. Not eating enough while doing excessive exercise or getting hurt or sick too often will of course still lead to the same destination.

[h3]Hydration Progression Changes:[/h3]
Palm Trees can no longer be cut down with stone axes, making subsistence by coconut harder. The first rain however will now happen earlier, giving players an earlier chance to get water on their gathered coconut shells and also pulling the second rain to an earlier date (most of the time).
Coconuts are still be accessible by climbing or by exploring the beach and the outskirts, and water is also available in the form of the Nipa sap and wine that can be harvested from the Mangroves as long as you are willing to risk it.

[h3]Happiness System:[/h3]
It is now harder to get self-destructive or euphoric, as a rubber band effect has been added that will tend to push happiness to a neutral state. This will make staying super happy harder, but will also help prevent those horrible depression spirals as long as you're not in a very bad state.

[h3]Other Changes:[/h3]
- Stone Axes can no longer cut down palm trees and large trees, copper or more advanced axes need to be used for it, effectively gating mud huts and rafts to after you have copper tools.
- Made tweaks to how the immune system works and how happiness and body weight affect it.
- Rebalanced the whole immune system and how it interacts with fever and diarrhoea bacteria.
- The Beach now has some light, even during the night.
- Raft has been made slightly more expensive.
- Bug repellent is now unlocked later.
- Wearing socks or wrappings temporarily neutralizes a portion of your foot damage.
- Cleaning Wounds with sea water now lowers your happiness.
- Aloe Vera Gel lasts twice as long, but its effect is spread thinner.

[h2]Bug Fixes:[/h2]
- Made Crop plots fill up faster during the rain.
- Fixed a bug that prevented crop plots from hydrating when you weren't there.
- Fixed bug that was preventing wounds from healing in some cases.
- Survival Axe can now be used to chop logs like the other axes.
- Wetting soap on salt water no longer produces salt.
- Made Pale Skin, Dark Skin exclusive with Sun Allergy.
- Mouse meat is no longer considered bird meat. 

That is all for now!
As usual we'll be working on fixing bugs and balancing all these new things during the following days. So don't hesitate to let us know if you find any issues or have any feedback! :)
See you next week!

Hello everyone!

It's update time again.

Before we go into the content list though, I wanted to let you know that we're going to be changing the day at which we release our updates from now on. Instead of Sundays like we've been doing, we're going to start releasing them on Wednesdays, still weekly of course. So, the next update after this one will be on Wednesday the 17th.
As a plus, this also means that the next update is going to be be a big one, as we'll have more time to work on it. :)

That said, here's all the new content, improvements and fixes for this week:



[h2]Clay Pot Cooler:[/h2]
A new type of large vase that can be used to store and preserve food. When charged with water, it uses evaporation to reduce the temperature inside and make its contents last longer.


[h2]Chest:[/h2]
You can now craft chests with long sticks, cords and woven palm fronds. While they cannot be moved around, they have more slots than usual inventories and can be used to keep your base tidy and organised.


[h2]Candles and Torch Changes:[/h2]
You can now craft tallow candles out of fat, which you can use as a longer lasting portable source of light. The torch now requires oil instead of fat, so it can be crafted in the early game.





[h2]Updated Guide:[/h2]
We finally took the time to work on the guide and get it up to date! It has now been reorganised and contains basic info on all of the main mechanics, including nutrition, hydration and wounds.


[h2]Performance Improvements:[/h2]
We have been working a lot on improving performance. We really wanted to fix those framerate drops that happened in the mid and late game.
We hope the difference will be noticeable!


[h2]Character and Perk Tweaks:[/h2]
- We have removed the standard guy and made the create new character the default option.
- Renamed some of the difficulties.
- We have made a few perks start unlocked so new players can start with some basic customization options.
- We have lowered the cost of many perks so it's easier to unlock them and the character creator becomes practical earlier.
- Made all main Halloween perks permanently available, they can now be purchased by paying moons.


[h2]Hunger Tweaks:[/h2]
- Wounds, fever, depression, pain and exercise have a stronger effect on appetite.
- Appetite is now slower to decrease.
- Changed Malnourished statuses to Underweight and emaciated to help avoid confusion.
- The nutrition stat is now mostly referred to as weight and is constantly visible in the status window. This way players will be able to tell beforehand when they are on their way to becoming underweight so that they can have more time to prepare.


[h2]General Balance Tweaks:[/h2]
- Characters now start less thirsty, but dirtier. This will hopefully make the experience easier to new players, first by giving them more time to solve their hydration issues and second, by indirectly making them lower their temperature when they try to wash themselves of the dirt.
- The stove and the bed are now craftable in any location that is indoors (such as caves).
- The stove is now easier to unlock (requires only a built kiln).
- We have made woven hats, baskets and chests available early, as long as you are willing to spend the time weaving palm fronds.
- It is now impossible to get a fracture while climbing palm trees when your climbing skills are too high.
- You can no longer cook things manually on fires!!


[h2]Bug Fixes:[/h2]
- Cleaning wounds with seawater no longer produces salt and it now requires more courage.
- Fixed some durability issues with some items.
- Made fish traps ding again.
- Fixed a bug where all cards would appear greyed out after a drag and drop.
- Fixed some issues with the canteen (there are still many remaining though)
- Fleshes boar skin no longer says spoiled when its curation process finishes.


That's all for now. Thanks for reading!