Creature Keeper News

[p]Hello Creature Keepers!

First off, thank you all for your continued support since Creature Keeper's release! I feel joyful in seeing how you all connect with CK, whether it's through bringing a tear to your eye from the story, or through the excitement of putting a silly hat on your favorite creature.

I've been thinking about how to create more opportunities for that connection, and one way is to introduce a public ⁠beta-branch here on steam, in addition to a dedicated channel for it in the Creature Keeper Discord! The purpose of this is to give me a low-stakes environment where I can upload a version of Creature Keeper which is open to be influenced by your feedback! This feedback will be especially helpful for me as I get into the upcoming perk and bestiary rework systems, making them more fun and as bug-free as possible.

The Test Branch and channel in discord are ready right now, here's a quick guide to opting in to check it out. While I encourage everyone to use their preferred channels to share your thoughts, the overall conversation will be held in the discord channel associated with it: discord.gg/hf9UZsQ

Instructions for accessing the beta build for Creature Keeper
1.) To start, right click Creature Keeper in your library
2.) Select Properties in the drop down that opens up
3.) Select Beta on the left side of the window that pops up
4.) Enter the code, "ElevatedBepBep" in the private betas field and press the check code button to get access
5.) To finish, select the 'staging' beta branch option in the Beta Participation drop down
[/p][p]
Looking forward to your input,

Fervir [/p]

[p] The roadmap is officially here, and with it a long list of changes to creatures.[/p][p]There's a lot to talk about today, but I have you covered if you’re not gonna read through it all yourself. Check out the TLDR at the bottom of this post if that’s more your speed.[/p][p]It’s been just over a month since Creature Keeper launched on May 8th, and we’ve pushed six updates since then! Addressing everything from softlocks & bugs, to menu navigation and creature behaviors. There is plenty more to bring to life, which is why we’re stoked to be sharing with you lots more information on what our plans are going forward! The time has arrived for the coveted roadmap, the great informer of future design intention, for your eyes to gaze upon.

If any questions arise regarding the Roadmap, or you'd like to join the conversation, check out the Creature Keeper Discord: discord.gg/hf9UZsQ




Additionally, for those who like to dig in to the details, below are all the changes made with Creature Responsiveness as our focus. We saw some great posts on creature behaviors feeling sometimes floaty or unsatisfying. Creatures sometimes miss their attacks, get stuck, or in instances such as the Verdire, which couldn't move but they can now!

[/p][p]Creature Interaction & Responsiveness Changes[/p]

• [p]Fixed an exploit where you could switch creatures out to instantly reset Heart cooldowns.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where you could pet creatures to instantly restore their Attack Cooldowns.[/p]
• [p]Reduced the minimum distance for creatures to teleport to you when moving away from them.[/p]
• [p]Removed an indicator for creatures showing a hunger emote. (Hunger is not a mechanic)[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where creature orbitals that were used for attacking (like Denka's and Levatin's Crystals) were not getting their damage reset on each attack. Which meant that they were continuously getting weaker with every enemy hit.[/p]

[p]Creature Balance Changes[/p]

• [p]The focus of these changes was to make creatures feel more reliable to use. These are general improvements made to increase creature responsiveness, such that creatures hit their targets more, follow their targets more, and are more present in combat.[/p]

[p] [/p][p]Amphibole[/p]

• [p]Amphibole's hop windup has been sped up.[/p]
• [p]The landing area of the attack is increased so that it hits more consistently.[/p]
• [p]The formula for calculating its landing area has been improved, such that it hits more consistently as long as there aren't objects blocking the way of the jumping path.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Bequaris[/p]

• [p]Increased the damage of the main projectile.[/p]
• [p]Increased the range of when it would start its attack.[/p]
• [p]Reduced tracking strength of the main projectile.[/p]
• [p]Increased the cooldown on Bequaris' attack. (longer time in between attacks)[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Canvulf[/p]

• [p]Changed its attack to be Might based to match its type. (it was previously skill based)[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Catue[/p]

• [p]Increased the damage of its charge.[/p]
• [p]Increased the range of when it would start its charge attack.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Centius[/p]

• [p]Decreased the range at which its attack can trigger, because its attack wouldn't reach the target in some cases.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Denka[/p]

• [p]Made its crystal-attack a lot stronger, and cover a wider area.[/p]
• [p]The crystal can also hit more targets, but loses a significant amount of damage with each hit.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where the Denka's crystal power wasn't resetting with each attack. (Denka's crystal was continuously getting weaker)[/p]
• [p]Increased the cooldown on Denka's attack. (longer time in between attacks)[/p]
• [p]Denka can start up its attack from a further distance.[/p]
• [p]Denka is more likely to enclose in on an enemy.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Elkirith[/p]

• [p]Changed its initial ranged attack to chill instead of bruise. The second part of its attack still applies bruise stacks.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Glimia[/p]

• [p]Its spike attack now applies shock.[/p]
• [p]Its impact attack now applies bruise.[/p]
• [p]Its slash attack now applies chill.[/p]
• [p]The casting time has been reduced for each of its spells.[/p]
• [p]Decreased the cooldown on Glimia's spike attack. (shorter time in between attacks)[/p]
• [p]Increased the cooldown on Glimia's pillar attack. (longer time in between attacks)[/p]
• [p]Increased the damage of all of Glimia's attacks.[/p]
• [p]Glimia now launches 5 spikes from the ground.[/p]
• [p]Glimia now launches 3 swords from the ground.[/p]
• [p]Glimia's attacks now predict where to cast based on the player's speed and movement.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Jalamin[/p]

• [p]Decreased the speed between lightning bolts so that all three can hit a target, regardless of its size.[/p]
• [p]Decreased the maximum distance Jalamin needed to be in order to start casting its attack.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Keraple[/p]

• [p]Decreased maximum speed for projectiles, and they spread in a wider pattern.[/p]
• [p]More time in between projectiles.[/p]
• [p]Decreased maximum range for its attack, it was attacking from too far away previously.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Lutras[/p]

• [p]Increased the cooldown on Lutras' attack. (longer time in between attacks)[/p]
• [p]Increased damage of Lutras' attack.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Levatin[/p]

• [p]Levatin slows down when starting its attack.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Marbil[/p]

• [p]Reduced Marbil’s knockback on hit, so that it doesn't break your shield stance.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Mehlin[/p]

• [p]Increased the range of when it would start its charge attack.[/p]
• [p]Lowered the speed of the projectile's attack, and increased its spread.[/p]
• [p]Increased the duration of its attack.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Molectus[/p]

• [p]Increased attack damage.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Morphix[/p]

• [p]The Morphix's movement patterns have been improved, so that it can hit its targets more consistently.[/p]
• [p]Increased the attack range of the punches.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where the fist would glitch out, spamming noises.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where the fists wouldn't face the same direction as its body.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Mushlad[/p]

• [p]Decreased the range at which its attack can trigger, because its attack wouldn't reach in some cases.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Naero[/p]

• [p]Increased damage of its attack[/p]
• [p]Increased the range of when it would start its charge attack.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Nokobo[/p]

• [p]Increased the range of when it would start its charge attack.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Naowl[/p]

• [p]Increased damage.[/p]
• [p]Made the Naowl's attack less awkward looking.[/p]
• [p]Fixed its attack to do Skill based damage instead of Ranged.[/p]
• [p]Naowl's attacks now apply Bruise and Chill.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Ottop[/p]

• [p]Decreased the cooldown on Ottops's attack. (shorter time in between attacks)[/p]
• [p]When you hit an Ottop, its cooldown is shortened.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Petil[/p]

• [p]Increased damage of its projectiles.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Rotas[/p]

• [p]Increased the range of when it would start its charge attack.[/p]
• [p]Increased the damage of its attack, and lowered its speed.[/p]
• [p]Increased the duration of its attack, and tracking of its attack.[/p]
• [p]Increased the cooldown on Rotas' attack. (longer time in between attacks)[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Scorpin[/p]

• [p]Decreased the range at which its attack can trigger because its attack wouldn't reach in some cases.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Shaler[/p]

• [p]Increased its attack damage.[/p]
• [p]Decreased the cooldown on Shaler's attack. (shorter time in between attacks)[/p]
• [p]Shaler's attack now also applies stacks of bruise.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Slyker[/p]

• [p]Increased the range of when it would start its charge attack.[/p]
• [p]Increased the speed and damage of the second part of its attack.[/p]
• [p]Increased the amount of targets that could be hit by each swipe from 2 to 3.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Swolfe[/p]

• [p]The rocks from its attack do not inflict void damage anymore. (it was not supposed to inflict void)[/p]
• [p]Increased the damage of its slam attack by 200%.[/p]
• [p]Increased the cooldown on Swolfe's attack. (longer time in between attacks)[/p]
• [p]Added more rocks to its attack, and the pattern now resembles a spray cone away from the Swolfe.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Tecton[/p]

• [p]Increased the damage of its attack.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Tepin[/p]

• [p]Increased the distance at which it could start an attack.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Verdire[/p]

• [p]Verdire can teleport to you when in combat (previously only possible while out of combat) and can happen more frequently.[/p]
• [p]Verdire takes longer between attacks, but can shoot further, track targets, and are more accurate.[/p]
• [p]Verdire's attack now has two projectiles. The first projectile is faster and more accurate, the second projectile is less accurate and slower. Both can hit the same target to stack poison twice.[/p]
• [p]Increased hits from 2 to 3, removed poison from the bite.[/p]
• [p]Increased range of Verdire's attack to take advantage of its ranged component.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Vitet[/p]

• [p]Increased the damage of its attack.[/p]
• [p]Added burn damage to its attack.[/p]
• [p]Decreased the cooldown on Vitet's attack (shorter time in between attacks)[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Velthyra[/p]

• [p]Increased its damage and made it more consistent in terms of variability.[/p]
• [p]Changed its attack type to might, to correctly match its type. (it was previously skill)[/p]
• [p]Reduced the damage for each target hit simultaneously.[/p]
• [p]Reduced the number of simultaneous targets it could hit to 3 from 4.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Xortic[/p]

• [p]Its attack now shoots out projectiles when it crashes into the ground, which creates extra ice crystals.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Yamas[/p]

• [p]Increased the range of when it would start its charge attack.[/p]
• [p]Increased the damage of its attack.[/p]
• [p]Increased the cooldown on Yamas' attack. (longer time in between attacks)[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Zanred[/p]

• [p]Increased the area of the bite attack.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Zunix[/p]

• [p]Added additional strikes to its attack.[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]Boss Fights / Area of Influence Creature Adjustments[/p]

• [p]Fixed a bug where the Void Overseer wasn't spawning some adds.[/p]
• [p]Fixed the electric circuit in the mines fight.[/p]
• [p]Fixed the levels of all the corrupted creatures in Areas of Influence throughout the game.[/p]
• [p]Fixed the levels of all creatures that were part of boss fights.[/p]
• [p]Applied Skill, Might, and Ranged types to most bosses.[/p]
• [p]Applied HP multipliers to bosses.[/p]
• [p]Increased the health of the sparkstone cases in the Act3 Boss fight.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some visual bugs with the final fight.[/p]

[p] [/p][p]Player Balance[/p]

• [p]Added a barrier that prevents a player from suffering more than 20% of their max hp from one hit at a time, but can still be hit by multiple sources, or the same source consecutively.[/p]
• [p]Status effects are 50% less effective on the player character.[/p]
• [p]Increased Stun Multiplier gained from dodging an attack. This now stacks with the back attack bonus.[/p]
• [p]Increased Stun Multiplier gained from back attacking a creature which is vulnerable to back attacks. This now stacks with the dodge bonus.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where dodging an attack would decrease your stun multiplier bonus.[/p]

[p] [/p][p]Player Weapon Changes[/p]

• [p]Decreased the amount of stun buildup from Dual Dagger's normal attack.[/p]
• [p]Decreased the minimum value for how much damage contributes to stun buildup based on the weapon's knockback. This means attacks with low knockback will be worse at building up stun.[/p]
• [p]Increased knockback of the Dagger Throw attack.[/p]
• [p]Increased knockback for the Dual Dagger counterattack.[/p]
• [p]Increased knockback for charged Ice, Fire, and Lightning arrow attacks.[/p]
• [p]Increased knockback for the charged boomerang attack. (not mini boomerangs)[/p]
• [p]Increased knockback for the shield and shield bash attacks.[/p]
• [p]Increased knockback for the charged attack on Maul.[/p]
• [p]Increased knockback for the saber's charged attack.[/p]
• [p]Increased knockback for the projectile of the Saber's Charged Attack.[/p]
• [p]Increased knockback for the projectile of the Saber's Charged Attack after you've dodged.[/p]
• [p]Increased knockback for the flame uppercut.[/p]

[p] [/p][p]Cutscene improvements[/p]

• [p]Fixed the Hiven Mines area to have the right darkness level for its puzzles.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where the game was saving in the middle of the ending cutscene, preventing you from playing again. If you have experienced this, your save will revert to before the final boss fight. Only the story state is reset, no creature progression will be lost.[/p]
• [p]Added save points in cutscenes for the tutorial so you don't have to do it all in one go.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where you could access a cave after said cave was sealed off.[/p]
• [p]Removed a mention of a recipe found in a cave.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where there was an invisible attack that remained on screen after defeating the final boss and watching the cutscene.[/p]
• [p]Prevented being able to perish after the final boss was defeated, causing unintentional sequence breaks if poorly timed.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where you could befriend creatures while your creatures were in Bibb's care.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where corrupted creatures were spawning in areas where your attacks were disabled.[/p]

[p] [/p][p]UI Change[/p]

• [p]Fixed title screen controls to be more consistent with in-game controls.[/p]

[hr][/hr][p]
TLDR:[/p][p]For those who prefer quick & condensed info[/p]

• [p]alongside the roadmap announcement comes a large bundle of much requested changes to Creature responsiveness, which aims to increase the quality of life for overall creature behaviors. There are many individual adjustments that go into this change as a whole. Including but not limited to, buggy interactions in bosses & sequences, creature aggression, and creature consistency while fighting.[/p]
• [p]The Roadmap entails a comprehensive list of polish, revamped systems, and new content coming to Creature Keeper.[/p]
• [p]We’ve pushed six updates since launch just over a month ago![/p]
• [p]Lots of great fixes and changes, but there’s much more to work on.[/p]
• [p]The release of a Beta Branch, or PTR, and more news about it, are coming soon.[/p]
• [p]If there’s something not on the roadmap you feel is important, please let us know in any of the various Creature Keeper channels! [/p]
• [p]Creature Keeper is officially Steam Deck Verified!
  
  We're celebrating with a 20% discount to Creature Keeper as well! Which will be active on the 19th of June. Lastly, if you've enjoyed Creature Keeper, or would like to support it's continued development, leaving a positive steam review makes a big difference! We're always listening, and this game has an exciting future ahead of it!
  
  Indie forever,
  
  Zach[/p]

Hello fellow Creature Keepers! Another patch is here, and v1.2.1 is focused on key optimizations that were needed to push for Steam Deck verified and bug fixing some nasty save problems, among other things.

General Improvements

- Added full Cloud Save functionality
Players should now be able to save their games and have their progress transfer between their all their devices, including Steam Deck.

- Set default Screen Mode to Fullscreen
- Added Multiple Controller support
- Configuration files are now unique to each platform

Bug Fixes

- (Major Fix) Players should no longer be unable to save upon starting the game for the first time
- fixed issues with a series of missing NPCS during cutscenes
- Fixed an issue with Quest Tracker displaying incorrectly upon receiving a new quest
- Players are now less likely to get stunlocked by a Bep on the Bep Farm map which was causing some softlocks
- Fixed an issue where doors in Hiven Mines were being displayed at the wrong angle
- Fixed typos in Portuguese (BR) regarding sign directions
- Updates to some missing text strings for localization
- Fixed a typo for the Hat Unlock description


While not the most exciting patch, we are committed to making Creature Keeper an enjoyable experience across all the devices we support. With that said, gameplay improvements and balance changes are on the way! As always, we appreciate everyone's support and will continue to make this game the best it can be!

Indie Forever,
Troy

Localization is here, and with it, a warm welcome to all the new Keepers joining the ranks! We've added Localization for Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Portuguese, and Spanish! In addition, some bug fixes, and requested changes!

For those with a keen eye, otherwise this can be ignored, you may have noticed we changed how patch version notation is represented, with the goal to be more consistent, and less confusing. (The numbers Mason, what do they mean!?) From v1.014 onward etc, to v1.1.2 where the last number will be the one changing from patch to patch unless it's a large or major update.



Bug Fixes

-Fixed a series of bugs introduced from v1.014 where NPCs were duplicated, missing from cutscenes, or being incorrectly added to the party

Quality of Life & General Improvements

- Localization for Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Portuguese, and Spanish have been added
- Removed the downsides from Creature Perks
We've received very consistent feedback regarding creature perks feeling so punishing that most players simply decided to not interact with them. While removing the downsides will alleviate this, it does remove some diversity in decisions around selecting perks, and it should be a core RPG element that is embraced, exciting, and interesting. We'll be revisiting creature perks to revamp the experience in greater detail.

- Added the ability to rename Blank from the Title Screen.
We hear you, not only is Blank's name confusing, players should be able to choose their name. To be clear, we'll be pushing an update with character customization, and choosing a name for your character from the beginning of a new game/save is how it should, and will be.
We didn't want everyone to have to wait for that update to change their name, so for now we introduced a name change available to each save on the main menu. On any existing save slot, there is an Icon next to your save slot that will allow you to change your name!
To reiterate: For now, changing your name isn't accessible immediately from starting a new game/save, this will be revamped when character customization is ready!



To be transparent, we really wanted to launch with Localization, but it wasn't ready, and now after addressing the sneakiest bugs, and bringing a number of updates to the game overall, we had some time to get Localization where it needed to be. There will be some remaining sneaky bugs we'll need help catching with Localization, so if you see any let us know and we'll take care of them! We sincerely thank everyone who has waited so patiently for Localization.
We've also been working on a roadmap for Creature Keeper behind the scenes, and will share it with everyone when we're confident it's ready.

Lastly, if you've enjoyed Creature Keeper, or would like to support it's continued development, leaving a positive steam review helps so much. We're always listening, and this game will continue to be a labor of love for a long time.

Indie forever,
Zach

Another batch of updates for the Keepers of Thera! With our fourth patch, we wanted to push our first round of menu improvements, squash more bugs, and bring some much needed Quality of Life to multiple areas of Creature Keeper.

We're excited to share some exciting news with you coming soon as well, and while I can't quite spill the beans yet, it'll be a big step forward for Creature Keeper!


Bug Fixes

- Fixed a cutscene in Act4 where talking to an NPC would trigger a battle scene from earlier in the game
- Fixed a softlock where you could travel backwards after the final fight which would result in a white screen
- Fixed a source of Pocket Garden lag which was caused by an event continuously being retriggered, which would force the game to redraw seeds in the garden
- Fixed another source of Pocket Garden lag caused by multiple instances of your Bottom Right HUD being drawn for each creature that was spawned when you entered PG
- Fixed a bug which was preventing your cursor from moving on the title screen
- Fixed notifications in Bestiary to stop when you've fully completed an entry
- Fixed Creature Name text in party menu overlapping Skill Gem Popup text
- Removed an item that was spawning when Sabi destroyed a plant in a cutscene
- Added extra button prompts to some menus to indicate what button closes the menu
- Fixed Creature Names being displayed over Skill Gem popups


Quality of Life & General Improvements

- Rearranged Pocket Garden elements to make it easier to move around the menu
When you select a Creature Tile or Seed Tile, the cursor automatically moves to the center of the Pocket Garden

- Tweaked how the cursor selects boxes in Pocket Garden
- Added Bumper and Trigger Support in Party menu to aid with selecting creatures and switching tabs respectively
- Added Trigger Support when interacting with the Summoning Stone to aid with finding creatures more quickly
- Added Trigger Support when interacting with Pocket Garden to navigate between seeds more easily
- Added Trigger Support when navigating the Bestiary
- Added Trigger Support for the tips screen to help with navigation
- Added a rebind option for Menu Left.
Options to rebind Menu Right, Menu Left 2, and Menu Right 2 are coming soon!

This initial pass with trigger and bumper support was made with controllers in mind. Keybinds that will help both controllers and keyboards especially is on its way soon!

- Updated art on pause screen
- Updated art on the party screen
- Replaced an asset in the final scene
- Added close button prompts in Bestiary
- Added prompts in Pocket Garden Screen for creature management
- Adjusted button prompts to show only on the left when hovering over Creature Tiles at the top and in the Pocket Garden itself
- Added button prompts to the title screen


We're looking to add much more quality of life, fix up the remaining stickiness in certain menu navigation areas, take a look at creature perks, and many more as we go into the latter half of May. We hope you've all been enjoying the Creature Collector Steam Fest! More updates coming soon.

Indie forever,
Zach