Islands of the Caliph News

I am getting some great feedback on improving some of the game's systems. For today it's mostly some small fixes. The bigger stuff will require a little extra time.

[h3]Bugs:[/h3]

• Bows should no longer do 100 damage, but whatever amount they show in the weapon description.
  
• Empty string fixed when talking to Abdul Qawi in Al-Hadid
  
• Fever and stomach medication should now deplete properly when used
  
• All treasure chest conflicts should be resolved now*
  

[h3]Updates:[/h3]

• Introducing Cloud Saves**
  

[h3]*Shared Treasure Issue[/h3]
If you have stored any gear stored in these locations don't panic!

In the City of Sih'ra on the Isle of Jahiliyyah, there is a chest in the crypt that was mixed up with another chest in the Ghabiun Ruins (on the same Island)

The Cave of Sakhar on Salam Island has a chest that got mixed up with one in the Ruins of Al-Kharab on the Isle of Hikmah.

In order to retrieve this treasure, go to "Islands of the Caliph > Properties > Betas" and choose "Version1.0.2" from the drop down menu. You should be able to get whatever you left there and store it in one of the city chests. Once you have done that and saved your game you can update the game to the default version 1.0.3.

[h3]**Cloud Saves[/h3]
This is now in the testing process. To test auto-cloud syncing, you will need to use the Steam console command: testappcloudpaths 1845670 when starting your game.

Go to "Islands of the Caliph > Properties > General" and enter the above command in the "Launch Options" field. Please report back whether it works or not. I will start a pinned thread about cloud saves.

[h3]Future Changes:[/h3]
There are some really good suggestions as well as some more complex bugs being reported. I will summarize these here and open the floor for feedback if anyone is interested in contributing their thoughts.

1. Auto Saves:
Right now the game automatically saves progress when you transfer from one level to another. The suggestion to remove this has me intrigued. But I am worried it might be too big a change to implement in one move. I am considering adding a toggle to turn auto saves on or off.

To do this I will have to test it out a lot, as most of the game was written with auto saves in mind, so I am unsure how much this might effect other systems if at all. I might start up a testing branch for this feature. Let me know if you would be interested in trying it.

2. Map Resetting:
On some occasions maps are resetting when a player returns to a level, or slight changes happen to the existing map. I believe this happens when I make a change to that level and the game gets updated while that map already exists. If anyone is interested in testing this, start a new game and map out some areas. See if you can reproduce the issue while the game is not being updated. If it is reproducible let me know how you did it. I will be testing this myself, but my preliminary experiments do not produce any issues.

Regarding the map issues after updates, I will be trying to figure out how to address that. I guess was not planning to update the levels as much as has been required.

3. Connected Chests:
With the connected chests bug, one player has suggested that I actually incorporate this as a feature for the chests in towns. This way a player could put extra stuff in that chest, and then access it from any of the towns. I actually like this idea, but it could potentially delete the contents of chests players are using right now. So it would be a major change that would basically require you to restart the game.

I'm just putting the idea out there for any feedback. If I do it, I would again introduce a legacy version for anyone who wanted to keep playing their existing game. But they would not be getting the new fixes and updates in this case. I don't like to force players to restart their game (despite what many of you might think) and I don't want to leave a large player base behind without any updates either.

It would be nice to know how many people would like or dislike this feature. So let me know!

A few bugs were addressed and some slight improvements were made.

[h3]Bugs:[/h3]

• You should now be able to rebind keys and use them without having to restart the game. Actually most of the keys worked fine, but the "use/attack" key and the "advance dialogue/menu button" key required a restart if changed. This is why I did not notice the problem ... should have tested all the keys!
  
• You should now be able to sell arrows at a weapons dealer
  
• Missing broken wall model was fixed
  
• You may now unequip the diving (ghaws) helmet without having to equip another helmet
  
• You can now finish delivering the letter to Abenazer even if you did the thing (SPOILERS)
  
• Two chests that shared the same contents were fixed and should now have individual contents
  
• Fixed a bug where an NPC appeared before they were supposed to
  

[h3]Updates:[/h3]

• Changing the window resolution can now be done faster when holding shift
  
• The Book of Months now gives a more comprehensive description of the Lunar Months and their importance in the game
  
• A new naturalist (buys and sells monster parts) was added to Asad Island so you don't get stuck there with no way to make money
  
• Some rocks were removed so players do not get completely stuck in a certain area
  

Other things were changed but they would be spoilers to describe here...

[h3]Don't Get Rid of Useful Things![/h3]
Some players have encountered situations where they broke through an obstacle, and then sold or discarded the tool that let them break through that thing, only to find themselves stuck. Barrels, rocks and trees will respawn when you exit and enter an area, so it's a good idea to hang on to things that help you break them.

This is a problem with the game's design I will admit. I am brainstorming ways to make it impossible to happen, but until further notice, I strongly advise keeping your useful items until and unless you find a thing that can do the same job.

EDIT:
I forgot to mention another change. The way quest items work has been altered. Now, you are still unable to discard or sell quest items, but you can put most of them into chests for storage. Only the club needs to stay with you. If you lose all your weapons the game could get soft locked so I am forcing you to keep the club.

In addition to this, all books are now considered quest items. You can put them in chests, but you cannot sell or discard them...

I am really happy to be getting so much feedback on this game. I will admit, none of my previous releases prepared me for the amount of comments coming in, so I'm doing the best I can with the resources at my disposal.

With that said, I am hearing a lot about adding controller support. I am open to this, but I know it's not a quick fix. For now I have uploaded a preliminary controller layout via Steam. You can try that to see if it's suitable: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1845670/discussions/0/3877093659884860018/

[h3]Major Bugs:[/h3]
I think the biggest problem was that the diseases were effecting your stamina incorrectly. They were supposed to eventually stop damaging you, like toxins, but lower your max stamina until cured. I did not realize this until players were getting immobilized too quickly.

Keybinding Requires you to restart the game after setting your keys. This is something I am also working on fixing but it will take a little more time to get right. https://steamcommunity.com/app/1845670/discussions/0/3877093659887376188/

Finally yes, the screen resolution dialogue is rubbish! https://steamcommunity.com/app/1845670/discussions/0/3877093297631716812/

[h3]So on to the update:[/h3]

• I was able to fix the disease issue. Diseases will deplete your maximum stamina until cured. But they will not deplete it all the way down to zero on a single infection. You would have to get many infections for that to happen.
  
• Another big one was when a player died on Asad Island, the respawn was at the wrong height, and the character would get stuck in the ground. This should work correctly now.
  
• I uploaded new, updated versions of the songs in stereo. I hope this fixes the positional music issue for Steam Deck players, but I have no idea. Someone on the forum said that this could also be fixed by setting the audio to MONO.
  
• Two missing colliders were fixed. One was on the first island by the boat to the Isle of Tarbiyyah. The other was in the Ruins on the Isle of Hikmah.
  
• Books were showing a value, but no one in the game buys books. I have fixed this in the game, but if you already found them the old value will still show. I apologize about this discrepancy.
  
• Farmer Abdullah will now mention his club in the first conversation.
  
• A "negative" sound effect was added when trying to rebind keys that are already assigned.
  
• Some quest descriptions were updated to be more clear.
  

[h3]New Feature[/h3]
This is just a preliminary test. F4 will now toggle the border for anyone who wants to play without the border. I may add it in as an option in the configuration file. But for now ... F4.

That's all for now. Hopefully later in the week I will have some kind of better controller support, and a better window size dialogue ready. Thanks for all the great reviews and all the suggestions!

I have updated the Islands of the Caliph Instruction Manual.

It is mostly the same but the table of contents includes two new sections.

[h3]Acts of Worship[/h3]
[h3]Experience, Levels and Stats[/h3]

These are new sections I have added to towards the end of the manual which describe in more detail how these game mechanics actually work. I tried to included enough information in the game itself to allow the game to be played without reference to the manual, but this just gives a basic overview of how these things work.

I hope it helps clarify things for players!

I am adding some finishing touches to the game. It is nearly ready for release. I will spend the next day or so testing stuff, and then announce the release date!