Faye Falling News

[p]Faye Falling version 1.4 is out now! This update includes an important bug fix related to the PC version of Challenge Mode, as well as some new rings, a new ring shop, clearer tutorials/guidance near the start of the game and lots more! The game is also 40% off for the next two weeks![/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][hr][/hr][h2]Patch Notes[/h2][h3]New Rings[/h3][p]8 new rings have been added. These give battle strategies a lot more variety - especially against enemies with a 100 speed stat.[/p]

• [p]Rage Ring: When hit by an enemy with 100 speed, all your stats will buff.[/p]
• [p]Steady Ring: When hit by an enemy with 100 speed, you'll gain 3 mana.[/p]
• [p]Sturdy Ring: When hit by an enemy with 100 speed, you'll take 1 less point of damage. (If you can reduce their damage to 0, it'll count as an evade, and you'll get to counter-attack them!)[/p]
• [p]Grit Ring: If you fail evading an attack or hit by an enemy with 100 speed, you'll still counter-attack.[/p]
• [p]Spike Ring: Enemies will take another point of damage from ailments.[/p]
• [p]Focus Ring: When you evade an attack, you'll buff your attack stat.[/p]
• [p]Shield Ring: When you evade an attack, you'll buff your defense stat.[/p]
• [p]Blood Ring: When you evade an attack, you'll buff your critical stat.[/p]

[h3]Ring Placements[/h3]

• [p]Changed the library puzzle reward from a Limit Fruit to a Rage Ring.[/p]
• [p]Added some of these new rings to merchants across the game.[/p]

[h3]Five's Ring Shop[/h3]

• [p]After buying the Power Gauntlet, Fives will now give you access to his ring shop. He'll sell all the new rings, as well as some other important ones.[/p]
• [p]You'll be able to steal from him like other shops if you're on the Parasite gameplay path.[/p]
• [p]Moved the original Mercy trader in Five's room to the cavern's final puzzle room.[/p]
• [p]Added an NPC who mentions Fives near the 3rd target puzzle.[/p]

[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]

• [p]Fixed the new 1.3 Steam version of Challenge Mode miscounting two puzzles.[/p]
• [p]Fixed the Shop, Spell and Skill windows overlapping the scroll sound when scrolling past the top or bottom selection.[/p]
• [p]Fixed the moving targets spawning particles even when the game was paused.[/p]

[h3]Early Tutorials and Guidance[/h3][p]The game now guides the player a little bit more at the start of the game, without crossing the line into being too modern and hand-holdy.[/p]

• [p]Stronger Battle System Guidance[/p]
  • [p]The battle tutorial now clearly says you must use the letter and arrow keys, or face buttons and the analog stick, to cast spells.[/p]
  • [p]Made the direction input icons full arrows.[/p]
  • [p]When a combat spell is used outside of battle, the narration now says, "You can only use healing spells outside of battle."[/p]

• [p]Stronger Chapter 2 Guidance[/p]
  • [p]The dash ability receive window now mentions it can be used to break objects.[/p]
  • [p]Added a lost spirit in Normal mode by the white crystals. They wonder how to break through them.[/p]
  • [p]Added a hint sign near the white crystals (this might be too hand-holdy...let me know!).[/p]
  • [p]The dash crystal narration now says "break through" instead of "break."[/p]
  • [p]The hint sign in the glowing sword puzzle now has a marker in the GUI.[/p]
  • [p]Missed dashes into the glowing swords that are still somewhat close now read as a hit.[/p]
  • [p]Added a sign to the start of the Desert: Dunes area warning that stronger enemies are ahead, and that players should heal and save between them.[/p]
• [p]The Blessing key items now use condensed forms of the tutorial window descriptions.[/p]

[h3]Balancing[/h3]

• [p]Players start with 3 more HP points in Normal mode to help them avoid early game overs.[/p]
• [p]Made the main save point in the Desert: Final Puzzles area a healing point.[/p]
• [p]Added two new save points that will avoid potential moderate losses of progress.[/p]
• [p]The Ability Break spell now costs 12 mana instead of 10.[/p]
• [p]Cut two forced flame battles from Chapter 3[/p]
• [p]Reduced the HP of two enemies in Chapter 2 slightly.[/p]
• [p]Adjusted some Challenge Mode evade patterns to make them more fair.[/p]

[h3]GUI[/h3]

• [p]The way HP bars, etc., are drawn was changed to use sprites instead of geometric shapes. This keeps the way elements are drawn consistent across platforms and graphics cards.[/p]

[h3]Visuals[/h3]

• [p]Made the border black in the sequences before and during the start of the abyss area.[/p]
• [p]Changed the jumpscare visual; it now foreshadows the ending.[/p]

[h3]Signs[/h3]

• [p]Added HUD markers to direction and town signs.[/p]
• [p]Added some direction signs.[/p]

[h3]Steam Page[/h3]

• [p]Updated some assets to a higher resolution.[/p]

[h3]Puzzle Walkthrough Video[/h3]

• [p]I also made a complete guide to solving all 24 puzzles, which you can find here:[/p]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][hr][/hr][p]I want to keep the Steam and console versions as close to parity as possible, so this might be the final update - although I'll of course fix any bugs that pop up. (Just let me know if you run into any issues on the community forums.)[/p][p]As far as my next project goes - I'll have some cool news soon...[/p][p]Thanks for playing,[/p][p]Jack[/p]

[p]If you missed the announcement last year, Faye Falling is releasing on Switch, PlayStation and Xbox on the 13th of August through my friends at eastasiasoft![/p][h3]Features[/h3]

• [p]A heartfelt story about suffering and meaning.[/p]
• [p]Dozens of puzzles![/p]
• [p]A fun, snappy turn-based battle system with real-time dodging and fun spell casting![/p]
• [p]6 Bosses (+1 secret boss).[/p]
• [p]A post-game Challenge Mode with additional lore and dialogue.[/p]
• [p]An original soundtrack featuring 30 songs.[/p]
• [p]Lots more![/p]

[h3]Trailer[/h3][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][h3]Switch![/h3][p]I just got the chance to play through the Switch version early on Switch 2, and I really love the port - it runs great! (Just make sure to turn off that silly auto HDR setting on Switch 2! It makes a lot of Switch 1 games look weird! 😅)[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]I learned so much through their team's porting process - like how to ensure code works consistently across platforms (hence all those memory leaks I fixed back in v1.3!)- that I'll be taking forward with me to my next projects. It's been such a cool experience - and a dream come true to have something I worked really hard on running on a Nintendo console! 🤩[/p][p]Make sure to wishlist the game on your preferred storefronts if you haven't yet![/p][p]More soon,[/p][p]Jack[/p]

Bug Fix

• Fixed the blacksmith not selling the worm correctly after 1.3. (Thanks to M1ll3n1a for catching this!)
  

The third major update for Faye Falling is out now! It features an expanded Challenge Mode, improved backtracking, new secrets, new rings, trial rewards, QOL updates, improved performance, the ability to equip two rings at once, and lots more!

Faye Falling is also 35% off for the next two weeks, so make sure to grab it if you haven't yet!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]Patch Notes[/h2]
[h3]Harder, Expanded and Refreshed Challenge Mode[/h3]
New Lore

• 2 tablets readable only in Challenge Mode have been added outside the Secret Doorway in the Desert. These contain previously written but unused lore.

EX Stats

• Enemies in Challenge Mode now have "-EX" appended to their name in the check window.
  
• The weakest enemy in each area now has a 100 speed stat.
  
• All enemies have an additional +2 attack stat buff.
  
• All enemies have an additional +1 defence stat buff.

Attack Patterns

• Enemies in each area now share attack patterns and use a random one each time.
  
• A pass was completed over all attack patterns to make them faster and harder.

Traders

• Reduced Max Stock by 2.

Cosmetics

• Encounter flames and coins now have hollow centers.
  
• Equipment item chests are now red.

Tutorials, Guidance and Bonus Chests

• Help Statues, Spirit Guides, and Small Chests are now replaced by red crosses.
  
• Added a Help Statue with red writing to the desert, telling players they're all alone.
  
• The battle tutorial window now skips.
  
• The game over screen no longer encourages you.

Name Entry

• Added unique questions.
  
• Added unique intro and outro text.

[h3]Tea Shop and Temporary Buffs[/h3]

• Added a Tea Shop to one of the desert caves.
  
• For 100 gold, you can order one of three teas for a temporary stat buff that lasts until the end of your next battle.
  
• Green Tea: Buffs Attack by 3 points
  
• Black Tea: Buffs Magic by 3 points
  
• Oolong Tea: Buffs Defense by 2 points.
  
• Added a Spirit Guide to the Desert settlement who recommends visiting the Tea Shop if you get stuck at a boss.
  

[h3]New Secrets[/h3]
Omikuji

• There are now 6 omikuji hidden around the game.
  
• Find one to choose between increasing your Attack or Magic stat by 1 point.

Trial Rewards

• Each Trial now rewards you an additional blessing for scoring high. (The score requirement is the same as the achievements.)
  
• Interact with the scoreboard to receive your blessing of either increased Mana or Max HP.

[h3]Deeper Ring Strategies[/h3]
Gauntlet

• Added a new key item called a "Power Gauntlet." This allows you to equip two rings at once.
  
• All ring abilities stack or power up. (ie. wearing two rings that recover 3 mana each will recover 6 mana, wearing two dodge rings will allow you to move faster than one, etc.)
  
• Added a new NPC called "Fives." They'll sell you a Power Gauntlet for 200 gold.

New Rings

• Dodge Ring: Move faster when evading attacks.
  
• Limit Ring: Limit Breaks do more damage.
  
• Revenge Ring: Counter-attacks do 50% bonus damage.
  
• Absorb Ring: Absorb spells heal 50% more HP.

Rebalanced and Powered Up Rings

• Malady Ring: Raised ailment chance to 80%.
  
• Mobility Ring: Raised immunity from immobility statuses to 100%.
  
• Precise Ring: Raised accuracy bonus to 50%.

[h3]Backtracking[/h3]
Fast Travel

• The Travel Chain is now added to the top of the key items list, making it faster and more convenient to access.
  
• Two new fast travel points were added to the Cavern.

New Dialogue

• 5 new alternative bits of dialogue have been added to Lost Spirits throughout the game. These make what they're saying more consistent with your current place in the story.

Continuity Error

• Fixed a continuity error in Chapter 3 with Dusk and the Dark Spirit when backtracking.

[h3]QOL[/h3]
Windows

• Your inventory window now opens to the last tab.
  
• Your spells window now opens to the last tab.
  
• The pause menu can now also be closed by pressing the menu button again.
  
• For every window, scrolling up past a top entry now scrolls down to the bottom, and scrolling down past the bottom entry now scrolls up to the top.
  
• Switching right at the last tab moves it back to the first, and switching left at the first tab moves it back to the last.

GamePads

• Window tabs can now be swapped using trigger buttons.
  
• The start button on Gamepads (and escape on keyboard) now also opens the pause menu.

Gameplay

• The height of coin hit boxes was slightly increased, making them a bit easier to collect.

Save Points

• Made one of the save points in the Desert Dunes area a healing save point.
  
• Added another save point to the cavern, to avoid a possible big loss of progress if killed in that area.

Faster Game Overs

• The game over screen now appears quickly, instead of fading in slowly.

Faster Name Entry

• Made the fading 2.5x faster.

[h3]Soundtrack[/h3]

• The "With Fire (Gabriel Battle)" track has had a much-needed rewrite and remix. (It sounds way more cohesive with the rest of the music now!)

[h3]Visuals[/h3]

• More cloud backgrounds and tones in the sky area.
  
• Improved the tail animation for the Dark Spirits in battle.
  
• Nicer page icons for the mysterious note, etc.
  
• Simplified the game over screen.

[h3]Optimization and Fixes[/h3]
Memory Leaks

• Fixed dozens of memory leaks (shame, shame!).

Save Data

• Save files are no longer accessed during gameplay.
  
• The unlocks and settings save files are now combined.
  
• Some unused save data values are no longer written or read.

Typos

• Fixed "bought" typo in a Side Quest description.
  
• Fixed an extra space in a Side Quest description.
  
• Changed "counter attack" to "counter-attack" in the tutorial text.

Bugs

• Fixed the rain being blue for a moment on the forest silhouette.

General Optimisations

• The lighting surface no longer resizes every frame; only when there's a size change.
  
• Improved performance across the overworld by disabling some objects out of view.
  
• Optimised the input system.
  
• Optimised the pushing arrow tiles.
  
• Optimised dash crystals.

Thanks for playing! If you haven't already, make sure to leave a Steam review :-)

Like I've mentioned a few times, I have two new games I'll be announcing soon-ish. You can follow me on twitter or bluesky to see them when they're announced!

Jack

Version 1.3 of Faye Falling will be released next week on the 22nd of May! You can try the beta version early by selecting the beta branch from the build options.

This update is the largest so far; it adds new equipment, a tea shop that grants temporary stat buffs, the ability to equip two rings, an expanded challenge mode, and lots more. You can see the draft of the patch notes here.

It also makes some significant changes under the hood, fixing memory leaks and making many optimisations. I am pretty confident the update is already bug-free...but naturally, fixing what already works can always be a little risky. So if you do try the beta, make sure to let me know in the comments or on the community forums if you run into any issues.

I also have two new games I'll be announcing soon. "Spin Spirits" is my big project I've been working on for a while. The other - "Her Crown of Blood" - is another little dark game like Faye that I just started recently. I'm really excited about both!

See you next week,
Jack