Withering Rooms News

We're entering the final stages of Early Access - the release date for the game on Steam and consoles will be announced soon. Thank you to everyone who has played, submitted bug reports or made suggestions! The game has changed dramatically for the better because of your feedback.

I am deep in polish and bug fixing for the full release at the moment, so bug reports are very valuable. You can submit a bug report(which includes a save game to help me reproduce the issue) in-game by pressing / (slash key) at any time, or using the Options menu.

There is still a surprise or two in store for the full release. Thank you for your support!

Japanese Translation Update

A professional Japanese translation has been contracted for the full release. Thank you to Ava Wade, Lapinyan, and Yukinofu for your contributions to the beta community translation and making it possible to play the game in Japanese during Early Access.

Withering Rooms v1.21

New Features

* A special room has been added to the Church of Burdens only accessible by those who have obtained the Drink Me potion

Balance Changes

* You can now mix one wax of each color to craft a Warding Candle
* Levelling up now fully heals all stats and status effects, including Necrosis
* The Flykeeper's flies no longer do curse damage, and do less physical damage
* Mounted machine guns no longer scale with projectile damage
* Additional Angels have been added to Chapter 3 & 4
* A comfy chair has been added to the Blackett House Foyer
* The Mad Witch has a longer cooldown on her teleports
* The Withered status effect no longer affects your Curse Tolerance
* You can now use the Puzzle Oracle to solve piano and organ puzzles
* The rising price of the Puzzle Oracle now resets each New Game +
* The final boss of the Blood Tower now gives you a choice as to whether you want to fight immediately
* Improved the speed and smoothness of various actions such as exiting and entering rooms
* Reduced the latency between inputs and actions
* In Narrative difficulty:
* Rather than suffering from the 75% health/curse penalty that other monsters do, allies of the player now have full health/curse but do 75% less damage. This brings the ally experience more in line with Standard difficulty, where allies live for longer but are not as deadly.
* Mounted machine gun damage is scaled down by 75% to bring the cemetery invasion sequence more in line with Standard difficulty.

Polish

* Epilogue D's credits scene has been improved
* Improved the appearance of the Night Mother Cottage
* Improved the resolution and appearance of various environment and UI elements
* Shadow Nightingale now keeps a more comfortable distance
* Auto saving now occurs only during room transitions unless it has been a long time since the last one and you are not currently in combat
* Changing the difficulty will now prompt if you're sure and then immediately reset the mansion rather than waiting for you to die or start a new night yourself
* The English (UK) or English (US) language option is automatically chosen based on your system's locale setting
* Additional Japanese community translation improvements
* Maps have been moved to their own category and are not lost upon starting New Game +
* If a creature has 100% resistance to a particular damage type, the associated stat value is not displayed in their Bestiary entry

Bug Fixes

* Fix the Remembrance Shrines page sometimes not displaying properly
* Fix Possessed Books not firing on their targets
* Fix Stats page displaying only total points, not current points for some stats after v1.20
* Fix Possessed Painting giving away its location by the camera moving towards it
* Fix some blocking furniture, such as the beds in the Upper Bedrooms, not blocking enchanted armor
* Fix Healing Barrier barrier not always facing the correct direction
* Fix some Charms showing an inaccurate effect, or not showing their effect at all
* Fix the king in Chapter 3 not accepting a Nurse Hat as being a nurse outfit
* Fix volumetrics culling too early when using a screen wider than 21:9
* Fix using a Warding Candle on a hex'd door not dispelling the hex on both sides
* Fix switching to Low graphics quality potentially leaving the depth of field on
* Fix Shadow Nightingale sometimes doubling when saving and loading
* Fix turning Fullscreen back on not restoring the system display resolution
* Fix being able to switch inventory categories while the quick item assignment or another modal dialog was up
* Fix a softlock that could occur if Nightingale is hiding when an arena battle ends
* Fix the second Bayonet swing sometimes not hitting the enemy
* Fix Nightingale sometimes playing the "switch item" animation multiple times when switching items
* Fix "storyboard" images during cinematics not having a full black background on arrow aspect resolutions i.e. the Steam Deck
* Fix the Fixed Seed entry screen causing a softlock if activated for the first time from the title screen
* Fix actions that reset stats, such as choosing to respec or completing an arena battle, potentially leaving the player with an unhealable Curse Rot status
* Fix several awarded items, such as the Nurse Outfit, not showing the new item UI after the dialog awarding them completes
* Fix character sidestep animations not playing
* Fix running while aiming not allowing Nightingale to strafe backwards
* Fix a crash that could occur under some circumstances when gold is stolen from the player
* Fix Narrative resetting to Standard difficulty upon starting New Game +
* Fix a New Game + only monster in the village being spawned with the wrong team and murdering the villagers before you arrive
* Fix Terror and other "running" conditions for the player sometimes not causing the player to run

Withering Rooms v1.20

New Monsters



Rogue Ghoul - A sneaky undead that will attempt to steal your coins when you're not looking. Found in Subterranean Grove, Labyrinth Poison Pits, the Bog, and more rarely Blackett House and the Valley Cottages.

Lost Horse - Where did Graverider get his horse? By finding one of these! Found in Subterranean Grove, the Bog and Cagewood.

Bloody Man - This unlucky fellow has had his skin replaced with bandages. Found in Blackett House and Blood Tower.

Build Display Mirror



You can use a new clouded mirror in Nowhere to display all of your relevant items and stats in one screen for easy review or sharing your build with others by taking a screenshot.

Prismatic Dress

A dress that changes color over time, and gradually heals both health and cursedness. Available in the New Game + prize shop.

Control Changes

You no longer need to be running to roll. Simply hold left or right and press the dodge button. You can still dodge back by not holding left or right.

With this change, the default gamepad controls have been updated to be more comfortable and familiar to most gamers:

* Dodge has moved to Circle/B
* Run has moved to R1/RB
* Item Shortcut Menu to L1/LB

The default Item Shortcut Menu behavior is now to toggle, rather than requiring the button to be held.

If you preferred the old layout, you can rebind any input in the Input Options menu.

The Previous/Next Category buttons can now be used to change pages in the Item Shortcut Menu.

Combat Stance, given how rarely it is actually used by players during melee combat, has been renamed to Aim to better reflect its most common use(aiming projectiles) and is no longer taught in the initial combat tutorial.

New Game + Improvements

• Increased monster randomness and new spawns in New Game + and beyond
  
• New Game ++ and beyond now get random upgrade treasures throughout the map
  
• Additional Angels have been added to New Game + Chapter 3 & 4
  
• The Phantom Thread outfit is available for sale from the New Game + merchant
  

Balance Changes

• Bear traps can be activated by damage, such as throwing a Pottery Shard or hitting with a melee weapon that has a low strike
  
• You can now buy a maximum of 25 Hardened Flesh per New Game + cycle
  
• In Custom Arena Battles, each NG+ level yields a 10% instead of a 50% bonus
  
• Custom Arena Battles yield less gold
  
• Bloody Bell projectile has a larger hitbox
  
• Spirit Dust Bag and Curious Statue now reduce their spell toll with additional Weirdness and take into account equippables that reduce spell toll in their description display
  
• Edgar resurrects back in his home room upon death and leaving the room
  

Polish

• Added 'Ultra' graphics quality level - adds additional volumetric and bloom detail
  
• Improve the performance of certain scenes on Low and Medium quality settings
  
• Improve the appearance of Cursed Helmet
  
• The Cagewood has an additional room, and the Old Cemetery has improved in appearance
  
• Smoothed the transition from game to main menu
  
• Credits can be "fast forwarded" and are now accessible from the title screen
  
• Ending the game transitions directly into New Game +
  
• Continued Japanese translation improvements courtesy of community members Ava Wade and Lapinyan
  

Bug Fixes

• Fix Tomos not selling the Top Hat in Chapter 3/4
  
• Fix Nightingale occasionally emitting louder "run" footsteps when walking through doorways
  
• Fix Chapter 3 and beyond stats not showing in NG+ Chapter 1/2
  
• Fix Possessed Paintings sometimes clipping through furniture when coming alive
  
• Fix Resolution Scale reverting when changing rooms
  
• Fix Bog Behemoth exhibiting odd movement when poise is broken
  
• Fix the Curse Sentinel flickering after death when pausing the game
  
• Fix Nightingale reverting size when being hidden, such as when taking a picture, when using the Drink Me Potion/Eat Me Cake
  
• Fix receiving a very large number(thousands) of coins slowing the game down temporarily
  
• You can now carry a maximum of 99,999 of any item to prevent item display or overflow issues at very high NG+ levels
  
• Fix the Cat Ears looking strange when combined with a cloak
  
• Fix Felix spawning outside of his cage in Storage for some seeds
  
• Fix some Chapter 4 quests not being marked as complete when they are finished
  
• Fix Nightingale's Creature being able to suffer from Necrosis and Terror, which had odd results
  
• Fix the Occult Library Key quest lore not being translated if you switch languages after picking it up
  
• Fix duplicate dynamic puzzle lore items appearing upon re-reading after saving the game
  

New Features

A new area - the Subterranean Grove - has been added to the bottom floor of the Labyrinth. This area includes a new NPC that can respec your character. This means you no longer have to wait until New Game + to respec - now you can do it as soon as Chapter 2.



Additionally, several new outfits were added:

* Medusa Head - found in Subterranean Grove
* Necromancer Helm - found in Labyrinth Jail Cells
* Top Hat - found randomly in Chapter 1/2, or for sale by Tomos in Chapter 3+

Polish

* Music mix has been improved
* Added a new haunting to the Valley Forest
* Reduced judder in Nightingale's run
* Some Japanese translation improvements courtesy of community members Ava Wade and Lapinyan
* The Bug Report and Input menus are now translated to Japanese

Bug Fixes

* Fix the upgrade ring screen closing immediately when using Japanese
* Fix some curses on random rings actually being blessings
* Fix a softlock that could occur when using the Item Shortcut Menu just as you enter a cutscene
* Fix the Recall Shrine not working when dying in the arena with a follower such as Nightingale's Creature in some circumstances
* Fix using the Pocket Mirror during Chapter 1 in New Game+ resulting in a black screen
* Fix allies like enchanted armor sometimes never unblocking doorways or getting "lost"
* Fix being able to move/interact when the game is returning to title
* Fix untranslated Gatehouse Residence room title in Chapter 2 appearing on map
* Fix several New Game + quests not completing when the item required was already in your inventory
* Fix Nightingale's Creature being affected by the use of Fashion Records
* Fix repeatedly editing the key bindings sometimes resulting in a corrupted keybind file
* Fix some instances of options reflecting the previous language when a new language is selected
* Fix Corpulent Zombie flashing/unflashing after death when the game is paused or the Item Shortcut Menu is active
* Fix Enchanted Candlestick projectile continuing to travel far off-screen
* Fix several places where changing the language wouldn't immediately affect text already on-screen
* Fix the New Game + boss leaving a bright light behind after death in some circumstances
* Fix the New Game + boss head not being able to be hit by certain projectiles such as jars
* Fix mirrors having a distorted reflection when viewed from odd angles, such as when using Fixed Camera Mode
* Fix the Foyer floor reflection looking odd when resolution scaling or blurring was in effect

Withering Rooms 1.18 (2023-11-3)

Hotfixes

* Fix an issue introduced in 1.17 where the level up screen could instantly close when using a controller

New Features

* Added the Puzzle Oracle, a device that will instantly solve a puzzle(before breaking). The price goes up with each purchase. Available for sale from the very first merchant.

Polish

* To prevent confusion for new players who may inadvertently turn it off, the Show HUD option is now unlocked only after completing the game
* The Organ Processing room clue is now placed in the Clues category and can be re-read

Balance Changes

* Added a stockpile of photographic plates to the Gatehouse in Chapter 2

Bug Fixes

* Fix Idol Keepers bursting through locked or broken doors
* Fix the ingredients for crafting hearts for Nightingale's Creature not being valid items

New features

* Added the Apprentice's Candlestick, a reusable spell tool that creates a small ball of flame in front of the caster, which can be found starting in Chapter 1

Polish



* On High/Very High graphics settings, the background blurs out when in the inventory or viewing new items to make text easier to read
* Your number of upgrades thus far is now displayed next to each stat type in the level up screen
* Enemies that die in doorways fall into the room
* Improve Advanced Wretch Gate dissipation FX
* The game no longer responds to input when not focused
* Optimized memory use, loading and saving speed
* Improvements to Fixed Camera Mode angles and spacing

Balance Changes

* Danger status effect now stays visible until cleared by healing
* Length of invulnerability when Danger status takes effect reduced from 4.5 seconds to 3 seconds
* Magical healing effects, such as Healing Barrier or vampirism, no longer work when in Danger
* Increased Pipe speed
* Gold Bear Ring, Silver Bear Ring and Rabbit's Heart Ring have been buffed
* Monsters are more aggressive when exiting doors
* Shield durability calculation has been changed to give additional durability for poise, and the Shield Ring's effect has been increased
* Increased the radius of Corpse Explosion
* Increased the spell toll reduction associated with leveling Weirdness
* The Doll in Chapter 2 has double the health
* Nightingale's Creature has dramatically higher health and damage(and higher scaling with upgrades)
* Apprentice's Candlestick and Throwable Knife are both sold by the Masked Man in Chapter 1, meaning spell/projectile only runs are viable from the start of the game
* Curse Rot immediately impacts health upon acquiring, rather than waiting a second
* Warding Candle healing ramp has been speed up, but the speed resets when acquiring Curse Rot

Bug Fixes

* Fix several instances of treasure chests being empty upon open
* Fix NPCs near interactable items, such as Rose, sometimes resulting in a softlock upon speaking to them
* Fix being able to talk to Margaret after she disappears during the Chapter 1 tutorial, potentially resulting in a softlock
* Fix tutorial and quest messages disappearing when entering the pause menu
* Fix equipping multiple resistance providing equipment potentially resulting in all damage being blocked for a particular damage type
* Fix spell scaling not properly applying to: Summon Spears, Annihilation, Corpse Explosion
* Fix enemies disappearing when they exit a room you are peeking into
* Fix the doll occasionally becoming invisible
* Fix some bosses, such as Beast Nightingale, not awarding a Blemished Bestiary Page
* Fix ghosts and other enemies that leave residue behind not awarding a Blemished Bestiary Page
* Fix being unable to click on a dialog option when an item icon is shown during the dialog
* Fix Ancient Greek subtitles not appearing properly when playing in Japanese
* Fix being rammed while exiting a room causing the player to teleport to the exit upon completion
* Fix having two controllers plugged in resulting in both button prompts appearing instead of the active one
* Fix L2/R2 prompts for Playstation controllers not using glyphs
* Fix the default PS5 controller bindings not being able to use the D-Pad to navigate menus
* Fix duplicated ladders in the valley basements
* Fix the Noise Effect causing some dark effects, such as being hit with cursed energy, to have an odd bright appearance
* Fix the NPC in the Organ Processing room not being responsive if wearing the witch outfit
* Fix keys not being able to be found in the Blackett House on some seeds
* Fix some story elements that require an enemy or NPC to be on-screen not working when playing in Fixed Camera Mode
* In Fixed Camera Mode, combat stance no longer causes zoom
* Fix an issue where peeking in Fixed Camera Mode could leave the camera in the peeked room
* Fix odd behavior when trying to cancel out of the circus ticket purchase screen
* Fix Nightingale's Creature Summoning Knife not reducing player to 10% health