Heretic's Fork News

Dear Heretics,


We are excited to share with you all that Heretic's Fork, is participating in the yearly DreamHack Beyond: Summer Indie Showcase for the first time 🤘 the event will span from today 18th of August till the 27th, 2023 🔥



The demo has been updated recently, so don't forget to check it out!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2181610/Heretics_Fork/

That's all for today, we hope you have a one hell of a weekend 🤘❤️

[h3]Don’t forget to Follow our other Socials :[/h3]

🔱 Twitter: https://twitter.com/play_heretics

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🖤 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/play_heretics

😈 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@play_heretics

Hello everyone, it has been a while since we pushed a new demo build, and we would like to apologize for the lack of updates in the probation version as well.

Please understand that working on the demo and the full game as well up the probation, bugs, and balance can be quite overwhelming for our solo-developer Stevie, so we are currently completely focused on the development of the main game right now while also providing you with an updated Demo. We would like to invite everyone to play the demo instead of the probation, since it is the most balanced so far and currently offers the most amount of changes and features. ❤️ We hope you understand the change we made, and we hope you keep playing Heretic's Fork!

You will find a really exciting new info related to storage system, so keep reading 👀

So without further ado, It's time to punish some sinners 🤘!



[h3] 👀 New/Important things:[/h3]

• The card in the top slot of the sacrifice area now persists through turns for all characters.
  

Developer Notes: You cannot add your own card to this slot, it only holds cards that were placed there via an upgrade. This is to ensure that players have the opportunity to use the new cards next turn, if they don’t have enough power charges to do so this round.

• Niya Biblyat has been replaced with John Fenriz

Developer Notes: Niya Biblyat has been buffed and is still available in the full game, she has been temporarily swapped out to get some feedback on John Fenriz. John has his own card storage mechanic and starts with more structure slots.

• Destroy has now been replaced by “Banish”.

Developer Notes: Players now “Banish” cards instead of destroying them, removing them from the card pool. This was to add more functionality to the “destroy” mechanic, as it was underutilised. (honestly, might still be)

• New round reward system.
  

Developer Notes: Players will have more opportunities to add new cards to their deck from the collection. These upcoming events are displayed next to the round orbs on the right of the screen.

• Steam friend highscores appear at the end of runs.
  

Developer Notes: Highscores can be toggled between “local” and “friends”. Previous highscores will still be available in “local” whereas only highscores obtained from this patch onwards will appear in the “friends” section. “Friends” highscores consist of highscores obtained by your steam friends, showing only the highest score of each user.

• New music tracks added by Gates of Chaos.
  
  
• At the end of a round, players can now choose 2 cards, instead of 1.
  
  
• A counter showing Sinners punished has been added.
  
  
• New music playlist system that allows the player to select what tracks will play during gameplay.
  
  
• Shift + click to store cards has changed to Right-Click.
  
  
• Shift + click to auto-use actives has changed to Right-Click.
  
  
• Added an option to use cards on click, instead of needing to drag.
  
  
• New UI for actives
  
  

[h3]🛠️ Fixes/Changes:[/h3]

1. Burn Them All card effect now persists correctly
   
2. Clone Card can no longer pick the same card twice.
   
3. Blessed Card no longer offers the same card twice.
   
4. Blessed card no longer offers Tier 1 cards.
   
5. One Man Army is now unique.
   
6. One Man Army no longer incorrectly affects tertiary damage (Actives, Proc Damage, etc.)
   
7. Removed legacy dialogue from Klippy.
   
8. Once a Unique card is used, it should no longer appear in the same run.
   
9. Characters no longer start with a Structure by default.
   
10. Reload card has been reworked.
    
11. Praise Be has had its Tier increased.
    
12. Niya’s ability now also draws 1 card when used.
    
13. Niya’s ability now ignores her shield and only applies to her HP.
    
14. Scourge now correctly increases hp gained from regen rate.
    
15. Gravitational Pull active now correctly autocasts.
    
16. Glass Cannon can no longer be used unless the player has a shield.
    
17. Fixed the incorrect cost of a Divine Sight tier.
    
18. Sharp has been renamed to “Puncture”.
    
19. Hellfire Bomb active has had its damage reduced.
    
20. Support for forced text line breaks in card descriptions.
    
21. Fixed incorrect HP Regen from Extra Pump.
    
22. Updated description of Rockstar card.
    
23. Adjusted sound priorities (sounds should stop cutting off completely during longer runs)
    
24. Reduced baseline music volume.
    
25. Text for Controls has been updated.
    
26. Fixed an issue where the error prompt (i.e.; “Not enough Charges!”) was appearing off-screen.
    
27. Actives recharge rate now appears in the stat list.
    
28. Music tracks are now shuffled on launch.
    
29. “Luck” has had its baseline amount reduced.
    
30. Reduced the cost of the Bless card.
    
31. Fixed gamespeed not updating between stages.
    
32. Sped up and adjusted animations that grab from card collection.
    
33. The name of cards is now displayed when hovering over used items.
    
34. Reduced cost and quality of Blessed card.
    
35. Fixed an issue with card alignment in the reward screen.
    
36. Fixed an issue where re-rolling a Tier 5 card would reset game speed.
    
37. Scourge is now unique.
    
38. Hot Potato is now unique.
    
39. Fixed an issue with text boundaries for highscores.
    
40. Game should now correctly utilise laptop GPU instead of integrated graphics.
    
41. New animation and SFX after run ends, for credits earned.
    
42. Fixed an issue where Unholy MG range was not updating correctly.
    
43. Centred the back button in the pause menu.
    
44. Particles are correctly cleaned up between rounds and stages. (Strictly a performance optimisation)
    
45. Sniper Garrison units now leave the area before shooting, to prevent them from stacking up.
    
46. Removed game version appearing in 2 locations.
    
47. Hovering over cards for 2 seconds now displays their tooltips.
    
48. All cards which mention “sacrifice or destroy” have been replaced with “Banish” to reflect the mechanic change.
    
49. Changed text that refers to both Towers and Garrisons to“Structures”.
    
50. Fixed an issue that caused duplicate cards being added to the deck from the collection.
    
51. Recycle card has been buffed to compensate for the new Banish mechanic.
    
52. Removed the duplicate credits display in the character select screen and centred the title.
    
53. Fixed the Summoner card not giving correct stats.
    
54. Character names now appear in the pause menu.
    
55. Fixed an issue that caused the menu to become unresponsive on Day 24.
    
56. Fixed issues with unlockable files.
    
57. Fixed incorrect audio directions.
    
58. New sounds added for; fire, enemy escape, pentagram/curse spawn, repenter spawn.
    
59. Changed splash tutorial text to reference structures, banishing cards, and the card in the top slot not discarding between rounds.
    
60. Updated client icon
    
61. Collection updated (can sort by card type, and it orders by unlocked first.)
    
62. Updated scrollbar in the collection and the task list to be draggable
    
63. The title when hovering over an item is coloured according to its quality
    
64. Changed an annoying cared swipe sound that hurt my ears
    
65. When running on steamdeck autouse cards is on by default
    
66. Various VFX updates on card-use
    
67. Sinner death animations
    
68. Fixed rainbow effect not persisting through stages
    
69. Changed/added banish effect of Blessing of Protection
    
70. Changed/added banish effect of Blood Clot
    
71. Fixed Spank card damage
    
72. Increased the card options when upgrading legendaries by 1
    
73. Burning light is no longer unique, and doesn't get burned on use.
    
74. Reduced card quality of burning light
    
75. Fixed an issue where tutorial text was the incorrect colour
    
76. Added missing sounds for click various places in the UI (mainly splash tutorial and pause menu)
    
77. Redesigned the UI of the event display that occur on the rounds (blips on the right of screen)
    
78. Luck is now explained under the rune that increases it
    
79. Redesigned UI for active abilities
    
80. Updated tutorial screenshot
    
81. Changed loss animation slightly
    
82. Changed all hellfire damage sprites to standardise their colours
    
83. OMA can now be used even when it won't currently apply its effect
    
84. Tooltips for actives now support line breaks
    
85. Actives now show their name and rarity in the tooltips
    
86. New sprites for sin spotter projectiles and impact
    
87. Changed damage number visuals (border, brightened all the colours)
    
88. Damage numbers now appear above all enemies
    
89. Reduced the amount of sounds that can play at once
    
90. A damage taken number appears on the tower when taking damage
    
91. A heal number appears on the health bar when healing
    
92. If hitting an enemy with negative damage, the number no longer appears, and doesn't apply any damage. (used to heal the sinner!)
    
93. Fixed an issue with laptops running the game on their onboard GFX card.
    
94. Enemies in Endless and Demo increase damage each stage
    

In addition to all these fixes and improvements we are making to the game, we invite each one of you who is interested in shaping the future of Heretic's Fork to please, kindly respond to this short Survey about the demo ❤️

Survey Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1gCHz_kKsuneU_urIJ9IR29_WmEO3-47zx3MczJOUKqo


That's all for today, we hope you have a one hell of a week 🤘

[h3]Don’t forget to Follow our other Socials :[/h3]

🔱 Twitter: https://twitter.com/play_heretics

🔥 Discord: https://discord.com/invite/N4y2sGBm7x

🖤 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/play_heretics

😈 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@play_heretics

Dear Heretics,


We are excited to reveal that Heretic's Fork, the creation of the one-man studio, 9FingerGames, led by Stevie, is participating on Tiny Teams event spanning from the 3rd of August till the 10th, 2023 🔥

Tiny Teams is a grand celebration of games crafted by solo developers and micro-studios, providing a unique opportunity to connect not only with the Steam audience but also with content creators across the vast Yogscast network and beyond. If you've ever dreamed of witnessing your favorite game played on streams, reaching an audience of thousands, this is the perfect place to make it a reality. 🤘




Save the date: Wednesday, 9th, is when the inferno shall ignite! Somewhere between 5-8PM BST, be prepared to witness streamers punishing sinners on Heretic's Fork during this event. 🗓️🕰️

https://store.steampowered.com/sale/tinyteamsfestival2023


Join us on Twitch.tv/yogscast and the Tiny Teams Steam page as we embark on a three-hour slot of pure sin sanitation and showcase the gameplay.

[h2]Don’t forget to follow our Social Medias:[/h2]

🔱 Twitter: https://twitter.com/play_heretics

🔥 Discord: https://discord.com/invite/N4y2sGBm7x

🖤 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/play_heretics

😈 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@play_heretics

Heretics 🔥

We have an exciting announcement to share with you today, Ravenage Games is joining forces with Erabit Studio on November 6th to November 20th, to host the highly anticipated Bullet Heaven Festival, a one-of-a-kind celebration of reverse bullet hell gaming.



With over 40 developers have already confirmed the participation in the Bullet Heaven Festival, showcasing exciting titles such as 20 Minutes till Dawn, Brotato, Halls of Torment, Soulstone Survivors, Heretic’s Fork, and many more.

Share this link with your beloved content creators, to join forces with us to introduce the new "Bullet Heaven" tag to Steam.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


The Bullet Heaven Festival aims to redefine the bullet hell genre by placing players in control of the bullet barrage. It offers intense gameplay, strategic upgrades, and visually stunning environments, making it a standout event in the gaming industry.

Developer submissions for Bullet Heaven Fest are open until August 18, 2023

Embrace the darkness and dive into the inferno on Bullet Heaven Fest 🔥🤘

Hi everyone!

Another adjustment to the gameplay to experiment with.
* All card upgrades are free.
* Reduced the fire rate of the "tank" heretic that shoots little sinners.

One of the drawbacks that came with the removal of the card storage mechanic was the following:

With the storage mechanic, when the player upgraded a card (for a cost) then they might not be able to use the card right away, but that didn't matter to the player too much because they could simply store it and use it during the next round after their power charges replenish.

After the removal of the storage mechanic, players would upgrade a card, not be able to use it right way because of insufficient power charges but also couldn't store it until the next round, so they would have to discard it and wait until it comes back in a reshuffle (if they survive that long). This was frustrating.

Having all card upgrade free should remove this frustration as the player will always be able to use a card right after upgrading it (presuming they are upgrading before using any other cards, as most players do).

This also helps with the general power scaling of the player and help them feel more powerful as they are able to use more cards earlier in the run, avoiding that first-stage difficulty spike.

Let me know what you think,
Thanks again for playing the game and providing feedback.

-Stevis