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Chronicles of Vaeltaja: In Search of the Great Wanderer News

Chronicles of Vaeltaja Update v.0.7.3

Welcome Traveler,
September's update has finally arrived and it brings more than was originally intended! Not just the fps limit to improve performance and some fixes and changes, but two optional small dungeons and a Lantern Maker!

Without further ado, let's get to the point...

[h2]PATCH NOTES[/h2]

[h3]Added[/h3]

  • Lantern Maker Teno has come to stay in the House of Adventurers. He sells lanterns that bring better and more atmospheric light into the darkness.
  • New lanterns: White Lantern, Moon Lantern and Royal Lantern.
  • New weapon: A Fine Soldier's Crossbow.
  • New item: Bandages to heal bleeding wounds.
  • Tree stumps to the Marsh of the Condemned.
  • Great Forest Catacomb, a small, but dangerous dungeon hidden somewhere in the Great Forest.
  • Lair of the Leecher Warrior, a small dungeon hidden somewhere in the Pramean Jungle.


[h3]Changes and Other Additions[/h3]

  • Fps Limit lets frame rate to be capped to 60fps, which should help the performance with weaker CPUs and displays with high refresh rates. It may not be enough for weaker laptops, because the game engine is still heavily CPU bound, but it should make the game a little bit lighter on CPUs.
  • New details to Twin Falls, Great Forest and Pramea forest textures to add some depth.
  • New lantern sprites.
  • Improved outerior textures (and roof in some cases) to Hermit's Cabin, Darno's Cabin and the closed cabin in Twin Falls Forest North.
  • Battle animations to Leechers, Leecher Warriors, Skeleton Warriors and Wraiths.
  • New battle backgrounds to Twin Falls, Great Forest, The Old Tower, Pramea Shore and Jungle, Marsh of the Condemned and Lake Road.
  • Enhanced and resized lever and button sprites to give the game a slight optimization.
  • Battle UI frames and battle menu selection adjustment so that all available commands will be shown, though you still have to push 'Esc' or right mouse button to access the secondary battle menu.
  • New digging spot pit textures.
  • Small edits to Lake Road for the coming content update, doesn't change the level architecture, but adds a road that will eventually lead to the Islands of the Prophets.
  • Lantern light adjustment.
  • Option to choose whether the Quest Tracker will be displayed on the left or right side of the screen.
  • Option to turn Quest Tracker off in the options menu.
  • Bats will try to flee before the battle starts if the main character is on level four. Bats can be still attacked.
  • Redesigned Lazy Moon Tavern's Barkeeper to prevent 'Witch in Town' to be locked in certain conditions.
  • Redesigned Grand Wizard so a certain dialog won't happen in certain conditions.
  • Dungeon mapping reward has been disabled for now, so it can't be exploited to earn extra experience points.
  • Some small tweaks in the hope of optimization for weaker CPUs.
  • Some ground work for the next content update.


I really hope all these changes will bring some help for those who are struggling with the performance. Unfortunately I couldn't test the update with laptops, but performance improvement was noticeable with my own desktop. I don't know how much there is still room left for performance improvements, because it feels like I'm already pushing the limits of the game engine, but that doesn't stop me from trying in the future.

And finally thanks for all the old and new supporters, You all keep my motivation up and help me improve the game!

Thank You and have fun!

Jani/Witchgrove Games

Update v.0.7.2.0.2

[h3]Patch Notes:[/h3]

  • Fixed a bug that prevented two wall levers showing up in the 5th floor of the Pramean Lighthouse.
  • Locked chest in the 4th floor of Pramean Lighthouse now shows correct character names when choosing who picks the lock.
  • Stealing in the Pramean shops now works correctly and doesn't send player to the Castle Town if stealing fails.
  • Fixed a bug that prevented stat bonuses when using equipment with stat bonuses.
  • Locked chest in the Witch Grove can now be picked with Shadow too.

Hotfix v.0.7.2.0.1

[h3]Patch Notes:[/h3]

  • Camping Gear and Camping Gear Premium cure 'bleeding' and 'cripple' states.
  • Priest's Heal spell cures 'bleeding' state and Greater Heal cures 'bleeding' and 'cripple' states.
  • Healing Kit's and Healing Kit Premium's prices are slightly dropped.
  • Minimap and bigger map no longer misalign.
  • Right names appear when choosing who picks a certain locked door in Hidden Cave.

The Guardian Update

Welcome Traveler,

the Guardian update is finally here and it brings a lot more than you thought. Not just a new character class, weapon type and textures, but much more with Castle Town interiors, potion crafting, House of Adventurers and the third sister to the Nine Sisters Shop!

The waiting is finally over: The last character class is finally here with a brand new weapon type Polearms and enhanced textures and tree sprites to the Great Forest and Pramea. I've already given the details about these things in the update announcement, so it's time to look what else there is to find.

[h3]Potion Crafting and New Materials[/h3]

The third sister has finally arrived to the Nine Sisters Shop and she has come to brew you some potions to help you on your adventure, so those monster parts finally have some proper use. There are now more crafting materials to be found and from now on you can collect butterfly and dragonfly wings, flower petals and spring water around the kingdom of Twin Falls. Butterfly and dragonfly wings are caught with agility, but searching bushes for flower petals needs perception. For a spring water you will only need an empty bottle and then find a right spot. There are also lots of new monster parts to be collected too.

The third sister will buy some of the materials, if crafting isn't your thing. From now on also the second sister will buy certain materials related to jewelry crafting. Materials such as butterfly wings and flower petals will reappear after a few days if collected.

With the right materials the third sister can craft potions that will increase damage and defense abilities, increase resistances to certain damage types or even potions that will give a permanent increase to stats.

[h3]The House of Adventurers and Shop Changes[/h3]

Castle Town has now opened all the interiors, including the House of Adventurers in the Northern part of the town, just behind the Cathedral. There's not much going on in there yet, but meanwhile the clerk standing behind the desk will buy any monster parts you're willing to sell, if you're ever in need of a quick cash.

Along with the potion crafting and new merchants come some changes to the shops. From now on the merchants are much more selective, so don't try to sell your weapons to the Item Shop. The Magic Shop still buys most armors, but not necessarily all the weapon types. But there are still the Traveling and Shadow Merchants who buy just about anything, except materials.

So those are the biggest surprises. Let's get to the patch notes.

[h2]Patch Notes[/h2]

[h3]Added:[/h3]

  • New character class: Guardian.
  • New weapon type Polearms (Combat Staves, Spears, Halberts).
  • Castle Town interiors, including the House of Adventurers.
  • Potion Crafting and new materials.
  • New potions and healing items, such as Advanced Healing Kit which can heal Cripple status effect.
  • New monster parts.
  • 3rd sister to the Nine Sister Shop.
  • Nine Sister Shop has opened in Pramea.
  • Shadow Merchant has arrived to the Inn of Pramea.
  • New textures and tree sprites to the Great Forest and Pramea.
  • Merchant in the House of Adventurers, who buys monster parts.
  • Blacksmith can now forge combat staves, spears and halberts.
  • New battle backgrounds in the Great Forest and Pramea.


[h3]Changes:[/h3]

  • Nine Sisters Shop buys certain crafting materials.
  • Merchants are more selective about the items they buy.
  • Weapons forged by the blacksmith have now increased damage values.
  • Cloaks, Gloves, Amulets/Necklaces and Rings has their own equipment slots.
  • Blacksmith dialog changes.
  • Dawn and day light are now slightly brighter and also the daytime skybox has a lighter tone.
  • Shadow Moves skill adds a small attack bonus for a short period of time.
  • Butterflies and dragonflies can be caught with high enough agility.
  • Flower petals can be found from certain bushes if perception is good enough.
  • Butterflies, dragonflies and flower petals will reappear after a few days if collected.
  • Spring water can be collected in certain places with empty bottle.
  • Magic Map no longer displays the exploration %, so it won't spoil the secret areas in dungeons.
  • Bleeding and Cripple status effects no longer heal automatically.
  • Enemy balancing.
  • Some small changes to few of the dungeons, doesn't change the experience but should make the dungeon mapping work properly.


[h3]Fixes:[/h3]
  • Certain levers can no longer be activated behind a wall.
  • A Grudge for a Resurrection quest will update properly to the Quest Journal
  • Wizard's Tower's front door will open properly after the barrier is removed.
  • The first door in the 3rd floor of Onkalo is no longer open by default.
  • Hole in the Old Tower's 3rd floor's ceiling is now fixed.
  • The Lost Ring quest can now be completed, at least if new game is started.


That's about it, I guess, though I have a feeling I've forgotten to mention something. Nevertheless, if you haven't tried the game yet, now is an excellent time to climb aboard and see what kind of adventures the Kingdom of Twin Falls is hiding!

I hope you enjoy these new features and changes! See you in Twin Falls!

Thank You!

Jani/Witchgrove Games

The Guardian Update Arrives on June 26th

Welcome traveler,

the release of the next update for Chronicles of Vaeltaja is getting near and it brings two important features: 'Guardian' character class and enhanced textures to the Great Forest and Pramea. This means that finally all the character classes will be available for hire and all the overworld areas will have similar art style. But that's not all! The update will also include new weapon class 'Polearms', new building interiors for Castle Town, Nine Sisters Shop and Shadow Merchant for Pramea, enemy balancing, improvements and fixes.

[h3]Guardian and Polearms[/h3]

The last character class is the master of polearms with some healing abilities. Besides the 'Witch Hunter', the 'Guardian' is the only melee character that can attack from the backrow, which can be useful as he can only wear light armor. Even though Guardian doesn't start with his healing skills, he's nevertheless a viable alternative to Priests as he can learn to cure status effects such as 'crippled', 'burning' and 'hypothermia'.

There will be three different types of 'Polearms': Combat Staves, Spears and Halberts. All of them are 2-handed weapons, so 'Guardian' is not able to wear a shield. But this doesn't leave him defenseless, because 'Polearms' will grant a minor defense bonus and this is where the difference between those three 'Polearm' types comes to play. Combat Staves are not as effective as Spears and Halberts, but they give better defense bonus. Halberts on the other hand are more powerful, but their defense bonus is very low. Spears are balanced to be in between them.

[h3]Enhanced Textures to the Great Forest and Pramea[/h3]

Finally all the overworld areas will have similar art style with new textures and tree sprites, and the impact for the overall atmosphere is very noticeable. Chronicles of Vaeltaja has never looked this good before and the enhanced visuals make the game world feel congruent. This is also a big milestone in terms of development, because from now on focus can be shifted more towards the next areas and story content.

[h3]Enemy Balancing, Status Effect and Equipment Changes[/h3]

Enemies have gone through lots of balancing and they will be a little bit stronger than before, so the battle skills should have some proper use. There will be more tweaking in the future and possibly bigger enemy mobs for some areas.

There are some changes for certain status effects: 'Crippled' and 'Bleeding' will not automatically heal after a battle, so they have to be cured either during the combat or after. A Healing Kit is enough to cure 'Bleeding', but 'Crippled' needs an Advanced Healing Kit, which can be bought from the Castle Town's Item Shop, Pramea's General Store or the Traveling Merchant Sakari.

After the update Cloaks, Gloves, Amulets/Necklaces and Rings will have their own equipment slots. This is for the sake of balancing, so now a character can't wear four cloaks at the same time.

[h3]Other Improvements, Additions and Changes[/h3]

  • Dawn and day light will be slightly brighter and also the daytime skybox will have a lighter tone.
  • Weapons forged by the blacksmith will have better offensive values.
  • Shadow Moves skill adds a small attack bonus for a short period of time.
  • Blacksmith's dialog improvements.
  • Nine Sisters Shop opens in Pramea after the town is saved.
  • Shadow Merchant appears in the Pramean Inn.
  • Several Combat Staves, Spears and Halberts will be added in Weapon Shops.
  • Advanced Healing Kit and new potions.
  • Couple of new interiors will open in the Castle Town.
  • Some small changes to few of the dungeons, doesn't change the experience but should make the dungeon mapping work properly.
  • Minimap will no longer display exploration %, so it won't spoil the fun of finding the secret areas.


[h3]Fixes[/h3]

These bugs will be fixed:

  • The second last entry for the quest journal doesn't update properly in 'A Grudge for Resurrection' quest.
  • Wizard's Tower's front door doesn't open after the barrier is removed.
  • Some levers and buttons can be activated behind a wall.
  • In some cases 'Lost Ring' quest can't be completed properly.
  • Halls of Onkalo's 3rd floor's first door is open when the player enters there the first time.
  • Hole in the Old Tower's 3rd floor's ceiling.


So, if you already haven't, it will be an excellent time to start your journey with this update. If you already have, don't worry, the 'Guardian' can be hired to your party at any time, just like all the other character classes. Also, if you want to get a glimpse of the new textures, be sure to check out Witchgrove Games' Facebook, Instagram and X (links will be provided at the end of this announcement).

Thank You for the support and see you in Twin Falls!

Jani/Witchgrove Games

Witchgrove Games @:
X: https://x.com/WitchgroveGames

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/witchgrovegames

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/witchgrovegames/