Cauldron News

Some more quick fixes out now!

• Fixed a saving issue with the spirit upgrades for elemental abilities. They should now save correctly. Refund your spirit skill tree fully to reset them!
  
• Added some new controller buttons! I've been looking into creating a custom button-mapping system, but I don't think it will be easy. For now, I've added some extra controller buttons for the apple and fishing minigames (bumpers and triggers), and added the ability to open the map with M or start/select on a controller. If anyone has any other recommended buttons they'd want me to put in, let me know!)
  
• Fixed double mouse cursor
  
• Fixed skit with Cleanse and Plague
  
• Fixed an issue with selecting Nyx during autoplay in the ice game
  
• Fixed a bug where you could get more inventory space without brewing
  
• Enemies (and heroes) should no longer be able to get more than max hp
  
• Fixed a bug where Nyx would crash the game if she used her skill or special exactly as all enemies were dying
  
• Fixed ice minigame value+ capping for bonus ball splash damage
  
• Blinkie's ice minigame trajectory can now continue past 6 o'clock going in either direction!
  
• Thor no longer copies Hearth's Special in the cart game
  
• Bonus magic damage upgrade on frozen enemies now also applies to poison cap amount
  
• Fixed Fump's menus being messed up when using the mouse
  
• Spirit books should fade out completely after a certain amount of time in Spirit Fishing
  

[h2]Hey Everyone![/h2]

I've been working hard to tackle all the bugs and suggestions you've all been bringing to me, and this patch should take care of a couple of the big ones! Keep the feedback coming, either here in the Steam Forums or over on the Discord!

[h2]Patch Notes:[/h2]

• Starting a new game mode with effects turned off shouldn't just show a black screen anymore,
  
• I beefed up the way that saving works, so the game now does better checking that the files are formatted correctly (and not blank). I also created a backup system for savesettings.SAV, since this file seemed to get corrupted the most when players lose power or the like.
  
• Auto Fishing should no longer hover at the bottom of the level
  
• Added version number to the title screen
  
• Apple game lasers don't get canceled when hitting fancy fliers anymore
  
• Henry's Brethren upgrade will now show up correctly in your first game mode
  
• Inventory should no longer be able to go negative for any reason
  
• Added another error check when fighting Morgana to stop the crashes
  
• Dodge's Focus upgrade now correctly applies +10% dodge instead of +1%
  
• Clicking the item menu from the Talent menu before unlocking items will no longer crash the game
  
• Capped the +value level of ice blocks at +99 (because people were getting super high numbers that would break the game!)
  
• Fixed bonus character battle stat calculations
  
• Might have fixed the issue where enemies were suddenly getting tons of hp in battle (if it was related to damage-return weirdness).
  
• Auto-positions will no longer be locked on in game modes where Flip's power has been used but the auto-battle menu isn't unlocked yet.
  
• Fishing powerup time+ upgrade now correctly shows +50% increments instead of +10%
  
• Added a slight pause when the menu shows up after a minigame ends, so that players don't accidentally hit replay instantly
  
• Fixed power level calculation after bonus characters are in party
  
• Newtonian waves should now stop when pause menu is active
  
• Achievement for 100 stacks of all elements should now check all enemies instead of just one
  
• Map update - added the other waterfall
  

If anyone ran into issues with one of their save files getting messed up (usually from losing power while in the middle of a save), let me know over in the Discord! I can try to troubleshoot with you or cook you up a custom save file. I'm hoping the issue will be fixed now!

Thanks!
Pete

[h2]Hey Everyone![/h2]

Wow, what a crazy few days! There have been so many new players and so much feedback flooding in! We're doing our best to stay on top of it all, especially the bugs. This update should hopefully take care of some of the bigger issues, but if not, don't hesitate to reach out!


[h2]Playtest Branch[/h2]

Since we're a very small team with limited testing capabilities, we've set up a public testing branch here on Steam where we will be pushing new builds before rolling them out on for the live version of the game. This is accessible to everyone and allows users to test out their specific issues with the latest fixes (and also gives us a little buffer in case we break something new!).

If you want to access the test branch, there are instructions in the Cauldron Discord in the Playtest section. I'll be posting the specific fixes in each version, and the planned upcoming fixes.



[h2]Patch notes:[/h2]

• Memory Leaks - There seemed to be a couple types that popped up for people, both in the overworld and within battles. I've hopefully taken care of these now, but let me know if you still encounter them!
  
• Item Menu Error - Equipping items, specifically while using the mouse, would crash the game for some people. This should hopefully be fixed as well!
  
• Fish fade out faster in the fishing game after being caught, reducing the clutter
  
• Hearth's special no longer triggers while she's outside the cart in the minecart minigame
  
• Fixed some oddities with the map, including some headless trees and floating pixels
  
• The electric effect in the minecart minigame now matches the transparency of the other attacks
  
• Fighting Pits now show the correct progress instead of Battletown's
  
• Mage town NPC's word bubble is now off-white, so certain hints are easier to see
  
• Fixed an issue when refunding the augment upgrades in the minecart minigame, where you could pocket extra crystals by refunding
  
• A bunch of typos
  

[h2]Bug Reports[/h2]
If you want to leave a bug report, you can do that either on the Discord or in the Steam forums. We're tracking as fast as we can! 😅

[h2]Welcome everyone[/h2]
A huge welcome to all the new members of the community, and a thanks for your patience with these pesky launch bugs!

Pete


https://store.steampowered.com/app/2619650/Cauldron/

[h2]Hey Everyone!![/h2]

It's here! It's actually here!

It feels a bit surreal to say that the game is *done*, especially after the long grind leading up to launch day. I can finally take a step back and look at what's been created, and I'm more excited than ever (and maybe a little nervous) to share Cauldron with the world!

I just wanted to say thanks to the entire community that supported Cauldron during its development. This game would never have come this far without the suggestions and feedback from all the people who were willing to take a chance on my silly little game. Four years ago when I sat down to goof around in GameMaker, I never would have imagined that hobby project would someday turn into the game it is today.

You've all been an enormous help, both as a source of feedback and as a source of motivation to keep improving the game. I'm incredibly grateful for all the support!

Thank you for helping me come this far!

Now it's time for some much overdue sleep...

Pete
SleepyDad Games

PS. Join our Discord to discuss strategies, ask for help, report any bugs or just hangout!



https://store.steampowered.com/app/2619650/Cauldron/

[h2]Hey Everyone![/h2]
Less than a week to go! I still can't believe we're almost there. These last couple weeks I've been hard at work polishing up as much as I can before release, and Jared has been updating those last minute art assets. A lot has changed since I posted last, so I'll put a list below of the big stuff. If you want to join us for the release hype, check in on our discord below!



[h2]Big numbers![/h2]
One of the bigger updates has been balancing the minigame progress, especially after completing a few game modes. The Fishing and Mining games were lagging a bit in super-duper late game. Our beloved underwater friend, Henry, needed a little more oomph, so I gave him a bonus upgrade to help him keep up! (see below)



[h2]Some Updates [/h2]
Since we’re almost at the finish line, there have been quite a few updates and fixes since last time, and there are still tweaks and polish being completed for launch. Here’s a list:

• THE ENDING! The true ending is now playable for those of you who have completed at least 2 game modes (full-release content).
  
• New art! Check out the new character sprites! We're still missing a bunch of the side profile/attack animations, so some characters might look a little weird when battling. Those should be coming very soon!
  
• New music! (post-demo content) Check out Frog town and Battle town! We're still tweaking these a bit.
  
• Completed map! Well, maybe not totally completed, but very close! (also post-demo content)
  
• Tweaked late-game scaling for all minigames! I put caps on certain upgrades that don't really help with endgame once you buy a bunch of them, and I made a few upgrades scale more easily. This should help some of the balancing for of max high scores for some minigames (especially Fishing and Rock Digging), and will also help with some frame rate issues.
  
• With the better minigame scaling (and because of some other feedback), I decided to increase cauldron requirement scaling accordingly. Tougher Enemies and EVIL have changed the most, so hopefully those will still be beatable (I didn't change EVIL as much as Tougher Enemies, though).
  
• Ice fishing has been reworked! Now, there are "bonus fish" in each of the levels that essentially work as powerups. The amount of these fish increases with each loss, along with added hook weight.
  
• Added battle maps for Battletown and the fighting pits
  
• Added some new character portraits for the town leaders
  
• Fish now telegraph their next move. They'll turn in the direction they're going to move for about half a second before shooting forward.
  
• Changed Nyx's sprite! This one was kind of half changed in the last update, since we were testing out a few ideas. Now it should be consistent!
  
• Added a new meta-upgrade for Fishing to make Henry a little more impactful as the game goes on
  
• Fixed Cart game blorb's not bouncing correctly when they get too big
  
• Fixed some lag caused by the Ice game's bonus block upgrade
  
• Fixed an issue with REALLY large numbers in the ice game not calculating correctly
  
• Fixed the fighting pit NPC so you can actually see it! The menu should work now as well!
  
• Fixed some other menus
  
• Changed some of the hidden villager objects
  
• Fixed a bug with the new ice fishing bonus fish
  
• Fixed some of the cart game attacks not changing color when they're upgraded to have a different element
  
• Fixed the prior battle position not working for some characters
  
• Added some more character portraits
  
• Fixed random bugs and visual stuff
  
• Fixed a bug with the Chinese translation crashing the game
  
• Added new music to Magetown
  
• Fixed Fump's location for the swamp puzzles
  
• Added an arrow to indicate where Henry is going to be in the fishing game as you get close
  
• A bunch of other small things!
  
• Fixed the ghosts having 950% dodge rate...
  
• Fixed the ending not showing up when starting it with the effects level all the way down
  
• Fixed the alert not showing up above the Magetown leader's head when finishing her quest
  
• Fixed apple game's idle AI to not ignore golden+apples
  
• SSP blast meta upgrade now works on set bombs
  

And as always keep posting your feedback. and I'll see you on release day!

Thank you for reading!
Pete

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2619650/Cauldron/