Gnomancer News

Progress continues!

As always, Early Access is a time to experiment, and see what works, and get feedback. The patches over the last week have started to move to a new method of doing tile transitions - this looks great, but means we need to do a pass over all of the existing levels. Whilst this does feel like we're treading water a bit, it does also mean that the game's looking better and better.

I'll continue to make 2-5 patches and updates per week, but remember, this is the time to help us focus and change the game so it's something you love - so give some feedback, tell me what needs to be changed, and tell me what's brilliant and you want more of!

New graphics and bug fixes

We've done a pass over a lot of the visual style of the game. This has lead to a bunch of levels having tile transitions that need reword, but look loads better!

There's also been a fix to the Pet Rendering, so those of you that own FortressCraft should now see ARTHER as intended.

More map updates soon!

Polish and Speed and Balance - oh my

Added data-driven player colours
Added XP-bonus drops from Bosses. First player to grab 'em gets the boost!
Further work on per-mob healthbars and text placement.
Tweaked fog and atmospherics in most places in the game.
Added indicators when Healers are ready to heal
Added indicators when Mages are ready to Rejuv
Mages will now Rejuv other players if their owner is full on mana.
Hooked up a new shader system for animated glass smoke
Hooked up the start of the Speech system.
Implemented some Voldarr lines, by special guest, Ricky Berwick.

Spit and polish

Food weighs a lot less, so players shouldn't get trapped by it
If you own FortressCraft, you'll get a free pet. Not balanced, working or optional. Feedback wanted!
Implemented a collision force pre-map to allow much much faster Gnome and Pet simulation.
Fixed an issue where progression of multiple slots was added together
Pets should no longer Leak
Pets should die if you die.
Added saving spinner. It's like an actual console game!
Fixed an issue with best time readouts
Tweaked the size of Combat Text
Added a cloud pass for daylight levels
Reworked the atmospherics and fog for dungeons
Fixed waggling Gnomes. Again. https://i.gyazo.com/a88bbce4cc1bc9890251ede0e0155e85.mp4

New levels, performance boosts and map polish.

After much discussion, I've decided to focus on Pets before Loot. Pets will be stat-boosting and upgradable. How they unlock, how they work has still to be decided, but a hard evening's work and it's already looking kinda neat.

On top of that, we're mostly happy with the initial raft of maps available, so I've extended it to cover 2 bosses and 3 dungeons across 12 levels. I spent about 6 hours playing the maps and making tweaks based on that today, so I'm happy to push this patch out now.

Auto detail should now smartly modulate Ambient Occlusion based on resolution.
Low Detail will now force you to 1280x720p, if you're in a regular 16:9 base resolution.
Another raft of polish across all current levels.
Unlocked access to level 12, allowing players access to 2 dungeons and 3 bosses.
Fixed an issue where choosing a new difficulty didn't update the accessible ring on the map.
Added different ways for Map Designers to spawn Gnomes into the map, to add to the variety. AutoGnomes should also have a significantly different look, so players shouldn't try and resurrect them.
Fixed super-high pitched pickup SFX
Started work on stat-boosting combat pets.