Cyclopean News

[h2]Fixes[/h2]
[h3]Returning Enemies[/h3]
Enemies were returning to dungeons incorrectly. If you slay an enemy in a dungeon, there is a chance for it to return as one of the "Dwellers in Darkness" but they should not be returning in their original forms as they have been.

[h3]Losing Story Items[/h3]
It was unfortunately possible for players to lose story related items. Technically, even if this happens, there is still a way to win, but I have prevented this sort of thing from happening again in the future. Also, when yielding to enemies and having a sanity related blackout, it was more likely for your items to go missing than I had intended. This has been fixed.

[h2]Request[/h2]
It seems some players are experiencing a crash when giving and taking items from allies. Also, possibly, items given to allies can go missing.

Not it is possible for allies to go missing if you yield to an enemy, or have a sanity related blackout. However, I have not been able to reproduce any crash, or items going missing as of this time. It would be extremely helpful if anyone is witnessing these things and able to reproduce them reliably. I will continue to try for now...

It's a surprise. No one will find it for a while most likely. Don't worry about it.

Hint: It has nothing to do with cats.

[h3]Fixes[/h3]
Dredging Hook Unrecognized:
In the last build I also accidentally disabled the dredging hook. Should be working again...

[h3]Features[/h3]
Scan Lines:
You can now deactivate the CRT style scan line effect in the game. To do so, go to "C:\Users\-Your Username-\AppData\Local\Cyclopean" and open "Options_3.cfg"

Change the last line:

HIDE SCAN LINES,0

to...

HIDE SCAN LINES,1

And you should no longer see those very attractive lines anymore.



Nightgaunt Allies:
Nightgaunt allies will now do the same kind of attacks as they do when they are enemies, namely, they will grab your opponent and drag them away into the darkness. The nightgaunt will not be dismissed as an ally, but they will go back to your camp. So you would need to back to the camp to re-recruit them.

Key Levels:
Tougher dungeons will now require more rare keys. The Crag of the Ghouls is the only dungeon not effected by this change. Other dungeons will start requiring silver, gold and even onyx keys at lower (or higher) levels. I am thinking of adding more kinds of keys, so each dungeon might still evolve in this way.

Hit Details:
Just like calculating damage, your swing is also broken down in this latest update. It will show your "roll" and the number you need to beat in order to hit an enemy. Currently, this number only depends on the one attacking, using their strength or skill (whichever is lowest), their weapon's quality, and any skill bonus supplied by allies to lower the target amount.

Currently, I do not give enemies or players any kind of dodging bonus. Although that would improve realism, I think it would end up just making combat take longer needlessly. Instead, your skill and strength just help reduce the amount of damage from a hit.

I guess it could balance out if I removed the skill bonus from damage, and added it to a dodge system. I will leave it as is, unless someone gives me a really compelling reason to change it.

Just to clarify, I came up with these systems before I thought about actually showing them to the player. Now that it's out in the open, I feel the need to justify my decisions. If you have any strong opinions about how this stuff should work, I am open to listening, but will probably be reluctant to make major changes without really good reasons.

[h3]Fixes[/h3]
Shovel Unrecognized:
In the last build I accidentally disabled the shovel. Should be working again...

Inquiries Bug:
Two entries in the Inquiries menu were not saving to file, and so they would return to the default "off" state every time you loaded a game. They should be saving properly from now on.

[h3]Features[/h3]
Stranded:
It was possible to get stuck on an island. This should no longer be the case.

This is another big update with some major changes to both the interface design as well as the gameplay.

[h3]FIXES[/h3]
[h3]Mouse Issue[/h3]
The game now works in window mode without having to lock the mouse in the window. I had to do some really challenging stuff to get this to work, but I will spare you the details. Now the mouse should transition nicely between your game window and the windows desktop without problems.

You an still tweak the mouse speed if you want.

To do so, go to "C:\Users\-your username-\AppData\Local\Cyclopean" and open "Options_3.cfg" to edit the settings. On the bottom, change:

MOUSE SPEED FACTOR, 0.5

to

MOUSE SPEED FACTOR, * any number between 0.1 and 1*

Save the file and start your game.

[h3]Aligning Bug[/h3]
Some NPCs who you could not align with would give the wrong message. This should be fixed.

[h3]Aligning Bug #2[/h3]
Allies who could not fit in your party would still take their gift out of your inventory.

[h3]Targeting Bug[/h3]
Sometimes enemies would target your ally even if you attacked with your main character.

[h3]Trade Bug[/h3]
When using a controller, the trade menu did not respond to input if you accessed it through the allies menu.

[h3]FEATURES[/h3]
[h3]Allies at Camp![/h3]
You can now dismiss your allies, and they will return to your camp. You can dismiss them anywhere, but to get them back you will have to return to your camp. This does not change the number of allies you can have at a given time. If you want to permanently remove an ally, you have to go to "Examine > Resign" and they will be permanently removed from your group.



[h3]Examine Screen[/h3]
When examining allies, you can now see all the bonuses they grant you, as well as any sanity drain or healing they perform while in your presence. Note, allies who have been dismissed to camp will not grant their bonuses or their sanity (wits) effects either.

[h3]Wits Absorbtion[/h3]
Some allies damage your wits, and some (actually just cats) can heal them. However a new feature has been added. Men of Leng and Ghouls will now serve as a kind of buffer between you and other ally types. Men of Leng will absorb wit drainage by Moon Beasts, and Ghouls will absorb wit drainage from Nightgaunts. (In the later case, ghouls still perform their own wit damage)

[h3]Further Alliances[/h3]
In seeking to use the Lovecraft story as inspiration I have also created two new alliances. Now if you are allied with Ghouls, Nightgaunts will not be hostile, and vice versa. Also, Men of Leng will keep you safe from Moon Beasts. However if you betrayed them, this will not help you.