Cyclopean News

[h3]New Text[/h3]
Not a major change to gameplay, but you will see some new text that appears when starting a new game and whenever you enter or leave a dungeon. I may add more things like this, just to offer some context and atmosphere to the game which is relatively mechanical in nature.

[h3]A lot of small fixes/features have happened as well[/h3]

• Added heal noise for tent
  
• Tent now heals in one turn, instead of by small increments
  
• Take All Button had a weird bug that made it make a loud noise
  
• Some inquiries have been updates with more useful information and hints
  
• Some spelling errors in inquiries have been fixed
  
• Some creatures could remain hostile after forming an alliance
  
• Some big changes to buying and selling - especially weapons and armor - margins will be less advantageous for player
  
• New "broken key" item added, and generally fewer keys will spawn
  
• Bug with swapping items was fixed
  
• Stealth mechanics were somehow available even when enemy was aware of your presence
  
• Strange camera bug in overworld was fixed - pixels were getting distorted
  
• Random searches will produce fewer rubies
  
• Searches limited to finding one item per grid unit at a time
  
• The Vaults of Zin got some added art and features
  
• Placing items in chest could produce incorrect amounts
  
• Some doors have been updated to require specific keys, instead of being random
  

There are some other significant changes, but I think they are better to experience via gameplay, rather than just being told. I'll just say that players who read the log and inquiries carefully may benefit a lot more than those who don't.

Several big changes have been made.

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]
[h3]Dungeon Crash[/h3]
The game would occasionally crash when leaving a dungeon. I am not 100% sure if this is fixed, but I have not seen it happen since making some changes to the way dungeons and the overworld load.

[h3]Loot Crash[/h3]
Another possible cause of game crashes was when an NPC loaded with too much loot. It could have been a cause of the above crash when leaving a dungeon. Again, I am not sure this was 100% responsible, but it was definitely a potential cause of game crashes.

[h2]Updates[/h2]
The game options file will be reloaded to the default settings the next time you play. The reason is I have made a few small changes to the settings...

[h3]Log Entries[/h3]
Log entries now have two optional features (set to 'on' by default). Detailed log entries allow you to see details about all randomized interactions, like whether or not you hit an enemy, or how much damage you did. The other option is to turn off basic movement entries. If you don't want to see your log show

move north
move east
move east ...

Or if you don't want to see all the details of every random interaction, go to "C:\Users\-your username-\AppData\Local\Cyclopean" and open the "Options_5.cfg" file.

Change the following:

LOG DETAILS,1
LOG MOVEMENT,1

to:

LOG DETAILS,0
LOG MOVEMENT,0

[h3]Screen Shake[/h3]
Also in the same "Options_5.cfg" file, you will see another entry:

SCREENSHAKE ACTIVE,1

You can turn off the screenshake effect by setting this one to 0.

When the Early Access phase reaches completion, I will see if I can put all these options directly in the options menu. For now I will keep adding options to the configuration file.

[h3]Profitable Trade[/h3]
You can now gain money and experience when trading certain items with certain NPCs. Selling these particular items to the particular NPCs who value them, will gain you gold as well as Experience Points.

[h3]Items in Combat[/h3]
You can access your inventory in combat with the "I" key, or corresponding controller button. This is not new. But now if you use an item, like bandages, it will take up a turn. I hope this will make combat a bit more tactical and challenging. I have a feeling there will be requests for more potent healing solutions too though, so I am thinking about that.

[h3]Updated Log Entries[/h3]
I've gone through and given the same treatment to all encounter events that I did to attacking. So now if you attempt to sneak, or ambush, or pick a lock etc... you will see a detailed breakdown of your "roll" and why you succeeded or failed.

[h3]Doors[/h3]
Doors behave a little differently now. If you have enough strength to bash a door, you still have to make a successful roll. Failing will not deliver any damage *unless* it is a critical failure (see more below) or the door was too strong to begin with. Bashing a door will also alert nearby monsters so this will be changing the dynamics of the game a bit.

Picking locks is similar, and it takes a few extra seconds to try it, so it also has a disadvantage. These are not huge differences, but I think they will make each kind of approach feel more significant.

[h3]Critical Failure[/h3]
You may see this message pop up on occasion. Basically, so matter how strong your character is, there is always going to be a chance to fail. When you get a critical failure, usually something bad will also happen to you ... you lockpick breaks ... your net gets torn ... you hurt yourself trying to knock down a door ... stuff like that.

[h3]Ultra Wide Support (Again)[/h3]
Somehow when I was working on the mouse speed issue, I broke the ultra-wide support. It's one of those bugs that, when you see it, you wonder how the game worked at all. Anyway, it should be working properly again.

[h3]Scrolling Action Log[/h3]
Certain messages in the action log were not being read correctly if you tried to scroll through them (using the mouse scroll-wheel or Page Up/Page Down). Now these should display properly.

[h3]Screen Saver Crash[/h3]
Screen Savers and some other application interference could lead to a 3D hardware reset error which would crash the game. I added a script that freezes/unfreezes the game when the window is not in focus, so it should prevent this type of crash/error from here on.

[h3]Moving Inventory Items[/h3]
You will notice, when selecting an inventory item, a message will appear in the action log explaining that you can click an empty slot to move the item.

It's fairly simple, just click the item you want to move, then click on any empty slot to move the item.



[h3]Updated UI[/h3]
The user interface has also been updated. Character stats now appear on the bottom-left side of the screen. This allows you to see your stats while accessing your inventory and the trade menu. You can also see how much gold you have at all times.