Echo of the Wilds News

Hi. :]

Just thought I'd spruce up the achievements a bit. 19 have been added. Some based on sign posting your storified discoveries, though most are about rewarding explorations of some of the more cryptic lesser known features related to the special places you stumble upon.

And some other bits and bobs.
- You can now change game settings during play via the Pause Menu.
- There's now a setting to select the gamepad input. Some extra control have been added to the Sound Volume and Window Scale too.
- 2 new food items, the Goldly Gulper and its cooked varient.
- Expanded the ending dialogue.
- After having the dream with the shapes in the stars, those shapes now appear in The Further, just in case you didn't note them down.
- The game should start up instantly now rather than hanging for several seconds.
- Bugs squashed.

Hi. :]

Just thought I'd spruce up the achievements a bit. 19 have been added. Some based on sign posting your storified discoveries, though most are about rewarding explorations of some of the more cryptic lesser known features related to the special places you stumble upon.

And some other bits and bobs.
- You can now change game settings during play via the Pause Menu.
- There's now a setting to select the gamepad input. Some extra control have been added to the Sound Volume and Window Scale too.
- 2 new food items, the Goldly Gulper and its cooked varient.
- Expanded the ending dialogue.
- After having the dream with the shapes in the stars, those shapes now appear in The Further, just in case you didn't note them down.
- The game should start up instantly now rather than hanging for several seconds.
- Bugs squashed.

Two new game modes have been added, Endless and Sedate modes.

Sedate mode is aimed for those who the find some of the basic survival elements a bit frustrating, such as collecting wood for the fire. It's still a challenge to beat the game though as much of the game's difficulty stems from discovering the various purposes of each of the biomes and of course the puzzle elements.

Endless mode is a different way of playing the game altogether. All of the story elements are stripped from the game and you have no real purpose other than to simply see how long you can survive the ever expanding abyss of Winter.



///// Sedate mode makes the following gameplay changes:
- There's no need to collect wood for the camp fire (it's eternally lit blue).
- You start with the Palm Sack (which doubles your inventory space).
- Eating is 75% more effective. Drinking is 150% more effective.
- All stamina loss is reduced by 25%.
- Overnight hunger is increased by 75%.
- Tool Altar: You don't need to bestow food to learn bushcraft, instead you can scroll through and learn any available crafts. The thirst expense for learning craft is halved.
- Built tools are inexhaustible (e.g. axes).
- Traveling to the save altar takes no time.
- Nightfall takes three times as long before it becomes too dark to see.
- Paper can be reused infinitely.
- Various minor balance bits & bobs.


///// Endless mode makes the following gameplay changes:
- All story scenes removed.
- The length of seasons are halved.
- Winter will eventually turn to Spring. The length of Winter increases each year.
- Talisman pieces are replaced by Sun Totems which reduce the duration of Winter.
- The game is automatically saved every morning.
- Clothes and goat blanky degrade over time.
- Doubles chance of weather events.
- All natural food sources removed during Winter.
- Various minor balance bits & bobs.

Two new game modes have been added, Endless and Sedate modes.

Sedate mode is aimed for those who the find some of the basic survival elements a bit frustrating, such as collecting wood for the fire. It's still a challenge to beat the game though as much of the game's difficulty stems from discovering the various purposes of each of the biomes and of course the puzzle elements.

Endless mode is a different way of playing the game altogether. All of the story elements are stripped from the game and you have no real purpose other than to simply see how long you can survive the ever expanding abyss of Winter.



///// Sedate mode makes the following gameplay changes:
- There's no need to collect wood for the camp fire (it's eternally lit blue).
- You start with the Palm Sack (which doubles your inventory space).
- Eating is 75% more effective. Drinking is 150% more effective.
- All stamina loss is reduced by 25%.
- Overnight hunger is increased by 75%.
- Tool Altar: You don't need to bestow food to learn bushcraft, instead you can scroll through and learn any available crafts. The thirst expense for learning craft is halved.
- Built tools are inexhaustible (e.g. axes).
- Traveling to the save altar takes no time.
- Nightfall takes three times as long before it becomes too dark to see.
- Paper can be reused infinitely.
- Various minor balance bits & bobs.


///// Endless mode makes the following gameplay changes:
- All story scenes removed.
- The length of seasons are halved.
- Winter will eventually turn to Spring. The length of Winter increases each year.
- Talisman pieces are replaced by Sun Totems which reduce the duration of Winter.
- The game is automatically saved every morning.
- Clothes and goat blanky degrade over time.
- Doubles chance of weather events.
- All natural food sources removed during Winter.
- Various minor balance bits & bobs.

- Native support for DirectInput gamepads has been added.
- Added 2 new skins (Black Male/Female).
- Added V-Sync option. Added customisable shortcut keys for Maps/Inventory/Craft docket menus, and Skip Scene which is now a dedicated key.
- Transition from evening to night is slower.
- All inventory increased by 1 per row (e.g. you can now carry 6 items instead of 5, or 12 if you have the palm sack).
- The Save Altar no longer requires food to save the game. Blackened Heart's poison has been reduced.
- You now wake up in main areas after most dreams (thus no travel time).
- Added a small narrative scene after dream 3 (the original has been moved to after Dream 1).
- The Humongous Head has been repurposed and now contains a talisman piece.
- Tool Altar: Items are now spread over the 4 altars instead of 3. There's now less chance of failing a bestow. You need to find the 3 altar chunks to activate the 4th altar. The Ashy Peddler and Ashy Sculpture have been moved to here. Ashy Peddler has been reworked.
- Successful scouting is more common. The Spy Glass has been removed.
- The health of tools have been increased.
- Orbicular Lagoon has been reworked. Growy Allotments and Branular Grove have been removed.
- Storage Box: You now get 2 separate boxes so storage inventory is doubled.
- Growy Patch: Size increased to 3 plots.
- Goat Blanky: Removes the need for a fire overnight.
- Some Mixery recipes sate hunger more. New recipes: Carrot Cake, Carroted Mash.
- Appley Tree and Borehole sub-areas have been combined.
- A fair amount of minor bits and bobs.