Caves of Qud News

The beta for our latest feature arc, the Moon Stair, is here. Big picture, this arc includes the last late-game region, a new quest in the main questline, significant updates to the new UI, all new sound effects, and many, many gameplay changes. Everything is quite functional, but -- per usual -- it is subject to change and will get additional polish over the next several weeks.

If you'd like to help us test it, right-click on Caves of Qud in Steam, select Properties, click the Betas tab, and switch to the 'beta' branch. Note: previous saves won't be compatible with this beta. Check out this thread if you want to post your feedback, or get access to a debug wish to fast-forward to the new quest.

Here are the patch notes, with the usual caveat that some small changes may be missing.

Live and drink!


[h2]NEW QUEST IN THE MAIN QUESTLINE[/h2]

• There is now a new quest after returning from the Tomb of the Eaters. Talk to Barathrum in his study to learn more.
  
• Added a new system for the creation of [redacted] in support of this quest.
  

[h2]NEW LATE-GAME REGION[/h2]

• Added the last late-game region: the Moon Stair
  
• Added new creatures: zero jell, unimax, dawning ape, n-dimensional starshell, dreamcrungle, monad, and dream wren.
  
• Added a new village-like location -- Chavvah, the Tree of Life -- with several new NPCs.
  
• Added a new side quest at Chavvah.
  
• Added psychic biomes, limited to the Moon Stair.
  

[h2]UI[/h2]

• Added a new Pixel Perfect mode, which forces zoom to snap to a perfect multiple of the pixel art. You can toggle it in the General options menu.
  
• Added a new Docked mode that locks the combat log, nearby items list, and minimap. You can toggle it in the General options menu.
  
• Added new UI for target pickers.
  
• Added new UI for examining things with the Look function.
  
• Added a new target reticle for some contexts.
  
• The information bar when using the look/target pickers is now at the top of the screen.
  
• The ability bar is now fully functional.
  
• Added a new UI for the Options screen.
  
• Added a new UI for the High Scores screen.
  
• Added a new UI for the Help screen.
  
• Added tooltips and highlights to attributes with bonuses during character creation.
  
• You can now look at who you're talking to from the conversation UI.
  
• Added binds for page up and page down.
  
• Removed option to show tooltips when looking. It's now always works this way when the modern UI is enabled.
  
• Tooltips shown by mouseclick now hide when keyboard or joystick buttons are pressed (please report any tooltips that do not behave this way).
  
• Added a tooltip to the window layout lock button
  
• Look now is now bound to left stick button by default in the modern input manager.
  
• After firing a ranged weapon, your target for future shots is now more reliably what you shot at instead of what you hit.
  
• Added two options for filtering the nearby items list to only takeable items and only items in the current tile (Options > Overlay UI > enable Show overlay nearby objects list). When both are enabled, the behavior approximates the legacy UI "only show contents of the current cell" option.
  
• Refactored the imposter system for visual effects. This fixes many bugs where visual effect artifacts remained on the screen improperly.
  
• Removed code and unused bits of Overlay UI that have been replaced with the Modern UI.
  

[h2]SOUNDS & MUSIC[/h2]

• We're in the process of adding all new sound effects to the game. Several hundred have already been added. More to come.
  
• Added ambient environmental sounds. For now: to Joppa, the salt marsh, and subterranean caves. More to come.
  
• Added a new toggle and volume slider for ambient sounds to the General options menu.
  
• Added a new music track in the Moon Stair.
  

[h2]NEW THINGS[/h2]

• Added new cybernetic implants: grounding shunts and social coprocessor.
  
• Added new items: palladium weave tabard, dazzle cheek, psychodyne helmet, black mote, and stasis casque.
  
• Added a new liquid: warm static.
  

[h2]GAMEPLAY CHANGES[/h2]

• We made some balance tweaks to the attributes of merchants.
  
  • Stiltground merchants are now higher level and have more Willpower.
    
  • Legendary merchants are now leveled appropriately for the difficulty tier their workshops are found in.
    
  • More kinds of merchants now have hired guards.
    
  • Adjusted the number of hired guards for several kinds of merchants.
    
• We changed how the item mod 'gigantic' works and classified some creatures as 'colossal'.
  
  • The following creatures are classified as colossal: salt kraken, star kraken, great saltback, great magma crab, Rodanis Y, chrome pyramid, and [redacted].
    
  • Colossal creatures can no longer wear non-gigantic gear.
    
  • Non-colossal creatures can no longer wear gigantic gear, with the exception of gigantic weapons, which can be wielded in twice the number of hands they normally take to wield.
    
  • Most types of items can now be gigantic.
    
  • Gigantic weapons deal additional damage and may have other effects, depending on the weapon class.
    
  • Gigantic vessels now store twice as much liquid.
    
  • Gigantic grenades have double the radius.
    
  • Gigantic gems and precious nuggets have 5x the trade value.
    
  • Gigantic energy cells have twice the energy capacity.
    
  • Swarm racks are now gigantic and no longer occupy back or arm slots.
    
• The Quantum Jitters defect is now worth 4 points.
  
• Svardym are no longer considered a sultanate faction.
  
• There is now a teleport gate in the rusted archway.
  
• You can no longer trade with creatures who are engaged in melee combat.
  
• Having an adjacent inanimate object as a target no longer counts as being engaged in melee combat.
  
• Robots with the Wings module can no longer fly while EMP'd.
  
• Set the region tier of the Six Day Stilt to 2.
  
• Krakens who have a party leader no longer wander in the characteristic kraken style.
  
• Item-based bonuses to throwing range are now functional on geomagnetic discs.
  
• Cheap credit wedges are now excluded from dynamic encounters.
  

[h2]MISCELLANEOUS[/h2]

• Autoget can now unload weapons and empty liquid containers.
  
• Campfires and torch sconces are now avoided to a much lesser degree by pathfinding.
  
• Sometimes pilgrims you encounter are now lost. You can give them directions.
  
• Teleport gates are now points of interest.
  
• All creatures with proper names who are not player companions are now considered points of interest.
  
• Artifact functionality that displays status indications in item descriptions, such as (nonfunctional) or (unpowered), no longer does so in context of tinkering item descriptions.
  

[h2]BUGFIXES[/h2]

• Fixed a bug that prevented legendary creatures from awarding extra XP in some contexts.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused legendary creatures to have too little XP for their level.
  
• Relic missile weapons with the vibro effect now get any penetration bonuses they may have applied on top of the vibro effect.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused armor categorized as Clothing to auto-equip as held in hand rather than worn.
  
• Fixed a bug in pathfinding that caused occasional mishaps, in particular inexplicable penchants for walking through fractus.
  
• Fixed a grammar error in some messages resulting from you decapitating your companion.
  
• Legendary villagers no longer sometimes erroneously have two names.
  

[h2]DEBUG & MODDING[/h2]

• When using the debug option 'Show quickstart option during character generation, pressing the keybind now only works on the first screen.
  
• Autoget is now handled with the AutoexploreObjectEvent. Set E.Want = true and E.FromAdjacent = "Autoget". Users of the AutoexploreObjectEvent should now check the AutogetOnlyMode flag. You should only return "Autoget" (or equivalent) actions when this flag is true.
  
• Moved MenuOption class from XRL.CharacterBuilds.UI to the XRL.UI.Framework namespace.
  
• Removed old character code entries (Code="ab") from Mutations.xml, Subtypes.xml, and Genotypes.xml. Also removed the properties XRL.MutationEntry.MutationCode, XRL.SubtypeEntry.Code, and XRL.GenotypeEntry.Code.
  
• The ModManager UI has an additional tag for loaded mods which have Harmony Patches.
  
• Fixed overriding color palette in Display.txt
  
• Added some helper methods to make color string templates easier: Markup.Color(color, text) and StringBuilder.AddColored(color, text)
  
• ObjectBlueprints.xml now logs errors when setting a parameter that does not exist, or if the value can not be parsed.
  

Hello folks,
Yesterday's patch will be the last Feature Friday for a while as we tighten focus on our upcoming feature arc, the Moon Stair. We're still some weeks out, but our next step will be to put up a Moon Stair beta. So be on the lookout.

Until then, link and drink.

203.54

• Mysterious gunslingers now often generate with wide-brimmed hats and woven tunics.
  
• When you put extradimensional gemstones in a rock tumbler, you now get their extradimensional smooth varieties out.
  
• Newly sentient beings with onboard power generation can now power Jacked equipment. This change won't apply to creatures that already exist in saved games.
  
• Dangerous liquids that are out of phase or that you're flying over no longer prompt you with a movement warning in autoexplore.
  
• The default option when prompted to confirm the deletion of a save is no longer Yes.
  
• The flattened remains one occasionally stumbles onto in the salt marsh is now considered interesting.
  
• A creature ceasing to fly in the same tile as a giant clam now uses the same behavior as walking into that tile.
  
• Bep no longer minds if you use the rock tumbler in the Yd Freehold.
  
• Hookahs can now be sealed. This change won't apply to hookahs that already exist in saved games.
  
• Creatures no longer attempt to equip Templar phylacteries in their primary hands.
  
• Very smart creatures no longer activate Templar phylacteries if the wraith-knight would be hostile to them.
  
• When you attempt to move into a tile with an animated door that's locked, you no longer attempt to open them.
  
• "Kin" is now recognized as a plural noun.
  
• Removed some unimplemented mutations from various creatures.
  
• The bonus item mod chance from equipping multiple copies of the Otherpearl once again stacks multiplicatively.
  
• Added a message when selecting 'replay last character' and no valid last character is present.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused the mental action cost reduction from Two-headed to not get applied.
  
• Fixed a bug that made point-defense drones fail to fire at some thrown objects.
  
• Fixed some issues with the tile display of walls in villages.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused some named items to have their original item type described strangely.
  
• Fixed a bug that made it so that if fungal infections were occupying two Hand slots, each would try to also occupy a Hands slot rather than sharing one.
  
• Fixed a bug that made it so that a fungal infection occupying a Hand slot could also occupy a Hands slot that was not the one associated with the Hand slot.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused an invalid detail color to crash the game.
  
• [modding] All wall tiles have been updated to use DetailColor as their secondary color instead of BackgroundColor.
  

203.53

• You and your companions are now highlighted blue instead of green on the alt overlay.
  
• Obtaining a base skill by drinking brain brine now unlocks the skill tree instead of only unlocking the skill itself.
  
• Books and artifacts marked important by default, but not explicitly marked important by you, are no longer excluded from the donation list.
  
• Changed the donation message when the only books or artifacts you have are marked important.
  
• You're no longer asked for confirmation when you move into a space with a pool of dangerous liquid if you're flying over the pool or not in phase with it.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused the stat bonuses from Graftek grafts to carry over to clones even through the graft did not.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused merchant advertisements not to generate.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused the music tracks for Grit Gate and Ezra to allocate large amounts of memory.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused the game to crash when choosing to start a new game.
  
• Fixed a rare bug that caused reality stabilization fields to fire random events, causing world state to fluctuate.
  

203.52

• Legendary hindren pariah leaders are no longer called "*name*, Hindren Pariah Pariah".
  
• Sprouting orbs and friendly junk dollars now respect phase and flight.
  
• Signs now show their description on smart use.
  
• The cryochamber plaques in Bethesda Susa now act more like signs.
  
• Journal locations are now marked with a colored '?' to indicate whether you've visited that location.
  
• Journal locations now note the date of your last visit.
  
• Journal locations with the same name are now sorted by their time of discovery.
  
• You can now use the Home and End keys to navigate to the top or bottom of the journal.
  
• Your cursor positions within the journal are now remembered when you change tabs, until the journal is closed.
  
• The 'Limit the input buffer to two commands.' option now defaults to on.
  
• Gossip and lore learned indirectly, such as by cooking with psychal gland paste, now displays what the gossip was in the popup message.
  
• Renamed the "Open Skills & Powers" keybind to "Open Skills".
  
• Renamed the status effect Shatter Mental Armor"" to "psionically cleaved".
  
• The 'villagers of Joppa' faction is no longer be present in alternate starts.
  
• The usual default interaction on Schrodinger pages is now entangle.
  
• Stopsvalinn now only makes its full powers available once it is identified.
  
• Removed an exception that allowed temporary cooking ingredients to be used in cooking if they had no defined duration of their own.
  
• Normality fields, kindled flames, and space-time anomalies no longer fall down pits.
  
• Fixed some grammar issues in juice sap drain messages.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused clones of flying creatures to show as if their Fly ability was activated even though they weren't flying.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented Shank from being used if the shanker was able to move their extremities.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused the game to soft lock if you became a brooding puffer.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused arrow penetration bonus caps to not apply when using compound bows and turbows.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused canvas walls in villages to use the ASCII colors of their source creatures instead of the tile colors.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented pickaxes and nanopneumatic jackhammers from applying their penetration bonus against diggable objects.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused deleting deleting entries from your journal's chronology to require two confirmations.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused the ability bar status to not update properly.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused the Yd Freehold to not show up in the worldmap alt overlay when ASCII mode was enabled.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused the text based conversation view to be improperly placed if a conversation was initiated from a zoomed-in view.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused the text options view to be improperly placed if a conversation was initiated from a zoomed-in view.
  
• Fixed a rare bug that caused the main building in Golgotha to have a sealed exit.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused sparking baetyls to spark very quickly when in a targeting view.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused locations names to overflow the text sidebar.
  
• [modding] Background color can now be defined in Display.txt.
  
• [modding] Fixed a bug that prevented Display.txt from loading correctly.
  
• [modding] Fixed a bug that prevented custom item mods from being craftable.