Project: Gorgon News

The Ri-Shin Celebration is over for another year, and the residents of Alharth have put away their red fur-trimmed hats. But don't worry - we have a lot of exciting additions in store this year!

This particular update, however, we had to start 2023 off slow: we've done a bunch of internal database code updates. It's very unsexy server work, but it's very important! It's possible there are new bugs related to database features -- things like storage vaults, player shops, player mail, etc. If you find a bug, PLEASE report it in-game via the '!' button at the top of your right-hand toolbar. (Reporting this way also includes your exact location in case that's relevant to the bug you found.)

But even while we were focused on that boring stuff, we managed to get some nice fixes and tweaks into this update! 


One quality of life improvement in this update is new party frames! (That's the UI that lets you monitor and select your party members when you are in a group.) We've revamped party frames to be more compact and easier to read, and the right-click menu for party frames is now more organized and has several new options including "Leave Party". All party-frame settings can also be found grouped together under Settings->GUI->Features->Party Frames. The non-compact (default) version of party frames now also has working face cam.

But the big change: You can now hover-cast on a party member. If you hover over their party frame and use an ability, it will cast on the targeted player (assuming they are a valid target for the ability). This is a setting which is off by default, but can be enabled in the new party frame right-click menu under "Settings".

We continue to build out and improve the Experimental Selection UI. Changes in this update:

• Entities can now be targeted & interacted with via their nameplates. This is a setting that defaults to Enabled, located in GUI->Experimental Selection UI->Nameplate Configuration->Select Via Nameplate.
  
• Humanoid nameplates now follow the creature's movements more readily.
  
• Humanoid selection colliders are now shaped to the humanoid rather than being a big box that surrounds them.
  
• Humanoid Skeleton (Archer, Mage, etc.) improvements: they are now easier to select in the experimental UI, their shoulders jut out a bit more, and their neck bones attach to their spine.
  
• Mouse selection is now more lenient.
  
• Crafted chairs can now be selected.
  

• Combat Info polish: The window is now available for all combatant targets (NPCs and players) all the time, and more clearly indicates what the next info unlock is.
  
• Anatomy skills now list more specifics instead of "More Combat Info Shown". For example, "See Abilities in Combat Info".
  
• Increased hitbox of nameplates.
  
• The Keys Settings menu is now grouped into categories.
  
• The "Quest UI sounds" setting now saves properly.
  
• Changed confirmation popup animation.
  

• Improved VFX for Phoenix Strike.
  
• Slightly sped up Many Cuts animation.
  
• Added some new animations for Sword attacks, Shield attacks, and Multishot.
  
• Added unique animations to humanoids when being knocked back or forward.
  
• Added knockdown animation to humanoids.
  
• Humanoid hands are now placed more realistically when sitting.
  
• Equipped weapons should be visible in hands more reliably now.
  
• Fixed meditation hover-hands (hands will be in the meditator's lap now).
  
• Camera zoom level now persists between play sessions.
  

• Playable animal colliders are now the same size as humanoids, so they can fit in all the same areas. This should let them escape pit traps in the Gauntlet.
  
• Jumping is now more responsive. For regular jumping, you can now turn mid-air (but your momentum continues in the direction you jumped in). For steerable jumping, you can now control it via the movement keys.
  
• Flying while jumping will no longer shoot you into the air.
  
• Energy Bow Blitz Shot should now receive all the same mod bonuses as regular Blitz Shot.
  
• Fixed icon for Blitz Shot (was using the Aimed Shot icon).
  
• Red Wing Casino: Added an attendant mantis in the high-stakes table room. She announces the winners of each arena battle as a convenience to the high-rollers. (The announcer Kuzavek's voice doesn't travel that far.)
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented some monsters from using their special abilities (such as healing or buffing themselves)
  
• Fixed a bug with player shops when using the for-guild-members feature
  
• Dramatically reduced the chance of spontaneous Olugax sightings
  

We'll be back soon with more!

The human holiday celebration of Ri-Shin is in full force, and townsfolk in every town and settlement need your help setting up their Ri-Shin trees! Look for townsfolk wearing a red festive Ri-Shin hat. There are trees to set up in Serbule, Serbule Hills, Eltibule, Kur Mountains, Gazluk, Ilmari, Rahu, the Fae Realm, Sun Vale, Povus, and Red Wing Casino.

While you're helping out with the trees, make sure to speak to the locals! All the townsfolk that you've befriended (meaning you have Friends favor-level or higher) will have gifts for you when you speak to them. Make sure to have your favorite combat skills active, because if they give you equipment, it will likely be tailored to those skills.


As a small thanks for joining us this holiday season, there are new redemptions available - one for everyone (except demo players), and an extra one for our VIP members. You can access these through the button on the bottom right of the Persona window, or if you're old-school by typing /redeem in chat. Remember, these rewards are one per account, so make sure you choose which character gets it wisely!


We've made more improvements to the experimental selection UI, and it's about to stop being "experimental". We'd love to get your feedback on it! You can switch to using the new selection UI by going to Settings->Special and adding the line "ExperimentalSelectionUI" (without quotes) to the special settings box. After you have done that, a new header will appear in Settings->GUI called "Experimental Selection UI" with all the new options.

Changes in this update:

• Wolves can now be targeted. Yay!
  
• Serbule Crypt can now be entered when using Experimental UI.
  
• You can no longer select things through walls.
  
• Nameplates will no longer get in the way of clicking things.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused cursor graphic to get stuck.
  
• Fixed a bug that would sometimes cause some corpse hotkeys to not work.
  

• Dye recipes now have a preview, so you can play around with colors more easily without having to apply them.
  
• Item tooltips now list which dyes have been applied to a piece of equipment, if any.
  
• Equipment can now be previewed in the "Item Info" window (accessed by right-clicking and selecting "More Info").
  
• Armor types are now consistently shown & named in item tooltips; E.G. "Metal Armor", "Leather Armor", "Cloth Armor", and "Organic Armor". Previously "Cloth Armor" was listed as "Clothing", and "Organic Armor" was not listed at all.
  
• New Combat Refresh icon animation makes it more obvious when it triggers and better hints at how it works.
  
• Combat Refresh usage particles now include the blue-wings icon, so it's more obvious when it's been used.
  
• Reconstruct & Restorative Arrow will now properly list their Restores in the ability tooltips.
  
• Claw Barrage DoT will no longer display in tooltip unless it does > 0 damage.
  
• Improved VFX for most mentalism attacks.
  
• Stacking animal forms will now properly remove the underlying forms' buffs/debuffs from the UI. This should only affect druid bird forms and butterflies.
  
• Tigers & Panthers now align to the ground more realistically.
  
• Reduced "glow" highlights from flowers and humanoid eyes.
  
• Fixed a bug which sometimes showed multiple "requires beast form" messages on a single item.
  
• Fixed some wonky-looking animations that would make humanoids enter and then immediately exit combat stances.
  
• Reworded the skill level disparity effect to make it clearer how the number is calculated: lowest-level-skill + 25.
  

• Fixed a bug that could cause spawned monsters to disappear sooner than intended.
  
• Changed the way durability works in crafting: if a recipe consumes durability, an item with less than that durability can now be used. If a recipe consumes the full item (with no durability consumption), then an item with ANY durability loss cannot be used. For example, "Cottage Cheese" consumes 15% of a firkin's durability, so you can now use a firkin with only 10% durability in this recipe. "Sour Cream" however requires an entire firkin, so you cannot use a firkin with 85% durability.
  
• The following Major Heal abilities are now affected by Yagreet's Staff: 
  • Restorative Arrow
    
  • Ilth Hale's Kiss
    
  • First Aid Bomb
    
  • Rally
    
  • Carrot Power
    
• Added a hotkey for giving an item to an NPC which defaults to X. You can change this setting under Settings/Keys/Contextual Actions/NPC: Give Item
  
• If you are disconnected, the game will now attempt to reconnect to the server.
  
• The /isearch command now has a shorthand version: /i
  
• On any event-related reward chest, (including the key chests in Serbule) if you are mounted or are in a beast-form travel mode, you will be locked out of the chest until you dismount.
  
• Increase hitboxes of some projectiles, so they'll hit short targets such as bear traps and chickens.
  
• Corpse hotkeys bound to Spacebar should no longer cause you to jump when the window closes.
  
• Dyes will no longer dye the UI slot they are removed from.
  
• Cranberry-Turkey Sandwich recipe now actually creates 2 servings.
  
• Fixed iocaine powder recipe to read "field mushrooms" instead of blusher.
  
• The recipe "Crude Cow Shoes (Enchanted)" now only requires 1 Basic Metal Slab instead of 2.
  
• Fixed typo in fairy potions ("cannot not").
  
• Many item short descriptions (E.G. "Potion", "Quest Item" etc) are now determined and stored during the data pre-parse step instead of at runtime. This should have a minor positive impact on performance.
  
• Repeat completions of the Gauntlet will no longer trigger global broadcasts.
  
• Boss Gauntlet '22: There are some new hidden rooms with a few new challenges. There's another room or two left to come in another update, but we wanted to get feedback on this part. It's a bit whimsical (which means cruel), but you'll be fine. When you get to that encounter -- you'll know the one -- we'd love your feedback. We're planning to use that encounter in a future dungeon. You're playing a prototype. Good luck!
  

There's a new version for Linux that addresses the "super brightness bug". (Other OSes won't have a patch to download at all.)

MacOS users have a new version of the game which fixes problems that prevented the game from running. (Users on other operating systems won't see a new download.)

Welcome to another beautiful fall season! Zhia Lian's tricks and treats are behind us, and we're ready for the tofurkey. In addition to Thanksgiving, this update also contains a lot of bug fixes large and small - plus a special new dungeon for the most powerful players to test their might. So let's get to it!


Now is the time for delicious fall meals! Wild cranberries are in season, and turkeys can be found hiding everywhere! Vegetarians will want to speak with Ricatu in Povus.

And there are whispers... of something angry. Something powerful. Vindictive. Watching.

It's probably nothing though! Remember, turkey recipes can only be found during this event, so collect 'em all!


For high level players, the game's in an awkward spot of development: we're not ready to introduce higher-level content yet. And when we do raise the level cap, we'll take that opportunity to do a bunch of gear rebalancing at the same time, like we've done in the past -- in other words, nerfs. So what are high-level players supposed to do right now? What's the point of getting better gear?

The Boss Gauntlet is the answer. Once you're able to complete the group dungeon in Povus, you're ready to attempt the gauntlet. The Boss Gauntlet is underneath the Povus dungeon and consists of 20 named bosses of increasing difficulty, culminating in some INSANELY tough battles. If your group can defeat all 20 bosses in one session (specifically, within 3 hours), you'll complete the Boss Gauntlet and prove your group's unparalleled prowess!

This Boss Gauntlet won't last forever: it will be retired when the level cap increases, probably around February. (If it's popular, though, it'll no doubt return in some new form eventually...)

Rewards
The monsters in the Boss Gauntlet are all level 85, and drop high-quality level 85 gear. They also drop a lot of money! For those who love collecting stuff, each boss also has a chance to drop a unique novelty title. Collect all 20!

If you complete the Gauntlet, you'll also receive a one-time reward of 25 Live Event Credits, and your character's name will be included on a permanent in-game list of Boss Gauntlet '22 Winners.

PS - As with all new content, this will probably need some refinement. It's intended to be super hard, but not impossible! We'll make changes based on your feedback as usual.


We've upgraded the underlying graphical engine, Unity, to a new major version. Whenever this happens there's a chance for weird graphical problems or other incompatibilities to show up. If you see weird stuff, please report it!

We are optimistic that this update will fix the problem that some users on new-silicon Macs experience, the issue that requires typing in "MacHack" in the special settings to work around it. ("MacHack" also turns off most of the sky graphics, so that was always intended to be a temporary fix.) If you previously needed the MacHack hack, can you please remove "MacHack" from your special settings, restart the game, and see if it's fixed? Please let us know either way.

• Fixed bugs with highlights being out of sync with their models, such as rotating around them.
  
• Actually removed broken highlights from fairy wings. (They were still showing up sometimes.)
  
• Added outline to selected-entity description.
  
• Selecting an entity for the first time using tab instead of click will no longer cause their highlight to display in the face cam.
  
• Favor floaties now round the number.
  
• Using hotkeys to select & interact with something will now work 100% of the time.
  
• Experimental UI now shows current Power, in a UI similar to Rage but different enough to easily be able to differentiate it.
  
• Experimental UI now handles player title changes.
  
• Implemented stat bars for party members.
  
• New Settings: "Show vitals over players' heads?" & "Show combat numbers for other players?". These are each dropdowns with multiple options.
  
• All entities should now be selectable; some entities were still missing colliders.
  
• Speech bubbles and floaty combat numbers now both display even when their entity isn't in line of sight.
  
• Experimental UI now respects the "PortraitFloaties" special setting.
  
• New settings for outlines, located under GUI/Experimental Selection UI: "Outline Opacity", "Outline Width", and "Outline Quality".
  
• New overhead label color for dead enemies. Only applies to the experimental UI. Located under GUI/Overhead Labels/Overhead Label Colors.
  
• Add extra image (a little diamond inside the power diamond) to self nameplate to more easily differentiate it from others' nameplates.
  
• Speech bubbles no longer overlap the speaker's name if they are selected.
  
• Experimental UI now changes the cursor when you hover over something, which are higher res versions of the existing cursors.
  
• Vital bars now only animate when hp/armor/power/rage changes, not when the creature's appearance changes.
  
• If your current target changes its appearance (E.G. changes gear, polymorphs, etc.) it will now be re-selected after the appearance change is complete.
  

• The ladder on Anagoge can now be climbed. (New ladder tech! Expect to see it more often in the future.)
  
• The mod "Bun-Fu Strike deals Cold damage..." now correctly states that it replaces Slashing instead of Crushing.
  
• The mod "Love Tap deals X Trauma damage after an 8-second delay" now correctly says Trauma instead of Ice.
  
• Recall Stones now take a few seconds to swallow (rather than allowing instantaneous teleport).
  
• Fixed an error that caused some Alchemy potions to not have a Metabolism Cost when they were supposed to. Affected potions are:
  
  • Poison Resistance Potion (10)
    
  • Thin Fae Energy Potion (20)
    
  • Thick Fae Energy Potion (30)
    
  • Gooey Fae Energy Potion (80)
    
  • Rez and Shine (10)
    
• Move Those Legs! now works while mounted.
  
• Deer will no longer neigh like a horse while in travel form.
  
• Ducks, foxes, & ravens can now fit into all areas that humanoid forms can.
  
• Fan of Blades 5 & 6 now list the proper consumables.
  
• Fixed audio for Bear Traps, Pigeons, Tentakillers, and Blur Smoke.
  
• Item tooltip names should no longer overlap their short description.
  
• Completely redesigned Ability tooltips to be easier to read.
  
• Combat Refresh stats on items are now easier to read, and visually similar to new Combat Refresh UI in Ability tooltips.
  
• Overlayed a unique icon on abilities that cannot be used due to level disparity.
  
• Fix for new Ability Tooltips: Labels no longer linebreak
  
• The area you click to select a monster now updates when a monster dies even if the monster is currently selected.
  
• Monster-click areas for humanoids now match their dead bodies better.
  
• Better handling of appearances disappearing while they're being loaded. This should fix the current round of stuck-on-loading-screen issues.
  
• Fixed broken deereye particle effect.
  
• Gathering crystals now looks like you're actually gathering instead of sitting.
  
• Improved animation for "Become Wolf" ability.
  
• New animation for Necromancy Dust recipe.
  
• New visual effect for Ice Magic Research recipes.
  
• Speed up Sonic Burst animation so it stops interfering with other attacks.
  
• New 3d model for health, armor, and power potions.