Weekly Update! Behaviour Changes, Moral Impact & Year-End Patch

[p]This week’s update wraps up several smaller patches released throughout the week, focusing on enemy behaviour, moral choice impact, and continued bug fixing, polish, and performance improvements.[/p][p]As always, thank you to everyone who has played, reported issues, and shared feedback. Being able to iterate quickly based on real player experiences has been invaluable.[/p][p][/p][h2]Enemy Behaviour & Moral Impact[/h2][p]A major focus this week has been refining how enemies respond to the player and reinforcing the impact of your choices throughout the game:[/p]

[p]Enemy behaviour has been further tuned to feel more reactive and threatening[/p]
[p]Your moral choices now have a clearer gameplay impact, influencing tension, presence, and danger[/p]
[p]Encounters are intended to feel more deliberate, unsettling, and less predictable[/p]

[p][/p][p]The visual of the shadow people and behaviour (like how close they get to you) change based on the decisions you make in game.[/p][p]
- Ignore the shrines and totems - the shadow people don't get more aggressive but also not less, their visual remains the shadowy default.[/p][p]- Restore the shrines and find the totems - the shadow people start to heal parts of their corruption and keep further from you.[/p][p]- Desecrate the shrines and destroy the totems - the shadow people get more corrupted as their binding magic weakens. More aggressive. (also long boys)[/p][p][/p][p]These changes are part of an ongoing effort to ensure that decisions made earlier in the game meaningfully affect how the world responds to you.[/p][p][/p][h2]Bug Fixes, Polish & Performance[/h2][p]Alongside gameplay adjustments, multiple patches were released this week addressing:[/p]

[p]General bug fixes across several levels[/p]
[p]Interaction reliability improvements[/p]
[p]Visual and audio polish[/p]
[p]Performance tweaks in later areas of the game[/p]

[p]No known progression blockers remain at this time.[/p][p][/p][h2]End of Year Note[/h2][p]This will be the last official scheduled patch of the year.[/p][p]That said, I’ll still be keeping an eye on things and if any serious issues arise (such as crashes or major blockers), I’ll push fixes where needed. I’ll also continue to be active in the Steam Discussions, responding to feedback and reports.[/p][p][/p][h2]Whats Next[/h2][p]While support for Those Who Dwell continues, for now development focus now shifts toward Nowhere, specifically preparing a new demo for the upcoming Steam Detective Fest![/p][p][/p][h2]Thank You & Feedback[/h2][p]Once again, thank you to everyone who has played Those Who Dwell so far. Your feedback has directly shaped the game, and that process doesn’t stop here.[/p][p]Please continue to:[/p]

[p]Report bugs and issues in the Steam Discussions[/p]
[p]Share what you enjoy and what doesn’t work for you[/p]
[p]Leave a Steam review if you feel the game deserves it as it helps enormously[/p]

[p]Thank you again for supporting Those Who Dwell and Midnight Forge Games [/p]