Slasher's Keep News

This build will also upgrade your savegames upon loading, making them incompatible with older versions. You will get a new dungeon floor of the appropriate number but your character and inventory will remain unchanged.

1.08

• Fixed a bug that could have led to wall boxes showing up in hidden climbing shafts in dungeon type 2.
  
  
• Fixed an issue that could have led to triggerable platforming boards blocking other boards below once triggered.
  
  
• Fixed an issue with wall objects getting placed inside of curved walls.
  
  
• Fixed an issue with keys not dropping from enemies who should be carrying them after loading a savegame.
  
  
• Fixed an issue with objects not appearing in corridors when they should have (not all that relevant for gameplay).
  
  
• The Mastersmith skill should correctly apply its damage bonus now.
  
  
• Fixed a bug that could have caused a character's inventory to go missing when generating a new floor for an outdated savegame.
  (There is a failsafe for rare world generation errors which did not take into account having to load in the inventory afterwards, which can only become a problem in this specific case. I apologize again for previously lost items.)
  
  
• Character unlocks should work more reliably now.
  
  
• There should be no more chairs or pots inside wardrobes in dungeon type 3.
  
  
• Fixed a bug that could have caused chandeliers to be floating in the air at upper entrances in library type rooms without an upper level.
  
  
• Fixed an issue that prevented large pits from being placed where they should be. This was caused by an overcorrection in a previous patch and may have resulted in empty rooms.
  
  
• Cave type rooms should no longer have enemies spawning in unreachable places.
  
  
• Large rocks should no longer be placed on cave tiles where they could make them unpassable for the player.
  
  
• Also, there should be more wall objects in cave type rooms now such as spikes and decorative stuff.
  
  
• Rooms with little platforms which are not reachable via little stairs should now have those platforms be free of handrails in the appropriate direction, so that they may always be reached by jumping from the other little platform across the way.
  
  
• Fixed an issue that could have led to raised corridors with stairs missing in floors with a hidden climbing room above that corridor.
  
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause you to remain slowed after dying in a tar puddle.
  
  
• You should no longer be able to click buttons on the menu while the "are you sure?" prompt is active.
  
  
• The sasquatch paw and jade monkey should now be usable when playing with a gamepad.
  
  
• The final boss should now get placed back inside the room if locked out. I thought about leaving this exploit in as a legitimate method, but I decided it was a tad too daft even for this game, especially with the ability to hit her through the closed door.
  
  
• Darkened the green, blue and orange texts on descriptions for common quality items for readability.
  
  
• Added different button image to the load game screen for savegames with veteran characters that you are able to start a new campaign with.
  
  
• Added item image for 1 longsword, and replaced one for a crossguard.
  
  
• Added a cheat code for rerolling a character's current dungeon floor.
  To use it open the in-game menu, hit F7 and type "reroll" (without "").
  You may now exit to main menu and reload your character from there. You should get a new current dungeon floor.
  As you might have guessed, this cheat is for unbeatable floors, which should be quite rare by now. Bear in mind that you may just not have found the way out yet. Use at your own discretion.
  
  

Summary of cheat codes:

• gibkey
  Spawns a silver key.
  
  
• freeme
  Spawns the golden key.
  
  
• sesame
  Opens the secret entrance if present.
  
  
• reroll
  Marks the current character for a dungeon floor reroll. Exit to main menu and re-load from there to get a new dungeon floor.
  
  

Again, to use them: Open the in-game pause menu, hit F7, type the word.

This build will once again upgrade your savegames upon loading, making them incompatible with older versions. You will get a new dungeon floor of the appropriate number but your character and inventory will remain unchanged.

1.04

• Chasms type rooms in dungeon type 2 will no longer have spike trees in them.
  
  
• Fixed an issue that could have caused a secret passage to block a secret flight of stairs.
  
  
• Fixed an issue with some objects getting placed inside of platforms in some rooms. This wasn't visible before and didn't impact progress. It just skewed the intended number of objects in those rooms.
  
  
• Corpses of freshly hatched spiderlings are no longer consumable and will disappear after 4 to 6 seconds.
  
  
• Disabled collisions on most of the giant spider's corpse.
  
  
• Prowling enemies should no longer prowl into walls. They shouldn't have before, but now they really shouldn't.
  
  
• Fixed a bug that caused a prisoner chute to be placed when loading a non-permadeath character after having played a permadeath character.
  
  
• Fixed a bug that could increase skill levels on component items during crafting.
  
  
• Fixed a bug with the Sack Smack cooldown display that occured when starting a new game after dying at the wrong moment.
  
  
• Fixed a visual issue with Consume Corpse particles on blob corpses.
  
  
• Zero-damage Sack Smacks should no longer trigger a continuous heal sound on enemies under the influence of a healing spell.
  
  
• Mages that buff attack speed should now make a noise while casting.
  
  
• Added missing map icons for doors from corridors to catwalks in arcade type rooms.
  
  
• Nerfed stage 3 of the Deflect skill so that merely parrying projectiles will not throw them back so reliably.
  
  
• Bloodmoths will now gradually move down as they sidle (when not above chasms). I might intensify that still.
  
  
  
• Fixed an issue with bookcases with hidden keypads appearing inside of walls at round staircases in dungeon type 3.
  
  
• Hidden staircases in dungeon type 2 should no longer open into round platforming rooms as that could have caused problems with walls being in the way.
  
  
• Fixed a bug that could have caused the hidden keypad to be placed where there's no bookcase in upper levels of some library type rooms.
  
  
• Also, the hidden keypad can now appear in library type rooms with an upper floor and no roof beam above. This is just something that should have been happening but the bug didn't stop you from progressing.
  
  
• Mitigated some physics BS with chairs in dungeon type 3.
  
  
• Fixed a bug that could have lead to corridor lights floating in mid-air.
  
  
• Fixed an issue with missing locked exit doors in rare cases in dungeon type 3.
  
  
• Fixed an issue with doors that are locked from the inside of a room not showing up on the map in dungeon type 3.
  
  
• Fixed an issue with enemies spawning inside of locked cells in dungeon type 2.
  
  
• Fixed a bug that could have led to enemies spawning inside of locked cells in dungeon type 1.
  
  
• Getting knocked around should now release you from tar and acid puddles.
  
  
• Also, tar puddles should now correctly release you when burned away with you standing in them.
  
  
• The Deflect skill should work more reliably now.
  
  
• Had another go at the bug that caused some deaths during the loading screen.
  
  
• You should no longer be able to move your character in the epilogue screen.
  
  
• Fixed an issue with the pause menu not working with some gamepads.
  
  
• Fixed some weirdness with the prisoner chute restart screen when using a gamepad.
  
  
• Added a cheat code for opening the secret entrance or engaging the set of protruding boards that would otherwise be operated by hidden switches or braziers.
  Open the pause menu, hit F7 and type "sesame" (without the "").
  
  
• Also added a cheat code for the golden key. Bear in mind it may just be obscured by other boss loot and it really should drop and always be reachable.
  This one is "freeme".
  Also shifted the golden key drop position a little towards the center of the room, just so it's not obscured.
  
  

Summary of cheat codes:
gibkey - Spawns silver key.
freeme - Spawns gold key.
sesame - Opens secret entrance.
Use these at your own discretion. They're meant to alleviate possible bug issues, but consider the possibility that you just haven't found the thing yet.

Also, I'm thinking about disabling Steam cloud saves as that may have caused problems for some people. Let me know what you think.

By the way, when I said "this game was never going to be 100% jank free" I was talking about goofy animations and some physics nonsense, not like game-breaking bugs. So I'll keep at it.

Moving this from the beta branch to the default branch

1.02

This update will upgrade your savegames upon loading. That means you'll get a new dungeon floor of the appropriate dungeon level but your character and inventory will remain untouched.

• Fixed a problem with some connected rooms, where the connecting tiles could be unreachable.
  
  
• Fixed an issue with enemies spawning inside of round walls.
  
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause fuseboxes to appear inside of round walls.
  
  
• Fixed an issue with missing skull reload stations.
  
  
• Secret entrances and hidden switches should no longer be placed in locked or jammed prison cells.
  
  
• Added an emergency lever behind the secret entrance in dungeon type 3, in case you manage to jump down into an unopened secret room.
  
  
• Barred doors locked from inside arcade type rooms, accessible directly from a corridor, should now be marked on the map as well.
  
  
• Fixed something minor regarding turrets.
  
  
• Fixed an issue that could cause certain rooms in dungeon type 2 to have very tall ceilings.
  
  
• Might have fixed something that may have caused the player to die at the start of a dungeon level. Let me know if you still encounter that bug on this build.
  
  
• Pyromastery and Cryomastery should no longer increase all the damage dealt by an improved lunge or whirlwind strike respectively.
  Instead they will only increase the part of it that comes from fiery blows or icy swings, and only if the counter is full.
  
  
• Made the big climbing puzzle on floor 7 a bit easier.
  
  
• Iron Skin should now also be called that in the skill book.
  
  

Also, here are fixes from recent patches that had already been live for a bit

• The "You have perished." prompt that appears when dying in permadeath mode should now work in gamepad mode.
  
  
• The crafting interface will no longer allow you to rotate shaft objects. This seemed to cause problems for some people and could only generate goofy looking nonsense weapons anyway.
  
  
• Info text for Intelligence on the character sheet should now display correctly in gamepad mode.
  
  
• The melee attack animation should now properly stop when a Crumbling Weapon breaks. Fixed some other issues related to that skill as well.
  
  
• It should no longer be possible to swap weapons mid-swing.
  
  
• Fixed a bug that would prevent you from drawing a fire or lightning wand with the Fiery Shots skill, while having Blue-Blooded on a high level and maybe Cold Fusion Metabolism.
  Also Blue-Blooded should now properly max out at level 10.
  
  
• Fixed a display bug with fiery shots on a piercing wand with lots of bonus ammo.
  
  
• Mages should now stop casting when SackSmacked.
  
  
• Doors to hidden stairs and hidden passages are now drawn on the map.
  
  
• Added a cheat code that spawns a silver key. To use it open the pause menu, hit F7, and type
  "gibkey" (without "").
  Bear in mind that the silver key can not only drop from enemies but may also be in special places like on a catwalk, on top of a pillar in a climbey room, in a hidden chamber or some place else which is not easily accessible. Meaning, it may not actually be bugged.
  
  

I'll keep at it.

Hackers, Slashers, Shooters and Looters,

Today I offer my sincerest thanks to all of you who have given Slasher's Keep a shot in Early Access. Without you I could never have built this thing. Any game requires player feedback to find its way through development but this one is particularly fickle, what with all the random generation and whatnot.
Development turned out far more complex than anticipated. Incidentally that's lesson number one of game development; everything takes longer and nothing turns out exactly as expected.
I've added more stuff to the game than I had initially planned and kept adding stuff and changing things up in accordance with your suggestions and my own idea of how the game should play. It was never going to be 100% jank free, but I found that some of the jank becomes part of its character (honestly not an excuse). Let me tell you something about suggestions by the way: They really are useful, even if not implementable exactly the way they're put forward. They show you where people's priorities lie and can spark new ideas in your own mind. As for the oft-requested localization option: Not on the budget right now, maybe in the future.

Anyway, at this point I'm satisfied with how the game turned out and I am releasing it from Early Access.

I'll stick around though,
-Damian

0.999.99.9c

• Fixed an issue that could cause connector tiles between rooms to be unreachable.
  
  
• Fixed an issue with turret fuse boxes being placed inside of platforms sometimes.
  
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause braziers to be placed inside of turrets.
  
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause the still apparatus and the book with the hidden numpad to appear on top of each other.
  
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause the quest giver and one of those shadow magic shooty things to be placed on the same corridor wall.
  
  
• Fixed a shader issue with the destructible orc pin-up.
  
  
• Fixed an issue that could cause weird missing doors on secret passages and possibly other unexplained phenomena.
  
  
• Fixed an issue with enemies getting stuck between rail posts in platform-and-stairs-type rooms in dungeon type 3.
  
  
• Leather boxes in smithy rooms should now have their open state saved correctly.
  
  
• Fixed a bug that cause invisible walls to be placed in secret passages inside outer walls in dungeon type 3.
  
  
• Fixed an aesthetic issue with walls getting placed outside the boss room where they shouldn't be.
  
  
• Fixed an issue that would cause too many altar rooms to appear in dungeons. Also there should now be more altars in dungeon type 2 and 3.
  
  
• Loot dropped by the final boss should now always be reachable.
  
  
• Fixed a problem with the final boss picking up items from a distance when stopped by the player.
  
  
• Bouncing blobs should no longer randomly jump down chasms.
  
  
• Fixed a bug that would cause enemies to be flung straight up when hit by a spectral blade.
  
  
• Had another go at the issue of enemies dying as they step on bridges in chasms type rooms.
  
  
• Fixed weirdness with blob animations not lining up with the jump curve, i.e. blobs looking flat when at the apex of their jump and such.
  Also beautified some minor issues with the animations.
  
  
• Wands should now get cleared from their assigned hotkeys when destroyed from depletion.
  
  
• Fixed an animation issue with the player's arm when dying.
  
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause the player to take double damage from bloodmoth projectiles.
  
  
• Fixed an issue with flying skulls not registering consecutive melee hits.
  
  
• Fixed a bug that would cause the giant spider to attack too quickly after having been frozen.
  
  
• Fixed an issue with axes not hovering correctly over the ground.
  
  
• Fixed an issue with loading characters that had changed species.
  
  
• The imp spike and mechanical trap quests should now correctly cancel if not completed upon reaching dungeon type 3. Also you shouldn't get them in dungeon type 3 anymore.
  
  
• Fixed a bug that caused some weirdness during equipping actions that may have caused failed requirement checks.
  
  
• Fixed a bug that caused attributes to end up differently when equipping items multiple times if they had been previously enchanted with faulty attribute enchantments.
  Also fixed the issue with those enchantments.
  
  
• Orange blobs should no longer make an explosion sound when dying without exploding.
  
  
• Damage numbers for fiery headshots should now be shown.
  
  
• Enemies should now toss their loot forwards a bit as they die.
  
  
• Shield bearers should now always wield axes.
  
  
• Added particle effect for ammo gains.
  
  
• Quests with a set amount of repetitions should now have their text updated as you progress.
  
  
• Added quest "Craft a weapon with 6 or more components." (requires the Artisan skill).
  
  
• "Deflect 12 projectiles" quest is now "Hit enemies with 6 deflected projectiles" and requires the Deflect skill at level 2 or higher.
  
  
• Deflected projectiles now have to travel a short distance before being able to damage an enemy.
  
  
• Covered up the imp.
  
  
• Replaced images for
  11 rings,
  5 amulets,
  two pieces of shoulder armor,
  two helmets,
  a chest piece,
  a pair of pants,
  an axe,
  6 crossguards,
  4 sword handles,
  3 misc components,
  3 longblades,
  a shortblade,
  a shaft,
  an axe head
  and a mace head.
  Also added one for a shortsword and one for a shortblade.
  
  
• Enemies walking through tar will now make appropriate step sounds.
  
  
• Steepened difficulty curve for the post-late-game.
  
  
• The starting chest for veteran characters should now also always have one common quality melee weapon in them.
  
  
• Common quality rings and amulets will now have stats on them.
  
  
• Legendary gems should now have appropriate elemental damage on them.
  
  
• Lowered drop rate of legendary items.
  
  
• Decreased loot drop chance for generic enemies.
  
  
• Intelligence now translates to critical strike damage bonus 25% less favorably.
  
  
• Lowered base critical strike damage multiplier from 1.5 to 1.25.
  
  
• The dexterity to crit chance calculation now goes into diminishing returns more quickly.
  
  
• Removed 5% base crit chance.
  
  
• Decreased mace base damage by 10%.
  
  
• Decreased spectral blades radius by 12.5%.
  
  
• Decreased bonus damage of improved lunge.
  
  
• Decreased random variance in item stats from +-10% to +-5%.
  
  
• Enemy projectiles should now increase in speed as you progress up the dungeon.
  
  
• Damage from traps and environmental hazards should now curve up as you progress like enemy attack damage does.
  
  
• Increased mage flame strike damage.
  
  
• Slightly increased acid damage and slightly decreased lava damage to player.
  
  
• Slightly lowered damage decrease gained from armor.
  
  
• Slightly lowered base armor on items.
  
  
• Slightly lowered enemy attack damage.
  
  
• Slightly increased difficulty in easy mode.
  
  
• Reduced damage the giant spider takes from acid slightly since I lowered its base HP recently.
  
  
• Spider eggs should now take damage from wands.
  
  
• Acid puddles from spider eggs will now give you a moment to get out of the way before the acid damage sets in, so as to make it easier to destroy the eggs with melee weapons.
  
  
• Strength no longer increases melee knockback.
  
  
• Decreased bloodlust damage bonus and killstreak timer slowdown effect slightly.
  
  
• Slightly increased difficulty on dungeon level 2.
  
  
• Added a bit bigger of a window for sneak attacks after an enemy is formally aggroed.
  
  
• Decreased Gourmet HP bonus by half.
  
  
• Raised Desperate Rage HP threshold from 25% to 33.3%.
  
  
• Greatly increased Stormtamer chain lightning proc chance.
  
  
• Improved Sack Smack now deals additional damage based on your strength.
  
  
• Arachnophile now allows you to always gain some ammuntion from eating spiders. Skill levels increase the amount gained.
  
  
• Crafting a sword now requires the addition of at least one hilt type component.
  
  
• Lowered crafting component damage bonus from 20% to 7%.
  
  
• Crafted items now have the item tier of the blade or head component.
  
  
• Fire and ice damage proc chances on crafted items are now averaged out among components instead of being added up.
  
  
• Fire and ice damage procs are now limited to a maximum chance on hit of 20%.
  
  
• Reduced base proc chance by half and doubled base damage of fire and ice procs.
  
  
• Added Skill: Pyromastery. This late game skill sets your melee fire damage proc chance to 0%. Instead every fifth hit is a guaranteed proc with extra damage.
  That hit will always set the enemy on fire if the Pyromancer skill is also learned.
  
  
• Added Skill. Cryomastery. Same thing for ice damage. Synergizes with Cryomancer.
  
  
• Acts of piety will now be remembered by the gods.
  
  
• Added little hints to the loading screen.
  
  
• Some other audio and visual tweaks, and some minor optimization.
  
  

Several nerfs in this one as I found the buffs in the previous patch caused power creep on higher levels.
This patch will have to upgrade your savegames upon loading. That means the game will generate a new dungeon floor of your current dungeon level. Your character and items will remain unchanged. Their stats may however be inappropriate given the balance changes.
To opt into the beta branch right-click on Slasher's Keep in your Steam library, select Properties, click the Betas tab, then select the beta branch from the drop-down menu.

Edit:
Amended the build by a few points

• Fixed a bug that would prevent kinetic wand knockback on blood moths.
  
  
• Kinetic wand knockback and damage now fall off less quickly with distance.
  
  
• Replaced item image for 2 sword handles.
  
  
• Minor aesthetic tweaks.
  
  

Edit2:
Just a few more fixes

• Fixed an issue with banners inside of pillars next to the preaching wall ornament.
  
  
• Debris from exploding barrels now vanishes after a few seconds.
  
  
• Fixed a bug related to the quest text of the "spike 2 enemies at once 3 times" quest.
  

Edit3: setting this update live on the default branch

Edit4: Uploaded a small hotfix over some minor aesthetic BS

• Banners next to the preaching wall ornament now don't show up in arcade type rooms either.
  
  
• Fixed an issue with damage numbers being on top of each other for enemies taking burn damage from walking through fire and being on fire at the same time.