Stone Story RPG News

Hello fellow Stoneheads--

After some time away, StoneJam returns! Prepare your ASCII glyphs and flex those functions as we kick off Stone Story RPG’s 4th jam; this time open to art-only submissions!

[h2]The Quest Update Approaches[/h2]
Before we dig into StoneJam, we’ve got some exciting news to share!

It’s been a long, long road and we’re happy to announce that after months of delays, technical issues, and juggling real life responsibilities, the Quest Update will be releasing on Thursday, September 23rd.

While the update will be going live on the 23rd, Stone Story 3.0 is more than a single content patch. We’ve got several months of content planned, so keep an eye out on our feeds for the official announcement in the coming days.



[h2]What’s New with Stonescript[/h2]
Stonescript is a scripting language built into Stone Story RPG, used for modifying the character's AI. Easy to use yet powerful, scripts can be as simple as automating potions if your health gets low, optimizing combat to superhuman levels, or even creating new cosmetics and UI features!

Instructions in the Mind Stone* are written in Stonescript, a minimalist language designed for use by everyone. If you can type, you can Stonescript--no programming degree required!

In the time since StoneJam 3, we’ve added a huge variety of new features to Stonescript. We’re eager to see how you make use of them!**

*(Note: The Mind Stone is unlocked part-way through playing the game. If you’re new to scripting in Stone Story RPG or need a quick refresher, check out this tutorial we’ve written up: https://stonestoryrpg.com/stonescript/intro_tutorial.html)

**You can find a full list of changes to Stonescript here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/603390/discussions/0/2959417653802347314/

[h2]What is StoneJam about?[/h2]
With each new update we continue to expand what's possible with Stonescript. We want to see what YOU can create! Some of the projects that people have made with Stonescript include:

• Minigames
  
• Combat scripts
  
• Pets and cosmetics
  
• Custom UI elements (e.g. healthbars, ability timers)
  
• ASCII-art and animations
  

Collaborations between participants are more than welcome (and in fact encouraged).

Don’t script? Use the Mind Stone as your canvas and show us what kinds of beautiful text art you can create!
[h2]
Previous StoneJam Entries[/h2]
[h3]panda by Mind Stone Thief and xx[/h3]

[h3]Burger Rush by Fyda[/h3]

[h3]Headphones by link2_thepast[/h3]

[h3]UI Collection by Agerak[/h3]


[h2]
What do I get?[/h2]
For StoneJam 4, all participants will receive a secret reward given out at the end of the Jam! This is a unique celebratory reward available only through this event.

Our favorite submissions will be invited to be an official addition to the game, allowing players to activate your script with a simple “import” command.

[h2]When is StoneJam?[/h2]
StoneJam will take place from Friday, September 17th, to Wednesday, September 22nd. You’ll have all of that time to create and submit your scripts on our Discord server.

[h2]How do I participate?[/h2]
StoneJam 4 will be hosted on our community Discord server. You'll need to have the @stonejam role, which you can get by going to the #commands channel and typing !stonejam.

Two text channels will become available for this event:
#stonejam-discuss for all discussion about the jam and #stonejam-submit for submitting entries.

[h2]How do I submit my StoneJam entry?[/h2]
Submission rules:

1. Inside your scripts, at the beginning of each file include:
- Name/nickname of author or multiple names if multiple authors
- Version number of the script
- Instructions on how to use it

2. Drop your script into #stonejam3-submit, along with screenshots and/or gifs of your entry in action.

3. If a single entry involves multiple interdependent scripts, put them into a zip.

4. Submit different entries separately.

5. You can submit scripts created prior to the jam, as long as the jam week is used for meaningfully improving them.

[h2]Resources for StoneJam[/h2]
[h3]Stonescript Documentation[/h3]
To see a full list of all possible functions, commands, and variables: https://stonestoryrpg.com/stonescript/manual.html

[h3]Easy projects [/h3]
Introduction to Stonescript - This writeup gives you an overview of Stonescript's functionality, including variables, commands, and operators: https://stonestoryrpg.com/stonescript

Modding Guide - This walkthrough shows you how to import external scripts into the game. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2003221477

[h3]ASCII-art Tutorial[/h3]
Video tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5v-NS9o4yc
Follow-along Reference: https://stonestoryrpg.com/ascii_tutorial.html

[h3]Example of what high-level scripting looks like[/h3]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR6QYxdGV9M

[h3]Reference guides[/h3]
All ASCII characters currently available to use in-game: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/597668520888762388/683419636204699676/AvailableGlyphs.txt

Hex for all enchantment colors:
Cyan: #02e5ff Yellow: #ffff62 Green: #32da5a Blue: #0063ff Red: #ff2222

List of valid ?loc:
rocky, deadwood, cave, shroom, haunted, crypt, bronze, icy, temple, nagaraja

---

We can’t wait to see how you all make use of the new additions to Stonescript.

See you folks soon for more Quest Update news!
-SSRPG Team
[h3]
Stone Story RPG Twitter

Stone Story RPG Discord[/h3]

A scorching summer has descended upon the Dark World!

From now until July 11th, Stone Story RPG will be running a 2x Loot Event. Complete runs by defeating the current endgame boss to earn this extra loot (which also includes 2x Lost Item drops).

For further clarification on Lost Item drop rates, please follow the link here.



Never played Stone Story before? Now’s your chance! For the duration of the Steam Summer Sale, Stone Story RPG will be on sale for a 20% discount.

If you want to try out the game beforehand, check out the demo on our store page:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/603390/Stone_Story_RPG/



Since our last post, we’ve made quite a lot of headway in development. Not only have we implemented quests, we’ve also added several quality of life improvements and further fleshed out Stonescript, Stone Story’s in-game scripting language. The creative possibilities have continued to expand and become more robust; we can’t wait to see how you play!

We are currently in the polishing and bug-fixing phase for both technical and content features. Quest implementation has brought up some interesting challenges; for every 1 issue we address, 8 more pop up! The team has been dutifully plugging away at cleanup to ensure that your playtime will be as smooth as possible.

Take a look below at some of the things we’ve got planned for the Quest Update:


[h3]A former member of the Council of Five, Uulaa now spends her days lounging and looking after her children. She may prove to be a useful contact! If you can find her…[/h3]


[h3]A chest of gold! What treasures could await within?[/h3]


[h3]Now you see them, now you don’t. Those Charlatans are crafty fellows.[/h3]


[h3]The Quest Update will take you on mystifying adventures spanning the breadth of the Dark World. Some old faces may even show up in your travels (not all of them friendly).[/h3]



[h3]We’ve added various quality of life improvements to the Stonescript workflow. One such change is an old feature request from our community: You no longer need to manually navigate to script folders![/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]Our audio wizard Rafael is back with some incredible new work. This track in particular is used for the “Skeleton Factory,” a scene from one of the upcoming quests.[/h3]



We’re nearing the end of the tunnel and everything’s starting to come together. We’ve got an exciting launch schedule planned that the team is hard at work on. Expect more announcements in the near future!

As always, we can’t thank you enough for all of your continued support. Every single person, new and old, that has picked up Stone Story has been invaluable to the development process. Special thanks go out to our Discord community members, who have been tirelessly workshopping scripts, sharing strategies, and breathing new life into the ASCII art medium!

Be sure to follow us on Twitter and join the official Stone Story RPG Discord server if you haven’t already done so:
[h3]
Twitter

Discord[/h3]

-SSRPG Team

The beta branch has been updated with a massive patch, v2.98, leading up to v3.0.

See the release notes for v2.98 here:
https://stonestoryrpg.com/releasenotes/beta.html

If you're not on the beta branch, you can switch by following instructions here:
https://stonestoryrpg.com/faq.html#Technical%20Help

But, if you'd rather wait for the full release, no sweat! We're working hard to bring forth these changes (and many more). Once a launch date for 3.0 is locked we will make an announcement.

Minor update introducing three scripts created by the community, plus other improvements.

- New minigame: Burger Rush by Fyda.
import Games/BurgerRush

- New cosmetic: Headphones by link2_thepast.
import Cosmetics/Hats/Headphones

- New cosmetic: quips by Superfulous J.
import Cosmetics/quips

Improvements
- Added an extra boost slot for the final upgrade of Lost items.
- type() now supports arrays and returns "array".

Bugs
- Fixed a bug where the Mind Stone's main script did not have a "this" reference to itself.
- Fixed bug where the player would look to the left when being pushed by Hrimnir.

Spring has sprung upon the Dark World!

From now until March 15th, Stone Story RPG will be running a 2x Loot Event. Complete runs in the Mushroom Forest to earn this extra loot (which also includes 2x Lost Item drops).







As we near the end of work on the Quest System, we thought this would be a good opportunity to check in with all of you about the state of SSRPG's development. The Spring Event is a perfect example of what we hope to continue with future additions to the game.

Automated and procedural events with shorter durations are key to the longevity of Stone Story RPG. They take advantage of the incremental nature of gameplay to vary up challenges and reward players accordingly, all with minimal input from our end once they're setup. After the Quest Update pushes out, we aim to line up several planned events that work in concert with automated ones to fill in the gaps.

Eventually, these events will work in tandem with a vastly expanded Stonescript to give greater dimensionality to the game, even as we begin to "sunset" development on SSRPG.

[h2]So what about the Quest Update?[/h2]

Work continues on the Quest System and we're very nearly done with polish and refinement.

We have 15 fully fleshed out quests for you to embark on after the Quest Update goes live. You'll span the breadth of the Dark World as you try to infiltrate Acropolis, forge powerful alliances, and even assist underpaid and overworked skeletons with unionizing.



In addition to content creation and polish, under-the-hood development has taken a considerable amount of time. Henry, our narrative designer, has cooked up fun adventures we can't wait to share with you, while our systems designers Gene and Michael have been hard at work balancing the gameplay and further fleshing out the scripting functionality to support a wider array of features and mechanics.

The ultimate objective of this in-depth work is to support user-generated content (e.g. mods and custom quests). For example, players can now flip sprites horizontally in Stonescript, which gives you greater control over how a scene will visually play out.

There is plenty more functionality to dig into that we know you'll all put to good use.

---

Thank you for your continued patience and support of the game. From the very beginning, Stone Story RPG has striven to remain true to its identity of an ASCII-animated incremental game. Our flexible development cycle ensures that we have the bandwidth to build around this original vision with the care and attention it deserves.

The work that we do will sustain the health of the game in the long term. Idle games can be thought of as "lifestyle games", providing its players with content over the course of days, weeks, and even months at a time.

It may seem like slow going now, but what game worth making isn’t?

-SSRPG Team