Cross of Auria News

Cross of Auria should be back online for all Windows players! Please restart Steam and allow the download to finish.

Somehow in the last update, the game files were excluded from the build. Due to this fix, the update will be larger than usual (~600MB). However, the total file size for the game remains the same since the last update deleted these 600MB worth of files.

Sorry for the inconvenience! If there are any more issues, please keep in mind that Discord is the best way to reach out! Invite link: https://discord.gg/5zhdNsd. I do see the comments and posts here on the Steam community website, but sometimes they do not give me notifications, which goes to them being unnoticed for longer than usual.

Get out there and slay some bad guys!

Mac
Earlier this week, we talked a little bit about functionality for MAC (see thread here: https://steamcommunity.com/games/764180/announcements/detail/2211773821814366841). Today, I'm going to follow up on that with some hopeful information.

It seems that it is possible for me to continue to make exports for mac in a different way than I do for Windows. However, it is greatly time consuming as I originally predicted. For that reason, the store page for CoAE1 has had Mac support unlisted for the time being. That being said, Mac players will still receive periodic updates, but not on the same time-frame as Windows users. Usually whenever an issue comes up, I jump to patch it right away - this won't be the case for issues on Mac. Instead, I'll be looking at monthly or even story based checkpoints for Mac only. Where Windows might see 3.3, 3.3.1, 3.3.2, and 3.4, Mac users may only see 3.3 and 3.4.

Some quick notes:
- The current MAC build is 3.2.1.2, which is an extension of the 3.2.1 build (notes here: https://steamcommunity.com/games/764180/announcements/detail/2211773821813899258) but with the added bonus of the ninja patch which is available to all.

3.2.1.2 [Build #72, Release Date: April 29, 2020] Fixes:
- Fixed an issue with the Innkeeper causing errors after the Room Key was obtained.

- If you're having trouble launching the game on Mac, right click Cross of Auria from the steam library -> Manage -> Browse Local Files -> open "x.Cross of Auria" folder -> open the Game application.
-- If there are any issues with launching the game on Mac as of this update, please reach out to me ASAP. I'll see what I can do, but on the whole, Mac development isn't well supported by the RMMV engine.

- One final thing for Mac users - the download size should be significantly decreased. My depots were setup improperly which called for Mac users to download the windows only "www" folder, which is basically all the contents of the .app package an entire second time. However, due to the change in encryption, the initial download size may be somewhere in the 500MB if you are updating from more than three or so patches ago.

Linux
- To anyone who owns the game for linux, the "Game" file has always been made available. I don't have a way to test this on my own, but the engine suggests that all the files are included within the package. As you may know, official support was discontinued many months ago due to my inability to test or understand it. With any luck, I'll be able to change that when the game enters post production.


Other
- On the whole, there hasn't been any other development yet this week. I'm focusing a lot on my projects for youtube for right now. That being said, I usually get most of my work done for CoA on Saturday mornings. When I do get back to it, I'll be continuing mostly on the new Orc War campaign, so there may not be another update again until next weekend.

- Due to the frustration of trying to fix issues for Mac users this morning, the x. Patch Notes file has been left in disarray, but this gives you a chance to see what I have planned in a more detailed look if you want to see it. As always, these things can change.

- I need to make a MAC version of the demo first and foremost this weekend, so this will take up some of my scheduled development time. When I made it, I was unaware of the current issues. At least I know how to work around it.


Thanks for stopping by, and as always - report those bugs! Please keep in mind that Discord (invite link: https://discord.gg/j4pZKuv) is the best way to report bugs. I don't always get notifications here on the steam forums and even when I look manually, some comments get buried for no reason until months later when they suddenly appear at the top. Strangely enough, this has been the case with several negative reviews for the game as well as a few bug reports.
Facebook is a solid secondary way of reaching out (@ www.facebook.com/crossofauria), but occasionally I'll get notifications saying I have messages, but the messages won't be there. This was the case over the last few days, so if it was you that reported something on fb, I'm terribly sorry but FB won't let me see it.
And finally, Twitter should be the last case scenario in reporting bugs, as I generally never log into CoA's twitter. BUT, you can reach out to me directly @hardytier on twitter, which is one I actively log into all the time. (But seriously, if we can start using Discord for bug reporting, that would actually be the best for me personally >.>)

Anyway, that's it for this huge wall of text, thanks for stopping by, and I hope everyone enjoys their week!

//hardytier

While preparing and testing the 3.2.1 patch, it has come to my attention that the game has become unstable, if not completely unplayable on certain versions of Mac operating systems. For that reason,
Mac support is suspended indefinitely.

I'll level with you all here for a minute - we were lucky to be able to release the game for Mac and Linux for as long as it was out there. A few months ago, the Linux builds became unpredictable, and now, I'm finally seeing that the Mac one has joined it. I'm not using a traditional engine in the creation of CoA like Unity or Unreal where I can code around and dig in and see what's going on. RMMV is an... all in one good luck to those who use it kind of endeavor. I work to create the game and updates on a windows desktop from which i export both a Windows build and a Mac build. For a long time, the mac build work. I can't say for sure when it stopped working since there were no reports, but I can confirm that as of today the project doesn't open at all. This -might- be because of when my version of RMMV stealthily updated from 1.5.1 to 1.6. Since I don't know when that was, I don't know how much of the project I would have to recreate from scratch in order to reincorporate Mac going forward.

The short version of this: At some point in time, both the Linux and Mac exports from the engine broke. Windows support will continue for the time being with the schedule discussed a few weeks ago, but Mac and Linux will no longer receive updated builds. I'm very sorry about this. If my understanding of Steam is correct, your key is still good to download the game on any windows machine or any virtual Windows OS with Steam on it.

I'm very sorry about this issue. If you have any suggestions, feel free to reach out.

//hardytier

Edit: 3:19PM APR 27
1. When the game is in its "completed" phase, I'll make all attempts I know how to in order to also port the game to both Mac and Mobile. Since these methods are very time consuming, they aren't worth attempting until production on the project comes to a close.

Expected to be live within the next few hours, provided there are no hiccups during testing. If there is a Mac issue, The Veil and Black Forest will have to be completely reskinned (yeah, crazy, I know).
So, crossing fingers.

3.2.1 [Build #72, Release Date: April 27, 2020]
Changes:
Warning - This update will cause larger than usual download sizes. However, the grand total file size will be reduced.
- Renamed all in-use sound files.
- Removed unused sound files from game folder.
- Deployed game folder with encryption as per asset use requirement.
Note: If any areas of the game give an error immediately upon entering, then a sound file issue has been detected. Please report it immediately @ www.facebook.com/CrossOfAuria or as a comment to this patch note. A picture of the error with the background helps greatly.

Edit: 2:18PM APR 27
-- Errors may occur saying a “.m4a” or “.ogg” can not be found. These can be cleared by going to any zone which triggers new music to play, saving, exiting the application completely, then reloading. If this error persists, please report it ASAP – as that file will need to be re-added to the game files.

This one is kinda huge, so I'll let the patch notes mostly speak for themselves. There is one major thing I will add though - The Orc War (or whatever I'll end up calling it at release) is officially in development! This build introduces 11 extra zones (3 new, 8 reskin for war purposes) in the background and functionality for one event in the Alpha Ruins. All of these will become available once the Orc War properly launches.

Note - It may be possible in some way to slip yourself into one of the new zones. If you do, I strongly recommend backing up (or reloading from before then) - because you will be stuck there. The Orc War events will prevent other quest progression for the duration of the event. Aka; Rabbit's Foot and Phoenix Ash quests won't be complete-able until after. So if you find yourself triggering one of the new Orc War things, please let me know ASAP so I can patch it out until it's ready.

Note - An incredible amount of background maintenance went into putting this one together, so things are bound to break. If anything breaks, the fastest way to reach me is through Facebook @ www.facebook.com/CrossOfAuria or through my personal discord in the CoA channels @ https://discord.gg/j4pZKuv.


3.2.0 [Build #71, Release Date: April 26, 2020] New Skills! – If your character has missed their chance to learn the skill, talking to the Delivery Boy in Auria will let the skills be learned.
- Alex has new skills between levels 3-16!
- Ruby has new skills between levels 9-17!
- Alex, Ruby, Miles, Riley each have a new level 22 skill!

Fixes:
- The Lighthouse is now accessible once the quest is obtained through the Shoreline zone and now exits to the corresponding area in the same zone instead of onto the world map.
- Fixed drop rates for An’ura Taskmaster, An’ura Larvae, Cockatrice Minion, Cockatrice Menace, Spheria, and Oros tribe units.
- Fixed some passable tiles in the Restaurant set to now be impassable.

Changes:
- All enemies with luck over 15 have had their Luck reduced by 75%.
-- This was done in an attempt to change the formula for determining successful escapes, but due to a plugin issue, luck cannot be factored into the equation. This might be solvable with a plugin update, but so much has the potential to explode that it is not worth the risk. Therefore…
--- It is now significantly easier to escape after each failed escape attempt. The base chance to escape remains the same.

Skill Changes:
- Sticky Slap now receives a 0.25* bonus from Luck, down from 1.00*.
- Slap, Shot, Cut, Slash, Chop, Wing Slap, Ground Smash, Cutter, Double-Strike, Blade Shot, Charge, Gear Grind, Triple-Strike, Sting, Bloodfeast, Throw, Cleave, Swing, Cleave+, Insatiable Ravager, Rush, Disabling Slice, Silencing Slice, String Shot, String Scattershot, Swift Kick, Rapid Shot, Wicked Strike, Volley Shot, Suppression Blast, Slice, are now Physical type.
- Razor Wind is now Wind type.
- Rockbreaker is now Earth type.
- Point Laser, Laser Sweep, are now non-elemental.
- Poisonbolt no longer adds +6 to the damage formula.
- Frostbolt no longer adds +9 to the damage formula.
- Firebolt no longer adds +3 to the damage formula.
- Cost of Firebolt reduced to 10MP, down from 20MP to be in line with other tier 1 “bolt” spells.
- Cost of Fireball changed to 20MP, changed from 10MP + 20TP to be in line with other tier 2 “ball” spells.
- Details for Wild Charge (S:119) filled out.
- Poison Cut, Poison Chop, Poison Shot are now Poison type in addition to having a chance to inflict poison.
- Icefall no longer adds +3 to the damage formula [non-enraged only].
- Frostspike no longer adds +10 to the damage formula [non-enraged only].
- Lightning Rage’s “Attack” renamed “Spark Shock.”
- All Lightning Rage abilities now add +1 to Electric Power.
- Tooltip for Expose Weakness now accurately explains the effect.
- Expose Weakness now lasts for 5 turns and adds +5 to speed during use.
- Triple-Strike now costs 50 TP, up from 45.
- Arcane Missile now has a 2 turn warmup.
- Uppercut now has a 2 turn cooldown.
- Ruby no longer learns Triple-Strike at level 15.
- Insatiable Ravager now always inflicts a special attack-based bleed. Additionally, the chance to apply the other bleeds has been increased significantly.
- Cost of Insatiable Ravager reduced to 50 TP from 100 TP. Additionally, this skill now has a 3-turn cooldown.
- Bloodthirst now gives Riley a chance to apply the Shatter debuff with basic attacks and other skills, which makes enemies more likely to be inflicted with various bleeds.
- Bloodthirst now has a chance to apply the new Insatiable Ravager bleed in addition to the 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% and 5% bleeds at varying rates.

Plugins:
- Updated the BattleEngineCore, ActSeq1, ActSeq2, ActSeq3, X_AnimatedSVEnemies, BattleAICore, BattleStatusWindow, ItemCore, ItemUpgradeSlots, SkillCore plugins. With any luck, this should not affect current game files. This was done because at one point in time, my engine was automatically updated from 1.5.1 to the current build, which was not intentional. Reverting the engine itself may make the entire project unstable.

What I Learned…
- The good news is, the Quest Log plugin works again. The bad news is, I already completely stripped all the related QL plugin code from the game, and it would take weeks to replace all of it. There may come a time in the future where I activate it moving forward, but it would not be worth anyone’s time for me to go apply it retroactively. The missive system will have to do.
- The TurnOrderDisplay is still broken no matter what I try to do with it. It broke right around the time the engine updated to 1.5.1 and never was able to come back since then. I think I can safely say – I am completely abandoning this idea for now until I can commission a custom display to be made.