Monster Crown News

Hello Tamers,

here with another patch! This one focuses on a visual tune up along with some miscellaneous fix ups.

The overworld now has several visual monsters just hanging about, or butting heads with a foe!



Or just scenic additions like these cats in Mill Town and Nio Kio.




[h3]New Monster[/h3]

As promised, there's a little extra content coming throughout the weeks from here, be sure to check out the Deep Chasm for a brand new monster, it's a tough one with a very cool design by Dandey who is a super talented monster designer and pixel artist.



[h3]The CROWNED transformation is here![/h3]

It's been a very long time since we annouced this feature, here's a video from back in 2018 that explains what it is, max your synergy and get a super boost!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Our battle UI has sure come a long way since then!

While this looks visually cool, and provides a type advantage, it's also a 1.5x multiplier on your attack, defense, magic and resistance.

While its easy to build synergy by defending, you'll have to swap with full synergy to pull off this strategic transformation. Be sure to use it strategically as a tanky monster can pass over a huge boost to a more versatile team member.

There's no tutorial for this skill in-game as I wanted people to have fun discovering it on its own, and its pretty straightforward once you've pulled it off once!

[h3]Fun[/h3]

Some additional fun comes with this update, for example, using the skating power is much faster now, as well as providing a payout if you do super well, here's me trying it out, think you can beat my high score of 152? If you catch a screenshot of a higher number I'd love to hear how you pulled it off!



Riding monsters using the saddle icon now works seamlessly, there was some issues with it before not lining up quite right.

Also, if you have Thunderstomp and use it when a monster like Staglus or Mimika is flying overhead you'll be unceremoniously challenging it to a duel! Be sure you're ready to take 3+ of them on at once if you're so bold!

Thunderstomp's graphics have also been improved and even glow at night now.

[h3]Patch Notes[/h3]

Here's the full patch list!

+New, cleaner and easier to read font
+Evening and morning phases now half as long, with day and night phase lasting longer to make up for the gap, these are more transitional phases and should be treated that way rather than morning and evening being as long as day and night.
+Color balancing work
+Moon can now be seen in battle in certain areas
+CROWNED transformation now available after unlocking synergy
+Many overworld monsters added (with a few fun secrets)
+When monsters fly overhead, thunderstomping challenges them to a battle (be wary!)
+Long black ice skating is now faster, has a counter and rewards cold, hard, cash
+Syleendra's overworld icon now glows at night
+Amidia's indoors sprite color fixed
+Saddle monster action icon now allows you to ride your monster seamlessly

There were many more fixes as I worked through our bug tracker:
Visit the tracker here

You can read up on every little fix on there but I wanted to summarize some of the major things you'll notice. If you have a bug to log, feel free to use anon/anon rather than having to sign up.

Didja miss me?

I've been locked away, hard at work for the past 3-4 weeks, pulling long days and getting close to the completion of the development of Monster Crown.

Unfortunately that has kept me away from all of you and the excellent folks on discord and kickstarter - thankfully I'll be around much more often going forward.

[h2]Sepnal[/h2]

As you may remember from our last Content Pack update post, Content Pack #8 was our last planned update at the start of our Early Access launch last summer, Content Pack #9 was a logical expansion of areas that didn't contain spoilers (The Deep Woods and east of The Farm) so it made a lot of sense to feature in a content pack and this one rounds the available content up even further with the launch of the Pedigree system and the maiden voyage of the Spenal Ferry, just east of Appenton City, you can find it here:



The Ferry offers passage to the isolated island of Sepnal. As you learned in Appenton, long ago a sage found the legendary monster Amidia and meditated near the statue-esque beast, gaining insight and ethereal insight into the relationship between man and monster, using this divine inspiration from Amidia, he created the first Monster Pact, which are now created en masse by the studious residents of Appenton.



However, later in his life, the sage grew philosophical on his creation and the dynamics between the cooperating beasts and their tamers. He theorized that a part of the monster's soul must be bound to the pact (and implicit agreement) and that if a monster dies while under pact, its soul may not be able to move on after death. In order to learn more and make a decision, he travelled to the melancholy town of Sepnal.

While there he established a tradition, he hoped that tamers would visit Sepnal after the death of their monsters and burn their pacts. As the burning embers floated out to the ocean, the monster's soul would find release and peace. He spent the rest of his life there.

However, while a huge wooden bridge once connected Sepnal to the rest of Crown Island, during the war the residents became deeply afraid of the wicked Philosopher Kings. In an effort to protect themselves they set the bridge ablaze, casting themselves into complete isolation. Recently however, a ferry pulled by a large monster was established that once again allowed travel to and from Sepnal. What happened during those years of isolation is unknown.




[h2]Pedigree System[/h2]

The other addition to the game with this content pack is The Pedigree System. Many of you have created wonderful monsters during your time with Monster Crown and seeing what each of you create, share, or tweet at me thrills me every time, so much imagination is on display, especially those of you who write lore to go with your creations.

With the amount of crossbreeds in Monster Crown (over 1200) even though I personally drew most of them, it's easy for me to forget about certain forms I created sometimes. Seeing all of you create monsters that surprise even me, in color combinations I have literally never seen before is a true joy. I wanted to create a system that allowed for infinite monsters and you all have made that personal dream come to life!

But now it's time to share your monsters. Once you've created a monster you love, open up the party menu and settle on that monster. From there, hit the F10 button, this will generate a complex code and copy it to your clipboard. After pressing F10 you can paste it into a text document or shared with a friend. These codes can be pasted into the code entry screen at the breeding barn, allowing anyone on earth to redeem your unique code and get hands on with your completely unique creation.

I hope you'll give your monsters unique names, and that your creations become popular and sought after within the community. Those more interested in battling than breeding may come to rely on your excellent crossbreeds to create powerful teams, I encourage everyone to find their favorite style as a Monster Tamer and lean on other players and friends to help you get the most out of your play-through, whether you are an exploration expert, a battle master or a skilled breeder I can guarantee you your experiences, knowledge and monsters are a valuable asset to share with other players.

Once you've created your monster code you can post it, a picture of the monster and stats on our gallery:

Visit Gallery



While it's not necessary, you can write lore for your monster. I'll have a blast browsing and checking out your creations. Because crossbreeding is a real thing on Crown Island there's no reason to not consider your creations canon if they don't clash with lore, I also encourage you to give yourself some freedom on the dimensions of the monster, is that Primigon crossbreed you created the size of a house cat? Or or is it as big as an elephant? That's up to you and whatever you feel fits best. I can't wait to see what you create (and steal all your monster codes :D )

For future content packs it's likely I'll just add some extra monsters as the only other areas we have left to expand into are pivotal to late game plot and filled with spoilers, that being said, I promise to keep delivering new content on a regular basis until we hit 1.0!

Have a great weekend tamers, and don't forget to join the other tamers on discord!:
https://discord.gg/WwRvm9B

Hey tamers,

I haven't been able to share much about this content pack ahead of time, as many of you know our last content pack was the final one planned for Early Access before we launched, however, I'm a firm believer in monthly content packs so there will definitely be one this month and next month.

I wanted to share more information early but I've been super tied up with the business and planning side of things now that we're nearing the end of development so allow me to introduce you to today's content pack right now!

First off, there's a new area, the Deep Woods - remember when you fought Collure there was a passage to the north, bringing you deeper into the woods? Be sure to revisit that area to enter a new part of the woods with a slew of new monsters, be careful though - there's a monster breeding ground that is sure to give you a huge challenge if you're not prepared!

Along with these new monsters, two new "Legendary" monsters are now available. I won't spoil much but one is on a coast near the farm (if you're lucky!) and the other is kinda in flowering province (and kinda in Frost province!). They're a little tucked away in distant corners of the island but I know with how determined all of you are, they'll be found in no time at all :D

To go with the new monsters and areas there's a brand new forest music track (shout out to the incredible musician gameonion!) and a lot of work has gone into optimizing exploration out in the wild, especially when many monsters are around and chasing you.

In the near future we'll be launching our "Pedigree" program, a special way to share your finest monster creations with other players as well as sharing some teasers for Content Pack #10, which contains a new Town that was the final addition to the game and only possible due to the support (both financial and spiritual) shown by all of you, our Early Access players and supporters.

Thanks so much everyone, I hope you have a fun weekend and enjoy these new content additions!


Other fixes:
===========
+Two new expanded areas
+2 new "Legendary" monsters
+3 new standard monsters
+3 new monsters that some had but were extremely rare (Jungro, Perygrinn, Collure)
+Nio Kio windows graphical compression issue fixed
+No more bloom inside buildings and caves
+New Forest theme (gameonion is a masta)
+Significant collision detection optimizations, moving around out in the wilds is much smoother

Hello!

Hope you all had a good week, just some fixes this time, but some good ones, and of course the welcome addition of some introductions to the online battling and trading features, definitely a great time to grab a friend and duke it out or swap monsters!

+Realigned/positioned all attack animations
+Enemy Tamers now properly display the items they use when healing their monsters.
+Enemy Tamers no long swap their monster to a type advantage the same moment you swap to one, they have to wait a turn like a real human bean
+Frobec Cavern bridge and icy spot fix
+Appenton Puzzle glitch fixed
+Online battle/trading menu resize
+Online battle/trading tutorial added.

For those of you wondering about out next content pack we've actually reached the end of the content packs that were planned when we launched into Early Access last year! That doesn't mean they'll stop though, I've thought up what this month's and next's will contain. They will primarily be expansions of the world and available monster pool, looking forward to sharing more soon as one of these expanded areas was not planned before EA launch and was directly inspired by all of you and made possible by everyone that supported us during EA so far!

Have a great weekend!

Hello Monster fans, Content Pack 8 is here!

The very first thing I want to do is to thank each of you for the huge show of support I received last week. Many of you know I lost my grandmother last week and the past week has been really something - spending time with family of course and everything that comes with the loss of a loved family member. The countless messages of support I received on here is something else. Thank you so much for your kindness and understanding.

With that being said, you might be wondering what's in store for Content Pack #8? Well, a lot of great stuff, first and foremost, the next expansion to the main storyline.

Head to Appenton Academy to get started on what comes next! Be prepared because you're headed deep into the underbelly of the city...



Additionally, a while back I showcased some additional scouting powers, namely, the ability for your monsters to shoot a swirling fireball to take down enemy monsters on the overworld.



This ability is super powerful and can be used to mow through wild encounters and quickly level up your team. The previous scouting ability favored monsters with a high physical attack power, but this one is geared for magical attackers, so be sure to pick the scouting option that suits your party leader best.

As well, the monster riding option has been added to the monster power menu making it easier to ride your monsters, however, you still must have your monster "sit" first, which is something I'm working on making automatic in the future as it's a bit cumbersome as-is.



Once you've obtained all three powers a small traveling monster show can be found in Crossroads province. It has a chance of spawning each in-game morning and can appear on various roads surrounding crossroad town - if you see a crowd, that's the spot!

If you figure out how to win a huge payout, you might find yourself with an additional monster treasure, a monster with my personal favorite egg design :)



For those of you just tuning in since last content pack I've also added several new powerful healing items - let's be honest, you've outgrown Aloe Leaves haven't you? - that can be purchased from any store beyond Mill Town and a very special Ultra Rare Berry, which makes levelling up newly hatched monsters a breeze. If you've got the cash a newly hatched monster can be caught up to the rest of your team in less than a minute.



That's it for today tamers, there are some additional bug fixes as well here and there, some cutscene timing modifications to make things a bit smoother, etc.

Hope you have a great weekend.