Monomyth News

Hi, dungeon-crawling fans!

A month ago, Monomyth started its Open Backer Beta. A lot has happened since then. I have implemented plenty of bug fixes and reworked several areas that will be added to the game shortly. There is still much to do! I will improve the game's combat mechanics over the next few weeks. You can hear all about it in this month's video devlog!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

As always you can find the video's transcript below!

Best Wishes,

Michael

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Hi, dungeon-crawling fans!

It’s time for another update on Monomyth! Last month the Open Backer Beta started and players have reported many little issues for me to fix. At the moment, only the first two areas of the game are accessible, but this will soon change! So let’s take a look at it.

Over the last month, roughly 500 people have activated their test keys. That is roughly 50% of all backers, which is a pretty good participation rate for a pre-release testing phase. Many of these players have provided detailed feedback about their experience with the game and the bugs they have encountered. I have thoroughly recorded around 120 reports on minor and major issues, as well as suggestions for improvements.
I have already worked through a fair bit of these, however, some matters will still require my attention in the future, among others, issues concerning itemization and balancing.
Throughout the last month, I have not only fixed bugs, but also reworked and polished two major areas of the game. One of these areas, the mine, you may remember as the one that turned out a bit too big at first and had to be trimmed down. I talked about this in an update early last year. This area has been split up, reworked, and polished. It will be accessible in the next OBB patch. The main hub will also be accessible, as well as, three minor areas and the demo area. If the patch isn’t already out with the release of this video, it will be uploaded shortly. Content-wise, the game is now in the state I wanted it to be in for the early-access phase.
Before that one can start, however, I need to rework a few game mechanics, combat being the most important one.
From the player’s side combat needs an overhaul mostly regarding animations. On the side of the enemies, I must make sure that they can’t just be steamrolled by chaotically swinging the sword. So painstuns need to be reworked, as well as individual enemy actions. Enemies are theoretically capable of healing themselves, putting status effects on the player, and casting spells. That’s all in the AI. However, they are not doing it right now, because their individual sets of actions are limited to standard attacks. Basically, I need to overhaul enemy attacks so they can actually make use of their range of possibilities. In general, AI still requires fine-tuning, especially when it comes to estimating when to use which ability. All in all, enemies need to get tougher so combat is more fun.
Hopefully, this won’t take much longer than a month, so I can also spend some time fixing bugs. After that, I will probably be ready to announce an early access release date with a prepared trailer.

Not to get ahead of myself, but during early access, there will be at least two content patches, each featuring one large area. There will also be smaller additions regarding backer content and minor features that couldn’t make it into the OBB.
One last thing regarding GOG: I still owe you those mails to pick a GOG key. So, no worries - it didn’t go to the spam folder or anything - I still have to send those out. I will also remind you a couple times before release, so everyone gets the key they actually want. All in time.

And that is pretty much it for now. As I said, if the patch isn’t already up, it will be very soon. After that, it’s time to finally improve combat.
I will keep you updated about all of it, and see you soon!

Hi, dungeon-crawling fans!

It's time for another update! Monomyth is finally entering its Open Backer Beta phase. You can hear all about it in the new devlog. As always you can find the transcript below!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Kickstarter backers of the 15-dollar tier and above will soon receive an e-mail with their Open Backer Beta key. Please remember that these keys are not final. They will be locked shortly before the game enters Early Access.

I am looking forward to your feedback!

Best Wishes,

Michael

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Hi, dungeon-crawling fans!

It’s time for a new update on the project! In this one, we’re looking at some very interesting stuff because Monomyth is about to start its Open Backer Beta phase. So let’s take a look at it!

I spent the last few weeks fixing more of the problems that were pointed out during Steam Next Fest. Monomyth received plenty of updates and hotfixes. Among other things its UI was improved, the inventory system was adjusted so items could be rotated, existing quests were tested and fixed, framerate options were added, a new enemy type was introduced, and so on. Some of these things were also added in the demo version. Meanwhile, for the closed beta, I have developed a mapping system that will probably please the Ultima Underworld fans among you. Now the project is finally approaching a state where it can be pushed into the next, and final, testing phase before early access.

I have talked about the Open Backer Beta many times in the past. It’s the phase in which all Kickstarter backers from the 15-dollar tier upwards are invited to test the game. This, of course, also includes encore backers.
They can leave their feedback in the respective Rat Tower Discord channel or use the prepared feedback form, which is linked in the game’s system menu.

If you are a backer, you will soon receive a Steam key per mail. Don’t forget to check your spam folder. It’s important to know that this is not your final game key! This is only a testing key and it will be locked shortly before the early access release. You will then receive your final key, either for GoG or Steam. As far as the choice between those keys goes, I will soon send out a form with which you can request a GoG key - otherwise, you will be sent a Steam key.

Let’s quickly go over some comments on the OBB:
Concerning content, the first phase of the Open Backer Beta will contain the new beginning, the heartlands, and a mini-dungeon. The second phase will then introduce plenty of content including several areas, big and small, as well as the game’s main hub.

It is in this constellation that the game will probably launch into early access. But before that happens I want to work over a few features - first and foremost combat and AI, but, of course, also the feedback given during the OBB.

During early access, there will probably be two major content updates. The first will introduce the last beta area, which still requires some polishing. Other than that it is pretty much ready, so I hope that it won’t take too long. After that I will start working on the last chapter of the game and, of course, also the backer content.

And that is already it for this month. As I mentioned, if you are a backer and you want to join the beta test, keep an eye out for that testing key. Look into your spam folder as well. You will receive an email from me shortly. I will keep you updated, and see you soon!

Hi, dungeon-crawling fans!

Another month, another update! This one is going to be a little shorter, but there are still some very important developments I would like to report. In this update we will be looking at the Steam Next Fest and how that worked out. We will also be looking at the overhauled UI and I have some very good news about GOG!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

The next step in development is the Open Backer Beta. I still need to implement some feedback and work over the early areas of the game, but it's coming closer with big steps. I will announce it on relatively short notice. Something I forgot to mention in the video: We will probably go through the OBB in phases, i.e., like the regular closed beta, but with significantly shorter update cycles.

As always, you can find the video's transcript below!

Best wishes,

Michael

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Hi, dungeon-crawling fans!

A busy month is over and there is a lot to report! Between the Steam Next Fest and various patches, I also have some news about Monomyth on GOG. So let’s take a look at it!

During February I mostly focused on the release of the Steam Next Fest demo and various patches fixing the problems that people found in it. And there was no shortage of problems, the most notorious one being a bug that slowed down mouse movement. Luckily, this and other problems could be fixed relatively quickly. All in all, I received a lot of useful feedback. At this point, there are over a hundred posts in the respective thread of Monomyth’s Steam Community Hub. I am going through these posts one by one and I am trying to implement fixes for all issues. I am still updating the demo with hotfixes, so you can take a look at the latest changes at any time.

One major change I recently uploaded was a visual overhaul for the UI. Some people suggested adding some more contrast because bright writing on bright backgrounds was not ideal. So, I took some time and designed a new UI. I played around in Blender at first but then I decided to create the UI elements through procedural image editing. This way I could produce many different window sizes in a relatively short amount of time. What required some more work were the different UI icons. Various menu entries now have a visual representation, for example, all attributes have a small corresponding icon next to them. All of these were made in Blender. All in all the new UI is much more readable and coherent. The overhaul was purely visual - in the future, I will further improve the UI’s functionality as well.

The UI update was one of the bigger requests from the feedback list. The other big thing was a combat overhaul which is one of the next things on my to-do list. It might not make it for the open backer beta but I definitely want to patch combat before the early access phase.

Talking of which, with Steam Next Fest out of the way the OBB is the next step in development. I will work over the earlier areas in the game once more and then it should be ready.

In terms of numbers, Steam Next Fest was rather successful, despite the amount of reported issues early on. Monomyth received something between six and seven thousand wishlists. The rule of thumb is that a game should receive roughly between 3 and 4.5 times its wishlists of the first Steam Next Fest day. Monomyth received around two thousand wishlists on the first day, so the results are satisfactory.

As a last little surprise this month: I have signed a contract with GOG, who were kind enough to consider selling Monomyth in their store. So if you’re not into Steam you can request a GOG key instead. All pre-release test versions will still be distributed via Steam, however, once we go into the Early Access, I will provide you with a form to choose the platform of your liking. This also means, that all pre-release keys will be locked. So if you are currently in the closed beta or take part in the open backer beta, those keys will be automatically invalidated and you will have to unlock the game a second time with your final key.

So that’s all for now. I’ll keep uploading hotfixes and preparing the game for the OBB. Perhaps I can already implement a few fixes for the combat system. We will see. Either way, I’ll keep you updated, and see you soon!

Hi, dungeon-crawling fans!

Just a short update:
The new demo is now live!

A few known issues:

* Atoning for sins is fairly expensive
* There is a rare bug that will stop your stamina from recharging until you take damage
* All characters currently have the standard voice
* Getting off a ladder with a bow will make a water arrow visible on the bow
* In some very rare cases Alvy will return to his spot in the doorway
* Trying to emerge from the water at a certain angle will push you back down
* Looting documents without reading them, and instead directly opening them in the notes menu, may freeze you in menu mode when you try closing your inventory

If you find any other issues, please feel free to share your feedback in the dedicated Steam forums thread:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/908360/discussions/0/4201364142752857503/

I hope you will enjoy the demo and best wishes,
Michael

Hi, dungeon-crawling fans!

We are already a month into the new year, so it is time for a new update! This time we will discuss the latest improvements and Monomyth's participation in the upcoming Steam Next Fest, starting on February the 5th, 2024.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

As always you can find the video script below.

Best wishes,

Michael

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Hi, dungeon-crawling fans!

It’s time for the first update in 2024! Today’s update took a little longer than usual because I am currently preparing a demo to take part in the February edition of the Steam Next Fest.

So let’s take a look at the latest changes and the new demo! Over the last month, I have, again, largely focused on polishing. In fact, I only implemented one very small but interesting new feature.

Players can now look through the keyholes of closed doors. To do so, they have to approach the door while crouching and then interact with the door handle, respectively, the keyhole.

This way you can see what’s going on in the room behind the door and whether or not it is safe to enter.

I also improved loading times significantly during the last month. Initially, the persistent objects of a large area had a massive loading time of around 45 seconds. I finally found the time to improve this and now the loading time for these objects is not even a tenth of what it was before. Now you probably wonder, how on earth can this be? How could this take so long to load, and the answer is actually quite interesting:

The main reason for these massive loading times was how a certain data structure, to be more specific maps, work in UE4. I used this data structure to create a nested registry for each persistent object, mapped against the ID of each persisted level. The problem with the nesting is, that in UE4’s framework the access methods for maps copy the mapped content. Apparently, you cannot access nested contents via reference - unlike in an array, where this is possible. So if you access a nested map a hundred times with the find method, the nested content is copied a hundred times. And in this case, the nested content was the entire persistent object registry of a certain level - and copying that a hundred times, let alone for every object in the level, is a bad idea. So, I decided to pre-cache the mapped registry of the last loaded level, which made the repeated access on the nested map unnecessary. This was a very simple solution once the problem was clear.

Another thing I did to improve the loading times was avoiding unnecessary calls between the persistent objects and the registry. So, during loading, I simply passed the persistent object registry via reference, and each object just looks up its own data. Also, a fairly simple problem, once you tracked it down.

Now to get back to less technical things, I also polished the Heartlands. Plenty of sections in this area were reworked and received new lighting. Sometimes I just changed the geometry a bit, sometimes I added new ways to traverse the level. This was specifically beneficial to stealth gameplay. There are now more ways to infiltrate certain locations and finish quests in a more sneaky manner.

I also added some more level mechanics that take advantage of enemy factions and their potential infighting. This provides some possibilities for creative problem solutions.

Further, I worked on gamepad support. The game itself can now be fully played with the gamepad. For the menus, so far, I only added gamepad-controlled mouse inputs. So your analog stick will control the mouse. The gamepad’s front buttons act as mouse buttons. This was a relatively quick solution for full gamepad support, but so far it works surprisingly well. It still has to be improved somewhat, for example by adding navigation hooks, so you can jump from UI element to UI element by pressing the shoulder buttons.

But now let's come to the demo:
Right away, the demo area is still the Serpent’s Bastion, however, the area has been expanded and you will approach it in a different way. Some of you may remember, I mentioned in an earlier update that I had moved the Serpent’s Bastion from the beginning of the game to the middle. Correspondingly, you will start in a slightly different spot. There is a new quest, there are new sections, and also new enemies. Of course, the old demo was built on the old code base. So this demo will contain all the new features that I have spoken about in past updates, for example, the new spell system, free saving, combat improvements, and so on.

The demo will replace the old demo on Steam. It will be available at Steam Next Fest, which will start on February the 5th, 2024. The replacement is actually quite important, because I keep getting feedback for the old demo, and while I try responding to it all, it doesn’t really make any difference, because the current build of the game is already a different codebase. Patching the old demo would mean I would have to work on an old, abandoned codebase, which wouldn’t make much sense. Now, with the new demo and codebase in place, I can easily patch things that demo players suggested. I can even update the demo with the latest beta patches.
Which also means, that I will try, yet again, to be more active on the Steam forums. During Steam Next Fest anyway, but also afterward.

So, as I said, Steam Next Fest, will start on the 5th. Be there, try the demo, and please wishlist the game. I will probably upload the build a little earlier.
I’ll keep you updated about it all and I will see you soon!