This update and beyondBook of Demons - Konstanty
Today's update brings a lot of under-the-hood changes in preparation for the Rogue class along with optimizations, balance changes, and bug fixes. You can check the list of changes at the end of this post and in the forums. Changes related only to Rogue class are not listed if they don't change current mechanics. We wouldn't want to spoil the surprise ːpaperdeathː
RoadmapWe are also ready to share the new updated roadmap, for now without dates (more on that in a moment).
Confirmed featuresFeatures we are committed to adding before the launch, work on many of them has already started.
Full gamepad support (with the current mouse emulation mode optional for enthusiasts ;-))
More sounds and voiceovers
Stars mechanics
Challenge mode where players can generate their own random dungeon with some degree of control over it and compete with friends and enemies alike trying to complete it in an optimal way
Quest mastering on higher difficulty levels (golden keys mechanic)
Weekly speedrun to cook leaderboards
Special sarcophagi mechanics (like cursed chests)
Additional achievements
More languages (including Russian, Chinese and Korean) with support for community translations
A surprise reward for ending the game ːarchduckː
Automap!
Redesigned and polished Archdemon quest
Improvements to poison and fire mechanics
Irritable monster mechanics
Support Razer Chroma with full spectrum of glorious custom RGB effects
Lots of polishing, balancing, and bugfixes
Features in considerationThings we would like to add but they might not make it into the game before launch. Again some of them are already prototyped but we may not have time to polish them and fully implement. Or they might prove utterly uncool in tests and we won't do them after all:
More cards
Twitch social play - enabling viewers to make streamer lives hell ːpaperdeathː
Online competitive play mode - not exactly multiplayer but as close as we can get without rewriting the game
Full touch controls
Level editor/modding/steam workshop support
Mac port
Eye tracking support
Experimental hands-free control scheme ːarchduckː
Collectors edition content
Timeline and launch As you probably know, parallel to regular development we are working on the production plan and preparing the grand strategy for launch. The launch is the most important moment in the game's lifetime and we have only one shot at doing it right, which is further complicated by the fact that we never launched a game on Steam before.
One of the things we must consider is the launch schedule of large AAA titles. Launching at the wrong time can topple title into obscurity if it can't compete with marketing budgets of titles launched at the same time (something like that happened to Vampire: Masquerade for example).
That's why we are considering rolling out the Rogue update a bit later even though she should be ready in two to three weeks. The Rogue Update (I think I just found the perfect post title for the occasion!) should mark the beginning of our "last straight" marketing effort period ending in the launch. However, considering how many features we want to add before the launch and that we are still in the process of preparing marketing plan we might need a bit more time.
But don't worry, as you have seen we have added more features to the roadmap so we won't idle in the extra time if it comes to that :-)
And now it's finally time for...
Changelog for version 0.85.12641+ - 11 May 2017 Numerous backend changes in preparation for Rogue class
Archdemon's timed states now spawn monsters as intended
Poison now ticks 2x faster on monsters
Monster will no longer attack through doors (they can still jump over them) - this may cause regeneration of some dungeon setups.
Lowered all projectiles attitude by 30%, now it will be easier to visually estimate missile trajectory and dodge
Fixed a rare issue with Mage unlocking when game was started with a very old save file (pre 0.8 version)
Gargoyles will now wait for a short period of time after waking up and before jumping at the hero
Spiders will now hide less frequently when near the player
Heal visual effects will now be disabled when card gets disabled during the effect
Refactored and fixed the way Skeleton Belt affects cooldowns
Fixed "card can now be used" to work correctly with card variants
Added casting sound also for bosses
Difficulty spikes on Hell tileset leveled
Fixed many typos in cards' descriptions
Using special missile card now selects corresponding missile type
Changed how attack cursor behaves when shift is held down
Added a mechanism that automatically detects changes to card variants configurations in this and subsequent updates and tries to compensate for them (takes away now defunct variant but grants new one of the same level and value when possible)
Card variants that decrease mana cost will now be working correctly. Mana cost of a spell cannot be lowered below 1 mana.
Small visual improvement to dispel effect
Save backup system now will detect if saves got corrupted in an unlikely event of power failure and will attempt to recover previously saved game
Bottled Zap & Zeus Fork switched names
Fixed kangaroos getting disoriented below 20FPS
Fixed doors on Cook's quest level sometimes being rendered as fire or ice sprites
Fixed an issue when Undead Kangaroos and skittering monsters could appear undecided under low framerate conditions
Fixed a crash when Bomb card tried to toss a bomb when player exited the level
Fixed a crash when player was hit with an ice orb
Fixed a crash when player played as a warrior
Fixed spider spit skill not triggering when hero was close
Finding a magical variant won't trigger "new card" glow on common variant
Quest boss corpses will no longer remain highlightable with gamepad
Optimized low-level particle rendering code
Improved the way remaining effect time is presented in card tooltips in case of Hourglass and Golem
Fixed Hourglass of Elephant/Time incorrectly calculating effect time
Fixed issue when sometimes common cards could be equipable from notification window due to level being too low
Fixed rare bug in the Cook quest, where the key wouldn't spawn.
Multiple other small balance changes
Fixed potential crash in Game of Crows achievement
Shortened num_# key labels under the cards, they should fit better now
Fixed a rare crash when skipping loader intro
Edit: Looks like we messed up and the game doesn't launch on Windows 7 after this upate. We are working on it right now, sorry !Stay safe in the dungeons! ːpaperheartː