Hey everyone!
We've just rolled out the v1.16 update for Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon! Our team has been working on some quality of life changes, fixes - but most importantly, as promised before - some extra optimization. Again, we are limited by the game engine to some extent, but we are fighting hard for every extra FPS :D
Today, we are happy to report that we managed to gain a 3-5 FPS boost on PS5, Xbox X/S and PC! Those are mostly due to the following changes:
[Consoles] Removed some expensive lighting updates that did not provide much improved fidelity.
Removed the cost of mouse input when it is not being used.
Removed some unnecessary update cycles for all input.
Decreased physics update frequency. We found that there is no impact on behaviour.
One of our logic systems for deferred actions has been optimized.
Removed some unnecessary refreshes on hero HUD.
The fight is not over; we'll keep digging and trying to improve the game's optimization on both consoles and PC. Thank you for your patience!
We are overall dedicated to supporting Tainted Grail long-term. First of all, this game is a result of our deep passion, and we simply want to make sure it will get an extra level of polish. Secondly, you guys made this game quite a success, and we can afford to add extra time to it! Thank you for all your support! Thanks to it, we can continue making our dreams come true!
We'll keep supporting the game with more or less regular updates, including new content, plus fixes and improvements across the board. As for the next couple of months, you can expect:
Around the end of February, we're aiming to drop an update with extra pass mostly over Act 3, polishing many layers of the game (level design, loot etc.)
Then, around the end of March, we are preparing an extra free DLC with cool content that will be a mystery for now ;)
Stay tuned, and drop your deepest conspiracy theories in the comments about what's coming next! :D
And before the patch notes list: our Steam post wouldn't be the same without some screenshots, so please enjoy the views!
And now, the full patch notes v1.16:
Additional optimizations
Removed some placeholder texts that were using up memory but were never visible to the player.
Fixed a leak in Cuanacht that caused performance degradation further into the story for each game save and load in Cuanacht.
Gameplay
Added some new Alchemy recipes for existing potions (check your alchemy tables, as you can already know some of these from recipe books you have already read).
Updated generic status icon for statuses applied by hero's talents.
Fixed and updated visual effects of Severing Ray spell.
Statuses given to the hero by gems attached to gear should now correctly display in Hero status page.
Fixed Haste status not showing up correctly in some instances.
Updated Haste status icon.
Fixed being able to lose items when trying to interact with things blocked during combat.
Rebalanced item level stat gains for Arcanist's Breeches: Mana Shield 1 > 0%; Mana Regeneration 0.05 > 0.1
Killing with Cheese status now properly subscribes this kill to the character applying the status (usually the hero).
The Strongest Potion no longer leaves residual increased attributes, when changing scenes before the effect ends.
Thunderous Greatbow can no longer be used accidentally as a weapon coating.
Skills targeting Summons should be more optimized and shouldn't lag while using channeling spells, e.g. Melee Macabre.
Disable picking up weapons from enemies that are not lootable.
Neutral enemies that turned hostile should become neutral again after combat ends. There was also a small leak associated to this issue.
Story
Fixed Maggot not being under a Menhir during Menhir Rites quest. He should teleport there directly instead of walking there and potentially getting stuck.
Beherit should no longer be under ground in Dødheimsgard.
Fixed being able to enter Yvain's Mansion before visiting Cuanacht. This caused some story locks later.
Portal shouldn't be active during the fight with the Queen Bee.
Turning someone into cheese (and other weird things) shouldn't break kill counters for quests.
NPCs shouldn't be attacked by player AoE effects during dialogues.
Fixed an issue where the player could lose the ability to interact with certain objects after reloading the game during the Thing on the Doorstep quest.
Improved interactions with Foredwellers in the Conquered Scars quest.
The player can now start the Altars of Madness quest after speaking with Therrov.
Fixed a dialogue lock when speaking with Heber about alchemists.
The Rise the Mountain, Face the Storm quest will now correctly mark Darv'hanr's location if the player has progressed the Stonewarden guild questline.
Thrygve should survive being thrown off a cliff.
Caradoc should now join fight immediately after duel starts with King Arthur.
Doors to Yngvi the Theud's chieftain should always try to reopen for everyone who started their questline.
Fixed portal in The Pit deactivating after save and load.
Fixed an issue where the Charm of the Faithful Fae was removed from the player’s inventory upon starting NG+.
Fixed a quest marker in Price of Healing that did not correctly lead to Bonxie.
Fixed an incorrect objective being set as active after Qurban’s death in the Abyss Beckons quest.
Fixed unusual objective behavior after giving Neante herbs in the Hollow Blessings quest.
Fixed an dialogue option in The Price of Healing Quest where Bonxie would not accept a repeat offer to purchase her inventory .
Minor
GOG now also has a mono branch available for modding.
Fixed UI scale settings not applying correctly after game restart.
fixed a leak in Cuanacht that caused performance degradation further into the story for each game save and load.
Fixed a potential error from Reusable Resources skill, when the number of crafting resources in a recipe was smaller than 1.
Fixed choice icons in the dialogue with Jolly Skeleton.
Restored multiple missing keyword links for Critical Hits and Weakspot Hits in skills and item descriptions.
Fixed clipping clothes on Drowners.
Fixed the loading of native mods. We are at work to update and improve the native mod support with some better documentation/tutorials.
Expansion
Gameplay
Upgrade and Weight Reduction for Sarras Items now uses Sarras Resources.
Fixed Blessing in a Bottle item description displaying wrong duration.
Rebalanced crafting recipe costs for Frailty and Dousing Arrows.
Added a new recipe variant for Coral Arrows (found in the same recipe book).
Changed a duplicated crafting recipe in Druid's Note recipe book of Head Above Water potion for Gills of the Deep potion (only the outcome item of this recipe was changed, so there is no need to re-learn it).
Rebalanced randomly generated loot in some Vendors, Sarras Chests, Barrels and Vases to grant more useful items more often, especially if they are locked.
Increased the value of loot generated in all Diggable Sarras Chests.
Changed item values of:
Archivist Eyeballs 75 > 120
Coral Growth 25 > 220
Morgen's Claws 10 > 475
Morgen's Tail 15 > 550
Scion's Bone Spikes 10 > 500
Scion's Fangs 10 > 600
Scion's Neck Frill 10 > 500
Tidewraith's Illicium 25 > 200
Wailcap's Skull 25 > 100
Webbing 10 > 50
Coral 225 > 150
Added a Sharpening Stone item drop to the Hallucinated Crawler from Purple Bursting Bulbs.
Moved some items from a single buy to a restockable Vendor assortment for Leira, Waste and Bozz.
Added more fish species in randomly generated loot (this is only a cosmetic change, as looting them will still grant a Fish Fillet).
World
Dead bodies that felt down into the abyss should appear in the closest playable area.
Fall damage absorption and water damage zone in Dungeon Distance Meaning now work correctly.
An unwanted hole has been covered in Dungeon Hatchery.
Story
Fixed an issue where mashing the attack button could skip some of Apse’s dialogue.
Entering and exiting afterimages should:
correctly swap Skills and King's Powers.
equip correct weapons and shouldn't change loadouts.
select the correct active Sarras Skill Tree.
Starting a New Game + now removes Wraith Spores debuff.
Added a fade-out during Vosk’s dialogue while he is eating.
Fixed an issue where some NPCs could appear in Tumbo Village after the player had completed the Archives quest.
Fixed a bug that allowed the player to stash quest items required for quest progression.
Fixed some objective issues in the Feast of Mercy quest. The objective to kill Nautilume will now fail if we kill Viridian Wailcaps .
Fixed marker in One Against The Tide quest.
Fixed discovery for Ulcerate which appeared unnecessarily on the compass.
Fixed objective bug in One Against The Tide quest. In one of the paths, Depth-Gore should no longer tell us to talk to Branth if we have already spoken to him.
The Song , as long as she is alive, can be found in Morgens' Den after completing Sunken Treasures and Voice From The Rift quests.
Visuals
Camera rotation after Fast Travel between scenes has been improved.
Fixed incorrect appearances of some NPCs.
Minor
Fixed Kraken's Maw item throwing an error when looted from a Proving Grounds chest.
That's it for today!
Thank you so much for sticking with us and playing the game! We wish you only the best journeys through the worlds of Avalon and Sarras!
Oh, and don't hesitate to join our Discord server if you want to get in touch, ask things, or just hang around!
Awaken Realms / Questline