WeeRPG private alpha v0.12 is live on Steam now! We will be releasing a demo soon so make sure to wishlist the game if you haven't already. You can sign up for the private alpha here.
It has been three months since we released v0.11 in early November. We took a short break in December but have made a ton of improvements for version 12. All weapons, armor, and abilities have been overhauled. Gear is now more unique with clear styles of armor you can collect. We have also differentiated abilities so you can create character loadouts that more closely mirror popular RPG classes. Or, you can mix and match however you want! Finally, we fixed a ton of bugs and made major progression improvements. Full details below!
Demo
We have created a special demo build, which will be available on Steam shortly. The demo build is a great way to experience the game if you haven't received a private alpha key. The demo version has all of the features of the main game but is capped at difficulty level 3.
The demo save can be upgraded into a full-version save so you can continue beyond the level cap in the full version of the game. However, once upgraded you will not be able to downgrade a save file.
Armor & Weapons Overhaul
The armor and weapons have been overhauled to tie into the lore and flavor of the game. Armor and weapons now fall into several styles.
- Trowein Gear: The Trowein Legion favored bronze blades with curving edges and practical leather armor.
- Somwein Gear: The Somwein Empire preferred straight or slightly-curved iron blades with razor edges and squared ends. Their armor is lacquered wood and cloth with decorative metal accents.
- Honwern Gear: The Honwern Kingdoms crafted steel weapons in classic designs that favor practicality over style or sophistication. Their armor is similar - usually heavy metal without much flair.
- Gathian Gear: The Unead Gathian Hoard swept across the ancient world with weapons and armor crafted from the bones of their enemies, and embued with dark magic.
All of these flavors of gear can be found on Ventures through the magic dungeons beneath the Wee village.
Existing saves SHOULD be credited for the value of any weapons or armor that were removed from the game. These will be stripped from the save file and exchanged for cash.
Abilities Overhaul
All abilities have been overhauled to offer players more differentiation between classes. Heavy metal armor is more likely to have spells that protect or enhance players so they can wade into the middle of combat and wreak havok. Leather armor is more likely to have abilities that increase damage or enhance movement speed. Cloth armor is more likely to have abilities that allow the wearer to fire magic spells and deal damage to whole groups of enemies.
Progression Overhaul
The game now offers 10 difficulty levels with unique weapons, armor, and enemies appearing at various difficulties. During a Venture, players must complete several dungeon rooms before they reach a new difficulty. Some rooms will offer an exit to the surface so the party can return to the village. Once players reach a new difficulty, they can start the next Venture at or below that difficulty.
Players can call for rescue at any time but they will lose a percentage of the gold earned during the Venture. Players will also be returned home, at a gold penalty, if they fall in battle during a dungeon Venture.
In the released game, players will face a final dungeon boss once they reach the highest difficulty level. This is not implemented yet in v0.12!
Additional Features & Fixes
- 22 unique abilities
- 11 unique creature types
- 123 unique weapon types
- 62 pieces of armor
- 7 unique dungeon maps with randomized components and properties
- Fixed issue where armor was not actually providing protection.
- Abilities that pass through creatures no longer get stuck on walls and repeatedly collide.
- Ventures no longer charge players for deaths multiple times.
- Fixed many collision problems with statues in dungeons.
- Creatures no longer emote every time they die (this was annoying in large mobs!).
- Arrows now splash the right material type when hitting a wall.
- Fixed various problems with menu animations.
- Current difficulty is now shown during Ventures.
- Item titles no longer overflow list box.
- Wee creatures can no longer accidentally spawn as enemies.
- Improved menu readability problems from transparency
- Game now has a hard level cap, which will eventually trigger a special boss battle
- Game no longer says "New Level Unlocked" on Venture complete menu when a new level was not unlocked.
- Game now re-rolls item abilities if original ability was removed from the game.
- Game now pays out cash for items that have been removed from the game, and removes them from inventory.
- Game now has a versioned save system which should allow smart upgrading of saves in future versions.
- Game now differentiates demo characters from full characters and demo can't load full characters (to prevent accidental downgrade).
- Progression curve is now smoother
- Multiple improvements to mouse and keyboard controls
- Fixed issue where footprints may not appear on map
- Fixed some issues with particle blend modes
- Improved ability particle effects
- Improved ability icons
This will probably be the last Alpha release of the game. We have two major work items before v1.0 is ready for release: final boss and intro cutscene. This will be our priority focus as we work to bring this game to all of its fans.
If you want to help us finish and release this game, wishlisting, sharing on social media, starting a discussion in the Community Hub, and playing the demo are all ways you can help us keep our energy through the final sprint to Version 1.0.
Thanks for playing,
Narfox Studios