The roadmap is officially here, and with it a long list of changes to creatures.
There's a lot to talk about today, but I have you covered if you’re not gonna read through it all yourself. Check out the TLDR at the bottom of this post if that’s more your speed.
It’s been just over a month since Creature Keeper launched on May 8th, and we’ve pushed six updates since then! Addressing everything from softlocks & bugs, to menu navigation and creature behaviors. There is plenty more to bring to life, which is why we’re stoked to be sharing with you lots more information on what our plans are going forward! The time has arrived for the coveted roadmap, the great informer of future design intention, for your eyes to gaze upon.
If any questions arise regarding the Roadmap, or you'd like to join the conversation, check out the Creature Keeper Discord: discord.gg/hf9UZsQ
Additionally, for those who like to dig in to the details, below are all the changes made with Creature Responsiveness as our focus. We saw some great posts on creature behaviors feeling sometimes floaty or unsatisfying. Creatures sometimes miss their attacks, get stuck, or in instances such as the Verdire, which couldn't move but they can now!
Creature Interaction & Responsiveness Changes
Fixed an exploit where you could switch creatures out to instantly reset Heart cooldowns.
Fixed a bug where you could pet creatures to instantly restore their Attack Cooldowns.
Reduced the minimum distance for creatures to teleport to you when moving away from them.
Removed an indicator for creatures showing a hunger emote. (Hunger is not a mechanic)
Fixed a bug where creature orbitals that were used for attacking (like Denka's and Levatin's Crystals) were not getting their damage reset on each attack. Which meant that they were continuously getting weaker with every enemy hit.
Creature Balance Changes
The focus of these changes was to make creatures feel more reliable to use. These are general improvements made to increase creature responsiveness, such that creatures hit their targets more, follow their targets more, and are more present in combat.
Amphibole
Amphibole's hop windup has been sped up.
The landing area of the attack is increased so that it hits more consistently.
The formula for calculating its landing area has been improved, such that it hits more consistently as long as there aren't objects blocking the way of the jumping path.
Bequaris
Increased the damage of the main projectile.
Increased the range of when it would start its attack.
Reduced tracking strength of the main projectile.
Increased the cooldown on Bequaris' attack. (longer time in between attacks)
Canvulf
Changed its attack to be Might based to match its type. (it was previously skill based)
Catue
Increased the damage of its charge.
Increased the range of when it would start its charge attack.
Centius
Decreased the range at which its attack can trigger, because its attack wouldn't reach the target in some cases.
Denka
Made its crystal-attack a lot stronger, and cover a wider area.
The crystal can also hit more targets, but loses a significant amount of damage with each hit.
Fixed a bug where the Denka's crystal power wasn't resetting with each attack. (Denka's crystal was continuously getting weaker)
Increased the cooldown on Denka's attack. (longer time in between attacks)
Denka can start up its attack from a further distance.
Denka is more likely to enclose in on an enemy.
Elkirith
Changed its initial ranged attack to chill instead of bruise. The second part of its attack still applies bruise stacks.
Glimia
Its spike attack now applies shock.
Its impact attack now applies bruise.
Its slash attack now applies chill.
The casting time has been reduced for each of its spells.
Decreased the cooldown on Glimia's spike attack. (shorter time in between attacks)
Increased the cooldown on Glimia's pillar attack. (longer time in between attacks)
Increased the damage of all of Glimia's attacks.
Glimia now launches 5 spikes from the ground.
Glimia now launches 3 swords from the ground.
Glimia's attacks now predict where to cast based on the player's speed and movement.
Jalamin
Decreased the speed between lightning bolts so that all three can hit a target, regardless of its size.
Decreased the maximum distance Jalamin needed to be in order to start casting its attack.
Keraple
Decreased maximum speed for projectiles, and they spread in a wider pattern.
More time in between projectiles.
Decreased maximum range for its attack, it was attacking from too far away previously.
Lutras
Increased the cooldown on Lutras' attack. (longer time in between attacks)
Increased damage of Lutras' attack.
Levatin
Levatin slows down when starting its attack.
Marbil
Reduced Marbil’s knockback on hit, so that it doesn't break your shield stance.
Mehlin
Increased the range of when it would start its charge attack.
Lowered the speed of the projectile's attack, and increased its spread.
Increased the duration of its attack.
Molectus
Increased attack damage.
Morphix
The Morphix's movement patterns have been improved, so that it can hit its targets more consistently.
Increased the attack range of the punches.
Fixed a bug where the fist would glitch out, spamming noises.
Fixed a bug where the fists wouldn't face the same direction as its body.
Mushlad
Decreased the range at which its attack can trigger, because its attack wouldn't reach in some cases.
Naero
Increased damage of its attack
Increased the range of when it would start its charge attack.
Nokobo
Increased the range of when it would start its charge attack.
Naowl
Increased damage.
Made the Naowl's attack less awkward looking.
Fixed its attack to do Skill based damage instead of Ranged.
Naowl's attacks now apply Bruise and Chill.
Ottop
Decreased the cooldown on Ottops's attack. (shorter time in between attacks)
When you hit an Ottop, its cooldown is shortened.
Petil
Increased damage of its projectiles.
Rotas
Increased the range of when it would start its charge attack.
Increased the damage of its attack, and lowered its speed.
Increased the duration of its attack, and tracking of its attack.
Increased the cooldown on Rotas' attack. (longer time in between attacks)
Scorpin
Decreased the range at which its attack can trigger because its attack wouldn't reach in some cases.
Shaler
Increased its attack damage.
Decreased the cooldown on Shaler's attack. (shorter time in between attacks)
Shaler's attack now also applies stacks of bruise.
Slyker
Increased the range of when it would start its charge attack.
Increased the speed and damage of the second part of its attack.
Increased the amount of targets that could be hit by each swipe from 2 to 3.
Swolfe
The rocks from its attack do not inflict void damage anymore. (it was not supposed to inflict void)
Increased the damage of its slam attack by 200%.
Increased the cooldown on Swolfe's attack. (longer time in between attacks)
Added more rocks to its attack, and the pattern now resembles a spray cone away from the Swolfe.
Tecton
Increased the damage of its attack.
Tepin
Increased the distance at which it could start an attack.
Verdire
Verdire can teleport to you when in combat (previously only possible while out of combat) and can happen more frequently.
Verdire takes longer between attacks, but can shoot further, track targets, and are more accurate.
Verdire's attack now has two projectiles. The first projectile is faster and more accurate, the second projectile is less accurate and slower. Both can hit the same target to stack poison twice.
Increased hits from 2 to 3, removed poison from the bite.
Increased range of Verdire's attack to take advantage of its ranged component.
Vitet
Increased the damage of its attack.
Added burn damage to its attack.
Decreased the cooldown on Vitet's attack (shorter time in between attacks)
Velthyra
Increased its damage and made it more consistent in terms of variability.
Changed its attack type to might, to correctly match its type. (it was previously skill)
Reduced the damage for each target hit simultaneously.
Reduced the number of simultaneous targets it could hit to 3 from 4.
Xortic
Its attack now shoots out projectiles when it crashes into the ground, which creates extra ice crystals.
Yamas
Increased the range of when it would start its charge attack.
Increased the damage of its attack.
Increased the cooldown on Yamas' attack. (longer time in between attacks)
Zanred
Increased the area of the bite attack.
Zunix
Added additional strikes to its attack.
Boss Fights / Area of Influence Creature Adjustments
Fixed a bug where the Void Overseer wasn't spawning some adds.
Fixed the electric circuit in the mines fight.
Fixed the levels of all the corrupted creatures in Areas of Influence throughout the game.
Fixed the levels of all creatures that were part of boss fights.
Applied Skill, Might, and Ranged types to most bosses.
Applied HP multipliers to bosses.
Increased the health of the sparkstone cases in the Act3 Boss fight.
Fixed some visual bugs with the final fight.
Player Balance
Added a barrier that prevents a player from suffering more than 20% of their max hp from one hit at a time, but can still be hit by multiple sources, or the same source consecutively.
Status effects are 50% less effective on the player character.
Increased Stun Multiplier gained from dodging an attack. This now stacks with the back attack bonus.
Increased Stun Multiplier gained from back attacking a creature which is vulnerable to back attacks. This now stacks with the dodge bonus.
Fixed a bug where dodging an attack would decrease your stun multiplier bonus.
Player Weapon Changes
Decreased the amount of stun buildup from Dual Dagger's normal attack.
Decreased the minimum value for how much damage contributes to stun buildup based on the weapon's knockback. This means attacks with low knockback will be worse at building up stun.
Increased knockback of the Dagger Throw attack.
Increased knockback for the Dual Dagger counterattack.
Increased knockback for charged Ice, Fire, and Lightning arrow attacks.
Increased knockback for the charged boomerang attack. (not mini boomerangs)
Increased knockback for the shield and shield bash attacks.
Increased knockback for the charged attack on Maul.
Increased knockback for the saber's charged attack.
Increased knockback for the projectile of the Saber's Charged Attack.
Increased knockback for the projectile of the Saber's Charged Attack after you've dodged.
Increased knockback for the flame uppercut.
Cutscene improvements
Fixed the Hiven Mines area to have the right darkness level for its puzzles.
Fixed a bug where the game was saving in the middle of the ending cutscene, preventing you from playing again. If you have experienced this, your save will revert to before the final boss fight. Only the story state is reset, no creature progression will be lost.
Added save points in cutscenes for the tutorial so you don't have to do it all in one go.
Fixed a bug where you could access a cave after said cave was sealed off.
Removed a mention of a recipe found in a cave.
Fixed a bug where there was an invisible attack that remained on screen after defeating the final boss and watching the cutscene.
Prevented being able to perish after the final boss was defeated, causing unintentional sequence breaks if poorly timed.
Fixed a bug where you could befriend creatures while your creatures were in Bibb's care.
Fixed a bug where corrupted creatures were spawning in areas where your attacks were disabled.
UI Change
Fixed title screen controls to be more consistent with in-game controls.
TLDR:
For those who prefer quick & condensed info
alongside the roadmap announcement comes a large bundle of much requested changes to Creature responsiveness, which aims to increase the quality of life for overall creature behaviors. There are many individual adjustments that go into this change as a whole. Including but not limited to, buggy interactions in bosses & sequences, creature aggression, and creature consistency while fighting.
The Roadmap entails a comprehensive list of polish, revamped systems, and new content coming to Creature Keeper.
We’ve pushed six updates since launch just over a month ago!
Lots of great fixes and changes, but there’s much more to work on.
The release of a Beta Branch, or PTR, and more news about it, are coming soon.
If there’s something not on the roadmap you feel is important, please let us know in any of the various Creature Keeper channels!
Creature Keeper is officially Steam Deck Verified! We're celebrating with a 20% discount to Creature Keeper as well! Which will be active on the 19th of June. Lastly, if you've enjoyed Creature Keeper, or would like to support it's continued development, leaving a positive steam review makes a big difference! We're always listening, and this game has an exciting future ahead of it! Indie forever, Zach