The Big Update is here!
So, let’s get into the details. As we know, On Dark Terms is full of complex mechanics and new concepts which naturally entails a lot of leaning for players. However, the learning process with respect to the Training Dungeon (Tutorial), was lacking and needed some love. So, for the past 2 days I’ve been non-stop watching and listening to all the feedback and thinking deeply about how I could make the game much more enjoyable for players starting off and so, here’s where I am at:
THE "NEW PLAYER" EXPERIENCE UPDATES
- When a player burns a corruption after absorbing 2 level 1 energies, a NEW Trait Message will appear on the screen for 30 seconds telling the player the name of the Trait, what it looks like and how to disturb it. This message will only pop up for Training and Easy Modes.
- When a trait despawns either on its own or by a player disturbing it, a NEW Trait Message will appear to inform all players.
- Now players will know exactly what trait they are looking for the moment they burn, making it much easier to learn the system. Remember Normal Mode and Hard Mode will disable this, so you need to do more investigation yourself on harder difficulties.
- When trying to use adrenaline or energy drinks with none left, players were informed with the message prompt “not enough” which is vague. It will now say “not enough adrenaline” etc.
- The player action bar now displays “0” on consumables instead of nothing to better indicate how many the player has.
- The Astral Shrine now displays a message on it that informs the player that they are required to have a minimum of 1 absorbed energy in order to Attune and earn XP. Prior to this, players didn’t know what they needed.
- Burning corruption has easily been probably one of the most frustrating things as it would always awaken the entity and cause players to get constantly chased and possessed. This new update changes the mechanics so that burning corruption will ONLY awaken the entity after 2 energies have been absorbed and the trait has yet to be disturbed. Once disturbed, burning will return to its normal behavior which is lowering activity without worrying about an awakening. So now you can burn, burn, burn away til your hearts content.
- I noticed that lots of you were getting hunted almost immediately after starting and entering a new dungeon and it’s unacceptable especially for players who literally just walked in for the first time. This update adds a hunt delay based on difficulty level. Hunts won’t start on training until 2 minutes have passed giving new players more room to focus on learning without being instantly hit with a complex mechanic.
- Added a NEW message for when players hit the wrong sequence item in a hunt so that you can clearly know that what you did was wrong rather than wondering if it was right or not.
- So, I saw lots of people struggling to coordinate the sigils during hunts and realized, especially for new players, that it was greatly complicating the learning experience and so we now have all NEW NAMES for every single sigil! Example: The Moon, The Eye, The Staff, etc. This will make coordination and remembering the sigils during hunts so much easier!!
- Energy Drinks regarding Fatigue (I heard those of you who were saying “but why can’t I drink while fatigued, isn’t that the point when you’re tired?”). The Energy Drink has been updated so that it now clears fatigue rather than being prevented by it. However, if used while fatigued, it will only provide 25% of its stamina gain.
- Added additional location names to the world map to help find certain areas for research objects such as the skate park and diner, etc., more easily.
- Interactable items can now be read about in any dungeon using the (“Y” key). Some people may not have read about spirit charms while in training, now they can be read about in any dungeon.
- The message tip at the TOP right of training has been updated to always show the player their training objectives. Lots of players were unsure where to view their objectives let own track them. The tip also encourages you to check the player guide which provides a step by step walk through of how to complete all 3 training objectives.
- The hunt message has been updated to say: “You are being hunted!” to the left of the current hunt progress message to help indicate especially to new players that they are experiencing a hunt. Consumables are now infinitely usable during training mode to help players survive better so they can focus on learning.
- A NEW message will be displayed on players screens when they complete all 3 training objectives to let them know that they are finished with the training story quest.
- A NEW message will display when you die informing you that all your energy has been lost. I noticed most people didn’t realize losing energy on death was a thing.
Research
- Research Sites now have “Hunt Computers” you can access to read about how hunts work so you don’t have to run back to the train station.
- Research objectives now only show “in-progress” if they are actually picked up at that location.
- Increased the radius of research objectives so that their indicator is easier to find so players have an idea of what to climb when they see it.
PROGRESSION
- Completing research now additionally grants 200 player XP to help player’s level up faster.
- Completing research now levels up research site immediately rather than granting 700 XP.
- Story quests now grant 800 XP up from 600 XP.
- Crafting now grants 5 XP per item crafted, providing more incentive for players to craft.
- Getting the entity correct now grants 150 XP.
UPDATES
- Stamina uptime increased by 30% while in Astral Form to help searching for Dark Matter easier especially in slightly larger maps.
- Increased player movement speed inside dungeons by 10% to help with moving around / slightly larger maps.
- Increased the radius of ectoplasm detection in Astral Form to make finding them easier.
- Increased the distance at which orbs can be seen in the video camera.
FIXES
- Fixed an issue where Attuning energy at the amusement park was always showing “Envy” demon as the answer. This was actually affecting multiple areas and now attuning should always provide the expected answer of the entity type.
- Fixed an issue where players could die if possessed just as they walked outside which would completely break their player camera and force them to restart the game.
- Fixed an issue where players could enter an existing hunt from outside while alive.
- Fixed an issue where stamina was not regenerating sometimes for players.
- Fixed an issue where when leaving the dungeon as cat, the world map would get stuck on the “No Signal” screen.
- Fixed a collision issue were using astral form while standing on vehicles clipped the player through them.
- Fixed the research objective at the skatepark with the lengthy description as its nameplate.
- and many other smaller bugs and hiccups!
THANK YOU
As always, thank you to everyone who supported me! I hope that this update helps a lot, especially for players that haven’t played yet. I will continue to work hard as there are still many things on my list and I will do my best to get them all rolled out and polished up!