We've been hard at work this past year rebuilding the game from scratch to make it less error-prone and better to work on. We're finally ready to let you have the first playtest build of this version.
Disclaimer,
Since this version is made entirely from scratch, many things that you may have been used to from previous versions are incomplete and/or missing entirely. You can find a non-exhaustive list of features that are known to be missing down below.
Gameplay changes,
We took the opportunity to take a good look at the gameplay while rebuilding, and made a variety of changes. The following is some, though not all of those changes:
The Solicitor class' F skill, Sign Greater Contract (unlocked at level 50) is now finished. (TODO explain it in a bit more detail).
The Guardian Stone reagent's effect has been given the name "Elemental Shield." It absorbs all direct damage a number of times (depending on the catalyst used) and prevents most debuffs from being applied. Additionally, the Bard's F skill, Balladeer's Overture now has a chance to grant Elemental Shield to allies.
The Warrior's E skill, I'll Be Your Shield has been replaced with Full Cover. Full Cover consumes all Fervor and Vengeance stacks, boosting allies' defense while reducing the Warrior's defense. The effect lasts for the number of Vengeance stacks consumed.
The Max Stacks NPC buff previously started all players off with all their stacks maxed out. This has been changed, instead every time a stack is gained, there is a 70% chance to gain another stack of that type.
Crystalsmith's Soul Forge feature acted exactly like a stack, but was not shown as one. This has been adjusted.
Enemies now have more variety in their spawn locations.,
The Combat NPC feature where chatters not actively in combat could still participate by voting on what the NPC should do was removed. We're looking at alternatives, but in the mean time only people that have joined combat can play.
UI Changes,
We are in the process of re-doing the UI work to bring it more in line with newer additions. Due to this, some things to note:
Combat currently has no UI for players' Skills, and we are working to rectify that.
Player Party UI has changed, and is now a tabular view (like a spreadsheet) in the bottom right hand corner. The active player is shown in a bold white, while other players are shown in gray.
A new system for notifications of special notice has now been implemented. Some chat messages that were present before have been relegated to the new Notification system (like queuing a skill,) with more to be switched over to this new system.
The Boss Mechanics Bar is using temporary art that we haven't been able to finalize in time, but it still shows the important information. You can hover the cells to get more information.
Missing features,
While still a work in progress, we have decided that we are now back to being in a playable state that would allow users to play through battles and complete dungeon runs. But since not all things have been moved over from the old code, here is what we know to be currently missing in this new build.
The shop is not currently implemented,
Voice lines in combat are not currently implemented,
Animations for attacks are not currently implemented,
The tutorial is not currently implemented,
Most of the settings are not currently implemented,
Music is not currently implemented for Combat or for the world map,
Chat voting for dungeon select is not currently implemented. Only the Forest dungeon is currently available,
Not all transitions are fully implemented for the World Map
We want to take a moment and thank all of our play testers for their feedback as we add more things to the game. Making a game like this is a process that only works when we hear your feedback and take it earnestly. If you would like to provide any feedback for the game, don't hesitate to join the Discord Server!