I have started testing with a small amount of people. I'll be adding more testers in the following weeks! If you want to try the game join the discord and send me a message @Joyen !
A massive thank you to the incredible first wave of testers. Your feedback has been instrumental in helping me identify what's working and, more importantly, what isn't.
Here are the recent changes:
Key Feature Updates & Quality of Life
Enhanced Player Feedback:
Low Health Warning: Added new screen effects and sounds to make it much clearer when you are low on health and in critical danger.
Improved Damage Indicators: The indicator for being attacked (especially from off-screen) is now larger, clearer, and has a distinct sound effect. You should have much better awareness in combat now!
Core AI & Behavior:
New "Burrow" State: A Core that runs completely out of energy will now burrow into the ground to protect itself, preventing it from being a sitting duck while you recharge.
Pressing J while your Core is following you will now issue a "Stop" command, giving you more tactical control.
Music & Ambience:
The introductory music will now play in the Plains biome, adding to the atmosphere of your starting journey.
Gameplay & Balance Adjustments
Progression & Pacing:
The quest line has been re-ordered. Tutorials for repairing and recharging your Core will now correctly appear after you've learned to smelt metal.
The "Get Copper" quest has been updated to more clearly guide players toward the Mushroom biome to find their first ore nodes.
The "Eating" quest has been split to properly recognize when you've gathered Boar Meat, preventing a common progression blocker.
Resource Distribution:
To improve the sense of exploration and progression, all Copper and Iron nodes have been removed from the starting Forest and Plains biomes. These resources are now found exclusively in more dangerous, higher-tier biomes.
Enemy Balancing:
Bats: The damage from bats has been significantly reduced (halved) to make early-game encounters feel more fair.
Giants: Loot dropped by the Giant (like amulets) much more visible and easier to collect after the fight.
Major Bug Fixes
Critical Fixes:
Fixed a major issue where destroying one Core could also destroy parts attached to a different Core.
Addressed a bug that could cause a player's Core to get stuck deep underground. The system should now be much better at preventing this and recovering a stuck Core.
Fixed a bug where a player could accidentally issue commands to another player's Core in a multiplayer setting.
Quest & Tutorial Fixes:
Fixed an issue where the Campfire was not being recognized during the cooking tutorial.
The Sleep tutorial should now trigger correctly.
Resolved a bug where the pickaxe model could remain visible during the axe tutorial.
Crafting & Item Fixes:
Hotkeys for slots 4 and beyond should now work correctly.
Fixed an issue preventing the Forge from crafting wands.
Campfires and Furnaces will now properly register item removal.