Added 16 new skills
5 Archer skills
4 Pistol skills
3 One-handed skills
1 Shield skill
2 Two-handed skills
1 Character skill
Fixed an issue in the skill tree that prevented learning skills above level 1
Completely reworked the dungeon “The Old Mine”
So, over the past two weeks, I’ve been working on creating some new skills to give the game a bit more flavor. Overall, I’m quite happy with how they turned out. Nothing groundbreaking, of course, many of them are inspired by familiar abilities from other games. For example, the Archer’s new skill “Fanned Shot” is a little nostalgic for me… I still remember how, about 25 years ago, I spent countless hours shooting thousands of arrows into cows in a certain game. It doesn’t quite hit the same as back then, but I think it turned out pretty good for a start.
Some things are still tricky to implement, and I’m still figuring out how to get them working properly. In general, all skills will continue to evolve over time, especially since I haven’t had the chance to test everything thoroughly yet, so far, I’ve only done engine testing.
Skills that move the player toward a target are still problematic. For example, when dashing at an enemy, you might pass through them and attack where they used to be. It’s a bit finicky, and I’m looking for a fix, possibly by speeding up the movement.
Other movement-based skills include new leap attacks, now available in the Two-Handed weapon tree and the Character tree. These cause AoE damage at the landing point, so the “missed target” issue doesn’t apply here. However, there’s a small conflict with walls or objects the mouse can click through — meaning if you can click behind a wall, you can technically jump there. Currently, if the mouse can reach a spot, you can leap to it… even if it’s behind a wall.
That also means you could theoretically jump across the entire universe, if you can click it, you can go there. For example, if you’re standing on a tower and see a house 10 km away, you could jump right to it. (Same might apply to charge attacks.) I’m still working on a fix for that, probably adding a maximum range and maybe fall damage if you jump too far down. Then again, if someone decides to jump into a deep canyon… that’s on them 😄😄😄
Despite these quirks, I decided to include the skills anyway. If someone wants to jump into the void, let them. ^^
I’ll keep adding more skills gradually as time allows.
I also fixed a long-standing issue in the skill tree where skill prerequisites weren’t working properly, meaning the skill tree was technically broken for months. That should now be resolved.
And finally, I reworked the Old Mine. The previous version had become quite outdated, too big, messy, and full of spots where you’d get stuck on rocks. The new version is more compact and polished: there’s now a locked door that requires a key, a breakable rock wall revealing a new chamber, more ore deposits, and the named weapon has been moved to a new spot, and no longer requires a lockpick.
That’s pretty much everything important for this update. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be focusing mainly on adding new Points of Interest, quests, and items to keep the world growing.
Best regards,
Mark Koch
And never forget: Have Fun!