Hello!
For those of you that have chosen to opt into to the Public_Beta Build of the game will now get to experience and test out some of the new features available that are being worked on for the 0.3 "Expanded Questing" update coming soon.
I've been busy the past two weeks with the implementation of the Bounties system which has long been something spoken about by myself in comments and in the forums. I've continued to rework more of the Quest system and I think this update not only makes it easier to earn money but also ties a lot of the Quest system together.
The update also adds the introduction of Villains into the game. Menaces of your kingdom that you must hunt down and slay to rid your Kingdom of the evil they possess. You do this by combining both types of Quest and completing Bounties until you've gained enough knowledge about them to hunt them down and kill them. Both Bounties and Villains are very basic at the moment, but the framework is now there and I'll continue to flesh them out more over time but I really do think it already gives much more purpose and direction to questing.
I've made another few changes here and there, some graphical changes and new sound design elements that I've been meaning to get around to for a while now. It seems that it's very much a case of prioritising the focus of my work based on how much something is annoying me such as "having no sound playing when I hit the play or fastforward buttons" or "this temporary text really needs to be changed into a graphic at somepoint" - so I've made a few changes here and there. Check the notes below if you're interested.
AS USUAL, YOUR CURRENT SAVES WILL LIKELY BE CORRUPTED WITH THIS UPDATE SO IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT YOU DELETE YOUR PREVIOUS SAVE GAME AND START A NEW ONE.
Update Notes
New Features
- Added Difficulty and Game Duration Setting
- New Ambient Sounds
- Ambient Sound Slider now available in Options
- New Notice Board Object
- Added Bounties
- Added Villain Tracking
- Added New Song to Soundtrack
- Added New Sound Effects
Optimisation
- Added Control Hints when Placing Buildings
- Made Radio buttons fit UI Style better
- Updated Trees
- Made Radio buttons fit UI Style better
Balance
- Minor Balance Changes
Bug Fixes
- Fixed bug causing game timer to continue during an Epic Quest choice
- Fixed Resolution Scaling Slightly
- Fixed Building Placement Offset
- Fixed bug locking Custom Quests after 3 uses.
- Other minor bugs fixed
So what's next?
Well, this stage is nearly done. There's only a few more features left to add (tutorials, kingdom objectives, more quest feedback etc.) before reaching 0.3 and going public with that update. Assuming that they're not to tasking I'm aiming to have 0.3 Public for everyone by the end of December.
I have a strong feeling I'll be avoiding those awkward family encounters over the holiday period by working more on the game for you all. So, thank you for giving me a reason to get out of it. :P
Regards,
Skatanic Studios.
P.S - I'm always scouting the forums so be sure to leave feedback/suggestions/ego boosting comments there for me to read. I really do appreciate hearing from you and hopefully you see some of the changes your suggestions have made :)