Howdy Companions! Part three of our progress update continues. We're covering topics such as user experience and improvements to the game mechanics.
UI/UX Improvements
New Menu Screen
In the Demo, most people didn't see our Traitor mode! That's why playtesting is so important (duh)! The new menu screen is designed to be more user-friendly. The two game modes - Co-op and Traitor - are now in a more prominent location.
Other UI/UX improvements and Bug fixes
- Host Identification: There was earlier no way to know who the host was, especially if the earlier host disconnected and the host status was transferred to another client.
- UI improvements: We’ve made a few tweaks to the UI to make the game more intuitive. Pressing the Esc buttons will close the UI overlays first (before this, it always brought up the Settings screen). And other small improvements have been made for smoother navigation.
- Late Joiner Issues Resolved: Players who joined games in progress were experiencing syncing issues, which resulted in different gameplay experiences. E.g. Late joiners see open traps when it in actual fact was closed, or vastly different dungeons were generated. We’ve fixed this problem (hopefully).
Tweaks to Game Mechanics
You get a curse! You get a curse! Everyone gets a curse!
All players get a Death Curse by default at the start, in the Co-op Mode. Why? The Death Curse mechanics only kicked in when players died and respawned on Day 2, which delayed the introduction of the Death Curse concept. Therefore we decided to give everyone a curse when they start! So the fun/chaos starts earlier too!
Inventory Tweaks and UI
As you get deeper in the game, you may have upgraded your inventory and treasure carrying capability. And it was obvious that players needed a way to see how much they could carry. Secondly, we increased the item slot by one (now you can carry 5 items). This is also due to the change we made covered by the next point below.
Loot now includes potions and items
Abyssal Lands and Dungeon loot drops includes items such as potions, items, along with the original Adventurer Parts and the Coins. This makes life a little better, especially if you have no Gold left to buy items, you may pick up some life-saving items in the Lands or in the Dungeons.
Say, you end up deep in the Dungeons, lost and destined for death, and through sheer luck pick up a Teleport Stone and survive! What a story to tell! That's what we want to achieve!
Other changes to the mechanics:
- Gregory spawns on all maps now, previously it was a coin toss, 50/50 chance.
- Boomer Mine stuns Monsters (they slow down and attacks deal 0 damage) allowing you to escape
- Lurker, Bride, Mandrake, and Mannequin will re-target if they no longer detect you.
- Reward for completing each Quest loop (Gold and Black Coins)
- Dark Shrine will revive dead players at the Shrine instead of on the Island
- Multiple monsters can spawn in the same spawn spot in late stages
- Balance tweaks to Traitor mode (Players now can carry more than one Treasure, so Traitors don't always win)
Roadmap
- Working on a tool for players to change the phrases: make your own phrases and share with your friends
- A new monster who doesn't like people to stare, plus a few more, but we won't ruin the surprise
- More Treasures with special abilities
- New Dungeon rooms and magic doors
- New languages for the spells and phrases
Conclusion
We're working hard fixing bugs, and watching all the playtests and constantly improving the mechanics and user experience and content! Stay tuned for more updates, and as always, WISHLIST!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3265230/Cursed_Companions/
If you want to get in touch with us, join our Discord, or follow us on Twitter.
Regards,
The Devs at Crimson Forge Studios