Work is well underway on a large update that will bring a lot of QoL improvements to address feedback that's come in since the game released! The biggest addition on the way is an in-game map to help you better orient yourself in the city of Artahk.
The map will fill out with new areas and connections between zones automatically as you explore, and can be pulled up from anywhere with a dedicated keybind. It will highlight the current zone you're in (and you can toggle between viewing just that zone or the full world map), but there is not a marker of your exact current position--you'll still have to stay aware of your surroundings to find your way!
Other additions on the way include:
A way to get around faster late game when you've reached the point of scouring the map for things that you missed
An option to use a smoother, more readable font in the tome instead of the aesthetically fitting but rough on the eyes for some pixel font
An optional "hinting" system that can be enabled to give you a little bit of guidance on how to progress (Subtle hints highlighting items/lore/zones on that map that are pertinent to your next steps on the critical path, not outright telling you "you need to go here and do this")
Some improvements to the late game experience to spoilery to discuss
And even more little improvements on the way!
I'm aiming to have the update out by the end of the month, so be on the lookout!
A Note On Steam Deck Compatibility
Having now done some thorough testing, I'm pleased to say that the game plays beautifully on the Steam Deck! The only small issue I encountered is that when entering a word into the tome, the virtual keyboard covers enough of the screen that you can't see what you're typing, but this is a pretty minor annoyance. An official Steam Input layout for the game is now available that should make it effortless to play with a controller!
In light of how well Steam Input works and the dev time the map has ended up taking, native controller support has been made low priority and is unlikely to be included in the next update, but I will be trying to make some tweaks to smooth out the experience when playing with Steam Input! (Moving the input text box to avoid the issue mentioned above, for example)
As a reminder, the game has an official discord server where you can get more frequent updates and previews, click here to join! I've also posted some exclusive lore that didn't make the final cut for the game there that, at least for now, isn't available anywhere else!
May starlight guide your path,
Bismuth Tales
