Hi everyone!
Today’s update brings several improvements focused on accessibility, onboarding, and playability across different resolutions and input methods.
Here’s what’s new:
🆕 Premade Characters
You can now jump straight into the arena with one premade character.
Perfect for new players or anyone who wants to skip early stat point decisions.
📘 Improved Tutorial & Combat Clarity
The tutorial gives a fast pass on the UI elements and provides combat tips.
A warning overlay for enemy opportunity attacks was also added for every difficulty level.
The goal is to make early fights easier to understand while keeping the game’s hardcore depth intact.
🖥️ Better Resolution & UI Compatibility
Multiple internal improvements were made to support uncommon aspect ratios, including 1280×800 (Steam Deck) and ultra-wide setups.
If anything still looks off on your screen, please let me know!
🎮 Controller + Steam Input Improvements
Chains on Sand now includes a dedicated Steam Input layout designed for:
Left stick → movement
Right stick → pointer control
Triggers → confirm/use
Face buttons → key combat actions
D-Pad → stance, maneuvers, spells
This layout should make the full game playable with a controller — no mouse required.
If you prefer keyboard/mouse, nothing changes for you.
🔧 Small Fixes & Improvements
Tooltip fixes
More consistent trap visuals
Various UI elements now scale correctly
Minor performance and quality-of-life adjustments
🧪 Steam Deck Feedback Needed!
I don’t own a Deck yet, so I’ve relied on internal testing and community reports.
With this update, Chains on Sand should be fully playable on Steam Deck (resolution tweaks + controller support), but I need real-world feedback to confirm:
Is the text readable enough?
Does the controller layout feel good?
Any UI elements clipped or too small?
Performance stable?
If you test it on your Deck, please let me know what works and what needs attention — it helps a lot and directly affects Deck rating evaluation.
Thank you all for the support and for helping the game grow.
The arena is always hungry. ⚔️🔥
— ThVaz