Hello Reapers,
It's been a while since I did a major update on Grimslair! Thank you all who have played the game, given feedback regarding the mechanics/systems, and of course BUGS! I wanted to take the time to make this latest release pretty big and worth playing through another run!
First and Foremost:
This is a big one for me! If you have played Grimslair and have not left a review yet, please consider reviewing the game! Reviews really help indie games like this continue to grow and get seen by more players on Steam, and as a solo developer, every single one means a lot to me.
Leaving reviews is surprisingly difficult to get as a solo developer, so if you can take just 1 minute to write one, I would truly appreciate it. Whether it is positive or critical, an honest review helps a ton.
Thank you!
Anyways... ONWARD!
Here are the Major Updates to the Game:
MAC + LINUX SUPPORT - I have now included a Mac & Linux build of the game! So all types of players can join in the fun!
GORE / BLOOD VFX - I have added a new gore feature to the game that can potentially allow you to explode enemies if you hit them hard enough! It makes for a fun experience trying to become OP and eventually blowing up every enemy in your path! The blood VFX that previous builds had have also been updated on a much larger scale.
NEW ENEMIES - I have added a handful of new enemies that you will encounter during your runs!
Evil Watcher - This beast can pop up at any moment during your run and can be very deadly if you don't have enough card levels to fight against it. Also, running away is still an option, but it requires "25" Blood Money coins to turn this monster into a "Passive" one. So keep an eye on how many Blood Money coins you have in case he shows up.
Undead Bat - A new enemy type that will hit you 3 times in a row per Attack Card and can also freeze your Card Levels until the end of Combat with its Special card.
Succubus - A new enemy type that can heal all enemies on the battlefield, including herself, to full health with her Special Card (exhausts).
Ice Golem (BOSS) - I needed a Boss enemy for the new Snowy Ridge Location. He can stun both You and Your Dog for 2 turns when activated.
*(ALL ENEMY STATS HAVE BEEN UPDATED FOR FURTHER BALANCE)
*(ALL GRIM CARDS NOW LEVEL UP +1 VALUE EACH TIME THEY EXECUTE AGAINST ALL ENEMIES, INCLUDING BOSS ENEMIES)
*(ALL ENEMIES NO LONGER HAVE A 100 MAX HEALTH LIMIT AND CAN NOW GO UP TO 999,999 (this applies to those who want to go very far in Ascension Modes for a fun challenge))
NEW FINAL BOSS - When you reach 1 of the 4 Corner Portals to win the game, the previous build would simply allow you to travel back to the Chamber of Time to win the run... Not anymore! You must fight Grim to the death if you want to travel back and win the run. He is no easy task and has a special ability that can spawn random enemies during your encounter.
ALL LOCATIONS UNLOCKED AT START - Related to the Grim Boss update, you can now travel anywhere at any time during your run without locations being locked and blocking your path. Since the last location you need to be in has a BOSS, you can now walk right up to the Chamber Of Time Location to see if you can defeat him (be sure to level up your cards enough to "attempt" to beat him).
EVERY LOCATION NOW HAS A UNIQUE VENDOR - Every location now has a unique and different NPC you can shop from. And yes, you are still able to kill every vendor that you meet... (how could you?! haha)
NEW VISUALS (3D & 2D):
All cards have been updated with a more themed look for Grimslair and give it a more "gritty" feel. Cards are also easier to read and identify based on card type (i.e. Attack, Block, Utility, and Dog cards).
The 3D Table, during the gameplay sequence, now has bounding wood/sticks to give it a more "lived-in" look. Grim's Scythe also has a Bloody Shader on it to make it pop more.
The 2D Perks Table (where you collect and find all your unlocked perks) now has a Grimslair-like background behind it so that it's easier to look at and find the perk you want to look up while hovering.
The Main Menu has been completely overhauled to make things more minimalistic and also cooler to look at in general. The buttons on the main menu have also been updated to showcase the different enemy types in the game as well.
Some 2D elements like the Ascension Icon and Boss Icons have been updated to better reflect the Grimslair theme
Since all Grim Cards now level up during execution every time, they no longer showcase the "0/1" or "0/2" UI field in the top left since it is now irrelevant and just showcases the Boss Symbol (or not) and the card level.
Night Time System Update (Roguelike Mode) - The first time you use a Nightly Rest, every option will be "FREE" and then will cost +1 per soul type after that. Players were finding no use in the 1st night rest since sometimes they wouldn't find enemies that could give enough souls to purchase something. Now that it's FREE, you don't have to rely on finding enemies for that first night anymore.
EVENTS UPDATE - All events have been updated and now require that you have the full Blood Money and/or Gold to choose an option that requires it (previously it would allow you to choose the option even if you didn't have all the coins needed). Events will now happen at 3am instead of 3pm to allow the player to start their run without interference too early.
SNEAK ATTACK DICE UPDATE - All Sneak Attack Dice now include an additional "Fail" side on the dice (previously it was only on 1 side to test this out), but now that we have the data back from this, I have decided on having 2 faces for the Fail slot to make it a more fun challenge to overcome.
Health/Block/Indicator Update - All health/block/indicators have now been finalized with a new system that will always show the UI no matter how large the enemy model is.
New Steam Capsule Art
NEW ACHIEVEMENTS:
Kill Grim (Final Boss)
Kill Succubus
Kill Evil Watcher
Bloody Explode (trigger the new Gore system at least once)
BUG FIXES:
The GameObject that is supposed to allow the player to transition from the Chamber of Time to the gameplay table was sometimes deactivated, so I made sure that this GameObject is always ON now.
enemy cards would sometimes never draw on the first location (Graveyard), so I made sure to always have at least 1 enemy draw in the first 4 cards of the location every time.
Some players experienced "Loading" bugs that would not allow them to play the game in general. These have been fixed.
Some players experienced their Deck disappearing after loading and/or starting a new run. This has been fixed, and there are failsafes on the back end so that if a deck doesn't show up, it will pick one for you (you can always re-load your previous save if this happens).
Boss Cards were heavily unreliable when spawning the dice to roll for enemy count and would sometimes just sit there, allowing you to click on the boss cards over and over. This has been fixed.
"Taunt" Dog Battle Card would sometimes kill an enemy for no reason. This has been fixed.
Adam would sometimes start in the back of the Chamber Of Time during death and would not "fly back" like it should. This has been fixed.
When cancelling the Map UI (double click) during Map UI Procedural Generation, it would cause an audio annoyance since every tile was still being activated in the background. I have fixed this, and no audio should happen after double clicking.
Story Mode would sometimes change to Non-Story Mode after Ascending. This has been fixed.
Roguelike & Roguelite Modes have also been updated to make sure these don't switch in your save file.
All Enemies and their respective Animators (the systems that tell the game to hit Adam/Dog, heal, etc.) have all been meticulously reviewed, and I made sure everything is perfect in that regard. Sometimes enemies would attack twice for no reason, and I had to go through each enemy Animator's properties to perfect everything about the timing.
Thank you to everyone that has been waiting on the bug fixes and also communicated with me the issues that they have been having! Please post all bug reports in the latest and updated community forum.
Thank you, Reapers!
- Austin