Greetings citizens of Mercia and welcome to Dev Blog #56!
Today’s Dev Blog will be smaller than our last as we had our extra issue on Monday in the form of Dev Blog #55, if you missed it check it out here.
To view all of our screenshots and images in full check out our full blog version over on our website: Dev Blog #56: Dev Updates, Ongoing Beta Features & Beta Patch Notes
To keep up to date with our Beta Patch Notes be sure to follow our Steam thread over here: V0.24 Beta Patch Notes Thread
We’ve got a mini Beta update, our Beta Patch notes for both the current build and our next build.
Dev Update – New Look Item Icons
Here is a mini Dev Update in the form of our Item Icons! We have given our item icons a more rustic-ish look to them (312 icons updated in total). For both columns, the images on the left are the previous versions and the images on the right are our new versions.
1. Bread Roll
2. Thread
3. Garlic
4. Wooden Animal Trap
5. Royal Tunic
6. Decorated Sallet Helmet
7. Book
8. Round Shield
Ongoing Beta Features
New Enemy Areas
Just as a little something here are a few examples of what some of our new enemy NPC locations will look like in our upcoming update. As these screenshots were taken from our Beta Test Map over on our Beta_Test server these layouts may change for the final versions.
As we mentioned in our previous Dev Blog #55 there will be more loot for players to find in our upcoming update. These new enemy areas will be dotted around the world of Mercia and will feature our new AI types, they won’t be giving up their loot easily!
This first screenshot shows an old farmyard barn that has been claimed by the Outlaws and Bandits of Mercia. The doorway to these barns will be barricaded up, these are comprised of three separate wooden planks that need to be smashed individually to break into these places rather than a door. As there are gaps between the planks you will be able to have a peek at what enemies are camped inside as well as their loot.
Down in the caves be sure to take a torch and a good weapon. Here lies rotting corpses, wooden crates, tables of loot and of course Bandits or deadly Beggars waiting to ambush you in the depths below.
Some areas such as these enemy Beggar houses have a new type of barricade, much like the Bandit barn hideouts, they even have their own farmland plots. If you venture on their land they will not hesitate to start a brawl with you.
These areas are more fortified featuring high fences and many enemies camping inside. These places have many buildings to explore, but as the Beggars and Bandits call it their home do not expect a warm welcome when stepping foot in these areas!
Lastly you may recognise these burnt out shells of buildings and houses. Monk Fanatics may be found lurking around here. These Monks wield maces that pack quite the hit, run away and you will be pelted with rocks they loot from the ground!
Increasing the Chat Box Text Size
As mentioned in our previous Dev Blog #55 , we have added a new option for Players that may be using larger resolution monitors when playing The Black Death, or for Players who may find it hard to read the default chat box text size.
We have also changed the way that the chat text appears in the chat box. Players will no longer look as though they are shouting! We have changed the font we use for text chat and Players can now optionally use the caps lock key when chatting.
If you do test this out on our Beta Test server and find that you are still having issues with the Chat box with your resolution, please send us a Bug Report here .
This setting can be changed in game by pressing the Esc key, then going to “Settings” and then the “Gameplay” tab. The option for “x1.25” and back to “x1” (default) are now available on our Beta server to test out!
This is what our x1.25 text size setting looks like for the Chat Box in game. This screenshot is from a monitor that has the resolution of 1920 x 1080. If you right click on this image and select “View Image…” it should load full size so you can see how large the text looks like. Or you could use “Set As Desktop Wallpaper…” to see a preview.
This is what our x1 text size setting looks like for the Chat Box in game. This screenshot is from a monitor that has the resolution of 1920 x 1080. If you right click on this image and select “View Image…” it should load full size so you can see how large the text looks like. Or you could use “Set As Desktop Wallpaper…” to see a preview.
New Player Written Book
A big thank you to Turev Schrodinger for sending in a Player written book! This is being added in game to our upcoming update. Keep an eye out for this one on your travels!
Turev Schrodinger – Plague Medical Notes For The Apprentice Doctor – Volume 1
Turev Schrodinger – Plague Medical Notes For The Apprentice Doctor – Volume 2
To send us your stories of Mercia please contact SIG_Emily by email at this address: [email protected]. We look forward to reading your entries!
For the full terms of entry check out our Steam forum sticky post here:
Stories Of Mercia: Write A Story For A Book In The Black Death!
Thank you in advance for your submissions!
Updates In The Current Beta Build
These are the updates from our last Dev Blog that made it into the Beta build:
Updated
- HUD fades in after loading screen has finished to be more fluid Lowered the opacity of the chat when it is not active so that it doesn’t draw the players attention away from gameplay.
New
- Poison now effects the player over time (similarly to how bandages do), updated UI to show the effects.
Fixed
- Fixed visual bug in UI when entering exiting an area, also reduced volume of sound effect that plays
- Fixed bug which caused items to be already partly damaged when you pick them up/craft them
- Fixes to the AI spawning
Updates For The Next Beta Build
These are fixes that we have been working on that will be in the next Beta build:
- Made the player model look more sickly when they are infected
- Updated/fixes to recipes to do with the quantity crafting and stacking
- Working on sick beggar AI type movement and animations
- Updated/balanced thirst rate
- Fixed naming error with milk procedural pickup
- Fixed naming error with Wooden Duck procedural pickup
- Updated shopkeeper item tooltip to stop it covering up the items in the shop
How To Download Our Beta Branch & Send Bug Reports
As always, if you do find any bugs or issues when playing on our Beta Test Server please fill in a Bug Report over on our Google Bug Form , every bug counts! When submitting bugs make sure to select “Version V0.xx (Beta)”.
For details on how to get onto our Beta branch check out this Steam post here.
There is now a Google Form that will appear in your web browser once The black Death has been closed after playing. This form will only load in your browser if you have been playing on the Beta branch. It is designed to help us gather feedback whilst it is still fresh in your thoughts after playing so we can get a clear impression on Player thoughts. We greatly appreciate your feedback and suggestions. Thank you in advance for your submissions.
That’s all for now, thanks for reading and see you next time!
// The SIG Team