Happy new year, folks!
December was filled with some behemoths that were tackled:
the engine was upgraded from UE 5.0 to 5.7. This undertaking involved changing a lot of UI and going through some arduous learning experiences with how the game is packaged differently from any of the other versions.
reworked the credits screen so that it would show during the demo as well as updating everyone who has helped me get this far.
the current theme is now showing, which should aid players in their choices for any items they earn during a run.
more balance was added to the first waltz act so that the demo could be more difficult. Ideally, this will be challenging but not impossible.
curation of assets, data tables, items, and probably a whole bunch of other areas I haven't mentioned so that the demo is well-confined to scope of the game players can access.
created 6 events for the demo.
removed unused packages and adjusted cooking strategy so that the total game package would be smaller.
UX:
added card visuals for "free cards" played to aid the player in understanding the state of battle.
the card titles had an opacity adjustment so that the art feels more seamless.
hadesCauldron: now shows which effects are triggering
Actions:
graveHate now updates damage more effectively to keep up with the state of battle
bleed doesn't show a magnitude anymore as it is fixed and irrelevant
Bug Fixes:
the correct energy gained, during the energize phase, is now illustrated in the floating text for the player.
stealthDrone was not always cleaning up its assets correctly, which left visual artifacts in later battles. This has been fixed.
gmsHandbook now displays tooltips correctly.
The way forward:
I'm working on getting a playtest branch ready for a few individuals who have agreed to give feedback. This will be key in balancing the game, determine how the performance is on multiple devices, and so much more that I haven't even begun to realize.
I also started some light marketing prep for the game. I can't discuss it yet, but just know that time has been dedicated to that avenue.