Ver 0.951a Patch Notes
RELEASE DATE: I'm targeting August 27th for the full release. I'm sorry if I end up needing another 2-4 weeks and end up delaying, but you should know that delay at least 2 weeks in advance. Of course, there will be more patches (especially balance + bugs + localization + hopefully content) leading up to and after release.
Today is mostly a balance patch, which means I'll probably focus on UI + Bugs + Initial Localization in the next patch. Stuff like having a way to see enemy shield, improved Map icon, battle depth indicator in top, book button for easier viewing in battle, etc. After that, I do want to push on Merchant Mini-Bosses and more item revisions (Diamond Wave, Scythe again, etc).
[ GAMEPLAY - Items ]
Dowsing Rod + Level 2 Upgrade
Old Dowsing Rod: Doubles the chance of legendary chests
New Dowsing Rod: Start Battle: Upgrade 1 chest to legendary.
In short, there is now a definitive guarantee of a legendary chest.
Hot Coal + Level 2 Upgrade:
Old Hot Coal: Start Turn: If enemies angry, draw 1 extra drop from coffer.
New Hot Coal: Start Turn: Draw 1 extra drop from coffer. If crate has a coal, enemies are angry.
Thus Hot Coal is more reliably going to generate early benefits, but you may get them upset if you have coal. (Sometimes this can be a good thing~)
Hot Coal Handle is now the old Gong Handle: +50% Strength if enemies angry.
Gong + Level 2 Upgrade:
Reduced Rarity from Legendary to Ultra Rare. (Players requested more ways to get extra draw.)
Old Gong: Start Turn: Draw 1 extra drop from coffer.
New Gong: Start Turn: Draw 1 extra drop from coffer. Wake sleeping enemies.
Note: If you make enemies sleep mid-combat, gong doesn't wake them up. Just at the start of each turn. (Thematically, you hit the gong, confusing them so you can get time to grab an extra drop. But this will wake up sleeping enemies.)
Gong and Hot Coal were previously too overlapping -- with Gong being a strictly better upgrade of Hot Coal. I wanted to add some differentiation here.
Red Cape Handle:
Old Red Cape Handle: +50% Strength if enemies angry. [This is now Hot Coal Handle.]
New Red Cape Handle: Start turn: If enemies angry, gain 4 shield.
Gold Rush Handle:
Old Gold Rush Handle: Coffer Refill: Drop gold coin.
New Gold Rush Handle: Doubles the shovel sell value when attached.
Note: If you replace an old handle, the old handle's sell value is removed before the doubling occurs. [This always happens when you replace a shovel handle.] Usually this is not a substantial amount, but be aware it's doubling the shovel sell value, not the shovel + handle sell value.
Purse Level 2 Upgrade:
Can't tell you, it's a secret, but you can unlock it in the game via the quests or by putting a Purse handle on the Purse shovel.
Meditation Beads (now "Prayer Beads" for UI reasons) + Level 2 Upgrade
Old Meditation Beads: Start Battle: Grow Base Strength by 3.
New Prayer Beads: End Turn: Grow Base Strength by 3 if no forges this turn.
So it's a somewhat passive item for the pacifist within~~~
Scythe + Level 2 Upgrade:
This one will need to be changed again soon, I still don't like it.
Old Scythe: Drop Coin or Gem: Each gold nugget in crate has a 1% chance to drop a gold nugget.
New Scythe: Drop Coin or Gem: 1% chance to drop gold nuggets = gold nuggets in crate.
In other words, a 1% chance (per drop) of doubling the number of gold nuggets in crate.
I'm considering making Scythe the current McDuck, and making a new McDuck. TBD.
[ GAMEPLAY - Enemies ]
Candle Enemies have been given abilities.
One type is "Heated" which makes itself and all allies angry.
Other type is "Bombastic" which sometimes throws bombs into crate. [Hinting at Bombadier.]
[ UI ]
Regular enemy attacks ("red pickaxe") are now slightly better both in positioning and timing -- they hit the side of the crate. There's still more improvements needed, but at least it's slightly more bearable now.
Some playtesters were able to collect over 999 gold nuggets, causing text spillover. So... Gold number can now support 5 digits. TAKE THAT!
[ BUGS ]
Copy Kitten handle was accidentally copying the wrong drop (one drop too "late"), now fixed.
"Hungry" mid-run boss was having issues with "angry" status, now fixed.
Mid Run Bosses, when you unlocked their chest, were being unlocked correctly, but a visual bug prevented this from being displayed properly, now fixed.
I think I also fixed the "Furious" Battle modifier, which was acting inconsistently.
Enemy Shield (e.g. "Arocknid") was blocking bombs. This is unintended, as the bombs are not considered rocks. Now fixed, that is, bombs always hurt enemies with shield.
[ FEEDBACK ]
"Feels pretty great so far! May have just gotten lucky to beat it on first try. Looking forward to release! :)"
Thank you! The Flower Girl early depths are intended to ease the player into the systems, but it's still quite a feat to tackle it on the first run! Please try some of the higher depths or Beetle Bane if you get a chance! (Sorry the game isn't clear yet about what unlocks.)
"Fun Stuff tried to just spam coins that didnt work lol Strategy is needed. Well Done. Make those enemies attack animations bigger"
Thank you for the kind words! Indeed, that was one of my "dev tests" -- if the player clicks without moving dropper, i.e. without strategy, I felt it "should" result in a loss at a normal difficulty level. I'm glad to hear that's the case! However, I've also heard demand for additional accessibility needs, which I'm reflecting on for a potential "Depth 0" or "Story Depth", something like that.
I've tried making the attack animations a little better, but more work is needed. Thank you for letting me know!
"Difficulty feels solid. Player needs a ghost coin of the upcoming coin on the drop line. I like that the coins highlight but a ghost coin that is following the cursor and drop line would feel great"
Thank you for the feedback on difficulty and also for the suggestion. I hadn't considered that, but I can probably make this a UI option down the road. My first instinct is to do it like how the "rocks" near the dropper are done, but let me reflect on it, as getting the size of the coin / gem right might be a little tricky (as the gem might be wider than the dropper shader). But maybe if it's just a "reminder" / "suggestion" rather than a pure prediction. There's another slightly tricky issue in that ghost gems are a real thing in the game (with the ghost rune) so I don't want to confuse players about that. But let me keep reflecting on it, I'm not opposed to the idea in principle and always strive to enable UI options to help players enjoy the game more.