Hey everyone!
I've been working like crazy to get Left-Hand Path's latest update out in time for Halloween, because appropriate. And I've just about made it!
Many of the criticisms I have recieved about Left-Hand Path were about the graphical quality. So this update massively improves the graphical quality.
I've completely redesigned the first area, Nehemoth, from the ground up.
- Complete geometry redesign for scale, realism and immersion.
- Much more attractive and realistic world textures mostly taken from real-world 3D scans.
- Many, many, MANY new, higher-quality objects, some with new interactions.
- Doors with physics interactions.
- Minor plot improvements.
I've made significant improvements to the graphics in the second area, Sathariel:
- Complete entrance redesign for immersion and beauty.
- Trees completely redone. They don't dance any more.
- 2.7x draw distance increase. (I wanted to do this in the first release but the graphical performance wasn't there. Now it is.)
- Upgraded textures in many areas, once again using a lot of 3D scan textures.
- Better rocks. Might seem small but there are quite a lot of rocks :)
I've also made a number of graphical improvements generally:
- Implemented a general color correction shader which makes everything prettier.
- Upgraded the game to Unity 5.4 and enabled Single-Pass Stereo, which means framerate is much higher.
- Completely redesigned the teleport effect to look, well, magical.
- Overhauled the Light spell completely - less saturation, more shadows. Can't believe how much of an improvement this was!
- Added customisable draw distance for those of you with uber-powerful rigs.
I've also added rather a lot of new features including some that I've had a lot of requests for:
- Completely new save game system - multiple save slots, Steam Cloud Saves, the works.
- Completely new UI system - accessible from the right-hand Application Menu button (above the trackpad).
- New locomotion method - Room Extender. I absolutely love this thing and it's now my preferred way to play Left-Hand Path. Hold down the right pad to move significantly further as you walk around your play area. You can use this to navigate most of the game by just walking. Give it a try - if it works for you, it's incredibly immersive.
- Totally redesigned the Trackpad Locomotion. Now works more or less like Vivecraft - point in the direction you want to move. Added a few other subtle features to increase comfort too - let me know what you think.
- Minor thing, but the Luxtera talent can now be toggled, so it's no longer the "tunnel vision and sudden death" talent.
I've also fixed a load of bugs. Notably the archers no longer vibrate on the spot, I've fixed a bunch of pathfinding problems, and I'm afraid Sathariel's guardian no longer spews Husks like a fountain when she dies.
I've also made a few other minor balance changes. Notably, I've lessened the power of the dark spirit known as RNGsus over the Soulless in Sathariel.
All of this, by the way, is in preparation for the release of the next big area in Left-Hand Path, Gamichicoth. That's coming in a few weeks, and it's huge - it more than doubles the length of the game. (It's been delayed because I got rather ambitious with it, and the bugfinding is taking forever.)
Enjoy, and as always, let me know what you think! I'll be F5ing my messages on Reddit, Steam and Twitter like crazy this weekend, so if you hit any problems, give me a shout and I'll work to solve them, as 24 would say, in real time.