Welcome to the version 1.1 update!
It's been a while coming, but I've been squirreling away at a number of features and fixes that have been suggested by the community. Several systems have been re-written from scratch, and some new options have been added to allow you to tailor your experience more than ever!
Thanks again for all the community feedback and suggestions. As a solo dev, no amount of work will make the game better without players actually telling you what they want - so I'm super grateful for all of your comments.
So, what can you expect from this update?
MAP IMPROVEMENTS
So, I added a map marker in a previous update, but people were still having issues actually finding the map guy in the first place. The environments don't really have the visual fidelity and variety of something like Hollow Knight, so it's dead easy to get lost just trying to find the guy with the map!
Frustrating huh.
So, now the game waits until you've entered a 'dungeon' (like, the caves or catacombs for example). Then it places the map guy nearby, in a place that you HAVE to pass to progress.
I also update the visuals for the map, so the location marker is easier to spot when you're trying to find your way:
I know there were some requests that I DON'T add a map marker (some people really got into using the landmarks), and for you folks there's something a little later in this update ;)
SPIDER FORM
Spider form was clunky. Like, most of the forms are weird and that's kind of the point, but spider form was just annoying. Getting stuck on corners. Hopping into lava. Etc. Etc.
So I've rewritten it.
I really wanted to have a cool GIF to show off the new movement, but to be honest it's probably best told with a single before and after:
BEFORE
If you've played the game, then you know what's going on here. If not, well let me enlighten you!
I'm basically trying to retract the web to climb up past that corner, but it won't let me. I'm just glitching and getting stuck on the corner. It seems frustrating now, but just wait until you get to the caves...
AFTER[b/]
Seems like a tiny thing, right? It just pushes you around when you're trying to go up and you're close to an edge. But let me tell you, when you've built a game and not planned this kind of stuff in from the start, it's going to be a pain to add it in later. This is probably why you shouldn't work on a game for 4.5 years...
Anyway, moving on!
NEW OPTIONS
This is the last one I'm going to call out with a header and a picture, but I've added in a little more functionality.
In the main options menu, you'll now see an option for "UI Options". Well, here they are:
This is the least exciting screenshot I have ever taken...
So, we've got 3 options here:
Form tutorials
Currently it told you how to control each form every time you changed into that form (with an overlay). You can now change it so that you only see it the first time. If you forget, you can just change it back to 'repeat' in the options and it will show you again [REPEAT as default].
Map location
So, you like trying to orientate yourself just using landmarks? Well, you can still do that! Just turn the map location off in here. You'll still benefit from getting the maps sooner, but they won't feature the map marker unless you want them to [ON as default].
Gamepad icons
Those DualShocks are popular, huh? Personally I prefer a Switch Pro Controller, but each to their own ;)
You can now change the icons that show up so that it matches your pad. I tried to get this to automatically detect the pad type, but couldn't get it working. XBOX is on as default, but if you swap it to another in the options it will apply it to all your save games on the machine that you're using.
MORE STUFF
A lot of the other work has mainly been around optimising things, but here's a quick bullet-point list of the other improvements that are in this update:
- Lava isn't as harsh
- Can't get trapped by pillar before village because it's now gone
- Escape from the tower is now actually fair
- The map guy won't keep respawning if you're repeating a section
- Edge collision rewritten for spider (as above), fairy, mole and eagle forms
- Ghost no longer traps you in walls in you switch to human on the same frame as the wall collision occurs
- Parishioner fight should no longer return you to the start of the fight when you win in one specific room (weird bug, hours to debug, won't happen to many people but SO ANNOYING)
- Oh, probably the main one for this 'more stuff' section: I rewrote the death statue so that it will always spawn in a place that you can get to and is safe for you to stand (at least, in that the ground itself won't kill you)
I dunno why I lumped the statue thing in the 'more stuff' section tbh, it makes a big difference and was a pain to get working properly...
But, anyway, that's it for this update!
There's more coming, but hopefully it'll be more focused on fun stuff rather than polishing what's there!
Thanks again for all of the feedback and support, and I hope this update really improves the game for you :)
Cheers!
Andrew