Build 0.5.4.0 went live today and includes many more improvements. Any feedback on this build would be really helpful as the mechanics do change a bit. Here is what's been tweaked/fixed:
- Increased the speed by which the players pulls himself up onto a ledge by 50%
- Player will now respawn with full health and fire after dying. This is likely to be further tweaked.
- Sped up the shoot fireball animation by 30% to have it feel more responsive
- Adjusted the walking/running speed of the gnolls in the abandoned mines to be more fluid and responsive
- Changed hit detection with the bats in the abandoned mines making it easier to melee attack them. Originally the idea was for the player to crouch to avoid the bats and jump from platform to platform, but a lot of people weren't figuring this out so we changed the mechanics and just made it easier to kill them with melee
- Adjusted enemy pathing in The Abandoned Mines
- Adjusted enemy placement in Korrath Woods, The Abandoned Mines, The Hives and The Mountains of Orin
- Fireballs will no longer collide with ladders
- Zoomed the camera out on the World map by 40% to offer more visibility and easier navigation
- Decreased player's run speed by 10% on the world map
- Modified level design in Korrath Woods
And here is a couple new screenshots of what's to come in The Swamp of Green Mist. These shots are from the overworld. I'll continue to put up new screenshots throughout the coming weeks as well as give little background info on the area, types of enemies and new things you will encounter.
So besides learning more about the story, exploring new areas, learning new abilities and battling new enemies, what else do we have on the horizon? Lots. We listen to everyone's feedback and we encourage you all to share anything you'd like to see in the game. Some long-term changes we plan to make to the game include:
Improving the world map, from both a design standpoint and navigation standpoint. We want this to be a lot more polished and feel great. We may even hide more gold pieces in new and clever ways.
Adding maps for the dungeons. Yes, we hear you. But please understand why we do not offer maps at this time: we are going to continue altering level design throughout development, so every time we alter something we would have to alter the map and it's simply too much work, especially considering one person does nearly everything in this game. Yes, that's me, Sterling. Nice to meet you :)
Improve the AI and the battle system. Got my animators hard at work creating some new moves and attacks. They will likely go live in the Swamp of Green Mist content update, so expect some cool new moves. The existing AI will constantly be improved and new enemies will be much more advanced and do some cool things. I can't wait to share the enemies in the swamp of green mist.
A full soundtrack for the game. We've had a few requests for this and let me just explain why there isn't one yet. I write/record all of the music myself, do all the programming, design, manage all the artists, voice actors, freelancers etc etc etc. It's a lot of work, and I really want the music to be good and I record it all on an acoustic guitar so it's not as easy as just changing some notes on a keyboard. I have to record it all live and it has to be perfect, so ya... musicians you get me. It's a lot of work. I've written dozens of other songs and I'll continue to update and improve the music as the game goes. There WILL be a full soundtrack and it will be glorious... at least to me :) I may overlay some other instruments overtop and get really creative with it once I've fleshed out more of the core of the game and improved a lot of other things.
Well that's it for now. Expect lots more. I live, breathe and eat this game on a daily basis. Thank you for playing and reading. As always, I appreciate your feedback.
Sterling Selover
Stingbot Games