May 7, 2015
Catacomb Kids - FourbitFriday
Mad quick super small bugfix update!

Controller doesn't stop rumbling upon death Tutorial ghost is aggressive Tutorial text background is offset Debug keys are active??? (could not reproduce)

~Enjoy
May 7, 2015
Catacomb Kids - FourbitFriday
Mad quick super small bugfix update!

Controller doesn't stop rumbling upon death Tutorial ghost is aggressive Tutorial text background is offset Debug keys are active??? (could not reproduce)

~Enjoy
May 7, 2015
Catacomb Kids - FourbitFriday
It’s that time again!

A not insignificant number of changes in this build, such as the game now being w i d e s c r e e n, with an accompanying UI overhaul, and Wordsmiths not being entirely useless! Also, there’s a Daily Run mode! I’m still working out some kinks though, so everyone’s levels and kids might not be as-exactly-the-same as I’d like for them to be eventually -- especially between different OSes. There’s also a lack of proper Leaderboards and such, which will also be coming in the future. But hey, the foundation is laid. Just needs to be built upon, now!

For the next month I’ll be focusing on finishing up the Poet (finally), adding the long-awaited new class, and working a bit more on the Daily Runs -- in addition to some Secret Things that I’ll not speak of here. I also anticipate touching up the level generator a bit, with new rooms and some funky new transitional stages, as well as more fundamental changes that’ll become necessary as I progress on to the Anticropolis.

Full changelog below:
Fixes Crash when gorhound corpses are destroyed Pressure plates aren't properly held down by the player Class abilities don't appear when equipped to the third spell slot Controllers rumble when not in use Can't walk on lava with boots of gossamer Corrected text descriptions for certain Boons "Stuck!" text and noise spamming when in contact with purple slime Aiming boulders downward with Trajectory kills you Grumbuls spaz out in water Armless enemies still punch Legless enemies are mad whack Flame Wave direction doesn't change through portals Can take damage when going through the exit door Can unstow and hold items without arms Entering a level with one leg causes kids to fly upwards The Reaper can strand player in the reaper room if distracted by another enemy Black Chests can spawn Growth Spells from the Black Chest twitch oddly Spells from the Black Chest can be stown Reaper's diving spin attack is basically instant-kill (oops) Some bugs with properly choosing keyboard and gamepad inputs Twins exit door can spawn on top of entrance door Reaper gets drawn behind the environment after doing its super Skeletal Mages leave no corpses Black Chest missing noise when opened Boulders don't release properly when grabbed for rolling Crash when throwing a bottle of goo or slime through a torch Flame Wave doesn't change direction through portals properly Dragon's Breath doesn't ignite explosive gas Overloaded Frost Bolt (Glacial Grinder) doesn't cost a charge star Overloaded Slow (Pause) doesn't cost a charge star Crash when sprinting up walls with glacial footwear Pouncing on frozen enemies is mad whack New Stuff UI overhaul Daily Run Mode (WIP) Wordsmith Charged Tome abilities Changes Duelist now slows all enemies on screen, not just the ones targeting you Added targeting reticle to duelist Overwhelming made more visually obvious Max HP caps out at 25 Spellbooks are destroyed after one use Crush/Spike traps no longer trigger at all with boots of gossamer Spellbooks can only be used once Tome abilities come out much faster Failing to identify a potion now results in a message Might is now called Might instead of Strength sometimes Disarm and Extra Tough switched places in the boon order Byat holes now spawn a maximum of 5 Byats Fire and Ice Tome attack burns for a shorter duration "Pickpocket" changed to "Pilfer" "Pilfer" steals shoes, hats, and weapons from enemies if you are shoeless, hatless, or unarmed Portal no longer illuminates the darkness Can no longer move portal outside of the view when aiming it Poisoned slime poisons enemies when used to blind them Can now aim Tome spells Headless skeletons are blind Tier 3 taunt no longer grants might Tier 2 taunt weakness wears off faster Shopkeeper gets mad a little more easily Spirit followers have slightly more hp Spirit followers shoot faster Spirit followers don't return to you between shots Ogo now ignore wooden platforms like oog do Enemies become more aggressive when taunted Alterations to Reaper -of Stopping procs less frequently and for a shorter duration Striking paused foes always unpauses them Shadow Cloak lasts slightly longer Tomes attacks cost the same amount, regardless of entities affected Tomes start with more charges Temporal Tricks' Tome attack deals damage now Enemies have a brief warning before casting spells or executing any nonstandard moves Most trances last longer Charge stars restore energy when used Charge stars auto-collect (like coins) if any trances or overloads are empty [experimental] Spellwright's aimed spells are no longer offset in front of you Tomes don't consume book charges if they fail Next Build TO-DO Finish Poet (For Realsies)! New Class! Daily Run Leaderboard / General Stat-Tracking
May 7, 2015
Catacomb Kids - FourbitFriday
It’s that time again!

A not insignificant number of changes in this build, such as the game now being w i d e s c r e e n, with an accompanying UI overhaul, and Wordsmiths not being entirely useless! Also, there’s a Daily Run mode! I’m still working out some kinks though, so everyone’s levels and kids might not be as-exactly-the-same as I’d like for them to be eventually -- especially between different OSes. There’s also a lack of proper Leaderboards and such, which will also be coming in the future. But hey, the foundation is laid. Just needs to be built upon, now!

For the next month I’ll be focusing on finishing up the Poet (finally), adding the long-awaited new class, and working a bit more on the Daily Runs -- in addition to some Secret Things that I’ll not speak of here. I also anticipate touching up the level generator a bit, with new rooms and some funky new transitional stages, as well as more fundamental changes that’ll become necessary as I progress on to the Anticropolis.

Full changelog below:
Fixes Crash when gorhound corpses are destroyed Pressure plates aren't properly held down by the player Class abilities don't appear when equipped to the third spell slot Controllers rumble when not in use Can't walk on lava with boots of gossamer Corrected text descriptions for certain Boons "Stuck!" text and noise spamming when in contact with purple slime Aiming boulders downward with Trajectory kills you Grumbuls spaz out in water Armless enemies still punch Legless enemies are mad whack Flame Wave direction doesn't change through portals Can take damage when going through the exit door Can unstow and hold items without arms Entering a level with one leg causes kids to fly upwards The Reaper can strand player in the reaper room if distracted by another enemy Black Chests can spawn Growth Spells from the Black Chest twitch oddly Spells from the Black Chest can be stown Reaper's diving spin attack is basically instant-kill (oops) Some bugs with properly choosing keyboard and gamepad inputs Twins exit door can spawn on top of entrance door Reaper gets drawn behind the environment after doing its super Skeletal Mages leave no corpses Black Chest missing noise when opened Boulders don't release properly when grabbed for rolling Crash when throwing a bottle of goo or slime through a torch Flame Wave doesn't change direction through portals properly Dragon's Breath doesn't ignite explosive gas Overloaded Frost Bolt (Glacial Grinder) doesn't cost a charge star Overloaded Slow (Pause) doesn't cost a charge star Crash when sprinting up walls with glacial footwear Pouncing on frozen enemies is mad whack New Stuff UI overhaul Daily Run Mode (WIP) Wordsmith Charged Tome abilities Changes Duelist now slows all enemies on screen, not just the ones targeting you Added targeting reticle to duelist Overwhelming made more visually obvious Max HP caps out at 25 Spellbooks are destroyed after one use Crush/Spike traps no longer trigger at all with boots of gossamer Spellbooks can only be used once Tome abilities come out much faster Failing to identify a potion now results in a message Might is now called Might instead of Strength sometimes Disarm and Extra Tough switched places in the boon order Byat holes now spawn a maximum of 5 Byats Fire and Ice Tome attack burns for a shorter duration "Pickpocket" changed to "Pilfer" "Pilfer" steals shoes, hats, and weapons from enemies if you are shoeless, hatless, or unarmed Portal no longer illuminates the darkness Can no longer move portal outside of the view when aiming it Poisoned slime poisons enemies when used to blind them Can now aim Tome spells Headless skeletons are blind Tier 3 taunt no longer grants might Tier 2 taunt weakness wears off faster Shopkeeper gets mad a little more easily Spirit followers have slightly more hp Spirit followers shoot faster Spirit followers don't return to you between shots Ogo now ignore wooden platforms like oog do Enemies become more aggressive when taunted Alterations to Reaper -of Stopping procs less frequently and for a shorter duration Striking paused foes always unpauses them Shadow Cloak lasts slightly longer Tomes attacks cost the same amount, regardless of entities affected Tomes start with more charges Temporal Tricks' Tome attack deals damage now Enemies have a brief warning before casting spells or executing any nonstandard moves Most trances last longer Charge stars restore energy when used Charge stars auto-collect (like coins) if any trances or overloads are empty [experimental] Spellwright's aimed spells are no longer offset in front of you Tomes don't consume book charges if they fail Next Build TO-DO Finish Poet (For Realsies)! New Class! Daily Run Leaderboard / General Stat-Tracking
Mar 30, 2015
Catacomb Kids - FourbitFriday
Just a quick bugfix build
Fixes Crash upon defeating the reaper Plague overload and trance costs no charge stars Slow overload costs Magic Blast charge stars Removed "L" debug key for disabling lighting Crash if killed while in Force Bubble Crash when casting overloaded Raise Dead Flame Form burns your own spellbook Crashes when killing yourself with dragon breath Water looks weird at times Magic blast overload costs 4 charges instead of 2 Spell-slotted class abilities cost energy Portal shows a cost of 3.5 Leveling weapon skills via Bully class-up still rounds them down Leveling weapon skills via Bully class-up doesn't remove 0-Skill traits Game crashes when whirlwind and flame wave meet Looting corpses tips over torches
Mar 30, 2015
Catacomb Kids - FourbitFriday
Just a quick bugfix build
Fixes Crash upon defeating the reaper Plague overload and trance costs no charge stars Slow overload costs Magic Blast charge stars Removed "L" debug key for disabling lighting Crash if killed while in Force Bubble Crash when casting overloaded Raise Dead Flame Form burns your own spellbook Crashes when killing yourself with dragon breath Water looks weird at times Magic blast overload costs 4 charges instead of 2 Spell-slotted class abilities cost energy Portal shows a cost of 3.5 Leveling weapon skills via Bully class-up still rounds them down Leveling weapon skills via Bully class-up doesn't remove 0-Skill traits Game crashes when whirlwind and flame wave meet Looting corpses tips over torches
Mar 28, 2015
Catacomb Kids - FourbitFriday
HEY.

So here's the first full month update for CK! It's a lotta bugs addressed, gasses re-gassed, trances trancified, and goo balls ga-boinked.

Hope you're not too disappointed if you were lookin' for a new class and daily run mode. Between GDC, getting ready to move, and addressing bugs, I figured it'd be better to focus in this build on several less involved things so as to get you all something substantial rather than half-assin' two major features without first addressing the existing issues.

As I was working on those other tasks and thinking about classes, however, I hit upon a bit of a problem. My plan has always been to completely finish the Poet and bully Before moving on to the next classes - so that they can serve as sort of a template and guideline for the others in terms of scope and ability. However, as I tried briefly to tackle finishing the Poet this past month I found the UI unable to accommodate the vision I have in mind for the class.

So now, fixing up the UI has become a much larger priority if I am to finish the Poet and move on to the other classes quickly as planned, so that's going to be the first order of business going into April.

Don't be a blue blob, though! I had always planned on redoing the UI once co-op was implemented, and to change the game to a 16:9 aspect ratio. It's just gonna happen now rather than later. This is also good news because the new UI will be made specifically with multiple players in mind, meaning I'll be able to jump into work on Co-op much sooner than the 'later' I had planned.

So that's what's coming in the future, but let's check out the now: You can find the full patch notes for alpha 0.0.8 below!

Fixes Fixed some issues with level connectivity Orb of leveling spawns in walls Non-humanoid enemies try to drop weapons when parried with Disarm Grumbuls will attack mushrooms even when they're held by an invisible player ACTUALLY fixed infinite byat flapping For real this time Removed debug shortcut for activating 'tome' ability Fixed crash when dying while talking to the ghost Trampling enemies with Stampede now makes them target you Raise Dead spirit followers now properly follow you through doors Chain lightning cost unaffected by energy overcharge Spells equipped to slot 3 offset text alinment for alt spell charge count "Your lantern goes out" text stays for as long as you hold a spent lantern Rats don't bleed Moving portals into boulders gets them stuck Lifting boulders sometimes drops them on your head Can't walk backwards while charging hammer focus strike Crush trap chain sound continues even after breaking Spaz out when dragging boulders Crash when throwing certain enemies with trajectory Potions caught in explosions boil infinitely Performance improvements (Ever-in-Progress) Item bottles played no sound when broken Whirlwind doesn't cause items to hit enemies Some Trances cast the Overload versions of spells 'Acrobatic' overrides taunt combo input Ladders interfere with Sword Skill 1 and Axe Skill 3 (Downwards Thrust, Earth Splitter) Reduced number draw calls for Temporal Step. Hopefully this fixes a crash? "+" symbol offset when learning 1x1 spells Balls of goo stay suspended in air if the wall they're stuck to is removed Rerolling transitional levels doesn't bring you back to the same level type Trances don't follow from floor to floor -of Escape doesn't escape Simple enemies die when they touch immobile boulders New Stuff More Spell Trances Charge Stars Overhauled Gasses Changes Globally reduced enemy damage on the first few floors Enemy damage ramps up more gradually Shadow Cloak wears off much faster Statuses from armors "Of The Ghost" and "Of Power" wear off faster Portal has fewer charges Infernus has fewer charges Balls of Goo have increased knockback Balls of Goo bounce off of the environment and creatures Being jumped on no longer immediately removes invisibility Leveling up weapon skills no longer rounds them down Being struck while speaking with the ghost will exit the menu Fishahnas can no longer crit Byats only crit on their charged attack Moved "show info" to 'F1', instead of '1' Looking around with lanterns shifts the view Refueling lanterns gives a bit more fuel Reduced size of camera influence area during reaper summon Changes to lava and water appearance Made spirit followers more accurate Slime-blinded enemies are more blind Mushrooms now only grow with each poison burst Some level generator changes Added option to control config menu to use class abilities Changed collision shape of broken crush traps Casting portal on top of a door breaks the door Wet status shown in pause menu Bottles and other items continue to make noise after first impact Bottles of Lava Potions slightly more fragile Potions won't identify if the target is immune to their effects Swarm Form is now the Trance of plague, rather than its Overload Things thrown with Trajectory can pass thru portals Can't go through level exits while attacking Can't go through level exits while looking around with lantern Purple Slimes ignore wooden bridges The Twins' door locks behind you when the fight begins The Grumbul Tank entrance door stays locked after the fight Minor changes to Level Generation Minor changes to enemy AI The Cursor Keys, Enter, and Escape always work on the main menu Press Delete to unassign individual keyboard controls and backspace to reset to default Some Changes to Potions New Potion "Colors" Next Build TO-DO Overhaul UI Make game 16:9 Finish Poet? Add Daily Run mode
(note: These are the actual, real changelog notes. Any others are dumb liars.)
Mar 28, 2015
Catacomb Kids - FourbitFriday
HEY.

So here's the first full month update for CK! It's a lotta bugs addressed, gasses re-gassed, trances trancified, and goo balls ga-boinked.

Hope you're not too disappointed if you were lookin' for a new class and daily run mode. Between GDC, getting ready to move, and addressing bugs, I figured it'd be better to focus in this build on several less involved things so as to get you all something substantial rather than half-assin' two major features without first addressing the existing issues.

As I was working on those other tasks and thinking about classes, however, I hit upon a bit of a problem. My plan has always been to completely finish the Poet and bully Before moving on to the next classes - so that they can serve as sort of a template and guideline for the others in terms of scope and ability. However, as I tried briefly to tackle finishing the Poet this past month I found the UI unable to accommodate the vision I have in mind for the class.

So now, fixing up the UI has become a much larger priority if I am to finish the Poet and move on to the other classes quickly as planned, so that's going to be the first order of business going into April.

Don't be a blue blob, though! I had always planned on redoing the UI once co-op was implemented, and to change the game to a 16:9 aspect ratio. It's just gonna happen now rather than later. This is also good news because the new UI will be made specifically with multiple players in mind, meaning I'll be able to jump into work on Co-op much sooner than the 'later' I had planned.

So that's what's coming in the future, but let's check out the now: You can find the full patch notes for alpha 0.0.8 below!

Fixes Fixed some issues with level connectivity Orb of leveling spawns in walls Non-humanoid enemies try to drop weapons when parried with Disarm Grumbuls will attack mushrooms even when they're held by an invisible player ACTUALLY fixed infinite byat flapping For real this time Removed debug shortcut for activating 'tome' ability Fixed crash when dying while talking to the ghost Trampling enemies with Stampede now makes them target you Raise Dead spirit followers now properly follow you through doors Chain lightning cost unaffected by energy overcharge Spells equipped to slot 3 offset text alinment for alt spell charge count "Your lantern goes out" text stays for as long as you hold a spent lantern Rats don't bleed Moving portals into boulders gets them stuck Lifting boulders sometimes drops them on your head Can't walk backwards while charging hammer focus strike Crush trap chain sound continues even after breaking Spaz out when dragging boulders Crash when throwing certain enemies with trajectory Potions caught in explosions boil infinitely Performance improvements (Ever-in-Progress) Item bottles played no sound when broken Whirlwind doesn't cause items to hit enemies Some Trances cast the Overload versions of spells 'Acrobatic' overrides taunt combo input Ladders interfere with Sword Skill 1 and Axe Skill 3 (Downwards Thrust, Earth Splitter) Reduced number draw calls for Temporal Step. Hopefully this fixes a crash? "+" symbol offset when learning 1x1 spells Balls of goo stay suspended in air if the wall they're stuck to is removed Rerolling transitional levels doesn't bring you back to the same level type Trances don't follow from floor to floor -of Escape doesn't escape Simple enemies die when they touch immobile boulders New Stuff More Spell Trances Charge Stars Overhauled Gasses Changes Globally reduced enemy damage on the first few floors Enemy damage ramps up more gradually Shadow Cloak wears off much faster Statuses from armors "Of The Ghost" and "Of Power" wear off faster Portal has fewer charges Infernus has fewer charges Balls of Goo have increased knockback Balls of Goo bounce off of the environment and creatures Being jumped on no longer immediately removes invisibility Leveling up weapon skills no longer rounds them down Being struck while speaking with the ghost will exit the menu Fishahnas can no longer crit Byats only crit on their charged attack Moved "show info" to 'F1', instead of '1' Looking around with lanterns shifts the view Refueling lanterns gives a bit more fuel Reduced size of camera influence area during reaper summon Changes to lava and water appearance Made spirit followers more accurate Slime-blinded enemies are more blind Mushrooms now only grow with each poison burst Some level generator changes Added option to control config menu to use class abilities Changed collision shape of broken crush traps Casting portal on top of a door breaks the door Wet status shown in pause menu Bottles and other items continue to make noise after first impact Bottles of Lava Potions slightly more fragile Potions won't identify if the target is immune to their effects Swarm Form is now the Trance of plague, rather than its Overload Things thrown with Trajectory can pass thru portals Can't go through level exits while attacking Can't go through level exits while looking around with lantern Purple Slimes ignore wooden bridges The Twins' door locks behind you when the fight begins The Grumbul Tank entrance door stays locked after the fight Minor changes to Level Generation Minor changes to enemy AI The Cursor Keys, Enter, and Escape always work on the main menu Press Delete to unassign individual keyboard controls and backspace to reset to default Some Changes to Potions New Potion "Colors" Next Build TO-DO Overhaul UI Make game 16:9 Finish Poet? Add Daily Run mode
(note: These are the actual, real changelog notes. Any others are dumb liars.)
Mar 22, 2015
Catacomb Kids - FourbitFriday
So, it’s been a little over a month since the Early Access release!

Q: How’s it going so far?

A: GOOD.

Following the first quick bugfix build a few days after the initial steam launch, I continued working on fixing bugs and crashes, and easing back into game dev mode after the hectic weeks leading up to Early Access.

Then, March kicked off with the Game Developer’s Conference, where I gave a talk about procedural level generation. People seemed to like it, so that’s cool! Since I had to gather some resources and make slides for that presentation anyway, I’m gonna use that as an excuse/jumping-off point to finally do a write-up about CK’s level generation that I’ve been talking about making for a while, so look forward to that happening sometime very soon.

At GDC I also met a ton of rad people working on groovy things, like moppppin, who’s making Downwell, and Tim Keenan, who got me excited for Duskers, and Nihilocrat, who does cool nice things that I dig. And, I mean, there were a ton of other folks. Like wow so many — all doing groovy cool rad things. Jeez, just too many.

--

Anyway, after recovering from GDC and getting that wombat of creativity dug down in my gut again, I got back to The Kids.

Since the EA release I’ve been keepin’ three eyes on Twitch streamers and Youtube Let’s Plays of the game - due in part to narcissism but also so that I can see the areas people are having trouble with, take note of bugs and balance issues, and laugh at their many, many (many, many) deaths. Watching these videos has brought about a few balancing changes, like making enemies hit softer on the earlier floors, severely shortening the duration of the spell Shadow Cloak, and a few other tweaks and changes to make the game easier or harder in the proper places.

I mean really, why did Shadow Cloak even last that long in the first place?

--

During the Monday streams, I continued work on Trance, adding another valuable tool to the player’s arsenal. Trance is the counterpart boon to Overload: where Overload focuses on making spells more outwardly powerful, Trances are more about imbuing the player with a more passive aspect of the spell. This doesn’t mean that Trances are always merely defensive - though that is a trend they have - but that rather than having an immediate outward effect, they grant the player some trait or ability that persists for a short duration.

I’ve also made Trance and Overload require Charge Stars, which was actually the intention for them all along but which I didn’t have finished in time for the release. Essentially, casting a spell as an Overload or Trance will cost a kind of spell charge called a ‘Star’, and that spell can’t be Overloaded or Trance’d again until its Charge Star has been recovered. Charge Stars can be found in fancy chests and may sometimes be dropped by tougher enemies.

They also make a nice sound when they hit the ground; a consequence of the work Hryx and Doseone have been doing to make the game sound amazing.

Hey did I mention how pumped I am to have Doseone working on the game? I don’t think I have, so there’s that. Him and Stevie have been killin’ it together aurally for nearly a year now, and I can’t wait to make some headway on the Anticropolis so you guys can hear the beauty it’s shaping up to be even in these early stages.

Lastly and most recently, I’ve set to work knocking out some of the inefficiencies of the code that had been having a significant impact on performance. Not least among these elements are gasses, which have been completely reworked. They now are able to spread around corners an be blown around by Whirlwind, in addition to their previous functions. This is also good because gasses will be an important aspect of the Anticropolis, and even moreso the Deep Dark.

--

So that’s how my month has gone. The first real monthly build update to the game will happen sometime later this week, and include all of the above changes plus a bunch more, as well as a couple other announcements.

Look forward to it!
Mar 22, 2015
Catacomb Kids - FourbitFriday
So, it’s been a little over a month since the Early Access release!

Q: How’s it going so far?

A: GOOD.

Following the first quick bugfix build a few days after the initial steam launch, I continued working on fixing bugs and crashes, and easing back into game dev mode after the hectic weeks leading up to Early Access.

Then, March kicked off with the Game Developer’s Conference, where I gave a talk about procedural level generation. People seemed to like it, so that’s cool! Since I had to gather some resources and make slides for that presentation anyway, I’m gonna use that as an excuse/jumping-off point to finally do a write-up about CK’s level generation that I’ve been talking about making for a while, so look forward to that happening sometime very soon.

At GDC I also met a ton of rad people working on groovy things, like moppppin, who’s making Downwell, and Tim Keenan, who got me excited for Duskers, and Nihilocrat, who does cool nice things that I dig. And, I mean, there were a ton of other folks. Like wow so many — all doing groovy cool rad things. Jeez, just too many.

--

Anyway, after recovering from GDC and getting that wombat of creativity dug down in my gut again, I got back to The Kids.

Since the EA release I’ve been keepin’ three eyes on Twitch streamers and Youtube Let’s Plays of the game - due in part to narcissism but also so that I can see the areas people are having trouble with, take note of bugs and balance issues, and laugh at their many, many (many, many) deaths. Watching these videos has brought about a few balancing changes, like making enemies hit softer on the earlier floors, severely shortening the duration of the spell Shadow Cloak, and a few other tweaks and changes to make the game easier or harder in the proper places.

I mean really, why did Shadow Cloak even last that long in the first place?

--

During the Monday streams, I continued work on Trance, adding another valuable tool to the player’s arsenal. Trance is the counterpart boon to Overload: where Overload focuses on making spells more outwardly powerful, Trances are more about imbuing the player with a more passive aspect of the spell. This doesn’t mean that Trances are always merely defensive - though that is a trend they have - but that rather than having an immediate outward effect, they grant the player some trait or ability that persists for a short duration.

I’ve also made Trance and Overload require Charge Stars, which was actually the intention for them all along but which I didn’t have finished in time for the release. Essentially, casting a spell as an Overload or Trance will cost a kind of spell charge called a ‘Star’, and that spell can’t be Overloaded or Trance’d again until its Charge Star has been recovered. Charge Stars can be found in fancy chests and may sometimes be dropped by tougher enemies.

They also make a nice sound when they hit the ground; a consequence of the work Hryx and Doseone have been doing to make the game sound amazing.

Hey did I mention how pumped I am to have Doseone working on the game? I don’t think I have, so there’s that. Him and Stevie have been killin’ it together aurally for nearly a year now, and I can’t wait to make some headway on the Anticropolis so you guys can hear the beauty it’s shaping up to be even in these early stages.

Lastly and most recently, I’ve set to work knocking out some of the inefficiencies of the code that had been having a significant impact on performance. Not least among these elements are gasses, which have been completely reworked. They now are able to spread around corners an be blown around by Whirlwind, in addition to their previous functions. This is also good because gasses will be an important aspect of the Anticropolis, and even moreso the Deep Dark.

--

So that’s how my month has gone. The first real monthly build update to the game will happen sometime later this week, and include all of the above changes plus a bunch more, as well as a couple other announcements.

Look forward to it!
...