After completing the game's port to mobile we've unified the PC and mobile code bases into a single one. This update is the result of that union, bringing over many of the architectural changes and optimizations needed for mobile. As we interacted with mobile players and gathered their feedback, many other improvements and bug fixes made their way into the game and are also part of this massive update.

This takes us closer to our next major goal: Exit from early access and full global release. More info coming soon.

Due to the magnitude of this update (the entire game engine has been touched in some way) as well as the importance of our upcoming global release, please let us know if you see anything weird that could be a new bug.

Additions
- Added "Triple-XP Weekend" event.
- Added Import/Export buttons to the bottom of the Saved Games screen.
- Added drop % numbers to treasures in the Mushroom Shop.
- Added a Wand pickup to the start of Scary Chamber.
- Added special dragon skin for Nagaraja, for use in Lunar New Year event.

Fishing v0.7.0
- Improved performance across the entire fishing mini-game.
- Lowered the difficulty to catch speedyfins.
- Reworked to use the new UI system instead of advanced draw.
- Gameplay feel is different due to all the changes.
- Fixed the encoding of FishingGame.txt to UTF-8.

Quests
- Optimized Croaked, Roof Overhead, Remnants of Five and Bad Business.
- Lowered the requirement to play Roof Overhead and Remnants of Five.
- Lowered the number of Snails required in Croaked (2nd Frog).
- Lowered the difficulty in Roof Overhead.
- Minor increase to the enemy requirements for the AEther daily quest.
- Cauldron Collective: Fixed bug where some players were unable to complete the Vampiric Potion step.
- The Initiate: Fixed cultists staying on screen in some resolutions.
- Remnants of Five: Fixed case where you could complete the quest during a 2x Ki event and earn 40 crystals instead of 20. This situation could risk the delicate balance in the FTUE design.
- Croaked: Fixed a UX issue after feeding Kevin. If the Ouroboros screen appeared and you pressed the pause button, it would send you to Locations instead of Quests screen.

Improvements
- Greatly reduced the size of save files. The game will automatically rework your file upon next save.
- Swapped the drop order of Ouroboros and Quest Stone.
- Offline farming now gives guaranteed minimum loot if the selected difficulty is lower than the highest unlocked difficulty for the location.
- Progress now saves after opening all treasures, exiting the Mushroom Shop, completing a Legend quest or crafting anything on the Anvil.
- The Mind Stone can now be powered on/off from the item details popup.
- Polished the cinematic when approaching the Mushroom Shop for the first time.
- Lowered the requirements to upgrade Star Stone for the first time.
- Changed the border color of button [Claim Reward] in daily quests to green.

Balance
- Increased the Ki Crystal rewards for completing R&D goals.
- Increased Hatchet damage to Xyloalgia from +2 to +3.
- Minor change to the enchantment drop rates for Omega treasures.
- Minor change to loot drop tables, so total enchantment rates are the same.

Misc
- Engine upgraded to version 2021.3.18
- Added a limit to the number of save files that can be created.
- All locations now have specific sorted positions in the Locations screen, regardless of the order in which they were unlocked.
- Reworked the loading architecture.
- FTUE: Rocky Plateau is now disabled until workstation is completed.
- Removed progress saving when the application becomes paused by the OS.
- Added unique ID to save files.
- When entering your character's name, empty space at the beginning or at the end are now deleted.
- Minor CPU optimizations to Stonescript.
- Added proper handling of UTF-8 "BOM" encoding when importing scripts.

Bugs
- Fixed a critical bug where save file sizes could balloon out of control, due to multiple copies of offline farming stats.
- Fixed critical issue where the game could get stuck with a blank Locations screen, in the very early game.
- Fixed crashes that could happen when talking to the sweeper NPC in Temple.
- Fixed a crash when playing for the first time.
- Fixed a crash when pressing the side navigation buttons very quickly.
- Fixed a bug where the Locations container would sometimes scroll to the top.
- Fixed one of Dysangelo's help texts that was not localized correctly.
- Fixed Stonescript errors when box drawing with custom user-defined styles.
- Fixed Stonescript bug where some UI component properties were not resetting when recycled.
- Eliminated a few rare cases of players being stuck with no input.
- Fixed a rare crash in shops when there's pending treasures to open.
- Fixed a bug where fast-clicking on buttons that are bleeding off their parent dialog windows would close the dialog instead of triggering the button.
- Fixed bugs in draw.GetSymbol() and canvas.Get() where some glyphs would return incorrectly.
- Fixed a legacy bug where it was possible to win a location star and not save progress properly.

Spring has sprung upon the Dark World!

Complete runs in the Mushroom Forest to earn this extra loot (which also includes 2x Lost Item drops).

From now until April 12th, Stone Story RPG will be running a 2x Loot Event. Complete runs in the Mushroom Forest to earn this extra loot (which also includes 2x Lost Item drops).

Stone Story RPG will also be on sale for 20% off this week! It's never been a better time for you (or a friend!) to join.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/603390/Stone_Story_RPG/






Work has steadily progressed on a variety of projects behind the scenes! We take pride in the independence and autonomy that we have gained through self-publishing. What that does mean, though, is really good work can take a really long time!

We appreciate all the fans and players that have supported us over the years. Soon we’ll be ready to shed the title of “Early Access”! There’s a few important things we’d like to share as we head into the full release.

Firstly, the mobile port of Stone Story RPG is nearly ready with a targeted launch later this year. The Android version is all set and iOS is coming along nicely. Right now we’re polishing features unique to the mobile build that will make the user experience more cohesive and enjoyable.

The mobile port will also mark the full release of Stone Story RPG! We’ve got a host of updates and content to celebrate with, so we hope you look forward to it.



In addition to the upcoming Spring event, we will also be running two more events! Make sure to save the dates~

Bolesh 2x Event - Slay Bolesh, the Cunning for an increased chance at better loot drops!

• April 20th to April 24th

3x XP Weekend - Grind those levels with an increased XP rate!

• April 28th to April 30th

---

Thank you as always to all of our wonderful players!

We've come a long way with this game, and we're still not done. It's hard to believe how long it's been since we've started the project.

Every stone collected, every foe defeated, every boss beaten: each and every player has left their mark in this game, and it's because of your dedication that we're able to continue putting in the care and effort a project like Stone Story RPG deserves.

The finish line is in sight, but we can't slow down just yet!


-SSRPG Team

The Acropolis Herald highlights important changes to Stone Story RPG. For a full list of updates to the game, please see the official release notes.






The Acropolis Herald highlights important changes to Stone Story RPG. For a full list of updates to the game, please see the official release notes.


-SSRPG Team

Hello fearless Spider Stompers!

Friendly reminder to get those Caves of Fear runs in while you can: the 2x Loot Event ends tomorrow.




Last Sunday, we finished off our fifth StoneJam, a community-driven event that has once again brought us great minigames, crazy cosmetics, and unique UIs. We’re also extremely happy to share that industrious players have completed TWO Bounties (Asteroids and Blackjack)!

Some Bounties still remain and will continue to be open for any players to tackle. If you’re interested in giving them a shot, take a look through this document. We encourage any and all curious players to try!

We’re still checking through all of the submitted scripts and are working on another montage like we made for StoneJam 4:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob60pbxtSqM
While we're preparing a full StoneJam 5 montage, take a look at some of the submissions:





It’s been a few weeks since we dropped “The Initiate”, Stone Story RPG’s 11th Legend. If you’ve been following our posts, you may recall that we originally said that the game would get 16 Legends….

…and you’d be correct! We’ve still got some Legends that have been sitting on the backburner. They’re mostly done, we just need to finalize implementation of them in-game. We appreciate your patience as our team works on getting more content added.

It’s been quite a juggling act on our end, because we’re not just working on new content; preparations for the Stone Story mobile port are underway! We’re getting the team together and discussing various factors that will affect work on mobile, including marketing strategy, budget planning, mobile player UX, and much more.

We’ve got plenty in the works for this game and don’t plan on stopping anytime soon!



-SSRPG Team

Watch out Dark World, this spider’s got style B)



Following in the footsteps of her fellow bosses, Bolesh brings some footsteps of her own!

From now until April 18th, Stone Story RPG will be running a 2x Loot Event. Complete runs in the Caves of Fear to earn this extra loot.

This time around, however, we’re doing something different: We’ll be increasing the average quality of loot that drops, rather than increasing the average quantity of loot drops. This way, the drops are still random, but the statistical distribution of treasure quality is weighted higher.

What does this practically mean for you? We expect the event to allow for better treasure types, such as Deltas and Omegas, to appear twice as frequently. Doesn’t sound like too bad of a deal, huh?

Happy farming, Stonefriends!

Thanks to all our incredible participants who submitted for StoneJam! We have so many cool submissions that we can’t wait to go over and share with everyone. Keep an eye out for a full StoneJam 5 recap later this month.

If you’re curious about the different minigames, cosmetics, and UI addons people have made using Stonescript, stop by the Discord, where you’ll be able to find these player-created scripts to use in your own games.



-SSRPG Team

We’re very nearly wrapped up with StoneJam 5! Thank you to all the participants for sharing your incredible work.

StoneJam was originally conceived as a way for our community to engage more deeply with Stone Story RPG. As the game grew, so did Stonescript and the ways that players could use it. Every new StoneJam has been an opportunity to experiment and push the boundaries of what is possible with a bit of technical knowledge and a LOT of creativity.

StoneJam 5 has continued to expand what we thought possible within Stone Story RPG. From small animal pets to combat scripts to detailed UI interfaces, our players never cease to amaze us with what they can do!


"Train Adventure" by link2_thepast

We’re also extremely happy that the Bounties we posted were taken on! If you thought seeing a giant pet dog was impressive, just wait until you see a whole game in another game~

If you’re putting the finishing touches on that cool-looking ASCII hat, you better finish quick! StoneJam 5 ends today.
To submit your entry, follow instructions posted here.

If you’ve got a handy combat script, you may want to get it ready. We’ll be having a Bolesh 2x Loot Event coming up!

For this event we wanted to try out something new. In the upcoming 2x Loot Event, Bolesh will be doubling the QUALITY of the loot rather than the QUANTITY.

What does this mean for you? To be honest, we have no idea! We thought we’d give it a shot to see how players react, so if you’re looking to score some good loot now would be the time to do it.

Keep an eye out for another announcement!




-SSRPG Team

New UI type: Canvas
- ui.AddCanvas()
- canvas.Set(), canvas.SetFG() and canvas.SetBG()

New namespace: color
- color.FromRGB(), color.ToRGB(), color.Random() and color.Lerp()

Hello fellow Stoneheads--

StoneJam returns! Prepare your ASCII glyphs and flex those functions as we kick off Stone Story RPG’s 5th jam; submissions are open to combat scripts, art pieces, UI mods, and anything else you can think to use Stonescript for. Interested in a more specific challenge? Try taking on a Bounty to earn rewards!

Keep an eye out for tomorrow as well, because Stone Story RPG’s creator standardcombo will be streaming on Twitch. Stop by to see how the ASCII magic gets made~

Link to Twitch stream here.



StoneJam was conceived as a way to experiment with Stonescript, a robust scripting language built directly into Stone Story RPG. Easy to use yet powerful, scripts can be as simple as automating potions if your health gets low, optimizing combat to superhuman levels, or even creating new cosmetics and UI features!

Some of the projects that people have made with Stonescript include:

• Minigames
  
• Combat scripts
  
• Pets and cosmetics
  
• Custom UI elements (e.g. healthbars, ability timers)
  
• ASCII-art and animations

Collaborations between participants are more than welcome (and in fact encouraged).

Instructions are entered into the Mind Stone* with Stonescript, a minimalist language designed for use by everyone. If you don’t want to script, use the Mind Stone as your canvas to create ASCII art!

*Note: Stonescript features are unlocked part-way through playing the game. If you’re new to scripting or need a quick refresher, check out this tutorial we’ve written up.

You can find a full list of changes to Stonescript here.



StoneJam is a chance for our community to work together and bring StoneScript to its limits. All participants in StoneJam will earn a commemorative shiny treasure, and our favorite submissions will be invited to be an official addition to the game.

For StoneJam 5, we’re also excited to introduce Bounties!

Bounties are a way for us to collaborate with and challenge our community. Players can complete specific projects to earn larger rewards, including Steam Wallet funds, in-game items, and development credits for Stone Story RPG.
You can find more details on Bounties and their rewards here.

This patch introduces a new system for building complex and performant user interfaces within StoneScript (as well as a few functions for the top-level UI namespace).

UI features are comprised of four object types:

• Panel
  
• Button
  
• Text
  
• Animation

Each object type has a multitude of functions, and all of them inherit behavior from the common 'Component' type which in turn has multiple properties that can be adjusted.

See the StoneScript manual for more details.

StoneJam 5 will be hosted on our community Discord server.

To participate in the jam:

1. Visit our Discord server
   
2. Go to the #commands channel and type !stonejam
   
3. Congratulations, you now have the @stonejam role! With this you’ll be able to see the StoneJam Discord channels
   
4. Participate via the Discord event channels:
   
   • #stonejam-discuss - StoneJam discussion chat
     
   • #stonejam-submit - Entry submissions

Submission rules:

1. Inside your scripts, at the beginning of each file include:
   
   • Name/nickname of author or multiple names if multiple authors
     
   • Version number of the script
     
   • Instructions on how to use it
2. Drop your script into #stonejam5-submit, along with screenshots and/or gifs of your entry in action.
   
3. If a single entry involves multiple interdependent scripts, put them into a zip.
   
4. Submit different entries separately.
   
5. You can submit scripts created prior to the jam, as long as the jam week is used for meaningfully improving them.

To see a full list of all possible functions, commands, and variables: https://stonestoryrpg.com/stonescript/manual.html

Introduction to Stonescript - This writeup gives you an overview of Stonescript's functionality, including variables, commands, and operators: https://stonestoryrpg.com/stonescript

Modding Guide - This walkthrough shows you how to import external scripts into the game. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2003221477

Video tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5v-NS9o4yc
Follow-along Reference: https://stonestoryrpg.com/ascii_tutorial.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR6QYxdGV9M

All ASCII characters currently available to use in-game: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/597668520888762388/683419636204699676/AvailableGlyphs.txt

Hex for all enchantment colors:
Cyan: #02e5ff Yellow: #ffff62 Green: #32da5a Blue: #0063ff Red: #ff2222

List of valid ?loc:
rocky, deadwood, cave, shroom, haunted, crypt, bronze, icy, temple, nagaraja

---

We can’t wait to see what people come up with this time!

-SSRPG Team

Stonescript

This patch introduces a new system for building complex and performant user interfaces. This is comprised of four object types: Panel, Button, Text and Anim. All of them inherit behavior from the common 'Component' type. The top-level UI namespace has also gained a few functions. See the Stonescript manual for details. Additions:

UI: ui.root, ui.AddPanel(), ui.AddText(), ui.AddAnim(), ui.AddStyle().

Component: x, y, w, h, absoluteX, absoluteY, anchor, dock, ax, ay, dx, dy, parent, visible.

Panel: children, clip, color, style, Clear(), Add(), Remove().

Button (Pre-existing type). Additions: hcolor, SetDown(), SetUp().

Text: align, color, bgColor, lines, text.

Anim: color, duration, flipX, flipY, frame, gamePause, isPlaying, isPaused, pivotX, pivotY, Load(string), playOnStart, loop, Pause(), Play(), Stop().

Has your inventory felt light lately? Perhaps it could use a second Skeleton Arm. Maybe a shiny new Name Tag…?

For a more premium stock of item, visit Uulaa’s Hotspring Shop and spend all that Ki you’ll be getting this weekend!

From now until Sunday, earn twice the Ki from all sources (this includes both @ and Crystals).

• Defeating enemies
  
• Unmaking items
  
• Daily Crystal from the Hotspring Shop
  
• The Weekly Challenge Crystal Treasure
  
• Crystals from Delta Treasures

Recently we added the R&D Book to Stone Story RPG, a compendium that encourages players to experiment with Lost Items to earn enchanted rewards, and we'd like to talk about how we got around to making it.



As we’ve developed the game, we’ve launched events to accompany new Legends, experiment with mechanics, and celebrate the game with our community. It’s that same community that continually helps us make Stone Story the best it can be!

The R&D Book is an important step in creating a complete experience for as many players as possible. The core idea was to create a system that would scale with our pace of development. Events have been a great way to challenge players and keep things fresh with content updates through Early Access, but we lacked a way to make use of them outside of an event's original run. That’s where our handy dandy book comes in.

We added the R&D Book to keep record of limited events and allow players to complete ones that they might have missed. This way, even new players can enjoy content without feeling like they’ve missed out on past events!




Though we’re still cranking away at the mobile port, we’re doing our best to keep things active for our community and have plenty of stuff coming down the pipeline.

Like quests! We’ve got 4 more Legends in the works alongside 3 new Lost Items (such as the Crusader Shield below) and more Challenge Events, but everything requires time to reach a good state of polish. Thank you for your patience as we try to juggle ports, content, and other crazy stuff on our end.



Meanwhile, if you want a chance to flex your Stonescript skills, get ready for the return of StoneJam! Our community has submitted so many cool and creative scripts in the past and we can’t wait to see what people come up with this time.

Got a suggestion for a StoneJam topic or theme? Let us know what you think would be fun to make a script for! From fishing to flower picking and anything in-between~



That's all for now, we'll see you folks in the next update!

-SSRPG Team

Stone Story RPG Twitter

Stone Story RPG Discord