Changes:

• Fixed demo scoring so that it's possible to unlock some cards
  
• Added new sound effects for shields, potions, bonus scores, and chests opening

Howdy Folks and Happy New Year!
We have a few updates to ring in the new year:

• updates to mouse direction aiming for character
  
• updates to more accurate mouse aiming
  
• updates to better keyboard bindings
  
  1. Space Bar to skip intro and log in to Hub
     
  2. Space bar in menus to "accept"
     
  3. W/A/S/D to navigate menus
     
  4. W - Jump
     
  5. S - sprint
     
  6. A/D - move left/right
     
  7. C - crouch
     
  8. Escape - pause/exit a match
     
  9. Tab - view Xbox contol scheme
     
  10. Space - Dash
      
  11. 1 = canned message 1
      
  12. 2 = canned message 2
      
  13. 3 = canned message 3
      
  14. 4 = canned message 4

In our next update, we plan to better support mouse with a cursor and have updated UI based on the controller/keyboard that is connected.

Please leave a comment below if you have any questions, comments or suggestions!

Thanks,
Mandy @ Black Hive Team

• Gamepad support added
  
• New visual effects
  
• Bugs fixes

It's time for The Red Knight herself to step up to the plate with her new 4th path, Adrestia, now available! Check out our trailer and events in the links below!



https://elsword.koggames.com/elesis-4th-path


Elesis is now able to use the Sword of El freely. As if showing that she’s slowly merging with the El, her left arm has turned blue. When she learns that she was chosen as the next El Lady, she thought about her options carefully and concluded that even if she became the El Lady, the problems in Elrios would not be resolved. She questioned if there’s any reason to follow this chain of repetition? Strengthening her resolve, Elesis decided to sever this practice that’s been passed down for generations. She opens a new path — not as the El Lady who manages and maintains the Power of El, but as the warrior Adrestia who fells mighty enemies with one swoop and protects Elrios like no other!

• There was a saving error in some vehicles, it has been fixed.
  
• The probability of rain in the weather has been reduced.
  
• Basketball hoop and ball were renewed.
  
• Water dispenser added.
  
• 2 New car added.

New Features
- Added enchanting catalyst system (with the reenchant scroll being the first catalyst introduced)
- Added refine catalyst system (with the gods blessing of chances being the first catalyst introduced)
- Added a button to open the wiki to the "ESC"-menu
- Supporter choice now includes instant gold pick up
- Added Mnemonic Potion to increase the chance for skill book reading to succeed, available as a reward from Zagan and in the itemshop
- Added Focused Learning Book which allows you to read skill books even if you are exhausted and normally had to wait, available as a reward from Zagan and in the itemshop
- Added reenchant scrolls which allow you to reenchant items for no cost aside from the scroll itself, available as a reward from Zagan and in the itemshop
- Added Orb of Health, Orb of Mana and Orb of Restoration which instantly heal your hp, mp and both respectively, they are available as a drop from high level bosses and in the itemshop
- Potion of Fighting and Super Speed Potion are now available in the itemshop

Changes
- Portals are slightly larger
- Skill books are now crafted from fragments of knowledge at the librarian instead of dropped by rifts directly
- Status Subtract Tincture is now dropped rarely by most bosses
- Increased itemshop coin bonus for purchasing larger amounts at once

Balance updates
- Reflection now only works against hit damage
- Mounting or dismounting does not remove spawn protection anymore
- Reduced random boss and elite monster size variation from +-20% to +-5%
- Skill projectiles now speed up gradually instead of staying at the same speed

Bugfixes
- Fixed the "Demonic Chains" skill effects not rendering with ambient occlusion enabled
- Fixed skill swap potion not transferring skill exp

Quite some people have been playing the demo, and I hope everyone is NOT liking the current state of the game - because it's gonna get better. My current focus, apart from finalizing the soundtrack and making the final boss, is adding more random elements to runs: sometimes, you just want to run into something fun.
The current dungeon is quite... rigid, you see. Despite the random generation, enemy and item choice, and different starts you can stumble into - a lot of pre-determined. This many Machinators, that many Parts, X chests Y traps. And that's fine - but a little dice rolling can never hurt, to truly give each run a unique depth!

So this update, a bunch of stuff you *could* have thrown into your lap... though that's not always a good thing. And bugfixes.
Obviously. See you around!

Added: to introduce some pleasant surprises every now and then, more powerful but rare Utilities can be found.

• Deluxe Bell Ringer: get your bell effects even during boss battles
  
• Deluxe Mapper: has a larger radius, shows Chests, and grants Illuminate
  
• Deluxe Machinator: instead of 25%, gives a 50% bonus when Weaponizing something
  
• Deluxe Refiner: for 4 Scrap, choose which type of Drone Part you're getting

Added: to introduce some LESS pleasant surprises, rare enemies with remixed movesets may also be roaming.

• Melt Drive: prepare for Corruption down your throat
  
• Lava Carrier: it's throwing what now?
  
• Shattered Engineer: freezes you! The horror!
  
• Modern Chimera: a taste of Disconnect in the Wasteland

Added: a "Full Version" link button to the title screen
Added: a setting to force keyboard, if it somehow detects a controller
Added: inventory indicator for identified Bells
Added: you can now view the current seed in the menu
Added: you can now switch places with (most!) Lead Engineers
Added: you can now Check boss marker tiles
Added: IMPORTANT! You can now smash the potted plants in the tutorial.
Buffed: going Full Gear now yields more power in general.
Buffed: the Designer now also accepts guns. There wasn't a proper use for them, anyway.
Nerfed: the Flipper, despite being supposed to be strong, was just too much. Only has 1 half-regen now.
Removed: you can no longer retrieve your Bells from a completed Bell Tower (they're now deleted)
Changed: instead of 2 Scrap, the Watchmaker's first offer is now a Standard Core

• I often noticed no cores were dropped for a long time. Now, you can always get one, basically for free.
  
• Apart from this, the primary use of Scrap is making more parts, so it wasn't a good trade anyway.

[/i][/list]Changed: shrunk the Wasteland, as its size always felt a little much
Changed: adjusted some descriptions for inventory Traps
Fixed: crash when exploding multiple bombs at once
Fixed: Max HP being stuck at 40, despite having no Toolbox selected
Fixed: Frozen Engine not showing the right multiplier
Fixed: used Trap Reclaimers not properly showing in Quickslots
Fixed: the Lead Engineer now has a corpse. Please don't verify this yourself.
Fixed: Thieves would steal something and flee, but leave the combat music on
Fixed: possible tutorial sequence break at the end
Fixed: low-health indications having clunky rotation
Fixed: picking up a quest item wouldn't center the popup correctly
Fixed: Forcefields could sometimes appear in walls
Fixed: Blitz Trap would play its sound too early
Fixed: Machinator would still work on already Weaponized items
Fixed: potion preview in Chemist menu would be rather uninformative
Fixed: "Wielder's Curse" not having its downside
Fixed: Local Generators didn't have an indicator of being used
Fixed: Bell of Quivering not working on Bell Ringers
Fixed: at the edge of the screen, the cogwheel UI would move instantly
Fixed: you can no longer give Forcefields status effects
Fixed: you can no longer destroy Powerfields by Executing them

Have a nice day!😊

• Fixed disappearing UI Buttons
  
• Game now works in more extreme aspect ratios and resolutions
  
• Fixed many spelling and grammar errors in the FR dialogues
  
• Added some more sounds to the final scene

Hope you all had an outlandish New Year!

While we’ve been taking it slower for the Christmas holidays, we’ve still got a few new progress updates from the days we’ve gotten back into the swing of things. Today, we’ll share a fresh look at E3M5, recent progress on a prop for WRATH’s intro segment – as well as a WIP screenshot of loading screen art for the 1st boss map.

Without further ado, we hope you enjoy.

Blood and basalt adorn the Wretched Throne…From E3M5, we’ve got a select few glimpses into our latest detailing. One being the outdoor area – featuring distinct basalt columns – another being a sample from the dim, bloody, and wonderfully atmospheric corners of the map. Take a look:






For WRATH’s intro map, we’re currently working on a major set piece – specifically a thematically appropriate vessel – a boat which will ferry the Outlander to the Isle of the Dead.

While this prop is a work-in-progress, here’s a look at its current state:




Among the final touches on the first boss map is the loading screen art – meant to communicate a key, and memorable, area of the map. While it still needs final processing, take a look at this work-in-progress loading screen art for the B1 map – both linear and shaded:






Since we’ve been on Christmas holidays, we won’t have as many additional updates this time around. But aside from progress on E3M5, props for the intro map, and the B1 loading screen art, here’s a few lines on what we’ve been working on since mid-December last year:

LEVELS

• E2M3 received a bit of TLC; specifically texture detailing, and work on a new secret area, which saw further detailing.
  
• E2M5 has seen progress; particularly on the final section on the level. Gameplay-wise, the map is now only waiting on the Keeper for implementation.
  The Boss 2 map is seeing work – all the while the Boss 2 mechanics, and concept, are being worked on.
  
• E3M1 saw further texturing, steadily progressing.
  A number of pipe textures – and matching parts – are being worked on for E3M3.
  
• Great progress was made on E3M4 – particularly on the “Gallery” section of the map. Additionally, a number of secrets have been added to the map, one of which will require players to discover an unorthodox means of access.
  
• Apart from the examples already shown for E3M5, the final climactic area of the map has also received detailing since our last update.

ENEMIES

• Most enemies are receiving work on ‘spirits’ – entities that you’ll be able to see as you tear through hordes of enemies with… certain equipment, let’s say.
  
• The Brute is seeing final tweaks on his projectile effects.
  
• The Keeper is receiving a gameplay pass – after which is animation.
  
• The 1st Boss – The Lady of Ascension – has received her final death sequence, to make sure your victory will be that more satisfying.
  
• The 2nd Boss – The Lord of Astral Planes – has had its concept, and mechanics, revisited.
  
• The 3rd and final Boss – The Dreadful One – has seen testing and internal discussion of its gameplay prototype.

PROPS & TEXTURES

• A number of textures for episode 3 have been made, per the request of our level designers, who are working in close collaboration with our texture artists.

That’s it for this update – the first of 2023! As we get back into gear after the holiday season, we hope to bring you more and more as we continue to dive head-first into the new year.

Stay tuned for more dev updates.