Fixed alchemy recipes

We’re putting the final touches on the game now. Thanks to everyone for following along — can’t wait to see what kind of chaos you pull off on day one!

See ya on the court :D

Hello Everyone!

It's been quite some time, and while there was a hiatus on The Depths of Duskraven Manor, I am happy to say that full production has restarted on the game! And as such, I am starting out by releasing a new demo that showcases a lot of the improvements of the RPG Architect Engine and how it improves the flow of the game!

Here's a list of the changes and improvements made since earlier this year thanks to much feedback I've received:

• Optimized 3D model textures to improve performance

• Battles now flow automatically after choosing actions, where before you had to iterate through them with the action button

• For longer story dialogue elements, I've included a choice beforehand to either sit through the story or hear a shortened version to get to the action quicker

• Directional wonkiness has been fixed with the implementation of a Blobber-style movement system that prevents encounters from happening when the party is in mid-turn on a tile.

• Each character has new abilities at certain level thresholds and they are displayed with the Experience Result screen when learned

• Stores are now fully functional

• Changed the fonts for lore books and journals found within the game to improve readability

• New Intro and game over screens that better showcase and represent the game

• Redesigned UIs for better color contrast

• New, more detailed item and equipment Icons

Because of the amount of changes and updates with the engine, old saves are NOT compatible, so a New Game will need to be started.

There may be a few others, but in essence, the demo is now at a point where I feel it properly represents the taste of the full game I wanted it to be before I continued on with adding content.

With that being said, the release windows has been pushed out to between Q4 2026 and Q1 2027. I want to take the time to make this the best game it can be.

Thank you all for your support and patience!

Apoptosis Games

Pew Pew take a twenty. Grab the Money - it shoots money

Grab your money gun and unlock your new Golden Vehicle Unlocked ontop of your hideout. Gold Helicopter now available for a mere 1 MIllion Frog Pounds saved in the Bank Of Swindon

Did I mention the Money gun actually shoots your money, So maybe don't burn it.

Looks like they moved the date of the halloween shop to open on the 29th? (wait isnt that today)

Protester Frogs seems to be dressing differently They look quite strong when you get them all together.

Don't forget Blood world is now available in in Swindon and we've added some surprises.

POV : you play with Hal

We've been hard at work to make the game more stable, and have identified some root causes. Though some still remain and will be fixed in the coming days, most of the identified causes have been taken care of as of this update.

1. A lot of fixes to game assets and code to improve game stability.

2. Fixed a bug where a character would not respond to a dialogue choice.

3. Completely redesigned Entry Hall and Dining Room.

4. Some minor texture improvements.

Thank you for all the wonderful feedback during this year's Nextfest!

I've been listening to your critiques and put together a big list of things that will be improved before the full release. Additionally, these changes will be added to the DEMO as a final major patch sometime in the coming weeks!

Upcoming Changes

This is the current list of planned changes to various game mechanics for the next update. There are also a few QoL features that will be added.

• Time between boss waves will be increased for smoother item collection, along with there being an indicator of when the boss non-spell will start

• Counter spell timing will be made easier for all characters

• 6 continues in Normal (there is some bad programming that limits the potential of using multiple in one stage though, sorry)

• More lives in Normal

• Poly's collection line will be much lower to avoid accidental and frustrating deaths

• Speaking of Poly, she will be buffed, just in general...

• Double invincibility frames on hit for all characters

• Changing the (ugly) Boss Practice background to something cuter

• The secret stage will force you into Easy Mode to prevent annoying situations

• That one fake crash will be replaced with a hard reset (it keeps getting reported as a bug, lol)

• The music easter egg on the Practice Difficulty Select menu won't string you along as much (SPOILER: all it does is re-enable the secret stage...)

• Stage 3 as Esther, the pink fire spawner at the end of the stage will be more obviously dangerous to prevent cheap-feeling deaths for players who think it's an item to be collected

• More sprite readability adjustments?(??)

• UI readability adjustments

• Help Menu wording improvements for some stuff

• And probably more

• An accessibility option to turn off screenshake will be added

• More tutorialization for the player spell mechanic (such as a prompt on first getting enough power for the first time, etc.)

• Option to show your numerical power value (this is actually already a debugging feature)

• Replays will also save the game version

• Fix for replay score desyncing issue

• Timeout spells will turn the boss's health bar gray (these are much more prevalent in the last 3 stages)

• Tutorials for general bullet hell techniques such as a streaming tutorial

• Maybe another way to collect all items on screen(maybe connected to graze, not sure)(this one might be added to the demo as well if it happens)

• Might remove y value from score star calculation and just give you a flat value+tension bonus, because people keep hugging the top of the screen too much and it doesn't seem very fun, personally... And if I did remove y value from score calc., the item collection range would likely be doubled(as a treat)

• A counter spell practice room

• A streaming practice room(maybe??)

• Accessibility option for always showing your hitbox(?Maybe not... This idea is just for Esther players specifically)

My goal is to make NNFF as good of a game as possible (within reason). The next update, v3.0.0, will be the final major patch for the DEMO. Any additional updates will be minor bug fixes... Which means after this update, your replays and scores will no longer be affected by any other future updates!

The philosophy behind some of the changes is to make the game as accessible as possible to players new to this genre while also providing enough challenge to give veteran players a fun experience. One of the ways I am trying to do this is by keeping Hard Mode mean while making Normal and Easy nicer.

Something fascinating I found in the feedback was that the vast majority of you were heavily invested in the story and characters. Locking this behind extreme difficulty seems unfair, so a lot of the changes, such as changes to continue amount and making Easy even easier, are a way to let everyone be able to enjoy that part of the game!

Also, to the pro players who keep sending me feedback that the game is too easy, all I will say is, be careful what you wish for (spoiler: late-game Hard Mode...).

Have any more suggestions?

Have something you'd like to see changed or added that isn't listed above? Feel free to share your ideas with me here!

Future plans!

The goal is to have all or most of these changes added, tested, and implemented sometime in the next few weeks. Once everything is done, there will be another announcement to let you know when v3.0.0 is available to play!

Speaking of updates, there have been a lot of minor patches since the v2.0 release that were silently pushed out without any public announcement (they were only posted on a sub-page on the official website). In the future, all updates, even the small ones, will be paired with a Steam announcement, just as a way to let everyone know this game is still being supported! (which it is...)

Oh, and there's also one more exciting thing planned before the full-game-release. But that's going to be announced much later... So look forward to that! (hint: it involves prizes)

To see more development updates and announcements like this, make sure to wishlist & follow!

For this Halloween Sale, it currently costs $4.89.

Hello Heroes! Our final Halloween events have arrived, and we hope you enjoy this last part of our update. From puzzles to boss parties, it’s been a blast celebrating the spooky season.

In this set of event rewards, you’ll find Stellar Wheel Tickets, which will be used for a new system in our next major update on November 4. Make sure to stock up ahead of the update!

We also have a special spooky surprise waiting for you when you log in after maintenance, which will lead into our next limited hero. Check the full details below.

Event Period: October 28 - November 4
How to Join: Event Lobby > Field Boss Challenge

Event Guide

• Defeat the Stalker Jiangshi that appears in Everdusk only at set times.

• Defeat the Stalker Jiangshi to receive a Wheel of Fate Ticket depending on your contribution.

• Wheel of Fate Ticket can be used on the Wheel of Fate located in Moonshadow Village.

• Use the tickets on the Wheel of Fate to earn rewards, as well as special bonuses based on your total number of spins!

• Stalker Jiangshi will appear up to 6 times daily on set time.

Event Rewards

\[Wheel of Fate Rewards]

​

\[Wheel of Fate Total Rewards]

​

\[Field Boss Contribution Reward]

​

Notes:

• When claiming rewards, you have a set chance to receive each item.

• Select the Wheel of Fate and use the Probability button to see detailed probabilities.

• Event content and schedule are subject to change.

​

Event Period: October 28 - November 11

How to Join: Event Lobby > Star's Guidance, Journey's Beginning

Event Guide

• Complete the Event Missions and win rewards.

​

Event Rewards

​

\[Total Event Reward]

​

Notes:

• Event content and schedule are subject to change.

​

Event Period: October 28 - November 4

How to Join: Event Lobby > Hidden Dragons' Halloween Special Request

Event Guide

• Open the Request window and complete the Special Golden Request.

• Complete the Golden Request to win even more abundant rewards!

Notes:

• Event content and schedule are subject to change.

​

Event Period: October 29 - November 4

How to Join: Event Lobby > Black Rose Blooms in the Night

Event Guide

• Join us in the Event Lobby for a Special Puzzle!

• Puzzle Rewards available.

​

Event Rewards

​

Notes:

• Event content and schedule are subject to change.

​

Event Period: October 29 - November 4

How to Join: Event Lobby > Witch Soha's Growth Magic!

Event Guide

• Complete the Event Missions and win rewards.

​

Event Rewards

​

Notes:

• Event content and schedule are subject to change.

The Quartermaster has not slept.

The candle burns low - again - and still the columns refuse to align. Numbers blur, ink bleeds into damp paper. The system must be rewritten. Everything depends on it.

But the men keep calling. The wagons break. The ledgers crumble beneath their own weight. Outside, the wind howls through torn canvas and broken morale. Men cough in their sleep, bellies hollow, eyes dim and unfocused, as if the soul itself had withdrawn for shelter elsewhere.

Each day feels the same - cold, hungry, endless.

And yet… sometimes, through the mire and misery, a miracle arrives.

A small parcel wrapped in paper, the scent of home trapped inside.
A mother’s cookies, dry and stale but still sweet.
A fiancée’s letter, pressed to the chest like a relic.
A single word of kindness, traveling farther than any supply train ever could.

The Quartermaster watches.

He sees the way the men’s faces change - the light returning, however briefly, to eyes long dulled by mud and fear.

They pass the letter around, reading aloud to those who cannot read, laughing at a child’s misspelling, or at a mother’s worried scolding. Tales of a harvest completed, a child’s first steps, a promise of a home still existing to return, that the soul’s exile is not forever.

A single cookie split six ways, the few crumbs shared between rough hands, savored as though they were gold. A letter read three times over by silent men - proof that they are not yet forgotten.

These moments keep them from breaking completely. They remind them that somewhere, life still continues - and waits for their return.
Without those small mercies, he knows, madness would spread swifter than hunger ever could.

So he gives silent thanks - not to command, nor to luck, but to the unseen hands that send these small blessings from afar.

The Quartermaster knows the people at home have little left to spare.
He can almost see them - counting coins by candlelight, choosing between bread and coal.
Worried wives trading a week’s warmth for a handful of flour.
Sickened mothers skipping many meals so their sons might taste sugar again.
Brothers and neighbors pooling scraps to bake something to send across the lines.

They could keep it - no one would blame them - yet they still give.
Not because they have plenty, but to keep hope alive where strength alone cannot.

Each parcel that reaches the front is more than a gift - it is a sacrifice, paid in hunger, in worry, in hope.
And the Quartermaster feels that weight with every package opened, every letter read aloud in the mud.

He bows his head in quiet thanks - for their faith, their endurance, their impossible kindness.

He can’t stop thinking of those packages - small lifelines in a hopeless world collapsing around them. So small, and yet so crucial. Each one buys another day of sanity, another night of endurance, another sunrise to count supplies by.

And for that - for knowing that someone still sends what little they can - the Quartermaster finds the strength to return to his work.

If the men can keep enduring, he can keep building.
The candle sputters, the wax nearly gone.
He should rest, but he won’t - not while there is light enough to see the ink.
He owes that much to those small parcels, and to the hands that sent them.

---

My heartfelt thank you!

We’ve reached 10 patrons, and passed $20 in monthly support.

That might sound small in numbers, but to me - it’s immense. Because I know how hard things are right now. Food, rent, electricity - everything costs more than it should. The world feels heavier.
And still, some of you choose to send something my way - helping a random internet person to create a game and show your support.

That means more to me than I can say.

Every bit of support is like those small parcels in the story - They don’t just fund development; they remind me that this game, this strange, grim little world we’re building, matters to someone else too.

So truly - thank you.

There have been plenty of moments when I lost motivation - when I wanted to step away or procrastinate for a while.

But then I saw your support, and it pushed me to sit back down, open the project, and keep building.
I don’t want to let you down.

Hi everyone!

Thank you so much for your continued support on our games. We just published two new store pages on Steam.

"Your Very Last Words" is a re-release of a short interactive experience about death and existencialism. Face a firing squad in 1913 as you think about your very last words.

Coming November!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3859700/Your_Very_Last_Words/

"Let Me Play!" is a text-based surrealist experimental interactive experience about the meaning of play and authorship.

Add it to your wishlist now!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3859740/Let_Me_Play/

We'll be posting more about them on the following days.

Follow us on social media for more.