Early Access 0.1.2 is up!
A new Ealy Access version is up in the Puppy chatroom. I kinda tried to fit too much too fast into this update, which brought up problems I didn't have the time to fix since I already went over my 7-10 day deadline, so I ended up cutting some content out to polish it further. Still getting used to the more fast-paced updating routine I set for myself, so you'll excuse a bit of trial and error in the beginning 😅. I will try to set more realistic goals moving forward.
Changelog
- Soul Trait Menu:
- New selection menu after the Fetish Selection screen at the start of a new game.
- Choose your MC's dominant Soul Trait, which offers different stat bonuses, a thematic combat skill and occassionally offers unique dialogue options.
- > Dutiful: +15 Max Health. +25 Max Stamina. +4 Apathy. Unlocks Steadfast Aura: Buffs Apathy and Brace Magnitude by 25%. Buffs Stamina Regeneration by +3%. 3 turns.
- > Wrathful: +5 Cruelty. +3 Defiance. +6 Feral Instinct. Unlocks Rage: High damage, high Apathy Piercing magic attack. Damage increases further the lower your health is.
- > Calculating: +4 Apathy. +6 Doomsense. +7% Passive Agony (free Agony per turn). Unlocks Tactical Reset: Instantly restores 20% Stamina. Clears all skill cooldowns.
- > Compassionate: +25 Max Health. +5 Defiance. +25% Healing Magnitude (spells). Unlocks Soothing Pulse: Instantly restores 10% Health. Removes 1 random negative DoT effect from you.
- > Nihilistic: +8 Apathy. +4 Blasphemy. +2 Doomsense. Unlocks Erase Purpose: Remove 3 random buffs from an enemy. This includes states that exist to set up ultimate attacks.
- Added 'Soul Punch'. Basic Soul magic skill that deals good, Apathy-piercing damage. Meant to replace the old Precision Strike. MC already has this at the start of the game.
- All Soul skills consume Agony to cast. Soul skills do not consume Stamina.
- Soul Alignment System:
- You can find stray Soul Shards belonging to past Champions and rogue slaves, forgotten inside old crypts, gathered and guarded by the Lost or other creatures that are attracted to their eldritch potency. Fragments of the souls of those long dead men still linger inside, preventing their rest. They still thirst for justice, for vengeance, for bloodshed.
- As part of your own soul crystallization, you can directly align your personal Soul Shards with those of others, absorbing some of their strength and traits.
- New sub-category in the Gear menu: Soul Alignment. Equip Soul Shards you find in limited slots. New slots unlock the stronger you get.
- The souls inside these Shards still crave the injustices inflicted on them to be corrected. As long as you have them aligned and equipped, they gain 'Nemesis Charge' with every enemy you defeat. Mobs give negligible Nemesis Charge, their main targets are the Dominas themselves.
- Upon reaching 50 Nemesis Charge, the equipped Soul Shard auto-upgrades to a more powerful version.
- After 100 further Nemesis Charge, the equipped Soul Shard maxxes out into an 'avenged' version. This offers further boosted stats, as well as a special Soul combat ability thematic with the soul.
- The Soul Shard needs to be aligned / equipped to gain Nemesis Charge. Unequipped Soul Shards won't gain any Nemesis Charge.
- The average mob offers 1 Nemesis Charge upon defeat. A Domina offers 50. This means it requries 1 Domina to advance to the upgraded version, and 3 total Dominas to advance to the avenged version.
- Added 5 new Soul Shards to be found in static chest locations, each designed for a different build.
- Aligning your soul with another's isn't all flowers and butterflies. They will... talk to you sometimes.
- Radiant Pop-Up Flavor Messages
- The MC will now get occasional randomized pop-up messages (you've already seen these, but only scripted). These messages don't stop gameplay, and fade out on their own. A minimum of 12mins of playtime must pass between new pop-ups. This mechanic is mainly used for flavor.
- > Some pop-ups will be the MC's own thoughts. These are categorized into normal thoughts and low sanity thoughts. There is further sub-categorization that reacts to which realm you are in.
- > Some pop-ups will be the souls of your aligned Soul Shards you currently have equipped. These are usually nonsense and thematic to the respective soul.
- > Some pop-ups will be the Domina you are devoted to, psychically talking to you inside your head, reminding you of your place or giving you encouragement (depending on the Domina). This requires you to be devoted to someone.
- > Some pop-ups will be Llavanya conversing with you psychically. This is bound to the plot.
- > Some pop-ups are game tips. The game doesn't have loading screens, so this method is the next best thing to explain mechanics unobtrusively lol.
- Ripped my entire audio system out and remade it from scratch using a different plugin and eventing. Multiple sounds (torch fire, rain, waterfalls etc) can reliably mix together at the same time now, and also pan / fade depending on player position.
- Took the chance to remake the soundscapes for most environments. Everything should sound richer and more detailed.
- Slight chance I missed a leftover code from the previous audio system somewhere. Unlikely, but let me know if you get any errors or CTDs upon entering some room.
- Started first implementation of the Perk Trees. Only Katrina's tree is fully functional right now.
- The Perk Trees up to the Twins are visible. Only the first perk is unlockable (the one that unlocks the weapon type).
- The Perk Trees from the Twins and forward aren't visible, EXCEPT the first perk. The first perk is unlockable.
- Removed innate ability to wield all weapons from the player. This was a placeholder feature until Perk Trees were in. You must now invest in a Perk Tree to unlock the weapon type. Note that you aren't getting ANY perk points until you drink Katrina's potion, so you are stuck with the shitty bludgeon until then. Fighting mobs is not advised, and that's by design.
- Added the second half of Katrina's questline, including her battle, but not the post-battle content yet.
- Tweaked Katrina's questline to add an extra section. After playing multiple times, I felt like MC was eager to get devoted too fast. He now has to pass through another traumatic event and a second aftercare scene first :3.
- Added full CG for Katrina's aftercare scene(s).
- Added character art for Helena.
- Added proper sprites for all the Vampiresses.
- Added hairstyles to the slave sprites.
- Quest Journal updates (quest objectives added/completed/failed/etc) now ping you with a pop-up.
- Fixed some minor issues with the quest system.
- Added sprite for an empty throne, so the throne doesn't vanish when Katrina gets up.
- Two rooms in the Catacombs cut the background music for no reason. Fixed.
- Stamina costs for basic attacks have generally doubled. Heavier, more damaging weapons consume more Stamina than lighter ones.
- Doubled potion duration across the board. Note that both your own and the enemy side's turns are taken into account when calculating duration left.
- Solved some collision issues in the Reaper's Harvest.
- The pants Agatha offers you are now a real item (and the MC's first "armor"). They offer a much needed 4 Apathy.
- Base MC Critical Rate is 7% -> 5% (critical attacks are primarily calculated by how much larger your Doomsense is to your enemy's, the base Critical Rate is a permanent bonus on top of that).
- Fixed tile that could stuck your sprite in a room in the Catacombs.
- Skill costs are colored appropriately and shortened (20 Stamina -> 20 STM).
- Removed 'Escape' command from battle, this isn't a used mechanic.
- Improved combat menu layout so it's less likely to get overlapping text.
- Accidentally had critical hits on the player's attacks disabled. Oops. Fixed.
- Added new boss chest in Kravoth's Hideout (unique room found at the far bottom right of the Catacombs). This is supposed to be a miniboss room, but I don't have the assets for the miniboss yet.
- Fixed the text being stuck on screen for a few seconds after closing the fetish selection menu before + after the intro video.
- Added a half second delay before launching the name input menu to avoid as many accidental name confirmations.
- Added a few scripted pop-ups.
- Bracing instantly restores 7% Stamina. Also added a description to the skill, with clarification that using it ends your turn, no matter how many Action Points you have left.
- Helena gives one more healing potion when she sends you to the Catacombs.
- The Aspect of Chaos light in the Reaper's Harvest is now on party time as intended.
- Fixed condition that made the MC report an early death and rebirth to Katrina. It can now fire properly.
- Domina names are colored in more instances.
- Fixed several typos. Small grammar / vocabulary changes all over.
- Reduced the lewd audio's volume in the Dungeon a bit.
- Fixed a few more clipping issues (this is going to be an ongoing battle).
- Reduced pixelation on enemy graphics.