Maids & Masters v0.18 Patch Notes 0

Something came up with family and I can't bring work with me, so I unfortunately won't be able to get much done until after next Friday and won't have a test build to share until the week after that. So instead of just pushing the bundle Maids & Masters is in right now (which is here if you want to check it out; there's more than 50 games from over 40 devs, some of them paid, all for free, and we just passed the goal so you'll see some bonus renders on that page coming soon), I figure I'll give you a sort of hybrid post between the posts I usually do on Tuesdays on the dev blog and the patch notes that lay out what will be in the update.

v0.18 is going to be a little longer story-wise, and - if I can figure out how to do it in a way that feels right - feature yet another new mechanic.

Since v0.18 is the Haunt update and the story segment is going to be another "haunted house" sort of deal like Fekhacht and Baleflight Manor, I want to try and differentiate it by having an enemy that chases you around that you can't kill. It's a solid horror game trope when it's done well, so now all I have to do is figure out how to do it and iterate on it until it's at least passable.

v0.18 is also two regions, leaving just one more before you've seen the entire continent of Commorance. I have a fair amount to cram into those two regions, so I'm still working mostly on maps right now, but there's Farquhar's old Estate, the Ravenswood Estate (for the story segment) and three more Estates from the dead names that have been mentioned throughout the game. These won't have a lot going on, so outside of their individual gimmicks, they might end up not having a lot to find aside from some "not quite a side quest" and "exploration for it's own sake" type content, but I want to include them, and this is where they go.

I could split them off into v0.18.1 since they're in a separate region, but we had a poll about that not too long ago, so you're getting one big update. Even if it means releasing the Haunt update in the middle of November. Which is a real possibility since I'll be preoccupied with family.

There are also a couple more wilds segments, but I feel like I hammered on those enough with v0.17 and there's a bunch of Estates to explore, so I don't want to go overboard with them and make the update feel like I'm just filling space or padding the game.

Next week will probably be a lore post. There's something that may become relevant at the end of v0.18 that I feel could use some additional context, especially given how willfully some people have misunderstood it.

I hope you're looking forward to the update, though. The end of Act 2 is fast approaching.