Playtest release candidate available!

Most Honorable Knights,

it is with great pleasure that I can announce the completion of the Playtest release candiate. The first version of the game that will go out to everyone is finally ready!

A series of all-nighter coding sessions made it possible to stick to the dev schedule, and testing is now in progress to make sure you will have a smooth experience.

Should you have been among those who participated in the closed testing round for Alpha 3.fun, you can find a list of changes below.

Looking forward to your feedback when the Playtest unlocks on January 15.

Until then,

Martin

New Features

• Quickdemo mode ("Aldhelm's Path"), including a new quest and new cutscenes
• Crafting of items
• Prison mechanics
• Treasure maps
• Readable books
• Interactive tutorial & quick hints
• Steam Achievements
• Steam Cloud Saves

New content

• Added new NPC types
• Added new objects
• Added new items
• Added a new map location
• Added a new dungeon type ("Ancients")
• Added new music tracks
• Added new sound effects

NPC behavior improvements

• Added a new NPC behavior pattern: tavern
• Added a new NPC behavior pattern: city life
• Added an additional work shift to increase NPC schedule variety
• Added NPC reactions to theft
• Added some special behavior for certain character types
• Improved handling of how criminal acts affect the personal relationship between characters
• Improved guard behavior during a manhunt

Character improvements

• Added new ways of interacting with items and objects
• Added the concept of natural armor
• Added a new behavior mode (crouch)
• Added logic for some NPC types to never sleep (like undead)
• Added storing of time when the PC last attacked an NPC - they will remember what you did!
• Added a general mechanism to recover an NPC who is stuck (needs to be used more often still)
• Improved the animation and movement speeds of some characters
• Improved the footprint definition of some character types

Map improvements

• Added new NPCs to human settlements
• Added concept of hidden map locations
• Added the Thyle supermap to the overview map
• Added signs to country roads
• Improved procedural generation of natural cave dungeon maps
• Improved some settlement and building maps
• Improved handling of door locks and implemented lock traps
• Improved rendering of trees, especially during tactical combat
• Enabled the overview map in dungeons
• Enabled the campire action in dungeons

NPC combat behavior improvements

• Improved logic to position for an attack
• Improved archer behavior
• Improved behavior when NPCs occupy the same space
• Improved escape logic
• Improved logic to scroll/zoom the map to the appropriate position in combat

UI improvements

• Added option to customize portrait book behavior (pinned, transparent, or sliding)
• Added hover descriptions for attributes and skills
• Added concept of having action icons directly shown on the map
• Added progress bars when loading
• Added loading screen
• Added feature to move items between containers using a right-click (and updated tutorial)
• Added highlight of slots in the inventory where items can be equipped
• Added indicators for hunger/thirst/fullness levels to health screen
• Added indicator to show when distributable points or perks are available
• Added visual indicator when the PC receives an item
• Added hover description to several buttons
• Added hover description for any item special status (stolen, quest, etc)
• Added feature to open journal entry when clicking quest or criminal record banner
• Added display of estimated power when prompted for quick resolving a combat
• Added icon to display the state of a manhunt
• Improved and simplified concept of damage and life points (and added label for the value)
• Improved the readability of status messages
• Improved the combat UI (fonts, font colors, added backplates)
• Improved the resting panel
• Improved inventory belt clip background image
• Improved size of book widgets
• Improved timing of some hovers tooltips/popups (now appearing quicker)
• Improved the display of written tutorials and added feature to show them on the map
• Improved readability of hover popups (now hiding mouse cursor)
• Improved positioning of screen size setting (now visible if resolution is wrong)
• Improved determination of applicable mouse cursor asset during combat
• Removed obsolete combat actions (Communicate: now interaction, Item: now used via quickslot)
• Many smaller improvements

Balancing improvements

• Reduced the stamina penalty from blood loss
• Increased the skill roll bonus (or penalty) from high (low) attribute values
• Improved character power calculation (life points, armor, sleep status)
• Adjusted NPC group sizes
• Added more starting money and quest rewards
• Reduced prices for metal items

Audio handling improvements

• Improved timing of when music begins to play
• Greatly reduced audio stuttering when map changes (more work needed)

Main Menu improvements

• Added hover popups
• Added sparkle effect to game logo
• Improved the wishlist icon
• Now showing if the max number of saves has been reached

Credits screen improvements

• Added links to socials, Discord, Website, Steam
• Improved the copyright notice

Internal improvements

• Improved handling of absolute timestamps
• Improved handling of NPC behavior patterns when time gets skipped or the game gets paused
• Improved performance when switching to a screen that shows the last screen in the background
• Overhauled action handling
• Improvements to the dungeon map generation process (more efficient use of arrays)
• Now disposing all static TextureAtlases with the static disposal mechanism
• Updated included libGDX framework version to 1.14
• Updated included LWJGL library version to 3.3.6
• Added many new generic Requirements
• Moved data folder from "ProgramData" to "Saved Games"
• Tied the attribute "quest item" from Item to ItemInstance
• Improved handling of output logfiles (now keeping those of three sessions)
• Removed superflous calls to setting the generic popup active

Fixes for bugs present in Alpha 3.fun

• Fixed: app does not start anymore when a saved game is corrupt
• Fixed: app hangs when spam-clicking while a new game starts, corrupting the database
• Fixed: crash when an NPC flees to a different dungeon level
• Fixed: crash when confirming a new combat move while just arriving from another move
• Fixed: crash when an NPC's update queries the database after the PC died (database erased)
• Fixed: crash in Pathfinder when there is no route around an entity
• Fixed: crash when entering city map and patrol resumes at last waypoint
• Fixed: crash when looting dungeon container with colored item
• Fixed: crash when combat starts while mounting horse
• Fixed: crash when a manhunt ends at a certain building level
• Fixed: crash when storing criminal record entry with too many witnesses
• Fixed: crash when NPC is trying to get to a spot on top of a building, but there is no path to it
• Fixed: hang (NPC who is not yet to appear in the game incorrectly gets loaded)
• Fixed: error when saving game while mounting horse (action name too long for db)
• Fixed: lock components are not persistent
• Fixed: procedural lock generation gets stuck if there are not enough valid trap slots
• Fixed: NPC in explorable building, PC outdoors same town: isOnMapInMemory value incorrect
• Fixed: group is not fully removed when a character is moved out of a single-member group
• Fixed: bystander NPCs sometimes get added twice to the combatant list when attacked
• Fixed: town guard behavior pattern not always gets started when needed after a map change
• Fixed: in rare cases, it is incorrectly determined whether the PC is indoors
• Fixed: when the game loads in a static location, the shown room can be wrong
• Fixed: season Fast-Forward hover shows without the icon being available
• Fixed: unable to cancel activities while the spinner is up
• Fixed: outdated hover popup still shows up after a modal dialog appeared
• Fixed: NPC's action queue stuck when leaving building and PC is in a static location
• Fixed: rider and horse out-of-sync when opening Credits screen
• Fixed: book widget "inventory" not fluently scaling
• Fixed: book portrait visuals sometimes incorrect around the edges
• Fixed: popups with large amounts of text exceed the screen bounds
• Fixed: items can incorrectly be dropped in special locations using the key shortcut
• Fixed: when re-positioning checkbox, hovered and checked variants remain at the old spot
• Fixed: when loading game, effect trigger for an item not restored if it is inside a container
• Fixed: widget icon rollover status can be incorrect after setting it externally
• Fixed: a criminal record entry is added when picking a lock of a self-owned object
• Fixed: rendering order incorrect when indoors (precipitation not showing through window)
• Fixed: flickering on character sheet screen when animations are loading in the background
• Fixed: when game is paused while in a special location, key commands still work
• Fixed: Thyle city watch is not a unique special location, causing ambiguous guard behavior
• Fixed: function to query the position of a building that is not in memory sometimes crashes
• Fixed: incorrect behavior when a manhunt is triggered by a guard on top of a building
• Fixed: attacker gets too close when positioning for an upcoming combat
• Fixed: after dropping coins, carried weight does not get updated immediately
• Fixed: in the map editor, cellar levels are exported twice
• Fixed: possible PC actions not reset to default when starting a new game during same session
• Fixed: descriptions for locations on the travel map are incorrect (indexing issue)
• Fixed: even for non-humanoid NPCs, average armor is calculated based on humanoid body parts
• Fixed: map inappropriately changes when PC is taken to prison while in a static location
• Fixed: on some screens, modal dialogs are rendered under any screen darkening
• Fixed: The UI renderer does not correctly return the hovered status
• Fixed: some dungeon doors are locked although they are open
• Fixed: dungeon containers not always filled correctly
• Fixed: next quest step not always shown
• Fixed: in tactical combat, nearby enemy cannot be selected after canceling a move
• Fixed: quest "True Hospitality" proceeds incorrectly if the PC does not act for a while
• Fixed: music stuttering when changing maps and deleting games
• Fixed: incorrect item for starting campfire shown if using tinder pouch
• Fixed: flintstone sound missing when igniting object with tinder pouch
• Fixed: coin treasure item can include zero coins
• Fixed: NPCs can block themselves after being spawned on a new map
• Fixed: store visitors have a superflous action to enter the building on the queue
• Fixed: children and some other characters are unable to talk in certain scenarios
• Fixed: incorrect south stairscase asset in human dungeon
• Fixed: lantern (on) does not show a flame in inventory
• Fixed: the leader of the Dark Ones does not own the robe he is wearing
• Fixed: various issues with activity spinners
• Fixed: tutorial combat with bat can be started as quick combat when fleeing first
• Fixed: when camping in dungeon, sleep actions are shown incorrectly
• Fixed: after closing the gravestone overlay, interaction menu choice stays highlighted
• Fixed: when holding Alt, entities stand out that should not
• Fixed: wraith's footwear not rendered when attacking
• Fixed: "door close" sound sometimes plays twice when PC leaves a building
• Fixed: attacks incorrectly occur against already destroyed body parts
• Fixed: signpost assets have incorrect filenames in settlement winter atlas
• Fixed: temporary road and river paths are not disposed in travel map maker
• Fixed: incorrect dialog text in quest "True Hospitality" after PC attacked goblin and left
• Fixed: a selected NPC leaving the map stays in the interaction panel
• Fixed: incorrect hover text for "Take all" button on loot screen after taking selected items
• Fixed: character output related to food consumption is not correct
• Fixed: if one side in combat is powerless, power bar not showing correctly
• Fixed: life point bonus in power calculation incorrect
• Fixed: PC name instead of target's name is mentioned in status message after PC attacks
• Fixed: archers move to invalid positions on the map (outside the content area or in water)
• Fixed: incorrect music might come up if the PC joins an ongoing NPC-NPC combat
• Fixed: during combat, non-humanoid characters can open doors to escape
• Fixed: issue in conversation with Chosh in quest "All bats are gray in the dark"
• Fixed: incorrect result when determining whether a mounted character is in attack range
• Fixed: after being in combat hit while mounted, cannot dismount and animation stuck
• Fixed: sometimes, the wrong combat music variant starts
• Fixed: town guadrs sitting in a tavern do not get up when spotting a criminal
• Fixed: quick combat portraits sometimes show incorrect number of fighters
• Fixed: "construct shelter" action available in dungeon after loading game
• Fixed: after tuning towards an enemy during tactical combat, action sectors not always updated
• Fixed: coins can be dropped in special locations (impossible to pick them back up there)
• Fixed: combat gets stuck in quest "True Hospitality" if PC starts combat with the guard around
• Fixed: the retiree does not appear in quest "Echoes from the Past" when skipping time
• Fixed: corpses are incorrectly added as crime witnesses
• Fixed: dehydration level not correctly restored after loading