This is mostly a technical update, no gameplay changes. The major feature is new shadows.
I did some cache-related optimizations for the water/lava simulation, so let me know if it helped or not if the game was slow for you before.
Note that you can support me on Patreon now, which have some behind-the-scenes and work-in-progress posts for supporters. And my thanks to those who already did, it helps a lot!
Change log:
New shadows.
New anti-aliasing method (TAA).
Tree foliage now uses a much less detailed model in the distance, for performance.
Tried to improve water simulation performance on some CPUs.
Added rim lighting and adjusted land textures.
Disabled stylistic post-processing effect by default, you can toggle it with F5.
Various rendering optimizations.
Sound volume instead of master volume in settings.
Check it out, spread the word, and consider backing it if you like the perks or want to support the game!
http://youtu.be/S3vloIHr7ns
Update 0.25: mana tactics
You need to claim mana with the new spell now, like in Magic Carpet. Otherwise, the gatherers won't touch it, and you need it collected and stored at your castle to increase your maximum mana so you can cast more powerful spells.
Gatherers can be killed now, so you might consider where to place your castle and where to kill the monsters to gather the mana faster and without extra trouble.
I rebalanced spell costs and other related parameters, so you can't anymore spam fireballs early on. You'll need to get some mana quickly before you engage a lot of enemies and use your castle more to speed up mana regeneration.
I also added a normal (non-dark) version of the birds and improved various stuff.
The castle is not damageable or upgradeable yet, I'll add that later. It'll add to the difficulty, especially in the dark worlds.
Change log:
Mana is now "wild" by default and should be claimed with the new Claim Mana spell.
Gatherers only pick up mana owned by the player now, ignoring the wild mana.
Player's maximum mana depends on the mana stored in the castle now.
Player's mana regeneration rate now depends on the mana owned (claimed) by the player.
Made gatherers pick up mana much more efficiently.
Gatherers can be damaged and killed now, both by enemies and the player.
Rebalanced spell mana costs and some other parameters.
Extra mana (above castle's capacity) is now expelled from the castle.
Added normal (non-dark) birds.
Added gatherer summon and death effects and sounds.
Added gatherers' info to HUD.
Mana, gatherers and player's missiles are now visible on the map.
Added dotted line to the castle on the map.
Spell icon turns semi-transparent now when the spell can't be cast.
Made Fracture spell stronger and improved its effect aesthetically.
Updated the tutorial to teach about claiming mana.
Fixed items appearing inside menhirs sometimes.
Added additional screen message with smaller text, mostly for the tutorial.
Added world gameplay time to script, also displayed on the performance stats screen.
Changed the way C++ and Squirrel objects are linked internally.
Update 0.24: dark worlds
I did various improvements while planning, so I decided to add dark worlds and release the update.
The launcher is gone for good, and settings are now in a text file instead of Windows registry. You'll need to change them again if you're updating since they'll be reset to the defaults, but it's only once for this update.
Change log:
Game settings are now saved in the Windows app data folder instead of the registry.
Removed the launcher.
Added dark worlds.
Worlds with undiscovered treasures are now highlighted on the universe map.
Available resources are now displayed on the universe map.
Added a hint on how to scroll and zoom the universe map.
Added descriptions for special worlds, visible on the universe map after visiting the world.
Activated triggers are now changed on the world map. No more looking for the missed one!
Changed magic vortex effect a bit to make it different for portals, spells and resources.
Improved tutorial to tell which buttons to use and point to objects on the map.
Player now respawns in the castle with zero mana and half health after death.
Available resources are now displayed when at the crafting altar.
Monster loot is now configurable from script (note for modders).
Optimized some parts of the world generation.
Added some decorative filler elements like forests and lakes.
Improved artistic post-effect and sky shaders quality a bit.
For debugging purposes, log files are saved in the Windows app data folder now.
Screenshots are now saved in the Windows app data folder.
The new game now starts in the first world directly, without the universe map.
Fixed saved game bug which likely only affected the tutorial world.
Fixed rare universe generator bug that prevented the access to the crafting world.
Some other minor improvements.
Update 0.23: resources and crafting
So, here's the serious change to the global gameplay. You won't find spells in the worlds now, instead you can collect resources to craft them. I might add spells you can find later, but they'll be very rare, and most likely hidden in some secret places and locked with puzzles.
There's also a tutorial now. I'll expand it as I add new mechanics in the next updates.
Let me know what you think of the new gameplay.
Change log:
Added resources which can be collected from the worlds and crafted into spells.
Added tutorial world.
Birds will now flock more and attack together when provoked.
Fixed bug that sometimes caused generated worlds to be empty.
Fixed bugs that produced wrong distances to portal and castle. Mana recharging and Use Portal spell will work better now.
Starting a new game in the used slot will now properly erase all old files.
Update 0.22
I rewrote most of the world generation for this update. It's now based around the gameplay needs. One can add a bunch of elements needed for the gameplay to the world and the system will build the terrain around that.
I left the gameplay about the same for now, but I'll change that with the next updates, especially the ways you get new spells.
The old saved games won't work with this update, and the next ones will likely break them again.
Update 0.21
The major feature is saving/loading of worlds, with all monsters, objects, scripts etc. It took about a month this time, but there was no way to release half of it.
The game is otherwise about the same, but feels a bit different anyway since you now keep your castles in every world etc. However, persistent worlds allow for long-term gameplay, so I'm going to build on that in the next updates.
Change log:
Worlds with all monsters, objects etc. are now saved in the saved game.
Added button to open saved games folder.
Added "black dot" crosshair option.
Combat music now starts immediately when a caterpillar attacks the player.
Some people asked about some kind of roadmap, so here's a rough estimate of the development progress so far:
Engine tech: 64%
World mechanics: 39%
Global gameplay mechanics: 10%
Spells: 41%
Content: 7%
Arcane Worlds update 0.20
http://youtu.be/hvIY57OznSE
Change log:
Added magical vortex effect to highlight portals and collectable spells.
Tree colors are now selected from the world palette.
Edited most world palettes, you'll see more interesting colors now.
Adjusted mana and portal effects a bit while improving trail effects.
Fully transparent foliage is not rendered anymore.
Fixed wrong color clamping for bright land colors.
Fixed palette parsing bug which caused the grass to be gray.
I also researched new method for object shadows for some time, but its quality and performance isn’t good enough yet to release it.
Update 0.19
The main feature of this update is land monsters. I also made some tools to help me with the development, but they are not in the game.
I'll try to do smaller updates more often now.
Change log:
Added first land monsters (caterpillars).
Added process priority option - try setting it higher if you experience lag.
Added left-handed HUD option - swapping spells on screen to match swapped mouse buttons.
Missile collision with ground is less strict now, making it easier to shoot over hills etc.
Repacked some textures to use less memory.
Improved fluid simulation performance a bit.
World colors are selected from predefined palettes now instead of being randomly generated.
Added profiling of various game systems on the performance stats screen.
Updated to 0.18: music and improvements
It's a small update before I start working on more serious stuff.
Change log:
Added some music created by Josh Culler.
Added resolution selection to options.
Added "invert mouse Y" option.
Added volume sliders.
Spell casting auto-repeats now when you hold the button.
Moved missile starting position closer to the player to improve targetting.
