I'm glad to announce that update 2.0 is finally live! It took some time, but version 2.0 became much more than just a patch with first achievements added. You will see completely reworked UI, new mechanics, and improved usability. Unfortunately, trading cards are currently out of equation, because the game still isn't popular enough, I'm really sorry about that. Now, to the list of changes and more details.
Update 2.0 improvements:
- Steam achievements were implemented (11 in total).
- Checkpoint save data can now be reset from within the game.
- User interface was reworked and improved.
- Focus mechanic was redesigned.
There aren't much achievements in game so far, but I might add more in the future updates. Please note, that achievement progress indication may come with noticable (few minutes) delays, so don't worry if the progress won't be shown instantly. Reset save feature (which is located in settings) will allow you to start game from the beginning, as you will not be able to gain all achivements in one playthrough.
User interface started to look better and became a bit more user friendly. Now UI indicates which attacks were lethal, and which were non-lethal. Also there is no need in detection ranges tip now, as all enemies have laser-like indication as turrets and drones in previous versions.
From update 2.0 and further, game camera will provide more field of view, so the old focus mechanic is not needed anymore. Now it works differently. Initially, all enemies were always visible as a part of protagonist's skepsiathy gift explanation, but it wasn't quite correct or fun as this ability wasn't supposed to detect non-organic objects. To fix that and make game more fun, I added the "fog of war" and changed focus ability, so now it can be used to detect organic enemies behind solid obstacles while protagonist isn't moving.
I really hope you will like the update :) If you have any feedback, please do not hesitate using forum to share your thoughts - this may help me to improve the game and plan future updates more precisely.
Regards,
Sergey Kalmanovich (aka Red Spot Sylphina).
Achievements may become visible soon for testing purposes.
Hello :)
Achievements may become visible on the game's page soon for testing purposes. Please note, that you will not be able to start gaining them in game until after update 2.0 will be released.
Regards,
Sergey Kalmanovich (aka Red Spot Sylphina).
Update 2.0 announcement!
Hi there, and please let me wish you happy holidays :)
The time has come to announce the version 2.0 content. There are good news, bad news, and again no exact date of the update release.
Let's start with good news. As the game already recieved some of the most critical improvements and bug fixes, I've decided it's time to implement Steam achievements as well as to create and add trading cards. The bad news are tied only to the trading cards availability. The problem is that even added cards will not become available to you unless the game will become popular enough, and I cannot do anything about it unfortunately. Let us hope Glasswinged Ascension will become well known as soon as possible :)
In addition to achievements and trading cards, I want to improve user interface usability, to make things like non-lethal neutralizations more understandable in terms of their durations, for example. Also, I'm going to implement checkpoint reset feature, and possibly add more overall visual improvements. Speaking of which, I have a question about UI you might find interesting. Do you like current comic-like user interface style, or you would prefer to see something that looks more like an animated hologram? Please, don't hesitate sharing your thoughts on the matter.
Regards,
Sergey Kalmanovich (aka Red Spot Sylphina).
Glasswinged Ascension update 1.9 is now live!
Hello :)
I'm glad to announce that update 1.9 is now live! As many of you have asked, protagonist can now grab the edges while falling down. New mechanics requires well timed usage of jump and change stance actions, so be sure to review controls description in game to learn more. And of course, this update includes even more things you might find interesting. Please, feel free to read the full patch notes below.
Improvements:
- Grab the edge mechanics was implemented.
- Each mission design was improved in accordance to the new grab the edge mechanics.
- Horizontal moving platform doesn't have any path blocking while moving anymore.
- Vertical moving platform doesn't have right path blocking while moving anymore.
- All covers (except ladder cover) no longer require direct interaction to be used.
- In order to hide from enemies in mentioned covers - use sneaking stance while near these covers.
Bug fixes:
- Fixed the bug where you could place new blast charges even when their count was equal to zero.
- Fixed the bug where you could heal twice using just one first aid pack.
Regards,
Sergey Kalmanovich (aka Red Spot Sylphina).
Announcing version 1.9 - the next GA update!
Hello :)
I think the time has come to uncover some details about the next update, even though I cannot name the exact date of its release. The things I'm going to make will require considerable amount of time. I want to implement mechanic that will allow protagonist to grab the floor edges while falling to make platforming part of the game look and feel more fluent. This will require more than just coding and drawing. I will need to tweak the level design to fit this new feature well. This is also a good opportunity to make some additional visual quality improvements to the game in general, as well as fix some bugs and usability issues.
Stay tuned :)
Regards,
Sergey Kalmanovich (aka Red Spot Sylphina).
Glasswinged Ascension update 1.8 is now live!
I'm glad to announce that update 1.8 is now live! It took longer than I expected, but I did more than initially planned. Please, read the list of improvements below.
Version 1.8 includes the following improvements:
- All interactive buttons were removed from combat UI and replaced with hotkeys.
- Focus is no longer automatic action. Use corresponding hotkey to see farther while aiming.
- Aiming without focus active doesn't prevent your character from turning around while moving.
- Key binding system was implemented - keys can now be remapped any time via Controls menu.
- Mission tips and dialogues UI were redesigned to become less distracting from the gameplay.
- Both outsource fonts I used for UI and for some in-game assets were replaced with my own fonts.
- Combat UI was reworked in favour of appearance and usability.
- Dialogues and story overall quality was improved.
- Overall visual quality of the game was improved.
Announcing the second update.
The second update (version 1.8) will be ready next month (cannot tell the exact date though). I still have some things to finish and test before I will be ready to release it on Steam. For those of you who is wondering what exactly will be included into the upcoming update, I prepared a sneak pick of patch notes. There will be no bug fix this time, only improvements:
- All interactive buttons were removed from combat UI and replaced with hotkeys.
- Key binding system was implemented - keys can now be remapped any time via Controls menu.
- Mission tips and dialogues UI were redesigned to become less distracting from the gameplay.
- Both outsource fonts I used for UI and for some in-game assets were replaced with my own fonts.
- Overall visual quality of the game was improved.
My thanks, plus recent news.
Hello, and please let me thank you for all feedback regarding Glasswinged Ascension you are providing - both positive and negative. This realy helps me to understand what and how can I improve in this game, as well as in the future projects. I'd like to remind that unskipable dialogues issue was fixed in the recent update, so now you can skip most of them using Esc button (intro and outro monologues are still unskipable). Esc works for this purpose even during the transition scene, so you can skip a dialogue before it appears on the screen.
Also, I have some news for those of you who isn't decided about this game yet. IndieGala included Glasswinged Ascension into their new “Hefty Indie” Bundle recently. You might want to check this bundle out, as it contains 12 games in total.
The first update is now live!
I'm glad to announce that first update in the update series of Glasswinged Ascension is now live on Steam. Please, don't be surprized by 1.7 version number, as the game was released on Steam as version 1.6 initially. Below you can see the list of improvements and bug fixes that were included into this particular update.
Improvements:
- Escape hotkey can now be used for skipping dialogues (intro and outro monologues still cannot be skipped).
- Escape hotkey can now be used for closing large screens (like Controls, Addendum, or Main Menu).
- Skepsiathy attack sleep duration now lasts twice longer than pistol attack sleep duration.
- User interface indication for covers, heavy containers, and exoskeleton was improved.
Bug fixes:
- Fixed the bug that allowed incorrect exit from aiming state and character movement speed reduction.
- Fixed the bug that could allow enemy to strike back just after player initiated a successful attack.
- Fixed the bug that may mess and cycle enemy animations after he awakened from sleep.
- Fixed numerous user interface bugs for 5:4 screen ratios.
Stay tuned for the next update announcement, and please, feel free to share any ideas about how do you think the game may be improved further :)
Regards,
Sergey Kalmanovich (aka Red Spot Sylphina).
Glasswinged Ascension update series.
Hello, everyone :)
I wish to apologize for the absence of news regarding the game, and want to assure you that I didn't abandon this project, as I intended it to be a part of game series of different design united by the same universe and one big story. As the part of this series, Glasswinged Ascension will be improved by several updates. I'm not planning any kind of paid content or DLCs for my games, so I'm marely talking about patches that will make the game better. I'm observing all feedback regarding the game, and taking it into consideration, while planning the future updates.
Why have I decided to divide update into several pieces instead of making a large one? Simply, because some things require huge amounts of time to be implemented, and I work on my own projects alone. I believe no one would want to wait for a single huge update for too long. So, first things first. The number one complaint I've heared so far is the lack of possibility of skipping the dialogues. In the first update I'll fix this issue along with several bugs that should be fixed asap in my opinion. I cannot name the exact date of the first update release, but I hope to finish working on it in the near future.
P.S. Regarding the complaints about lack of more checkpoints on the missions. I prefer to keep only one checkpoint (in the beginning of each mission) by design to ensure the high enough difficulty level of the game which missions are not very large. I'm sure any hardcore gamer can handle this challenge. I also believe that any casual gamer can become hardcore, and will be really happy if my games will help him/her to do so.
