Today's build includes a big optimization to saving games.
Previously a save took about 0.50 seconds. Which doesn't sound long, but even that can cause a noticeable hitch whenever the game saved, which happens automatically when you get a new quest, complete a quest, close your inventory, or close the crafting/building menu.
The updated system saves in about 0.12 seconds!
-Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna jon@hammerhelm.com
My Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuperSixStudios
Discord Channel: discord.gg/soedesco
Beta 14.8.13 - Fixes and Improvements
A quick build to address some issues and suggestions that were sent to me yesterday.
Added Healing Potions to the Goblins and Obsidian Elementals in the Orc Quest.
Shaydee will no purchase Pickaxes and Hatchets.
Fixed a bug that caused Pickaxes and Hatchets to fail to equip properly when clicking and dragging.
Fixed a bug that caused equipping Pickaxes and Hatchets to fail to update the mouse over text.
The world map can no longer be opened while on Orc Island or in the Haunted Mansion.
Thank you for the feedback and suggestions everyone!
-Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna jon@hammerhelm.com
My Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuperSixStudios
Discord Channel: discord.gg/soedesco
Beta 14.8.12 - Monster AI Improvements
Today's build includes a bunch of updates to monster AI.
Greatly reduced the chance that a monster won't attempt an attack before it is killed. In the previous system this happened way too often, making combat a bit too easy.
Monsters who are wounded are more likely to attempt an attack.
Reduced the overall time that a monster will strafe and change directions before attacking.
Slightly increased the chance a monster will attack if it is the last monster left in a spawner.
The net effect of this is combat should be a bit more challenging, without being overly difficult.
This AI update will also be in the next story test build.
-Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna jon@hammerhelm.com
My Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuperSixStudios
Discord Channel: discord.gg/soedesco
Beta Test 14.9.7 - Stronghold and Character Updates
Tonight's test build includes a larger buildout for the Stronghold and some updates to the female character.
Built out more of the stronghold to include the area that will be part of the new quest. This area isn't accessible in the prologue.
Updated the female character so her hair doesn't clip into the new outfit. I think this was the biggest issue I had with her as it made her stance look way off. Still want to make some small adjustments to her though.
Updated Stronghold
Updated Female Character
If you would like to check out the new content, you can get it by doing the following:
1. In the Steam Client Library where it lists all of your games, right click on HammerHelm 2. Click Preferences 3. In the window that opens, select the "Betas" Tab 4. Enter the password to download this build - StoryTest2021 - and click Check Code 5. You should get a message that the code is correct 6. Click the drop-down box and select BigUpdateTest
Steam should immediately start a new download with the test client. The new game should be called "HammerHelm [bigupdatetest]". Once the download is complete you can launch the game and you should see "Beta 14.9.7" in the title screen.
You MUST make a new character to play this content. Do not load an existing save if you grab this build.
To get back to the main build:
1. In the Steam Client Library where it lists all of your games, right click on HammerHelm 2. Click Preferences 3. In the window that opens, select the "Betas" Tab 4. Choose “None” from the drop down 5. Steam should then revert back to the main client
I'm hoping to have at least some of the main quest playable over the weekend. Enough so that you can start it and finish it to test out the new rewards, including the trading system, for real. Then I might add more to it in-between that content just to flesh it out more. I've got some other things I'm working on that has slowed down the main quest work but it's all good stuff that I hope to share soon!
-Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna jon@hammerhelm.com
My Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuperSixStudios
Discord Channel: discord.gg/soedesco
Beta 14.8.11 - Road Placement Fixes
Tonight's build includes two quick fixes for the road placement tool,
Fixed a bug that caused the placement tool to not always follow your mouse pointer.
Fixed a bug that caused the road placement tool movement for up and down to be inverted.
-Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna jon@hammerhelm.com
My Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuperSixStudios
Discord Channel: discord.gg/soedesco
Beta Test 14.9.6 - Quest Rewards
This update contains spoilers related to the new story content - stop reading if you don't want to know this stuff before it is live!
Today's build includes some of the rewards for completing the new story quest. Since the quest isn't available yet, I've created a cheat that you can use to test out the rewards.
Important - if you use this cheat, do NOT load that save again using the live client. You can use an existing save to check out the new rewards, but once you do that save won't work with the live build anymore, so definitely make a back up or start a new character using the test build.
To unlock the new content make sure you have finished the prologue and the tutorial. Then press and hold left shift and left ctrl and press 9 (not the num-pad).
Once you have done that, you'll be able to check out two of the rewards!
The first is an outfit change that will have your character wear the armor outfits that the HammerHelm stronghold NPCs are wearing. To get this, simply go to one of your Tailors and there will be a button in their dialogue allowing you to change outfits. There is no resource cost associated with doing this.
The second are two new lamp posts made from Marble. These look like the pillars in the stronghold and include HammerHelm banners and of course a lantern. When you use the cheat you will be given some white marble and black marble to craft these. They also require some gold ore or iron ore depending on which one you want to make. There is no gold cost with these. I'll likely be adding some more new structures as well.
This build also includes the new Trading System, which will allow you to get White Marble and Black Marble from the HammerHelm stronghold Dwarves. This will be the only way to get marble other han maybe some quests. You can also trade other goods with them. There is no way to access the UI yet (and I also want to test it more) but eventually you'll either build a new structure (like a trading post) or a HammerHelm stronghold NPC will be in your town (or both!) that you can speak with to trade goods. The stronghold's inventory will update daily at the same time the lights turn off in the morning in your town. I should have this ready to test soon.
Another reward that isn't in yet will be to upgrade some buildings (stone houses for example) to also use marble. Also potentially add the green banners to the stone entrance. I'm still working out how I want that to work exactly so those aren't in yet and may or may not get added.
I've also decided to make some changes to the main quest, mostly to shorten it and tighten it up a bit. It's a balance between the size of the quest vs. how long you want to be away from your town. With the Scarecrow and Orc quests this isn't a huge concern since the town is essentially on hold - due to time stopping in the Scarecrow Quest and the kidnapped townspeople in the Orc Quest. I don't want to do something like that for this though so I'm playing around with the right balance. The main purpose of the quest is to be the finale to the story so it doesn't have to be super long. Right now I'm thinking about the same as the Scarecrow Quest, maybe a bit longer.
Marble Lampposts with either iron or gold HammerHelm symbols on top
Trading System
New Outfits
Note the female outfit model is a bit distorted and her stance looks lower than the regular look, something we're going to fix. Also the female doesn't have a backpack as it interfered with most of the hair styles. I might add a smaller satchel or something to her back if I can get the hair to behave with it - but I also like the way she looks without it.
This build also has a couple of fixes for the road painting tool in it, including fixing a bug that caused placing the tool in the right spot to be difficult. I'll be rolling those fixes into the main live build tomorrow evening.
If you would like to check out the new content, you can get it by doing the following:
1. In the Steam Client Library where it lists all of your games, right click on HammerHelm 2. Click Preferences 3. In the window that opens, select the "Betas" Tab 4. Enter the password to download this build - StoryTest2021 - and click Check Code 5. You should get a message that the code is correct 6. Click the drop-down box and select BigUpdateTest
Steam should immediately start a new download with the test client. The new game should be called "HammerHelm [bigupdatetest]". Once the download is complete you can launch the game and you should see "Beta 14.9.3" in the title screen.
You MUST make a new character to play this content. Do not load an existing save if you grab this build.
To get back to the main build:
1. In the Steam Client Library where it lists all of your games, right click on HammerHelm 2. Click Preferences 3. In the window that opens, select the "Betas" Tab 4. Choose “None” from the drop down 5. Steam should then revert back to the main client
Thank you again everyone for your feedback and support!
-Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna jon@hammerhelm.com
My Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuperSixStudios
Discord Channel: discord.gg/soedesco
Beta 14.8.10 - Quest Text Load Fix
A quick build to fix a bug related to loading quests. A couple of quests were loading the wrong text.
I'm working on a new build for the test branch for today or tomorrow. It will include most of the rewards for completing the new story content. Since that content isn't ready for play yet, I'll include a cheat for those who want to check out the new stuff!
