Sorry for the delays with this build, some non gamedev duties took my time this weekend.
But the "balance hot-fix" is here :) !
It actually has some non balance related updates too, but I primarily put out this build due to hellish :P difficulty problems in the nightmare mode of the game (sorry for the bad pun).
Keep in mind, that this is (as its name states) a hot-fix and not a fully finished elegant solution to alleviate all the problems with the early game on nightmare difficulty. More updates and fixes will come for making the nightmare mode less frustrating, but it will take some time. Probably all the planned fixes will be rolled out during the next two weeks though ;) .
Balance
Few item attributes were tweaked to be less punishing (Commonplace armor pants & Stocks).
Starting player attributes for nightmare increased (+1 starting Vitality & Speed).
Again, this makes the early parts of nightmare less punishing, but it still can be ridiculously hard :| . Will fix soon.
Ease of use
Traditional focus driven menus can be navigated with the W, A, S, D keys now. These are fixed and can not be remapped as the player controls, but if you use the default W, A, S & D keys to move around you don't have to change hands when entering the menus from now on ;) .
Players claimed, that the game starts really loud for the first time. I lowered the default value for the master volume to 5 from 10. This will not effect existing settings, those stay the same.
Localization
Some localization characters (e.g.: ß, È/É/é etc...) from the "tiny" font were missing. Now it has almost all the Latin-1&2 glyphs.
Many text grammar errors and typos were fixed (mostly in item descriptions).
Another really important note about updates:
I'm a big believer in open development. This way players can follow how something progresses and they can learn about the development process. I documented (blog + video series) the making of the game :) . Another big aspect was task management. From the very get-go anyone could check every single day how I Am Overburdened was progressing and this is still a possibility ;) !
I have an open trello board. If you never heard of trello it is essentially a fancy webpage for managing your TODO lists. I tidied it up during the weekend and added all the tasks for the upcoming updates (tasks what I'm going to work on in the next few weeks).
As with every software in the world, there will be bugs :(.
Oh well, such is life.
Boss fight crash-bug fixed!
I managed to fix a crash bug in the game which theoretically could effect around 5% of the boss fights, which is pretty bad if you ask me :| . Thankfully it's gone now. Sorry for those who run into it, please accept my apologies. I also added some counter measures so crashes due to similar problems with items and special effects don't occur in the future :).
Special thanks for those who helped me uncover the problem and for their understanding ;).
I also fixed some minor typos in the texts and added some missing Hungarian localization entries.
Now onto a feature/fix which bugged many of you:
I'm adding cut-scene cancellation (story / boss fight) to the game this weekend.
Stay tuned!
I Am Overburdened is released!
It is a big day for me, but my work on the game does not stop here ːsteammockingː .
I'm planning to make a bunch of free updates regardless how the game sales.
As always, no software is perfect so I'm preparing to fix any problems and inconveniences you stumble into.
Roadmap
Here is a roadmap kind-of thingy, a.k.a what to expect in the upcoming weeks:
Trading cards is an update that will be added definitely in a week or so.
I would also like to add tiny free content updates, things I want to further extend in the game:
More dungeon templates for the random generator
More items, I'm planning some extras in the lowest and the highest tier (Tragic and Epic)
Maybe even a new game mode variant to further extend replayability
In the meantime I would like to start organizing translations for the game.
This is not a huge list, but fixing potential problems and producing these updates will keep me busy for a few weeks ːsteamfacepalmː .
I also started an "Ideas & Suggestions" topic under the community discussions, so if anyone has some thoughts about how the game could be improved a lot feel free to check in there.
Thanks for everyone who plays the game, you are the best!
And I would also like to thank everyone who supported me during the development journey. You are my personal heroes ːsteamhappyː !
+ Tiny plus: I'm also selling I Am Overburdened bundled with my previous game, go check it out if you are into retro games:
Magic Item Tech RETRO Bundle
P.S.:
I hope the game will be to your liking ːsteamhappyː .
So close, yet so far...
Hello there!
This is going to be a painful post for me, but I got to do it ːsteamsadː ...
TLDR:
I had to postpone the release of I Am Overburdened by a little more than a week, to the 2nd of November ːsteamsadː !
That is the Steam workshop page. The build is approved, only a press of a button would make it live, yet I messed it up big time!
During the "hopefully final" test session this weekend I discovered few severe technical issues (bugs ːsteamboredː yuck). Since I went to a family visit I did not start fixing stuff + it would have taken more than a few minutes (still tried to work a little during the middle of the night ːsteammockingː , but with no luck yet ːsteamfacepalmː ) . I also miscalculated how much time I will have for creating proper release marketing materials today, so all in all I simply did not prepare well for the 23rd of October.
I can not express how sorry I am and how shameful I feel right now. This was an extremely hard decision to make. I made a lot of posts around the INTERNETZ with the previous release date, trying to gather some interest around the game, but releasing it in this state would go against my principles. I simply don't want to publish a buggy product.
I know, I know, there will be bugs, no software is perfect, but as I stated numerous times before on my b/v-log and website, a good game tomorrow is better than a mediocre one today and we are talking about only 10 extra days. "If it is only a few bugs and a bunch of marketing materials why not only a few days instead, why more than a week?!" Good question and the answer is simple. This is already and immensely embarrassing situation, even though I know I'm making the right choice. I feel like I'm letting people down who wanted to play the game today ːsteamsadː . It is a no-brainer, that I don't want to end up in something similar again. Targeting the 2nd of November will give me plenty of time to fix the remaining issues and prepare for a better launch without an absurd work-schedule.
I hope you understand my decision and forgive me for my messed up planning. Again, I'm really sorry. I'll try to make it up to you with an even better game ːsteamhappyː !
