Usually updates launch on Friday or rarely, Saturday, at the end of the week, however, we're launching this one a day early, and it's not just a regular update, it's a content pack!
This content pack has three new great features that I think you're all gonna love!
Hi Temperature (Hot) Breeding!
Turning up the dial on the heat in the breeding lab, Embryos grow so rapidly and so energetically they leave the egg immediately, allowing you to check if they're Brilliant, their base stats, etc. This mode is for the real competitive breeders that do a lot of experimenting and want to see the results of their efforts immediately.
The trade-off? Getting that monster instantly is great, but if it gets hurt, it dies! For good! You'll have to level up your level 0 hatchling without letting it get hurt in order for it to grow to its true form.
Gene Lab
Waaayyyy over in Hewston, the far-right island on the map, is an advanced Gene Lab that lets you build your own custom chromosomes for breeding. While that part of the island isn't open yet, the eastern-most Hooper sister can sneak you in!
Once inside you'll find a series of machines that have special symbols on them. Depending on which switch is flipped, the monsters you breed will inherit different attributes from their parents. The true meaning of each symbol is a mystery, so feel free to experiment, or work with other players (or think really hard :) ) to uncover the exact formula for your perfect crossbreeds.
Once you save a custom Chromosome, they can be set in the breeding menu before doing any hatching. These chromosomes will work for normal breeding, hi temperature breeding, even net egg, so have fun with a whole new world of possibilities. I know this feature has been greatly anticipated by many of you!
Apo
Ah the elusive Apo!
As many of you know Apo are small, weak animals that reside in the Windy Province. They can be attacked by an evil fungus that kills the host and reanimates it as the unstable Laz. Apo is pretty weak and not really fit for battle, that's why it's a harmless monster you can't add to your team.
HOWEVER, rumor has it there is a location called the "Apo Plateau" where a unique item, "Apo's Light" can be obtained. This item can be used to remove the fungus and restore a Laz to its original state. Later in the game you'll be able to find an Antifungal that does the same thing, but this one specifically is a gift from a very powerful Apo! In the final game you'll only get one "Apo's Light", however, just for this weekend you can keep asking Apo for more of the item when you first meet it so you can make as many Apo as you want as celebration of the Apo love I see across our discord and twitter and steam forums! Next patch though it'll be down to one :)
It's a lot of work to turn Laz back into the quite weak Apo, but if you work this hard, who am I to stop you? Also, while Monster Crown monsters are quite fierce overall I think this amount of effort to get a cute monster should be rewarded, I think you're really gonna enjoy Apo's crossbreeds, and the future holds an upgrade for each. Unfortunately I can't share any more details just yet :D
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With the features out of the way, here are some additional notes:
EA v1.472 ---------------------- +Pact success formula improved, an oversight caused lower than normal rates from reduced HP (in other words, HP has a bigger impact on pact success now) +If the amount of EXP granted is less than 1 it becomes one, this solves the issue where it appeared you stop getting EXP at some point when defeating monsters much weaker or while using party exp.
With Content Pack #2 out in the wild work continues on Content Pack #3 which will be our largest expansion yet and will include many new areas and monsters to enjoy. It'll be a lot of work but I know it'll be worth it once I see you all let loose on more of Crown Island.
Thank you so much for playing Monster Crown!
Patch v.0.1.469
Hello Crew,
Another week's work of patches while I work on wrapping up Content Pack#2
Making significant work on Content Pack #2 and #3 so expect more information on them real soon.
In the meantime this patch addresses some bugs, some prominent ones that are directly related to player feedback are: improvements to font rendering (easier to read and more clearly laid out in text boxes!), data-side improvements to play time and egg hatch time calculation, and types visible on the party screen.
Additionally, I know there are people out there still struggling with Brutus. I know there are large amounts of players coming from a mainly Pokemon background that face Brutus, see his level and difficulty in chipping away at his HP and decide the path forward is to grind as that is a strategy they've learned in the past.
I'm against nerfing him because those of you out there that make skilled use of infection, synergy disruption, your own synergy strategies, locating high magical attack monsters, etc. can make quick work of him.
So to compromise I'm adding a simple alternative strategy, the move orb Equalize (not presently learned by any monster naturally) is available for purchase at the Crossroads Shop. This move clears the field of all buffs and debuffs and provides an additional strategy for players. While the above strategies are all effective you have to start the battle with a strategy in mind, once Brutus has fully buffed himself you can be in a position where you can't win, Equalize offers a way you can still make it out alive if you don't realize what he's up to until it's too late. I consider it an easier "mode" to that and future synergy manipulation battles as there is a very tough one coming up in Content Pack #3. I think those of you that have already mastered these systems can safely ignore Equalize if you like a challenge, but feel free to find something that works for you - I'm all about options!
Also the Brutus Tamer now rewards you properly with $500, but this works right now if you return to him. I added a manual "refresh" of NPCs at the end of battles that made it all automatic but it caused an early game issue when I did a test playthrough this morning so I've backed out that change until I can get to the root of that one. Regardless if you haven't received your $500 and are post-Brutus you can safely return for your hard earned dough!
Have a great weekend!
EA v1.469 ---------------------- +Pact no longer still offered after monster death +Run speed tweaked +Improvements to font display +See types on the party/select screen +Small polishing tweaks to Beth meeting cutscene +Crossroads town shop now offers Equalize Move orb, a new orb that reduces all buffs/debuffs to offer another method to combat Brutus +Playtime counter calculation adjusted +slight reduction in Gualop HP +Enemy defending now has proper battle message +Rain timing improvements
#Please note that we want to keep the primary EA build stable so new builds will be uploaded to the EA-BETA branch for one week before being moved to the main stream. Anyone can access this branch, just right-click Monster Crown in Steam, go to properties and select the EA-BETA branch to have the up to the minute, bleeding edge updates.
Patch v.0.1.466
Hey guys!
Hope you had a radical week and are having an even radicall-er weekend so far.
Here's today's patch, the most prominent changes are fixes to the move learner, improvements to the rain transition/weather and of course skipping the storklift animations! Just jam accept/z to fast forward to the good stuff :)
I'm also really happy with our new loading screens, Ahab did a great job! I hope you enjoy them :)
Work on Content Pack #2 is going really well, we actually squeezed in something extra to spice it up a bit, expect more on that real soon.
EA v1.466 ---------------------- +Player's shadow no longer lost after using storklift +Added text box shadow backdrop +Menu sound effect tweaks +Improved wallet display at menu screen +Menu graphical tweaks +New Hareohearts sprite +Adjusted Hareohearts palette +Animation speed of wild monsters walking increased +Can skip storklift animation for flight and box access +Adjustment to how the move learner treats moveset/learnset data +New loading screens by Captain Ahab +Updated into-battle transition +Improved rain transitions/timing
#Please note that we want to keep the primary EA build stable so new builds will be uploaded to the EA-BETA branch for one week before being moved to the main stream. Anyone can access this branch, just right-click Monster Crown in Steam, go to properties and select the EA-BETA branch to have the up to the minute, bleeding edge updates.
Early Access Weekly Challenge #5 - Breeding Challenge #4
Hey all!
The week has begun, and so has another weekly challenge! We're at challenge #5 and you know what, we're doing another NET Egg challenge!
Thank you all for entering in last week's challenge in our Discord server! Last week's winner is... Hoshi no Lavenby#0239 with their monster 'Coil'.
Congratulations! Please check your DMs on Discord! Now on to this week's challenge ;)
Breeding Challenge #4 Breed the most unique and awesome monster using a NET Egg! Need a refresher on how to use NET Eggs? Check out this post: https://store.steampowered.com/newshub/app/830370/view/2885073380242123874. Post a screenshot in the #monster-crown channel of the SOEDESCO Discord server (https://discord.gg/soedesco) and use #BreedingChallenge4 by Monday September 14th 3PM CEST and win the Monster Crown player of the week title + this special Monster Crown care package of in-game items!
Entries are limited to 1 per user, please only post 1 screenshot. Winners will be picked in consultation between @devotedtoneurosis and SOEDESCO. Good luck everyone! If you have any questions, feel free to ask :D
-Marten
Patch v0.1.463
Hello folks!
Hope you had a great week!
In our latest patch a lot of work has gone on behind the scenes for Content Pack #2 and while working on it, I was actually quite surprised at just how powerful these next features feel. Iof course have touched on them in previous dev work on Monster Crown but I think it just refreshed my memory a little and I can't see what all of you create with them. They're a secret for now but they're much requested by you guys - I value all of your feedback, requests and kind words on here and discord!
As for general fixes, here's the list:
EA v1.463 ---------------------- +Adjusted incubator graphics +Can no longer walk on Move Learner/Relearner +Behind the scenes prep work for Content Pack #2 +New Gorgem sprite +Weird word gaps in text boxes fixed, still needs adjustments to ensure the full box is used.
Since last week's launch of our first Content Pack, the NET Egg feature has been used almost 24 THOUSAND times! I can't believe it! Thank you so much everyone that has played with this feature and uploaded such interesting monsters to the service. I know there's been some killer finds by our discord players of particularly well crafted monster genes, we have such amazing monster breeders playing I really shouldn't be so surprised :D
I also have not had one report of an issue with Online Monster Trading, so that feature seems quite stable, which is definitely awesome news. As for Online Battling it's something I plan to return to, and the battle system in general very soon. I have a new feature in the works that will add complexity to battle and also, I just want to put more work into balancing.
I've heard some comments about the specifics of the move learner so I plan to dig into that in depth tomorrow and see if it needs any tweaking. Don't be surprised if another patch gets pushed tomorrow to tidy things up a bit but I won't make a full community post like this as I like to use these to keep you in the loop about fixes, but also the status of the project, without making them so frequent that they become annoying.
Thanks for playing Tamers! More great features and content are already in the cooker!
Early Access Weekly Challenge #4 - Breeding Challenge #3
Hey there everyone! It's time for another weekly challenge, challenge #4! Which is all about making use of the new feature introduced in Content Update #1: NET Eggs
Thank you all for entering in last week's Breeding Challenge in our Discord server! Last week's winner is... dro ghost#1995 with their monster Aubergin!
Congratulations! Please check your DMs on Discord! Now on to this week's challenge ;)
Breeding Challenge #3 Breed the most unique and awesome monster using a NET Egg! Need a refresher on how to use NET Eggs? Check out this post: https://store.steampowered.com/newshub/app/830370/view/2885073380242123874. Post a screenshot in the #monster-crown channel of the SOEDESCO Discord server (https://discord.gg/soedesco) and use #BreedingChallenge3 by Monday Septebmer 7th 3PM CEST and win the Monster Crown player of the week title + this special Monster Crown care package of in-game items!
Entries are limited to 1 per user, please only post 1 screenshot. Winners will be picked in consultation between @devotedtoneurosis and SOEDESCO. Good luck everyone! If you have any questions, feel free to ask :D
-Marten
Patch 1.462 + New Feature Explanations
Hey Folks,
I couldn't believe my eyes last night when I checked the server logs and found there had already been OVER 4000 monster genes uploaded to our server from everyone using the new NET Egg functionality! It's over 6000 now (can't wait for the 9k joke).
If you haven't yet made use of the NET Egg and would like to learn more about what it's all about, here's how it works:
Set your breeding monsters, and then, hit Backspace, it'll reach out to our server and pull a random monster gene from all over the world. When you do, a random one of your monster's genes will be uploaded as well. You don't lose any monsters, consider it like a DNA donation from one of your creations! With everyone that has already made use of the feature you're surely in for a surprise no matter what monsters you use. To grab a new Net Egg just hit backspace again on that menu, you can also use that key to return to normal breeding.
That brings me to my next point, The Alternate Gene. The Alternate Gene is just a sneak peak at gene editing and the power that's on the way to you a little later during EA when you get the Gene Lab functionality. The Alternate gene has this configuration:
Switches which parent the following stats come from: -Attack -Magic -Appearance -Type -Palette
Basically, the ones above that used to come from the primary now come from the secondary and vice versa. With some experimentation you can accomplish new things with breeding that you couldn't before, I believe the master tamers on our discord are already beginning to master things. Feel free to hop in here:
https://discord.gg/WwRvm9B
If you're interested in the new trading functionality or would like to dabble in online battles, it's also a great place to find a partner.
The final new feature added, the Move Learner/Relearner is from Frobec city but has temporarily made a visit to Humanism Kingdom. He can allow your monster to remember or forget moves, a much requested feature that lets you get the most out of your crossbreeding experimentation. Unfortunately this new functionality exposed an issue, previously, monsters movesets were not being inherited properly. While this is corrected in this patch, prior created monsters can have this issue - as a workaround, the move relearner instantly adds all known moves to your monster's genetic learnset now, so you don't have to worry about any loss of moves.
Check out the rest of the patch notes below:
EA v1.462 ---------------------- +Odd collision issue around the breeding barn fixed +Fixed location in Desperado caves where you could walk up onto the wall +Improved NPC trading menu flow
#Please note that we want to keep the primary EA build stable so new builds will be uploaded to the EA-BETA branch for 24 hours before being moved to the main stream. Anyone can access this branch, just right-click Monster Crown in Steam, go to properties and select the EA-BETA branch to have the up to the minute, bleeding edge updates.
Content Update #1 is here!
Hi everyone!
Today is the day of Content Update #1! The first of multiple content updates that are coming to Monster Crown during the Early Access period.
This first big content update introduces three new game features: NET Eggs, the ‘Move Learner’ and online monster trading. A NET Egg lets you breed with a random monster egg, which contains monster genes from players all over the world. The egg serves as a wild-card parent, resulting in a surprise monster. Use this feature by pressing 'BACKSPACE' in the breeding menu. The ‘Move Learner’ allows monsters to remember a new set of moves from its large roster of attacks. Monsters can learn a lot of moves, but they can only remember six at a time. Now you can select which moves their monsters remember at any given time. Lastly, online monster trading lets you exchange their monster creations with the world.
There's also a new mystery feature added called 'Alternate Genes'. Just press F7 at any point in the game and head over to the breeding barn. You'll see a 'set gene' option in the breeding menu. We won't tell you too much about this just now, so get experimenting!
So what are you waiting for? Hop into the game and try it out! Found any bugs or issues? Let us know in the Steam Community hub or via Mantis: http://bulletcpu.com/mantis/
Have fun!
-Marten
Just wanted to say thank you to everyone
Just wanted to say a big thank you to all of you, especially those kind enough to stream or create content (Of any form) for Monster Crown!
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Early Access Weekly Challenge #3 - Breeding Challenge #2
Hello everyone in the Monster Crown Early Access, it is time for weekly challenge #3!
Thank you all for entering in the Online Battling Challenge #1 in our Discord server! Last week's winner is... HUEnd#3184!
Congratulations! Please check your DMs on Discord! Now on to this week's challenge ;)
Breeding Challenge #2 Breed the most unique and awesome GREEN monster! Post a screenshot in the #monster-crown channel of the SOEDESCO Discord server (https://discord.gg/soedesco) and use #BreedingChallenge2 by Monday August 31st 3PM CEST and win the Monster Crown player of the week title + this special Monster Crown care package of in-game items!
Entries are limited to 1 per user, please only post 1 screenshot. Winners will be picked in consultation between @devotedtoneurosis and SOEDESCO. Good luck everyone! If you have any questions, feel free to ask :D
