Hello everyone! I've decided to spend some time focusing on fixing bugs rather than adding new features for this update. I've received a ton of great bug reports through the in game feedback system, Discord messages, and Steam reviews/comments and I've taken some time to fix the worst ones.
Don't forget to submit any bugs you find so that I can keep improving Plague Breaker!
Changes
Updating the Wheel of Chance
The Wheel of Chance is a lot of fun, but people were a little annoyed that chests could only spawn once from it. Now they can keep spawning every time you land on a weapon or item chest! I also reduced the chances of a mimic spawning.
Disabled the map in boss fights
There were a few reports of the boss fights breaking in co-op if the map was opened. This was a tricky bug to fix, and ultimately the easiest thing to do was just to disable the map during a boss fight. I could no longer reproduce the issue with the map disabled, so if it comes up again please let me know!
Inventory Menu Fixes
The inventory menu has a few issues still, but I've patched up some of the big problems. I've re-aligned all the sprites and fixed an issue where you couldn't scroll beyond the bottom of the screen if you have too many items.
Interact Prompt Fixes
The interact prompt had a few issues, especially regarding the shops or disabled items. Now the interact prompt will only appear when the item is actually interact-able!
Other changes
Fixed bug where data was not saved the first time you played Co-op
Fixed treasure chest room glow from being above certain chests but no others
Added a version number to the main menu for easier testing and reporting
Future Changes
So now that a few bugs have been fixed it's time to talk about what's next! Some of this will be released very soon, and some will be a couple of months or so.
Bats!
Most of the enemies in Plague Breaker are on the ground, I've decided to add bats to add a little variety. They still have a few bugs I'm trying to fix before getting these out.
New level progress screen
The level progression screen is rather boring, just a black screen with some grey boxes. Soon there will be a nice outline of the castle.
Another area
If you looked at the castle, you may have noticed there are 4 floors! Right now there are only 3 levels, but I'm working on creating a forth which will be unlockable. More information on that soon! Of course, a new area also means a new boss!
And that's it for this update. Most of the work done was groundwork for the next big update, which should be ready in a month!
Plague Breaker Update for February 2022
Hello again everyone! It's been a while since the last update, and this update fixes a lot of things behind the scenes as well as many QOL changes.
New Skeletons
The original Skeleton art was all designed years ago, before the height of every other enemy was determined. This meant that the previous skeleton pixels were irregular, and to some people this was very noticeable!
Well now all of the Skeletons have been re-created with proper pixel sizes!
Previous Skeletons to Compare
New Rooms
Shops and Treasure chests are randomly found in the dungeon. Previously they would appear anywhere at all, but now they have a dedicated room which has some fun decor in it. This provides a bit of a safe room and makes sure enemies aren't obstructing the shops or chests.
New Armor Shop
New Magic Item Shop
New Treasure Chest Room
Minor Tweaks
There have been a few QOL changes as well in this update, here is a complete list:
Difficulty Choice persists across runs
Updated and improved fonts
Updated every button and text label to prepare for Localization
Added Confirmation option to options menu, to confirm before a purchase
Fixed bug where Adventurer could not be used in Co-op
Fixed bug where player sprites was slightly smaller than it should be
Fixed bug where decorations could appear in the floor
Fixed bug where boss death icon doesnt reflect the palette shifts for bosses
Localization Updates
Localization is something I very much want to do, and this update I spent a lot of time updating every UI element to ensure that any Localization process will be smooth and easy. This update itself does not have any localization changes, but it definitely is on the horizon!
New Content & Future Updates
This update, and the previous one in November, were mainly focused on fixing bugs, improving the general experience and preparing the game for future updates.
The next major update I have in mind will include some actual content! I don't want to spoil everything, but these are what I have planned:
New end-game content
New end-game boss
Rebalancing class distribution
New items
New enemies
Plague Breaker Update for November 2021
Plague Breaker Update for November 2021
Hey everyone, Plague Breaker has been out for over 2 months now and it's finally time for a major update! I've had a lot of great feedback from everyone and I've incorporated a lot of it into this update. I also have some plans for future updates, which can be found before the Patch Notes.
Check out the major points below, or scroll all the way to the bottom to see the full Patch Notes. Have fun playing the update and don't forget to report any bugs you find!
Plague Breaker's backgrounds have had a face lift! I've had some great feedback suggesting that I have the backgrounds end in an even darker tone, rather than being a repeating tile. I've implemented this in each floor and it looks great!
Check out these images below to see the new redesigns, or jump into Plague Breaker and check them out yourself!
New Foyer
New Library
New Alchemist Lab
New mini bosses!
One of the best parts of Binding of Isaac or Enter the Gungeon is having a pool of bosses to fight instead of having the same one for each level. This is what I'd love to do for Plague Breaker in the long run, but for now I've added variants to each mini boss.
There's now a Flame Enchanted Armor, a Poison Giant Bloat and the Ice Twins! Each of these will appear on Harder or Nightmare difficulty, for those looking for a real challenge!
Greater Flame Armor
The Greater Flame Armor can appear in the level 1 boss room. He has less health than the normal Greater Armor, but he moves faster and creates damaging flames.
Giant Poison Bloat
The Giant Poison Bloat can appear in the level 3 boss room. This monstrosity covers the floor in poison and creates poisonous explosions.
Ice Twins
The Ice Twins can appear in the level 5 boss room. These two are slower and have more health than their counterparts. They also summon ice minions and deal ice damage!
Quality of Life Improvements
In addition to some bug fixes (See the Patch Notes at the bottom of this announcement!) I've also added a prompt when you find a new item that gets automatically equipped. This prompt will show the description of the item and it's name for a short time.
New Items
There are also 6 new items for this update!
Backpack: Gain 1 Magic Item Slot
Rabbit's Foot: Increase in the quality of magic items, better items in the shop
Lucky Chip: No effect from negative rolls in the Wheel of Chance
Bascinet: On Death, reset health 1 hp and gain 5 seconds of invulnerability
Spellbook: Increase damage with spells by 20%
Waterskin: Heal 15 hp on use. Refreshes when you use a fountain
New Enemy
And finally, there's a new enemy! The Healing Mage will heal enemies closest to the player. Be careful, or they might out heal the damage you deal!
Going Forward
Plague Breaker has been a lot of fun to work on and play. I fully intend to finish this game when possible, but I'm currently in a very busy part of my life. I'll keep updating it consistently, but I am usually only able to work on it on weekends instead of daily like I used to.
Next Update
If I had to guess, the next update will likely be in about 2 months. This update will be a quality of life improvement update, in which I hope to add:
Shop and Chest rooms: No more enemies spawning on them!
Improve boss room backgrounds to match levels
More Items: I have a lot of items I'd love to add
Fix any bugs that pop up
Future Goals
These will be done once I have more time, which I expect to have in 3-6 months. These won't all come out at once but I will get to them in time. These are where the real fun will be had!
A new boss after the final boss
A new area to explore
New classes
New minibosses to add more variety
Redo art that has non-uniform pixel sizes
Lots more items!
Full Patch notes: Content: - New Flame Armor boss variant that randomly appears on Normal or higher difficulties - Has less health than the Enchanted Armor boss, but creates flames and moves much faster - New Poison Spitting Corpse boss variant that randomly appears on Normal or higher difficulties - Deals poison damage - Has different attacks than the normal spitting corpse boss - New Ice Twins boss variant that randomly appears on Normal or higher difficulties - Twins are slower but deal ice damage and summon ice archers - Added a new Healing Mage enemy which heals enemies, similar to the buff mage - New items that are auto equipped will create a small information window so you can see what item you collected - Overhauled background style - Edges now get progressively darker, instead of only one shade darker
New Items: - Lucky Chip: Negative outcomes on the game wheel have no effect - Waterskin: Heal 15 hp on use. Recharges its use after using a fountain. - Backpack: Gain an extra magic item slot (Max of 4) - Rabbit Foot: Increases quality of magic items - Bascinet: One death, reset to 1 hp - Spellbook: Increase spell damage by 20%
Bugs: - Fixed bug where ice armor would explode into normal armor coloured pieces - Fixed bug where co-op progress is not saved - Fixed bug where game would not end if you got stuck during final animation - Fixed bug where player could jump during final animation - Updating how saves are loaded to prevent any issues with reverting to previous updates - Fixed bug where Greater Enchanted armor could get stuck in the corner
Changes: - Bookshelf traps now harm enemies - Sprites flicker for as long as the player is invulnerable
Patch for September 19th 2021
Hey everyone, this is the first big bug patch for Plague Breaker since release! I want to thank everyone who took the time to report bugs, either in game or through the discord. With your help we'll make Plague Breaker bug free and totally awesome!
This patch focuses on fixing some major bugs reported by players and some small balancing changes.
Bugs
Fixed bug where Invisibility would not be disabled when attacking with weapons
Fixed bug where playing the Demo after the full game would delete your save data
Fixed bug where you could bounce on the Twin Doctors head and they would ignore you
Fixed bug where text would be set to black for a single inventory item
Fixed bug where the Class Menu would fail to open the adventurer tree, and the player would be unable to open any new menus
Fixed bug where the new item window would continue to equip abilities after being closed
Balance Changes
Buffed Lucky coin by 5% chance (15% total)
Buffed Shoe Shine by 2.5% to 7.5%
Nerfed second wind, now only heals 5 instead of 10
Summoning Twin Doctor's orbs now collide with player
Quick bug fix for Co-op
There was a bug in Co-op that would result in the game being unplayable if the player did not first play Singleplayer. This has been resolved so that Co-op gameplay works as expected.
