Major new update! (v731) Timed mode, modding & more!
Hi folks! We're pleased to announce the next major free update to Road Not Taken is now publicly available!
New "just for fun" Timed Mode: try to rescue all the kids within four minutes! You lose time whenever you take damage, and you add time to the clock whenever you eat food and rescue children. Timed Mode has no impact on your career, so it's a great way to enjoy Road Not Taken for a few minutes with limited stress. :-)
New creatures: the Forest Kraken and the Golem (and for those who haven't yet noticed it in our previous micro-update, the Ninja Bear!) These guys add a little spice to the early years of your career!
"Easier" mode and hard mode: In our previous micro-update, we split the game into two modes, Normal and Hard. "Hard" is basically our original gameplay mode with a few tweaks; "Normal" is more generous with energy and had less crowded rooms, among other changes. Checkpoints are also less punishing to use now. We've done more work in this update and now consider these features "complete!" This should make the game much more accessible to new users.
Mod support!: Now you can edit everything about the game, including the properties of objects and levels, make your own hand-crafted puzzle rooms and more, and share your work with your friends! Running a mod will prevent your game from uploading scores to the leaderboards (to keep them pure/fair.) Also, please note that using mods is something you do at your own risk! We're a very small studio and can't be expected to prevent or to fix every issue that could arise in the zillions of possible mods that can be created. We're excited to see those zillions of possibilities emerge though. :-) Detailed instructions on how to use and create mods can be found here.
We've worked hard on this update and really hope you enjoy it!
-Chedd
New update v662
Hi folks!
Road Not Taken now contains two difficulty modes, "normal" and "hard." The latter, hard mode, is basically what the default mode of the game used to be. The new "normal" mode has less crowded rooms on average, easier-to-reach and use checkpoints, smaller door locks on average, and various other subtle changes that make it a little less difficult. It should still present a challenge to people who have not yet mastered the game.
One major change is that for *both* normal and hard mode players, we have made shrines (aka checkpoints) less punishing to use. You will keep a percentage of your items when you die and restore via checkpoint. Another change to both modes is that various objects now have a very small chance of dropping an object with thrown. Usually it's a good object like food or resources, and it's always the same object (i.e. a parent will always drop an apple when thrown, if it is going to drop anything at all.)
Another major change is the appearance of a new critter in the forest! Fans of our previous games will no doubt recognize it. :-)
As always, we're grateful for your feedback and support. This update is a direct result of the opinions you have so kindly shared with us in the forums. Please keep 'em coming!
-Chedd
PS. Playstation 4 users who happen to be reading this: we'll be migrating these changes to you eventually as well. It just takes a lot longer because of the Playstation certification process.
"Testers" beta branch now contains new mode
Hi folks,
If you're brave and don't mind potentially stumbling across a bad bug or two, you can opt into the "testers" beta branch of Road Not Taken and experience some of our latest work. Here are instructions on how to opt-in: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=204918367 (You may need to close and reload the Steam client in order for the testers beta build to begin downloading.)
The "testers" beta build contains two difficulty modes, "normal" and "hard." The latter, hard mode, is basically what the primary mode of the game used to be. "Normal" has less crowded rooms, easier-to-reach checkpoints, smaller door locks on average, and various other subtle changes that make it less difficult. The new "normal" mode will still feel quite difficult to brand new players, but it is noticeably easier.
One major change is that for *both* normal and hard mode players, we have changed things such that shrines are less punishing to use. You will keep a percentage of your items when you die and restore via checkpoint. Another change to both modes is that various objects now have a very small chance of dropping an object with thrown. Usually it's a good object like food or resources, and it's always the same object (i.e. a parent will always drop an apple when thrown, if it is going to drop anything at all.)
Another major change is the appearance of a new critter in the forest! Fans of our previous games will no doubt recognize it. ;-)
We're still working on other features that we previously announced, such as timed mode. That's not in here yet, and might not be for another couple weeks or so. We'll see!
For those of you who try the new "normal" mode, please share your opinions of it on this thread!
-Chedd
PS. If you switch to the beta branch and then decide you want to switch back to the main branch, you will probably need to delete all the files from your save directory. So, one thing you might want to do *before* switching over to the beta branch is to copy your current save files and back them up to a safe location. Then you can always jump back to your old save files if you want to.
New update v611
Hi folks! We just pushed an update to Road Not Taken. To get it, just quit out of Steam and reload it, and the update should begin downloading automatically. This update is mostly just bug fixes for some of the nastier issues reported by players thus far. Here's the list:
* Fixed: when teleporting while holding a child on the threshold of the doorway to the start room, players would rescue the child but not receive credit for the rescue.
* Fixed: game crashes when player rescues a child that is being held by Baba Yaga by tossing a parent at the child.
* Fixed: in some situations, after all children have been rescued, the player was not teleported to the start room.
* Fixed: crash when the hero is carrying an object and gets pushed by another object, causing the carried object to move into a diagonal space, which borks the game.
* Fixed: children were sometimes being incorrectly rescued by parents that were not actually nearby them.
* Fixed: if the start room fills up, the player will sometimes be unable to teleport to the mayor.
* Fixed: if you quit the game during the fisherman scene after a career restart, all your progress is wiped (i.e. book of secrets.)
* Fixed: if you quit the game during the shrine time travel (life restoring) scene, then your saved game could get wiped out.
We're aware of more bugs and we're actively working on them, in addition to some balance adjustments and other stuff. We just wanted to get this patch out quickly to fix some of the most egregious issues!
