Just a quick fix for a potentially game breaking issue with one of the recent additions. Also replaced an axe head that wasn't up to par.
1.22
Fixed a bug that could cause a wall to be placed at the exit of one of the outside areas in dungeon type 3.
Replaced image for a t4 axe head and adjusted image for a t2 one.
Set the minimum for equal attribute potion mixes to the average value of both +2, so as to always provide a benefit over drinking them individually. (eg.: 1+1=3 instead of 2)
Made the dark gradient towards the edges of the initial loading screen match the screen resolution for resolutions greater than 1080p.
This update will upgrade your savegames upon loading. You will get a new dungeon floor of the appropriate level but your character and inventory will remain untouched.
To opt into the beta branch right-click Slasher's Keep in your games library, click Properties, then select Betas from the list on the left and finally select the beta branch from the drop-down menu.
Sorry for the tiny patch. I did do some work on more special rooms and such but ultimately decided against going forward with them. Those last ones turned out to be too much of an ordeal, bending the level generation script over backwards to make them work. If I do end up adding content in the future it will be the odd item or skill, but I wouldn't bet on it.
Anyway, let me know right here if this patch broke anything. I'll keep it up on the beta branch for a few days before switching it to default, just to be safe. Also, if you do get another game breaker, like a rogue wall blocking the way and you're sure it's not intentional, remember there's a reroll cheat. To use it hit F7 in the pause menu, then type "reroll", then reload your character from the main menu.
Edit: I've set the build live on the default branch.
Update 1.21b is now live on the default branch
1.21b
Fixed an issue related to achievements not unlocking after having timed out before in the same session.
Fixed another issue with achievements not working.
Fixed a bug that could have led to spike traps blocking hidden passages in dungeon type 1.
Fixed an issue with entrances to big rooms opening into chasms on rare occasions.
Fixed a bug that could have caused the final room of a given floor to be unreachable in dungeon type 2.
Fixed an issue with upper entrances being blocked by spikes in dungeon type 3.
Increased the minimum ceiling height of rooms with a falling ceiling.
Rooms with floor spikes in dungeon type 2 will now sometimes have a catwalk along the walls in place of jumping platforms.
Rooms with floor spikes in dungeon type 2 where that's not the case will now sometimes have a little platform at the upper door to make it easier to get in.
Made climbing chambers in dungeon type 2 a little easier by adding a flight of stairs as a possible segment to the randomization.
Floor spikes in corridors in dungeon type 2 can now be switched off via levers on the walls.
Floor spikes in large rooms can also be switched off with single a lever placed on the upper level of each room.
Raised room lights in rooms with floor spikes in dungeon type 2.
Added 2 wall objects to open rooms in dungeon type 2.
Winches in arcade type rooms are now marked on the map with red button icons.
The Deflect skill now allows for batting incoming projectiles into the direction you are facing. Higher skill levels increase accuracy. (Previously projectiles would get diverted into random directions with a random chance to get thrown back the way they came instead.)
Added a new piece of boss loot with a unique skill.
Added another piece of boss loot with a unique skill which is somewhat chistmassy, but not so much as to seem terribly out-of-place throughout the rest of the year, I hope, seeing as I missed christmas with this patch.
Added two new areas to dungeon type 3. These are premade and feature yard spaces connected to multiple indoor spaces. I thought I'd add some more traditional level design, you know. Probably more work than it's worth but I felt the need to atone for not squashing some of those bugs for so long.
Various other small tweaks.
Fixed an issue with bloodmoths not getting spiked correctly that may or may not have occured.
Fixed an issue with one of the new areas in dungeon type 3.
The game should now scale without a dip at very high levels.
Fixed an aesthetic issue with one of the new areas.
This update will upgrade your savegames upon loading. You will get a new dungeon floor of the appropriate level but your character and inventory will remain untouched.
To opt into the beta branch right-click Slasher's Keep in your games library, click Properties, then select Betas from the list on the left and finally select the beta branch from the drop-down menu.
Let me know in the comments to this post if you find anything egregiously wrong with these points. Like getting a new game-breaking bug due to the changes or something.
Update [1.21b] now on beta branch
1.21
Fixed an issue related to achievements not unlocking after having timed out before in the same session.
Fixed another issue with achievements not working.
Fixed a bug that could have led to spike traps blocking hidden passages in dungeon type 1.
Fixed an issue with entrances to big rooms opening into chasms on rare occasions.
Fixed a bug that could have caused the final room of a given floor to be unreachable in dungeon type 2.
Fixed an issue with upper entrances being blocked by spikes in dungeon type 3.
Increased the minimum ceiling height of rooms with a falling ceiling.
Rooms with floor spikes in dungeon type 2 will now sometimes have a catwalk along the walls in place of jumping platforms.
Rooms with floor spikes in dungeon type 2 where that's not the case will now sometimes have a little platform at the upper door to make it easier to get in.
Made climbing chambers in dungeon type 2 a little easier by adding a flight of stairs as a possible segment to the randomization.
Floor spikes in corridors in dungeon type 2 can now be switched off via levers on the walls.
Floor spikes in large rooms can also be switched off with single a lever placed on the upper level of each room.
Raised room lights in rooms with floor spikes in dungeon type 2.
Added 2 wall objects to open rooms in dungeon type 2.
Winches in arcade type rooms are now marked on the map with red button icons.
The Deflect skill now allows for batting incoming projectiles into the direction you are facing. Higher skill levels increase accuracy. (Previously projectiles would get diverted into random directions with a random chance to get thrown back the way they came instead.)
Added a new piece of boss loot with a unique skill.
Added another piece of boss loot with a unique skill which is somewhat chistmassy, but not so much as to seem terribly out-of-place throughout the rest of the year, I hope, seeing as I missed christmas with this patch.
Added two new areas to dungeon type 3. These are premade and feature yard spaces connected to multiple indoor spaces. I thought I'd add some more traditional level design, you know. Probably more work than it's worth but I felt the need to atone for not squashing some of those bugs for so long.
Various other small tweaks.
Edit: I have amended the build by these points (This build will upgrade savegames once again)
Fixed an issue with bloodmoths not getting spiked correctly that may or may not have occured.
Fixed an issue with one of the new areas in dungeon type 3.
The game should now scale without a dip at very high levels.
Edit: one more thing
Fixed an aesthetic issue with one of the new areas.
This update will upgrade your savegames upon loading. You will get a new dungeon floor of the appropriate level but your character and inventory will remain untouched.
To opt into the beta branch right-click Slasher's Keep in your games library, click Properties, then select Betas from the list on the left and finally select the beta branch from the drop-down menu.
Let me know in the comments to this post if you find anything egregiously wrong with these points. Like getting a new game-breaking bug due to the changes or something.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone.
Patch 1.1 now live on [default] branch
1.1
Fixed a bug that could still lead to secret entrances opening into locked prison cells with no other way out in cases where the cell is two tiles wide and the secret entrance opens into the tile without the door on it.
Fixed a bug that could cause walls to be placed inside catwalk access doors in dungeon type 1 when there was another unrelated catwalk access door in the same position belonging to another room, in rare cases.
Fixed a bug that could have caused wall spikes to be placed inside of wardrobes in dungeon type 3, thereby blocking secret passages in rare cases.
Fixed a small issue with character HP values after dying.
Blessed Weapon should now proc when parrying attacks from molerat men, blobs or spiderlings.
Bonus melee speed gained from item attributes is now capped at +100% so as to prevent bugged out nonsense.
Fixed an issue with the giant spider possibly taking more damage than it should from bombs.
Fixed a problem with loot crates sometimes making breaking noises in spite of already having been broken.
Dampened the screen flash effect from taking haymakers and sack smacks (now flashes to 50% opacity instead of 100%).
Added new rare consumable: Empty Bottle. These can be found wherever other random consumables drop. You can also get one from each vendor location. Use it like an enchantment on the stuff you want to put in. Edit: By that I mean right-click the bottle, then left-click the item you want to put into the bottle.
This update will upgrade your savegames upon loading. You will get a new dungeon floor of the appropriate level but your character and inventory will remain untouched.
To opt into the beta branch right-click Slasher's Keep in your games library, click Properties, then select Betas from the list on the left and finally select the beta branch from the drop-down menu.
Sorry, it's been a while. Undecided on adding more content.
Please comment on this announcement if you find anything broken with this update, like say, alchemy not working properly.
Edit: Thank you all for your comments. I did some more testing and I didn't find anything wrong with the new feature, so I'm setting this build live on the default branch. But do comment here in case you find a recipe that doesn't do what it's supposed to.
I hear your criticisms on the difficulty. For one thing, there's the overarching mechanic that allows you to get better across multiple runs by saving some items and skills and then accumulating more xp from the now inferior low level enemies. I admit that that whole deal does not seem to be communicated well enough in the game. Then there's the luck factor. You need to find some high level armor to take those high level blows, and so on. I have taken steps in the past to make playthroughs more consistent, but I don't want to completely remove the element of luck. Anyway, all that kinda stuff combined can make for a difficulty curve that can feel wonky at times... Making dungeon type 2 easier to navigate in some ways is a possiblity. Not sure if an option to escape an infinite dungeon is really worthwhile. Might also be complicated to implement. Or maybe not, you never know with projects like these.
Again, still undecided on content and stuff. Mod support is out of the question, unfortunately. The project is really not build to be modular or freely expandable.
Update [1.0925] now live on default branch
This build will upgrade your savegames upon loading, making them incompatible with older versions. You will get a new dungeon floor of the appropriate number but your character and inventory will remain unchanged.
[1.0925]
Fixed an issue with items with special skills (star shaped icon) not getting the intended amount of skills.
Fixed an issue with missing bookshelves in library type rooms with upper levels that can only be accessed via jumping on bookshelves.
Fixed an issue with secret entrances not appearing in dungeon type 3 if placed on outer wall tiles.
Fixed an issue that could have caused upper secret passages in dungeon type 1 to be dead ends.
Had another go at the crash after beating the game. This one was annoying but mostly inconsequential, safe for the times it may not have happened immediately but rather a few minutes into the next run in the same session. Anyway, this bug has been the bane of my existence but I'm pretty sure I've squashed it now.
Fixed a bug that could have led to prisoner chutes getting placed behind winches in arcade type rooms.
Fixed a bug that could have caused wands to not get destroyed correctly when depleted in gamepad mode.
Fixed an issue with dragged items not getting placed back in the inventory when closing the inventory in gamepad mode while dragging an item.
Fixed an issue with dragged items not getting placed back in the inventory when closing the inventory by hitting the escape key while dragging an item.
Pressing the start button on the gamepad while the character sheet and inventory are open will now open the skill book instead of closing the character sheet and inventory. (The select button will still close the character sheet and inventory)
Added item images for 4 gems, 2 helmets, 2 pieces of chest armor, 2 pairs of gloves 1 set of pauldrons, 1 longblade, 1 crossguard, and 1 mace, also replaced image for 1 gem.
Minor visual tweaks.
Edit: Hotfixed some polish because I'm a mad man.
Fixed a sound issue with sliders in the menu when using the mouse.
The selection reticule should now switch to the next valid selection when using up an inventory item in gamepad mode.
It should also no longer disappear when enchanting an item or attempting to enchant an invalid target item.
Also, you should no longer see gamepad info text when using blade oil or club rub from the hotbar in gamepad mode.
It's been a while, sorry about that. It's a small patch but I figured I'd have to fix those things as they were somewhat significant. Padded it with a bit of aesthetic content as well. Not that item images don't require effort, quite the opposite, but it's simple work compared to guessing at some weird Unity quirk that crashes my game.
Edit: forgot one point
Update 1.09 now live on the default branch
1.09
This build will once again upgrade your savegames upon loading, making them incompatible with older versions. You will get a new dungeon floor of the appropriate number but your character and inventory will remain unchanged.
Braziers with the corpse of a slime on top should now be more realiably usable.
Fixed a bug that could have led to the creation of chasms at doors in L-shaped rooms.
Fixed a bug that could have caused mages and ranged orcs to not be placed on top of round platforms but slightly off.
Fixed a bug that could have caused tiles in round-cornered type rooms to not be raised when they should have been, making some platforms inaccessible.
Fixed an issue with wall spikes getting placed on torches in rooms with the round platforms and stuff.
Fixed an issue with torches getting placed in round walls in some cases.
Fixed a bug that could have led to torches getting placed inside of rock tiles in cave type rooms.
Fixed an issue with chests in rooms with all the platforms and little stairs getting placed in bogus places and ending up physics-glitching into the ether.
Fixed a bug that could have caused the quest giver to be placed inside of platforms in dining hall type rooms.
Fixed a bug that could cause hidden doors to be placed the wrong way around in upper floors of library type rooms in dungeon type 3 if connecting to another library.
Did some tentative performance optimization for dungeon type 2.
Veteran badges (stars and the like) on the load-game screen will now be placed closer together if there's loads of them.
Fixed a thing that may have caused the deflect skill to apply a lower damage bonus to deflected projectiles than it was supposed to.
Iron Skin should no longer trigger when already invulnerable.
Fixed an issue with legendary gems only ever displaying fire or ice damage when they really should have both. This caused inaccuracies when crafting weapons with them.
Gemstone Fury now works past skill level 1.
Gemstone Potency now doubles the elemental damage proc chance of gems on the crafted weapon, and increases the cap to 40%. If Pyromastery or Cryomastery respectively are also learned Gemstone Potency will decrease their proc interval by 1 hit. Max skill level for Gemstone Potency is still 1.
Raised maximum skill level of Artisan from 5 to 10.
The sale price on item descriptions for shop items is now green when you can afford them and red when you can not.
A few more adjustments to text colors on item descriptions.
Map icons revealed by the crudely drawn map item should now remain so after saving and loading.
Fixed a bit of weirdness with the poison FX on the HP bar.
Venomous spiders will no longer deal damage in addition to applying their poison. They also won't apply their poison when you're invulnerable.
Tightened up some other stuff that may have caused problems.
The sign at the prisoner chute should no longer be able to block the player going up little stairs.
Patch 1.08 now live
This build will also upgrade your savegames upon loading, making them incompatible with older versions. You will get a new dungeon floor of the appropriate number but your character and inventory will remain unchanged.
1.08
Fixed a bug that could have led to wall boxes showing up in hidden climbing shafts in dungeon type 2.
Fixed an issue that could have led to triggerable platforming boards blocking other boards below once triggered.
Fixed an issue with wall objects getting placed inside of curved walls.
Fixed an issue with keys not dropping from enemies who should be carrying them after loading a savegame.
Fixed an issue with objects not appearing in corridors when they should have (not all that relevant for gameplay).
The Mastersmith skill should correctly apply its damage bonus now.
Fixed a bug that could have caused a character's inventory to go missing when generating a new floor for an outdated savegame. (There is a failsafe for rare world generation errors which did not take into account having to load in the inventory afterwards, which can only become a problem in this specific case. I apologize again for previously lost items.)
Character unlocks should work more reliably now.
There should be no more chairs or pots inside wardrobes in dungeon type 3.
Fixed a bug that could have caused chandeliers to be floating in the air at upper entrances in library type rooms without an upper level.
Fixed an issue that prevented large pits from being placed where they should be. This was caused by an overcorrection in a previous patch and may have resulted in empty rooms.
Cave type rooms should no longer have enemies spawning in unreachable places.
Large rocks should no longer be placed on cave tiles where they could make them unpassable for the player.
Also, there should be more wall objects in cave type rooms now such as spikes and decorative stuff.
Rooms with little platforms which are not reachable via little stairs should now have those platforms be free of handrails in the appropriate direction, so that they may always be reached by jumping from the other little platform across the way.
Fixed an issue that could have led to raised corridors with stairs missing in floors with a hidden climbing room above that corridor.
Fixed a bug that could cause you to remain slowed after dying in a tar puddle.
You should no longer be able to click buttons on the menu while the "are you sure?" prompt is active.
The sasquatch paw and jade monkey should now be usable when playing with a gamepad.
The final boss should now get placed back inside the room if locked out. I thought about leaving this exploit in as a legitimate method, but I decided it was a tad too daft even for this game, especially with the ability to hit her through the closed door.
Darkened the green, blue and orange texts on descriptions for common quality items for readability.
Added different button image to the load game screen for savegames with veteran characters that you are able to start a new campaign with.
Added item image for 1 longsword, and replaced one for a crossguard.
Added a cheat code for rerolling a character's current dungeon floor. To use it open the in-game menu, hit F7 and type "reroll" (without ""). You may now exit to main menu and reload your character from there. You should get a new current dungeon floor. As you might have guessed, this cheat is for unbeatable floors, which should be quite rare by now. Bear in mind that you may just not have found the way out yet. Use at your own discretion.
Summary of cheat codes:
gibkey Spawns a silver key.
freeme Spawns the golden key.
sesame Opens the secret entrance if present.
reroll Marks the current character for a dungeon floor reroll. Exit to main menu and re-load from there to get a new dungeon floor.
Again, to use them: Open the in-game pause menu, hit F7, type the word.
Update 1.04 now live
This build will once again upgrade your savegames upon loading, making them incompatible with older versions. You will get a new dungeon floor of the appropriate number but your character and inventory will remain unchanged.
1.04
Chasms type rooms in dungeon type 2 will no longer have spike trees in them.
Fixed an issue that could have caused a secret passage to block a secret flight of stairs.
Fixed an issue with some objects getting placed inside of platforms in some rooms. This wasn't visible before and didn't impact progress. It just skewed the intended number of objects in those rooms.
Corpses of freshly hatched spiderlings are no longer consumable and will disappear after 4 to 6 seconds.
Disabled collisions on most of the giant spider's corpse.
Prowling enemies should no longer prowl into walls. They shouldn't have before, but now they really shouldn't.
Fixed a bug that caused a prisoner chute to be placed when loading a non-permadeath character after having played a permadeath character.
Fixed a bug that could increase skill levels on component items during crafting.
Fixed a bug with the Sack Smack cooldown display that occured when starting a new game after dying at the wrong moment.
Fixed a visual issue with Consume Corpse particles on blob corpses.
Zero-damage Sack Smacks should no longer trigger a continuous heal sound on enemies under the influence of a healing spell.
Mages that buff attack speed should now make a noise while casting.
Added missing map icons for doors from corridors to catwalks in arcade type rooms.
Nerfed stage 3 of the Deflect skill so that merely parrying projectiles will not throw them back so reliably.
Bloodmoths will now gradually move down as they sidle (when not above chasms). I might intensify that still.
Fixed an issue with bookcases with hidden keypads appearing inside of walls at round staircases in dungeon type 3.
Hidden staircases in dungeon type 2 should no longer open into round platforming rooms as that could have caused problems with walls being in the way.
Fixed a bug that could have caused the hidden keypad to be placed where there's no bookcase in upper levels of some library type rooms.
Also, the hidden keypad can now appear in library type rooms with an upper floor and no roof beam above. This is just something that should have been happening but the bug didn't stop you from progressing.
Mitigated some physics BS with chairs in dungeon type 3.
Fixed a bug that could have lead to corridor lights floating in mid-air.
Fixed an issue with missing locked exit doors in rare cases in dungeon type 3.
Fixed an issue with doors that are locked from the inside of a room not showing up on the map in dungeon type 3.
Fixed an issue with enemies spawning inside of locked cells in dungeon type 2.
Fixed a bug that could have led to enemies spawning inside of locked cells in dungeon type 1.
Getting knocked around should now release you from tar and acid puddles.
Also, tar puddles should now correctly release you when burned away with you standing in them.
The Deflect skill should work more reliably now.
Had another go at the bug that caused some deaths during the loading screen.
You should no longer be able to move your character in the epilogue screen.
Fixed an issue with the pause menu not working with some gamepads.
Fixed some weirdness with the prisoner chute restart screen when using a gamepad.
Added a cheat code for opening the secret entrance or engaging the set of protruding boards that would otherwise be operated by hidden switches or braziers. Open the pause menu, hit F7 and type "sesame" (without the "").
Also added a cheat code for the golden key. Bear in mind it may just be obscured by other boss loot and it really should drop and always be reachable. This one is "freeme". Also shifted the golden key drop position a little towards the center of the room, just so it's not obscured.
Summary of cheat codes: gibkey - Spawns silver key. freeme - Spawns gold key. sesame - Opens secret entrance. Use these at your own discretion. They're meant to alleviate possible bug issues, but consider the possibility that you just haven't found the thing yet.
Also, I'm thinking about disabling Steam cloud saves as that may have caused problems for some people. Let me know what you think.
By the way, when I said "this game was never going to be 100% jank free" I was talking about goofy animations and some physics nonsense, not like game-breaking bugs. So I'll keep at it.
Patch 1.02 now live
Moving this from the beta branch to the default branch
1.02
This update will upgrade your savegames upon loading. That means you'll get a new dungeon floor of the appropriate dungeon level but your character and inventory will remain untouched.
Fixed a problem with some connected rooms, where the connecting tiles could be unreachable.
Fixed an issue with enemies spawning inside of round walls.
Fixed a bug that could cause fuseboxes to appear inside of round walls.
Fixed an issue with missing skull reload stations.
Secret entrances and hidden switches should no longer be placed in locked or jammed prison cells.
Added an emergency lever behind the secret entrance in dungeon type 3, in case you manage to jump down into an unopened secret room.
Barred doors locked from inside arcade type rooms, accessible directly from a corridor, should now be marked on the map as well.
Fixed something minor regarding turrets.
Fixed an issue that could cause certain rooms in dungeon type 2 to have very tall ceilings.
Might have fixed something that may have caused the player to die at the start of a dungeon level. Let me know if you still encounter that bug on this build.
Pyromastery and Cryomastery should no longer increase all the damage dealt by an improved lunge or whirlwind strike respectively. Instead they will only increase the part of it that comes from fiery blows or icy swings, and only if the counter is full.
Made the big climbing puzzle on floor 7 a bit easier.
Iron Skin should now also be called that in the skill book.
Also, here are fixes from recent patches that had already been live for a bit
The "You have perished." prompt that appears when dying in permadeath mode should now work in gamepad mode.
The crafting interface will no longer allow you to rotate shaft objects. This seemed to cause problems for some people and could only generate goofy looking nonsense weapons anyway.
Info text for Intelligence on the character sheet should now display correctly in gamepad mode.
The melee attack animation should now properly stop when a Crumbling Weapon breaks. Fixed some other issues related to that skill as well.
It should no longer be possible to swap weapons mid-swing.
Fixed a bug that would prevent you from drawing a fire or lightning wand with the Fiery Shots skill, while having Blue-Blooded on a high level and maybe Cold Fusion Metabolism. Also Blue-Blooded should now properly max out at level 10.
Fixed a display bug with fiery shots on a piercing wand with lots of bonus ammo.
Mages should now stop casting when SackSmacked.
Doors to hidden stairs and hidden passages are now drawn on the map.
Added a cheat code that spawns a silver key. To use it open the pause menu, hit F7, and type "gibkey" (without ""). Bear in mind that the silver key can not only drop from enemies but may also be in special places like on a catwalk, on top of a pillar in a climbey room, in a hidden chamber or some place else which is not easily accessible. Meaning, it may not actually be bugged.
I'll keep at it.
Game's out of Early Access
Hackers, Slashers, Shooters and Looters,
Today I offer my sincerest thanks to all of you who have given Slasher's Keep a shot in Early Access. Without you I could never have built this thing. Any game requires player feedback to find its way through development but this one is particularly fickle, what with all the random generation and whatnot. Development turned out far more complex than anticipated. Incidentally that's lesson number one of game development; everything takes longer and nothing turns out exactly as expected. I've added more stuff to the game than I had initially planned and kept adding stuff and changing things up in accordance with your suggestions and my own idea of how the game should play. It was never going to be 100% jank free, but I found that some of the jank becomes part of its character (honestly not an excuse). Let me tell you something about suggestions by the way: They really are useful, even if not implementable exactly the way they're put forward. They show you where people's priorities lie and can spark new ideas in your own mind. As for the oft-requested localization option: Not on the budget right now, maybe in the future.
Anyway, at this point I'm satisfied with how the game turned out and I am releasing it from Early Access.
