Friends! Adventurers of WOTF! One week-ish after the official game release we bring you the first post-launch patch (and a small mini stealth patch that we released a few days ago). This patch fixes a few issues you pointed out and tweaks the balance of one of the main dungeons, the Lava Bakery. Let's see what's new:
Update 25.02
Fixed a bug that caused the name of throwable items spawned from stands to be displayed in the wrong position
Improved the timing of first dialogue with Sopheye
Fixed a bug that allowed the achievement "you are a legend" to be unlocked from picking up an arena-unique orange item. Now this achievement can be correctly acquired only playing story mode.
Fixed a bug that broke the dialog system when talking to Biscuit the Wizard in the Portuguese version of the game
Fixed a typo in the Italian version of the dialogue with the Chef in the WPD Jail
You can now see the "universal" content version of the game in the main menu, under options > gameplay. This is not the specific system version, it's a cross-platform update label.
Update 25.04
Biciandalf in Poptarts was asking for 400 kibbles instead of 500 to rebuild the Bank. We fixed the error in the dialog, and now it correctly asks you for 500.
Ice blocks that are weak to energy damage (in addition to the standard (fire damage weakness) have now a visual clue that sets them apart from regular ice blocks
Fixed several errors and typos in the English and Italian translations.
Fixed a bug that displayed a wrong line of dialog when completing a quest in the WPD offices.
Fixed a bug that in some cases caused "summon meteor" type of items to target grass instead of enemies
Added visual feedback to the belief trees interface. The GUI now shows the confirm and reset buttons only when there are available skill points
Fixed a bug that in rare occasions locked the cursor during name selection
Lava Bakery: We re-worked several areas of the Lava Bakery to make it more interesting. We felt the level was an interesting challenge, but a little bit too repetitive.
We added new areas to the dungeon and reduced the areas that were too large and out of focus. We added return and alternate routes to reach key areas of the level to avoid u-interesting back-tracking.
We also re-positioned some secrets and added a little bit of extra loot.
In addition to changing the shape of the level, we tweaked the placement and composition of enemy groups. Encounters should feel now more varied and fair.
We also added a new enemy type, the "Fire Slime", and reduced damage for all fire-people enemies by roughly 10%.
Even after these tweaks, the Lava Bakery remains a challenging level, especially at harder difficulties. Remember to pack fire-resistance gear and bring characters and weapons that deal ice-damage.
Also, remember you can change the game difficulty at any time from the gameplay options in the WOTF map screen.
Lava Bakery Laboratory: You now need the Thermodigestivde Reaction perk (lava-walk) to reach the Lava Bakery Laboratory.
Fixed the signal lights in the room in which Mary Jane J J is. Now they turn on when you activate the plate. Added fences in the central vertically-elongated room.
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We are working to bring these updates on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 soon. In the meantime, let us know what you think!
Super Cane Magic ZERO is now complete!
Are you ready to throw/eat/fight/talk your way through this unbelievable adventure? Super Cane Magic ZERO has been released! The game now has full content, story, characters, items, and arenas!
We are proud to share with you Update 25 of Super Cane Magic ZERO that marks the end of the Early Access and brings the game to full release! To celebrate this day, after the long years of development, we will have a lunch launch discount of 10%!
If you like our chip-tune soundtrack you can purchase the Soundtrack Bundle, or just the Soundtrack alone if you already own full the game!
Will you play alone? With friends? What’s your favorite character? What’s your least favorite enemy? We are super excited! Let us know what you think!
To find out more about what’s changed in this final update, take a look here.
Full Release is coming soon, did you get that new couch?
On May 30th the Early Access of Super Cane Magic ZERO will come to an end and our game will be officially released!
SCMZ is by far the largest project we have ever undertaken as a small indie studio. It took us a lot of time and effort to make and we are very proud to be finally able to present you the final release of our crazy-cute Action RPG. But all of this would have been impossible without your continued support that motivated us to always keep working even when we had been silent for a little bit too long.
On behalf of the whole team at Studio Evil, let me thank you one more time for supporting us over all these long years of development!
While you wait for these last handful of days until May 30th, this is what you can expect from SCMZ release 25!
New Localizations: Now Playable in 10 Languages
One of the things we are more excited about is the possibility to deliver our weird story to many more people around the world thanks to the new localizations. At launch, the game will be available in the following languages: English, Italian, French, German, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese.
A Smooth Kickstart: Updated Tutorial Level
With all the new features and improvements of this final release, the first campaign level felt a bit outdated. Using all your feedbacks from the Early Access and the numerous events we attended, we redesigned the tutorial. It should be now more engaging, and also a lot more easy to follow.
Some levels were a bit overwhelming for their sheer size and the time-commitment required to complete them. They also felt out of focus and were hard to navigate. Once we understood this we decided to modify several game areas.
We split the overworld levels and the largest of the dungeons into smaller and more interesting spaces. We meticulously populated these new areas with new characters, items, and secrets and we also placed some landmarks to help your exploration. We also included a new type of treasure chest that spawns unique items!
There is so much new stuff that even if you have completed the game already, you might want to start another run :D
Turbo Combat: Fewer Enemies but Smarter and Angrier
Another aspect of SCMZ we wanted to improve on for our final release was combat pace and clarity. Especially when playing co-op with a couple of friends, enemy groups could become large and chaotic very quickly, leading to messy and sometimes boring combats.
Our goal has always been to create engaging combat encounters, so we re-balanced several of the existing game mechanics to provide a more interesting confrontation with your opponents with fights that are visually clearer, shorter, faster-pace, but also equally dangerous. It took quite some time, but we are very happy with how the combat plays now.
Combat Rebalance:
Enemy groups are now between 30% and 50% smaller
Enemies have less health
Enemies deal more damage
Enemies recover from stun faster, especially melee enemies
The Enrage buff also provides +35% Dodge (this is the buff temporarily granted to enemies when they recover from being stunned)
Enemies have new special abilities and attack patterns
Enemies announce their special abilities and stronger attacks with dialogue balloons
Both Player and enemy attacks have a shorter range
Enemies benefit from improved AI and Pathfinding
Better Adventuring: Quest Log and Minimap Icons
The inhabitants of the planetoid WOTF can have some weird requests. To help you keep track of them we added a Quest Log to the game. Opening the Inventory/Map/Belief Trees screen will also get you access to the Quest Log screen that will keep track of all your main- and side-quests.
The Quest Log only reminds you what you have already discovered and won’t spoil anything. You still need to be watchful, curious and resourceful. We feel exploration is a very important and rewarding part of Super Cane Magic ZERO and wanted to keep it like that!
Also, to aid your adventuring in previously-visited areas we renewed and expanded the minimap icons to make them more informative and discernible from one another.
Eat Like There’s No Tomorrow: Stronger Edible Effects
Eating was fun, but we wanted it to be more useful and interesting as an in-game mechanic.
To make diet perks more relevant to gameplay, and to different playstyles, we increased their effectiveness. Also, the new perks are re-distribuited on a wider range of items to give you more options to choose from.
Potions represent an important part of the effects obtainable by eating stuff, but were underutilized. We increased the duration of their buffs and also created new art to make them more recognizable.
A More Varied “Fauna”: New Characters and Enemies
As we expanded the planetoid of WOTF, we knew that these new places needed more bad guys and old places could use some extra variety. So we created a few new enemies, like a giant Tomato that pelts you with bombs, a cute vomiting skeleton, a terrible Wizard Mummy, a bunch of additional ninja-pirates and also a ninja blob.
With all these new opponents we had to bolster the ranks of our “heroes” too. SCMZ only had unlockable characters late in the game campaign, so we decided to add some help close to the beginning of the adventure. Where will you find this new heroine? Well, you don't. She’ll find you when the time is right. She’s a detective after all.
Other Than Story Mode: Refurbished and Brand-New PVP Arenas
After all the enhancements to the Story Mode, we felt the need to give some love to the Arena Mode too. We improved the design our many of our arenas and added a few more to the list.
To integrate “turbo combat” even in arena matches, we re-balanced the special arena rules with:
Reduced player health on all classes, giving a needed slight advantage to Baker and other “tanky” classes
Increased weapon damage, throwing damage and special ability effectiveness on all classes
Greatly Increased Special Abilities mana cost on all classes
Greatly Increased mana regeneration per second on all classes
These changes make matches more deadly, and tune down some characters like Flascio or Laser Grandpa who could spam powerful ability too quickly. On the other hand, with the increased mana regeneration, characters that rely heavily on abilities will not be completely useless after depleting their mana.
Hot Shower We decreased the overall size of the arena and improved placements of throwables.
We also removed some obstacles to make the area easier to navigate
Insta-Friends This arena was completely re-designed. It is now slightly smaller and has only one item stand located at its center that spawns Insta-Gib Staffs for all players. Removing the four different item stands - one for each player - allowed us to improve obstacles and trap positioning to achieve a faster gameplay.
And that isn’t the only change. We replaced all the throwables in the arena with bombs and explosive slimes. And we also added a shield potion that will make you immune to the staff - but not to bombs - for a short amount of time.
Brainfreeze We decreased the size of the arena slightly and removed some obstacles and covers.
NEW ARENA! Shrine of the Fists This is a brand new arena based on melee fighting using both main and off-hand items. Each player has a heavy weapon and an explosive-parry shield. This is the Dark Souls of Super Cane Magic ZERO arenas.
NEW ARENA! Lava-Donut Factory This small arena is about throwing explosive donuts at long range using a special “range extender” potion. Also, be mindful about stepping on the elevators, they can drop you into the lava pool!
NEW ARENA! Laser Duel Laser Duel is a melee arena similar to the Shrine of the Fists. The difference here is that the rotating laser traps await the ones that fall off of the main platform.
Interface Upgrade: Now With 5% More Animations
The in-game interface went through a round of improvement. We beautified and simplified many interface elements to improve their readability and remove visual clutter. Fonts are bigger and at higher resolution, GUI elements have better placement and everything should be looking better than before. We also added a few animations to cursors and selectors.
Under the Hood: Performance Improvements
As you might know, we have been working on console ports for Super Cane Magic ZERO. Usually, as a STEAM user, you would not care much about this matter … but all these months of work on consoles had an interesting side effect: the game runs much faster. You should experience a drastic improvement in in-game performance and loading times.
Under the Sun: Visual Improvements
The game shaders now render lights and surfaces in a different way. This new solution is much faster also looks better, with in game objects reacting to cell-shaded lights in a more “realistic” way.
The Bad News: Bad News
We made so many changes to the game that was impossible to preserve full compatibility with previous versions. Old save game files have now become obsolete, and by “obsolete” we mean “most likely broken in campaign mode”.
Even if they are broken, we decided to avoid a forced save game wipe to preserve your character unlocks that will still work in arena mode.
Even if the game might work properly for arenas without starting a new save, we STRONGLY ADVISE you to start a new campaign from a clear save slot to be able to experience all the new story features. The quest log and the new playable character will not work if you are using an old “early access” save game.
We are super excited to share all these improvements with you and we can't wait for May 30th to arrive!
✨CAKE THE WIZARD HOROSCOPE✨
All signs (including Watermelon): Remember to check out the digital stores on May 30th
Upcoming Events and New Localizations
Hello adventurers! Also hello normal random people reading this post!
We have some interesting news to share! We joined forces with Intragames to bring our game to Asia and the rest of the world!
Thanks to their help we are bringing SuperCane Magic ZERO on console and localizing our big, weird adventure into new languages.
At release the game will be available in Chinese (traditional and simplified), French, German, Korean, Japanese, Portughese and Spanish ... And of course English and Italian.
We are also showcasing the game around the world. Meet us in person and try fresly baked, super-unstable new builds with us!
This is where you will find us:
Right now and until september 23rd at the Tokyo Game Show! Come play at Exhibition Area Hall 3 C15!
In Paris 19th and 20th October Super Cane Magic ZERO has been selected for the Indiecade Europe showcase along with other awesome videogames!
From october 31st to november 4th at Lucca Comics and Games. More info are coming about our presence in Lucca, but we are working on new gadgets!
I know what you are thinking "Yeah, but when the game is coming out? Is there gonna be new content?"
Well the answers are "We dont' know exactly yet..." and "Yes!"
No seriously, there is a lot of stuff to talk about, we have a lot of big and small new things that we are adding to the game, but this is going to be the topic for future posts.
The final Steam release is going to be at the same time with Switch and PS4 and it's gonna take some more time. This is the final stretch of our (long) development cycle, we are working hard to optimize, convert, make compatible, and translate the hell out of 4 years worth of code and content. It's simply not going to be possible for us to deliver a big patch before release while we are doing all these things.
We'll be posting more about what's coming in 1.0 in the next weeks, but while you wait, here is a WIP screen of one of the news arenas we call it "Lava Donut"
Patches 23.3 and 23.4
We released a couple of patches to fix some bugs in the latest update:
Patch 23.3
We fixed the achievement notification to Steam. Some achievements should unlock automatically as you play this new patch, others could require you to perform the proper action again.
Fixed an issue with the phase 2 dialogue of Mariso in Poptarts for the italian version of the Game.
We added support for non-standard screen resolutions. You should now be able to play at native res with ultra wide monitors and other uncommon aspect ratios. In some rare cases this could cause issues with the game interface. If you find the game unplayable, we suggest you to switch the game to some standard aspect ratios like 16:9 or 16:10
Patch 23.4
Solved a rare bug with the game AI system that caused the game to crash
Fixed a few typos
Melee enemies equipped with shields sometimes will try to parry.
Early Access Update 23
Finally! After months of hard work we are pleased to present you all UPDATE 23! This is going to be the last big update before the end of the EARLY ACCESS and the final release of Super Cane Magic ZERO.
Let’s have a look at the most relevant things in this new patch:
Complete Game Campaign You will be able to play the full version of all the 20+ game levels included in the Super Cane Magic Zero Campaign. Some of them are yet not 100% tested, but all the main content, characters and treasures have been placed in the game levels for you to discover!
The campaign should last more than 10 hours of play, not including all the secret areas and optional levels. Have fun!
New Levels and Content This patch includes 2 brand new levels and a few secret areas. During the last few months of development we also tested, reviewed and improved many of the existing levels, finalized missing or incomplete areas and added additional challenges, secrets and characters.
Horse-Dimension Portals We added many more horse-portals for you to discover. This should make the experience of exploring the world of WOTF more pleasant and interesting.
Performance Optimization Super Cane Magic ZERO update 23 has much better performances than the previous versions. We optimized rendering, level management and enemy AIs in order to make the game experience smoother, faster and much more fun. Further optimizations are coming in with future releases. You should be able to see a visible boost in frame rate and game responsiveness on both old and new computers.
Fixes and Balance This latest patch took a while to complete, but includes many big and small fixes to the game balance, characters abilities, items and enemies. Our main goal was to make the combat more interesting, readable and challenging in a way that feels fair. To achieve this we reduced the amount of enemies on screen, and diversified their attacks and abilities to create interesting combinations. The improvements on the enemy behaviour patterns is an ongoing task, so expect further improvements in future releases.
No More Large Throwables On our task to make combat less confusing, we decided to remove empty containers from the game once they are smashed open. Before this update, emptied containers (like chests and food boxes) would remain in-game as large, cumbersome throwable items. They added very little to the game experience but at the same time could end up occluding a large portion of the play-area, hiding bullets and useful items.
New Minimap We finalized our minimap, It's now glitch-free and shows the terrain altitudes as shades of grey. It also highlights point of interest with clear icons, that can be recognized by their shape and color.
Changes to the Life System We changed a few things in order to make the mechanics related to extra lives more fun. We wanted them to be an interesting resource: relatively scarce, but useful in different ways, we also wanted to give the player more ways to obtain them.
We reduced the minimum amount of lives available at the start of the game or after you are defeated. Then, to compensate this, we significantly reduced the cost for extra lives at vending machines and sprinkled a few extra lives on top of secret or hard-to-reach areas.
We also made extra lives drop kibbles if smashed. This way you have a use for them even at the minimum game difficulty where you have unlimited lives.
As a finishing touch, if you happen to talk with all the weird people in the WOTF Jail, the first level of the game, you might find someone willing to gift you some extra lives, just once.
Changes to Kibble Economy We noticed that the game-time required to obtain the amount of kibbles that is necessary to rebuild vital elements of the Poptarts village was extremely long. To fix this we increased the drop rate of kibbles by roughly 50% and added more treasures containing them.
Changes to “Shield” Type Equipment Blocking with a shield is now slightly more difficult. We reduced the actual parry duration from 1.5 seconds to 1.2 seconds.
Shield with explosive retaliation now inflict 20% less damage with their explosion.
The Blocking ability granted by standard shields now absorbs roughly 10% more damage and the Counterattack effect activated by blocking an attack, now last 25% more time and grants 50% extra critical chance instead of an extra 100% damage. This way you can use counterattack in combination with other perks that grant you on-crit effects. In addition, the counterattack buff has now a visual clue that is visible on the character.
Monastery Lasers Laser traps in the Monastery now deal 400% more damage. Be careful!
Improved Perk Descriptions We changed many perk descriptions to explain what each perk actually does.
New Items We added several new throwable/edible items based on mana regeneration and unconventional diet buffs. We also added new equipment items, both standard and unique, and re-balanced several of the existing ones.
Character Ability: Dudette We wanted to make Dudette’s special more fun to play. To achieve that we changed her ability from an in-your-face, heavy damage aoe to a shockwave that stuns small enemies and knocks medium and bigger ones away. Enemies that are not stunned suffer a brief daze that slows down their movement speed significantly.
Character Ability: Yogurt When Yogurt activates her special ability, in addition to the standard life regeneration and damage reduction, she also gains 20% extra damage.
Arena Mode We widened some narrow areas and passages in the arena levels to make sure combat was always fun and the game space readable.
We also re-designed the terrain in the Bouncy Bombers arena so that most of the arena space can be reached even without using a spring to jump.
Final Notes After more than 3 years of development we are finally in the last stages.
It has been a big adventure for us, and we’ve gotten to a point where only testing and refining are missing. But we are not going to stop there, the final release will have a few more extra levels and arenas and will be even more fun and optimized!
Keep following us, we have big news coming in about console ports and localizations!
Bugfix and Arenas Patch - See you at PAX South!
Hello everybody! We have just released a brand new patch. With the help of your feedback, we have found and solved many bugs, improved the game performances and made a new, amazing final UI for the arena mode!
At the end of this week we are going to attend PAX South, so if you plan to visit the event make sure to visit us at the PAX Rising booth!
Keep sending us your comments and reviews!
Patch 22 - Enter the LASEEEEER!
The world of WOTF has no more secrets! Patch 22 is now available on Steam, with a huge update of story mode. We have unlocked many previously inaccessible game areas. You can now experience all the side quests, unlock all the abilities, find all the wizards and play the whole story except the grand finale! Let's check together a small preview of some of the new game areas.
WPD
WPD is actually much bigger than what you have already seen in the tutorial level! Prepare to explore the Mothership and solve the mystery that surrounds the Internet outage!
Laser Mountain and the Spooky Dank Crypt
Two of the most dangerous game areas can be now explored. Arm yourself before embarking on this quest!
Lava-safe respawn
Following your feedback, we have made respawning outside lava and other dangerous liquids possible. This will avoid multiple deaths when you get killed far away from the stairs to get out.
Dr. Buttdog is back!
Dr.Buttdog has returned and he's ready to join your team! Go visit him in the Poptarts Village and find out what he has prepared for you.
This Patch also adds many new features:
<*>There are tons of new different enemies. Also, there are many more enemies roaming the levels now!
<*>We made some changes in the central part of the Lava Bakery to avoid some gameplay issues.
<*>Enemies elemental vulnerabilities have been rebalanced
<*>We added new items to eat an throw!
<*>The enemies attack warnings are now more clear and easier to read
<*>Some dialogues have been re-written to be more interesting
<*>Some areas of the Academy have been improved with useful information and hints
<*>Effects over time (poison and fire) are now less powerful, in order to keep boss fights balanced
<*>We moved the pizzas to make them more accessible. The ones in Lava Bakery and Rey Skeletron's Crypt have been moved to other levels. If you need help finding them, check out the new Pizzeria in the Lavillage!
<*>We updated Rewired to the latest version, in order to improve supported controllers compatibility
<*>New in-game menu button colors
<*>Many, many minor fixes
macOS Patch
Thanks to your feedback we found and fixed a bug that caused launch issues on macOS. The new 21.02 version also includes other minor fixes. Keep sending your screenshots and comments and enjoy Super Cane Magic ZERO!
