Keyboard controls for all interactions with the game world including ability targeting, looting, and talking to NPCs.
Also included are bug fixes and improvements to how the game manages memory.
Save files from v0.5.4 are compatible.
Visual Effects
Enhanced targeting visuals: Animations now clearly indicate which targets will be affected by an ability.
Player path animations updated:
Keyboard Targeting
All abilities can now target using keyboard controls.
Use numpad directional keys to move the target cursor.
Press [Tab] to cycle through potential targets.
Keyboard Controls
Added 3 new keyboard controls: [G]et, [T]alk, and [E] interact.
Use [T] to talk to any adjacent NPCs.
Use [G] to access any adjacent lootable containers.
Use [E] to interact with any object, such as workbenches or beds. Also can be used to loot.
If multiple options are available, target selection is activated. Use [Tab] to cycle through targets and [E] to select.
Quaff, Feed, and Medicine
Introducing three new commands: [Q]uaff, [F]eed, and [M]edicine.
Press the corresponding key to open a quick-item menu, allowing you to quickly use an item without navigating the inventory.
These can also be accessed from the action menu.
List Navigation via Keyboard
The loot window can now be navigated with keyboard controls, enabling you to take individual items without the use of the mouse.
Press [Up] and [Down] or numpad keys to navigate the list, and [Space] to take an item.
Use any of these keys to activate list navigation. Alternatively, select "List Navigation via Keyboard" in options to enable it automatically.
Currently, only the loot and quick-item windows support keyboard navigation. Future updates will extend support to other UI windows.
Other Changes
Memory management improvements: the game now only loads the current dungeon floor into memory, significantly reducing overall memory usage and improving performance on systems with limited memory.
If an error occurs while saving a zone, it will now be logged and reported to the user. Previously save file failures would go unnoticed until an attempt to load a corrupted file was made.
Nerfed Gremlin Experimenter: reduced maximum health from 105 to 65 and burn chance from 15% to 12%.
Bug Fixes
Fixed a bug causing ring duplication.
Fixed an issue where rings could get stuck and become unequippable.
Fixed player summons disappearing when entering a new zone.
Addressed several issues related to time simulation when entering a zone, which caused some entities to skip turns. This issue made them vulnerable to attacks without the ability to move or retaliate.
v0.5.4 (Hotfixes)
v0.5.4b
Fixed crash during faction battles
Fixed in some cases unable to re-enter a settlement after a battle had occurred there.
v0.5.4c
Fixed error loading into battles.
v0.5.4d
Fixed null exception when loading into zones, after a battle has taken place.
Fixed duplicate shopkeepers spawning after battles.
Fixed quests spawning for NPCs that do not exist either due to leaving from low prosperity, or death in battle.
Note - Please be aware that the deployment of the Hotfix builds for Mac systems will experience a temporary delay.
v0.5.4b (Hotfix)
Bug Fixes
Fixed crash during faction battles.
Fixed in some cases unable to re-enter a settlement after a battle had occurred there.
Note - Please be aware that the deployment of the Hotfix builds for Mac systems will experience a temporary delay.
v0.5.4 - Faction Warfare
Factions summon armies, settlements can be attacked and turned destitute, and bandit hordes wander the map. Gear up for a more engaging and challenging world.
This is a massive change! Expect continuing balance changes and fixes in the coming months.
Save files from v0.5.3 are NOT compatible.
Faction Warfare
Factions will now spawn armies reflective of their wealth and strategic interests.
These armies attack settlements to expand their territory and will patrol and defend their holdings, creating a living world of conflict and conquest.
Join battles to defend cherished locations or tip the balance in factional conflicts.
Strategic window lets you know the time remaining until a battle is completed.
Your participation will be rewarded with not just loot and experience but also a tangible impact on the game's evolving geopolitical landscape.
Enable the faction overlay while in the world map to see faction influence. How it works:
Factions spawn armies based on their wealth. Wealth is gained over time based on the number of tiles controlled by that faction.
Unless completely defeated, wounded armies will slowly regenerate their troops over time.
Multiple armies can join the same battle, assuming they are allied with one of the sides.
To join a battle, one of the sides must be your enemy and one must be your ally (no joining Bandits vs. Gremlins).
If a town is under attack, fire will be visible on the world map, even if it's on an unexplored tile or outside your view radius.
The armies of enemy factions will chase the player, but tend to move slower than normal movement.
For more details, including information about how factions gain and spend wealth, see the recent dev blog.
Human Factions
Previously, there was a single generic "human" faction. This has been removed and split into 3 named factions:
Verdant Guard Forest dwellers, who reside near where the player starts.
Stonewardens Empire loyalists, typically found in mountainous regions.
Aridax Fiercely independent desert dwellers.
Each human faction starts with its own territory and influence, which will shrink or grow based on the influence of other factions.
Bandit Factions
Three new wandering bandit factions have also been added.
Eagle Clan Small groups with strong units, the Eagle Clan prefers the mountains and forests.
Cragwolf Outlaws A powerful, bloodthirsty bandit group, with a unique dual axes drop.
Barren Outcasts Ill-equipped but with larger numbers.
Wandering bandits do not control territory but will attack and wreak havoc on all non-bandit factions (including the player).
Desert Towns
To match the desert theme, Aridax towns have newly added building and pathway art.
Prosperity
Upon entering settlements (villages, cities, and towns), you'll notice a new feature: prosperity. Visible on the location window, prosperity is represented with an indicator showing its current level and the trend of where it's heading.
Prosperity is a direct reflection of the economic health of a settlement, influencing the availability of shops, presence of adventurers and quests, frequency of traveling merchants, and the number of guards available.
The below screenshot is of a closed shop. As a town loses prosperity, shop owners will pack up and leave.
How it works:
Settlements start with a hidden base prosperity amount. This amount is increased or decreased over time based on the number of nearby tiles controlled by the faction.
Completing quests for a settlement causes prosperity to go up.
Defeating nearby enemy dungeons makes space for factions influence to spread, causing prosperity to increase.
If a settlement is attacked by a faction army, all local town guards and adventurers will team up to fight the invaders. If the battle ends in defeat, the town's prosperity is reduced to 0 (Destitute).
If a settlement is under attack, it can be seen with a burning fire, even if the settlement is in fog-of-war or unexplored tiles.
If a settlement loses shops, guards, or other NPCs due to low prosperity, they will return once prosperity has improved.
Inns will never vacate a town, regardless of prosperity. This means you cannot lose your belongings if they're stored in an inn.
Prosperity Ranks
Destitute (0-10) The settlement is nearly abandoned. It exerts no influence on the world map.
Impoverished (11-30) Limited resources and low morale.
Stable (31-60) The average, everyday life of a settlement with basic amenities available.
Prospering (61-85) A flourishing settlement with abundant resources.
Wealthy (86-100) The pinnacle of prosperity, featuring the best goods and services available.
Gremlin Dungeons
Added 6 new room types to Gremlin Dungeons for more variation. These rooms have a chance to spawns in small and large Fortresses.
Simultaneous Turns
This drastically speeds up combat when fighting in larger numbers. Instead of waiting for all enemies to take their turn one by one, entities will attack and move in the smallest number of batches.
All combat now uses "Simultaneous Turns," allowing enemy units to take their turn at the same time.
Other Changes
Reputation is no longer per settlement but is instead per faction, meaning reputation gained in one settlement unlocks bonuses for all settlements of that faction.
Time now passes in the overworld while in dungeons. For example, if being chased by a bandit army, you can escape to a nearby town or dungeon. If enough time has passed, upon returning to the overworld, the army will have wandered away. Note this is up to a maximum number of turns, to ensure there is time to return to help defend nearby settlements while you are in dungeons.
Added 2 new poisons: Jester's Toxin and Red Spigot.
Added 8 new armor and weapon items: 3x Stonewarden Armor, 4x Dual-wielding axes, Furyforge Crown.
Dev Blog: Faction Warfare & Settlement Prosperity
For the last several months we've been working on a major update: Faction Warfare
With this update, factions will spawn armies reflective of their wealth and strategic interests.
These armies attack settlements to expand their territory, and will patrol and defend their holdings, creating a living world of conflict and conquest.
You're not only a bystander in this world at war. Join battles to defend cherished locations or tip the balance in factional conflicts. Your participation will be rewarded with not just loot and experience but also a tangible impact on the game's evolving geopolitical landscape.
To get a closer look at these changes, also check out our previously released videos: https://youtu.be/bqjI2Q1zOYQ https://youtu.be/ncpyn8nvvL4
Our vision with this update is to breathe life into the game world. The world really is at war, regions and border actually matter and change over time, and you the player can influence the outcome.
Furthermore, this system has been designed with modularity in mind. This means even after the initial update, new factions, complete with their own unique units and behavior can be seamlessly integrated into the game and will automatically behave according to their designed nature and alignment — be they monstrous hordes or bandit clans (so to answer your question: yes, we plan to add magic-based factions & wizard armies).
Faction Wealth
At the heart of Faction Warfare is a strategic economic system where each faction has an amount of wealth they can use to purchase armies.
The image below is from a prototype used to simulate faction behavior
Here's how the wealth system operates:
Territorial Control: Wealth is gained based on the number of tiles controlled. The more tiles a faction controls, the faster its wealth accumulates.
Upkeep Costs: Maintaining an army isn't without its costs. Each faction incurs an upkeep cost per turn to support its existing armies, necessitating a balance between expansion and sustainability.
Army Recruitment: Factions use their accumulated wealth to purchase new armies. Each faction has unique costs and unit compositions for their armies, reflecting their individual strengths and weaknesses. For instance, Gremlins field numerous but weaker units at a lower cost.
Player Influence
You might be wondering how the player can affect this system.
Initially, as a lone adventurer in a world embroiled in conflict your influence is understandably limited. Charging into armies alone would be ill-advised. However, as you grow in power and cunning, so too does your ability to impact the world.
Undermining Faction Wealth One strategic approach is targeting the enemy factions where it hurts: their wealth. Defeated dungeons stop exerting influence. As a result, the faction's borders begin to recede and their ability to fund and maintain armies diminishes.
Joining the Fray Another way to sway the course of war is by joining battles alongside friendly factions. Engaging in these conflicts rewards you with loot, experience, and aids in defending vital territories.
Destroyed Towns???
The introduction of faction warfare brings with it a more immersive and engaging world, but it also introduces new design challenges.
Our primary challenge is striking a balance: How do we ensure that faction armies are impactful, instilling a sense of urgency and consequence, while avoiding excessive penalties for the player?
Consider the following dilemmas:
What if you've invested in a home or stored treasures in a town that's been razed?
If you're mid-quest in a town that suddenly falls, or if an essential quest-giver resides in a now-destroyed settlement, how does that affect your story and objectives?
What of the distant conflicts? If a town you care about is under siege while you're leagues away, should you have the option to intervene, or must you accept the fortunes of war?
These questions guide us towards a new solution: the prosperity system...
Town Prosperity
Prosperity is a new system developed to address the challenges presented by faction warfare. It's the current focal point of our development efforts.
(as it's under active development, details are subject to change)
Upon entering settlements (villages, cities, and towns), you'll notice a new feature: prosperity. Visible on the location window, prosperity is represented with an indicator showing its current level and the trend of where it's heading.
Prosperity is a direct reflection of the economic health of a settlement, influencing the availability of goods, shop wealth, presence of adventurers and quests, frequency of traveling merchants, and the number of guards available.
Prosperity Ranks
Prosperity is categorized into several ranks:
Destitute (0-10): Settlements are nearly abandoned.
Impoverished (11-30): Towns struggle with limited resources and low morale.
Stable (31-60): The average, everyday life of a settlement with basic amenities available.
Prospering (61-85): A flourishing settlement with abundant resources.
Wealthy (86-100): The pinnacle of prosperity, featuring the best goods and services available.
Influencing Factors
Several factors can influence a settlement's prosperity:
Nearby Tile Influence: Proximity to enemy factions can decrease a settlement's prosperity. For example, if surrounded by enemy Bandits tiles, a town will see a gradual decline in prosperity.
Player Actions: Completing quests or defeating nearby threats will boost a settlement's prosperity.
Battle Outcomes: If a settlement falls in battle, its prosperity plummets, reflecting the devastation of war. It's then up to the resilient townsfolk and perhaps a helpful player to rebuild and restore what was lost.
Special Note on the Destitute Rank
Settlements at the Destitute rank find themselves in a state of significant hardship, a status that typically follows a defeat in battle.
In this dire state, only essential structures like the Inn, your house, and quest-specific buildings remain operational. A destitute town is essentially off the map in terms of faction warfare: it poses no threat and thus is not a target for further attacks, nor does it exert any influence in the broader conflict.
As time passes, these settlements will naturally progress towards recovery, albeit slowly. To expedite this process we are planning to introduce special quests which appear in nearby towns. Through these quests, you can accelerate the recovery by contributing gold or other resources.
Benefits of the Prosperity System
Where previously destroyed towns were completely inaccessible, the addition of the Prosperity system ensures that while such towns are still affected, the impact is less punishing.
This feature not only integrates with the simulated world, enhancing the realism and dynamism, but also amplifies the impact of faction borders and armies on the game's mechanics.
Looking ahead, we are also planning a separate update dedicated to enhancing town aesthetics. This future enhancement will see key town features dynamically change in line with the town's prosperity level. Imagine witnessing the physical transformation of a town as it progresses from destitute to wealthy...
That's it for now and thank you for reading.
Dev Blog: Skill Trees
As we forge ahead into the new year, there are several significant updates that we've been working on.
One of those changes is the revamp of our skills system, evolving it into a more robust skill tree structure.
Today, I'm pleased to introduce Eric Wagoner, the newest member of our development team, who is spearheading this exciting redesign. In this post, he shares his journey and insights directly with you.
Skill Trees
Several years into development, we’ve added many skills and abilities… and we’re not nearly done yet. Choosing skills has always been one of my favorite parts of RPGs. Now, the time is right to take our skills system to the next level.
Accelerated Warfare – “Let’s go!”
Why Trees?
The decision of what ability to select is a special moment in the game. It is a triumph. By placing abilities in a more structured flow, the player has guidance on where to look and what exactly their current decision is.
On the right is an art mockup, not the actual tree!
Note: In our game, the term "skill" refers to the overarching category you level up in, such as "Chivalry," "Cooking," or "Botany." And within each skill, you unlock items called "abilities" (technically, this means our discussion is about ability trees, but we've chosen to use the more intuitive term "skill trees" for simplicity).
These limitations also add a new layer of strategic thinking to the game as you puzzle out the trade-offs involved in ascending the tree and getting the abilities you want. And with Jake busy on the upcoming Factions update, it was a good time to reconsider ability balance, including how it relates to larger battles and more allied units.
Structure
We decided to have our skill trees unlock from the bottom to the top to give players the feeling of scaling a mountain of awesomeness. The bottom level starts unlockable, and abilities can also start deeper in the tree with no parent ability, requiring that any ability (or hard junction) of equal or greater depth be available to unlock first.
Soft junctions (on the left) are unlocked by either prerequisite. Hard junctions (on the bottom) require each.
Ability powerfulness (& complexity) generally increases as the tree is unlocked. More powerful abilities might be placed earlier on the tree if their connecting paths are reduced or limited. Less powerful abilities may be used as prerequisites to increase the total cost of powerful abilities.
What makes a good tree?
Distributing the most desirable abilities away from each other creates many viable paths through the tree, adding depth to the decision-making process. Since players can earn XP from using active abilities, some are placed early on the trees to give players options to level each skill through use.
Battle Hardened won’t let you go down without a fight
Grouping related abilities together adds realism and makes intuitive sense, since it's easier to learn things which are similar to what you already know. The shape of the trees also allows us to convey meaning through symbolism, such as the stability and connectedness of the new Chivalry tree.
Skill Themes
As you might expect, there are lots of considerations when designing a skill system. We want to give each skill a special feel and particular strengths. To do this, we consider the general themes of each:
Chivalry: Virtue, honor, protecting humanity
Warrapt: Tradition, pragmatism, persistence, practice
Another consideration is how many abilities are in each tree. Dreadheart had the least number, so I added a few new ones. Warrapt and Chivalry, having the most, received more modifications instead.
The above three are coming first, but deliberation is already underway for the weapon skill changes:
Balance Changes
When considering individual abilities, I compare them to similar abilities. For example, ‘Mighty Lunge’ on the Warrapt tree is similar to several other jump-attack abilities. In playtesting, the 2-range limit was annoying, because, being an attack, it only gave one tile of extra movement. This wasn’t quite enough for what it was used for: catching up to those pesky hit-and-run enemies. It also didn’t make ‘Mighty Lunge’ feel particularly mighty.
‘Vicious Lunge,’ in the Daggers tree on the other hand, has a much longer range. This felt off, because a long jump is more mighty than vicious, and daggers are relatively short range. I want to keep a short range jump-attack for variety, because the others are longer range. Therefore, let's make ‘Vicious Lunge’ the jump attack skill with the short range but better energy cost, cooldowns, and less vulnerability, since daggers are light & fast. ‘Mighty Lunge’ can have a longer range.
From concept to completion: can you guess the skill?
Several existing abilities will become applicable to nearby allies in light of the new Factions update. For example: Bravery, Aura of Valor (Chivalry), Guarded Wait, Combat Awareness (Warrapt), Vicious Sustain and Blood Lust (Dreadheart). Other kinds of abilities may also be applicable for allies, i.e., Parry & Knight’s Challenge.
New Abilities
Our dev post just wouldn’t be complete without a few teasers for some of the new abilities coming your way.
Lacerate: Lash out in a bloody attack with +5..15% bleed chance, dealing +5..15% more damage, but taking +20..10% longer. On hit, the enemy takes +8% damage and bleeds twice as fast for 1..3 turns.
Lacerate adds to the short supply of Dreadheart active abilities, but it’s placed so late in the tree that it cannot help much with XP gain, which is addressed by another new ability. It’s fairly powerful, however, so it makes sense that it would be an apex ability to strive towards (the ‘tip of the claw,’ so to speak.) It fits with the Battle Trance line of abilities, but this is purely thematic.
Bleed is a major feature of Dreadheart, so I wanted to give it a little more punch by causing the target to bleed twice as fast (two ticks per turn) for a few turns. I also wanted this ability to create additional blood tiles around the target, so that the player can start using the environment more as part of their tactics and strategy. Blood tiles combo with yet another upcoming ability, as well as future abilities such as the Blood Mage, but be careful; you might not be the only one who likes getting bloody!
Bleed resist never looked so cool
Noble Steel Resonance a new Chivalry ability: firmly embed your weapon into the ground, sending forth a resonating shockwave that weakens the defenses of all enemies in its path. Enemies receive -10..14% dodge chance and -10..14% physical resist for 3..5 turns.
Just when you thought Chivalry had enough abilities, we added more. While Chivalry is bordering a bit much on the magical for a skill not listed in magic menu, it's possible to consider nobility in its own mundane yet semi-magical category, almost as a prerequisite for certain kinds of virtuous magic.
Martial Flourish: Launch a flourishing attack against adjacent enemies when you enter a new stance, dealing -40..20% damage with +15..35% knockback chance.
Martial Flourish puts a bit of kung-fu in your step, replacing Quick Swap, which is merging into Efficient Dispatch to make it more attractive. We don’t stop there; players have said stances were underwhelming, and Swift Transition’s switching stances quicker seemed that way. After all, you can only use one stance at a time, and each stance requires investment.
So, let’s make stances more exciting! Making them compatible will breathe new life into these mechanics. Swift Transition is getting five upgrade levels so that players can now briefly have two stances active at higher levels.
Combat Awareness gets a new ‘look’
I hope you enjoyed reading this update as much as I enjoyed writing it. Development continues on Factions, Skill Trees, and more, so keep your eyes peeled for more exciting updates.
macOS Support
The Doors of Trithius is now available on macOS.
We've tested on a range of systems including a 2010 MacBook Pro (playable), and a 2013 MacBook Air (smooth performance). Additionally, users have reported good performance on newer Apple M1 models (requires Rosetta 2).
Thank you for your patience. Linux & Steam Deck, you're up next!
v0.5.3e (Hotfix)
It's been a slew of hotfix over the last few days as we address issues.
Bug Fixes
Reverted Java 21 to Java 20 (21 was causing issues integrating with a library we use).
Fixed starting the quest "The Collector" causing save files to be corrupted. Unfortunately, if you already started this quest before the update your save file cannot be repaired (if you are in game before this latest update downloads, keep playing until you beat the quest).
Fixed weapon experiment quests giving the player a lump of coal, instead of the experimental weapon.
Fixed skill bonuses appearing twice in the tooltip sources display.
Fixed issue with fullscreen mode in WIndows 11.
Other Changes
Drastically reduced the XP gained when using magic abilities.
v0.5.3 - XP Rebalance
XP Rebalance + QoL and bug fixes.
Save files from v0.5.2 are compatible.
XP & Wisdom Adjustments
We’ve extended XP rewards to include all abilities and recipes. The majority of abilities grant XP during use, with some offering unique approaches to XP gain, such as the athletics ability "Tumbling," which bestows XP when successfully dodging an attack.
XP Log Added an XP log. By clicking the "XP" tab in your notification log, you can review all recent XP gains for both skill experience and wisdom.
Tooltip Display Additionally, a new setting "Show XP Gain" has been added. Enable this option under General -> Tooltips to show exact XP gains for all abilities and recipes.
Additional Changes
The XP log will show a warning when no XP gained due to the soft level cap being reached (keep in mind, the level cap can be raised by investing skill points).
Doubled the amount of experience gained while travelling.
Discovering new tiles while travelling will now reward travel XP, provided the travel skill is unlocked.
Reduced Wisdom Gained when killing a monster.
Reduced/tweaked Weapon Mastery XP granted on attack.
Modified the Weapon Mastery XP awarded upon attack, with a general decrease.
Added a new mechanic to reward bonus wisdom for defeating enemies higher than your level, at a rate of 10% per over level. This is shown in the XP log as "dangerous fight".
Java Version
Updated Java version from Java 14 to Java 21. This gives significant performance improvements on some systems, and also fixes lag issues experienced by some users.
New Player Experience & Polish
Some initial steps to improve the experience in subtle ways. This is part of an ongoing initiative which includes UI modifications, providing clearer starting guidance, and ensuring consistent storytelling.
All classes now start with basic clothing. While there is something to be said for the classic roguelike experience of starting with nothing, for our story which starts you off as a bold adventurer, it was not fitting to begin barefoot!
An escape ladder has been added to the starter dungeon, and the "Escape" tutorial message will now appear upon first entering a town or dungeon. This change is to create a more dramatic exit. The dead-end felt just wrong. Ascend from the depths; your journey is just beginning!
In character creation, equipment and supplies are now displayed side by side, reducing the need for a scrollbar. Items are now sorted by type so you can quickly see what weapon you are getting which should be helpful if you are rerolling many times.
Rebalanced the volume of all music tracks to ensure a consistent audio backdrop to your adventures.
The volume levels of loud sound effects (doors, barrels, dog deaths) have been reduced for more uniform audio balance.
Improved loot User Interface (UI). This redesigned UI will not obscure the object being looted. We want you to see what it is you're looting!
Stat Sources
To provide clearer insight into your character stats, contributing factors to a stat's total value are displayed within the stat tooltip.
Other Changes
Show "real damage" in hit splashes and in the notification log, instead of showing overkill damage. For example, if a creature has 5 health left, the maximum you can hit is a 5. This was necessary to make damage gained from XP consistent with the damage visually dealt.
Reduced ability "Sidewinder Style" energy cost from 5 per turn to 2 per attack, and point cost from 3 to 2.
Tweaked Sagohai's dialog to make it less silly (it will be changed again in the future).
Increased Duudahl's health from 180hp to 240hp.
Added new item "Scroll of Discovery: Warrapt", which can be purchased everywhere the Chivalry scroll can be purchased. This item was meant to be added with the Warrapt update but was missed. Note - scrolls of discovery are temporary until a proper in-game method of discovering each skill is implemented.
Any character with the "Oath of The Fallen" passive can now use Ahnais statues, not only the knight.
On loading screen show what module is loading during "Loading Modules" phase, for example "Loading Module...Abilities"
Bug Fixes
Fixed issue where enemies dying out of sight due to bleed damage were still displayed on-screen with 0 HP.
Fixed recipes Machinist Amulet, Machinist Ring, and Snake Dice not appearing in the Study Bench, despite the necessary books being studied.
Fixed blocked corruption status effect becoming unlocked when switching to your alternative loadout, despite still having the necessary enchantment active.
Fixed recipe tooltips in smaller resolutions cut off due to screen size limitations.
Fixed inconsistency in the display of decimals and decimal rounding across all tooltips (items, status effects, stats).
Fixed toxic plume's required level and required point values were swapped, causing the ability to need 12 focus points instead of 3!
Fixed nature magic ability "Renew" removing wounds on self instead of on target, when used on an ally (you can now remove wounds from your summoned creatures).
Fixed nature magic ability "Symbiotic Growth" limited to 50 stacks, instead of the described 100.
Fixed a glitch that made the character sprite invisible after consuming a Blink potion until the next move.
Fixed a UI glitch that allowed extra items during character creation.
Fixed issue where harvested plants would no longer block movement.
v0.5.2 - Performance & Pathfinding
Significant performance improvements, faster NPC pathfinding, and new debugging tools.
Save files from v0.5.1 are compatible.
Major Performance Boost
We've revamped our game draw loop for incredible speed gains.
The ground layer is now recreated as needed, instead of every frame, yielding a massive ~200-220% FPS boost.
Information about how on-screen entities should be rendered is now cached and recreated only as needed, boosting FPS by another ~10-15%.
Code Efficiency
Smarter handling of turn-based updates, which were a significant cause of slowdown when many entities are loaded. These events don't run every frame, but could be a cause of jitter while moving.
Optimized redundant code that ran on every frame for a ~2-4% increased FPS.
Entities with animations or timers are now managed separately for minor (<1%) FPS gains.
Pathfinding
NPCs are smarter and more efficient in how they find their way.
Reduced frequency of NPC path requests, relying on cached paths, or using alternative faster methods if it makes sense to do so.
NPCs now stop pathfinding early if the attempt is taking too long, given the expected distance, and will instead rely on a faster method.
A* pathfinding algorithm - we now use a hashmap to check if a node has already been visited, for far faster performance.
A* pathfinding algorithm - updated main heuristic used for node selection, for up to 10x performance boost on long paths (Closest Heuristic -> Manhattan Heuristic).
While providing generally faster performance, these changes should also address the lag sometimes felt in towns or crowded areas, where many entities are blocking each other and attempting to path-find at the same time.
Debugging Tools
New game option for those who like to troubleshoot or are facing performance issues.
Added option "Performance Log".
Enabling this creates a 'performance.csv' file in the game folder to track resource-intensive tasks. Use with caution as it could impact game speed.
If you are having performance issues, please enable this setting and send your files to doorsoftrithius@gmail.com.
