The Monster Breeder cover
The Monster Breeder screenshot
Genre: Role-playing (RPG), Simulator, Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS), Tactical, Indie

The Monster Breeder

Full Release Reptile Class

Hi Folks,

I worked on the new assets for the Full Release in the last couple of months. The graphical overhaul of this game is a difficult task for me, and I'm making slower progress than expected. But finally, the new reptile models and textures are complete! This new model allows for much greater variety in appearance. The video below aims to demonstrate the diversity of species of the Reptile Class and represents the new visuals of the Full Release game.


Update

Hi,

This small update adds tagging system, slave management, and bug fixes. I know it is not much, but I spent the majority of my time on creating better graphical assets for the full release.

New features:

A new "Slave workers" button was added to the Base management window. Players can kill slave workers to get human blood and meat.

The price of slave workers varies depending on their age.

Training sliders now show the annual gain due to training.

A tagging system was added for better monster management. There are 8 tags available:

  • For crossbreeding
  • Favorite
  • Veteran
  • For organ removal
  • Available for sale
  • Expendable
  • Non-lethal combat only
  • For organ implantation



Bugs fixed:

  • Quest names are missing from the new messages button when the "Better readable font" option is on.
  • False tooltip for the alchemist's skill at the character generation window
  • The "Copy treatment" and "Cancel treatment" buttons don't update the upkeep cost
  • Animation stuck if multiple monsters attack with the "Pack Attack" ability
  • The lifespan of offspring was maximized to 25
  • The upkeep cost is not updated when the creatures get treatment and get removed from Hatchling's Cabin.

Tournament Balance & Optional Mechanics

Hi Folks,

This update focuses on balancing enemy strength for tournaments and making multiple game mechanics optional.


Changes:


The enemy team generation method was rebalanced for tournaments.

The "Extra Risk & Reward" button was replaced with a slider at the Tournament window. The player can increase or decrease the strength of the enemy team, and the magnitude of the prize for winning.

Ebonwood Bark is a new food supplement to increase the damage capacity of juvenile creatures.

The following game mechanics are optional and can be selected under "Custom difficulty" settings:

  • Harmful traits and inbreeding
  • Crippling mechanism
  • Main character aging
  • Runestone and magic scroll usage costs


The price of slave warriors varies between 900 and 5000 depending on their age.

The combat speed has been increased a bit.

Hotkey for the "Next character" button: "]" or "."
Hotkey for the "Previous character" button "[" or ","

A pop-up tooltip was added to the Arena badge icons on the statistic cards.


Bug fixes:



  • The "Sell Monster" button is falsely inactive
  • Intro volume is not affected by the Options setup
  • Running animation may persist after creatures die in combat
  • Bleeding info is indicated incorrectly in the Character Panel during combat
  • Attack of opportunity does not trigger Bleeding if the monster has Hemophilia
  • Dead human characters do not get removed after manual combat
  • The Catacomb fight counted as done after canceling it
  • Monster's total upkeep costs do not include prices of potions, food supplements, magic treatments, and implanted organs.

Easter eggs and new game mechanics

Hi,

This update adds a couple of new mechanics. These new features affect primarily the monster breeding part of the game, adding more challenges and complexity.


Easter eggs

I added four hidden abilities to the game. These abilities may appear in offspring if the parents belong to certain species.


Crippling mechanism and damage capacity

All the monsters have a new inheritable trait called damage capacity. This indicated the amount of HP losses they can accumulate without the risk of becoming cripple. Whenever monsters lose HP in combat, the damage capacity decreases. When it is exhausted, the chance of getting a crippling wound increases, and being defeated means the end of a career. Crippled creatures can no longer participate in any fight but still can reproduce.


Combat injuries

Monsters can get injured or seriously injured when defeated in non-lethal combat. The chance of injury is higher for creatures with the "Fragile bones" trait.


Crossbreed potion's strength

The potion strength of the Crossbreed Potion will have a significant effect. Weak potions cause random harmful traits in the offspring.


Harmful traits


  • Light Hemophilia - Loses 2 HP for 2 turns after being hit
  • Hemophilia - Loses 4 HP for 3 turns after being hit, and blood draw or organ implantation is not possible
  • Severe Hemophilia - Loses 6 HP for 4 turns after being hit, and blood draw or organ implantation is not possible
  • Fast aging - Becoming old at 50% of lifespan
  • Untamable - Not possible to tame this creature
  • Fragile bones - Can be crippled when defeated in combat, regardless of the damage capacity
  • Sickliness - Moderate illness is fatal, and organ implantation is not possible
  • Fast metabolism - The upkeep cost is double due to increased food intake
  • Single offspring - The litter size is 1



Effect of hemophilia in combat

Melee weapons, bow, bite, claw, or spiny skin cause physical damage and trigger bleeding if the monster has hemophilia.
Elemental and poison damages like magic staff, Ice Breath, Poison Spit, or Shock Skin do not cause bleeding wounds.


Inbreeding

All offspring of closely related creatures get inheritable harmful traits and a not-inheritable trait called Inbred. If a parent is inbred, the offspring may get harmful traits but not inherit the Inbred trait.

The aging algorithm has been modified, and now you can see the number of turns until growing old.

Auto-combat has been reworked. The losses better reflect the combat power of each team.


Bugs fixed:


  • Shady Business quest starts all over again after the completion
  • Pop-up info of strength can be stuck at the "Monsters" window

Druids II.

Hi All,

This small update adds five more quests to the mid-late game. You will get generic quests if you miss the three early druid quests. With this change, you won't miss the opportunity of getting more exclusive goods at the druid's fair. The other four new quests provide new species or subspecies:

Sapphire Beetle has a new ability called Flawless Attack. This type of attack is always successful. Only the Flawless Defense ability neutralizes it.

Cave Arachnid Queen has the Fire Breath ability. I am trying to add better traits to the new insectoid monsters making them more valuable because insectoids are the less popular class according to the Steam Achievements stats.

Giant Bear and Greater Northern Lizard are the bigger and stronger subspecies created by the druids.


Bug fixes:


  • Missing food supplement slots at the Hatchlings window when the creature's growing-up time is higher than 15. Hatching and growing-up time is now maximized at 15 turns.
  • Tooltips show incorrect values for the Greater Energy Steal at the Skill Upgrade panel.
  • The monster upkeep cost is not recalculated after implanting the Segmented bowel.



I am also working on the new creature models for the full release. I hope I will be able to show some of them in the next couple of weeks.

Druids I.

Hi All!

This update adds the Druid's Market and three early quests to the game. Every March, the druids hold a fair where you can buy tamed, grown species. If the player completes the quests, they will also gain access to a higher variety of goods. I added enhanced versions of some weaker species to make them more valuable. A couple of new organs, food supplements, a new spell, and magic staff also come with this update.

Six new subspecies bred by druids, with new or enhanced abilities:



    Horrid Worm
  • Killer's Revival - Replenish health points to the maximum, if a melee attack results in a kill.
  • Greater Life Steal - Regain more health points after every successful attack

    Green Ant Raider
  • Fearless Aura - Encourage monsters on all adjacent hex

    Dread Wolf
  • Greater Pack Attack - Simultaneous attack of multiple monsters. No 50% damage penalty.

    Battle Rat
  • Flawless Defense - Dodge every melee attack for a turn. Costs double energy, and cooldown period.

    Dire Varanus
  • Greater Energy Steal - Drain more energy from the enemy after a successful attack

    Ghyllow Beast
  • Total Spininess - Severely damage attacking monsters. 100 Spiny Skin is required.


New food supplements:



  • Bone Stone increases the bite strength of juvenile creatures.
  • Downy Leaf decreases the size but increases the agility of juvenile creatures.
  • Bloom Root increases the lifespan of juvenile creatures.
  • Mud Worm increases the resilience of juvenile creatures, making them less vulnerable to abomination.


New organs:



  • Nerve Bladder provides additional skill points.
  • Segmented Bowel provides a bonus affecting plant food ratio.
  • Spawning Cells provides a bonus affecting the litter size.


Invoke Wraith spell
Increases bite strength, and critical chance, and decreases fear in combat.

Staff of Fear
This magic staff causes fear instead of inflicting damage.


Bug fixed:

  • The class bonus of Blood Potion is not transferred to the transfusable blood.
  • Runestones don't decrease the weakness of fire, frost, or shock.
  • Combat potions are consumed in auto-combat mode, even if their use is not allowed for that fight.
  • Hit chances of ranged attacks are not corrected with the possibility of dodging arrows when the target has the "Dodge arrow" ability.
  • Weight data disappear from the item pop-up info.
  • Enemy characters can step on the exit hex, causing the game to freeze.
  • Friendly characters do not use exit hex for fleeing.
  • The attack of opportunity was not triggered on every relevant occasion.

Bug fixes and minor changes

Hi All,

Thanks to Splattercat, significantly more people tried the demo and the game, so I received a lot of feedback and bug reports. This patch contains bug fixes, multiple minor improvements, and balance changes.


Bugs fixed:

  • At 4K resolution, buttons are disappearing at the Base Management window.
  • Class bonus is getting overwritten when adding the same potion with different class bonuses to the production queue.
  • Item info stuck on the screen after deleting the item from the production queue.
  • Occasionally, hybrid organs can have the same bonus twice. (For example, Poison bonus 2x).
  • When Monster Kennel is being upgraded to Monster Chambers, the temperature and humidity update with one turn delay.
  • Lifespan pop-up info does not indicate the gestation period for Carnivora monsters.
  • The "Pregnant" icon does not show the remaining turns until birth.
  • The hatching and growing-up time of species is not showing up at the "Purchase" window (local hunter's shop).
  • Skill upgrades can increase agility, endurance, and health points above the limit of 100.
  • A monster can get poisoned using the "Fire Spit" ranged ability if the opponent has poison skin.
  • Occasionally, the same battle can be generated twice for tournaments.
  • When a character dies due to damage from shock skin during the attack of opportunity, animation does not start.
  • Offspring never inherited any negative resistance like fire/frost/shock/poison weakness.
  • Mutation always generated positive values for fire/frost/shock/poison resistance.
  • The growing-up report does not indicate the loss of strength and health points if the player lowered the food amount.
  • The on/off settings were not saved for the hex grid in the combat scene.
  • If the prerequisite of training is no longer available, the game does not update the training info.


Changes:

  • It is possible to sell eggs and juvenile monsters.
  • The reputation threshold required to hire alchemists or blacksmiths has been decreased by 10.
  • The crafting skill of the default alchemist and blacksmith has been increased by 10 on the character generation page.
  • Descriptions of altars got a warning message: "You can only build one of the three altars!"
  • Organ removal from a dying creature is no longer possible. Players must use combat surgery to stabilize the creature's condition first.
  • Weapon bonus has a pop-up description on the info panel at the Purchase window.
  • Alchemists and blacksmiths are less likely to get the "Drunkard" trait.
  • Craftsmen's special skills have a pop-up description in the Recruitment window.
  • A character or monster using ranged ability automatically switch to melee when an opponent moves onto the adjacent hex.
  • If blood infusion is applied to alter lifespan, it has less impact on hatching time and growing-up time.
  • New warning message if potions are not allowed, or combatants must wear standard equipment during an arena fight.
  • Ability pop-up info shows the range of bow, magic, and ability.
  • Tier 2 and 3 buildings are a bit more expensive to build.

Update has been released!

Hi,

This update aims to make the game more understandable for beginners and includes minor changes. I added an intro and narrations for combat tooltips. Messages got a button to jump to the relevant screen, and the loading screen shows the basic info about species. Beginners' tooltips are less annoying and pop up once per turn.


Added:


  • Intro
  • The narration was added to the combat tooltips.
  • A new button was added to the messages to jump to the relevant screen.
  • Some extra potions were added to the inventory for new games.
  • A new effect indicates the leveling up in combat.
  • Pop-up info shows the XP requirement for the next leveling-up.
  • The time to grow up is indicated on the juvenile creature's button.
  • A new effect was added for new turns on the main screen.


Changed:


  • Apprentices inherit 1-3 positive skills from their master when they complete their apprenticeship.
  • Another way was added to scroll up and down while relocating a creature. Drag the monster button and move the pointer to the bottom/top of the list to scroll down/up.
  • Level 3 "Athletics" gives +10 endurance
  • Level 3 "Critical chance" gives +4 agility
  • Level 5 "Critical chance" gives +8 agility
  • Full species info at the "Purchase" window
  • Beginners' tooltips are less repetitive. Most of them pop up only once per turn, making them less annoying.
  • The loading screen shows the basic information of species like habitat, strengths, and weaknesses.


Bug fixed:

XP bonus from the skill "Development bonus" was not added during auto-combat.

Tournament rework and RNG

Hi All,

This update focuses on tournament rework and RNG.

Tournament rework

Now, you can evaluate the enemy team and the traits of all combatants before engaging in the arena. It will be easier to decide which fights you want to participate in. Weapon poisons also become more useful because you can select the best poison if you know the composition of the enemy team.

The enemy generation algorithm has been reworked. The game will no longer generate enemies based on the level of your characters. It calculates a combat value instead and creates an enemy team with similar strength. This change will add more challenges to the mid-late game but makes the early game bit easier.

Enemy sorcerers AI has been improved. They support melee characters more efficiently and no longer use their spells too early.

Less RNG

I have decreased the amount of RNG. It is no longer worth reloading the previous turn to get different stock at markets or different events. The auto-combat will also generate the same results, and cave quests will have the same caves regardless of the number of reloading. I hope these changes will improve the game experience.

Changed:

  • The "Sell monsters" button was added to the "Monsters" window. Now, you do not need to wait for the Guild's Fair to sell creatures.
  • Another "Fire Character" button was added to a more visible place of the UI
  • Item info pops up in the production queue for the alchemist and blacksmith.


Bug fixed:

  • Not possible to remove an organ from the selected item list during the Guild's Fair.
  • Agility parameter is calculated falsely after removal of weakening spell on human characters.
  • Grown hybrids purchased at Guild's Fair reset age at the end of the first turn.
  • Agility and action point miscalculation at the following quests: Deserters, Bandits, and Runaway Slaves.
  • Enemy monsters did not use their "Ice Breath" and "Tail Attack" abilities.

Arena badges & combat speed

Hi,

This small update adds a new way to earn skill points and the option to double the combat speed.

Arena badges

Every monster and human character can earn badges fighting in the arena. These medals are awarded for performance such as defeating three opponents in a single match, 100 % hit rate with a bow or surviving 5 lethal combats. Getting a new badge provides an extra skill point to spend. Badges show up in the "Statistics" window where you can find info about all badges you can collect. Some medals have bronze, silver, and gold grades, so every character can earn up to 20 extra skill points this way.

Combat speed

There is a new button on the left-hand side of the screen to double the game speed during combat.

Changed:

  • In the demo, the player gets some items, buildings, monsters, and characters to test game mechanics.
  • The reward has been increased when fighting in the Catacomb.
  • Combat statistics collect data from arena combat only.
  • New music for combat scenes.


Fixed:

  • The "Health Recovery bonus 1" button indicated an incorrect state at the research window.
  • Auto-combat in the Catacomb decreases the number of available arena fights.
  • Unplayable arena fights appeared at the Tournament window.