Adding voices & facial expressions and more improvements
And then they smiled...
Voices & facial expressions
We're adding voices and facial expressions to our hero! They aren't saying too much, but a range of oohs, aahs and ouches provides them with a tad more character.
You can preview the first set of voices if you enter our beta-programme (right-click on Unexplored in your library>properties>betas>choose UNSTABLE BRANCHE). Note: this is the first set, we're working on a second, more female sounding one. If you prefer the hero to remain silent: voices are optional.
Improvements
1.17.3 (Unstable Branch)
New Features:
• Adds character voice.
• Adds facial expressions for the hero.
1.17.2 (Lost Creatures)
New Features:
• Adds Tomes.
• You can catch Myst.
Game Balance:
• When weapons deal multiple damage base damage types, the best result is applied (to enemies and to you!).
• Improves meteoric weapons and armor.
• The Forge of Destiny bestows extra bonus to crafted items.
• The Spinner Room in the Ripley Run will always have spinners.
• A weapon of Rust can affect Turrets and Mechanical Spiders.
• A weapon of Rust cannot be corroded itself.
Bug Fixes:
• Cloak of invisibility is identified when it activates.
• Pedestal puzzles should not appear twice on a single floor.
• Oil coated weapons stop burning when submerged.
• You recover 5 hp when drinking tea.
• Fixes crash with eye plants.
Unexplored on PC Gamer's GOTY-list of nominees
Holy cow! PC Gamer just nominated Unexplored as Best Strategy Game of the Year. It's an unexpected category, but foremost an unexpected honour!
Five creatures that were lost, have returned to the Dungeon of Doom... Meet nightmarish boars and run from the Runners in the 17th content update for Unexplored. (To be honest, this was originally just called the 'Even More Creatures Update', but that sounded too boring to me.)
We're preparing yet another content update, which will give our hero his/her voice (don't worry, it's optional). And the final dlc, the Dark Ritual, is nearing its completion. You can already taste it in the beta (Unstable Branch).
UNEXPLORED 1.17
THE LOST CREATURES UPDATE
New Features:
- Nightmare Boars
- Green Wyrms
- Stalkers
- Runners
- Jumpers
Game Balance:
- You must stop moving to open a container.
- Less bounce and impact for thrown daggers against large creatures.
Bug Fixes:
- Fixes issue with levers trying to control destroyed turrets.
- Fixes issue with throwing stacks of items away from the ground without putting them in your inventory first.
- Fixes issue with Frugal achievement.
- You can drop cursed item that are not equipped with the controller again.
- You can no longer use shift-click to check if an item is cursed.
- The vault key inside The Forge of Destiny has a purpose again.
- Special floors can no longer lead to duplicate special keys.
The Screaming Streamer & a little update
While playing another round of Unexplored, Twitch Streamer Esty8nine was sure his character was going to die. What happened next is quite hilarious.
We, well: you, found out the AI was cheating a little, so we dove into their code and put them right back in their place.
- Fixes crash when coating weapons outside your inventory.
- Fixes issue with enemies in lakes not spawning.
- Fixes bug where AI could see you while hiding.
- Fixes issue with flint and steel hotkeys.
- Fixes issues with bomb hotkeys.
One Super Intense Episode & Three Updates
First of all, we'd like to congratulate youtuber Cornish-Knight for beating the game for the first time. Do yourself a favour and watch this episode, it is super-super-intense. We really enjoyed watching it, and, well, we're not sorry for that guardian :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQIL9MG8rQo
Three Updates
We've been busy and sort of silently pushing one update after another without letting you know. So here are the release notes for the last three updates.
There's some great stuff in here, some quality-of-life improvements (a journal filter), improved AI, some user requested options and even an updated version of the menu theme. Enjoy!
1.16.8
New Features:
• Shovel gets more use, but digging is more dangerous. • Option to switch off the overal parchment texture.
• Crossbows turn black while reloading.
Game Balance:
• Weapon store now stocks bullets, gunpowder, and bombs.
• Improves AI memory and navigation. • AI keeps slightly more distance. • Multiple stuns no longer stack, instead the longest time counts.
Bug Fixes:
• Bows and guns no longer fire after dropping in certain conditions.
• Caps the number of spike flowers that can spawn in a level.
• Flasks are returned for all coat types.
• Fixes bug with combining items using a gamepad.
• Hot key to equip a bow works better.
• Fixes crash when throwing items after you died.
• Consumable utility items with hotkeys are not automatically assigned to the offhand. Fixes issue with Blue Dragon not spawning.
• Shuriken equip to the offhand by default.
1.16.7
New Features:
• When game loses focus audio stops.
Game Balance:
• Phantoms are now affected by Blazing Shields and other light magic.
• Weapons go into cooldown after equipping.
Bug Fixes:
• Fixes issue with forging meteoric iron.
• A Kriss will not be auto-equipped after throwing a dagger.
• Attacking with weapons on a gamepad unpauses the game/and or closes containers. Items marked as consumables (rations, good potions, scrolls) are never equipped when using a hotkey.
1.16.6
New Features:
• Adds option to filter journal for entries relevant to the current floor.
• Use control to assign a hot key for an offhand item.
• Hot key assignments to utility items are persistent inside and between sessions.
• Enchanted Krisses can be boosted by coating it in blood.
• Updated menu music.
Bug Fixes:
• Fixes possible crash with flame type staffs.
• Fixes generation issue where full columns are not replaced (and possibly stand in the way).
• Fixes an issue with chasms being generated on the last floor.
Meet the Youtuber who just reached episode #100 of his Unexplored series: “I love/hate dying in this game!”
We have seen many streamers play Unexplored, but “Wildfremd” is the first to reach 100 episodes. To celebrate that magic number, here are 10 questions and 9 answers by Wildfremd.
1. Why did you decide to play and record Unexplored in the first place?
I found the idea of a new dungeon generator really interesting. There are many great rogue-ish games out there, but at some point you know the pattern and they start to feel a bit lacklustre. So Unexplored caught my interest during Early Access. First I did a first impressions video and after a while I begun the let's play.
2. When did you know, "This is going to be a long series"? Was there something in particular?
I don't think 100 videos of Unexplored make it a long series. Sure it is my longest let's play, but between part 80-100 I realized that I only scratched the surface. It feels more like I'm at 10 percent of my let's play.
3. What's your weirdest experience in Unexplored?
Definitely to adapt to the dungeon generator. It took me a while to understand the possibilities. Here and there I see people complaining about how they got stuck, but I never got stuck in Unexplored. There is always a possibility to progress, but maybe you don't see it, because you never played a game that creates dungeons in such a way.
4. Which moment (probably a death), made you hate Unexplored the most?
5. Which moment (probably not a death), made you love Unexplored the most?
(Answers to both questions): There is one thing that I hate and love the most about Unexplored: Dying is always my fault. It never feels like the game is unfair or enemies are cheating. After every death I found a solution for the problem that caused my death, and that is driving me nuts in a good way. :-)
6. What are your favourite settings/classes?
I play the game on challenging (without extra puzzles and bosses) and I refuse to make it easier. :-) I can't say much about the different classes, because I don't play to unlock a specific class. There were to many games in the past that forced the player to play a game in specific way to unlock this or that. If I unlock a new class that's great, but that's not my goal. I really like the adventurer and the mage (with recharge scrolls ;-)), but I'm sooo bad with the rogue. I really don't understand stealth in Unexplored.
7. Which of the DLC did you like most?
The truth is: Until now I never played one of the DLC. I put all my focus on the main game. I never played Unexplored without recording. But this question lead to an idee: I will maybe start streaming the DLC on Twitch. So everyone (0-1 viewers ;-)) can see me live getting crushed! :-D
8. Now that you have reached number 100, we reckon you switch to another game? Which one and why?
That's a funny question! In the last episodes I've got the feeling that's only the beginning. It's not getting boring and there is so much more to explore. I'm joking around and tell people that I shoot for 1000 episodes. Maybe. We'll see. Unexplored is not my only project, but it comes first. There are so many great (and unknown) games out there. Caves Of Qud or Cogmind would be interesting choices, but it's not yet set in stone.
9. Your favourite games are...?
Wow, this question is hard. I play now for over 25 years PC and console games and I've played many, many, maaany games and there are countless games that are great. I really like rogue-ish, diabloesque, platformer, role-playing and competitive games.
10. Who is Weldfremd?
I was born in 1980, I live in germany and I worked as a lifeguard and a copywriter. I can write, but I'm a talent-free entertainer! :-D I love books (yeah the ones with paper!) and writing. Due to my mental illness and my personality it is sometimes very exhausting to create new videos, but I love it! At last i would like to say: Mental disorders are serious illnesses that need more attention!
Roguelike Radio Episode on Unexplored with JD
A little while back, JD was interviewed by Roguelike Radio about Unexplored. The episode is now live: http://www.roguelikeradio.com/2017/09/episode-139-unexplored.html
We talked about the inspiration for the combat in Unexplored, cyclic generation, puzzle design, and design goals in Unexplored. At the very end JD reveals a little about the design goals for the sequel, too!
Dark Ritual DLC Coming Soon
The final DLC for the game is coming real soon now!
In The Dark Ritual you are tasked to stop a group of cultist from summoning The Great Old One. How you can stop them will be different every time, as will be the way you can find out. The focus of this DLC is on Chtulhu-esque mystery. Basically the entire run resolves around one big puzzle that changes every time you play.
We are currently testing the DLC in the Unstable Branch, so if you are curious and want to find out what it will all be about... You can.
Just so you know, it is not entirely finished, yet. We fully expect to do some rebalancing. We need to work on the texts... And we are probably going to reset the high-scores before we release the DLC properly.
More Creatures! (version 1.16)
There have been several reasons to celebrate at Ludomotion. The game is now out for a year, we are approaching our initial sales target fast, and we closed a deal that will fund us to keep developing games. What better way to celebrate, than by adding a bunch of new creatures for Unexplored?
New Creatures You will find a whole bunch of them! Some creatures, such as Frost Wyrms, Chill Wind Bats, Fire Sprites and Star Spawn, are spawn occasionally and are simply added to the mix of things to encounter. Boggards are an entire new set of humanoid frog men, that come with a wide variety of types and two new bosses: The Bog Bully and The Hermit.
Mutants, together with their new boss The Abomination, are a special creed. They are unique in the way they adapt to their surroundings. Everytime you encounter them, they might have different abilities, looks, strengths, and weaknesses. So tread carefully, and don't say we didn't warn you!
Gamepad Controls We also had the opportunity to observe a whole bunch of players play with a gamepad during a recent showcase in Cologne. That was a great learning experience, as we didn't have that chance before. As a result you will find the gamepad controls are much improved.
Alchemy We've simplified alchemy. The Alchemy tables are now obsolete, you can simply mix ingredients inside your inventory. A few recipes are changed, and a few options were added. One important new option is to coat your weapons in a number of substances: poison blood, acid blood, holy water and wyrd water. That will add some interesting strategic options.
Well there is more (new traps, new curses, for example), so a complete list of changes can be found below:
New Features - Adds Boggards, the Bog Bully, and the Hermit.
- Adds Mutants and The Abomination.
- Adds Star Spawn.
- Adds Fire Sprites.
- Adds Chill Wind Bats.
- Adds Frost Wyrms.
- Adds frost traps and ice spike traps.
- Adds option to always start with random names or looks.
- With gamepad controls you can use LT or RT to equip items.
- With keyboard controls Control + Left Click equipes an item to the secondary hand.
- Adds cursed items of Shivering.
- Alchemy can be performed inside the inventory.
- Alchemy stations are replaced by magic desks.
- You can collect acid blood.
- You can coat weapons in poison blood, acid blood, holy water, and wyrd water.
Game Balance - Movement is less floaty.
- Density and Sophie hand out more blessings and items.
- Stealth is a little bit harder, but +stealth items are more effective.
Bug Fixes - The bonus of certain cursed (and uncursed) items now adds to damage.
- Bosses should not be able to spawn in the first room of a floor.
- Fixes gamepad issue with navigating character creation menu.
- Simplifies the hand chosen for the equip action.
- Improves gamepad controls.
- Spiders and Boggards cannot jump through doors.
- Fixes an instance of the staircase bug.
- Bosses in books are not referenced in plural form.
Even tough we are preparing to shift our focus to new projects soon, we are always interested in your feedback. As we will keep fixing bugs and making improvements. And there is still the final free DLC to look forward to!
Update available (1.15.3)
...And we're back from our break!
It took some time to go through all the forum posts, but today's update addresses many of the issues pointed out by you over the last two weeks. Here's the complete list of changes:
New Features: - Option to pick-up items without a pop-up (old school) available in the options/gameplay menu.
- Adds a notification that a Sword of Ice starts melting.
- Certain cursed items retain their abilities after being uncursed (Wild Fire, Hubris, Leeching, Rust, Back Biting).
Game Balance: - Bestiary references found in books are now a direct reference to the creatures in the dungeon.
- Healing water cannot be a random unidentified potion bought in the bar.
- Poison Spiders are less common.
- You do not auto-pickup lit bombs or lit sacks of gunpowder.
- Enemies do not pick up lit bombs or lit sacks of gunpowder.
- Oil coated weapons don't light vegetation.
- Makes a clearer distinction between the two types of magic missile staves.
- Specifies how much damage a staff causes (where possible) and what might happen when it is upgraded.
Bug Fixes: - You cannot climb stairs while switching weapons.
- Weapons of Wild Fire no longer have an increased chance of bursting into flames.
- Fixes issue with one lever for multiple automatic doors not spawning.
- Items that are unidentified do not flash when recharged.
- Moving with a controller always closes containers and ground pick-up pop-ups.
- Fixed a possible misleading hint after praying at a figurine puzzle.
- Fixes bug with unneeded staircases causing the generator to fail.
- Fixes issue with access to certain special floors.
- Fixes bug where checking scrolls or potions at a vendor might help you identify them.
- Grapples can lock on to cages and iron maidens.
- Fixes crash when escaping with a shrieking item equipped.
- Fixes a bunch of typos.
