Base Game & Expansion

• Previously it was quite easy to accidentally discharge/fire a magic wand or magic item when trying to return it to the inventory belt. This is now fixed.
  
• The Inventory belt used to snap-rotate itself in 45 degree increments in an attempt to stay in alignment with the player's head position. Unfortunately, this looked somewhat clunky and could cause a 'chasing your own tail' effect when trying to add or grab from the far right or left inventory backpack. The inventory no longer snap rotates, but will instead only realign itself if the player walks by more than a half meter or so.
  
• In some situations, the Inventory belt could obscure the player's downward view and make it difficult to shoot or throw weapons at an extreme downward angle. The change to the belt described above enables a work around for this: look down and to the right, the belt will appear and lock in place, then look forward and down and commence with your now unobstructed deadly hail of arrows.
  
• Some throwable items, found in certain dungeon areas, could be picked up and thrown only once. This is now fixed.
  
• While dodging inbound projectiles, some monsters would dodge, recover, then instantaneously release their own ranged attack. At close range, this was particularly unfair as it was impossible to predict or dodge. This is fixed for Archers in the base game, and all ranged attacking monsters in the Expansion (Ogres, Snakestrikers, Pack Hunters etc )
  

Expansion

• The 'HAVEN' check point was broken. Tying to load this checkpoint could cause duplicate items in inventory such as the Tome, and some checkpoints would have been unselectable from the startup menu room. This is now fixed and any save games with that checkpoint should behave correctly.
  
• If you hit Pause while the Spirit Guide is running or climbing stairs, it could cause her movement to break and she would fail to complete her guiding task with you. Sometimes hilariously, by walking only on her hind legs. This is fixed.
  
• Playability fix to the Orc Marauder's melee combat. Orcs are now a little smoother/more predictable to fight in melee combat. A bug was fixed in one attack animation, and most melee attacks slowed/smoothed.
  
• The Orc no longer shield-bashes as frequently when the player gets within close range, making it a little easier to fight with shorter-reach weapons.
  
• The blue Dragon Hunter now has less armor than the Dragonflame Hunter, animations are slightly smoother.
  
• The Stoneskin Ogre is no longer able to instantly discharge his ground slam ranged attack while dodging or taking damage.
  

• Some players felt the game was too easy. A complete hard mode was added to the base game. The monster AI was extensively modified to accomplish this.
  
• Following the initial launch, some players requested additional free content. A new mid-game dungeon with a 2-story maze, 2 new mining caves and 3 new outdoor combat/exploration areas were added. This added 17 new monster combat encounters, 3 new puzzles and riddles, and introduced a new type of two-handed weapon. Steam reports average playtime for the game is 3 hours 50 minutes.
  
• Some users felt Teleportation movement broke VR immersion for them. New locomotion was added to the game, including continuous smooth/gliding and Snap Turning options.
  
• Some players struggled with aspects of the belt-based inventory system, others requested advanced features. The inventory system was simplified and upgraded and the ability to 'hot swap' weapons was added.
  
• Players requested more interaction with world items such as skulls, stones, candles, books etc. The majority of world items were updated to allow grab/throw interactions.Flammable cloth, leaves, webs, straw were added. The new interactable items were integrated into the game as hiding places for treasure, secret keys, etc.
  
• Climbing was added as an additional movement mode and retrofitted to the dungeon areas, with items added as climbing rewards.
  
• Achievements were expanded and integrated with Steam.
  
• Many players requested better support for more types of VR hardware. Hardware support for Oculus and Index was added and integrated into the training room.
  
• Some players reported frame rate drops in certain outdoor areas, especially those using the initial round of VR gaming machines. The game engine was upgraded and its rendering performance improved.
  
• Some players felt the game was beginning to appear outdated as the Early Access period extended beyond 2 years. The wild/outdoor areas were updated to include a higher level of detail. Ground which previously showed 'painted' grass now contains tall, 3d grass. Most trees maintain higher resolution at greater distance and no longer 'pop' to a different level of detail. The entire game was relit and shadow distance and resolution were improved. The appearance of many treasure items was updated with a newer generation of metalic/gold shaders.
  
• Player-reported bugs were fixed throughout the Early Access period, contributing to a stable base game.
  
  The most recent update includes the following changes in the base game:
  
  
• Index Controller Improvements. Index controllers should be better recognized when activated after the game starts.
  
• Item Drops. It's no longer possible to drop certain critical items, such as special keys or, for instance, the last mining pick in player inventory.
  
• Item Grab Improvements. There are two ways to grab items, you can click outside the item, then 'sweep' through it, or you can click within the item. This update improves the second case - all items should now respond to either method.
  
• The price of the Dragon Fire wand has been lowered so players who spent gold on the Giant's Bane weapon can more easily afford it.
  
• Monster AI. Many changes to improve the agility of monster movement, especially in outdoor areas.

• Steam Achievements are now supported. Notes: Since Vanishing Realms supports multiple player profiles on a single Steam account, achievement progress is uploaded to Steam based on the LAST player to play on an account, as well as on the last checkpoint that player passed in-game. Overall, these are the same achievements you could previously earn in-game, but now the entire world can witness your VR awesomeness!
  
  
• Faster Glide speed. Top speed while sprinting is now a little faster.
  
  
• No joystick click required for Oculus Touch. Some players felt that holding down the trackpad/joystick while sprinting was difficult for longer durations. Now if you select the faster movement option from the pause menu, increased glide top speed remains in effect full time. You can still control overall glide speed by the position of the trackpad/joystick.
  
  
• Smarter Oculus Touch sensing. Some Oculus Touch players also felt that clicking the joystick to teleport or clicking to 'snap turn' was overly difficult. Oculus players no longer need to click - just push the right joystick forward to bring up teleport, or push leftward/rightward to snap turn. As before, you must first enable turning in place in the pause menu to try out the snap turn feature.
  
  
• New Language Support. Vanishing Realms now supports Simplified Chinese language in-game and on the Steam store page. The language may be selected either through the overall Steam settings, or via the Language tab found in the Properties settings by right clicking the game in your library. Not a big deal for English language speakers, but the game does look pretty cool with all those neat looking Chinese 'runes' :)
  

• Hard mode with new AI that can parry, dodge, pursue, strike at vulnerabilities and execute combination moves.
  
• The mid-game has been expanded to include a number of large new indoor and outdoor playable areas.
  
• Two-handed bow aiming is now supported, and there is a new two-handed melee weapon which requires some skill to master.
  
• From the opening screen, it is now possible to select and replay any previously reached checkpoint.
  
• Checkpoints may be replayed on either 'classic' or 'hard' mode.
  
• Many previously inert items may now be grabbed, burned, thrown, broken, and these behaviors are integrated with puzzle design and gameplay.
  
• Skeleton swordsmen are divided into three distinct difficulty types with new custom model changes for each type.
  
• Monsters have approx 40 new melee animations.
  
• Teleporting uses a new spline that better shows range limits and interacts with terrain.
  
• Achievement stats are now visible from the pause room.
  
• The Rite Of Steel arena retains the two-death restriction, but the time constraint is now relaxed so that all players will have ample time to strategize.
  
• The final game room contains an End Game button and a summary of all achievements and checkpoints.
  
• Many more small changes than can be listed here - please find more detail pinned in the dev post under 'Players Post Here' in the Vanishing Realms Community Hub.