FreeHolder Alpha 8
2.28.2020
Combat Updated and Upgraded
I'm pleased to announce that the large number of upgrades and changes to battle have been completed. I'm so pleased, in fact, that I am announcing that we are now in alpha 8. It's all pretty arbitrary, but I think it's appropriate. A battle tutorial will be forthcoming soon, probably after an update or two, but thankfully for the curious, I have implemented a vastly improved statistics screen when looking at battle gear with new icons that, when moused over, will actually explain what the statistic or property is, and what it does. No more trying to guess what all those text lists of properties mean. I'll actually tell you. The only catch is, this info is currently only available on the equipment select screen right before combat. A lot of different status displays are due for an eventual overhaul, but I don't want to redo everything right now, since that will entail more art and design, and in any case if you want to use the gear you'll have to go to combat anyway. It's not ideal, but once you learn what the statistics mean, you'll know what you're looking at in the crafting or resources ledgers.
As a result, and also due to my various improvements to the mechanics, combat itself is a little more transparent and hence more fun and less frustrating. I'm sure there's many more tweaks and improvements to be made over time, but the core of it is now less esoteric. Gone are mysterious "glancing hits" that somehow inflict bleeding or poison despite not actually causing damage. You either miss, or hit for some amount of damage, determined by how high your roll is. And if you do not hit, the game will tell you whether it was because the opponent dodged, parried, blocked with a shield, or whether their armor prevented the hit. This will actually help you strategize how to deal with them in the future.
By my estimation, it's a lot better. But please try it out for yourselves and give me that oh-so-appreciated feedback.
Bugfixes
Combat Fixes
-Bare hands will no longer become an equippable item in your armory :D
-2 handed melee weapons preventing you from using shields is now correctly working
-Poison accessories now add poison to your weapon properties as intended
-When equipped with a main ranged weapon and no alternate weapon, bare hands are automatically used as alt weapon
-Ammunition is now removed from your quiver or pouch when fired as intended
-Throwing weapons also deplete their ammunition when used as intended
-Bows no longer disappear from existence after leaving combat
-Saved gear profiles no longer occasionally disappear or reappear when equipping various characters
-Profiles now properly clear and make equipment available when changing positions and character in battle prep
Changes
Status Screen Changes
-Revised and greatly improved interface that explains battle gear statistics and properties on mouseover
Combat Changes
-Removed glancing hits entirely - you now either miss or hit for 1, 2, or 3 damage based on your roll
-Parry system overhauled to use penalized competing attack roll, with weapons of similar weight determining if it is allowed
-Combat text now explains whether a missed attack was caused by dodging, shield, armor, or parrying
-Rend, pierce, and other roll-affecting abilities always take effect when rolling attacks
-Bleed, daze, and poison now always take effect on successful hits
-Daze now reduces initiative, and at high levels, removes reaction attacks. It no longer removes turns
-Bleed now works incrementally. Bleed counter increases cumulatively and at certain levels inflicts damage
-Besides lowering rolls, high levels of poison also have a chance to cause the victim to miss a turn