This update adds the Empath dungeon as well as Quality of Life features.
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In Empath you change into the pieces you kill. This evolved from the desire to add a dungeon for the converter piece that had a unique identity. Changing into different pieces creates an evolving relationship with the enemy as you seek out your betters and try to hang on to their form.
- The default framerate is now 60. There are other framerate options in Settings. These are untested on Steam Deck but the option does display a framerate counter you can use to verify this feature is working to your satisfaction.
- Graphics overhaul - after removing some shader code and "just adding more sprites", the number of draw calls has been reduced from 300+ to 3+.
- Some serious overhauls how map data is processed internally (map files are still in JSON unchanged).
- In addition to your input buffer being cleared when you try to walk into an X, such action is locked for a second, after which you're free to explore your demise. This should help key stabbers avoid accidents.
- A turn-slider has been added to the roster of player pieces in Endless.
- The enemy reklaw piece's pathfinding now chooses the next empty space it can find instead of walking into an ally. Beforehand they would find each other and constantly swap as the one closest to you moved away, queueing up its friend to do the same. The change lets me keep them in the Empath dungeon where they add some comic relief when you kill one.
Apologies for delay in bringing this update, there was a lot of engine code that needed modernising to support further development.