v.0.6 - Ashfall Pass WIP, Quest, UI Polish, Enemy Roles

Another hefty one. This update adds the first version of Ashfall Pass, shared quest briefings for co-op, objective markers, and another pass over the UI. There are also new Paladin skills, combat fixes, and changes to how the party loads into a zone.

World:

Ashfall Pass-
- Added the initial Ashfall Pass mission
- Use your lantern to collect flame from braziers and burn brambles blocking the route
- Flame charges are shared by the party, and each brazier can be used once per attempt
- Added a shared flame counter and mission objective tracker
- Added an optional necromancer encounter
- Burning the final barrier completes the main objective
- A party wipe ends the attempt. Choose a discovered outpost to return to, then prepare for another try

Traveler’s Vale & Atmosphere-
- Expanded the Vale’s paths, farm details, orchard, and encounter placement
- Added river currents, ripples, and shoreline foam
- Adjusted zone colors and added forest canopy movement
- Added Fell haze areas to Ashfall Pass
- Fixed lanterns and world torches not activating correctly at dusk
- Added shared lantern flights for mission interactions in co-op

Quests & Co-op:

Shared Quests & Personal Reading-
- One player can now accept a quest for the whole party
- Quest briefings and discovered notes remain available in the journal after completion
- Each player keeps their own read status and NPC introduction progress
- Added quest acceptance notifications and repeatable NPC explanations
- Added party readiness prompts for travel, mission entry and departure, and certain permanent choices
- Improved quest reward presentation, with XP, gold, and skill rewards shown separately

Quest Guidance-
- Added tracked quest destinations to the map and minimap
- Objectives in another zone point toward the appropriate gateway
- Distant minimap markers stay visible at the edge
- Completed objectives now lead into turn-in guidance
- Each co-op player can track their own quest

Dialogue Fixes-
- Fixed dialogue choices failing to respond to mouse and controller input
- Closing a conversation no longer advances its dialogue flags
- Conversations now cancel when you walk away, take damage, go down, or change zones
- Fixed overlapping collection requests potentially consuming materials more than once

UI:

Window & HUD Polish-
- Updated the journal, dialogue, shops, inventory, character, skills, map, and other windows with consistent slate backgrounds and compact frames
- Reworked the character window around all eight party slots
- Added missing armor inventory icons
- Improved long dialogue scrolling and clearance above the combat bar
- Updated Health and Energy bar colors
- Improved enemy casting icon contrast and insufficient-Energy feedback
- Matched mouse menu highlights to controller selection styling
Controller & Keyboard-
- Added controller camera zoom using LB and the right stick
- Improved chat clearance above the controller hotbar at larger UI scales
- Mouse and keyboard movement now remains available while ordinary menus are open

Combat:

Casting & Projectiles-
- Shortened the movement lock after casting, while keeping the full recovery before another action
- Physical projectiles now lead moving targets when fired. Changing direction after release can still avoid them
- Completed spells now go on recharge even if their target becomes invalid or moves out of range
- Added clearer feedback for blocked projectiles and unavailable targets
- Fixed a crash when a target disappeared before a companion or enemy finished casting

Movement & Party AI-
- Improved enemy idle roaming and recovery from blocked movement
- Reduced enemies repeatedly switching sides while trying to pass an obstacle
- Improved ranged companion retreat choices around nearby enemies
- Improved companion awareness of healing and revival casts started by co-op players

Paladin Skills-
- Added Restoring Light, a stronger heal with a higher Energy cost
- Added Purge Condition, which removes one condition from an ally
- Added Remove Hex, which removes one hex from an ally

Enemy Behavior-
- Added enemy role profiles for healers, protectors, interrupters, hexers, summoners, and frontline and ranged attackers
- Added encounter groups built around these roles for use in new encounters
- Enemy support skills can now heal, protect, and cleanse their allies
- Fixed enemy life-stealing skills not applying their recovery correctly
- Enemy Animate Dead now raises its intended two servants from one corpse

Loading & Stability:

Zone Travel-
- Reworked zone loading to wait for the map, navigation, and party state before releasing gameplay
- Co-op travel now waits for participating players to finish loading
- Joining players are protected while their arrival finishes
- Fixed minimized windows being able to stall loading
- Fixed certain portal destinations failing to resolve
- Added a return-to-menu option when loading fails

Map & Audio Fixes-
- Fixed nested terrain and forest layers missing from map displays
- Fixed Ashfall’s map fog depending on a navigation region being present
- Fixed competing zone music players interfering with music transitions
- Fixed an enemy cleanup error when leaving a mission

Playtest Focus:
- Ashfall Pass traversal, flame placement, difficulty, and retries
- Shared quest acceptance, dialogue, and party readiness in co-op
- Quest markers across zone changes
- Controller zoom and larger UI scales on Steam Deck
- Projectile dodging, spell recovery, and enemy movement
- Steam co-op loading, late joins, and mission completion