Combat Update (v0.8800)

major update

Nerobi · build 22181024 · published

On SteamNotes only · this build shipped before we watched the app


Highlights

  • A new engaging combat system that take us looong time to balance

  • A new boss full of rage, will you be able to defeat him?

  • A complete rework of the first part of the game (Forest of Perdition)

  • New enemies that are waiting to kill you..

  • More than one hour of new gameplay!

  • And much much more!

Full Changelog (v0.8800)

New Features

  • Nerobi is finally able to kick and punch now, like a true warrior. He can melee attack, has a special combo when hitting three times an enemy. He can also throw punches while airborne and do a special flying downward attack. He can also dash away to evade enemies dangers. But don’t exaggerate, he can get tired!

  • A new Boss has arrived: Barregan. He is no joke, but an epic voiced soundtrack will help you with the fight!

  • AI Pathfinding System: Implemented a new pathfinding system, currently utilized by the Standard Demon. This allows for smarter navigation and sets the foundation for more complex enemy behaviors.

  • Added Standard Demon, he is the most common one, but will desperately follow you!

  • Added Corrupted Boar, as the standard boar was not deadly enough, he will tirelessly charge you and yes, it’s also much stronger!

  • Added Corrupted Shisoka, sprouting demonic wings, he will now dive-bomb and explode if you pass beneath him.

  • Added Spore Demon, he can’t move, but will release a deadly cloud of toxic spores if you get too close.

  • Added Wall Demon, a massive, towering presence that is nearly impenetrable.

  • Blob Trap Rework: The trap no longer deals direct damage. Instead, it is now an interactive hazard where the player must break free via a rapid input sequence. It also respawn after some seconds from being death.

  • Interactive Platforms: Implemented a new platform type that reacts to player weight. It drops upon contact and resets once the player jumps off.

  • Ruin Walking platform: a new visual variant of the moving stone platform tailored for the Ruins environment.

World & Level Design

  • Complete rework of “Forest of Perdition” chapter: vastly improved gameplay flow, a new level design and new unique visuals!

Visuals & Art

  • Color Space Overhaul: Switched from Gamma to Linear Color Space. This ensures more realistic lighting calculations, improved color blending, and overall visual accuracy.

  • Nerobi death animation has been replaced with a more cinematic one and now has active physics.

  • Added Nerobi hit animations.

  • Improved Hit Feedback: Nerobi’s damage states now feel more impactful thanks to a 0.25s hitstop, camera shake, circular vignette, and audio distortion.

  • New AFK Animation: Added a custom idle animation for Nerobi when the player remains inactive.

  • Added a special visual effect on hitted enemies.

  • Replaced "Plant Bud" with "Pulsing Plant": added a more prominent idle animation to better encourage player interaction.

  • Updated Demon Mines: Now featuring 3 randomized idle animations and added lightning effects for a more menacing look.

  • Desert Dialogue Polish: Added dedicated camera angles during Desert conversations to ensure Nerobi is no longer obscured by the dialogue interface.

  • Charge Management: Added a function to retract Nerobi's charges during specific events (like the Blob Trap) to improve character visibility and prevent clipping.

  • Teleport Effect Overhaul: Enhanced the teleport visual feedback with Chromatic Aberration and Motion Blur for a more punchy and dynamic feel.

  • Rose Leaves: increased the texture resolution.

  • Global Foliage Physics: Expanded the bounce interaction for roses and leaves to all game entities. The environment now provides consistent visual feedback for all movement.

  • Activable Door: added visual ping to highlight it’s interactivity.

Audio & Sound Design

  • Dynamic UI: Interface interactions now have unique audio feedback.

  • Checkpoint Tree: Added atmospheric and interaction sounds.

  • Nerobi: Added walking sounds for mushrooms.

  • Implemented missing audio assets for: Cooked Boar, Urtomecha, Mechashot, Mechamolla, Pure Spirits, Falling Stalactites, Power Unlock, Background Thunders, Pulsating Plant, Ruin Room 1, Riku Energy Worker, Riku Worker, and Riku Worker 2.

  • Music Quality Upgrade: Replaced all compressed music tracks with high-fidelity uncompressed PCM audio for crystal-clear sound.

  • Pause Menu Audio: Implemented a global trigger to suspend looping SFX upon pausing, ensuring a clean and silent menu experience.

Quality of Life

  • Improved Dialogue Flow: The interaction button (B) can now be used to advance dialogue for a more seamless gamepad experience.

  • Dialogue UI: Introduced a "Exit" icon to clearly distinguish conversation-ending choices.

  • Added a "Clear Barks" function to prevent overlapping text during dialogues, cutscenes, and full-screen card/image views.

  • Layout Polish: Centered the in-game menu and tutorial texts for improved visual balance.

  • Ushinatta Balancing: Reduced frustration by making the spirit melt faster when you are nearby, while extending its solid duration when jumped upon to allow for more reliable platforming.

  • Death Skip: Players can now accelerate Nerobi's death animation using button prompts to reduce downtime between respawns.

  • Confessional: decreased the duration of the ending animation and limited the developer message to one per session.

  • Achievement Polish: Removed unobtainable achievements to ensure a fair 100% completion list.

Balancing

  • Nerobi: Added invulnerability during the Confessional interaction to prevent unfair damage.

  • Nerobi: increased base and running speed.

  • Nerobi: increased turn animation for better reactivity.

  • Nerobi: removed air drag for better handling while airborne.

  • Nerobi: increased jump and fall speed (now he is less floaty)

  • Nerobi: increased knockback recovery time to 0.5s.

  • Nerobi: increased the recharge speed of Nerobi’s charges.

  • Momentum Retention: Nerobi now correctly retains speed when jumping during a sprint, allowing for more fluid and longer leaps.

Bugfixes

  • Audio: Fixed "popping" sound when changing audio snapshots (High-Pass filter fix).

  • Animation Controller: Normalized the end-of-loop tolerance across all animation lengths to ensure consistent and reliable looping.

Performance & Optimization

  • Optimized Bloom quality: Reduced internal resolution by 50% for improved performance with no perceptible loss in visual quality.

  • Animation Caching: Added a system to store the last animation call; this fixes issues where entities would fail to animate after being re-enabled from an optimized state.