First of all, an apology. In just a few days we have filled your library with updates: 1.3, 1.3.1, 1.3.2, 1.3.3, 1.3.4… Each one came from something you told us, but we understand that so many downloads and changes don't let you enjoy a run in peace. That is why 1.4 is the last big update for Murciavania. From now on we will let you finish the game calmly, and we will only release small patches to fix bugs.
And above all, thank you. Every comment in reviews, in the community forum and on social media has ended up becoming a change. Here is everything, in detail.
New in 1.4
Scenery: less block, more background
- Platforms that make sense. We went through the platforms of all 444 rooms one by one: every one can be stood on, pairs are still pairs, and every Back-Side room still mirrors its own. Ledges stuck to the ceiling, where Ginés couldn't stand and there was nothing to pick up, are gone; planks left lying on the rock are now part of the floor, and in the Tartessos Atrium the two platforms are symmetrical again.
- Solid blocks turned into ledges. Stretches of rock or ashlar two rows thick or more are now thin ledges with open space below, in 41 rooms: the stairway of the Toledo alcázar, the sunken city of Tartessos, Medina Siyâsa, the Arabí of Yecla, the Villa of Moratalla, the Baths of Alhama and many more. You now see much more of every painted background.
- Secret walls that make sense. Breakable walls are no longer white blocks placed at random: they are walled-up openings in each room's own stone (brick, or dry stone in the caves), and the ones in mid-air are trapdoors, walkway planks or boards hanging from ropes. They keep their usual hints: the crack, the hollow knock and the falling dust.
- Niches and shelves. The loose little blocks around some hidden items are now walled-up doorways and shelves.
- Single-piece floors. In 113 rooms the floor was a slab, a gap and a strip of stone underneath: now it is one single piece down to the edge, without that sandwich. Those gaps could never be reached, so nothing changes in play.
- Floors in perspective. The ground no longer looks like a wall of blocks: the row Ginés walks on has a lit top face, and what lies below is the front of that same slab, smooth and fading into shadow. Only the drawing changes; collision and heights are exactly the same.
- Nothing hanging from thin air. Banners used to hang a hand's width below whatever held them: now they hang from their wall, rock or plank. We removed the lamps and banners that hung from the sky (the ruined hermitages of Ánimas and El Palmar, the Qart Hadasht Moat, the Monteagudo Gate…), and the jars, lanterns and chests that floated with nothing underneath now rest on their own shelf.
- Every room keeps its closed borders, its entrances and its secrets: the route through the game does not change.
Ginés and combat
- A real combo. Three sword strikes in a row no longer repeat the same slash: the second one comes down diagonally and the finisher rises. They hit the same area as always.
- Ginés, the same size in every animation. His sprite sheets came at different sizes: he looked bigger when dashing, backdashing, guarding, crouching and getting hit, and smaller when casting, slashing up and down, falling and sliding. Now his head and body are the same size in all of them.
- A clearer HUD. The health bar is almost twice as long, with its number beside it; your level has its own experience bar and your money sits on the right. Your item, gadget and status effects have their own backdrop so they read well in any room, and the effect bars no longer cover the letters.
- Hitboxes checked on every enemy and boss. We measured, one by one and pose by pose, where they can be hit, where they hurt on contact and where their attacks land, against their drawing: 140 enemies and 45 bosses.
Relics: now every one does what it says
We compared the description of all 81 relics with what the game actually did and tested each one in play. Several did nothing, or only part of it:
- Prisoner's Ring: hollow walls and breakables glow on screen, as promised.
- Streptomycin of '49: stun, blindness, grabs and slowness last half as long.
- Broken Seal: the Holy Office Familiar can no longer mark you.
- Mother of Water's Jug: deep water no longer slows you down.
- Pitcher of Light: two extra tiles of light underwater. Beast's Scale: you swim against the current.
- Breath of the Boil: also protects you from steam vents.
- Golden Locust: mosquitoes and choughs stop chasing you too.
- Carbide Lamp: nearby hollow walls give off a spark. Arabí Sphere: now it really orbits you.
- Ochre Heart: the OCHRE edge breaks guards. Pyrite Link: the critical spark is real FIRE.
- Bell of the Spells: its toll clears the room's gloom.
- Sanatorium Clock and Basalt Scarab: they also save you if you drown, are poisoned or have your guard broken; the Scarab gives back a third of your health, as it says.
- The descriptions of the Arabí Bowl and the Knotted Handkerchief now say exactly what they do.
Bosses: every attack, reviewed
We went through the attacks, poses and status effects of every boss in the game, one by one. The highlights:
- The Stone Jellyfish. Her Stone Gaze was the bug you reported most: it slowed you even if you blocked or dodged, it refreshed every half second and it pushed you into the beam. Now your shield stops it, it only slows you if the hit lands (1 s), the beam sweeps away from her and there is breathing room between hits. Her Dive now hurts inside the red warning ring, and the cave ceiling in her attack poses no longer hurts on touch.
- Status effects only when the hit lands. Warlock Huzán's frog curse, the Colossus of Almagre's dazzle, the White Lady's slowness, the Black Ram of Ope's ride, the Bride of the North's fan strike and the Drought's whirlwinds no longer affect you if you block, dodge or are in your breathing room. Some are shorter too (the frog, 1.2 s).
- Attacks that never came out or came too early. The Inquisitor's cage of benches in his last phase now appears. The War Elephant's second charge and the Tartessian's staff strike give more warning. The Puentes Flood's surge leaves time to climb onto the planks.
- No boss heals unanswered. Dry Mother no longer drops her healing strip on top of herself.
- Warnings and poses. Attacks that came with no warning (the Silver Lady's discs, the Silver King's charge, the Court of the Three Seats' wax seal) now have one, and every strike has its own pose: the Great Mayo's stomp, Don Rodrigo's "Last Stone", the White Lady's beds, the Colossus's eruption.
- Summons are capped. Familiars, souls, ushabtis, leeches, rowers and tormos no longer pile up endlessly.
- Clean phase changes. When a boss changes phase its body stops hurting on contact for a moment, and the Silver Lady, Mora Encantada, the Puentes Flood and the Great Mayo no longer switch phase mid-attack. Whatever a boss throws vanishes with it when you defeat it.
- Less flashing. Warning marks that flashed quickly (cracks, strips, frost, ingots) now pulse gently and are easier on the eyes.
- Bosses at their proper size. The War Elephant was as tall as Ginés, and the Bicho of the Segura, the Nameless Templar, the Mora Encantada, the Disenchanted Mora, the Immured and Don Rodrigo barely stood a head taller. Now they loom, and their bodies and strikes grow with the drawing. The Slag Golem and the Schematic Figure grow too.
- Every move with its own pose. The Templar's guard and shield bash, the Prison Duelist's back leap, the Sarcophagus of Beatrice's spin and the charges of El Otro and the Tartessian are no longer a still drawing sliding along: they brace behind the shield, leap on guard, spin on the spot and run leaning forward, leaving a trail.
Palacio de los Cascos and entrances
- The Hall of Mirrors truly reflects Ginés (it used to be a blue box). Celina has her ghostly figure, and her pomegranate riddle can now be completed.
- Going through a door gives you half a second of breathing room: no enemy hits you the moment you arrive.
- The Sanatorium's Long Corridor no longer sends you back to the start if you arrive from the Linen Room.
- In the Cave of Treasures, the slab between the Cup-Mark Chamber and the Midday Cave said on both sides that it was "stuck on the other side". It has no bar at all: now each side tells you what really moves it.
Technical recap of 1.3.1 to 1.3.4
- Companions (1.3.1). Walking companions (shepherd boy, sheepdog, ushebti) follow the ground with their own physics: they drop off edges, wait at gaps and hop when the height changes; flying ones keep flying.
- Bosses (1.3.1). The Black Ram of the Ope had a cropped pose; his sprite and his hit area now cover his whole body.
- Visual cleanup (1.3.1). Code-drawn elements covering the painted backgrounds were removed (Seal Chamber, Monteagudo Oratory, the Back-Side island, Cueva Negra, cisterns). New portrait of Ginés in the pause menu and combat callouts translated into English.
- Terrain (1.3.2). First lightening pass: solid rock removed in 113 rooms and thinner floors, keeping every standing height.
- Spikes and reading (1.3.2). After landing on spikes, Ginés respawns on safe ground further away and won't move until you release the direction. Reading and talking require standing still, not having just arrived, and no enemy on top of you.
- Status effects and reach (1.3.3). Status effects (blindness, poison, grabs, entangling, the sack) only apply if the hit truly lands: not on your shield, not while dodging, not during the breathing room after another hit. Attack reach matched to the drawing, with visible attacks for the Night Watchman, the Photographer and the Golden Thread Skein.
- Menu (1.3.3). The game version now appears in the main menu.
Thank you again for playing, for writing to us and for your patience with so many updates. The next things you'll see from us will be small fixes only. Enjoy the Region.
MANZASOFT® · Manuel Manzano