New Features and Fixes: Demo and Beta
Both the demo an beta now feature a new inventory management tool:
Item Sorting!
Certain containers will now have a little button at the top right corner (black and yellow dots icon, pictured above). Clicking this button will attempt to arrange all items in the container as close together as possible, starting at the top left, and moving right and downward.
This is a feature several players have asked for, as certain hexes and containers can get quite busy in late game play. It's not a perfect sorting algorithm, but hopefully it helps folks clear up space easier!
I also started fooling around with end-game stats:
Can anybody beat that survival time? No, not longer. Shorter!
It shows the same cause of death as before, but now also shows the survival time, and "Disposition." Survival time is pretty self-explanatory, but the "Disposition" is a little more ambiguous. It's tied in with some of the newly added encounters in the beta, and is an experiment with tracking the player's moral compass. It'll show up on demo games too, though the demo doesn't really have encounters to change that rating.
Perhaps I'll add some more ratings and stats in the future, but for now, we'll see how these go.
The following additional fixes were also added to both the demo and beta:
- Fixed a bug that caused stacked items to disappear when returned to their origin (e.g. misplacing an item in empty space).
- Changed framerate cap from 30 to 60.
- Added some new headlines.
- Fixed sound playback bugs.
Beta-only Updates
The beta also got some exclusive updates this time. First, there are now several random encounters spread across the map. They don't have custom artwork yet, and they're mostly pretty short. But they should add some local color from time-to-time.
There are also two larger, illustrated encounters in this build, roughly the same complexity as the cryo encounter and House at Seven Gables. They leave some loose ends, unfortunately, but that's the way it's gotta be until more content is ready :).
Big thanks to Cameron for helping to make the above encounters a reality!
The beta also now features music! Starting this build, one of three tracks will play at random intervals (about 5-10 minutes apart). Sort of like Dwarf Fortress and Minecraft, I wanted to see how it felt to have music only play occasionally. I thought this might alleviate burn-out from hearing the pieces too much.
Josh Culler did some excellent work on these, so let us know what you think! You might even recognize one of the pieces from the trailer!
Additionally, the beta has the following new fixes and features:
- Added smallpox.
- Fixed bug in date when loading game.
- Added hepatitis and jaundice conditions.
- Added ability to lose random items, specific item types, and slot-specific items in encounters.
- Added The Blue Rot condition.
- Fixed loadgame bug that caused doubling of camp conditions if game saved in non-default campsite (e.g. cryo overheating).
Whew, that's quite the update. Hopefully, I didn't break too much with all the new content and fixes. Be sure to let me know what you think once you've given them a shot!
You know what this game needs more than anything? Sexually transmitted diseases. And for that, you're gonna need prostitutes.
Actually, there are some situations in the game which involve pimps, prostitutes, drug dealers, etc., though the player doesn't have the option to pay for services. It's more about helping/hurting/ignoring them in their situations.
Some of these situations are capable of infecting the player with hepatitis, though. Or worse...
Oh, is that the sort of thing that happens in the east, where the game tells me to go? Wish I could survive long enough to see all these wonders. Anyway, all the great RPGs have sex in them, even if it's just implied (like just showing the character exausted on a bed with a huge smile on his face).