I have been doing a lot of traveling this month--and that will continue for the next couple of weeks--, but I still read all of your suggestions and bug reports, and this update represents an accumulation of responses. Now that the mechanics have settled in the wake of the last beta period, I am working to improve clarity across the board: new tutorial entries and help topics, better tooltips, and more intuitive controls. There is a small start here, and certainly more to come, but this is an area where player input is especially critical, so I would love to hear your thoughts! There is a conspicuous lack of content in this update, and there are a couple of reasons for that: one is that I have begun working on assets for the next beta period (which will be content heavy), and the other is that I am planning to restructure some of the existing prophecies, so I am withholding a couple of things in case I need to offset a prophecy removal or two with new stuff. I wish this were a more interesting update, but I'll try to get you all some new toys soon. Thank you for your reports, suggestions, and especially your patience this time around. I finally licked an issue with the launcher on systems with pre-existing, strictly conflicting Java installations, and while it may not have affected many people, it felt like a huge weight off my shoulders, and I'm very thankful to those players who helped test a number of experimental builds in my search to resolve this longstanding problem. Thanks everyone! ːtotfedoraː

Changelog

• More verbose descriptions for many usables (these are automatically generated)
• The same improvement has been applied to tooltips for abilities and effects in the codex
• Character placement tooltips also carry these longer ability descriptions
• Codex help topics for each resource and anchor stones

• Minions can now be unassigned from a floor by dragging them off the dungeon (previously, this could only be done by replacing them or clicking their status icon)
• There were a couple of prophecies with a "traps triggered" requirement that did not also require a trap floor to activate
• Numerous minor adjustments to existing tooltip text and icons
• Several small performance improvements
• The game is more likely to drop resources that you are low on
• The game drops fewer tiles when you are close to building a new floor (that is, if you have one queued and currently meet the resource requirements for it)--this and the above will likely require additional input and tweaking
• The game avoids dropping an item if you already have a max-level version of it
• The Tyrant now has one armor by default; he was always armor-based, but this should make it more apparent that he is affected by armor-related abilities and effects
• The message log no longer displays a tooltip for the currently selected message when you hover over it
• Many early prophecies, their goals, and their requirements were re-evaluated; many "spend resource" goals were changed to "gather"s (which are much easier early on), and some character pack dependencies were altered to make them rarer relative to floors and items (which are more important to a budding Tyrant)
• Removed category icons from prophecy popup message portraits

• Under some configurations, the launcher could crash on systems with a conflicting Java installation (game's .jar had to be loaded directly by the player, ugh!)
• "If you want something done right" achievement could become perpetually un-earnable if it was first done while playing without a Steam connection
• Some character ability targets/effects were wrong
• Quicksilver Quaff's range buff wasn't being applied properly (damage was buffed in codex, but was not actually being used in combat)
• Characters should only move up in combat if there are no damage-dealers and their current ability does not deal damage
• A couple of specific and obscure combat situations could cause the game to crash
• Character images in prophecy message icons were being cut off
• Tooltips for dragging/dropping characters were not very consistent
• Hovering over a combat slot could render a recently deceased assignee

I have been doing a lot of traveling this month--and that will continue for the next couple of weeks--, but I still read all of your suggestions and bug reports, and this update represents an accumulation of responses. Now that the mechanics have settled in the wake of the last beta period, I am working to improve clarity across the board: new tutorial entries and help topics, better tooltips, and more intuitive controls. There is a small start here, and certainly more to come, but this is an area where player input is especially critical, so I would love to hear your thoughts! There is a conspicuous lack of content in this update, and there are a couple of reasons for that: one is that I have begun working on assets for the next beta period (which will be content heavy), and the other is that I am planning to restructure some of the existing prophecies, so I am withholding a couple of things in case I need to offset a prophecy removal or two with new stuff. I wish this were a more interesting update, but I'll try to get you all some new toys soon. Thank you for your reports, suggestions, and especially your patience this time around. I finally licked an issue with the launcher on systems with pre-existing, strictly conflicting Java installations, and while it may not have affected many people, it felt like a huge weight off my shoulders, and I'm very thankful to those players who helped test a number of experimental builds in my search to resolve this longstanding problem. Thanks everyone! :totfedora:

Changelog

• More verbose descriptions for many usables (these are automatically generated)
• The same improvement has been applied to tooltips for abilities and effects in the codex
• Character placement tooltips also carry these longer ability descriptions
• Codex help topics for each resource and anchor stones

• Minions can now be unassigned from a floor by dragging them off the dungeon (previously, this could only be done by replacing them or clicking their status icon)
• There were a couple of prophecies with a "traps triggered" requirement that did not also require a trap floor to activate
• Numerous minor adjustments to existing tooltip text and icons
• Several small performance improvements
• The game is more likely to drop resources that you are low on
• The game drops fewer tiles when you are close to building a new floor (that is, if you have one queued and currently meet the resource requirements for it)--this and the above will likely require additional input and tweaking
• The game avoids dropping an item if you already have a max-level version of it
• The Tyrant now has one armor by default; he was always armor-based, but this should make it more apparent that he is affected by armor-related abilities and effects
• The message log no longer displays a tooltip for the currently selected message when you hover over it
• Many early prophecies, their goals, and their requirements were re-evaluated; many "spend resource" goals were changed to "gather"s (which are much easier early on), and some character pack dependencies were altered to make them rarer relative to floors and items (which are more important to a budding Tyrant)
• Removed category icons from prophecy popup message portraits

• Under some configurations, the launcher could crash on systems with a conflicting Java installation (game's .jar had to be loaded directly by the player, ugh!)
• "If you want something done right" achievement could become perpetually un-earnable if it was first done while playing without a Steam connection
• Some character ability targets/effects were wrong
• Quicksilver Quaff's range buff wasn't being applied properly (damage was buffed in codex, but was not actually being used in combat)
• Characters should only move up in combat if there are no damage-dealers and their current ability does not deal damage
• A couple of specific and obscure combat situations could cause the game to crash
• Character images in prophecy message icons were being cut off
• Tooltips for dragging/dropping characters were not very consistent
• Hovering over a combat slot could render a recently deceased assignee

The Hook:

The Rundown:

• A unique blend of tower-defense strategy, simulation, RPG, and puzzling!
  
• Slick, simple, and frenetic matching mechanics, where reflexes and planning are both rewarded!
  
• Lovingly pixeled characters, settings, and items!
  
• Single-sitting sessions with long-term unlocks, gradually taking your game from newbie-friendly to deep and cerebral!
  
• Tons of diverse floors, items, minions, heroes, and more, to discover and exploit--And more to come!
  
• Tactically emergent gameplay, spawning new strategies and builds as your game evolves!
  
• Frequent updates and direct responses to player feedback!

The Future:

• OS: Ubuntu 12.04 or LaterMemory: 1 GB RAMGraphics: Pixel Shader 2.0Storage: 200 MB available spaceAdditional Notes: Java 1.6
• Memory: 1 GB RAM
• Graphics: Pixel Shader 2.0
• Storage: 200 MB available spaceAdditional Notes: Java 1.6

• OS: Ubuntu 12.04 or LaterMemory: 1 GB RAMGraphics: Pixel Shader 2.0Storage: 200 MB available spaceAdditional Notes: Java 1.6
• Memory: 1 GB RAM
• Graphics: Pixel Shader 2.0
• Storage: 200 MB available spaceAdditional Notes: Java 1.6