Female characters now appear throughout the world, with full sprite support and randomized appearance during worldgen. Character creation has also been upgraded with customizable outfits, hairstyles, and gender selection. We've also made major improvements to item UI windows, adding better keyboard support, and quality-of-life upgrades across the board. Save files from version 0.5.15 are compatible, but it's always a good idea to back up your saves just in case. If you'd like to continue playing 0.5.15, you can select it in Steam options under betas.

Female Appearance

Women now appear across Enalia as town NPCs and bandits. During world generation gender is assigned randomly, with job-based weighting. For example, Druids, Bakers, and Botanists are more likely to be women; Smiths, Butchers, and Bandits less so. The result loosely mirrors medieval norms while still allowing for randomness.
Every armor set now has a female variant, totaling over 200 new sprite assets.

Appearance Customization

Customize your character's appearance during creation, including hairstyle, outfit, and gender selection.
Swap between male and female sprites, and pick from a variety of hairstyles and outfits to personalize your look. Male characters can also choose from several beard styles. Need to change your appearance? You can change your character's appearance on pre-existing saves using a console command.

• Enable debug mode in Options -> General
• Press F8 to open the console (or use ~)
• Enter "appearance male" or "appearance female" to swap your character's gender, or "appearance hair" to change your hairstyle.
• It's recommended to turn off debug mode after

Item UI & Hotkeys

Significant upgrades across interfaces with item lists (loot bags, quick-use menus, storage containers, shops, repair bench, curse removal, enchanting).
Mouse Controls

• Click = take 1 item
• Shift + Click = take full stack
• Ctrl + Click = take 5
• Ctrl + Shift + Click = take 25
• Mouse controls apply to loot, storage, shops, and inventory (dropping).

Keyboard Shortcuts

• Enter (or space) = take 1 item
• Shift + Enter = take full stack
• Shift + Up/Down = move to start/end of list
• Ctrl + Up/Down = move 5
• Ctrl + Shift + Up/Down = move 25

Overflow Fixes

• Quick-use item menu now scrolls when showing large item lists.
• Likewise, the loot window no longer overflows. It now repositions and/or adds a scrollbar.

Sort Order Consistency

• Loot and quick-item menus now display items with the same sort order as your inventory.

Keyboard Navigation

• Full keyboard navigation added to repair, curse removal, enchanting pool, storage, and shop windows.
• Loot, storage, and shop windows now remember your last selected item when reopened.
• Compare key now shows tooltip for selected item in list windows (just like in the hotbar).

Other Changes

• Ability tooltips now appear when navigating the hotbar with keyboard if the compare key is held, or if the newly added auto-show tooltip setting is enabled.
• The "Show Names" key now also displays names on the overworld for locations, armies, and creatures. Defeated locations are greyed out; settlements are tinted based on prosperity.
• Unidentified potions now have the same weight as their identified versions.
• Cause of death now reads "Killed by 0 life total" if health drops to 0 from max HP dropping (e.g., curse effects).
• Overhealing is now capped correctly: max HP + overheal bonus, preventing absurd stacking with potent elixirs.
• Quickload key now works even if a UI side pane (e.g., shop, storage, dialog) is open.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed rendering issue that sometimes caused thin black lines to appear.
• Fixed ability "Efficient Forager" not applying when harvesting strawberries, mulberry bushes, bird nests, and mossy rocks.
• Fixed hawk noise playing when harvesting a hawk nest even when no hawk appeared.
• Fixed size and position of wilderness danger icons when zoomed out on the overworld map.
• Fixed issue with curse icon display, where curse icons would group together when they are more than 5, despite being different types of curses.
• Fixed summoned plant sprouts following the player between dungeon floors and overworld tiles (despite being a plant, which typically cannot move).
• Fixed ability "Bond" not resetting correctly when used on a summoned hedgehog.
• Fixed issue with Nyris-cocoon and summoned hedgehog interaction. If a cocooned hedgehog is your active companion, toggling Animal Companion off will now cleanly deactivate.
• Fixed cursed wound icons not disappearing after destroying a cursed item via disenchanting.
• Fixed potential for gremlin fortress to spawn immediately adjacent to other overworld objects.
• Fixed an issue with the healing efficiency stat, which allowed the player to reach negative health without dying. Negative healing efficiency will now cause death if it reduces health to 0.
• When drinking from a well, the text log now reports the actual healing amount, factoring in healing efficiency.
• Fixed overworld HUD button alignments when UI scale is above 1.
• Fixed dialog box text not rendering correctly when UI scale is above 1.
• Fixed alignment of item condition icons (damaged, bolstered, cursed, favorite, etc).

[ 2025-03-31 11:25:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

This update is packed with the things you've been (patiently) asking for: long-requested features, QoL improvements, and many squashed bugs all carefully hunted down and delivered to you. Save files from version 0.5.14 are compatible, but it's always a good idea to back up your saves just in case. If you'd like to continue playing 0.5.14, you can select it in Steam options under betas.

Extendable Hotbar

The hotbar can now be expanded to up to 30 slots wide and 3 rows tall.
Those with widescreen monitors can now take full advantage of their available screen space.
New options allow you to set custom hotkeys for each individual row and set of 10 slots. Adjust the hotbar size in Options -> General -> Hotbar, and customize hotkey modifiers in Options -> Controls -> Hotbar.

Hotbar - Keyboard Navigation

We're told some people prefer keyboards. Well, we have something special for you: full hotbar keyboard support. How does it work? Press the Tab key to activate your hotbar for keyboard navigation. Press tab again to cycle through the slots, or use the directional keys to move through them directly.
With the ability picker open, press Delete to remove abilities, or Enter to add them directly to your hotbar.

Furniture

You can now purchase furniture from shops and place it in your homes. Furniture appears as an item in your inventory after purchase, allowing you to easily transport it.
To move existing furniture, right-click it and select "Pick Up." Existing furniture in your save files has been automatically updated to be pick-up-able. Finding Furniture:

• Shopkeepers sell all types of workbenches, along with storage units (chests, cupboards).
• Rare furniture items, like enchanting tables, may take time to locate.

Innkeeper Dialog

Having trouble finding furniture? Innkeepers in every town now offer a new dialog option to provide information about the town, including where to purchase specific furniture items.
Initially, the dialog only has an option to ask about rare items; however, further options will appear based on your actions in the world. For example, owning a house unlocks an option to inquire if anyone in town is selling furniture, saving you the trouble of asking every shopkeeper. In the future, we plan to extend innkeeper information, unlocking new questions based on your reputation and actions. In this way the innkeeper will serve as a central hub for local town information.

Map Flags

Right-click on any tile on the world map to place a flag! Use flags to mark interesting locations and save reminders to yourself about specific overworld tiles.
Flags are saved with your game and will remain until you manually remove them.

Blood Creatures & Reputation

A new reputation system is in place for blood creatures, known as "The Red Brood."
Killing Blood Cocoons or Ravagers will decrease your reputation, angering The Red Brood. A poor reputation can trigger escalating hostilities, including encounters with Elite Ravagers and Elite Ravager Hunters. At lower reputation levels, the powerful Elite Ravager will hatch from blood cocoons instead of the normal ravager.
At the lowest reputation, Elite Ravager Hunters will actively track you down. They may appear at any time in any dungeon, without needing to hatch from cocoons, making them a constant threat.
If left untouched, your reputation with The Red Brood will slowly improve over time, allowing you to gradually escape their wrath. This is the first extension of the reputation system in some time, but it won't be the last. In the future, we intend to add more reputation-tracking factions, along with new ways to increase or reduce reputation.

Status Effect Tooltips

When inspecting creatures (enemies or summons), hover your mouse over any status effect to see a tooltip description.

Other Changes

• Improved shop distribution during world generation - ensures fair allocation across settlements, guarantees minimum shops per region, and balances total shops per faction.
• Recipes UI improvements - recipes with multiple crafting options now display as separate entries, and oversized recipe text is now scrollable.
• Added sorting options to Shop UI - items can now be sorted by price.
• Added favorites indicator for player items in storage UI.
• Added item Blink Potion (Potent) - unlike the standard Blink potion's random teleportation, this version allows selecting a destination tile.
• Improved Reputation system - passive reputation changes due to negative reputation decreasing over time are now reported to log.
• Reputation window now automatically selects previously viewed faction when reopened.
• Faster overworld inspection - right-click inspecting a new location no longer requires closing the previous location info window.
• Added new animation and sound effect for "Executioners Strike" ability.
• Added new animation for "Terrifying Cleave" ability.
• Blood Puddles now decay over time, with increased decay rate in towns.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed "Mordhau Bash" ability in wrong skill tree.
• Fixed "Deep Gashes" ability, infinite Hemorrhage stacking bug.
• Fixed consumables with incorrect accuracy bonuses: Da-Daa Doo Potion, Feverfew Ale, Ancient Wine, and Elderberry Wine.
• Fixed "Helm Splitter" not appearing in Blades skill tree.
• Fixed incorrectly rounded XP rate values in skill experience tooltips.
• Fixed UI scaling issues across multiple UI elements when UI scale set above 1.
• Fixed issue with "Blooming Dread" quest, unable to trade Vyrwort flowers for Vyrwort Potions after quest completion.
• Fixed level up screen not displaying wisdom summary after game load - wisdom summary now properly saved.
• Fixed item duplication exploit during character creation.
• Fixed world generation bias toward turkey farms instead of other farm types.
• Fixed player facing direction resetting after loading saved game.
• Fixed unable to learn "Conservation" enchantment from scroll.
• Fixed cooking buffs ("Double Down" passive and "Gremlin Spit") not applying to all output items in multi-output recipes.
• Fixed "Fireflash" potion providing less teleport range than intended.
• Fixed mouse cursor sometimes stuck with incorrect cursor icon.
• Fixed mouse clicks sometimes passing through UI elements.

[ 2025-03-04 06:20:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

More skill trees??? Yes, that's right you better believe it! With a whopping 17 weapon skills planned (that's a lot!), we're taking another big bite today with the Axes and Daggers skill trees. Not all the skill tree changes are described below. You must try them in game to see everything for yourself (someday the game shall have a complete wiki and/or guide). Save files from version 0.5.13 are compatible, but its always a good idea to back up your saves just in case. If you'd like to continue playing 0.5.13, you can select it in Steam options under betas.

Daggers

The reimagined Daggers skill tree introduces 7 new ability upgrades maintaining daggers emphasis on speed, repeat attacks, and stacking on-hit effects.
Thousand Cuts remains a signature ability of daggers, allowing you to release a devastating multi-hit attack.
Pair it with Piercing Wounds upgrade to shred enemy armor, or Relentless Tempo for cooldown reduction, allowing insane combos.
Those seeking mobility will find the Shadowstride upgrade for Vicious Lunge a highlight. This upgrade grants brief invisibility after lunging, perfect for repositioning or setting up devastating combos.
The Daggers tree now offers more options to tailor your playstyle, whether you favor critical strikes, bleeds, or mobility. Need to reset your skill tree? Daggers skill should reset upon loading any v0.5.13 save, refunding your focus points. If necessary, you can manually reset your Daggers skill or any other skill using cheats:

• Enable debug mode in Options -> General
• Open console commands using F8 or ~, and enter the command "skillreset ", e.g. "skillreset daggers", to refund your spent focus points.
• It's recommended to turn off debug mode after.

Axes

The Axes skill tree emphasizes overwhelming force and battlefield dominance, with new upgrades that enhance its defining traits: climatic moments of massive damage, area attacks, and bleed-centric tactics.
The upgrade Blood Splatter turns every kill into a spectacle of carnage, causing enemies to explode and damage surrounding foes.
For those who enjoy imposing control on the battlefield, Dreadful Impact marks tiles as "Dread Zones" after using Terrifying Cleave, applying true damage and lowering enemy accuracy, allowing you to gain control over the battlefield.

Balance Changes

• Fatal Undercut -> Reduced focus point cost from 3 to 2; increased crit reduction from 25% to 100%.
• Debilitating Slash -> Increased cooldown from 3 to 6.
• Perfect Finish -> Reduced focus point cost from 4 to 3.
• Decisive Edge -> Nerfed bleed damage per level from 0.50 to 0.20. (it's still quite strong).

Other Changes

• Added a console command "ignore abilityrequirements." When enabled, ability unlock requirements are ignored, allowing you to unlock any abilities in the skill tree as long as you have the focus points.
• Added a new "combat log file" option. When enabled, this creates a 'combat_log.txt' file in the game folder with detailed combat information.
• Removed the "performance log" option, which was not fully supported.
• Improved HUD rendering performance, particularly for the hotbar which now caches and reuses icon graphics (please report if you encounter any visual glitches).

Bug Fixes

• Creature behavior - Fixed Vile Gremlin not running away when fleeing.
• Abilities - Fixed Cluster Volley 2 & 3 unable to select target area.
• Abilities - Fixed Achilles' Bane not consuming ammo.
• Abilities - Fixed Zero Hesitation status effect not stacking properly.
• UI - Fixed uncentered screen graphics on higher resolutions.
• UI - Fixed deaths from poison, bleed, or other status effects displaying as 'killed by unknown.'
• UI - Fixed mouse cursor remaining as attack or other icon when moving mouse cursor from the world onto a UI.
• Fixed "Inept" status effect incorrectly applying when equipping a weapon leads to weapon mastery unlock.
• Fixed reflection stat deal reflection damage on ranged attacks.
• Fixed hit splashes stacking on top of each other instead of spreading to multiple positions, causing damage numbers to sometimes be visible only briefly.
• Fixed healing efficiency not applying correctly to Potions, LifeSteal, Fountains, and the "Healing Attunement" passive.

What's Next?

With this update, all blade skills (Blades, Swords, Daggers, and Axes) are now finalized in the skill tree format, which represents 1/4th of the planned weapons. Did you know every weapon in the game has its own unique color and theme? Check out the Weapon Color Wheel below to see how the different weapons are connected and what makes each of them special.
Map of all weapons click for full size. Looking ahead, you can expect more skill trees to arrive soon, including the Bludgeons and Ranged groups. Our goal is to complete the majority of weapon skills by the end of the year. That said, the next update will take a break from skill trees and focus on something a little different. And dont forget to check out the Roadmap for more details on future updates!

[ 2025-02-06 04:59:24 CET ] [ Original post ]

The Swords & Blades skills have been reworked into a skill tree format with new abilities, icons, and improvements. Also included is a healthy serving of bug fixes. Save files from version 0.5.12 are compatible, however it is recommended to back up your saves just in case. If you'd like to continue playing 0.5.12, you can select it in steam options under betas.

Blades

The Blades skill tree introduces new abilities, upgrades, and improvements.
This change introduces Upgrades, which are one-time unlocks that modify abilities in unique ways. For example, "Arcing Blade" can be upgraded with "Crosscut," providing increased crit chance on diagonal tiles. Upgrades allow you to tailor their abilities to fit your playstyle, offering more options for tactical creativity.
Also included are 5 new passives, designed to complement the skill tree of your chosen blade type (Sword, Dagger, or Axe) and enhance your weapon's effectiveness.
At the top of the tree is the capstone: Blade Surge, a passive AoE effect that can deal damage in a huge area.
Need to reset your skill tree? Blades and Swords skill should reset upon loading any v0.5.12 save, refunding your focus points. If necessary, you can manually reset your Blades or Swords skill or any other skill using cheats:

• Enable debug mode in Options -> General
• Open console commands using F8 or ~, and enter the command "skillreset ", e.g. "skillreset blades", to refund your spent focus points.
• It's recommended to turn off debug mode after.

Swords

Alongside the Blades rework, the Swords skill has been updated to a skill tree format.
6 new ability upgrades have been added, allowing you to tailor your playstyle. Like the dodge bonus from Duelist Advance? -> Amplify it with Rising Tension. Prefer faster cooldowns? -> Pair it with Relentless Assault.
With this rework, the Parry stat has been introduced to Swords, emphasizing the precision and defensive flair of a skilled duelist. Parry not only negates incoming damage but also triggers secondary effects, such as reducing ability cooldowns through Advanced Swords.
We won't summarize everything hereyou'll need to explore in game to see all the changes!

Other Changes

• Added upgrades to the Athletics ability "Tumbling".
• On launch, the game window size will now automatically increase to match UI scaling if uiScale is > 1.
• Innkeepers without movement or dialogue options will no longer prevent access to the inn room.
• Status effect durations are now shown in the right-click monster info window.
• XP bonus sources are now displayed in the skill XP tooltip, similar to the stat tooltips (hover your mouse over the XP bar for any skill).
• Weapon Mastery rework: Weapon Masterywhich is the required level to equip a weapon effectivelyis now explicitly implemented via a stat and can be viewed in the character stat pane.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed lunges dealing extra damage to adjacent targets (Mighty Lunge, Vicious Lunge, Predator Leap, Gutting Reave, Heroic Slam, Vault Kick, Sliding Strike).
• Fixed ability "Guarded Wait" not refreshing when waiting multiple turns in a row.
• Fixed item "Snake Dice" not displaying its effect in the tooltip.
• Fixed non-aggressive attacks (Bond, Renew, Surge of Replenishment) or attacks without physical action from the attacker (e.g. Calming Touch, Counter Strike, Knight's Challenge, Mark Prey, Nature's Grasp, Noble Steel Resonance, Parry, Solar Flare, Toxic Plume) applying on-hit effects like bleed, cripple, or poison.
• Fixed ability "Toxic Plume" upgrades 2 & 3 not being able to target.
• Fixed the skill tree unlock window outside of bounds and not contained within the game window, on smaller screens.
• Fixed wound icons not scaling correctly when uiScale > 1.
• Fixed wisdom & skill XP bars mismatch at uiScale > 1.
• Fixed an issue where using ALT to compare two items caused tooltips to not fit on the screen. If tooltips are too tall, they will now appear side by side instead of going off-screen.

[ 2025-01-17 21:24:06 CET ] [ Original post ]

As 2024 winds down, I just want to say thank you for an amazing year. Your support and feedback have been a massive big deal in shaping the The Doors of Trithius.

What's Coming in 2025?

We've got some big boy plans, including:

• Skill Trees: four new weapons types, and new skill trees for all existing weapons.
• New Faction: Magic-wielding cultists along with their dungeons.
• Towns Update: New dynamic quests, town layouts, and NPCs.
• The roadmap is packed, you should check it out!

For more detail on the coming skill trees, see the latest DevBlog: [previewyoutube=bjHCQNthxYg;full][/previewyoutube]

Winter Sale & Pricing Update

If you've been holding out, now's your chance. The winter sale is live until January 2nd and this might be the lowest price ever, as we're planning a price increase in 2025 to reflect the expanded content and features. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1519490/The_Doors_of_Trithius/ You can also now buy the game directly from our website too (Steam key included).

New Weapons

Teaser image for the on-going development of new items. The number of weapons in game will be more than doubling.

Here's to a Big 2025!

Looking forward to an exciting year ahead. We've got tons in store for 2025 and we can't wait to share it with you.

[ 2024-12-30 21:11:04 CET ] [ Original post ]

v0.5.12b

• Fixed exception when fighting Null Champions, due to their attack sound failing to load.
• Add new art for the Blooming Dread quest reward item.

v0.5.12c

• Fixed game crash on load when loading a v0.5.11 save, where player is standing the overworld.

[ 2024-11-27 21:23:01 CET ] [ Original post ]

Blooming Dread introduces a new dungeon event: the creeping menace of the Nyris Vine, along with a quest to uncover its secrets. Save files from version 0.5.11 are compatible.

Nyris Vine

A mysterious vine of otherworldly origin has begun appearing throughout the wilderness and within dungeons. While most commonly found in forests, this strange vine can also spawn in other biomes, such as deserts and mountains, as well as inside dungeons like castles, temples, and ancient crypts.
(Warning: spoilers and mechanics explanations below.) A Growing Threat The plant begins as a single seed and slowly grows, spreading its vines and spawning Virelings to defend itself. Initially weak and easy to manage, the Nyris Vine becomes exponentially more dangerous if allowed to grow unchecked. Destroying seeds clears nearby vines and weakens the plant's overall strength.
Mutation Entities stepping on the vines risk being strangled and mutated by the plant. Attacking the vines frees them from entanglement, but their mutation remains (how to remove mutation we'll leave to you to discover!).
Nyris Maw If the central seed fully matures and is destroyed, it summons the Nyris Maw, a powerful elite enemy. The Maw's strength scales with the size of the vine network, making it the highest level monster in the game when fully empowered.
Key Mechanics

• The Nyris Vine begins as a single seed, gradually spreading over time.
• Destroying seeds weakens the plant and clears nearby vines.
• Virelings spawn to protect the plant and assist in spreading its growth.
• Entities stepping on vines may become overgrown and mutated, turning hostile and gaining enhanced abilities.
• Flowers bloom near the vines and can be harvested for new crafting ingredients.
• The Nyris Maw spawns when the central seed matures and is destroyed, presenting a high-risk, high-reward encounter.
• New items and crafting recipes tied to this event provide valuable rewards.

New Quest: Blooming Dread

Accompanying the Nyris Vine is a new quest, available to all adventurers. A local town in Greenhaven is seeking assistance to investigate the growing threat. The quest is added to a random town in Greenhaven. If you're continuing from a previous save, it will be added automatically upon loading your game.

Insanity

Insanity is a new mechanic that causes illusions to appear. The higher your insanity, the more likely you are to see things that aren't really there.
This effect can currently be gained through the Nyris Plant but will be integrated into more areas of the game in future updates. Expect the insanity mechanic to evolve over time, with new types of illusions and surprises being added as development continues.

Other Changes

• Items in your inventory that apply an effect even while not equipped, such as Decay Orbs, now will display a wound icon to clearly show an effect is being applied, and have had their tooltips updated to clearly state their "Carried Effect".
• Flying creatures (Hawks, Bees, Dune Flyers) will no longer set off traps.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed displayed energy cost on toggle ability tooltips not taking into account energy reductions.
• Fixed "Sparks" enchantment giving 100x too much stun chance (500% instead of 5%, 700% instead of 7%).
• Fixed weapon swap speed stat displayed as a flat number instead of a percent.
• Fixed "Mindmeld" enchantment giving 10x too much weapon swap speed.

[ 2024-11-25 20:25:47 CET ] [ Original post ]

The new Athletics skill tree is here! Save files from version 0.5.10 are compatible.

Athletics

The Athletics skill has been reworked into a skill tree format with new abilities, icons, and improvements.
New abilities emphasize positioning and movement efficiency. For example, "Room to Maneuver" grants a dodge bonus when at least three adjacent tiles are empty.
Or take "Wall Jump," a faster and more efficient jump that requires you to be next to a wall.
At the top of the skill tree, you'll unlock "Shadow Mirage," allowing you to leave behind a shadow copy of yourself when dashing, jumping, or lungingenemies will waste their attacks on this decoy.
Summary of Changes:

• Added 11 new abilities.
• Removed: "Evasive Maneuvers", "Feline Reflex", "Endurance Training", "Fleetfoot".
• Reworked: "Evasive Fury", "Sprint", "Tumbling", "Jump", "Aeralist", "Trap Reaction".
• Added upgrade path to Sprint.

This is part of the ongoing effort to convert all skills to a skill tree structure. With Athletics updated, only Travel, Reading, Alchemy, and Weapon skills remain to be reworked (plus new skills on the horizon). Need to reset your skill tree? If you need to reset your athletics skill tree from v0.5.10, enable debug mode in options, open console commands using F8, and enter the command "skillreset athletics" to refund your focus points (its recommended to turn off debug mode after).

Dodge and Accuracy

Dodge and Accuracy mechanics have been updated. Weve transitioned from a percentage-based accuracy system to an accuracy rating system, introducing a more dynamic curve. To help explain everything, tooltips have been updated, showing example values and your hit chance against your last target:
Early-game balance remains similar, where a single point of accuracy converts to roughly 1% hit chance. However, stacking accuracy and dodge now introduces diminishing returns, allowing for late-game bonuses without breaking the game.
Special thank you to myrix for help crunching the numbers and refining the system. Couldnt have done it without you!

Save/Load Stability

Fixed several issues related to save files.

• Added a new option, "Save Log," to enable detailed logging of save and load events.
• Zone files are no longer copied if no changes have occurred to that zone, improving performance.
• Added a 10-second timeout on auto-saves. If the auto-save fails for any reason, the save is skipped.
• Fixed the initial save directory being titled "player" instead of the player's name.
• Improved file handling to prevent corrupt files if an issue occurs during the save process.
• Added small millisecond delays between save file updates to improve compatibility with AntiVirus software and other processes.
• Improved error handling during save/load events. The error screen now provides more detailed information if something goes wrong.

Other Changes

• Added key bindings for zoom in and zoom out ("-" and "="). These can also be modified in options.
• Ability "Achilles Bane" - increased cooldown by 2 turns.
• Added new dash/jump animations to the following abilities: "Sliding Strike", "Duelist Advance", "Vicious Lunge", "Mighty Lunge", and "Gutting Reave".
• Updated open and close sound for doors.
• When a stun is applied due to a Knockback ability, "Wall Stun" text now appears above the player or monster's head.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed game crash that could occur during dungeon load due to attempting to place an entity before the map exists. (Exception: Cannot invoke "dot.tilemap.TileMap.isInBounds(int, int)" because "activeMap" is null).
• Fixed Dreadheart abilities "Savage Bleed" and "Savage Efficiency" missing upgrades.
• Fixed lore book "Voice of Khualexx" incorrect reading requirement; fixed "A New Magic" missing XP reward.

[ 2024-10-21 13:54:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

This update introduces the new Desert Crypt dungeon, along with balance changes and bug fixes. Save files from version 0.5.9 are NOT compatible.

Desert Crypts

The Aridax, a fiercely independent desert faction, have long forgotten the ways of their ancestors. But now, their ancient tombs stir with a sinister energy. Something has awakened deep below.
These crypts are scattered across the desert and feature some of the highest-level enemies in the game. Be prepared for a challenge as you encounter 13 new enemy types, 40+ new items, new sounds, music, traps, and more.

Dungeon Difficulty

Dungeon difficulty is now represented by skull icons. The scale ranges from 1 to 5 skulls, with 5+ (black) and 5++ (red) for the most brutal challenges.

XP Rebalance

We've reworked the skill XP curve and investment system to improve balance and progression, ensuring both specialized (tall) and generalist (wide) builds remain competitive, while fixing the issue where heavily invested skills would level faster at higher levels.
What's Changing:

• XP Curve Adjustments: Increased the XP required per level after level 15 to smooth progression.
• Dynamic Skill Caps: Skill caps are now tied to character level, with an additional +3 per skill point invested.

Special thanks to user myrix for their suggestions and help with balancing.

Equipment Animations

Torches are now animated, marking the introduction of animated equipment items.

Activated Items

We've updated the game engine to support items with activated effects and cooldowns, giving items the full range of functionality as abilities. Kicking this off is the Squirrel's Hand:
This necklace triggers when you're low on health, summoning a scurry of friendly helpers to turn the tide in battle. Expect more items with powerful and interactive effects in future updates.

Other Changes

• Wound icons now stack if there are 5 or more of the same wounds.
• Added unique effect to Sun Amulet item (starting item for the Commoner).
• Blood pools now increase in size (up to 5 times) as more blood is added to a tile.
• Summon Brambles (Nature Magic ability): Bramble bushes can no longer stack multiple times per tile.
• Increased accuracy of Vile Gremlins (from 0.85 1.10).
• Gremlin Shamans now deal hex damage for their primary attack.
• Gremlin Shamans hex tiles now apply a status effect that increases damage taken instead of dealing direct hex damage.
• Gremlin Trapmaster will place a maximum of 5 traps while out of sight of the player, preventing floors from being overrun with traps.
• Elderberry wine now grants mental warding.
• Fear status effect (Fayde's Fear) adjusted: -20 attack speed -10%, -20% dodge chance -10%, and now reduces vision by 1.

Bug Fixes

• Major fix for dungeon generation, resolving a longstanding issue where rooms would sometimes fail to connect to the rest of the dungeon.
• Fixed arrow hit animations displaying in the wrong direction.
• Fixed Commoner Ascended icon not showing after beating the game with the commoner.
• Fixed Surge of Replenishment and Renew abilities granting momentum stacks.
• Fixed incorrect percent values shown on attack speed and movement speed tooltips.
• Fixed a crash caused by saving the game during a temporary animation.
• Fixed misaligned HUD status effect icons.
• Large monsters can no longer be hit multiple times with AOE abilities.
• Fixed piercing skewer animation showing in the wrong direction.
• Fixed a quest dialog bug in the Gremlin War Plans quest, making player unable to accept the quest.
• Fixed Leafborn shops having far less currency than intended.
• Notification log now supports line wrapping, preventing text from being cut off.
• Fixed unable to join Aridax settlement battles.
• Fixed overworld tile faction info UI glitch, not showing faction influence.

[ 2024-09-28 19:11:55 CET ] [ Original post ]

v0.5.9b

• Fixed game launch issue on Arch Linux due to "undefined symbol" error.

v0.5.9c (MacOS only)

• Fixed an issue migrating save files, causing new saves to be overwritten when the game is launched.

[ 2024-07-21 20:27:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

This update enables Steam Cloud saves on all platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, and Steam Deck. Please report any issues you encounter.

• Only save files are synced, not game settings. This allows you to maintain different configurations on Steam Deck and other platforms.
• macOS: Previously, save files were stored inside the app bundle. They are now located in the same folder where the game is installed. Existing saves will be moved to the new directory the next time the game is run.

[ 2024-07-19 19:36:36 CET ] [ Original post ]

v0.5.8b

• Fixed "Primal Fury" giving 500% crit chance instead of 5%.
• Fixed typos in ability descriptions.
• Fixed Basic Attacks shortcut key targeting summoned creatures and traps.

v0.5.8c

• Updated Dreadheart ability icons. All Dreadheart abilities now have a new icon.
• Fixed game crash due to player vision going out of bounds.
• Fixed "Prepare for War" passive not unlockable due to invalid requirements.
• Fixed game crash related to exploring Mountain Biome with the Friendly Hedgehog spawned.

[ 2024-06-27 06:42:32 CET ] [ Original post ]

This update revamps 9 existing skills, restructuring abilities and passives into a skill tree format, adding new icon art, and rebalancing abilities. Also included is a new character background, "Commoner," along with the ability to customize your appearance. Save files from version 0.5.7 are compatible, though it is highly recommend to started to a new game.

The Commoner

The Commoner is a new character background designed to offer a heightened challenge. Starting with no skills or positive traits, this character receives negative buffs with each new skill unlocked.

Roll Appearance

During character creation, you can now preview and roll to change your appearance (rolling affects both loot and appearance).

Skill Trees

Most non-combat skills have been restructured into skill trees, with new icon art, additional abilities and passives, and balance changes. Click here to view the below image in full resolution.

• Converted to Skill Trees: Dreadheart, Warrapt, Enchanting, Chivalry, Quartermastery, Survival, Medicine, Botany, Cooking.
• Rebalanced, added, and removed abilities across these skills.
• Added hundreds of new icons for passives and abilities.
• Medicine and Quartermastery recipes are now unlocked by learning techniques, similar to cooking and alchemy, making all recipes consistent.

While the above listed skills are closer to completion, more abilities and balance changes are still forthcoming. Future updates will similarly treat Reading, Travel, Athletics, and all Weapon skills. Due to the extensive nature of these changes, some specifics are highlighted below, but we encourage players to explore the game to discover the full extent of these updates.

Quartermastery Satchels

The Quartermastery skill now includes satchels, a new equipment type that reduces the weight of specific items. For example, the Materials satchel reduces the weight of raw materials:
Once crafted, satchels can be equipped on your character.
Note that inventory slots for satchels can only be unlocked through the Quartermastery skill tree and are otherwise invisible.

Friendly Hedgehog

"Animal Companion" is a unique summon ability in the Survival tree. When toggled, a friendly Hedgehog will accompany you on your journeys, periodically bringing gifts from the forest.
The Hedgehog is resilient and will roll into a defensive ball when low on health.

Heal Summoned Creatures

Creatures you summon now have their health displayed and can be healed with medicine. Using medicine on a summon requires you to be within 1 tile.

Keyboard Shortcuts

• New shortcut key: [Z] for "Basic Attack." Use this to perform a basic attack on nearby targets without using the mouse. If there is more than one valid target, target selection mode is activated.
• New shortcut key: [X] for "Basic Attack (Nearest)." Use this to perform a basic attack on the closest nearby target. If more than one target is tied for nearest, target selection mode is activated.

Client Icon

The game now features a new client icon:

Sound

Sound has been an ongoing issue for some users (I blame our sound libraries). 1) Sound File Format To improve robustness across Windows, Mac, and Linux, all sound files have been upgraded to .WAV format. This increases the game size but should enhance performance and reliability. 2) Music Player You can now select music player. If music is not playing properly or causing stability issues, try switching to the other music player.

What's Next?

If you've read to the end, thanks for following along! Skill Trees will continue to be developed in future updates. Also on the horizon are the new Polearm weapons and associated skill trees: Spears, Halberds, Tridents. A poll on Discord determined which stance to use (the middle option won):
If you'd like to participate in community polls, feel free to join our Discord!

[ 2024-06-25 04:26:05 CET ] [ Original post ]

v0.5.7b

• Fixed save files from v0.5.6 failing to load, if the quest "The Collector" had been started.

[ 2024-05-14 23:53:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone. Im excited to get this update into your hands today and Id love some feedback. Consider joining our Discord server to share your thoughts and chat with the rest of the community.

Gameplay Trailer

Additionally, Im very happy to showcase the very first trailer for The Doors of Trithius. The game is now at a stage where Im ready to show it off this way and I hope you think so too. Consider liking the video on Youtube, leaving a comment and, dare I say, sharing the trailer with your friends and favorite communities. [previewyoutube=FiwDaN-hUVI;full][/previewyoutube]

15% Discount & Endless Replayability Fest

The Doors of Trithius is part of this weeks Endless Replayability Fest on Steam. To celebrate all these things happening, Ive discounted the game by 15%. Nows a great time to snag a copy. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1519490/The_Doors_of_Trithius/

Todays Update - v0.5.7

Duranki Temple

Deep within the Duranki Temple lies the Oracle, an ancient machine of immense power and mystery.
The temple represents the fourth dungeon specifically designed for the Machinists storyline and features challenging traps and an especially deadly new enemy type (caution advised near pit edges).
Completing the quest will grant access to the first ability from the Zun school of magic.
You can find the quest at start at a random settlement in Greenhaven (near the starter area). Look for "The Oracle" quest on the local job board.

Death Screen

On death, you will now be greeted by the King of the Underworld, who has claimed your card! This wonderfully terrifying illustration was created by Maxwell Arch, the talented artist behind all the character cards in-game.

[ 2024-05-13 12:26:23 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone, If you didn't know, I have a Youtube channel on which I occasionally post dev blogs and my thoughts about game development and my work on The Doors of Trithius. For the upcoming update, I've been working on a new kind of monster behavior to add an interesting twist to a new dungeon. Enjoy and let me know what you think. [previewyoutube=Uugl0CU3GGw;full][/previewyoutube]

[ 2024-05-10 19:18:52 CET ] [ Original post ]

v0.5.6b

• Fixed quest markers not appearing up on the overworld map.
• Fixed Gremlin Trapmaster appearing one tile north of where he is actually standing.

[ 2024-04-25 10:33:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

This is a smaller update with some initial changes to towns and handful of other items. Save files from v0.5.5 are compatible.

Aggression Indicator

All creatures now show a red exclamation when they become aggressive towards the player.
If a creature loses sight of the player and sees them again after, the icon will show again.

Civilian clothes

Added 30+ new clothing items for civilians and governors.

• Civilians in each of the three human factions dress with their own distinctive look.
• The new clothing types can also be found at Clothing shops.

Job Board

Job Board visuals update based on the number of quests available.

New Items

Added 15 new items covering jewelry and miscellaneous loot items which can be found in loot containers, as monster drops, and in shops throughout the world.

Other Changes

• Massively reduced the view distance of gremlins; Brute 7 -> 3, Experimenter 8 -> 5, Flinger 7 -> 4, Grunt 6 -> 3, Sergent 8 -> 4, Vile Gremlin 7 -> 5.
• Added new creature: "Gremlin Butcher", along with their new dropped item "Bloody Cleaver".
• Wild Turkey's are no longer aggressive by default. Instead, they have a small chance to become aggressive when a target is nearby, and will stop attacking if not being hit back.
• Gold's item icon now changes based on how much gold you have.
• Wild Turkey - increased chance to drop feather and raw meat.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed harvested plants not refreshing, even when enough time had passed for them to reset.
• Fixed bones & blood not being removed from the ground over time.
• Fixed jump ability allowing you to jump beyond the max distance.
• Fixed rare crash which happens when the game window height resets.

[ 2024-04-24 19:55:17 CET ] [ Original post ]

v0.5.5b

• Fixed cooking stations not working when loaded from a save file from the previous version.
• Fixed crash when upgrading or using an upgraded "jump" ability.
• Fixed "Test Sword" item inadvertently spawning in shop inventories (if it's already spawned it will stay until the shop refreshes).

[ 2024-04-17 05:30:22 CET ] [ Original post ]

Keyboard controls for all interactions with the game world including ability targeting, looting, and talking to NPCs. Also included are bug fixes and improvements to how the game manages memory. Save files from v0.5.4 are compatible.

Visual Effects

Enhanced targeting visuals: Animations now clearly indicate which targets will be affected by an ability.
Player path animations updated:

Keyboard Targeting

All abilities can now target using keyboard controls.

• Use numpad directional keys to move the target cursor.
• Press [Tab] to cycle through potential targets.

Keyboard Controls

Added 3 new keyboard controls: [G]et, [T]alk, and [E] interact.

• Use [T] to talk to any adjacent NPCs.
• Use [G] to access any adjacent lootable containers.
• Use [E] to interact with any object, such as workbenches or beds. Also can be used to loot.
• If multiple options are available, target selection is activated. Use [Tab] to cycle through targets and [E] to select.

Quaff, Feed, and Medicine

Introducing three new commands: [Q]uaff, [F]eed, and [M]edicine.
Press the corresponding key to open a quick-item menu, allowing you to quickly use an item without navigating the inventory. These can also be accessed from the action menu.

List Navigation via Keyboard

The loot window can now be navigated with keyboard controls, enabling you to take individual items without the use of the mouse.
Press [Up] and [Down] or numpad keys to navigate the list, and [Space] to take an item. Use any of these keys to activate list navigation. Alternatively, select "List Navigation via Keyboard" in options to enable it automatically.
Currently, only the loot and quick-item windows support keyboard navigation. Future updates will extend support to other UI windows.

Other Changes

• Memory management improvements: the game now only loads the current dungeon floor into memory, significantly reducing overall memory usage and improving performance on systems with limited memory.
• If an error occurs while saving a zone, it will now be logged and reported to the user. Previously save file failures would go unnoticed until an attempt to load a corrupted file was made.
• Nerfed Gremlin Experimenter: reduced maximum health from 105 to 65 and burn chance from 15% to 12%.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug causing ring duplication.
• Fixed an issue where rings could get stuck and become unequippable.
• Fixed player summons disappearing when entering a new zone.
• Addressed several issues related to time simulation when entering a zone, which caused some entities to skip turns. This issue made them vulnerable to attacks without the ability to move or retaliate.

[ 2024-04-17 00:53:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

Bug Fixes

• Fixed crash during faction battles.
• Fixed in some cases unable to re-enter a settlement after a battle had occurred there.

Note - Please be aware that the deployment of the Hotfix builds for Mac systems will experience a temporary delay.

[ 2024-02-09 23:14:33 CET ] [ Original post ]

Factions summon armies, settlements can be attacked and turned destitute, and bandit hordes wander the map. Gear up for a more engaging and challenging world. This is a massive change! Expect continuing balance changes and fixes in the coming months. Save files from v0.5.3 are NOT compatible.

Faction Warfare

Factions will now spawn armies reflective of their wealth and strategic interests. These armies attack settlements to expand their territory and will patrol and defend their holdings, creating a living world of conflict and conquest.
Join battles to defend cherished locations or tip the balance in factional conflicts. Strategic window lets you know the time remaining until a battle is completed.
Your participation will be rewarded with not just loot and experience but also a tangible impact on the game's evolving geopolitical landscape.
Enable the faction overlay while in the world map to see faction influence.
How it works:

• Factions spawn armies based on their wealth. Wealth is gained over time based on the number of tiles controlled by that faction.
• Unless completely defeated, wounded armies will slowly regenerate their troops over time.
• Multiple armies can join the same battle, assuming they are allied with one of the sides.
• To join a battle, one of the sides must be your enemy and one must be your ally (no joining Bandits vs. Gremlins).
• If a town is under attack, fire will be visible on the world map, even if it's on an unexplored tile or outside your view radius.
• The armies of enemy factions will chase the player, but tend to move slower than normal movement.

For more details, including information about how factions gain and spend wealth, see the recent dev blog.

Human Factions

Previously, there was a single generic "human" faction. This has been removed and split into 3 named factions: Verdant Guard Forest dwellers, who reside near where the player starts.
Stonewardens Empire loyalists, typically found in mountainous regions.
Aridax Fiercely independent desert dwellers.
Each human faction starts with its own territory and influence, which will shrink or grow based on the influence of other factions.

Bandit Factions

Three new wandering bandit factions have also been added. Eagle Clan Small groups with strong units, the Eagle Clan prefers the mountains and forests.
Cragwolf Outlaws A powerful, bloodthirsty bandit group, with a unique dual axes drop.
Barren Outcasts Ill-equipped but with larger numbers.
Wandering bandits do not control territory but will attack and wreak havoc on all non-bandit factions (including the player).

Desert Towns

To match the desert theme, Aridax towns have newly added building and pathway art.

Prosperity

Upon entering settlements (villages, cities, and towns), you'll notice a new feature: prosperity. Visible on the location window, prosperity is represented with an indicator showing its current level and the trend of where it's heading.
Prosperity is a direct reflection of the economic health of a settlement, influencing the availability of shops, presence of adventurers and quests, frequency of traveling merchants, and the number of guards available. The below screenshot is of a closed shop. As a town loses prosperity, shop owners will pack up and leave.
How it works:

• Settlements start with a hidden base prosperity amount. This amount is increased or decreased over time based on the number of nearby tiles controlled by the faction.
• Completing quests for a settlement causes prosperity to go up.
• Defeating nearby enemy dungeons makes space for factions influence to spread, causing prosperity to increase.
• If a settlement is attacked by a faction army, all local town guards and adventurers will team up to fight the invaders. If the battle ends in defeat, the town's prosperity is reduced to 0 (Destitute).
• If a settlement is under attack, it can be seen with a burning fire, even if the settlement is in fog-of-war or unexplored tiles.
• If a settlement loses shops, guards, or other NPCs due to low prosperity, they will return once prosperity has improved.
• Inns will never vacate a town, regardless of prosperity. This means you cannot lose your belongings if they're stored in an inn.

Prosperity Ranks

• Destitute(0-10)The settlement is nearly abandoned. It exerts no influence on the world map.
• Impoverished(11-30)Limited resources and low morale.
• Stable(31-60)The average, everyday life of a settlement with basic amenities available.
• Prospering(61-85)A flourishing settlement with abundant resources.
• Wealthy(86-100)The pinnacle of prosperity, featuring the best goods and services available.

Gremlin Dungeons

Added 6 new room types to Gremlin Dungeons for more variation. These rooms have a chance to spawns in small and large Fortresses.

Simultaneous Turns

This drastically speeds up combat when fighting in larger numbers. Instead of waiting for all enemies to take their turn one by one, entities will attack and move in the smallest number of batches. All combat now uses "Simultaneous Turns," allowing enemy units to take their turn at the same time.

Other Changes

• Reputation is no longer per settlement but is instead per faction, meaning reputation gained in one settlement unlocks bonuses for all settlements of that faction.
• Time now passes in the overworld while in dungeons. For example, if being chased by a bandit army, you can escape to a nearby town or dungeon. If enough time has passed, upon returning to the overworld, the army will have wandered away. Note this is up to a maximum number of turns, to ensure there is time to return to help defend nearby settlements while you are in dungeons.
• Added 2 new poisons: Jester's Toxin and Red Spigot.
• Added 8 new armor and weapon items: 3x Stonewarden Armor, 4x Dual-wielding axes, Furyforge Crown.

[ 2024-02-09 10:25:13 CET ] [ Original post ]

For the last several months we've been working on a major update: Faction Warfare With this update, factions will spawn armies reflective of their wealth and strategic interests.
These armies attack settlements to expand their territory, and will patrol and defend their holdings, creating a living world of conflict and conquest.
You're not only a bystander in this world at war. Join battles to defend cherished locations or tip the balance in factional conflicts. Your participation will be rewarded with not just loot and experience but also a tangible impact on the game's evolving geopolitical landscape.
To get a closer look at these changes, also check out our previously released videos: https://youtu.be/bqjI2Q1zOYQ https://youtu.be/ncpyn8nvvL4 Our vision with this update is to breathe life into the game world. The world really is at war, regions and border actually matter and change over time, and you the player can influence the outcome. Furthermore, this system has been designed with modularity in mind. This means even after the initial update, new factions, complete with their own unique units and behavior can be seamlessly integrated into the game and will automatically behave according to their designed nature and alignment be they monstrous hordes or bandit clans (so to answer your question: yes, we plan to add magic-based factions & wizard armies).

Faction Wealth

At the heart of Faction Warfare is a strategic economic system where each faction has an amount of wealth they can use to purchase armies. The image below is from a prototype used to simulate faction behavior
Here's how the wealth system operates:

• Territorial Control: Wealth is gained based on the number of tiles controlled. The more tiles a faction controls, the faster its wealth accumulates.
• Upkeep Costs: Maintaining an army isn't without its costs. Each faction incurs an upkeep cost per turn to support its existing armies, necessitating a balance between expansion and sustainability.
• Army Recruitment: Factions use their accumulated wealth to purchase new armies. Each faction has unique costs and unit compositions for their armies, reflecting their individual strengths and weaknesses. For instance, Gremlins field numerous but weaker units at a lower cost.

Player Influence

You might be wondering how the player can affect this system. Initially, as a lone adventurer in a world embroiled in conflict your influence is understandably limited. Charging into armies alone would be ill-advised. However, as you grow in power and cunning, so too does your ability to impact the world. Undermining Faction Wealth One strategic approach is targeting the enemy factions where it hurts: their wealth. Defeated dungeons stop exerting influence. As a result, the faction's borders begin to recede and their ability to fund and maintain armies diminishes.
Joining the Fray Another way to sway the course of war is by joining battles alongside friendly factions. Engaging in these conflicts rewards you with loot, experience, and aids in defending vital territories.

Destroyed Towns???

The introduction of faction warfare brings with it a more immersive and engaging world, but it also introduces new design challenges. Our primary challenge is striking a balance: How do we ensure that faction armies are impactful, instilling a sense of urgency and consequence, while avoiding excessive penalties for the player? Consider the following dilemmas:

• What if you've invested in a home or stored treasures in a town that's been razed?
• If you're mid-quest in a town that suddenly falls, or if an essential quest-giver resides in a now-destroyed settlement, how does that affect your story and objectives?
• What of the distant conflicts? If a town you care about is under siege while you're leagues away, should you have the option to intervene, or must you accept the fortunes of war?

These questions guide us towards a new solution: the prosperity system...

Town Prosperity

Prosperity is a new system developed to address the challenges presented by faction warfare. It's the current focal point of our development efforts. (as it's under active development, details are subject to change) Upon entering settlements (villages, cities, and towns), you'll notice a new feature: prosperity. Visible on the location window, prosperity is represented with an indicator showing its current level and the trend of where it's heading.
Prosperity is a direct reflection of the economic health of a settlement, influencing the availability of goods, shop wealth, presence of adventurers and quests, frequency of traveling merchants, and the number of guards available.

Prosperity Ranks

Prosperity is categorized into several ranks:

• Destitute (0-10): Settlements are nearly abandoned.
• Impoverished (11-30): Towns struggle with limited resources and low morale.
• Stable (31-60): The average, everyday life of a settlement with basic amenities available.
• Prospering (61-85): A flourishing settlement with abundant resources.
• Wealthy (86-100): The pinnacle of prosperity, featuring the best goods and services available.

Influencing Factors

Several factors can influence a settlement's prosperity:

• Nearby Tile Influence: Proximity to enemy factions can decrease a settlement's prosperity. For example, if surrounded by enemy Bandits tiles, a town will see a gradual decline in prosperity.
• Player Actions: Completing quests or defeating nearby threats will boost a settlement's prosperity.
• Battle Outcomes: If a settlement falls in battle, its prosperity plummets, reflecting the devastation of war. It's then up to the resilient townsfolk and perhaps a helpful player to rebuild and restore what was lost.

Special Note on the Destitute Rank

Settlements at the Destitute rank find themselves in a state of significant hardship, a status that typically follows a defeat in battle. In this dire state, only essential structures like the Inn, your house, and quest-specific buildings remain operational. A destitute town is essentially off the map in terms of faction warfare: it poses no threat and thus is not a target for further attacks, nor does it exert any influence in the broader conflict. As time passes, these settlements will naturally progress towards recovery, albeit slowly. To expedite this process we are planning to introduce special quests which appear in nearby towns. Through these quests, you can accelerate the recovery by contributing gold or other resources.

Benefits of the Prosperity System

Where previously destroyed towns were completely inaccessible, the addition of the Prosperity system ensures that while such towns are still affected, the impact is less punishing. This feature not only integrates with the simulated world, enhancing the realism and dynamism, but also amplifies the impact of faction borders and armies on the game's mechanics. Looking ahead, we are also planning a separate update dedicated to enhancing town aesthetics. This future enhancement will see key town features dynamically change in line with the town's prosperity level. Imagine witnessing the physical transformation of a town as it progresses from destitute to wealthy...
That's it for now and thank you for reading.

[ 2024-01-08 03:09:03 CET ] [ Original post ]

As we forge ahead into the new year, there are several significant updates that we've been working on. One of those changes is the revamp of our skills system, evolving it into a more robust skill tree structure. Today, I'm pleased to introduce Eric Wagoner, the newest member of our development team, who is spearheading this exciting redesign. In this post, he shares his journey and insights directly with you.

Skill Trees

Several years into development, weve added many skills and abilities and were not nearly done yet. Choosing skills has always been one of my favorite parts of RPGs. Now, the time is right to take our skills system to the next level.
Accelerated Warfare Lets go!

Why Trees?

The decision of what ability to select is a special moment in the game. It is a triumph. By placing abilities in a more structured flow, the player has guidance on where to look and what exactly their current decision is.
On the right is an art mockup, not the actual tree! Note: In our game, the term "skill" refers to the overarching category you level up in, such as "Chivalry," "Cooking," or "Botany." And within each skill, you unlock items called "abilities" (technically, this means our discussion is about ability trees, but we've chosen to use the more intuitive term "skill trees" for simplicity). These limitations also add a new layer of strategic thinking to the game as you puzzle out the trade-offs involved in ascending the tree and getting the abilities you want. And with Jake busy on the upcoming Factions update, it was a good time to reconsider ability balance, including how it relates to larger battles and more allied units.

Structure

We decided to have our skill trees unlock from the bottom to the top to give players the feeling of scaling a mountain of awesomeness. The bottom level starts unlockable, and abilities can also start deeper in the tree with no parent ability, requiring that any ability (or hard junction) of equal or greater depth be available to unlock first.
Soft junctions (on the left) are unlocked by either prerequisite. Hard junctions (on the bottom) require each. Ability powerfulness (& complexity) generally increases as the tree is unlocked. More powerful abilities might be placed earlier on the tree if their connecting paths are reduced or limited. Less powerful abilities may be used as prerequisites to increase the total cost of powerful abilities.

What makes a good tree?

Distributing the most desirable abilities away from each other creates many viable paths through the tree, adding depth to the decision-making process. Since players can earn XP from using active abilities, some are placed early on the trees to give players options to level each skill through use.
Battle Hardened wont let you go down without a fight Grouping related abilities together adds realism and makes intuitive sense, since it's easier to learn things which are similar to what you already know. The shape of the trees also allows us to convey meaning through symbolism, such as the stability and connectedness of the new Chivalry tree.

Skill Themes

As you might expect, there are lots of considerations when designing a skill system. We want to give each skill a special feel and particular strengths. To do this, we consider the general themes of each:
Chivalry: Virtue, honor, protecting humanity
Warrapt: Tradition, pragmatism, persistence, practice
Dreadheart: Instinctual, barbaric, savage, animalistic Another consideration is how many abilities are in each tree. Dreadheart had the least number, so I added a few new ones. Warrapt and Chivalry, having the most, received more modifications instead. The above three are coming first, but deliberation is already underway for the weapon skill changes:

Balance Changes

When considering individual abilities, I compare them to similar abilities. For example, Mighty Lunge on the Warrapt tree is similar to several other jump-attack abilities. In playtesting, the 2-range limit was annoying, because, being an attack, it only gave one tile of extra movement. This wasnt quite enough for what it was used for: catching up to those pesky hit-and-run enemies. It also didnt make Mighty Lunge feel particularly mighty. Vicious Lunge, in the Daggers tree on the other hand, has a much longer range. This felt off, because a long jump is more mighty than vicious, and daggers are relatively short range. I want to keep a short range jump-attack for variety, because the others are longer range. Therefore, let's make Vicious Lunge the jump attack skill with the short range but better energy cost, cooldowns, and less vulnerability, since daggers are light & fast. Mighty Lunge can have a longer range.
From concept to completion: can you guess the skill? Several existing abilities will become applicable to nearby allies in light of the new Factions update. For example: Bravery, Aura of Valor (Chivalry), Guarded Wait, Combat Awareness (Warrapt), Vicious Sustain and Blood Lust (Dreadheart). Other kinds of abilities may also be applicable for allies, i.e., Parry & Knights Challenge.

New Abilities

Our dev post just wouldnt be complete without a few teasers for some of the new abilities coming your way.
Lacerate: Lash out in a bloody attack with +5..15% bleed chance, dealing +5..15% more damage, but taking +20..10% longer. On hit, the enemy takes +8% damage and bleeds twice as fast for 1..3 turns. Lacerate adds to the short supply of Dreadheart active abilities, but its placed so late in the tree that it cannot help much with XP gain, which is addressed by another new ability. Its fairly powerful, however, so it makes sense that it would be an apex ability to strive towards (the tip of the claw, so to speak.) It fits with the Battle Trance line of abilities, but this is purely thematic. Bleed is a major feature of Dreadheart, so I wanted to give it a little more punch by causing the target to bleed twice as fast (two ticks per turn) for a few turns. I also wanted this ability to create additional blood tiles around the target, so that the player can start using the environment more as part of their tactics and strategy. Blood tiles combo with yet another upcoming ability, as well as future abilities such as the Blood Mage, but be careful; you might not be the only one who likes getting bloody!
Bleed resist never looked so cool
Noble Steel Resonance a new Chivalry ability: firmly embed your weapon into the ground, sending forth a resonating shockwave that weakens the defenses of all enemies in its path. Enemies receive -10..14% dodge chance and -10..14% physical resist for 3..5 turns. Just when you thought Chivalry had enough abilities, we added more. While Chivalry is bordering a bit much on the magical for a skill not listed in magic menu, it's possible to consider nobility in its own mundane yet semi-magical category, almost as a prerequisite for certain kinds of virtuous magic.
Martial Flourish: Launch a flourishing attack against adjacent enemies when you enter a new stance, dealing -40..20% damage with +15..35% knockback chance. Martial Flourish puts a bit of kung-fu in your step, replacing Quick Swap, which is merging into Efficient Dispatch to make it more attractive. We dont stop there; players have said stances were underwhelming, and Swift Transitions switching stances quicker seemed that way. After all, you can only use one stance at a time, and each stance requires investment. So, lets make stances more exciting! Making them compatible will breathe new life into these mechanics. Swift Transition is getting five upgrade levels so that players can now briefly have two stances active at higher levels.
Combat Awareness gets a new look I hope you enjoyed reading this update as much as I enjoyed writing it. Development continues on Factions, Skill Trees, and more, so keep your eyes peeled for more exciting updates.

[ 2024-01-01 18:01:52 CET ] [ Original post ]

The Doors of Trithius is now available on macOS. We've tested on a range of systems including a 2010 MacBook Pro (playable), and a 2013 MacBook Air (smooth performance). Additionally, users have reported good performance on newer Apple M1 models (requires Rosetta 2). Thank you for your patience. Linux & Steam Deck, you're up next!

[ 2023-10-28 16:32:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

It's been a slew of hotfix over the last few days as we address issues.

Bug Fixes

• Reverted Java 21 to Java 20 (21 was causing issues integrating with a library we use).
• Fixed starting the quest "The Collector" causing save files to be corrupted. Unfortunately, if you already started this quest before the update your save file cannot be repaired (if you are in game before this latest update downloads, keep playing until you beat the quest).
• Fixed weapon experiment quests giving the player a lump of coal, instead of the experimental weapon.
• Fixed non-active passives showing tooltip sources display.
• Fixed skill bonuses appearing twice in the tooltip sources display.
• Fixed issue with fullscreen mode in WIndows 11.

Other Changes

• Drastically reduced the XP gained when using magic abilities.

[ 2023-10-27 21:44:34 CET ] [ Original post ]

XP Rebalance + QoL and bug fixes. Save files from v0.5.2 are compatible.

XP & Wisdom Adjustments

Weve extended XP rewards to include all abilities and recipes. The majority of abilities grant XP during use, with some offering unique approaches to XP gain, such as the athletics ability "Tumbling," which bestows XP when successfully dodging an attack. XP Log Added an XP log. By clicking the "XP" tab in your notification log, you can review all recent XP gains for both skill experience and wisdom.
Tooltip Display Additionally, a new setting "Show XP Gain" has been added. Enable this option under General -> Tooltips to show exact XP gains for all abilities and recipes.
Additional Changes

• The XP log will show a warning when no XP gained due to the soft level cap being reached (keep in mind, the level cap can be raised by investing skill points).
• Doubled the amount of experience gained while travelling.
• Discovering new tiles while travelling will now reward travel XP, provided the travel skill is unlocked.
• Reduced Wisdom Gained when killing a monster.
• Reduced/tweaked Weapon Mastery XP granted on attack.
• Modified the Weapon Mastery XP awarded upon attack, with a general decrease.
• Added a new mechanic to reward bonus wisdom for defeating enemies higher than your level, at a rate of 10% per over level. This is shown in the XP log as "dangerous fight".

Java Version

Updated Java version from Java 14 to Java 21.
This gives significant performance improvements on some systems, and also fixes lag issues experienced by some users.

New Player Experience & Polish

Some initial steps to improve the experience in subtle ways. This is part of an ongoing initiative which includes UI modifications, providing clearer starting guidance, and ensuring consistent storytelling.

• All classes now start with basic clothing. While there is something to be said for the classic roguelike experience of starting with nothing, for our story which starts you off as a bold adventurer, it was not fitting to begin barefoot!
• An escape ladder has been added to the starter dungeon, and the "Escape" tutorial message will now appear upon first entering a town or dungeon. This change is to create a more dramatic exit. The dead-end felt just wrong. Ascend from the depths; your journey is just beginning!
• In character creation, equipment and supplies are now displayed side by side, reducing the need for a scrollbar. Items are now sorted by type so you can quickly see what weapon you are getting which should be helpful if you are rerolling many times.
• Rebalanced the volume of all music tracks to ensure a consistent audio backdrop to your adventures.
• The volume levels of loud sound effects (doors, barrels, dog deaths) have been reduced for more uniform audio balance.

Improved loot User Interface (UI). This redesigned UI will not obscure the object being looted. We want you to see what it is you're looting!

Stat Sources

To provide clearer insight into your character stats, contributing factors to a stat's total value are displayed within the stat tooltip.

Other Changes

• Show "real damage" in hit splashes and in the notification log, instead of showing overkill damage. For example, if a creature has 5 health left, the maximum you can hit is a 5. This was necessary to make damage gained from XP consistent with the damage visually dealt.
• Reduced ability "Sidewinder Style" energy cost from 5 per turn to 2 per attack, and point cost from 3 to 2.
• Tweaked Sagohai's dialog to make it less silly (it will be changed again in the future).
• Increased Duudahl's health from 180hp to 240hp.
• Added new item "Scroll of Discovery: Warrapt", which can be purchased everywhere the Chivalry scroll can be purchased. This item was meant to be added with the Warrapt update but was missed. Note - scrolls of discovery are temporary until a proper in-game method of discovering each skill is implemented.
• Any character with the "Oath of The Fallen" passive can now use Ahnais statues, not only the knight.
• On loading screen show what module is loading during "Loading Modules" phase, for example "Loading Module...Abilities"

Bug Fixes

• Fixed issue where enemies dying out of sight due to bleed damage were still displayed on-screen with 0 HP.
• Fixed recipes Machinist Amulet, Machinist Ring, and Snake Dice not appearing in the Study Bench, despite the necessary books being studied.
• Fixed blocked corruption status effect becoming unlocked when switching to your alternative loadout, despite still having the necessary enchantment active.
• Fixed recipe tooltips in smaller resolutions cut off due to screen size limitations.
• Fixed inconsistency in the display of decimals and decimal rounding across all tooltips (items, status effects, stats).
• Fixed toxic plume's required level and required point values were swapped, causing the ability to need 12 focus points instead of 3!
• Fixed nature magic ability "Renew" removing wounds on self instead of on target, when used on an ally (you can now remove wounds from your summoned creatures).
• Fixed nature magic ability "Symbiotic Growth" limited to 50 stacks, instead of the described 100.
• Fixed a glitch that made the character sprite invisible after consuming a Blink potion until the next move.
• Fixed a UI glitch that allowed extra items during character creation.
• Fixed issue where harvested plants would no longer block movement.

[ 2023-10-25 19:51:40 CET ] [ Original post ]

Significant performance improvements, faster NPC pathfinding, and new debugging tools. Save files from v0.5.1 are compatible.

Major Performance Boost

We've revamped our game draw loop for incredible speed gains.

• The ground layer is now recreated as needed, instead of every frame, yielding a massive ~200-220% FPS boost.
• Information about how on-screen entities should be rendered is now cached and recreated only as needed, boosting FPS by another ~10-15%.

Code Efficiency

• Smarter handling of turn-based updates, which were a significant cause of slowdown when many entities are loaded. These events don't run every frame, but could be a cause of jitter while moving.
• Optimized redundant code that ran on every frame for a ~2-4% increased FPS.
• Entities with animations or timers are now managed separately for minor (<1%) FPS gains.

Pathfinding

NPCs are smarter and more efficient in how they find their way.

• Reduced frequency of NPC path requests, relying on cached paths, or using alternative faster methods if it makes sense to do so.
• NPCs now stop pathfinding early if the attempt is taking too long, given the expected distance, and will instead rely on a faster method.
• A* pathfinding algorithm - we now use a hashmap to check if a node has already been visited, for far faster performance.
• A* pathfinding algorithm - updated main heuristic used for node selection, for up to 10x performance boost on long paths (Closest Heuristic -> Manhattan Heuristic).

While providing generally faster performance, these changes should also address the lag sometimes felt in towns or crowded areas, where many entities are blocking each other and attempting to path-find at the same time.

Debugging Tools

New game option for those who like to troubleshoot or are facing performance issues.

• Added option "Performance Log".
• Enabling this creates a 'performance.csv' file in the game folder to track resource-intensive tasks. Use with caution as it could impact game speed.
• If you are having performance issues, please enable this setting and send your files to doorsoftrithius@gmail.com.

[ 2023-10-04 20:23:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

Bug Fixes

• Fixed crash refreshing quests when leaving the inn.
• Fixed Altar of Ahnais health bonuses lost on save.

[ 2023-10-04 03:59:29 CET ] [ Original post ]

Bug Fixes

• Fixed crash when destroying Gremlin Totem Poles as a Knight.
• Fixed Altar of Ahnais dispensing more XP than intended.
• Fixed loop in Gremlin's Grief quest causing endless couriers.
• Fixed crash when interacting with power crystals while Tangled Web quest is active.
• Fixed Gremlin Grief quest initiating when a creature kills a decay root off-screen, instead of the player.
• Fixed crash when player attempts to move beyond map boundaries use keyboard movement.
• Fixed gremlin potion mechanics:
  • Removed auto-learning of gremlin recipes.
  • Added potion recipes to alchemy shelves in Gremlin Fortress.
  • Introduced crafting requirements for Gremlin potions; Mudmilk has none.
  • Tweaked drop table for Gremlin alchemy shelf.
• Fixed Potent Purifying Elixir negating its own status effect.
• Fixed recipes not highlighting as craftable in menus when alternative crafting options exist.
• Fixed XP reward glitch for crafting Snake Dice, Machinist Ring, or Machinist Amulet.

[ 2023-10-02 20:16:36 CET ] [ Original post ]

Introducing the Desert - a whole new biome with exotic creatures and new items & mechanics. Also included is a new melee skill "Warrapt", an overhaul to the Chivalry skill, and changes to character creation. Save files from v0.5.0 are NOT compatible.

Desert Biome

This new biome is teeming with danger, with predatory Wyrms and Scorpions lurking beneath the sands. Staying safe requires strategically navigating between the smaller rocky islands amid a vast ocean of sand.
Map Generation The world map generates with at least one expansive desert region, interspersed with smaller desert patches.
The Desert Dwellers The desert is now home to seven new creatures: Sand Wyrm, Dune Flyer, Silt Strider, Sandscale Viper, Sandshell Prowler, Sandshell Titan, and Desert Scorpion.
Surviving the Heat Be wary of accumulating "Sunscorched" wounds, which can be cured by consuming cactus fruit, or through a medicine item. Sunscorch accumulates as you traverse the scorching desert but dissipates quickly in cooler biomes.
Plants & Potions Four new harvestable plants can be used to brew five newly-added potions: Bulwark Extract, Fireflash, Sunhorn Elixir, Dalaar Deflection, and Blossomguard Brew.

Warrapt

We've added a new skill "Warrapt", which includes 20 new abilities and passives.

• Designed as a generalist melee skill, Warrapt synergizes well with all melee weapon types and offers new build paths with both defensive and offensive options.
• The skill is available for all background types.

Chivalry

Chivalry has received a significant update, featuring new abilities, upgrades, and a unique "Oaths" mechanic.

• Added abilities: "Oath of the Fallen," "Vanguard's Edge," "Last Stand," "Otherworldly Protection," and "Knight's Challenge."
• Removed "Shield Bash", "Parry", and "Riposte", which are now included in the Warrapt skill.
• The Knight now starts with the item "Letter to a Fellow Knight," directing players to the nearest Altar of Ahnais.

As part of this change we've refined the Knight's background lore for better coherence with the game world, removing all references to Arthurian knighthoodno more 'Sirs,' Squires, or medieval titles. Instead, Knights are now envisioned as defenders of good, intrinsically linked to an ancient order called the Knights of Ahnais (more to be revealed as we progress on the main story and add Knight NPCs to the game world).

Altar of Ahnais

Forests, Plains, and Deserts now have a chance to spawn an Altar of Ahnais.
These Altars are closely related to the new "Oaths" mechanic in Chivalry. By slaying beasts, the Knight can collect "Oaths of the Fallen," which may be offered at the Altar for rewards.
This Altar is the first of many special map features to come. We imagine a world filled with relics and altars, each offering unique effects or services, relating to specific guilds, quests, and world lore. While currently only usable by the Knight, future updates will introduce a secondary effect to the Altar of Ahnais, accessible by all classes.

Character Creation

Starting items are now shown as part of character creation, and can be rerolled an unlimited times.
Other Changes

• Added new music for Character Creation.
• Updated the UI to better match in-game art.

Warding

We've introduced three new stats: Physical Warding, Mental Warding, and Magic Warding.

• Physical Warding offers a percentage chance to negate physical-based debuffs like temporary poisons or blindness during combat.
• Mental Warding provides a chance to shrug off mental-based impairments such as shouts or fears.
• Magic Warding protects against magic-based negative status effects, including hexes.
• Added +5% physical warding to the knowledge ability "Stoic Perspective".
• Added new knowledge abilities "Astral Repel" (requires a book to unlock), and "Bodily Sutra" which both reward warding.
• Added 2 new enchantments "Mindmeld", "Stalwart", which give warding.
• Added a physical warding bonus to the enchantment "Resilience".

In addition to the aforementioned enchantments and Knowledge abilities, these new warding stats have been included in abilities within both Chivalry and Warrapt. We recognized a gap in the combat systemplayers had no way to defend against various debuffs that didn't qualify as wounds. These warding stats aim to address this.

Ability Time

All activated abilities now show their use time in the tooltip.
Since several passives now give increased ability speed, it felt right to show the exact time cost on all ability icons which can be seen on the bottom right. As part of this change we've standardized how ability activation speed works, going through all abilities and specifying how their speed works in a more precise way. Note that some abilities are based on the speed of your equipped weapon, while others like 'Reload' or 'Mark Prey' have their own intrinsic.

Other Changes

• Added new option "Log Weapon Used". Enable this option to show details of the weapons used by both the player and enemy units in the text log.
• Added 3 new enchantments: "Quickdraw", "Celerity", and "Mindmeld". Changed crafting costs and stat balance of various other enchantments.
• The notification log now shows deaths-by-status effects so that monsters in players vision that bleed to death, succumb to poison, or touch an "Essence Conduit" result in a notification.
• Removed reduced energy recovery from Frostbite wound.
• Updated medicine item Soothing Balm to also cure sunscorch
• Rebalanced potion prices.
• Added new lore book "Dreamer's Tryst with the Ether".
• Removed stat "Tenacity Resist". In all places "Tenacity Resist" was used, replaced with "Stun Resist", and "Knockback Resist". This stat was originally intended to do what warding now does (and did not work correctly).

Bug Fixes

• Fixed text-wrapping issues in the notification log. Lines of text too long to fit now wrap to a new line.
• Fixed issue with drop down menus, where clicking an item in a drop down menu would sometimes select the UI element below the drop down menu.
• Implemented more robust handling of zone state changes. This fixes issues, related to quickly changing zones or reloading the game.
• Fixed UI scaling not working during character creation.

[ 2023-10-02 05:23:47 CET ] [ Original post ]

Bug Fixes

• Resolved an issue where the existence of Ghosts in an area led to save file corruption. Regrettably, due to the nature of the issue, existing corrupted save files cannot be repaired. However, we've ensured that this issue will not occur in newly generated dungeons.
• Fixed an issue with the music player which would sometimes cause a memory error, causing the client to close without an error log.

[ 2023-07-23 02:50:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

Bug Fixes

• Fixed wisdom not gained when killing mobs.
• Fixed crash when returning to main menu.
• Fixed issue that occurs when screen is resized at same time as drop down option is selected.

[ 2023-07-22 17:54:40 CET ] [ Original post ]

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an error where over 15 sound effects, including those for Lamassu, Aeternum, and various Temple interactions, were not working due to a file loading typo.
• Fixed an issue causing the game to crash when underground blood worms were unable to find a valid tunnel location due to blocked tiles.
• Fixed a map generation issue where the Arallu temple was able to be placed on top of another location (requires new game start).
• Fixed a bug where the downstairs would sometimes be missing in large gremlin fortresses, including Grimjaw's fortress.
• Fixed rooms in gremlin fortresses sometimes not connecting to hallways making them inaccessible.
• Fixed abilities Renew, Shield Bash, Summon Brambles, and Toxic Plume requiring crossbow to be loaded if activated while crossbow was equipped.
• Fixed reload ability still using up a turn when it failed to activate due to lack of ammo or incorrect ammo type.
• Fixed an issue with Gremlin Trapmaster traps blocking other gremlins. Trap Master will now place traps less densely packed; also increased his trap placement cooldown from 10 to 13 turns.
• Fixed an issue where the Player's chest inventory did not refresh weight accurately.
• Improved handling of situations when attacking a target that is standing on a trap. We hope this will resolve the issue altogether, but as we are still unable to reproduce the problem reliably, we cannot be certain.
• Fixed Sprites incorrectly applying the "frightening" status effect.
• Fixed farmers unable to trade trading.
• Fixed game crash, related to checking for status effects when an existing status effect had no name.
• Fixed updated ability hotkeys not displaying the new key on the hotbar icon.

[ 2023-07-21 21:59:18 CET ] [ Original post ]

Bug Fixes

• Fixed Chivalry abilities "Shield Bash" and "Shield Deflection" missing from the chivalry tree. They were inadvertently removed due to an upcoming rebalance, which will shift these abilities to a new skill. This was not intended for this version.
• Fixed a bug where the "Corruption" status effect, intended to apply only on Grimjaw's Fortress's bottom floor, would persist indefinitely.
  • As an extra measure, we've added a new console command "clear effectsall" which enforces the removal of all status effects, including the hidden ones. It can be handy in situations where a status effect gets stuck.
• Fixed "War Plans Quest" wrongly directing players to previously cleared locations.
• Fixed an issue with the "War Plans Quest" where the War Plans failed to place in dungeons. Please note, this fix only applies to newly generated dungeons. Already visited dungeons, unfortunately, cannot be adjusted.
• Fixed skin cream (blight cure) not appearing in medicine shops. Additionally, we've included a chance for it to appear in variety stores and general stores. Note: already generated shops won't have this item until their next restock
• Fixed bloody Knuckles (Unarmed ability) attack speed not highlighted correctly in the upgrade tooltip.

Other Changes

• Reduced medicine prices: Splint from 20 to 15, Bandage from 15 to 12, Soothing Balm from 35 to 27, Antidote from 25 to 18, Long-lasting Antidote from 55 to 35, Thawing Ointment from 38 to 25, Skin Cream from 45 to 35, Shadewood Mixture from 75 to 65, First Aid Kit from 155 to 125, and Healing lotion from 60 to 40.
• Updated the description of Feverfew to better match the attributes of the real-life flower.

[ 2023-07-11 13:01:13 CET ] [ Original post ]

Bug Fixes

• Fixed game crash caused by failed interactions with certain status effects.
• Fixed bug causing Vile Gremlin to occupy same tiles as other creatures.
• Fixed an issue where items could become invisible and unresponsive after reaching 100% travel weariness due to improper handling of the alternate swap; items will now unequip correctly in all circumstances.

[ 2023-07-06 02:57:02 CET ] [ Original post ]

Bug Fixes

• Resolved a bug that caused severe lag for certain players. This change involved an update to screen rendering strategy. Our testing shows this improvement should benefit most players, not just those who were previously facing lag.
• Fixed Gremlin Trapmaster placing excessive traps and sometimes placing traps on top of each other.
• Fixed option "World Scaling" causing in-world objects to become misaligned. World Scaling should now work as expected and can be set at any time (though it does still require a restart).
• Fixed able to remove Duudahl's mark using a first aid kit.
• Fixed escape key doesnt close options or other windows when used from the main menu.

Other Changes

• Added a new soundtrack (somewhere in the new Gremlin Terror quest).
• Reduced ability "Vengeful Defiance" focus point cost from 1 to 2.
• Increased Burn Chance of Gremlin Experimenter potion throw ability.

[ 2023-07-05 09:42:15 CET ] [ Original post ]

Welcome to the "Gremlin Fortresses" update, packed with so much stuff it's practically bursting at the seams! Save files from v0.4.13 are NOT compatible.

The Rise of the Gremlins

Prepare to explore new dungeons, encounter a host of new creatures, and face off against King Grimjaw in his mighty stronghold.
New Dungeons: A Threat Emerging Three new types of dungeons: the Gremlin Outpost, the Gremlin Fortress, and Grimjaw's Stronghold. These dungeons not only bring a fresh visual experience, but also employ all-new layout algorithms for a distinct look and layout.
New Creatures: The Gremlin Hordes Meet the terrifying new faces of the Gremlin faction - Snatcher, Trapmaster, Ogre, Shaman Elder, Looter, Bugler, Experimenter, Sergeant, and General. Brace yourselves for the unexpected.
The Boss: King Grimjaw Stand before King Grimjaw, a fearsome giant revered by his horde. Are you ready for the ultimate battle?
Other additions

• Updated stats, drop tables, and abilities for existing gremlin types.
• Added unique monster behaviors, traits, and abilities to support the new creature types.
• Discover new potions, foods, jewelry, and other items in the gremlin dungeons.
• Immerse yourself in two new quests. Unravel the mystery behind the Gremlin faction's newfound magical and intellectual prowess, eventually facing King Grimjaw himself.
• Enjoy 4 new music tracks enhancing your gameplay experience.

New Logo

Our game logo, and all related steam art has been redesigned.
Nearly two years have passed since our Early Access release, and our game has evolved significantly during that time. To reflect this substantial progress, it was time to give our logo a well-deserved update. We're thrilled with the results of this comprehensive visual revamp. Congratulations to Maxwell Arch for his outstanding work in bringing this vision to life.

Damage Types

All damage is now categorized into six types: Physical, Fire, Thunder, Ice, Hex, and Decay, each with a corresponding resistance type.
These damage types are displayed in the text log. Physical damage is indicated by a simple number, while other damage types are color-coded and display with the name, for example "4 decay". If multiple damage is dealt in the same attack, the break down is shown in brackets.
Wound resistances are displayed separately with their own set of icons, to clearly distinguish them from damage types.
We've also updated creatures, items, and abilities to use the new damage categories appropriately. Also added are new jewelry and armor that offer resistances to specific types of damage. Please bear with us as we continue to fine-tune these changes! The introduction of damage types is an ongoing effort that will require further adjustments, and additional ways to both deal and resist damage of each type.

Equipment Icons

Added icons for all remaining armor and weapons.
That's a lot of icons! Shout-out to artist Yokcos for his hard work on these.

Nature Magic & Summoning

New abilities, upgrades, and enhanced summoning features. Yes, you can now summon a bear.

• New summoning abilities: "Summon Hawk" and "Summon Bear".
• Summoned creatures now follow you to new zones.
• Summoned creatures now reduce your maximum energy while they remain summoned.
• Experience a deeper connection with your companions using new abilities "Bond", "Agile Bond", "Resilient Bond", and "Symbiotic Growth".
• Bonded creatures will never unsummon, and will stay by your side until killed.
• Abilities "Renew", "Bark Skin", "Surge of Replenishment", "Nature's Grasp", and "Toxic Plume" now have 2 available upgrades.
• "Renew" now allows targeting of other creatures up to 1 tile away.
• "Nature's Grasp" now packs a punch with bonus true damage to target for every adjacent bramble bush.

Knockback

In addition to its original purpose of displacing enemies, knockback now packs additional tactical surprises that could turn the tide of battle.

• Entities, including the player, will now instantly perish if knocked back into a pit. Tread carefully!
• If a loot bag would fall onto an invalid tile (e.g., a pit) upon an enemy's death, it will now move to the nearest valid tile, ensuring your rewards are always within reach.
• Chain Reaction: If a knocked-back entity is blocked by another entity, the blocking entity is also knocked back. This domino effect can extend up to 7 creatures.
• Wall Stun: If an entity is knocked back into a wall or immovable object, they will be stunned.

Other Changes

• Added player footstep sounds, along with a setting to disable it. Footstep sounds change based on terrain and type of boots equipped.
• Converted all sound effects from .WAV to the smaller .OGG format; update sound engine for better handling of simultaneous files (please report any sound issues!).
• Massively reduced the number of ghosts that spawn in dungeons.
• Always enter the town in front of the job board.
• Ghosts now hide for 50-100 turns before appearing, and will announce themselves with a sound and notification when they do appear.
• Using the keyboard to move into an ally no longer attacks, but will instead swap positions. This can also be used to swap places with summoned creatures.
• Added "Riposte" ability to Chivalry (more chivalry abilities to come soon).
• Added new trait "Reach" for melee creatures with 2-range, which is displayed instead of the "Ranged" trait.
• Music is now automatically muted when the game window loses focus.
• Main Menu: add 2 new animations to the cycle: world generation with regions; new maze map generation.
• Improved tooltip placement, to ensure tooltips check alternative placements when they would go offscreen.
• "Momentum Shift" ability - reduced focus point cost from 3 to 2 points.
• Disable option "screen tinting" by default.
• Increase chance of spirit fire to frostbite by 1%.
• Frostbite now gives 10% Frostbite Resist and Burn 10% Burn Resist, to help prevent too many of the same wound from unfairly stacking.
• Sort perk types to match the right-hand side order in character creation.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a crash that was occurring when traps were targeted with an ability.
• Fixed an issue where Crimson Guards had more armor than intended.
• Fixed your own summoned animals giving experience points upon death.
• Fixed unable to rent rooms at hamlets.
• Fixed abilities "Speedy Escape" and "Duelist Advance" not applying buffs as intended.
• Ensured that all creatures, not just the player, are frightened by ghosts.
• Spells "Calming Touch", "Renew", and "Surge of Replenishment" no longer cause friendly or neutral enemies to aggro; reputation is not lost when using friendly spells in town.
• Fixed "Build Fire" ability rewarding Survival XP even if the fire failed to place.
• Fixed "This item requires a workbench to salvage" warning appearing when salvaging items that shouldn't require a workbench.
• Fixed status effect icon art not centering correctly for consumed items.
• Added missing icon for Crimson Guard debilitation debuff.
• Fixed ability "Blazing Bolts" giving the incorrect buff.
• Fixed "Confidential Matter" quest bug, where dialog would get stuck in the conversation with no way to continue.
• Fixed Gremlin Chief death sometimes not triggering quest completion.
• Fixed ability yellow highlight doesnt take into account required abilities (for example, tough as nails).
• Fixed overhead text in some cases not appearing.
• More fixes to ensure dream continue button is always fits on the page (even if it has to cover up text).

[ 2023-06-30 23:37:33 CET ] [ Original post ]

Bug Fixes

• Resolved issue with quest indicators not displaying on the world map.
• Fixed game crash caused by hovering mouse cursor over ability tooltips.
• Fixed missing archer, marksman, and sharpshooter leggings in loot tables (previously unattainable).
• Fixed issue with rare armor merchant not offering Felforged armor (note: Felforged will be relocated in a future update).

[ 2023-04-24 17:55:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

This update sees the addition of monster sounds, improved display scaling options, and various other changes and bug fixes. Save files from v0.4.12 are compatible.

Monster Sounds

We've extended our engine to support a variety of sounds for monsters and enemy units, creating a new layer of immersion. Monsters will now produce sounds during various actions, such as being attacked, attacking, dodging, moving, dying, starting their turn, or announcing themselves when first spotted.

• Added death sounds to all monsters.
• Added a variety of special sounds for specific enemy types. For example, spiders will make insect noises when nearby, bears will growl, and gremlins will grunt, chatter, and laugh when you miss them! The quantity and variety of sounds depend on the enemy type.
• Added options to mute specific monster sounds. Players can now mute "Death Sounds", "Talk Sounds", "Defensive Sounds", and "Announce Sounds". Disabling all of these will result in a completely silent monster experience.
• To accompany the death sounds, monsters now have a death animation, fading away over the course of 1 second.

Display Scaling

Two new scaling settings have been added: "World Scaling" and "Use OS Scaling".
"World Scaling" - adjusts the game world elements, such as tiles, creatures, and art, to improve visibility and gameplay experience on different screen sizes. This enhancement affects both zoom levels (zoomed in and zoomed out). Although the pixel art was not designed for significant scaling, we understand that larger resolutions may require this setting. Please be aware that this feature is still being refined. Changing the setting may cause art in previously generated zones to appear misaligned. It is recommended to set this at the start of your game. "OS Scaling" - In a previous update, we made the game ignore the operating system scaling. As it turns out, some users did need this option. Enabling "Use OS Scaling" allows the game to utilize your operating system's scaling settings. This may be helpful for users with TV displays but could result in a stretched, blurry appearance. For optimal visuals, consider using World and UI scaling instead.

Armor Art

We've begun adding unique icons for all armor pieces. In this update, included are 12 new icons for the Banded, Bonesplint, and Heavy T1 armor sets.
Also included are small tweaks to several sets, new helmets, and matching undershirt colors to better differentiate the armor tiers.

Other Changes

• "Vengeful Defiance" ability - now stacks up to 5 times instead of being limited to a single stack; bonus crit damage reduced from 20% to 10%.
• Clicking a monster now initiates pathfinding and automatically triggers a basic attack on the targeted creature, as long as the player's movement isn't halted and the monster doesn't move.
• Added new game option "Enable Anti-Aliasing". Turn on anti-aliasing to smooth jagged edges in the game. This option is not recommended in most cases as it will cause blurriness. However, it is available for users who find it helpful, and as an alternative to relying on native OS upscaling.
• Increased the amount of time it takes for a new dynamic quest to appear in a town after completing a quest.
• Added elderberry wine to Blackwood Marauders loot chests.
• Reduced price of all leg armor by 5% (mostly to differentiate it from the similarly priced glove items).
• Reduced the average number of days for shops to restock their rare items by approximately 5 days.
• Reduced Bee map event frequency as compared to other events.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed old quests not being cleared from the job board. Dynamic quests will now automatically be removed in 2-8 days.
• Fixed the "Master Enchanter" passive not granting new enchantments as intended.
• Fixed an issue where hamlets sometimes didn't spawn a job board.
• Fixed a bug causing the player to sometimes spawn behind stalls when entering a town.
• Fixed the issue requiring two clicks to talk to adventurers or town guards. Now, the player will automatically talk to the NPC once the path is completed, unless the NPC moves before the path end is reached.
• Fixed an issue where opening a silver chest in a cave would incorrectly mark the cave as complete, instead of only marking it complete after opening the final chest on the bottom floor.
• Fixed merchants displaying the incorrect message "I'll be here for 0 more days" when they were actually leaving soon.

[ 2023-04-21 23:44:59 CET ] [ Original post ]

We're happy to announce the release of our game's OST, the "Gold Border Complete Master Ultimate HQ Edition."
This edition contains a total of 30 tracks, bringing together the "The Beginning" and "Enalia" albums, featuring the excellent work of our composer, Fogheart. Several of these tracks are for parts of the game still in development, offering you a sneak peek of what's to come. Additionally, we'll be extending the album with new music as the game progresses. The album art is by the talented Maxwell Arch, who also crafted the character Tarot card illustrations in-game. By purchasing this soundtrack, you're not only enjoying some quality music but also supporting the game's ongoing development. With 50% of the funds going directly to the composer and the other 50% dedicated to future game development, it's a meaningful way to contribute. Stay tuned for more updates, and thank you for your continued support. We genuinely appreciate it.

[ 2023-04-18 14:03:45 CET ] [ Original post ]

Bug Fixes

• Fixed unable to trade with Leafborn traders for newly generated villages. Note: Trading remains unavailable in previously visited Leafborn villages.
• Corrected traveling merchants' purchasing behavior to only buy items relevant to their shop type, preventing them from buying all items.

[ 2023-04-14 04:23:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

This update is a big one! We're rolling out a massive Armor Overhaul featuring over 150 new armor items, and introducing new gameplay elements such as Travelling Merchants, the Dreadheart skill, and the Blackwood Marauders faction. Also included are improvements to the world map generation, the introduction of the rare Weapon Makers event, and various bug fixes. We hope you enjoy exploring the new features and content in this update! Save files from v0.4.11 are NOT compatible.

Armor Overhaul

We've added a wide range of new armor sets. Many of the new additions draw inspiration from real medieval armors, such as Brigandine, Lamellar, Meshweave, Scale, Chain, and Ringmail. Alongside these historically-inspired sets, we've also introduced fantasy armors like the powerful Wyrmskin (crafted from wyrm scales), Bonesplint (forged from ogre bones), Emberhide, Savagehide, and more. All armor is categorized into three types: light, medium, and heavy. Within these categories, each set boasts varying bonuses for further customization, and some sets follow a clear progression path. Light Armor Provides dodge chance, some resistance, and has no negative stats. Within this category are standard leather sets which give the best dodge chance, a group of archer-focused gear with enhanced crit and accuracy, and the woodsman set for energy-hungry travellers.
Medium Armor Medium armor typically offers good physical and wound resistance without penalties. Shown below are the standard sets, and 4 unique sets which you'll have to find in-game.
Heavy Armor Heavy armor provides the best protection in the game, but comes with certain drawbacks such as decreased energy.

• Added 150+ new armor items and rebalanced existing armors.
• Introduced a new equipment slot: legs. This change allows for greater customization and character progression. Leg armor can be enchanted or bolstered like other armors.
• Shops are now less likely to sell high-quality gear, making it more challenging to upgrade armor. Players will need to explore the world and discover armor in various ways.
• Gloves are now visible on character sprites, adding another layer of visual customization.
• New armor can also be found through travelling merchants (see the below section) or the rare Weapon Makers event (see the below section).
• Added new materials required to repair or bolster armor: Savage Leather, Wyrmskin, Ogre Bones, Adamant Metal, and Infernal Steel.
• When an enemy is killed, the chance to drop their gear is based on the value of that gear. This math has been reworked to account for the new armors, and for a less harsh curve overall (rare armor should now drop slightly more often).

Note that in the current version, some armor will be harder to find and use. As we continue to build the world, these new sets will be further integrated as new faction gear, guild armor, or quest rewards.

Travelling Merchants

Travelling merchants will set up stalls in towns and cities to sell their goods, but buy fast, they only stick around for a few days!

• Added 6 travelling merchant types: Food Merchant, Toxicologist, Exotic Arms Dealer, Scrap Collector, Armor Collector, and Boneworker.
• You can speak to a merchant to ask about their goods or how many days they have left in town.
• Once a merchant leaves, each day there is a chance for their previous spot to be replaced by a new merchant.
• Cities have a higher chance for merchants to appear than towns, and they will never appear in hamlets.

Dreadheart

All new skill. Dreadheart includes 13 new abilities and passives, with over 60 wisdom points to spend.

• Dreadheart is our take on the classic Berserk playstyle and will be all about timing: getting your health as low as possible before entering a Battle Trance.
• It's made up of passives with a few key active abilities to avoid filling your hotbar with too many energy-hungry abilities, and so that it does not compete for space with the weapon abilities.
• The skill is available for the Mercenary only (each class eventually will have their own unique skill).

Defeating Dungeons

Faction dungeons can now be defeated. This allows you to see what dungeons you've completed and remove that pesky faction influence.

• To defeat a dungeon either kill the boss (if there is one) or loot the final chest.
• When a dungeon is defeated, a text notification is shown along with a sound.
• When a dungeon is defeated, all faction influence from the dungeon's tile on the world map is removed. This decrease in influence will slowly spread to nearby tiles until it entirely dissipates.
• Defeated dungeons are shown as gray on the overworld map.

Blackwood Marauders

The Blackwood Marauders are a ragtag group of outlaws who operate as a Robin Hood-style gang and will spawn several dungeons in a forest near where the player starts.
These guys have learned to live off the land, growing their own food and raising a pack of loyal hunting dogs to assist them in their raids, and serve as an alternative enemy to your typical bandits.

The Weapon Makers

Added a new rare event. This group, who lives between worlds, will sometimes spawn portals to their special weapon shops in random dungeons.

Other Changes

• Added a new quest titled "Confidential Matter". Speak to the mayor in a town near the Blackwood dungeons to get started.
• The world map now generates with regions, ensuring that the player starts in a region with a minimum number of quests and resources nearby. While regions may not be too noticeable in this version, this groundwork sets the stage for future developments, including new factions and biomes.
• Reputation changes are now shown in the text log, for example, "Lost 10 reputation for attacking locals".
• Added a "Town Guard Captain" to all Cities and Towns. With a high enough reputation, he may be willing to sell you some special armor.
• Added 11 new lore books covering a variety of topics including the Machinists, the history of the Kingdom of Aldrova, and the Leafborn faction.
• All poisons now show in the item tooltip how many turns they are effective.
• Added 2 new poisons: Crippling Venom, and Paralysis Quake Elixir.
• Sticks now appear in forest tiles and can be picked up to harvest wood.
• Added sound effect when a quest is started or updated.
• Reduced Gremlin Terror quest reward amount.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed font scaling issue when windows scaling is set larger than 100%.
• Fixed player hands art when holding a bow.
• Fixed sleep poison having no effect.
• Fixed quest log entries showing in the wrong order.
• Fixed the issue where you can sell the book you're studying if you have 2 of the same book.

[ 2023-04-11 09:46:17 CET ] [ Original post ]

Bug Fixes

• Fixed issue with pathing, where selected object such as doors or chests, would not be used when player completes their path.

[ 2023-03-13 05:36:26 CET ] [ Original post ]