Foreword

Added more contextual information to in-game messages to enhance intuitiveness. Replaced the text rendering system, significantly improving CPU performance and reducing potential stuttering. Introduced new weapons and revamped unique attack animations.

Updates

New Message & Text System

• Pickup notifications for weapons and hats now display skill names, icons, damage reduction stats per damage type (for hats), and whether they provide Stagger Mitigation (halves stagger duration to match body hit recovery).
• Implemented a static character(UI term) rendering system, drastically reducing stuttering caused by new text displays and shortening scene loading times.
• Improved font readability and visual effects across select UI elements.

New Weapon: Crutch & Revamped Heavy Attacks

• Crutch : A new blunt-damage weapon of the "Handle" type with exceptional range.
• All "Handle-type" weapons now feature completely redesigned heavy attacks:
• Replaced the original crouching uppercut (similar to maces) with a long-range thrust involving a backward windup and forward lunge.
• The new heavy attack complements Handle-type weapons' short-step light combos with extreme forward momentum.
• Added Secondary Damage Type mechanics: Specific attack animations on certain weapons now deal alternate damage types.
• Example: The Kitchen Knife (primary damage: Piercing) now deals Slashing damage during its heavy attack spin.
• More weapons with this trait will be added gradually.

Further Performance Optimizations

• Optimized character status effect lighting to eliminate performance impact when inactive.
• Refined particle counts and effects for Vertue's "Cockatrice" lightning skill, reducing performance fluctuations without compromising visuals.
• Fixed excessive screen flash caused by Ren Long's attack animations.
• Overhauled NPC AI control systems to reduce main thread overhead.
• Improved projectile manager lifecycle handling.

Other Improvements & Adjustments

• Stabilized hit detection nodes for Electric and Water elemental damage.
• Enhanced camera easing effects for smoother transitions and improved low-FPS tolerance.
• Changed scroll bar backgrounds from grey to black for better contrast.
• Added additional global illumination to cave scenes to emphasize depth.
• Adjusted Killer spawn positions in Chapter 8 for more tactical flexibility.
• Female protagonist's hats now have type-specific positioning for better fit.
• Optimized the way of BGM files loading. Shortened the loading time.

Fixes

• Fixed NPC footstep AI behavior on staircases.
• Fixed weapon afterimage misalignment caused by pitch correction adjustments in Lock-On Mode(Including NPC).
• Resolved potential target-locking failures when restarting in Nightmare Mode.
• Corrected interactive object highlighting errors after retrying levels.
• Addressed multiplayer lobby search failures after returning from matches.
• Normalized abnormal status durations for UE-type enemies to match standard NPCs.
• Fixed text overflow/wrapping issues with long localized level titles.

Postscript

This update also advanced development on new scenes utilizing the Bullet physics engine (the same engine used in GTA) to alleviate AI pathfinding strain. Technical prototypes for an all-new boss battle have partially completed core systems. Stay tuned!