Big update falls this month in Storymode. As we're approaching the one year mark since I uploaded Storymode to Steam Greenlight, I thought it'd be a good time to change quite a bit with the game's features and presentation. So let's go over the changes in detail (it's gonna be a long one)

Planet Navigation

Visible right away, the biggest change is the reorganized main menu. As new features and menus began creeping their way into the game, I realized a new menu system was required to keep things streamlined and easier to navigate. Some things still need ironing out, and user feedback is incredibly valuable at this point because it's such a big change to a central part of the game. Menus are now broken into planets, which can be navigated between by either scrolling or pressing Up/Down. Some planets and options are locked away until you reach certain criteria, including some features that were accessible as soon as you started the game. There are hints provided to help you discover what you need to do. Some planets have features and menus that weren't available before this update. So let's talk about those next.

Blacksmith

In addition to training your character by sacrificing items to the gods of Gains, there's now a planet of blacksmiths, which will accept items as materials with which to increase the base stats of your equipment. Weapons and armor that you find in dungeons function more as an enhancement/enchantment to your base equipment, meaning once the enchantment wears off you're still as good as your equipment instead of your raw strength. You're able to permanently increase the strength of your equipment, as well as increase the minimum durability of all enhancements. Be sure to balance increasing weapons with increasing stats. Unlike stats, weapons do have a max level, so at some point you will need to make yourself stronger instead of just relying on your tools.

Persistent Party

Forming a party of humans instead of monsters is now possible outside of dungeons. A select group of up to 4 humans of varying classes, birthsigns, and names that you hire will follow you into dungeons. They play by the same rules as monster allies, so when they die they'll be sent right back home, allowing you to replace them with something that you befriend during your dungeon run. Additionally, if you befriend a monster that's stronger than an ally, that ally will be sent home. Each ally has a random growth curve assigned to them, allowing for a predictable level up path. In some ways leveling up an ally is a bit cheaper and easier than yourself, but since they have a predefined curve you lose the intimate customizability that you have with your character. However, since they have their own birthsigns and jobs, it allows you to experience a taste of all the game has to offer without having to create new characters.

Micromanaging

What's a grindy game with luck based micromanaging/gambling? Another feature of your persistent party is the ability to send them off into dungeons by themselves for multiple days to gather items for you. Success rate is dependent on their level and their current depth in the dungeon they're exploring. You can call them back at any point, and it'll take only a day for them to bring back all that they've gathered...if they're lucky. Allies can die at any floor during exploration, so balance your chances if you want to get anything out of sending them off. When they die, you get nothing out of it. Additionally, since it takes a day for them to come back, there's even a chance they'll die on the way out. Also, when they're away getting things for you, they won't be able to accompany you when you go into a dungeon. You might be thinking, with this mechanic, why even go into dungeons anymore? Well, since it also takes days for them to get or do anything, you won't be able to use this as a means to complete quests. Additionally, what they pick up is random, unlike going into files where the items are dependent on the kind of file you're exploring. Pretty much, micromanaging provides a safe, fast way to get a mix of junk, which is useful for leveling up your main character and your allies. Heck, you might even get lucky and get enough random items to craft a few things. But if speed is your game, and you want to complete the goddess's list like a loyal servant, you'll want to do things yourself.

New Game+

End game no longer returns you to the title screen. Instead, you'll be thrown back into your world, with your same character and party, but with a new, longer list of items to craft, allowing you to play through faster and unlock as much of the game as possible. Some features and menus are also only available after you beat the game at least once, so look forward to that too!

Overlay mini-map

By pressing B and C in a dungeon simultaneously, you can adjust the minimap's display mode to be overlaid or in the corner. You can adjust the overlay opacity in the settings menu, or even turn off the minimap all together if you want to be hard core. The dungeon introduction can also be turned off now, for those of you who just want to jump straight into killing stuff.

Mac OSX Support

Packages have been made to support OSX, however, as I do not have the equipment to test said packages, try them at your own risk. Virtually, they're the same as the linux builds, just with different .so files. LibGDX makes that really easy when it comes to desktop bundling, so it shouldn't be that much trouble. However, if there are any bugs that don't appear on other platforms, please report them indicating you're using the Mac build.

Backend Changes

LWJGL3 didn't appear to be the most stable platform to build against just yet, blocking out some people who used to be able to play the game. As such, I've rolled back to using the LWJGL2 backend of LibGDX. Additionally, the JVM packaged with the game has been upgraded from Java7 to JRE8 thanks to Azul System's Zulu OpenJDK builds. This will give me more flexibility in the future with the code and features that are possible.

As always...

With any big change like this, expect some bugs and things needing polish (it wouldn't be Storymode without things being broken now would it). Hopefully there's no new conditions that cause crashing. Also take note, with these new features, there's been enough breaking changes that old saves are not compatible. Updated binaries will be rolling out shortly. Thanks for all your support! Have fun grinding, and have fun breaking stuff!