Hey everyone!

What's new in the development of Fates of Ort this week?

https://youtu.be/xfiROmg9gQ0 We implemented another environmental hazard in the form of an oil puddle. This can be spread around by walking through it, and is limited to covering approximately 30 tiles. Much like the other hazards (exploding barrels and sacks of poison gas), this is both a threat to the player and an opportunity to set traps. The player can easily create an oil puddle in a shape designed to damage incoming enemies. We made it so that a specific set of spells trigger the oil to burst into flames. This includes the Burn and Meteor Shower spells, but notable excludes the basic Life element bolt spell (which looks like a fireball). This is because the Burn spell is also available in the Life element set, and we want to encourage the selection of this spell. Not sure about this design choice though, as it may be confusing if something that looks like fire doesn't trigger the oil to burn. It is worth noting that exploding barrels also trigger oil fires, creating additional opportunities for interaction. We finished implementing the Rock Desert biome. This is a region on the westernmost part of the world map, beyond the Rusts. It used to be a lush coastal area, but has been barren since the Consumption-fueled civil war hundreds of years ago. It contains an NPC key to a main questline, and also holds a small sidequest. The Rupture spell "infects" enemies, and triggers an explosion of projectiles when they die. Previously, this spell did not its own set of stats (e.g. amount of damage) but instead leveraged the stats of turret projectiles. We changed this, to enable better balancing of this spell. It is likely that the Rupture projectiles will end up doing more damage than a standard bolt, to encourage use of the spell. We designed the structure of the Temple biome. This is a secluded area, high up on a mountain. It will contain a key NPC, a sidequest, and a connection to an area that is crucial for a main questline. This area will also host a couple of puzzles, which differ from how the bulk of the game is played. They combine a specific spell type and some basic spatial awareness. That's it for this week! We'd love to hear your comments and thoughts, so don't hesitate to share your opinion! Follow development live at: https://www.twitch.tv/topbraj