Punching Fridays #3

This week I wanted to take a moment to talk about the next content update, some of the things that you can expect to see in that release, and my planned timeline for completing it.

Version 0.4.0: 

Story: In this version the story will continue into and beyond the birth of Mallum (all grown up in image 6), as well as the fate of Magda and Korvald's unborn daughter Rjianna. You will be responsible for exorcising Ghroth from within Mother Superior, in order to be able to once again question her regarding a safe method of freeing Magda. This exorcism will unfortunately allow Ghroth to escape yet again, and once Magda is released, Ghroth will no longer have people to use as leverage against Korvald except for one. Ghroth will be sending his newest champion after the gang, and this familiar face will spark nothing but confusion and emotions from the group. We will also discover the next host that Ghroth chooses to inhabit, and this one will complicate things to a breaking point.

Locations: There will be one brand new location, Skjult Kloster, the hidden home for keepers of the dead, the Brotherhood of The Returned, and the next major arcana boss Death. You will also be venturing deeper into the Order of the Holy Crucible, gaining access to their advanced forge and blacksmithing tools. Also there will be a secret boss that you will have to discover on your own, who drops a key that opens the odd door just outside of the cathedral (see image 5 above). This door leads to a hidden dungeon of perversions beneath the cathedral (context and details will have to be experienced on your own, no spoilers). The final new/revised location will be discussed below.

Features: Complete redesign of the rogue-like "date" dungeon. Initially, the idea was to select a particular ally and ask them to accompany you into various familiar locations presented as randomized dungeons. I have been giving this one a lot of thought and decided to make some big changes, bringing the experience more in line with an actual rogue-like experience. In 0.4.0, you will be introduced to a formless eldritch entity that is slowly trying to devour and replicate the world around you. Examples of this have already started to manifest in places like the back of the tavern and some rooms in the prison (see images 1 and 2 above). So the rogue dungeon will become a being that you voluntarily enter in order to destroy the replications it has created, thus pushing its efforts back and preventing it from completely devouring the world. The inside of this entity will be comprised of fragments of locations that you have already experienced (ie, prison, cathedral, caverns, cliffs, forest) that can change on a room to room basis. Bosses will also appear based on whether or not you have defeated them already (including the archbishop). All of your recruited allies will enter the dungeon ahead of you and will randomly appear in specific locations. You can choose to have them help you (which will award large amounts of loyalty while they are active) or pass them by. You will also be entering the dungeon with no available runic abilities, having to find their stones inside the dungeon to enable their use for that run. There will be more than one boss in each run as well. Each time you kill a boss in this dungeon, the proceeding enemies and remaining bosses will become more difficult. The rewards from these runs are still being decided but I can assure you that they will be worth the effort!

Sex Scenes: More ally loyalty sex scenes are being finalized and will become available in 0.4.0. Notably they are with Chel, Zhedha and Ester.

New Items: I have been cranking out a whole batch of new toys for you to find and play with in this release (image 4 above). I focused more on the artifact and offhand categories this time around, though there are still a few new weapons and armors to discover.

Timeline: I am planning on having this release done and delivered by the end of February. Stay tuned for more announcements regarding this and any other changes that may come up.

Well that wraps up this weeks Punching Fridays! As always, keep on sending me your suggestions and questions, and until next week...

The Donut Abides