Arcane Survival v0.11
Boars, new materials, workbench system & more
G’DAY!
It’s been a minute or two since my last vid, but I’ve been continuing to grind away on the game.
It’s currently in a closed alpha on Steam, so if you don’t have it yet you can request access via the Steam page. (I’m keeping the amount of people I let in for each test relatively low so I can get solid first-impressions data for each new update)
Speaking of updates, here’s what I’ve been cooking up for the next version. I figured I’d do these write-ups in between videos to keep ya posted.
v0.11 Changelog
(final thoughts for this update are at the end)
Improved the combat with the slimes. They've now got an anticipation animation for the attack and decreased damage so they’re a bit easier.
Also, you can now use the Slime’s drops to craft Condensed Slime, which I’m thinking will be the next tier above the flint tools. You can cook the recipe on the fire.
Added a new enemy into the game, the Boar.
He’s got a simple charge attack and hits like a truck.
He’s lacking polish on the animation / sfx front, but I figured I’d start pumping out a bunch of new enemies first before doing a polish pass on the existing ones (they’re very likely to change / evolve with time).
Created a new workbench system which lets me easily add new types of workbenches into the game.
This allowed me to create a Drying Rack which will eventually have a bunch of recipes related to hanging something up and waiting for it to dry out. Right now I’ve just got the Monster Flesh → Monster Jerky recipe.
Added Stone Shroom which grows stone and has a % chance to grow raw flint. This’ll be the early game source of stone + flint. This replaces the stone tree I had in earlier.
Added Stone Brick which is craftable on the campfire and used as a building material for the next tier of defense walls.
Build menu tag now flashes when a new recipe is available.
I wanted to put the sheen effect on it, similar to how I've done the workbenches, but it would've required a renderer rework that I'm not at all in the mood to do lol.
Unlocking recipes are now fully diagetic. Meaning that no text shows up when you unlock something. The game shows you by flashing ques to where the unlocked item is.
Added a check for outdated save files during startup (for existing players updating the game). You’re then asked to delete it, since with these major version updates I tend to get pretty cowboy-ish and often end up breaking the save file.
Quality of Life Improvements
When you lack ingredients for a workbench recipe, the text will be red so it’s easier to see instantly what you’re missing. (not yet implemented for the build mode recipes)
m.s - (midscript) If you’re actually reading this, it means you’re a real one. So if you don’t have access to the playtest on Steam yet, reply to this email and tell me how your day is going. I might just accidentally end up replying with a Steam key for you to redeem.
Made item pickups be physics-based and gave a nice lil particle for when it disappears into your inventory.
Removed the Sledgehammer and replaced it with an in-built destroy function via build mode.
Bugs Squashed
Fixed the sticky pickup item bug.
Fixed wooden sword not unlocking.
Fixed berry bushes not regrowing.
Fixed held cursor items being drawn behind the chest.
Fixed base area expanding all the way to the left side when base core is destroyed but walls are still up.
Fixed repairable structures not letting you repair a small amount.
Some Minor things
The world desaturates when you’re hungry.
Can now acknowledge a flashing recipe in build mode
Build mode now shifts the world to a colder colour
HUD gets hidden when in build mode
Removed non-unlockable items from the game that don’t yet fit into the design of the unlock progression.
Balanced a few recipes
Balanced attack speed a bit
Red vignette shows for low health
Increased sickle damage
Reduced the cost of the chest
Can scroll when in inventory now
Final thoughts
I’ve got some big changes coming up with this next version. The playtest I just ran with v0.11 pointed out some pretty big fundamental issues that’ve been nagging at me for a while, so I’m gonna do my best to address them in the next one.
Until then, wishing you the best of luck with whatever projects you’re working on!
Keep on crushing.
-randy
p.s - you can now hop in the discord server and opt-in to get pinged for new versions of the game or for when a new youtube viddy drops