Halloween Update Available Now!

As of last night the Halloween Update (Version 1.6) has been available.  I know I've done some dev logs on what I was working on so I'm gonna try and speed run through as much of the new content as I can.  Forgive me for reiterating prior posts though!

Running through in chronological order of how you're likely to experience them you'll first notice a brand new pond at Witch's house.

If you see bubbles like this in water, that's your cue that you can fish here.  If only you had a fishing rod.

You've also got a rock that you'll be able to break open later.  But before that you'll encounter a set of brand new mechanics.  An expansion to Taro Card events!

In the previous build, Tarot Events only occurred when you could make important choices that would alter the events of the story/quest you were on.  But now you'll find them in many more places.  Starting with battles!  If you notice an enemy twitching, get ready, because they'll be attempting a Reversal of Fate on you.  In these events you'll draw the Death card from the tarot deck and have to predict if the card will be in the Upright or Reversed position.  Call it correctly, and you'll avoid the enemy attack.  Get it wrong, and well, then it depends on a few factors.  Some enemies may just damage your armor, some may leave you with a status effect, and some others might go right for the kill.  Whether you try to finish off the enemy launching the attack, or try to defend against it is up to you.  Unfortunately this event was VERY last minute so it's not perfect yet, and enemies may try to initiate it even when you've already killed the beast that actually does the attack.  In that case the event plays out but no attack is made regardless of the card drawn.  Still I wanted you to get a taste of the system rather than wait even longer to include it.

But battles aren't the only place you'll find new uses for Tarot cards.  Right on Slime Road you'll find a new type of treasure with a silver lock.  Unlike a normal treasure, you'll have to try to break your way into the box, risking accidentally destroying the contents inside.  But if you succeed, you'll find an item pool even greater than the usual random treasures.  It's definitely worth the risk.  But will lady luck be on your side?

Reach the Merchant Camp to see a bit of remodeling and some brand new NPC's and side quests.  We've got a Fisherman and a Miner who will give you all the tools you need to explore these brand new mini games.  They also have loads of useful information should you speak with them.

Fishing is pretty simple.  Find a pool of water, grab your rod and you'll have your first choice.  What bait will you use?  Now not all fish made it into this update, but generally, the Lure will attract smaller fish.  The Warm Worm will bump that pool up to Small and Medium fish.  And each bait after that will eliminate the lowest tier, and include a higher tier, ending all the way at Behemoth class fish.  But for this demo Small and Medium are mostly what you'll find.  Just remember different biomes will have different finds.  A rare fish in the Witch's pond.  Special fish at the shoreline of the beach.  There's some fun flavor text there as well.  Once cooking is fleshed out in a later update, these fish will be LOTS more valuable to you as well.

The minigame itself is nothing crazy.  You've got a skill check that is easier or harder depending on the size/rarity of the fish, followed by a button mash segment to reel that sucker in.

With the quest from the Miner you'll now have access to the Abandoned Mine as well.  These caves are full of mineable rocks and materials, treasure chests and of course, monsters.  They're also dark.  The deeper you go, the harder it'll be to see.

Now that you've got a pickaxe though you can use it to bash open some rocks.  These will give a number of quick time event checks that will test your "accuracy."  Essentially the more you get right, the more Ore you can mine.  Fail even once though and the event will end.  As long as you get the first hit you'll always walk away with at least 1 resource.

And if you've got a torch on hand, you need not fear the darkness.  As long as you have one equipped your path will be lit up.  Venture in without one though?  Well...

You'll be in for a bad time.  A VERY bad time.

Speaking of the caves we've got a brand new enemy type that hangs out in these locations.  The Rocky Slime.  The biome has its own BG art (though a bit...hastily made I must admit.) These guys have a few quirks different from their squishy brothers so don't expect them to be push overs!

The main story has seen it's own tweaks as well.  We now have some more Chapter Title Cards.  Essentially once you accept the quest to restore the bridge you'll begin Chapter 4.  So Chapter 3 and 4 are variable in length.  Just depends on how much side quests you want to do.

Progress like normal and you'll bump into a fellow Hunter as usual.  Only this time he's got some voice acting as well.  That's right our male leads actually have voices.  If only this demo went far enough that they had their names revealed haha.

Speaking of the Sick Dude, I've also added a second Goddess Statue to his map.  Now you won't have to back track to the rest spot every time you want to purchase new skills for Red.  

The Shroom enemies outside have also seen a cosmetic upgrade with their tearing attack having some redrawn artwork.  Eventually each enemy will have their own variant/art for similar moves but for now the Shroom's version will be the default in all battles.

It comes in two flavors that are displayed at random.  I think they're much better than the placeholders from the prior build.

Once you've collected all the logs and defeated the Slime King it's not over yet.  Regroup with the Carpenter and you'll have to take on a hoard of enemies in a unique series of battles. I'd make sure you save before tackling this one!

Once that's done you'll be onto Chapter 5.  Now I'm sure you're wondering how many chapters are in the game.  The answer is 13.  So this demo only covers about 2 chapters.  While you do get to start chapter 5, it's only a very brief section.  But lets see whats beyond the bridge anyways!

A strange cat girl hanging out in a tree above.  And oddly fun music playing?  Also my apologies I did NOT proofread this section enough and my broken keyboard left a LOT of duplicate N's as I noticed today...my bad.  I'll fix that in the next patch!

But yeah if you've seen the previous Devlog you'll know this ain't just any cat girl, but the one and only Cheshire.  Detachable head and all.

She'll invite you to her wonderfully named shop which is sadly not entirely functional.  No rare items for you yet but since you've conquered the only boss in this demo you hardly NEED anything like that.  You can ask her for puns though.  Go on, try it.  No voice acting in this scene however.  Not yet at least.

In terms of NSFW content there's a few new events.  Complete the Fishermans quest and do at least one lewd event at the camp to unlock a special chain with him.  Also the general camp event has had a 3rd stage added.  Aside form that though you can also complete the Medicine quest at long lost.  So head over to the camp and talk to the Alchemist about getting some meds for our Sick Boy.  If you've unlocked the Flash skill you can have a special optional scene here.

And with the areas beyond the bridge now accessible you can actually find the rare flower you'll need to have Witch brew a special potion for you. You've got a choice here and one of them may lead to an extensive yuri love making session.  But I won't tell you which so good luck with that!

And that's PRETTY much it.  There's tons of little small things as well.  New armors, new magic spells, tweaks and enhancements.  Some unmentioned new enemies and sprites (The Abomination secret enemy had a MAJOR glow up with her sprite.).  And of course theres a final scene once you progress far enough north that leaves you with a cliffhanger ending.  But I'll let you discover that for yourself.

At the moment there are no concrete plans for a November update.  I just don't think I'll be able to do anything substantial in one month alone.  Especially since I need to finalize the design of a new major character and make a lot of new enemy types with the Crow themed bandits.  But I'd like to have something out before the end of the year if possible.  

As always I greatly appreciate anyone who tries my game out.  Please leave me a rating to support the game.  Or consider supporting me on Patreon so I can keep adding more voice acting and original music to the game.  If you encounter any bugs do get in touch with me so I can try and fix them!  Thanks so much for all the support so far.  And I hope you'll continue to enjoy your time with Red!