Summary: Now everyone can get wet and scared on the Lost Ship!
Recommended level: 25-30
About the Update
(This patch basically moves the Frontline content to the Stable branch - so Frontline players don't need to read this)
Players on the Stable branch can finally access the Lost Ship and the surrounding extra content!
Something to note: this release might be a bit less stable than regular Stable updates, since I've fixed a lot of bugs that hasn't passed through Frontline (and sometimes fixing a bug might lead to unintended behavior elsewhere - we have all seen the classic programming movie Butterfly Effect). The reason is because I added a pretty big feature to the Translation Tools that I realized would break the game for all those who play with translations if not everyone got their game updated at the same time. I apologize in advance, and will be keeping a close eye on things so I can fix any issues as quickly as possible!
The added translation functionality is the ability to use conditionals in most MiscTexts. Basically every string generated during gameplay can use them, so all speech bubbles etc should work, but item and monster description won't.
@TsReaper @BlueOnion439 Since I can't test perfectly with Chinese and Korean languages, please comment if you notice issues with the Translation Suite with this new functionality and I'll try to get it fixed as fast as possible!
Soundtrack Update
The soundtrack should update sometime today to include all the new tracks!
DRM-Free Update
The DRM-free version on the Humble Store will be updated next week! Since that installer does not automatically update, I want to observe the build for at least a few days to make sure as few bugs as possible slip into that installer.
What's next?
A few weeks back we had a discussion about what was left to do. We are, after all, at the doorstep to the end of the game - main story wise, at any rate!
As many of you know, there are a number of "holes" in the game right now: promises with no conclusion, like those wobbly plants, the house visible from Evergrind East, the strange stump in Seasonne, and so forth.
In essence, the four big parts left to do are: Final Dungeon, Game Finale, Arcade Mode Finish and Filling The Holes. The Game Finale will be very content heavy so we feel it's best to separate it from the dungeon leading up to it.
Initially, we were really intent to steam ahead and go with the Final Dungeon, but thinking about it some more we actually didn't like that approach. If we kept on thinking like that, would Filling The Holes be the last thing we did? That didn't seem very exciting, and might also inadvertently trigger people who have resolved to wait until the finished product to instead buy it early "since the story is finished", and getting a rather weird experience for someone expecting a finished game.
So instead we've decided to do things in the following order:
- Filling The Holes
- Arcade Mode (add Desert + Ghost Ship floors)
- Final Dungeon
- Game Finale (including a proper "finish line" for Arcade Mode runs)
- Release!
- Post Release*
In other words: the next segment we'll be working on is resolving the "promises" found throughout the game! Some of you might feel a bit deflated since you're eager for the conclusion to the story, and we feel you (since we are, too), but unless we add these things now the timing will be even more awkward!
The filled in holes will arrive chopped up as several Frontline patches, and possibly even more than one Stable update, since many of them are small, self-contained systems, quests and areas that can be polished to Stable quality individually.
We've actually become quite excited about the coming segment, and hope we can make you happy with what comes out of it!
* Post Release content will range from balance changes to brand new content, as well as adding backer rewards for people who sent in their design requests late