Version 0.820c

Teddy

Developer
Staff member
Summary: Don't invite Rick Astley because this update will totally desert you!

Recommended level: 23-25

Update Description

Note: This is one of those real Frontline updates, where sounds are missing, some graphics are placeholder etc! The gameplay should hold up well, though!

About the desert

Finally there's some new Story Mode stuff, and it's the next area: Dragonbone Dunes (aka the desert)!

The role of the desert in terms of pacing is a bit different than how we did for Seasonne and Mt Bloom. The reason why is that Tai Ming itself was so very different from the other temples!

For one, Tai Ming was very NPC-heavy. This put us in a situation where players who leave Tai Ming might feel that the next part of the game seems like a ghost town in comparison. Since this is the final non-temple area in the game, and is supposed to be this bustling trade hub, we really didn't want that! In the end, we made over 60 NPCs for the desert and its port town.

Another thing we felt was that Tai Ming pushed the story forward into a place where another forced mini-dungeon (like the Toy Factory or Lurifix quest line in Mt Bloom) would be weird pacing wise. Still, if the desert just had a lot of NPCs but no gameplay content, that would be bad as well.

Because of this, we decided we'd shift the main/side content balance a bit for the desert, with a slightly more streamlined main quest (still with a couple of bosses), but more side content to do instead. This way, people who felt Tai Ming left them yearning for a more traditional gameplay/story pace can go through it relatively quickly, and people who want to spend more time in the desert area can do so with the side quests and secrets!

That means this Frontline update is a bit unusual, as well. For the other areas, we first released only the main quest and no side content, but since the side content is a more integral part of the experience, we decided to add a portion of the side content to the Frontline patch!

Of course, since this is the first Frontline patch of the area, we're going to polish things up a bit and also add more stuff to do in coming updates, before shipping it all in one big lump to Stable.

Hope you all have a good time in Dragonbone Dunes!

Next Up: As always we'll be fixing bugs, and then we'll add a bunch more side content to the desert (including some obvious stuff like giving the cards art and effects, elite enemies, fishing and content for the shops). After that we'll put it all on the Stable branch and sail away to the next temple!

PATCH NOTES

Hotfix 0.820c

  • Added some polish to NPC behaviors in Port Monnaie
  • The Cacute aggressive state now reverses if you leave them alone for a while
  • Perfect guarding the first tick of the Solem laser now interrupts the attack
  • Perfect guarded Cacute projectiles now move faster and deal significantly more damage to enemies
  • Fixed a number of multiplayer bugs in the desert
  • Bees no longer spawn en masse outside of bounds in Pillar Mountains

Hotfix 0.820b

Added some reset commands!
/desertreset - entire desert
/desertmainreset - main storyline only
/desertsidereset - side quests and side content only
/marino2reset - the marino fight
/solgemreset - the sol-gem fight
/farmareset - the Farmamera fight

Additions

  • The desert and its storyline are now accessible
Changes
  • Balance: Chain Lightning's gold charge damage has been increased
  • Balance: Earth Spike's damage has been slightly decreased
  • Balance: Meteor's damage has been slightly increased on silver and gold
  • Balance: Enemies now build up stun resistance a short period after being stunned, preventing chain stunning
Bug Fixes
  • Fixed a skill-related underflow bug
 
Last edited:

TsReaper

Boar
This is really the most bug-free patch so far, with only the following minor bugs:

1. A minor visual bug of a pressure plate in the first map of the desert.
bug1.png

2. When talking to Candy during the museum quest right after giving out the ingredients, she will still ask the player to collect root of Kingweed and some other stuff.
 

KoBeWi

Jumpkin
Really cool update, totally worth waiting :naniva:

Not without issues though.

First one is the rewind block at mirror puzzle. It's too close to puzzle and I triggered it accidentally a lot.
I also managed to break the puzzle, by making the block "go back" on a wall tile.
paDwXtJ.png

No idea how this happened, but it was like some wrongly recorded step made the block stuck inside wall during rewind. I was able to fix it by rewinding further.

Second one: this is probably first area with flying enemies and multi-level map. The issue that happens is that Sand Ravens can fly on lower level next to ledge where you stand on and you can't attack it. I just found it weird. If I'm next to bird, I should be able to hit it with sword.

Third one is something I knew would happen since ruins were teased. There's a glass behind the Sun Gem pedestal, but it doesn't shatter when the boulder falls. It would be nice visual touch if it did.

And last thing is description of Sand Raven. At the end there's a "Barbaric!" part. It would be better as "Absolutely barbaric!", unless it's intended.
 

matissimo

Green Slime
1. I don't know why, but veggies aren't spawning, so I cannot get them as pet anymore (good thing, that I've got their card during bossfight)
2. Solem can shoot lasers through walls. It's not really fair.
 

res7less

Jumpkin
Love the new stuff of course! I even wish there were more, more, MOAR sidequests. But I know those are nice-to-have while taking time to do, so it's understandable.

Here are some things while playing and translating:

- Laughed out loud when seeing Mallet's bridge repair. This is exactly how things in Russia are fixed. :D
- Candy keeps her quest text after giving her the ingredients for sunscreen (TsReaper covered that already)
- While Marino's Rapier description is quite funny, one has to also consider that he fought against us twice
- There's no mention of his rapier when talking to him in the Collectors HQ
- Ancient Pendant and Sailor Hat descriptions describe special effect very directly, which is unusual compared to all other items with special effects
- OnionDescription should say "Perks up and gives[...]"
- Onion sprite kinda looks much more like garlic than onion
- Is there no area for veggies after Farma battle or did I miss something? Got neither card, nor pet
- In Inscription_Ruin_Detailed01 you changed both "on" to "atop", but second "atop" should be "upon" like you did in Inscription_Ruin_TLDR01 as it describes an action
- In Cutscene_PennWryte_Autograph04, 11 of 12 it seems like we both missed something :D Second part of the sentence should also consider multiplayer and say "for it" or "for them" depending.
- Sinbad has no new dialogue after great-uncle's return. Although I guess it can be neglected as he's not on the farm and might have missed that.
- Where did the trinket merchant dude get Essences of Grindea?! They've gotta be fake! That scoundrel!

Much appreciation for all the content! It's awesome!
 
Last edited:

Teddy

Developer
Staff member
Thanks for the feedback guys! It's super helpful!

- Is there no area for veggies after Farma battle or did I miss something? Got neither card, nor pet

Oops! I found the issue in the code. Will upload hotfix soon!

Sinbad should also have a new dialogue (where he just talks about enjoying fishing) after letting Farmamera out, so if that doesn't trigger maybe something went wrong code-wise during the rescuing...
 
Last edited:

Teddy

Developer
Staff member
Added some reset commands!

/desertreset - entire desert
/desertmainreset - main storyline only
/desertsidereset - side quests and side content only
/marino2reset - the marino fight
/solgemreset - the sol-gem fight
/farmareset - the Farmamera fight
 
Ok, I’ve finally gotten around to trying out the latest update. First of all, it’s great to see that I have a fan in Sally! Second, I laughed pretty hard at the dialogue from the pianist in the Saloon. Because it’s so very true... (saloon.mp3)

General thoughts: I like the pacing and general flow as a follow up to Tai Ming. I think the character portraits are great, particularly throughout the Port! Speaking of the port, I loved the liveliness (wandering NPCs, great animations, windblown effects) and overall vibe. The Marino battle was a lot of fun, and I’m glad the battle drags out longer than the first fight (as I happen to quite like the song)!

I didn’t notice any major bugs (the music cut out once), and after playing I’m definitely psyched to finished the writing and recording for the next track I’ve been working on :)
 
Last edited:

Jargalo

Rabby
Uh... unless I'm dumber than I expected, I can't actually progress past Dragonbone dunes - there's a pile of rocks after the phase plate leading to the carpenter. Also, are we supposed to be able to complete the dragon puzzle? Mandrake won't get out of the way. Uh, also, is there supposed to be something after the math caves? o_O

Edit - oho, I am just real dumb - don't mind me
 
Last edited:

FrozenFlame

Green Slime
When I used the /farmareset code, and finished the fight... the cave that you use to leave has no height to it.
Meaning I can walk up and down cliffs as if there was nothing in the way. The bug ends when you leave the room.
 
Top