Hello! I'm Mr. Slate and here you can find the patch notes for version v.0.3.14 of the MoonWard Demo!
Before I continue, you can get the MoonWard Demo here!
1. Added input queueing.
A staple of action games, I've meant to add this feature for ages and never had the time. Now it's here and it makes combat feel immediately snappier! Try it out and let me know what you think!
2. Improved enemy AI and equipment.
Plenty of small changes to make the AI survive the player better. Some enemies gain a kick, others a limited block move. I gave a bit more defence to some and damage to others. In all fairness this is an ongoing process. I'm happy with the current version but I'm also aware there's plenty of room for improvements.
3. Added skip button to cinematics.
This is a quality of life addition that also helps the development process! How often does that happen! Skipping finishes the current scene and gives you all rewards you would get outside of skill checks. I think this is fair as I don't want to be making decisions for the player.
4. Improved cinematic visuals.
Added animations to the portraits and name panels. I've never liked the snap-change of icons so after a quick brainstorm I decided to add some animation to hide the abrupt switches. Slightly off topic - I'll be adding animations to more of the game as I go so don't be surprised to see similar improvements in the next patch.
5. Improved battle visuals.
Added more status icons and improved the two-handing UI. You can now see your off-hand weapon to the side of the main icon. I didn't like the faded out icon from last patch-faded out images usually means unavailable in UI speak. It was a bit ambiguous if the button was disabled or not. Also the off-hand item was obscured so you could forget what it was. I think the current way not only provides the needed clarity, but it also draws the eye to the defensive category button, where the special two handed move is.
6. Fixed Item Discovery skill.
The item discovery skill was broken or unfinished - not entirely sure. It now functions as expected. When maxed out, the skill will have up to 5 items given to you after a successful bounty. You can increase the amount of items by boasting. Getting all 8 items from a bounty is now possible in the game.
7. Re-balanced moves.
Played around with the timings and costs of most shield and weapon moves. There's too many to list here but generally, nerfed spears and hammers a bit and boosted shields.
8. Improved character creation.
You can now request a random name OR random build. It didn't occur to me until I was trying to record some gameplay that if I set my name but didn't care for the build I had to input my name every time. Now you can set your name and randomise your build or set your build and randomise your name.
9. Added penalties for blocking without meeting item requirements.
Using shields under requirements only had penalties to their attacks. Now it also lowers blocking stability and makes blocking slower.
10. Added off-hand attacks and icons.
Off-hand attacks appear in the second slot in the defensive moves tab when an item is held in the off-hand. Re-worked all off-hand attacks to make them distinct from main-hand attacks. Now they have their own names and descriptions that better indicate the intended purpose. They also come with their own icons to again show the differences between them and standard attacks. Added a Thrown off hand attack to the javelin weapon. This acts like thrown consumables but has a limit of 3 uses per encounter.
11. Sold items can be re-bought.
Selling items by mistake is now only monetarily punished.
12. Adjusted store item availability based on player character level.
Rebalanced the store item tables to give access to gradually stronger equipment as the player levels up as opposed to stronger items at level 0 to 5 than at level 5 to 10.
13. Added rank label in player character sheet.
Now you know your place in the MoonWard hierarchy. Admittedly this will be more useful in the full game as the demo ends when you reach rank two.
14. Fixed various displays. Fixed typos. Fixed bugs.
Plenty of all of those. Like I said last time - you'll just have to trust me on this.
Once again, thank you for your time! I work hard on these patches so please give the MoonWard Demo a try! I hope to see you again soon!
Have a great week!
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