XFiction
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Version 0.3.03 is here!
🕑 Added 2021-06-01 02:47:30 +0000 UTCHello everyone,
It's the end of the month again and another version is here! This patch focuses on new content and scenes at the Inn, a final round of engine improvements as well as new art and backgrounds. See brief commentary here, and full patch notes further below:
1. The Inn:
While it may seem strange to go back an work at the Inn from Chapter 1 while we're in the middle of working on the story for Chapter 2, there is some important context here. The truth is that we had a number of requests pending for a very long time and we simply did not feel comfortable to push them back another couple of months. This project exists and continues to grow thanks to our dedicated supporters and we wanted to make sure that we are delivering on all the promised tier benefits. This is why this patch was a moment to catch up and deliver on this commitment.
While revisiting the Inn to work on the new scenes, we took the opportunity to bring the code and general narrative of the Inn to our new standard, which I'm hoping will bring more life to the action there.
2. Engine
I'll keep this short - a number of players were experiencing a rare but unpleasant bug, which was rooted in the engine itself rather than my specific code. This month a patch was released for the core engine (Harlowe), so I just had to update and bring this fix to everyone. While doing so, I took a day to make a few final improvements to how errors are displayed and handled and I'm happy to say that the final user version should now be completely clean - helping for an uninterrupted experience.
3. New art
Apart from the 3 new illustrated scenes in this patch, we are continuing the gradual implementation of backgrounds to our locations. You will find one more floor of The Crooked Elm has been furbished, as well as our favorite White Room. This is also our first reactive background - bringing a bit of simple but effective new tech. Elise's room now reacts as you clean it up. We are hoping to bring more of this in the future to really make the environments feel interactive.
Full patch notes below:
General
-added background art for Elise's room (tidied and untidied);
-added background art for the first floor of The Crooked Elm;
Lavius
-added new scene and variations when going with Lavius to his lair for a second time;
-added new art for this scene;
-added a new rare encounter after you've met the old woman for the second time;
-added new art for the second encounter;
The Inn
-reworked the way the main hub works, adding more granular changes to the descriptions of what everyone else is doing following your interactions. The inn should now feel more responsive and alive;
-added a new character - the old woman (only appears later in the story)
-added a new branch - milking at the farm;
-added illustration for this branch;
-added a new branch when revisiting the old woman after the farm encounter;
Chapter 1
Spider Amulet
-Elise's gift can now be transformed into a Spider amulet;
-Amulet reduces significantly the time requirements for all actions;
-Amulet can be worn or taken off at any time;
Patreon
-added the option to instantly obtain the speed amulet;
-added new scenes to the gallery;
Engine
-moved to Harlowe 3.2.2, which patches several core engine errors that were introduced in the previous patch (If you've seen undefined variable errors when loading, that was caused by custom macro data type being corrupted in specific instances)
-introduced a modification that prevents errors and debug functions from popping up during play if a non-critical error occurs;
Fixes
-fixed a few instances of traits being increased after closing a menu;
-Ionut's scene when washing the dishes correctly takes account of what Alex is wearing;
Comments
XFiction
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts, it does make a difference and it's always great to hear when people loved something! This month's patch will be moving to a different area of the game, but I'd love to revisit this storyline in the future and add more to it =)
John Do
Hey there! I just wanted to say that I love the new art update and Old Woman branch! The TF is absolutely delightful, and I'm actually wishing it could be developed further! Maybe there could be a recurring reason to return to the Old Woman's cottage, some kind of exchange of benefits, that might sap away the protagonist's independence? Either way, I want to thank you for a pleasant surprise and hope to see more!
