Hey everyone,
Thanks to the playtesters and community for another big round of reports. This update is primarily focussed on Adventure mode rather than Fortress mode (see previous update). I've added a new game way to play in Adventure mode, namely the Hardcore setting, which joins Wayfarer and Permadeath modes to provide a more spicy challenge for those who want it. Any time your character is in The Old Mouth trading hub area, the play mode of that character is shown as a little badge icon so that everyone can see what kind of run you're doing. There's a lot of stuff in this update, once again all thanks to your dedicated reporting and testing, without which it just wouldn't be Roguefort as we know it today. So, thanks as always everyone and apologies that I've been super busy with the final stretch before Early Access launches, and haven't had a chance to respond to each individual thread and discussion. As usual, I've credited everyone with their bug reports and suggestions, which you'll find below.
Tim
Three ways to play6
- Going Rogue and The Crossing offer three runs to choose from: Wayfarer, Permadeath and Hardcore. Each has a badge and one plain line saying what it does.
- Permadeath is the run that used to be called Classic. Only the name has changed, and it's still the default.
- Hardcore is one life with every rule fixed at its harder setting. Hunger and thirst can't be turned off, Self-damage is locked on and your own blast can kill you, and Spare townsfolk is locked off.bervahn
- Importing a world from a save file takes it out of Hardcore, and the Backup tab says so before you choose the file.
- Your run's badge shows on the Load Game list. In the Old Mouth it sits over your head and beside your name in the chat list.
- Looking at another player in the Old Mouth tells you their run, the day they've reached and their origin.
Quests and the world map4
- Every open quest shows its place on the world map. The one you're tracking keeps its pin, and the rest are marked dimmer with their names..knifeesamv123
- You can track a quest straight from its mark on the world map.
- Investigate quests give you a search area in place of the exact spot. You get a ring on the map and a direction in words until you find the place.
- Travelling to a search area that sits on a lake or bare rock takes you to dry ground inside the ring.
Talking to people5
- Walking away from someone closes the talk, and only one talk window shows at a time.danekjovaxutc5
- Left click anywhere in a conversation box does what Enter does.
- Finished lines stay up long enough to read before anything replaces them, and first-time hint cards wait until the talk is over.
- Innkeepers and shopkeepers answer about their own trade as "I" when you Ask the way, and tell you when the inn has no rooms.danekjovaxutc5
- People you meet on the road have the same Look line as a townsperson, and you can ask them the way too.danekjovaxutc5
Village tutors7
- Every Drillmaster has a straw dummy to point at. About one village in five had none.danekjovaxutc5samv123
- Lessons count what you've already done. If you took a job before meeting the Reeve it counts, and the same goes for trading, planting and fishing.
- When a tutor hands you something, the log says who gave it, what it was and where anything that didn't fit went.
- The Angler coaches you inside the fishing game and the Card Player does the same at the Wheels of War table, each with one short line that names your own key or button.
- Your first fish for the Angler is always one the starter rod can land.
- Where a village has no water nearby, the Angler says where the nearest is and points the tracker at it.
- Village tutors refuse to teach a player the village fears, and teach again once that wears off.aj01657
Pets and hired soldiers7
- Stay Back is in the pets panel beside the stances, with a plain line saying what each order does. The new keys are listed on the panel, in Help and in Controls..knifee
- Pets and hired soldiers keep off braziers and flames, both while walking and when they arrive somewhere with you.samv123
- Summoned sprites, ranged pets, hired archers and channelers need a clear line of sight to attack. They had been hitting things through walls.danekjovaxutc5
- A pet standing in a one-tile passage steps aside or swaps places to let a resident through..knifee
- Pets that get stuck behind something rejoin you.
- Well-cooked meals tame and feed whatever the plain cooked meal does.danekjovaxutc5
- The pet right-click menu fits on one screen.
Items and the pack14
- New items join the stack you already hold, including a stack marked Retained. Stacks that were already split stay as they are.danekjovaxutc5
- Anything that doesn't fit in your pack is set down on your side of the wall.danekjovaxutc5
- Demolishing a chest with a full pack sets the rest at your feet, where it used to be lost. The warning says so too.
- Gear taken from you in the lock-up is all handed back on release. Worn gear could vanish, and gear left on the cell floor could be lost on a save.
- A far right click on a bush, tree or rock walks you over and gathers it, and the same works for drinking or filling at a well, barrel or shore.nalathnidragon
- Crafting a fly lure while holding a two-handed weapon leaves the lure in your pack.nalathnidragon
- Lockpicks, Master Lockpicks and Shadow Oil had Manna printed on them. Only food and cheese restore Manna, which also means Shadow Oil has lost the 5 it really did give.nalathnidragon
- Village shops that have sold their last bag tell you where the next size is sold.samv123
- The seed press names each wild-only mushroom you're carrying and says why it won't take it.elfietheesp55
- Fish cards and the Gut button say what gutting that fish gives you.nalathnidragon
- Old boots and tangled line get a proper catch line, so it's "an old boot" now.nalathnidragon
- War cheese on your belt keeps its BELT mark in view, and its card says "On your belt".tthfry
- The Transport box names Shift+I for Ride and Stable, and that key works from the bag.danekjovaxutc5
- Slot boxes on the inventory figure sit on the part of the body that's drawn, and four polearms the figure never held show in its hands.trespiratesque
Combat, magic and cards6
- Chained spells like Cheddar Shot draw one leg for each hop.thesquirrel_74982
- Healing someone at half health or less earns spell mastery whether or not there's a foe nearby.thesquirrel_74982
- Night Damage and the other conditional damage stats say "weapon" on them, because they never applied to spells.nalathnidragon
- Wild creatures that haven't sensed you wander on their own way. They had been heading straight for you from off screen, so expect fewer fights to find you on the road.danekjovaxutc5
- Market Day can be played from a full hand in Wheels of War.trespiratesque
- A legendary beast's trace line shows in the log in the Legendary orange.trespiratesque
Towns, cities and the land12
- Capitals stay the same size on every load. Roquelle could come back at half its size the second time you loaded in one sitting.arkhaven
- Walking up to a capital is much smoother. The city is prepared a little at a time while you travel towards it.danekjovaxutc5
- Furnishings inside a roofed building are hidden from outside.arkhaven
- Trees standing behind a canopy you can't see are drawn.danekjovaxutc5
- Barrels you've searched stay open once they're out of sight.danekjovaxutc5
- Bushes stand on soil and never on the cobbles beside them.danekjovaxutc5
- Guards, traders and wildlife keep off the ground around a base you've built in open country.danekjovaxutc5
- In build mode, the town-limits tint is worked out for each tile, so it matches where a click will be refused.danekjovaxutc5
- Graves name a trade the way the Look line does, so it reads "marsh fisher", and a full cemetery keeps every grave inside its fence.aj01657
- Silenthold has its notice board..knifee
- Ground beside a dungeon mouth stays the same after a load.
- Villages in 2.5D rebuild their roofs in less than half the time, and the performance report says how much of each step went on the 3D picture.love_love63
Interface17
- Customize HUD has A- and A+ on each text window, so the quest tracker, message log, companions, dungeon header and the rest can each have their own text size.danekjovaxutc5
- Bg- and Bg+ beside them fade a window's background, starting with the message log.tthfry
- HUD windows in their default places make room for each other, so the mount badge, companion plates, dungeon vitals and message log stay clear of the bars at every text size.tthfry
- Controller and keyboard players can hide and show the bottom bar from the Panels menu.tthfry
- Every row of the title menu fits above the footer at the large font on a Steam Deck.tthfry
- The Wheels of War table fits its window without scrolling at 1280x800 and above.
- Danger level stays on screen after loading a save.samv123
- Town introduction cards stay inside the playfield and are never cropped.rubberychicken
- Settings descriptions share one layout, with one option to a line, the Default last and keys shown as you've bound them.rubberychicken
- Turn count has three choices, Always, If room or Hidden.rubberychicken
- Controls rows with many keys are readable. Each key appears once, with a line saying which window it works in.rubberychicken
- The logo and main menu stay on the title screen when you move Visual Effects off Minimal.rubberychicken
- Italic text keeps its last letter in narrow boxes.rubberychicken
- The Community Chest's pack list has its room back. The two long "hidden" notices are one line of counts, with the reasons a hover away.danekjovaxutc5
- Detailed characters says what it does, which is eight facings when on and the original left-and-right sprites when off.palpablebrush26
- Causeway Braids shows your character's face again.trespiratesque
- You can resize the message log in Customize HUD in a small window at the large font.
Known issues4
- If you built inside a capital while it was squeezed to half size, those few spots keep the old layout with a visible seam. Everything you built is intact.
- Stepping through a village in 2.5D can still lag on some Windows machines. This build measures it better and trims one part of it.
- The Wheels of War table still scrolls in a 1024x640 window.
- The top bar wraps to three rows at the large font on a Steam Deck. Nothing overlaps.