v0.0.0.9 (Pre-Alpha)

NPC OVERHAUL - Performance should be considerably better now that the NPCs have been rebuilt from the ground up. They are more detailed models (just two different ones), with a few different skin tones, and then randomized tunic and scarf color. (sometimes none at all.) They have a few different idle animations, including a special one for when they are injured. I also added some voices... they aren't great, but it adds a bit of confirmation to them. They will now speak when you tell them to follow, or wait. They will grunt when hurt, and scream when they are on fire. they will also let you know that they are offended by being put in danger, as well as say something accusatory when they die. They will also say something when they cross into the safe zone at the end of the level. (I also recorded some more lines for them regarding something yet to be revealed in v0.0.1.0)

NEW MOB - BATS - In sticking to the creatures of the night theme, bats have been added, and I am quite proud of them. I modeled, textured, rigged, and animated them from scratch, and the way they fly was a bit of an adventure to script. They only give downward force when they animate to do so. (Not including gliding which is a bit of a cheat.) They are tricky to hit, though their hit box is quite generous... if they were to hold still. They have 5 hp, compared to the spider's 10. They also drop a "Bat Heart" which is a buyable/sellable item which will come in handy to make potions. (planned for v0.0.1.0)

COLD ELEMENT - New energy element "Cold", comes with 2 abilities.
"Cold Snap" is a grenade that you throw, and when it lands explodes out creating an AOE that slows enemies and NPCs that enter it. They are given a "slowed" effect that lasts for 10 seconds regardless of how long the Cold Snap has left. This is a good way to gather enemies in one group if you want to bombard them all at once.

"Frost Bite" - Another cold grenade. This one explodes on impact dealing cold damage and slowing those it hits for 3 seconds.

FIRE ELEMENT - New energy element "Fire", comes with 2 abilities.

"Torch" shoots forward a jet of fire. Low cost (1), low damage (1), but ignites targets and deals 5 seconds of burning damage. Very satisfying to use IMHO.

"Fire Ball" - Shoots a huge fireball, high damage (10) which will one-hit kill anything on the road., and ignite those who survive. High cost (150) - meaning if you don't level up your fire element, one shot will completely drain your fire mana, and take out half your normal mana. Shooting twice in quick succession without proper leveling up will kill you. The ball of fire will stick around for 30 seconds, and will light anyone on fire that gets close enough to it. You can use that to your advantage if you feel so inclined.

INCANTATIONS - The "Magic Blast", and the "Rest" spells have been given a spoken incantation. This is due to the source material. Non-elemental magic has a spoken aspect to it that is required to do magic at a low level. The words spoken are spoken in Naa-Tsui. A dictionary that is pretty empty, as I come across things that need translating, I add it to the dictionary. In this case, I didn't have to add anything. All the words were already canon. Rest was also given a little effect, just so you know that it was triggered.

NEW LOW HEALTH INDICATORS - Now when your health gets below 75%, a border of red will come more and more opaque the lower your health gets. In addition, there is a heart beat sound that will get louder and louder the lower your health gets.

POI FRAMEWORK - If you find yourself in the wilderness. (I classify this as anywhere more than 100 meters from the road.) You will find that enemies are much more scarce, but much more difficult. There are also going to be POIs, or Points-Of-Interest. What those look like will vary, right now it is just an abandoned cart, a crate, and a chest (that you cannot interact with yet.) There will be more types in the future, and loot to be found. This the exchange for traveling in an area where it is easy to get overwhelmed. For every 200 square meters there are 5 potential POI locations. For now, only one of those will be occupied, and the rest will be empty. As I say, there is nothing significant there now, but in the future they should be worth pursuing

REPLACED - Enemy dying sounds. They were not very intimidating, now I think they are much more creepy.

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MOVED - Options menu from the main menu, to the pause menu. The options are only for sound at the moment, and they do not save when you exit the game. So if you make an adjustment, you will have to repeat it when you start the game again.

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LIMITED - Max city distance to 7km. Any more than that seems a bit too absurd. If you can make it 7km, you can make it 15!

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LIMITED - Max number of NPCs to 25. Any more than 25 NPCs in the game makes it run extraordinarily sluggish.

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FIXED - The issue with the skill tree not being completely representative of what was unlocked. It should be 100% now.

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KNOWN ISSUE - Sometimes when you die on the first run, NPCs will no longer have the ability to become panicked. Something to do with timing, but I'll figure it out later.

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WARNING - When you start this up for the first time, start a new game. I have no idea what happens if you try to load from an old save.