Heyyo, it’s CraftedCircuitry again.

It’s been a bit longer than usual as a lot is going on behind the scenes. I decided to update the demo with the newest visuals, mechanics, and other various changes to get this game to closer to what I want this game to be. You can Download it now on the Deep Dark Wrath page and see the updated look and feel of the game!

TL;DR - Big Updates, Optimizations, Lots of Behind-the-Scenes stuff going on, Fireball

v0.4.8 - Cutscene Revision

I decided to re-attempt the Cutscene as the first iteration was just not good the more I repeated it. The more I changed little things, the more it just didn’t give me the vision I want for the ending again. I decided to really set the stage and make sure that the things I want shown are clearly stated in the cutscene. It’s as long as the first one, but the content and vibe I’m wanting to give the player should be much clearer now.

v0.4.9 - Optimization

Optimization, Optimization, Optimization is the name of the game. I decided to really crack down on what’s been making the game struggle as I’m also testing it(and just playing it) on my phone for the future Android release. I decided to reduce the lighting everywhere as much as I can, having a max of 5 to 6 Wrath lights, even going as far as totally removing lights from an area, and more to make performance better. Of course, I also tried my best not to impact the visuals I want for each area.

I’m very much ready to re-do the photos and video material in my various socials now with the updated visuals of the game.

The Big v0.5 - Rebinding

After much trials and tribulations, I finally added some proper Partial Controller Support and Keyboard and some Controller Remapping. You still need a mouse to rebind inputs but the gameplay and most menus are fully capable of being played on Controller, or even just no mouse. I sadly cannot test controllers as I don’t currently have any controller on hand, so whether the controls are working flawlessly is not certain.

The Inventory Lag is FINALLY QUELLED. I actually had the code ready for it but I hooked it up to a timer processor that kinda emulates an Update() or Process(), instead of just going for a Signal-based processor. From the lag that got my phone to 10 FPS from 60 FPS and my non-VSync PC to 600 FPS from 1000 FPS, it’s now a more stable 55-60 FPS and a 1000 FPS. Absolutely amazing, not too big of a change but this should make the menu-ing experience of the main gimmick of the game much better.

The last few export updates were also just testing and doing a lot more juicing to the game, adding extra effects and SFX when Enemies are defeated, Crates are destroyed, etc. I also added a bit better UX stuff, running around the Safe Area might not be a lot of players’ cup of tea and starting the game without a main menu can be a bit jarring if someone wanted to setup Settings first so I added some extra UX changes to the game. All of these to make the game more polished and ready for the public.

v0.5.1 - Abandon Runs

I decided to also add an Abandon Button during Dungeon Runs. Personally, I actually ‘abandon’ the game when I forget something, close the game fully, wait for it to load again, and make sure everything is OK. So just like Monster Hunter, I decided to add this functionality so I wouldn’t have to go through the loading again. A bit of feature creep I’ll say but I think it’s a beneficial quality of life. Updated some more UI stuff as well.

v0.5.2 - UI and Screen Compatability

I’ve decided to make the game full-screen and wide-screen compatible, making it a lot more polished. This may look simple but this change took a whole day because I didn’t do it beforehand. So this is a big note to self for future me, to always anchor your UI properly from the get-go so making it screen compatible will be infinitely easier.

v0.5.6 - Fireball

The Fireball is not available in the Demo, it’s a Full Release mechanic.

Don’t worry, don’t worry, this is the final feature creep before the final release. Hollow Knight’s Vengeful Spirit was just too much on my mind that I wanted to give my Adventurer a ranged option to give a little bit more variety. Trying to balance Fireball and other Enchanted Cards, add more juiciness, and bugfix various things also happened during the versions not mentioned.

V0.5.11 - Oracle Burst

The Final Demo Update, and basically almost my vision of the Full Release. I decided to buff cards that didn’t seem as powerful, with the biggest change of the Oracle Cards giving a random Level 2 stat boost as well. This should make Oracles an absolute upgrade.

I also tried Baked Lighting, and sadly ended up in a much worse state so I just reverted and tried to lessen some more lights when not needed. In my last attempts to fully fix the Enchanted Compendium lag, I decided to cheat it a little and make the whole building unshaded so it’s not affected by light.

The Future

Phew, these past few weeks had big updates and progress. Making the game as perfect as I want to be is nearing, and making new marketing material is going well. It’s only a matter of time until Deep Dark Wrath finally releases. There’s still some little things I have to add and polish, but the demo is pretty much a good representation of what the Full Release will be.

It has been CraftedCircuitry, signing off for now. Download the Updated Demo if you want to see its new look and some neat new features!