Caves of Qud (now at Early Access Feature Friday #131) $

[getter77]

Feature Friday #28   

*We improved the game summary (death) screen.
-Made the text more sentence-like.
-Added a 'Chronology' section that displays significant events in your character's life, including:
--storied items you discovered
--named creatures you slew or offered gifts to
--lairs you discovered
--mutations you gained
--cybernetics you installed
--baetyls you appeased
--books you read
--diseases you caught
--diseases you cured
--times you gave a book to Sheba Hagadias
--times your tongue rotted or regrew
--times you wered sucked into a space-time vortex
--times you drank lava
--and others
-Added a 'Final message log' section that displays the last 30 lines of the message log leading up to your death.
-Added a scrollbar to the game summary screen.
-Fixed pagedown not working on the game summary screen.
-Re-enabled the saving of tombstone files with game summary info.
*Added an option to grab the current game's world seed. Press 'Esc' then 'W'.
*Added some color to the overworld jungle tiles.
*Fixed an autosave exception when it was triggered by entering the world map
*Added new tiles for the Barathrumites: Otho, Jacobo, Mafeo, Sparafucile, Dardi, and Aloysius.
*Added new floor tiles to the Six Day Stilt cathedral.
*Added a stand-in zone for the next upcoming region: the fungal jungle.

[unormal]

I'll update humble with this build if it's stable over the weekend.

[getter77]

Feature Friday #29

*We got basic mouse support working again (it's a work in progress). To turn it on, from Options, enable 'Allow mouse input' under User Interface.
-Left click on a non-adjacent tile to move to it.
-Left click on an adjacent tile to contextually attack, use, or move.
-Left click on yourself to wait a turn
-Right click on a tile to look.
-You can click conversation options.
-You can click a tile when choosing a direction.
*We added a starter UI for mouse and touch-driven controls (it's a work in progress). To try it out, from Options, enable 'Show Overlay User Interface' under User Interface.
*We added preliminary support for a pannable, zoomable view that centers on your character (it's also a work in progress). To try it out, from Options, enable 'Allow map to be zoomed and panned' under User Interface.
*Added character level to the game summary.
*You can no longer mod an item with the same mod multiple times.
*Variables such as '=Name=' are now correctly replaced in conversations.
*Autoexplore will now halt when an enemy attempts to attack you with a missile weapon, regardless of if it hits or not
*Fixed an issue where liquid colors weren't updating after mixing liquids.
*Metamorphic polygel no longer creates bugged item clones.
*Nature's going wild over in the fungal jungle [extremely prototypical].
-A dense canopy of spores makes overworld navigation near impossible.
-A new liquid, primordial soup, is oozing from the ground. When mixed with other liquids in large quantities, it.... reacts.
-3 curious species of lichen were discovered: acid-secreting lichen, honey-secreting lichen, and lava-secreting lic

[unormal]

You can buy it from Humble DRM Free, no need to contribute to Gaben`s pile of golden Cadillacs. Mind you, they still have to update the version there (must crank up my pestering campaign up to 11)

I totally updated it

(but you can't actually buy it on Humble at the moment, we have to get the full store site setup and we pulled the widget almost immediately after launch when we realized how much of a pain it was to update. Since they made it easier to update now, I'll probably put the widget back up.)

[getter77]

Feature Friday #30

*Added new barathrumite: Q Girl.
*Tweaked the quest 'Decoding the Signal' to include an extra step. You must talk to Q Girl now.
*Moved Sparafucile across the workshop.
*Added chronology entries for visiting certain named locations.
*You are no longer asked to empty a container if it contains a liquid identical to the liquid you're trying to fill it with.
*We enhanced the prototype UI for mouse and touch-driven controls.
-The overlay message log ['Show overlay message log' option] now includes all the info from the sidebar.
-The overlay UI ['Show overlay user interface' option] now includes a set of clickable buttons to perform a variety of actions.
-Added a new option, 'Show overlay directional compass'. It displays a navigational compass, useful for mouse or touch navigation.
-Added an 'alt' button to the compass that can be toggled for alternate button use. Currently, the only alternate is force-attacking on move.
-Certain overlay buttons are now accessible from menus.
-Added full mouse support for picking a target.
-Added full mouse support for firing a missile weapon.
-Added support for mousewheeling through lists.
-You can now click, drag, and pan while 'l'ooking at something.
-Fixed some popup menus that wouldn't respond to mouse clicks.

[getter77]

Feature Friday #31

*Added a prototype design for biomes, which alter the flora and fauna of maps and appear procedurally throughout the overworld and underground each game. Biomes have multiple grades and are generated with gradient noise maps. To try them out, from the Options menu, select 'Enable unfinished biome content' under Debug. We'll be refining them in coming weeks.
-Added 3 grades of a slime-based biome: slimy, slime-drenched, and slime bog.
-Added 3 grades of an asphalt-based biome: tarry, tar pools, and flaming pits.
-Added some creature templates for creatures generated in slime-based biomes: web-toed, slimy-finned, and slime-spitting.
-Added some creature templates for creatures generated in asphalt-based biomes: kindlethumbed and firethumbed.
-Added a special reward in slime bogs (hint: it's a puddle of rare liquid).
-Added a special reward in flaming pits (hint: fossils).
*Added an option for smaller overlay buttons: From the Options menu, choose 'Show overlay user interface (small buttons)' under User Interface.
*Added mouse support to the main menu and some character creation screens.
*Enhanced framework for more mouse support in the coming weeks.

[getter77]

Feature Friday #32

*Added tiles for the following creatures.
-rhinox
-yempuris phi
-disciple of the sightless way
-novice of the sightless way
-sewage eel
-ironshroom
-lurking beth
-yonderbrush
-agolmaggot
-plastronoid
-rimewyk
-voider
-spitting slug
-Slog of the Cloaca
-Jotun, Who Parts Limbs
-Fjorn-Kosef, Who Knits the Icy Lattice
-Haggabah, Who Plies the Umbral Path
*Added 3 grades of a rust-based biome: rusty, rust-shrouded, and rust bog.
*Added some creature templates for creatures generated in rust-based biomes: rusted (for robots) and qudzu symbiote (for living creatures).
*Added a rust-chewed reward in rust bogs.
*Biomes no longer appear in certain preset locations such as Joppa, Golgotha, and Bethesda Susa.
*Reduced the density of slime and asphalt pools in slimy and tarry biomes.
*Added a new plant to the slime biomes: scumgrass.
*Maps align much more cleanly now. If a tile is open at the edge of a map, you can proceed to the adjacent map (under most circumstances).
*Added an HP bar to the prototype overlay UI.
*The overlay message log and status bar are now seperate UI options ['Show overlay message log' and 'Show overlay status bar'].
*Fixed some memory and crash issues during character creation.
*Fixed some issues with the mouse cursor jumping around.
*Fixed an issue in the asphalt mines that caused stairs to sometimes not be generated.

[getter77]

Feature Friday #33

Qud just got more picturesque. Added new tiles for the following creatures and objects.
chrome pyramid
booster bot
scrap shoveler
ice frog
leech
bloated leech
segmented mirthworm
quillipede
scorpiock
spark tick
irritable tortoise
small, medium, and large boulders
campfire
copper, silver, and gold nuggets

Qud just got more descriptive. Added new descriptions for the following creatures and objects.
girshling corpse
glowfish corpse
young ivory
goatfolk
hide-sheathed hermit
horned chameleon
knollworm
knollworm jerky
plated knollworm
ice frog

The wire strand description now makes it clear that it's copper wire.
Added a hallucinogen to the fungal jungle (more info to come).
The fungal jungle no longer has procedural biomes.
Roads and salt water rivers no longer appear in the fungal jungle.
Fungal jungle maps now generate with their lichen-fueled pools pre-secreted.
A prodigy mushroom scientist has taken residence in the fungal jungle, half a dimension over.
Fixed an issue causing the High Scores screen to be blank.
Fixed an issue causing the Joppa graveyard fence to be removed along the border of the map.

[getter77]

Feature Friday #34

    Added tiles for the following creatures.
        salt kraken
        Issachari raider
        Issachari rifler
        twinning lamprey
    Qud's cartographers made great strides this week, discovering not only that the fungal jungle looks nothing like it was conjectured, but also that it's located in an entirely different region of Qud.
        The fungal jungle was moved to a more southernly location.
        The fungal jungle overland terrain tiles were changed.
        Added a few new grass tiles.
        Liquid-secreting lichens were renamed to liquid weeps. For example, 'acid-secreting lichen' -> 'acid weep'.
        Added more weeps! Water, cider, gel, asphalt, salt, oil, wine, and slime.
        As it turns out, there are mushrooms in the fungal jungle. Added spotted shagspooks, dandy caps, and brooding puffs.
        Mushrooms take on the pigment of their nearby weeps.
        Oozes no longer hate fungi.
        The hallucination effect was changed. It should induce fewer headaches now.
    Added support for pinch gestures.
    Add mouse support to Select Arcology and Caste screen for true kin.
    Hovering over conversation choices now highlights them.
    Fixed left click not closing text input dialogs.
    Fixed some issues that caused stairs not to generate in Bethesda Susa.
    Fixed an issue that caused overland encounters not to trigger.
    Reduced saved game file size by ~60%!
    Popup dialog choices are now clickable.
    Fixed an exception when applying the Rusty creature template to robots.

[getter77]

Feature Friday #35 

    We made some optimizations to memory usage and saved games. NOTE: This patch breaks save compatibility. If you want to continue playing your old saves, switch to the 'previousstable' branch (Right-click Caves of Qud in your Steam library > Properties > Betas > select 'previousstable').
        Reduced the size of saved games by about 80%!
        Reduced the time to freeze and thaw zones by about 80%!
        Reduced the size of frozen zone files by about 80%.
        Reduced the save size of most underground levels by an extra 30% or so.
        Greatly reduced the save overhead of commonly stacked inventory objects.
        Reduced memory usage by about 75MB.
    Added tiles for the following creatures.
        pygmy forager
        pygmy runt
        pygmy blowgunner
        pygmy stalker
        chrome idol
        cloneling
        drillbot
        honey skunk
        agolzvuv
        glow-wight cultist of Bethsaida
        young ivory
        seed-spitting vine
    Added tiles for the following items.
        nylon bodypack
        copper wire
        cybernetics credit wedge
        light-obfuscating lens
        amaranthine prism
        symbiotic firefly
    Fixed hostile creatures not appearing red in the alt overlay.
    Molting basilisks and their husks no longer have different tiles.
    Repaved the Coral Path with bricks.
    Renamed 'Godshroom' to 'Eater's Flesh' and changed its tile.
    Eater's fleshcaps are now harvestable with Master Harvestry.
    Added an Eater's flesh patch to the center of the fungal jungle.
    Added some human remains to the flesh patch.

[getter77]

Feature Friday #36

    You can now give items to followers and command them to attack targets. 'L'ook at them, then hit 'G' or 'A' (follower options appear in the corner of the screen). Be careful, followers don't like to give items back.
    Rejoinder now costs 300 skill points and requires a 29 agility.
    Added mouse support to Pick Mutations and Select Calling screens during character creation.
    Creatures now attack with their torsos less often. When a creature's primary appendage is severed, it'll prefer making offhand attacks with hand-type appendages. If it doesn't have any, a torso attack is still a possibility.
    We made some updates to the High Scores screen.
        Fixed it to work at all.
        Made it scrollable.
        You can press space or enter on a high scores entry to see its tombstone file.
    Vomiting now produces 2-3 drams of putrescence (look, it's necessary for related bit of design).
    We're in the middle of putting into place a new design for sludges created from primordial soup. When soup is mixed with a liquid, it now creates a <liquid> monosludge. For example, 'acidic monosludge' or 'oily monosludge'. When the monosludge moves through a pool of a second type of liquid, it catalyzes into a disludge. E.g., 'acidic spiced disludge.' Then a trisludge. And so on. Stay tuned for updates to the effects each liquid applies to a sludge.

[getter77]

Feature Friday #37

We improved auto-explore.

    The algorithm auto-explores much more intelligently.
    Added an option to open chests while auto-exploring (under Autoget options; defaults to yes). Chests with owners won't be opened.
    Added an option to pick up items flagged for auto-get while auto-exploring (under Autoget options; defaults to yes).

Added tiles for the following items.

    torch
    leather cap
    elastyne skull cap
    small stone
    witchwood wreath
    Issachari sun veil
    Issachari banner
    droid scrambler

Added a new music track that plays occasionally when you're underground.
Added a Joppa world map tile.
You can no longer offer gifts to hostile creatures.
We did some sludge refactoring for the next few updates.
Sludges now consume some amount of the liquids that catalyze them.
Character chronologies now include the times you witness the rare formation of a penta+ sludge.
You no longer need two backs to equip a portable beehive (unintentional Shakespeare reference).

[getter77]

Feature Friday #38

New item: spray bottle. Use it to spray a 2-dram liquid concoction onto items.
Did some structural work toward adding fungal infections. Expect some new entries to the Corpus Choliys soon (*cackles*).
Taught monster AI to use tonics, force bracelets, and a certain artifact shield.
Added a 'floating nearby' slot to the following body types: quadrupeds, fish, oozes, crabs, and turrets.
Consolidated 'watervine swamp' and 'salt marsh' regions.
Added descriptions on the world map for the following tiles: salt marsh, desert canyons, banana grove, ruins, deathlands, hills, mountains, flower fields, and jungle.
Added tiles for the following creatures:
rifle turret
chaingun turret
laser turret
rocket turret
Pax Klanq
In-game tombstone inscriptions are no longer blank when you quit and reload.
Fixed an issue that caused reputation-modifying items to change your rep when they were equipped by NPCs.
Fixed an issue where non-visible hostile creatures would prevent auto-explore from attempting to explore an area.
Fixed an issue with auto-get not working when non-visible hostiles were nearby.
Fixed an issue that caused objects you had dropped to be ignored during auto-explore.
Fixed the bottom status bar inappropriately blocking tile clicks.

[getter77]

Feature Friday #39

Fungi enthusiasts, rejoice! We added fungal infections.

    Depending on your disposition, stay clear—or near—puffing mushrooms.
    In cases of infection, a certain species of fungus colonizes a region of the body, rendering that body part unequippable but providing some benefit. Naturally, acquiring a fungal infection increases your reputation with fungi. The Consortium of Phyta, however, won't be pleased.
    New fungal infection: fickle gill
        As Beniyayut Iym, physician to the farmstead Kardis, reports: "In cases of fickle gill, infection culminates in the formation of fleshy, spore-bearing gills in the colonized region. Upon certain stresses, typically under bodily harm, the gills flex and release a cloud of spores, numbering in the thousands, that shower onto adjacent parties, ostensibly protecting their host. The rained spores in turn colonize their new hosts, rating this disease among the most contagious."
    New fungal infection: glowcrust
        Iym, again: "The appearance of frosty, luminous nodules characterize this colony. As is always the case with symbiosis, the fungus does seem to 'benefit' its carrier by coarsening the skin and providing some protection from the elements. Some patients report gratification in consuming the edible hoarshrooms that sprout from their skin; accounts vary according to the personalities of the afflicted."
    Added a new section on fungal infections to the Corpus Choliys, including their procedurally-generated cures.
    Added choronolgy entries for getting and curing fungal infections.
    Split brooding puffers into two separate creatures, brooding goldpuffs and brooding azurepuffs. They each spew spores, but which type? Who knows.

Added tooltips to the overlay buttons.
Burrowing claws grown from injecting a skulk tonic are no longer permanent.
Effects now properly clear on the world map.
Fixed some map generation issues with maps along the bottom edge of the world map.
Fixed a rare exception with the area of effect targeter.
Fixed an issue where unequipping certain items incorrectly added reputation instead of subtracting it.
Fixed the Yes/No/Cancel dialogs not being properly clickable.

[getter77]

Feature Friday #40

We enabled biomes.
A few weeks ago, we added a prototype for biomes, which alter the flora and fauna of maps and appear procedurally throughout the overworld and underground each game. This week, we enabled them by default and removed the biome option from the Debug menu.
Currently, there's a slime biome, an asphalt biome, and a qudzu biome. Each has 3 grades.
Qudzu symbiotes in the qudzu biome are no longer hostile toward qudzu. Hey symbiotes, qudzu are your friends now.
The qudzu tile's background color is no longer brown when the qudzu is unattached from a wall.

We've started to work on a new population engine for the cave systems that aren't affiliated with the major dungeons. The engine is aware of the geography of the cave. Now you find things like:
a tough monster and its treasure horde in the far reaches of a cave
more artifacts in isolated cave pockets
freshwater pools with glowfish and glowpads
recently departed campsites
tarnished ruins with turrets
sparking baetyls
Expect tweaks and more cave work soon.

Glowcrust was sometimes failing to successfully colonize a body part. That doesn't happen now.
When you contract multiple glowcrust infections, you now properly grow multiple 'fungal outcrop' body parts.
All description text is now obfuscated when you're confused.
Master butchers can now properly harvest black puma haunches.
Fixed some issues where beguiled creatures didn't change their behavior when beguiled.
Fixed an issue causing some valid character codes to be treated as invalid.
Fixed an issue where repeatedly equipping and unequipping an item that modified your reputation would keep reducing your reputation.
Fixed an exception in the area of effect targeter.
Changed the bridge tile.