Shattered Haven:Pre-Beta Release Notes

Alpha .706

(This hasn't been released yet. We're still working on it.)

• Implemented an advanced new masking compositing methodology that lets us do things like organic waters and so forth with minimal prep and minimal loading from disk. This will also be what we use for the organic grounds.

Alpha .705

(Released February 28th, 2013)

• Fixed a bug in the Canoe Trip level where not all of the grays were visible (some were in trees). This was new in the prior version.

• Fixed an issue where the "follower NPC" could trigger portals and so forth, but it would just lead to a "level could not be loaded" error message.

Alpha .704

(Released February 28th, 2013)

• Fixed a bug where the changing the window display size or the vsync state would interact poorly with the compositing and lead to garbage on the screen.

• Placed a hint paper near the portal that is roped in by trees in the south of the phoenix forest. It really wasn't very obvious that you'd need to go get the axe from the farm in the north to get through here, and this was too early in the game for the players to have internalized the rules to the point that they'd know what to look for.

• Levels 013, 014, and 015 (all linked off of the Phoenix Forest) have had some updates:
  • All of them now have both characters in them even in solo play, and the characters can talk to each other.
  • Also, all of these now have a text popup where the two characters note that they can carry items back out of these levels, unlike the levels where you go through a portal.

• The other four required levels from the phoenix forest all are portal-based, and when you go into the first of any of them there is now a popup that explains that your items didn't make it through the portal, but that you'll be able to get them back when you go back to the overworld.

• A second map has been added for co-op mode in level 091 Switch Maze. This isn't strictly needed, but it helps to prevent confusion.

• Updated the encyclopedia entry for the lantern to be more clear, and updated the Switch Maze level to have another hint sign near the end since a lot of people get tripped up on that one.

• Fixed an issue with the center of pits sometimes having some artifacting.

• The scenes with the squid and the kid's reactions to the quid have been completely redone. The squid was coming across like a benevolent deus ex machina, when in reality it is nothing of the sort.

• Fixed a recent bug that was causing lockups on certain levels with animated weather, most notably rain in level 047.

• Fixed a minor bug where sometimes FG objects were not being properly concealed in the background tile they were on.

• Fixed a bug where MalePlayerOrNPC and FemalePlayerOrNPC would pop up their speech bubble, but would not actually let you talk to them.

• Fixed it up so that the actual default adventure (and not one of our testing-only adventures) is now the only thing you can select when starting a new world unless you are in dev mode. This was definitely confusing.

• The unlit torches now have a bit of blinking animation to them, to make them stand out more. This isn't intended to be a hidden object game, heh.

• Fixed a bug where your ability to carry items out of a level was inconsistently handled with the detecting of whether or not you went through a portal.
  • Rather than trying to get very fiddly and circumstantial logic to work, each level now just has a flag of whether it uses the overworld inventory or not. Most do not, but levels 013, 014, and 015 have been set to. Other levels later in the game will need to be updated to have that value set properly.

• When you first reach the overworld, there is now an encounter with shadow man that gives some creepy foreshadowing about him and his role with the portals. That helps make this part of the game seem less arbitrary in its mechanics (nothing is arbitrary, but now that is clearer earlier).

• Fixed a confusing thing where the parents and the children shared their overworld inventory, so the parents would magically have the inventory of the kids as soon as control switched to the parents. Now the kids and parents have separate inventories, so this doesn't happen.

• Previously, if you were standing on stairs and had the option of talking to an NPC or going up the stairs, it would make you talk instead of using the stairs. Now the talking is the lowest priority thing, to avoid several frustrating situations that could come up otherwise.

• The intro to the game now includes some instructions on what the controls are (keyboard and gamepad and mouse, and for both players), as well as how to view and edit the controls, and how to talk to Lela for more information.

• Early in the game when the game is first telling you about using your inventory since you have more than three items, it now also has a new set of instructions on what the literal keybindings are for those actions, as well as how to view and change those keybindings.

Alpha .703

(Released February 27th, 2013)

• Fixed issues where life gem clusters and magma spots were invisible.

• Added the final graphics for the Mary character into the game (they were pathetically placeholder before).

• Fixed a rather serious issue where the completion percentage for an overworld section was including non-scoring levels, and thus preventing further progress.

• Fixed a bug where level 093, which is for backup only, was still being marked as a scoring level related to the first overworld section, and thus preventing further progress.

• Fixed a bug where level 096 was not properly marked as a bonus level (as boss levels should be), and thus was preventing further progress in the first overworld section (which it was carrying a lingering link to for some reason).

Alpha .702

(Released February 26th, 2013)

• Fixed a bug where exceptions could be thrown in certain circumstances when a script ran and then pathfinding tried to run.

• Fixed a really serious issue that was introduced yesterday where "preload scripts" would not run on their correct sublevels, and thus were really messing up certain parts of the tutorial in particular.
  • This was causing the end of the tutorial to be inescapable, and making the part where you go north of the house compound incoherent.

• Fixed another issue where you could get past the grays at the end of the tutorial and get back into your house in an earlier state than it was supposed to be. Now it removes the exits so that you have no choice but to exit the tutorial, and later when you re-enter the same area it's actually a different level that is built to be the later "destroyed state" of the house.

• Added a new SETPLAYERHASMOVED scripting condition.

• Fixed it up so that preload scripts can now properly take you between sublevels, including doing so without an extra transition.

• The prior two conditions are now used to make the transition from the kids to the adults at the end of the tutorial a lot smoother.

• Hitting the F3 button now triggers a complete update of all of the composited backgrounds, just in case anything is off and the player needs to hurriedly fix it. Ideally this should never happen, but it's useful for testing mainly.

Alpha .701

(Released February 26th, 2013)

• Fixed the database description for Darrell, Mary, and Lela, which were woefully out of date and incorrect.

• Added a database description for Pierce, who did not even have one!

• Updated level 021, Mesmerizing Gauntlet, to have clearer instructions text for those who read the sign, and to also have a marked portal rather than one that only becomes visible after the grays appear. This allows you to plan your attack with the bombs better.

• Level 073 has been improved.

• Several of the mist weathers have been improved.

• Added proper cloud cover into a number of levels.

• Fixed up the storm clouds.

• Added a new Dark Clouds form of weather.

• Fixed an issue with spears walls where they would not trigger if the enemy was facing the wrong way despite the direction they were moving.

• A new "snow spider" enemy has been added to the game.

• A new "bones snow" object has been added to the game.

• Fixed a lot of old references in the encyclopedia that were still referring to "health orbs." Those were an older interface element that equaled two health bars in the new interface.

• Fixed a visual glitch where sometimes the feet of grays could be sticking out of roofs.

• Really tightened up the collisions with the pits and deep water.

• Added a new "sleeping darrell" foreground entity that is now used in the second screen of the game. Now it's clear that he's asleep, rather than him hilariously sleeping on his feet like he was previously doing (that was always temporary).

• Fixed an issue with clocks being invisible in recent versions.

• Fixed an issue with clocks going tick tock tock instead of tick tock tick tock.

• Fixed a bug where going from a dark area to a completely-light area was not turning the lights back on.

• Improved the basement of the house in the first level to have proper ceilings and such, and to have text between Lela and Pierce, as well as to use the darkness.

• Fixed an issue that seemed to make scripts unreliably fire in some circumstances.

Shattered Haven