Week 2 Patch Notes
I've been updating the game regularly in the background for the last week amidst some days of vacation and celebration with the team.
[h2]Beastie Changes[/h2]
+ Trat now can learn "Whistle"
+ Crawlurk now can learn "Mark"
These plays were previously excluded because of an oversight; we always intended these Beasties to have access to these plays. Until our Mac build is updated sometime in the next 24 hours, PC and Mac players will not be able to play PVP together since they are temporarily operating on different balance patches.
[h2]Experimental Branch Features[/h2]
The Team Setup menu (used for online PVP and postgame challenges) now has a "Random Team" option. You can try this out in PVP lobbies to get a quick-made team without needing to build your own; the feature also may be fun/useful as an easy local multiplayer option.
Fixed the issue some players saw just after the patch last week that made save data appear to be corrupted on the experimental branch
Expanded the text explaining the experimental level cap feature a bit more.
I still have some reports regarding damage previews interacting with the level cap feature which I need to look into.
[h2]Yearning Fixes[/h2]
I fixed several issues related to Yearnings. Then accidentally added several new issues to Yearnings, and fixed those too... I think this covers the issues which players have reported which are now fixed
Jellibat no longer displays a blank Yearning at later levels
Beasties that are held back from metamorphing no longer display previously-completed Yearnings
Punkchirp, Petula and Seakit all get a Yearning at certain levels to help players figure out their metamorph condition. This was intended as a feature at launch but was missing due to an oversight. Kudos to players who worked these out without any hints! It's still possible to figure these out without hints, but this feature is intended as a safety net for players whose Beasties get to an advanced level without metamorphosing.
[h2]Expedition Changes[/h2]
Fixed an issue where it was possible to exit the Expedition with a mis-timed right click
Beasties now metamorph correctly from the "free" level ups you get after each match
You can no longer gain rewards from Seeded routes.
SP awarded by Gene has been reduced by 20%
We're really happy to see players enjoying this post-game challenge. We're aware of a lot of other feedback which we have yet to address, and have a some other ideas on how we want to expand this mode; for now these are just quick band-aid changes just to bring the economy balance a little more into line.
[h2]Speedrun Changes[/h2]
The cutoff time for certain story scenes swapping to their "Speedrun" version was made a little less strict in light of some routes not engaging with story until later
Added and then rolled back an AI feature intended to make Diggum easier to recruit early in the game for certain speedrun routes
[h2]Everything else...[/h2]
Selection ranges for highlighting Beasties using keyboard or controller during matches have been tweaked. This corrects a few reported issues of certain Beasties being unselectable in certain situations. These types of interactions are extremely difficult to resolve all of outselves due to the immense variety of Beasties sizes and positions which we need to account for, so we appreciate players reporting these obscure moments where menu selection doesn't work.
Certain post-game scenes were missing for a period of a couple days between patches, preventing Beasties from getting injured or recovering from injury if they were already injured; these are fixed now (apologies)
The ability to exit replays with ESC was temporarily disabled due to an oversight; this should be back in now (I forgot to test this one, oops)
Having a lure spray active now prevents reserve Beasties from appearing
Having a lure spray active now dramatically expands the color range of Bindiva which appear, regardless of current fashion trends
If a rareorph Jellibat metamorphs, Froofulks will now be marked as having its raremorph recruited as well in the Beastiepedia
Adjusted a commonly complained-about platforming section in a wintery post-game area
Wandering Beasties and away teams no longer appear on certain post-game areas that are sandwiched between platforming challenges
The player's Beasties now space away from blocking view of cutscene characters more aggressively, especially during certain scenes where this was a common reported issue
Attempted fix for the common issue on Mac where Beastie colors change during matches (will be live when the Mac build updates sometime soon).
Disabled fast-travelling during a brief moment in a lategame story section where players aren't meant to be able to fast-travel
Fixed a couple issues with Riley calling you during unintended story matches
Fixed an issue with the merch guy stopping you entering the Crown Series from the wrong elevation
NPCs on Gamboge now correctly vanish during sport matches
Tool no longer displays a lane target preview while the ball is airbore (previously it showed a lane visualization in a completely random places)
Reese's contact is now added to your phone in some story paths which unintentionally skipped this
Fixed an issue where Riven wouldn't challenge the player if you were partway through her story before finishing the Crown Series
Fixed an issue with not being able to complete Sunsoo's story in the post-game if certain interactions were skipped before the Crown Series
Fixed the Crown Series "Game Over" track overlapping with BGM
Adjusted control layers such that the "Run" button can overlap with "Left Tab"
Fixed a layering issue with a certain facial hair option and certain clothes
Fixed an issue with Player Beasties rarely erroneously displaying an Away Team name above their head
Fixed an issue with certain story phone calls happening in the Gamboge Beastieball arena when they shouldn't
Turned down certain SFX during the Legend of Office final boss
Wild background Webbounces no longer squeak during matches
Added another safety check to prevent softlocks related to standing on the wrong side of Jack during impassable matches
A certain character is now correctly recognized as being onscreen when making certain phone calls in the post-game
Fixed the %age displayed for research completion when sorting Beasties by research level in the Beastiepedia
Updated the render order of elements in the Research Complete screen
Proper message for trying to create an Away Team when you have If a raremorph Diggum has any Shooga-family Beasties on their team, they will use custom AI intended to make Shooga-family recruit conditions easier to meet.
Added one new gift in an oft-requested location
Many area layouts tweaked, including ball shrooms getting added to many more screens
A couple of Beasties in lategame encounters were assigned incorrectly and are now fixed
Fixed many typos
Some (very) minor variations were added to dialogue in the denouement to better reflect individual player choices
Extra safety checks preventing certain obscure crashes
[h2]Beastie Changes[/h2]
+ Trat now can learn "Whistle"
+ Crawlurk now can learn "Mark"
These plays were previously excluded because of an oversight; we always intended these Beasties to have access to these plays. Until our Mac build is updated sometime in the next 24 hours, PC and Mac players will not be able to play PVP together since they are temporarily operating on different balance patches.
[h2]Experimental Branch Features[/h2]
The Team Setup menu (used for online PVP and postgame challenges) now has a "Random Team" option. You can try this out in PVP lobbies to get a quick-made team without needing to build your own; the feature also may be fun/useful as an easy local multiplayer option.
Fixed the issue some players saw just after the patch last week that made save data appear to be corrupted on the experimental branch
Expanded the text explaining the experimental level cap feature a bit more.
I still have some reports regarding damage previews interacting with the level cap feature which I need to look into.
[h2]Yearning Fixes[/h2]
I fixed several issues related to Yearnings. Then accidentally added several new issues to Yearnings, and fixed those too... I think this covers the issues which players have reported which are now fixed
Jellibat no longer displays a blank Yearning at later levels
Beasties that are held back from metamorphing no longer display previously-completed Yearnings
Punkchirp, Petula and Seakit all get a Yearning at certain levels to help players figure out their metamorph condition. This was intended as a feature at launch but was missing due to an oversight. Kudos to players who worked these out without any hints! It's still possible to figure these out without hints, but this feature is intended as a safety net for players whose Beasties get to an advanced level without metamorphosing.
[h2]Expedition Changes[/h2]
Fixed an issue where it was possible to exit the Expedition with a mis-timed right click
Beasties now metamorph correctly from the "free" level ups you get after each match
You can no longer gain rewards from Seeded routes.
SP awarded by Gene has been reduced by 20%
We're really happy to see players enjoying this post-game challenge. We're aware of a lot of other feedback which we have yet to address, and have a some other ideas on how we want to expand this mode; for now these are just quick band-aid changes just to bring the economy balance a little more into line.
[h2]Speedrun Changes[/h2]
The cutoff time for certain story scenes swapping to their "Speedrun" version was made a little less strict in light of some routes not engaging with story until later
Added and then rolled back an AI feature intended to make Diggum easier to recruit early in the game for certain speedrun routes
[h2]Everything else...[/h2]
Selection ranges for highlighting Beasties using keyboard or controller during matches have been tweaked. This corrects a few reported issues of certain Beasties being unselectable in certain situations. These types of interactions are extremely difficult to resolve all of outselves due to the immense variety of Beasties sizes and positions which we need to account for, so we appreciate players reporting these obscure moments where menu selection doesn't work.
Certain post-game scenes were missing for a period of a couple days between patches, preventing Beasties from getting injured or recovering from injury if they were already injured; these are fixed now (apologies)
The ability to exit replays with ESC was temporarily disabled due to an oversight; this should be back in now (I forgot to test this one, oops)
Having a lure spray active now prevents reserve Beasties from appearing
Having a lure spray active now dramatically expands the color range of Bindiva which appear, regardless of current fashion trends
If a rareorph Jellibat metamorphs, Froofulks will now be marked as having its raremorph recruited as well in the Beastiepedia
Adjusted a commonly complained-about platforming section in a wintery post-game area
Wandering Beasties and away teams no longer appear on certain post-game areas that are sandwiched between platforming challenges
The player's Beasties now space away from blocking view of cutscene characters more aggressively, especially during certain scenes where this was a common reported issue
Attempted fix for the common issue on Mac where Beastie colors change during matches (will be live when the Mac build updates sometime soon).
Disabled fast-travelling during a brief moment in a lategame story section where players aren't meant to be able to fast-travel
Fixed a couple issues with Riley calling you during unintended story matches
Fixed an issue with the merch guy stopping you entering the Crown Series from the wrong elevation
NPCs on Gamboge now correctly vanish during sport matches
Tool no longer displays a lane target preview while the ball is airbore (previously it showed a lane visualization in a completely random places)
Reese's contact is now added to your phone in some story paths which unintentionally skipped this
Fixed an issue where Riven wouldn't challenge the player if you were partway through her story before finishing the Crown Series
Fixed an issue with not being able to complete Sunsoo's story in the post-game if certain interactions were skipped before the Crown Series
Fixed the Crown Series "Game Over" track overlapping with BGM
Adjusted control layers such that the "Run" button can overlap with "Left Tab"
Fixed a layering issue with a certain facial hair option and certain clothes
Fixed an issue with Player Beasties rarely erroneously displaying an Away Team name above their head
Fixed an issue with certain story phone calls happening in the Gamboge Beastieball arena when they shouldn't
Turned down certain SFX during the Legend of Office final boss
Wild background Webbounces no longer squeak during matches
Added another safety check to prevent softlocks related to standing on the wrong side of Jack during impassable matches
A certain character is now correctly recognized as being onscreen when making certain phone calls in the post-game
Fixed the %age displayed for research completion when sorting Beasties by research level in the Beastiepedia
Updated the render order of elements in the Research Complete screen
Proper message for trying to create an Away Team when you have If a raremorph Diggum has any Shooga-family Beasties on their team, they will use custom AI intended to make Shooga-family recruit conditions easier to meet.
Added one new gift in an oft-requested location
Many area layouts tweaked, including ball shrooms getting added to many more screens
A couple of Beasties in lategame encounters were assigned incorrectly and are now fixed
Fixed many typos
Some (very) minor variations were added to dialogue in the denouement to better reflect individual player choices
Extra safety checks preventing certain obscure crashes