Update 0.6.60 Patch Notes

[h3]Major Updates and New Features[/h3]
This patch has a ton of changes and additions so I'll be a bit less detailed than usual in these patch notes and won't cover every single change. This is part 1 of a 3 part loot/crafting update that will include swords, amulets, uprading/enchanting and two major new sword mechanics. A significant portion of the work for this patch went into adding new UI for things like vendors, loadout selection, quests, etc. You can duel any vendor in the game and get access to special items if you defeat them.

Unequip: Added the ability to unequip and equip swords, this includes animations for running around with no weapon. The new animations use UE5s motion matching system which I didn't use before so I'll need to do some performance benchmarking on that, but I think it looks nice.
Crouch: Added crouch, you cannot fight from crouched. The default key is Z. When crouched your footsteps are silent so you can use it to sneak up on people
Loadout UI: Added a system for choosing your loadout when entering the tower so that you can change your ability loadout and chose what equipment to bring with you at the entrance portal.
Vendors: Added a system for npc vendors / quest givers. You can buy stuff from them. You can also duel any of them. Right now there is just one, the tower quartermaster.
The Mines: Added the a new beginner friendly zone called the mines. Right now there is just a small area where you can mine ore and the rest is closed off. It won't be fully ready for a while.
Sword Stats: Added a sophisticated system for swords to have special effects. Right now each of the swords in the weapon rack has an example effect. You can mouse over to read them.
Borrowed Items: Updated the weapon rack to give you "borrowed" swords that can be used but cannot be brought through portals or into the tower.
Mouse Responsiveness: Added an option to disable the camera smoothing and made having it disabled the default. I think the mouse movement will feel more responsive.
Animation Quality: changed the npcs to run at a higher tick rate locally but the same tick rate on the server. This should make npc animations a bit easier to read.
Achievements: Added new achievements for blocks per minute that must be done on 6 direction + random mode. There is an achievement for 50 blocks per minute and 60. I've only gotten 57 so far but one player has already gotten to 60.
Cleave: Fully charged attacks now cleave through multiple opponents, each hit opens a new combo window (or resets it if the previous has not expired).
Crippling Kiai: Deleted "Cleaving Kiai" as it is now the default behavior. Replaced it with "Crippling Kiai" which makes your kiai attacks slow the person you hit.
Entrance Instancing: Added support for multiple instances of the tower entrance within a region, this is part of a goal to make the entrance have a lot more stuff (quests, crafting, duels, trading, marketplace, etc.)
Tower Tokens: Added a system for using "tower tokens" to enter the tower. Your "tower token" controls your start location within the tower (and in the future certain tokens will give buffs).

[h3]Miscellaneous[/h3]
Added katas to the entrance
A lot of UI QoL, eg you can click on an item to use it for crafting instead of dragging. Lots of little things like that
Fixed crash issue with traversing red portals when being attacked
A lot of minor bug fixes.

[h3]What's next?[/h3]

This is the first major chunk of what I have planned for adding meaningful loot and a quest/story progression. I won't get into the details of the quests, but loot wise, the next steps will be.

Awakening: The next major mechanic for swords will be "awakening" conditions. A big challenge for extraction looters is balancing making gear feel meaningful without making it feel like vets are just gear checking new players. An idea I've had in mind for some time is to have the higher end swords start off very weak and "awaken" incrementally throughout a tower run when certain sword specific conditions are met. So a simple example would be a sword that gains base damage each time you go through a red portal. It would be weaker than a normal sword in the beginning areas but very strong against the puppeteer. Experienced players don't need a good sword in the early game anyways and this keeps them from running around 1-tapping noobs.
Shields: And by that I mean magic shields not physical ones. Another area I want to improve is how health feels in the game. I've been having trouble finding the right balance of healing within the game so that getting hit every now and then doesn't feel terrible, while at the same time making your HP feel precious (so not resetting to full after each fight). I've decided to have the 3rd gear item (amulets) that will give you a "shield" which will absorb X damage, after which damage will start reducing your health. Your shield will automatically recharge if you are out of combat (and not sprinting) for a fairly short time. Then I will significantly reduce the amount of healing in the game. Better amulets will give bigger shields, or shields with special effects.
Loot tables: After that I'll go through and add loot tables for swords / amulets to all NPCs and change their swords to match their play styles. Right now there are some significant mismatches (most notably with the Othari, where they are using a sword that favors riposte based offense, but they hardly ever block).

As always, your feedback is invaluable—thank you for being an integral part of this journey! Stay tuned for the next update, and I hope you enjoy exploring these new features and improvements.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2321890/Swordai/