HERE WE GO!

Hello again, my pups! We have an update focused on balance changes and bug fixes this week, but also quite a bit of insight as for what's coming in Major Update #5. Additionally, I'd like to bring attention to a bug added to our issue tracker this week:

Certain quest-related drops can be inconsistent in their drops, showing a disparity between the reported rewards and given rewards

This issue has been known internally for a while, but I've begun receiving reports on it as well. I'm actively investigating this, and apologize for any inconvenience in the interim. If it helps, it only seems to impact a handful of drops (3 or so), and means that you may have to make a couple more attempts towards some given thing (like a Shell Fragment, as an example).

With that out of the way, let's hop right into the changelog!

Ephemeral Tale 1.19.1 Changelog

• Lowered drop rate of multiple Scrolls of Power by 1-2%
• NOTE: The above is a change specific to the chance of getting multiple scrolls from a rare enemy, and does not touch their default rate of granting a scroll of power
• “Splinters” state (which can happen when attacking Trunksters) now lasts exactly 4 turns, instead of a variable 3-5 turns
• Updated Earthquake’s animation to feel better (more motion on pieces of it, screen tints, etc)
• Updated chests that grant Power to properly grant it for the purpose of leveling up
• Lowered Boldozer’s hit rate by 5%
• “Napping” status has been overhauled (Candlenap, also an item I can’t remember at the moment), and now lasts a set 2 turns
• Additionally, it will now fall off on damage 100% of the time (for Candlenap, that is. For players, it’s a 50% chance to fall off from damage)
• Fixed a bug where you could get your sea legs in the Sunken Summit (Thanks, Gush!)

THE THRONE OF SHADOWS

In the coming weeks, Major Update #5 will be upon us. I’ve yet to talk with you in-depth about what it will bring, and while I can’t reveal everything quite yet, I thought today would be a good opportunity to discuss the basics of Major Update #5, and how this ties into the eventual Major Update #6.

When Major Update #5 drops (due date still unknown), it will be the largest content drop for the game we’ve seen in a single update! The plan is (currently, and fluid to change) to introduce a “dark world” of sorts into the game. Ephemeral Tale currently has over 60 unique enemy types, with the vast majority of enemies having some form of unique mechanic across 5 rather unique zones. The primary goal of Major Update #5 is to allow me to create new combat/exploration scenarios without a huge investment into new art assets, sound assets, and the like.

This means that from a functional level, the vast majority of what comprises Major Update #5 (in terms of assets) will be things that already exist in some form or another, but put together in a new (and hopefully fun!) way. Having to deal with the passive damage you’ll take from fighting Trunksters alongside the burning damage of a Bibbity is a new challenge that you don’t ever have the chance to face in the current version of the game, so I’m excited to push an update that allows for more oddball enemy combinations of that sort.

As the overarching theme of the update is "dark world," it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that I plan on turning a portion of the Forgotten Forest on its head, corrupting it and turning it into this weird amalgamation of the beauty of nature found in the forest and the cursed imagery found deep in the Corrupted Castle. I think there's a lot of fun to be had with that vibe, so I'm hoping to share more of that with you guys in the coming Pupdates.

Earlier, I mentioned that Major Update #5 would eventually have direct ties to Major Update #6, so I would like to close out today's Pupdate by clarifying that a wee bit. With Major Update #5, I'll be adding more core content to the game, however the primary goal of Major Update #6 is to polish the overall game on a technical level. Improve performance across the board, fix weird bugs (like the menu shenanigans that can occur on certain systems, or the odd drop rates for enemies when on quests), and improve the presentation. That update will likely serve as the baseline for our release out of Early Access and onto console.

This doesn't mean that updates beyond that wouldn't occur, as that would be preposterous in the digital era-- it mostly means that at that point, I'm likely to slow down on the frequency of updates as I begin to plan and work on our next title (whatever that may be). I also feel comfortable stating that any post-release content updates will be free for all players, of course. Ultimately, this is a game that I love working on for you guys: as long as it remains financially feasible for me to, I will continue to do so.

As always, I hope you guys have fun with this patch and stay safe! We'll talk more next week :)

-- Ryan
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