Version 0.9.903

New Features and Fixes

Fixes

Player Lost "Under" Level:

It was possible to flee from enemies and get stuck in a limbo-like area under the level geometry. This could happen when fleeing and also when experiencing a sanity loss event.

Ghost Trading:

It was possible to engage in trade, exit the trade menu, then somehow re-access it as if it were a treasure chest. This does not seem fair...

Updated Features

Stuff:

Some stuff has been added to the game. I'm not telling you what it is, you will have to find it.

Version 0.9.902

New Features and a Big Bug Fixed

Major Bug Fixed

Crashing on Ally Trade

I was able to reproduce the issue where accessing your ally's trade screen could cause the game to crash. It was a weird one, but as usual a single (missing) line of code was responsible. This also fixed the issue where items given to allies could go missing. It occurred when pressing "escape" to close the menu instead of using the "close" button.

There may be other, hidden bugs like this, so I am looking for more.

Missing Inquiries

Several new inquiry items on the "Items and More" page were not showing up when they were supposed to. You should see entries for moon wine, tea and other things now.

New Features

Profit and Loss ... well Just Loss Actually (for now)

Trading just got a bit less friendly. Now anyone you trade with will try to get some profit out of the deal. I am planning to adjust this soon, where you will also be able to benefit by selling the right stuff to the right folks, but for now you will always sell things for less money than you can buy them.

Free Wits are Over

Now you will only gain wits when selling, not buying. Also, a small bug was fixed which cause you to regain more wits than was really intended.

Version 0.9.901

Two New Features

EDIT: Okay I have re-uploaded it. I made a simple mistake and broke the whole game, but now it works :)

EDIT: Sorry, something was wrong with the build. I will review it and re-upload in the morning.

Features

Custom Path Folder

It sounds like some of the recent bugs in this game may have to do with permissions issues on Windows. To navigate this, I have included a "Custom Paths" file. It's right in the install folder "Cyclopean: The Great Abyss > Properties > Installed Files" and click "Browse" to open the install folder.

The Custom Paths folder contains an explanatory text on how to set up a custom path for your saved game files. It also includes an example file that you should be able to edit to work on your computer.

If you are experiencing strange behavior, like not being able to save your keybinding, you may try to change the install folder in this way, to see if that helps.

Camped Allies No Longer Cause Hostility

If you have a cat in your party, and you approach zoogs, the zoogs will be hostile, even if you have an alliance with zoogs. However, as of this update, if you dismiss your cat to stay in your camp, the zoogs will no longer be hostile. This should work with any kind of ally and enemy conflict...

Version 0.9.89

Just a couple fixes

Fixes

Returning Enemies

Enemies were returning to dungeons incorrectly. If you slay an enemy in a dungeon, there is a chance for it to return as one of the "Dwellers in Darkness" but they should not be returning in their original forms as they have been.

Losing Story Items

It was unfortunately possible for players to lose story related items. Technically, even if this happens, there is still a way to win, but I have prevented this sort of thing from happening again in the future. Also, when yielding to enemies and having a sanity related blackout, it was more likely for your items to go missing than I had intended. This has been fixed.

Request

It seems some players are experiencing a crash when giving and taking items from allies. Also, possibly, items given to allies can go missing.

Not it is possible for allies to go missing if you yield to an enemy, or have a sanity related blackout. However, I have not been able to reproduce any crash, or items going missing as of this time. It would be extremely helpful if anyone is witnessing these things and able to reproduce them reliably. I will continue to try for now...

Version 0.9.88

It's a surprise. No one will find it for a while most likely. Don't worry about it.

Hint: It has nothing to do with cats.

Version 0.9.87

Fixes and Features

Fixes

Dredging Hook Unrecognized:

In the last build I also accidentally disabled the dredging hook. Should be working again...

Features

Scan Lines:

You can now deactivate the CRT style scan line effect in the game. To do so, go to "C:\Users\-Your Username-\AppData\Local\Cyclopean" and open "Options_3.cfg"

Change the last line:

HIDE SCAN LINES,0

to...

HIDE SCAN LINES,1

And you should no longer see those very attractive lines anymore.

Nightgaunt Allies:

Nightgaunt allies will now do the same kind of attacks as they do when they are enemies, namely, they will grab your opponent and drag them away into the darkness. The nightgaunt will not be dismissed as an ally, but they will go back to your camp. So you would need to back to the camp to re-recruit them.

Key Levels:

Tougher dungeons will now require more rare keys. The Crag of the Ghouls is the only dungeon not effected by this change. Other dungeons will start requiring silver, gold and even onyx keys at lower (or higher) levels. I am thinking of adding more kinds of keys, so each dungeon might still evolve in this way.

Hit Details:

Just like calculating damage, your swing is also broken down in this latest update. It will show your "roll" and the number you need to beat in order to hit an enemy. Currently, this number only depends on the one attacking, using their strength or skill (whichever is lowest), their weapon's quality, and any skill bonus supplied by allies to lower the target amount.

Currently, I do not give enemies or players any kind of dodging bonus. Although that would improve realism, I think it would end up just making combat take longer needlessly. Instead, your skill and strength just help reduce the amount of damage from a hit.

I guess it could balance out if I removed the skill bonus from damage, and added it to a dodge system. I will leave it as is, unless someone gives me a really compelling reason to change it.

Just to clarify, I came up with these systems before I thought about actually showing them to the player. Now that it's out in the open, I feel the need to justify my decisions. If you have any strong opinions about how this stuff should work, I am open to listening, but will probably be reluctant to make major changes without really good reasons.

Version 0.9.86

Fixes and Features

Fixes

Shovel Unrecognized:

In the last build I accidentally disabled the shovel. Should be working again...

Inquiries Bug:

Two entries in the Inquiries menu were not saving to file, and so they would return to the default "off" state every time you loaded a game. They should be saving properly from now on.

Features

Stranded:

It was possible to get stuck on an island. This should no longer be the case.

Update 0.9.85

Another Major Update!

This is another big update with some major changes to both the interface design as well as the gameplay.

FIXES

Mouse Issue

The game now works in window mode without having to lock the mouse in the window. I had to do some really challenging stuff to get this to work, but I will spare you the details. Now the mouse should transition nicely between your game window and the windows desktop without problems.

You an still tweak the mouse speed if you want.

To do so, go to "C:\Users\-your username-\AppData\Local\Cyclopean" and open "Options_3.cfg" to edit the settings. On the bottom, change:

MOUSE SPEED FACTOR, 0.5

to

MOUSE SPEED FACTOR, * any number between 0.1 and 1*

Save the file and start your game.

Aligning Bug

Some NPCs who you could not align with would give the wrong message. This should be fixed.

Aligning Bug #2

Allies who could not fit in your party would still take their gift out of your inventory.

Targeting Bug

Sometimes enemies would target your ally even if you attacked with your main character.

Trade Bug

When using a controller, the trade menu did not respond to input if you accessed it through the allies menu.

FEATURES

Allies at Camp!

You can now dismiss your allies, and they will return to your camp. You can dismiss them anywhere, but to get them back you will have to return to your camp. This does not change the number of allies you can have at a given time. If you want to permanently remove an ally, you have to go to "Examine > Resign" and they will be permanently removed from your group.

Examine Screen

When examining allies, you can now see all the bonuses they grant you, as well as any sanity drain or healing they perform while in your presence. Note, allies who have been dismissed to camp will not grant their bonuses or their sanity (wits) effects either.

Wits Absorbtion

Some allies damage your wits, and some (actually just cats) can heal them. However a new feature has been added. Men of Leng and Ghouls will now serve as a kind of buffer between you and other ally types. Men of Leng will absorb wit drainage by Moon Beasts, and Ghouls will absorb wit drainage from Nightgaunts. (In the later case, ghouls still perform their own wit damage)

Further Alliances

In seeking to use the Lovecraft story as inspiration I have also created two new alliances. Now if you are allied with Ghouls, Nightgaunts will not be hostile, and vice versa. Also, Men of Leng will keep you safe from Moon Beasts. However if you betrayed them, this will not help you.

Update 0.9.83

"Major" Update!

This update has a lot of small changes as well as some fundamental changes to the way the game functions, specifically the window size and mouse speed issues. You may notice you mouse moving very fast. If you do not like this, read further to see how to set it back to the way it was, but take not of the reasons for the change.

FIXES

Mouse Speed

What I have done in this update is to turn off the script that slows down the mouse. This script accessed your Windows settings and seems to have triggered some anti-virus software reactions. It would also permanently change your mouse speed settings if the game crashed.

The script is still there, so if you think the mouse is too fast, you can turn it back on.

To do so, go to "C:\Users\-your username-\AppData\Local\Cyclopean" and open "Options_2.cfg" to edit the settings. On the bottom, change:

ACTIVATE MOUSE SPEED,0

to

ACTIVATE MOUSE SPEED,1

Save the file and start your game. If you do this, it will slow the mouse when the game screen is set larger than 640 x 360. It may still cause the problems mentioned above. My plan is to come up with a better way to control the mouse speed without having to access Windows settings.

Menu Bug

While rolling a new character, it was possible to open all the in-game menus like inventory, allies, and captives, which was just silly.

Torch Bug

If you died with the torch burning, and started a new game, the game would think your torch was already burning and would not allow you to start it again. This should work fine now.

Darkness Bug

Darkness gives you a stealth advantage in dungeons. However, the game was giving the same advantage in the overworld as long as your torch was not active. This was not intended, and has been corrected.

Corpse Bug

Searching corpses would incorrectly display "Trader Gold: ###" with the amount from the most recent trade displayed. This made players think there was extra gold to be looted, but they were unable to do so, leading to confusion. The bug has been fixed, and it should just show "Corpse:" in the menu. Getting gold from fallen enemies happens automatically, but know that some enemies do not carry gold.

FEATURES

Full Screen

The game no longer starts in full screen by default. I may change it back, please let me know whether you prefer your game to start in full screen or in a window.

Window Size

The game used to start in full screen mode, but if you turned that off, it would shrink to a tiny 640 x 360 window, making it hard to read. Now the game starts in window mode, and should automatically scale to *almost* your full screen resolution.

Torch Tutorial

This is a very simple idea I want to introduce throughout the game. When you enter a dungeon, if you do not already have an active torch, the game's action log (on the bottom) will prompt players to access the supplies page in their inventory to light a torch. It's not really a step by step tutorial, but it should allow new players to become aware of how the game works and what sorts of things to look for in the menus.

Detailed Log Entries

The game now provides a much more in-depth look at what is happening in combat. Did a Level 5 Gug just murder your Ghoul Ally? Well now you can see exactly what happened and maybe learn how to prepare for future encounters. I want to add details to all the kinds of interactions, like stealth, dialogue and doors...

Log Scrolling

You can now scroll through the action log with either Page Up/Down, or by using the mouse scroll wheel, as well as clicking the up down arrows shown on the left side of the log. I will eventually add these commands to the key-binding menu, but I am going to wait until I am sure there are no other keys/buttons to add.

Enemy & Ally Stats

The game now standardizes the way allies and enemies gain levels and stats, and also how much damage and defense they can do. It will display an enemy's stats right in the combat menu, so you can see what you are facing. On gaining a level, your allies will also gain stats in the same way as enemies do. Previously it worked a bit differently for allies than for enemies, so enemies ended up being very inconsistent, and could do too much damage (or too little).

Stats for enemies and allies have also been a bit suppressed so they don't scale quite as much. This should all add up to making the game a bit easier IF you are paying attention to stats, combat logs and such things.

Version 0.9.81

Fixes and Features

Fixes

Dungeons Resetting:

I believe I got to the bottom of why dungeons were re-setting. I was able to reproduce it when I saved the game IN a dungeon when using a new save slot. In this case, other dungeons that had been previously saved would not be transferred to the new folder. It works now.

If there are other scenarios in which this kind of issue occurs, I have not been able to find them yet. If you do experience this issue again, please let me know.

Features

Secret Doors:

These will only happen if you are loading a dungeon for the first time.

Good luck finding them!

Version 0.9.80

Fixes and Features

Fixes

Buttons not Pressing

Some of the buttons n the game seemed to be un-clickable. However this is due to menus appearing over the User Interface.

I added a dark background to menus panels, this should make more obvious what is active and what is in currently innactive.

Features

Inquiries:

The whole INQUIRIES section has been revamped. Now whenever you first meet a creature, or enter a dungeon, that entry will appear in the inquiries section.

Also, new inquiries have been added for some creatures and items that were not available before.

Finally, while you can inquire from creatures you are not allied with, some of them will not answer every question.

I am hoping this helps new players get a better grasp of some of the game's lore, earlier in their play-through, while keeping some things hidden for higher levels.

Version 0.9.79

Fixes and Features

Fixes

Unreachable Treasure Maps:

Some of the treasure maps had been rendered unusable due to changes in the overworld. I have gone through each map, and made sure that they are now all reachable ... however, the old ones generated in any previous builds may still be invalid.

If you start a new game, all treasure maps should be reachable.