Stoneshard Update #36 – Improvements & Fixes

Ink Stains Games is currently busy working on some big new features for their upcoming roguelike RPG Stoneshard, but without anything major to showcase just yet, the new developer blog instead details a number of minor improvements and fixes that should make the game deeper and more enjoyable to play. Check it out:

Hello!

Yup, it’s new devlog time. Currently our team is working on some big features that we aren’t yet ready to showcase, so therefore in today’s development diary we will discuss several small improvements and fixes we’ve accumulated. Most of the targeted aspects are probably well known to you because of the Prologue, so I guess today’s blog will be pretty interesting.

Destructible Environment

Firstly, we’ve added the ability to destroy most of the dungeon environment objects. Yes, all those beds, bedside tables and chairs, which previously were purely decorative, now can be properly broken, burnt or blown up. This small innovation introduces a significant variety to tactics, making you to take a different look at the use of the environment in battle. In addition, each environmental object is made of a certain material that sets the level of its resistances to different damage types. For example, wooden furniture can be easily crushed by slashing and blunt weapons, but, let’s say, iron maidens are way tougher.

Enemies & Door Interaction

Mysterious vampires doorphobia has long been a target of our community’s mockery. In the public version of the Prologue, timely escaping behind a closed door was an unbeatable strategy: it gave you unlimited time to heal.

Of course, it was an obvious exploit, not intended by us. So recently we’ve told the mobs that doors don’t present any threat to them and can be actually interacted with. However, the type of door interaction depends on enemy’s type.

For example, vampires have no problems simply opening unlocked doors, while the undead or beasts will try to break them – which means you won’t have that much time to take a breath anymore. By the way, the same goes for any environment objects that prevent mobs from getting to your character.

All this was made possible by changing the door system as well. Now, like the rest of the environment, they have a durability pool, which can be depleted by attacking or using spells. Which means that now you can get injured only when trying to break the door down with your bare hands.

Attacks of Opportunity

Another feature added to counter The Most Popular Tactic #2, the scourge of many turn-based roguelikes – endless kiting (referred to as “tactical retreat” by some people). If a player is sure the back areas are secure, he can start to run away – and, because of the turn-based system and the “1 move = 1 action” rule, his enemy will chase him potentially endlessly, unless he has some long-range skills. Usually it was used to reset cooldowns on powerful skills or to lure an opponent to the right spot – for example, closer to the ashfire barrel or spike trap.

Therefore, we’ve added the so-called attacks of opportunity: whenever you try to retreat, the enemies surrounding you may receive a chance to deal a bonus hit. In addition, thanks to the change of the movement system, now enemies will no longer wait for one turn before taking the tile of the retreating player, but will do this instantly. In sum, this makes kiting a disadvantageous strategy, forcing you to rely more on movement/knockback skills if you want to escape some sticky situation. Or, alternatively, level up Agility: high Agility unlocks the perk allowing you to avoid attacks of opportunity.

Durability System Change

And finally: some changes were made to the durability system. Previously, durability penalties were calculated dynamically depending on the percentage of lost durability, so your equipment started to get debuffs from the very beginning, which was pretty annoying, honestly.

Now the penalties are divided in tiers: when at > 50% durability, your items won’t receive any penalties; at >25% <50% durability, items will receive a 30% stat penalty; at <25% durability, items will receive a 60% stat penalty. This will make it easier to determine the state of the equipment just by taking a look on its appearance: depending on the durability tier, the sprites of the equipment will become more shabby and battered.