Thank you so much <3 =)
Lynn Xternal
Recent community posts
Great! Thank you for the hotfix! The pickaxe drain problem is almost completely solved... but there is now a regression with an edge case: after this update, digging granite downwards with Mistral does not drain pickaxe/drill life correctly even though her base strength may not high enough in the vertical direction.
Also, the blueprint bug seems to be partially fixed: when converting a hard mode game to normal mode, if the blueprints for boots were previously found (prior to the updates removing them from hard mode), they appear as unlocked and are still craftable. However, the Alchemist's Pouch remains uncraftable under the same conditions. This is a very obscure bug (which is probably no longer possible to trigger), so it's going to be tricky to fix it.
Thank you!
As a follow up, do you think the stats of the accessories might need rebalancing? E.g. the gilded shift has a light radius of 85, which has crept up from the original 75 IIRC, and the verdant radiance has crept down from its original 100, to the point where they've nearly converged.
In another context, Fern + Sanguine Signet is an interesting combo, as are Mistral + Violetheart, Griddle + Omnishard, and Caelo + Verdant Radiance. But Scoot, Grampshell, and Reeler don't really have such synergistic combos. Maybe a "luck" accessory to increase jackpot chances or improve treasure RNG would complete the synergistic pairings?
Food for thought, not really my personal requests =)
I'm very curious about the slots probability. Because it's a prime number, where did 1/593 come from? Is the outcome of the slots generated at once (selecting one permutation from an exhaustive list of permutations), or are the slot probabilities calculated independently for each? If it's the latter, is the probability of each slot dependent on the previous outcome, or are all three slots randomly generated such that the probability of any one slot is an independent occurrence?
I'm too lazy/shy to peek under the hood and reverse engineer the answer, so I'd love to hear your thoughts, haha
Another bug found: Despite getting 7 base strength (all dojo upgrades + relics), the granite layer still depletes pickaxes despite only having 7 strength. This in in contrast to all other layers, which deplete the pickaxes only if the layer strength is greater than the base strength (but do not deplete when layer strenghth equals base strength).
This is especially interesting because after getting 7 base strength, Nix's shield stacks do not get consumed in granite.
The addition of the wooden backpack was absolutely necessary to beat hard mode (I think that update came out when I took a hiatus), but I still beat it with Griddle through sheer industry, haha. So thank you for addressing that longstanding issue I had, bringing parity to both modes =)
From a UX standpoint though, the wooden backpack and leather backpack serve the same function, but the latter grants access to a boots slot and the flask. Considering that these are both not really "backpack" functions, what if the wooden backpack is the default backpack for both modes, and the leathercrafting slots (flask and boots) is separate to the backpack? In other words, what if the tanning rack is specifically for the flask and boots, whereas the backpack is acquired from Bits and Bobs? This way, the same backpack exists in both modes.
Also, a couple of bugs: if we convert a vegan game to standard mode, and blueprints for alchemist's pouch/boots were previously found in vegan mode prior to the bugfixes, they show as unlocked in the lorestone, but actually remain inaccessible (blueprint cannot be found again, and they cannot be made).
Thank you again, and thank you for being so active!
Thank you for the quick fix!
While we're addressing bugs, I found a blueprint for the alchemist's pouch in vegan mode. It's also showing up on the lorestone as if I collected it, despite only getting the blueprint. So I see two potential bugs here: 1) Alchemist's pouch should be inaccessible in vegan mode because it requires leather (and should never be on the lorestone), and 2) equipment unlocks on the lorestone should reflect only after they've been crafted, not after the blueprint was found.
Edit: I think this is a regression; I mentioned it here: https://itch.io/post/12760351
It's pretty hard, yeah. You need to get lucky with the restore cells/gems, as well as have the high shield as high as possible. I did my usual strat of using sanguine signet + snow boots until lava, then switched to winterheart and magmawalker, using one mageflare rune every seven depth to do optimal traversal. At the obsidian I swapped out winterheart and made it with 2 health to spare after several attempts. It's probably the hardest still doable challenge in the game, unlike all turtles beside Griddle in hard mode
Thank you for the detailed response. I completely agree with keeping the slot machine/important pop-ups open unless explicitly closed. They're special and unique moments that need the player's attention =)
I also understand the rationale behind ore behaving differently from fuel. It's a perfectly logical design as you've described it. On that note, I look forward to seeing how things turn out! And don't worry about bugs; I'll find them all ;-)
On the topic of furnaces, this is more of a UX thing than a bug, but when smelting many ore and the last fuel runs out, it's not possible to add more fuel until the furnace is stopped (either by completing the smelt, using up the fuel, or by manually stopping the furnace). It would be nice to be able to add more fuel while the thing is still going. Also, it's possible to pull out all the ores/fuel by clicking them when the furnace is in a stopped state, but not in a started state. Perhaps this too could be deliberated further?
Another thing: when smelting, in the instant when fuel is "accepted"/used by the furnace, its count drops by one immediately. Taking out all the fuel still leaves some partial fuel in the furnace which is used up until the next fuel is supplied. This is a fantastic mechanic, and I love this attention to detail.
However, the same does not apply to ore. Partially smelted ore does use fuel, which is correct, but it does not use up the ore. The entire ore can be removed from the furnace even if it has been almost fully smelted. This feels kind of strange; I think the ore should disappear the instant the furnace accepts it. if the furnace is stopped mid-smelt, then the partially smelted ore should either disappear or remain in the furnace like partial fuel until the next ore is accepted.
Maybe above/below the progress bar a small icon could be shown to indicate which fuel/ore is currently in the furnace?
Wow, you are on fire with all these amazing updates! Thank you so much for fixing all those bugs! I hope I haven't been too bothersome in reporting them, haha!
PS: Focus fully trained in both modes =)
ETA: New interface bug! If you click the slot machine and then click on one of the shops (Dojo, Bits and Bobs, etc) before the slot machine is done, and then you win something, the winnings interface is displayed on top (most of the time*). Clicking "close" on this winnings interface also closes the other interface**. This might be a really tricky one because of the way the interfaces come into focus/go out of focus.***
*Most of the time, because the furnace is the exception. When winning something at the slot machine with the furnace interface open, the winnings interface is placed below the furnace's interface, unlike all the other interfaces.
**Furthermore, closing out of the furnace interface doesn't close the winnings interface; it remains open. That's because the winnings interface remains open even when something else is clicked, making it exempt from this click away to close update. I think this is good because slot machine wins are important (as are new turtle unlocks*** and blueprints/unlockables), and I wouldn't want to accidentally miss out because I'm spam clicking the slot machine, haha. Which brings me to an idea... Thoughts on a "mega" slot machine option where you can bet more than 3 quartz?
***Haven't tested the extremely rare triple interface scenario when Reeler is won with a jackpot while another interface is open (too rare to trigger).
Magmawalker??
ETA: This is more of an annoyance than a bug, but when selling ore or upgrading in the dojo, the interface automatically closes upon the transaction completion. I think this happens when training level VI is reached, or when there is no more ore to sell. While there's nothing wrong with that being automatic, I think it's still a bit jarring in terms of UX. I apologize if this has been fixed with the addition of clicking outside to close; I haven't had a chance to test it yet!
Thank you for addressing these!
2, 3, 4. This bug is still present; I'll try to explain it better, haha:
When simultaneously regenerating and collecting restore from a low enough state, the regen stacks on the restore cell with the 1.5 multiplier, -1 for the dig itself. This is correct. When regenerating from an already overhealed state, the regen does not add any bonus, but the next dig costs -1. This is also correct, even when simultaneously collecting a restore cell while already overhealed. The problem is when regenerating upon collecting a restore cell that would have otherwise caused overheal.
Try to collect a restore cell that would cause overheal (maybe with 32/50 stamina; this should get Fern up to ~56/50). Next, try to do the same thing, but get the restore cell in such a way that your regen kicks in at the same moment you dig the restore cell. This will cause underheal (stamina goes up to 56/50, but regen takes it down to 50/50 instead of taking it to 55/50 or even leaving it at 56/50. 55 should be the correct outcome, because +24 overheal/-1 dig and no regen when already healed). The status update on the stamina bar actually shows -7 for this specific example, which seems like the regen is added to the overheal bonus, but all 7 stamina points are removed. It should instead show -1 and go to 55. The same issue was happening with the titanium free dig, but I haven't been able to check if that was fixed (requires luck, haha). The issue is still present when wearing Violetheart; the stamina will go up to 56, then 58, then -8 back to 50.
5. The Sanguine Signet bug was actually that the (30-4)/2 part was not being calculated consistently when below a depth of 50 with Fern; it would vary by some amount. I haven't tested if it has been fixed yet, so I apologize! However, Sanguine Signet's effect is still affected by the simultaneous regen bug
On this note, there actually is a rare bug in the sand section that I've been unable to find the conditions for; if digging under a resource, sometimes the resource will disappear (not just visually) and will no longer be accessible/diggable. It's happened only a handful of times, so I apologize for not having more information. It's definitely some kind of edge case in the game's logic.
Haha, another vote for the restore finder amulet! I think giving such an accessory no other functions than to just find restore cells would be really interesting; the trade-off over winterheart in the lava would be a deliberate choice dependent on the choice of turtle. It would give Fern a fighting chance to beat hard mode, but it wouldn't make it any easier for the others.
This being said, I've wavered and am not sure it would be a good addition to the game. Sanguine Signet already exists, and adding the restore finder would make beating the game in normal mode even easier without significantly affecting hard mode
omg I love Fern so much!
Couple of Fern bugs:
- Using flask reduces health when overhealed
- Stamina regen itself drains energy when overhealed
- Same applies with Violetheart
- Collecting restore which would have otherwise overhealed causes underheal upon co-incident stamina regen
- "Free" dig upon restore cell collection causes underheal
- Unpredictable heal amount when overhealing from un-overhealed state with Sanguine Signet compared to without (not sure if bug; should the +depth/50 just be added at the end of the calculation?)
Bonus hard mode bug:
- Iron helm (and possibly other headwear) can be unlocked twice. It also shows up twice in the headwear slot (until page refresh or equip)
Thank you!! And yup, I have two save files =)
Honestly, hard mode is not that bad up to the lava layer. It's challenging, but the accessories make it interesting. The lava layer is difficult not because of the lack of light, but because of the stamina nerf (no flask/no boots). The minimum optimum stamina cost of the obsidian layer is ~65 (switch out winterheart & switch to gold pick for max strength), which is nearly the entire health of Grampshell. Even with perfect stamina restore right before the obsidian layer, it can only be done with the optimal strategy, but perfect or near perfect stamina restore is nearly impossible (1 in 100 trillion). Using the titanium pick and getting one free dig on obsidian reduces the cost to ~45 and ups the odds, and getting two free digs further ups the odds (two free digs in a row is more likely than lucky restore cell placement), but even then it's a moonshot because you have to get really lucky with RNG
With Griddle, it's a strategy of using winterheart & omnishard to get as high stamina as possible somewhere in the middle of the lava, and then digging straight down to water. The 150 base stamina vs 75–90 is a night and day difference =)
Am I the first (vegan mode) again?