itch.io

Definitely a big update!  Lots for me to explore.
I do notice, though, that there may be a bug.  The Character Sheet/Inventory screen now has XP Boost and Gold* Boost stats.  However, the Synaptic Escalation bonuses don't appear to show up there.  It's unclear whether they should or not, as they do show in the new upper-left Synaptic Escalation box.


(*Additionally, for consistancy, you may want to decide on either "Gold" or "Matter")

Ok.  Mucked around with Permanent Skills for a bit.

I moved all my equipment to my inventory storage and experimented with playing with just the Permanent Skills at level 50.  They weren't as potent as the gear is, and the Rogue-Mage build is definitely fragile without all the HP, Armour, and Resist the gear provides.  Still, higher level threats are going to be necessary to really see how it all comes together.  At this point, even at level 4, there's nothing really challenging my build.

I like the direction the overall Skills go, particularly for Rogue and Mage.  Warrior feels like it's too focused on dealing Damage, and might be more appropriate as focusing more-so on survival.  For example, Bleed and Poison are kind of redundant at this point, so leaving Poison in Rogue and replacing Bleed from Warrior with something like a chance to attack and destroy incoming enemy projectiles with an Auto-Attack might be cool.  Similarly for the various other overlaps, like basic Attack Speed passives.

The XP Boost in Rogue also doesn't really amount to much.  Even at Rank 5, it only got me 1 extra level-up on the Level 4 map.  This is common in a lot of games that offer XP Boost.  Unless you're offering something like +50% at Rank 1 up to +250% at Rank 5, players are unlikely to see much of an impact with the increasing XP costs of level progression.
An easy way to project the impact is to write up a chart of the XP needed for each level, and then at the XP Boost percentage in another column, then compare what level that would actually wind up bringing the player to.
For example, from Heroes of Might and Magic, a popular turn-based strategy series:



Ultimately the Learning Skill, even at +20%, only amounts to one extra level for the player for the Levels 10 through to 24 range.  Outside of that, the Learning Skill's Experience Boost is entirely pointless and a considerable waste of Skill Points.
As such, in later sequels of the game, the Experience Boosting Skill was also bundled into something else, such as bonus Characteristic Points per level.
Something to consider for NXF.

I played league well over ten years ago.  I quit when they removed the Crystal Scar game mode, as that's when it became clear to me that the people front-running league had no interest in what the players found fun or enjoyable, but only wanted to curate the play experience to funnel people toward the professional e-sport scene.  The revelations about the exploitative work environment and shady backroom deals with oppressive governments, like saudi arabia, only cemented my conviction about not returning.
I tended to enjoy playing Trundle or Sion in Jungle, as I really enjoy playing tanky controllers in most of my gaming experiences.  City of Heroes / City of Villains was the game I probably sank the most hours into my whole life, and found loads of enjoyment as Controllers, Masterminds, Brutes, and Tankers.  But then again, I enjoyed pretty much all of City's Archetypes, other than the Peacebringer/Warshade.  Those were just too finicky for me, personally.

Let me see if I can recall how I progressed through NXF.
I started with Earthquake Hellfire on a corner, and focused on the Slow effect, building up some Chips for extra damage before I really understood what I was doing.  In other words; just sort of experimenting, but knowing how useful Slow effects are in other Tower Defense games, I figured it would probably be good here too.
I focused my initial builds on self-buff and AoE Skills.  I quickly found that the AoE Skills were my primary bread-and-butter, and I'd use them judiciously to get large groups of enemies defeated or at least weakened enough for my towers or auto-attack to finish off.
I can't remember if I was able to get the first boss on my first attempt, but I definitely remember losing to the second boss until I switched up my build to include Axe Throw instead of the attack-speed buff.
I've experiemented with all 4 Tower types, but find that the most effective layout is a couple of Earthquake Hellfires, and a bunch of Firestarters next to them set up at the initial start of the path and corners.
I didn't realize how to equipt inventory items until my 5th to 7th play session, but once I did, I started to do much better.  I now have Epics for Helmet, Pants, Gloves, Weapon, Shield, Necklace, both Earrings, and both Rings.  Rare Armour and Boots.  And a Destructor with +39 Damage and +0.26%, and a Tarrasque with +59 HP, +17 Armour, and +28 Magic Resist.
Before I got a powerful inventory loadout, I beat the level 3 and level 4 bosses by building Towers at the start of the path, then selling them and rebuilding them again incrementally.  It didn't always work, but eventually managed to pull it off.

An Endless Mode could be enjoyable, mayhaps, where Boss enemies show up mixed in with regular enemies every 10 Waves or so.

My biggest concern currently is that the map is HUGE, but ends up being a lot of wasted space, since there usually aren't enough enemies to generate enough Matter to build elaborate layouts.  I think it was Bloons 3 that had a really good balance for amount of resources-versus-length-of-game.  By the time a player gets to the final Wave before Endless mode, they'd usually have raised enough money to build dozens of monkey towers.  It might be handy for you to explore the Bloons games for some ideas on how to structure costs and rewards for the pacing you'd like to have in NXF.

I'm still experimenting with the Permanent Skill system and am only at level 27, but will give you my thoughts once I've gotten further along in it.

Did you have any particular questions or areas you wanted me to focus play-testing and feedback on?

If you don't already have some way to collect data from players baked in (which, if you do, you should definitely inform players of that, and which specific data is being collected), then I'd like to suggest a button added to the menu for capturing information for you to use to help determine your future game balance patches.
Information such as:  Total play time.  Total enemies killed (dividided by sub-type if possible).  Total damage suffered.  Total damage dealt.  Inventory loadout.

I've reached the point where the game is possibly too easy, as I can just stand at the start fof the enemy path without any towers, and effectively kill everything.  Even so much as going AFK in the easiest difficulty setting.

Would be happy to speak more on this if you want more details.

Initial reaction:  Looks good.  Going to take a while to gain Skill Points, though, so I'll have to reserve full feedback until I can actually get into the Skill Trees.

Appreciated!

How many playable characters are you planning for?  Do you have plans for fleshing out an in-depth story and setting, or just focus entirely on gameplay?
I'm a hobbyist writer and storyteller, having GM'd tabletop games for close to twenty years now and even have a small system published on DrivethruRPGs.  If you're interested, I would be happy to contribute to this if things align.

Thanks for the replay!
I feel a different font for the damage dealt to the player-character from the damage dealt to the enemies will be helpful in determining when the player is being hit.  Mild screen shake, red tint, and/or momentary blur effect could also help, particularly if it ramps up in severity the closer the player is to defeat.
Indicators on what level a Skill is on the icon would be helpful.
A countdown timer on the Skill icon instead of just the purple fade to help know exactly when it will be ready again.

Probably want to put down that "C" opens the inventory in the instructions up there.
Also, I realize this is just starting out, but some crucially needed elements:
- Keybind customization.
- Volume controls.
- A lead-in time at the start of round 1.
- Improved visual feedback (I suspect that's already on your to-do list, though).

I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Go figure.
Two runs after I made this post, I got to the Water with 1 Energy to spare.
And that's how I unlocked both the Full Flask and Headwear.

If anyone else is struggling, here's what I did:
Unlocked everything.  Ths took about 32 hours and 120+ runs.
Used Grampshell, Diamond Pick, and Snow Boots and Violetheart Pendant to start.
Switched to Magmawalkers in Ice zone to keep regenerating Stamina.
Switched back to Snow Boots after that to increase max Stamina again.
Switched to Winterheart in Magma zone.

Good luck to others!

I seem to be having some considerable trouble passing the Magma section.  I thought I had unlocked everything, but the Achievements mentioned an Iron Helm, so I started reading the comments.  I see mention of a "Full Flask," but can't seem to find anyone saying -how- to unlock it.

Does anyone have any advice?  I've tried with all the different turtles, and can generally make it to Magma, but only ever touched the purple layer once or twice, and did not have the massive Stamina required to get past it.

You need a Smelter.  Put fuel (either Wood or Coal) in one end, and the raw ore in the other, then hit Start.  You can then leave the Smelter window and do other things, including a fresh dig.  The Smelter will run in the background.

Freedom is a beautiful thing worth fighting for.

Is there a reason Adam isn't explaining the Grace mechanic in the Comments?

Absolutely adorable!

I know, right?  I'd buy it here in a heartbeat if it were only available.

I think I am finally starting to get the hang of this.

Is it possible to get the format changed to ZIP instead, please?  ZIP isn't proprietary and any natural operating system since the early 2000s can unzip regular ZIPs without needing to buy or download any additional software.

I don't know if Powerhoof is still a thing, but Crawl remains one of my favourite games.  It would be great to encourage them to look into making a sequal, if possible.

I bought the full version on Switch and have been playing it a bit (would still prefer a full computer-based version here on Itch.io, of course), but my son got Animal Crossing so he's been using the Switch these days.  I wanted to play, so I pulled this old copy up again.

Didn't do quite as well as I had hoped to.

This art style reminds me of my son's style.  I showed it to him, and he absolutely loves it!

2025-08-08 daily done in 75 moves in 83 seconds.

It's not really suitable to call this "poker," as it's just a matter of filling your hand with just one suit only at a time.  Scroll down in the comments a bit to find the instructions I left a couple months ago.

Lots of upgrades this run thanks to Chests.

Folks should read the T.o.U. there.  steam is not safe software.

Is there a place on Itch to get the full version?  I will not be downloading steam or google crap.

I definitely won't be gettng steam, but if the full version is available here on Itch, I'll buy it here.

Clear cut the woods.

Very nice!   I had struggled to think of a way to offer scoring points to players based on messages, but leaving that in the hands of the winning player is probably a good idea. 
Alternatively, if you have the time for it, programming a way for the game to recognize when Writing with the word "Trap" is placed adjacent to Traps could be a way to offer scoring.

I would like to suggest a significant change to the graveyard and how "scoring" is calculated:

I think the players who have successfully completed the Catacombs should receive Mausoleums in a separate graveyard space.  The deeper the Catacomb, the bigger the Mausoleum they receive.

Meanwhile, players whose dropped Items were used by the other players who complete the Catacombs should receive score points, which result in their graves receiving flowers.  Players who have flowers receive priority placement in the graveyard (either closer to the entrance, or up the two middle columns of the graveyard).

This will further incentivise players to drop gear instead of leaving vengeful ghosts, and give those players a sense of accomplishment, even when they don't manage to complete a Catacomb personally.   

I would like to suggest a new option for players to offer upon defeat:  Leave a unique Writing that identifies one of the Potions, Scrolls, Staves, or Pendants they had used during their run.  It could be tied directly to their bony remains, so other players will have a reason to inspect bones they find just like Writing.

That does already exist:  The Scroll of Identification.

Made it to just over 500 Faith before the final Cataclism came.

Congratulations on the release of the new version!   It's a big change, but definitely for the better, in my opinion.

Muwha-ha!  Ha ha ha!
Behold!

Last night I was playing and reached floor 8 or 9 (sorry, I forgot to check) for the second time, and I found that the map had been randomized but all of my notes on the ground and walls were still in the same X,Y locations.  No idea what could have caused this.