Brief Release Notes

Version 5 "Books and scrolls"

• Implemented magical skills in 14 skills across 3 disciplines: Perception, Inception, and Spellcraft.
  • Each skill level gives access to certain spell fragments and abilities.
  • Each level has its own list of requirements, i.e. other skills that must be mastered first (at a certain level).
  • Reorganized fragment categories now match the corresponding skills.
  • Only the fragments of the skill levels the player possesses are now shown in the spell editor.
  • The all-new "Skills" tab lists all existing disciplines and skills, and shows the current level for each skill. This tab is also present for the examined objects.
• Added books.
  • Books can contain one or several skills of a certain level.
  • Books for all existing skill levels now appear randomly in the forest.
  • If all the skill requirements are met, the player can read the book in order to acquire a skill or to improve the skill level.
• Added scrolls which can contain one or several spells.
  • Added 2 scroll types: "fireball" and "empty sphere". They appear randomly in the forest.
  • The player can read the spells, but can not modify them.
  • If the player has all required skills, then the spell(s) of the scroll can be learned by heart.
  • Upon learning, a copy of the spell(s) will be created in the player's memory. Then, the player will be able to use and to modify them.
• It is now possible to learn spells of the enchanted items, too!
• Added rubies and sapphires.
  • The player can manipulate magical energy in the gems to quickly store or extract large amounts of it.
  • The gems accumulate the ambient magical energy automatically over time. Different gems do it at different speeds.
• Removed different elements for the drawn energy. Now, a single type of energy can be drawn and stored. The elements are still used for other spell fragments.
• Added a third energy bar to the HUD. The player now loses drawn energy over time.
• Renamed mental energy into spirit everywhere (the magical equivalent of stamina).
• UI: added disabled controls.

You can also view the detailed V5 release notes.

Version 4 "Berries and Weeds"

• Added support for scalable, non-monospace fonts.
  • Three new fonts replace the Courier New.
  • Added support for shadows (used in the HUD text).
• Reworked the menu design and the widgets:
  • The inventory / "Examine" menus now look like a book.
  • Added nice-looking tabs at the edge of the "book".
  • New styles for buttons.
  • Introduced menu title decorations. The titles now use a different font, too.
  • Introduced the horizontal lines and the scroll bars.
  • The hotbar is now rendered behind "the book" of the inventory menu.
• Changed all existing icons, and added new ones when necessary.
  • New spell editor icons for all fragments and fragment categories.
• Added the main menu background image.
• Slightly reworked the HUD (colors, icons, etc.).
• Added support for the GLB 3D model format.
  • It is now possible to import models from Blender.
  • Internal data structures now use triangles instead of quads.
  • Support for child anchors, used to manually position berries over the bush.
• Replaced grass by 3 new models (normal, small, and large).
  • The new models do not use the "pixelated" style anymore.
• Added 2 types of bushes and their berries: yew and white currant.
  • The number of spawned berries per bush is random.
  • Berries can be harvested and eaten.
• The landscape now includes bushes, new types of grass, and loose branches.
• Added the "Health" tab, shown for the player and examined objects alike:
  • It shows detailed information on the general condition, as well as on the afflictions, if any.
  • It can include wounded and poisoned status effects, hunger, sleepiness, stamina, magical energy, temperature, various wet / cooked / charcoal / burning information, and the "On fire" and "Sleeping" mentions.
• Added shortcuts for the "Inventory", "Health", and "Magic" tabs (I, H, and K).
• Yew berries and uncooked meat now add the "poisoned" status.
• Removed damage on hunger. Instead, added direct death when maximum hunger or maximum poisoning are reached.
• Renamed aspects to elements (or magic elements) everywhere.
• It is now possible to activate / deactivate spells for the player.
• Renamed some objects and some spell fragments.
• Renamed sickness to "poisoned".
• Replaced the Alt key for "lie down" by C.
• Added a feedback menu, accessible anywhere in the game by pressing F1.
• Added support for fullscreen (via the "Options" menu).
• Various bug fixes for the UI, the containers, some textures, and more.
• Added support for the PNG image format.

You can also view the detailed V4 release notes.

Version 3 "Fire and Frost"

• Object enchantments (via the "examine" action):
  • To enchant an entity, one should first make it sentient. Then, it becomes possible to create or modify its spells.
  • One can activate or deactivate the existing spells. Activated spells are triggered automatically every couple of seconds.
• Temperature simulation:
  • Each entity is composed of one or two matters (e.g., wood and water).
  • Heat exchange and phase transition simulation. A piece of wood can not be burned until its water content is completely evaporated.
  • Carbonization for all organic matter (to be used for charcoal).
  • Magic-induced "surface burning" that dies out after several seconds. Self-sustaining regular fire for entities with high temperatures.
  • Re-implemented cooking based on the temperature mechanics.
  • On-screen "glimpse" information showing the water contents, the level of cooking, carbonization, burning, and so on.
  • Heat diffusion between the entities and/or the terrain. This allows fire propagation and "proximity cooking".
  • Daily temperature variations. Temperature shown in the HUD.
• Spell editor improvements:
  • The parameter and variable values are now shown in the left pane, allowing seamless "reading" of the spell.
  • Added lists and range types. Built-in fragments now use these types whenever possible.
  • The spell editor now allows selecting an appropriate list or ranged value from a dropdown list or by using a spinner widget, respectively. The spinners feature various increment and decrement buttons, step and range control, and more.
  • Friendly names for variable types ("text" and "number"). Variable and parameter names, as well as type names and labels, can now include spaces.
  • Enabled numerous MagicScript features: variables and labels, script parameters; math, geometry, and motion fragment categories.
• Small branches now appear when cutting down a tree. They are much easier to burn than the logs.
• Reduced the energy aspect list to 8: Crystal, Earth, Bloom, Water, Fire, Air, Metal, and Rock.
• Various UI and gameplay improvements.
• Other bug fixes and improvements, including a fix of an AI issue leading to wolf starvation.

You can also view the detailed V3 release notes.

Version 2 "Night and Day"

• Added a day and night cycle of 24 minutes (1 real minute corresponds to 1 in-game hour). The current time is shown in the upper left corner.
• Both humans and animals can now lie down, turn when lying (so that it is possible to lie on the side or on the back), and crawl.
• All living creatures now need to sleep.
  • The animals will only go to sleep if they are not hungry and not threatened.
  • The sleep duration is automatic (until fully rested). It is also possible to wake up on hearing sounds nearby, experiencing pain, and so on.
  • In general, humans and pigs prefer to sleep at night, while the wolves roam at night and sleep during the day.
  • While the player sleeps, the game continues to be simulated, but at a much higher rate. Unexpected events can happen while you sleep.
• Spell editor improvements:
  • All fragments now have clearer names, named parameters and detailed descriptions.
  • Added an ability to open a sub-script directly from the spell editor, including core sub-scripts.
  • Added the "Use now" button for spells.
• Magic:
  • The mental stamina is reduced when performing magic (shown by a blue bar). It is restored automatically over time. Magical spell fragments become slower when the mental stamina goes down.
  • New fragments: "pull", text manipulation, "go to label" fragments.
  • One can now use the "anchor" spell fragment with the terrain (grants motion resistance).
  • Reduced the number of energy aspects from 10 to 8.
• Blocked actions now have the "(N/A)" mention in the context menu.
• Better widgets: multi-line labels and text edit fields, horizontal scrolling in some fields, and so on.
• Fixed: all pigs die of hunger eventually.
• Other bug fixes and improvements.

You can also view the detailed V2 release notes.

Version 1 "Pigs and Wolves"

• Wander through a hilly landscape filled with strange leafless trees and patches of short grass.
• Use your axe, your dagger, or both to hunt wild pigs or wolves. While pigs only eat grass and remain peaceful, wolves are carnivores. They can attack and deal you grievous wounds.
• Butcher animal corpses with a dagger to get slabs of meat. You can try eating anything at all, but the meat is the only food you can eat safely. You must eat regularly, or the hunger will kill you.
• Cook the meat if you can find the way. Cooked meat will stave off hunger for a longer time.
• Avoid falling into pits, you could get wounded or even die. Do not get wounded by fire, either.
• When wounded, you will heal over time.
• Cut down trees with your axe and build your first wooden log cabin.
• Dig into the earth with a shovel and place the grass blocks elsewhere to transform the landscape.
• Inventory menu: left and right hands, worn items, and entities around you. Container support (used for the backpack).
• Magic menu: browse existing or create your own spells.
  • You start with two basic spells: "Kindle fire" to put entities on fire and "Push" to push things away from you.
  • Spell editor: examine how the known spells work and craft your own, unique spells by combining standard spell fragments or even calling other spells.
• Use the main hand and the off hand. A wealth of alternative actions for the main hand can be accessed by the Right Click.
• Unified hotbar for both physical items and magic spells.
• Respawning upon death. Previous run's body and items remain in the world, too.
• Single-slot, save-on-exit save system.
• Windowed mode only (resizable).
• A single option: "Invert Y axis".
• The game features a debugging console. It can be accessed by pressing the tilde ('~') key.

You can also view the detailed V1 release notes.