Update for the 6th of June 2024

Hi everyone! I hope you're doing well. I've been very hard at work behind-the-scenes on some really cool stuff, so I apologise for the radio silence right now. But I wanted to share the latest 8-Bit Adventures 2 update, which fixes a lot of lingering bugs.

Most of all, it streamlines, speeds up, or improves dozens of cutscenes in the game 😊 After replaying the game for console testing, I noted down places that were too slow (especially the places where you weren't able to speed up dialogue) or didn't land as intended. Individually they are fairly minor changes, but there's a LOT of them, so they definitely have a cumulative effect on the game flow.

I've also tried to improve the Golden Sapling side-quest, improved performance on some overcrowded maps, and I've made the screen flashes to transition into battle less bright (since they can be pretty blinding on an LED screen).

As always, I'm trying to make the game as good as it can possibly be, and I think this latest round of adjustments get us pretty close to that goal 🥳

Full Patch Notes

• Streamlined dialogue and text speeds across the entire game. I also removed superfluous dialogue from some scenes to make things flow better, and rewrote small sections of dialogue (usually to convey something better or more succinctly).

  This includes scenes and NPCs in Stonecrest, Azureus, Pheopolis, Sky Forge, Niveus, Burial Grounds, Anbu City, Ancient Fortress, Glade of Graphics, Tropical Island, Bruneus, Maze of Memory, Factory Roof, Green Mage Tower, the Nexus/Ice Cavern, Deep Forest, Time-Space Mansion, the final city, the final dungeon, and at the start of the game’s second Glitch battle.

• The Golden Sapling side-quest has had an update to make it more difficult, interesting, and rewarding.

  Firstly, all of the Golden enemies you fight have gained elemental resistances, as well as the ability Gold Toss. This ability deals damage based on how much gold the player currently possesses.

  All of this means that the enemies are harder to kill, and by the end of the game (when you have a lot of Gold), can potentially wipe out your party in a single Gold Toss. So you’ll have to get clever to take them down! For example, by using fast characters to open the battle, and by inflicting status ailments. Additionally, one character’s Personal Ability is very useful for staying alive…

  There’s also a new reward – just a bit of fun if your pocket’s overflowing with Gold ;) If you’ve already completed the Golden Sapling side-quest, just return to Glendon’s Glen (next to Pheopolis) and you’ll find the reward sitting on the ground.

  Since this side-quest isn’t tied to any achievements, and the rewards are just bonuses, I wanted to make it a bit trickier and more memorable.

• Made the screen flashes when transitioning into battle slightly darker, as they can be extremely bright on some screens.

• Overhauled performance in some parts of the game by removing thousands of events from 35 maps – things like water and fire animations. These maps now run more efficiently, which was important for our console preparation. Thanks to Ratalaika Games for their help with this!

• Altered the syntax for the Priceless Treasure achievement to conform with the rest of the achievements (in preparation for console launch).

• Fixed a speed issue with the Willie the Wisp boss – specifically when the lantern would re-appear for the second time, it would accidentally have its Agility reduced to 0.

• Fixed a bug where the Confusion status would be added to an enemy (via the Confuse Attack Augment) and then could get immediately removed by the damage calculation. The Confuse Attack Augment is now fully functional, as intended.

• Fixed some minor visual bugs inside the painting section of the Glade of Graphics.

• Fixed a bug where you could open the World Map item during certain cutscenes, which would break the game. Now, like the Escape Amulet, the item is removed from your inventory during these scenes.

• Fixed a bug where, if you tried to open the World Map on the Floating Continent while in the Airship, it will trigger the landing message instead.

• Gave the Detective character a walking left and right animation in the Glade of Graphics, as he looked a little odd when he moved without one.

• Fixed a visual/collision issue on a roof tile outside the Swamp Mansion.

• Fixed a bug where if you skipped through dialogue in one part of the Desert Ruins, Charlie would be stuck standing still for 300 frames.

• To avoid a potential issue afterwards, I reset the Escape Amulet’s destination during the Factory Roof cutscene.

• Fixed a bug where you could open the World Map and Airship Simulator in the Snowcraft during a narrative sequence late in the game.

• Fixed a bug in the Nexus where the Warrior failed to walk down at one point if you’re speeding through the text, leading to a choreography issue.

• Added some boss music to the fight with Null. The poor thing needed to feel a bit more special!

• Fixed a small bug where there was an accidental delay between two text boxes while talking to the Traveller. This made the box do its full closing and opening animation between lines.

• Fixed a bug where, during a scene where a rock is dropped in the final dungeon, Charlie appeared standing on top of the Mage’s sprite.

• Made the Mutant Monitor’s Vigilant Vigilante ally immune to the Frozen state, as it made the fight extremely easy.

• Fixed a bug in the final city’s Inn, where the black screen while you rested wouldn’t cover up the city’s name banner.

• Fixed a bug where Charlie was able to block the Leviathan’s Tidal Wave attack.

• Fixed a bug in the Arena where the Hibernator enemy would get slower when it wakes up, whereas it’s meant to get faster.

• Fixed a bug where the Living Arena’s MP Break attack was able to miss. I also rebalanced his Berserk status to trigger earlier in the fight.

• Fixed a bug on the Clockwork Controller battle (for the thousandth time XD) which could cause the battle to soft lock the game. Essentially, its AI could get confused and it would become unable to take any actions. Now it will use Retaliation Directive if it gets into that situation.

• Slightly rebalanced the Savage Strike ability, along with the Cursed status’ attack boost. These mechanics are still incredibly powerful; they’re just a bit more balanced when it comes to formulas that multiply their effects further.

• Fixed a bug in the Blademaster rematch where he would use Haste on himself twice in a row, wasting a turn. So I incorporated an extra failsafe to prevent him from casting Haste on himself if he already has the status.

• Fixed a bug when saving Bruno in Stonecrest, where he would flash out of existence before the black transition effect was able to cover the screen.

• Changed the text box positions in the Azureus shops. This was because the text box would partially overlap the shopkeeper if you talked to them from behind the counter.

• Fixed a collision issue in late-game Stonecrest where you could walk through a wall.

• Fixed a collision issue in the Estriatus Inn, where you could walk through the counter.

• Fixed a mistake where you could open a treasure chest in the Dwarven Tunnels from the side, even though it’s being guarded by a goblin. Now you can only open it after defeating the goblin, and new text was added when you try to open it from the side.

• Fixed an audio bug during the player’s trip to Niveus via Airship. The propeller noise from the previous cutscene didn’t stop playing in the background after the scene was over, and remained present during gameplay.

• Fixed a bug in the sequence where Emma crosses the ice in the Ship Graveyard. When you got to the end of the path, one of the triggers wasn’t working properly, and wouldn’t trigger – leading to a lot of confusion.

• Added menu access when the party is transitioning back from Anbu to the Ice Cavern. That way, the player can un-equip Warrior/Thief/Robot if they want to.