[1.7] Main story improved, better quest journal, harder boss fights

Hello everyone! ːsteamhappyː

Over the past month, I've focused on improving the writing in the main story—particularly the conflict between the orcs and elves, which now has a much stronger narrative foundation. While there haven't been any changes to gameplay or maps, the lore behind many of the main characters involved in the Stone quest has been updated. Most notably, the final boss now has a richer backstory, and the preceding bosses in the third act are more meaningfully connected to the overarching plot.

I also had the chance to watch Peaches stream the game on Twitch, which was incredibly valuable for identifying areas that still need balancing. One standout issue was how powerful parrying and backstabbing bosses can be. To address this, bosses are now more likely to counterattack when a backstab is attempted.

The Quest UI has been overhauled as well. It now provides much more visual information about objectives, their locations, and related characters. Players can now track multiple objectives at once, making questing smoother and more intuitive.

The game's intro has also changed—Cacildes now receives the king’s letter right from the start, making the chicken quest optional. This really opens up the game early on, allowing players to explore more freely without feeling locked into the first main quest area.

Here’s the full changelog:

• Rewrote the Stone and Molok storyline with stronger dialogue and deeper character motivations. Redesigned aspects of the main quest and the Forest Wanderers faction.

• Added a poison barrel minigame to the Lenny boss fight.

• Improved enemy sight behavior and gave some enemies the ability to jump.

• AdjustedRevamped the following boss fightsDuo Orcs, Balbino, and Drogo – they now feature new attacks and increased difficulty.

• Bosses now counter backstabs more often – thanks to Peaches for pointing out this exploit!

• Made Käyro’s fight in the Elven Village more challenging by switching his weapons to shields. The Tombstone Shield now drops here, and his original spell can be found in a nearby chest.

• Increased the difficulty of the Celes and Molok boss fights; added a Vael’Noor statue puzzle to assist with the Celes fight.

• Added two new main story endings and expanded the epilogue.

• Overhauled the Quest Journal with detailed objectives, character bios, and trivia. You can now track multiple quests simultaneously.

• Added a cutscene with a camera pan when first entering Snailcliff, to guide players toward Altaire (the key NPC for forging boss weapons).

• Fixed the floating bees bug.

• Added a note in the main menu informing players that a staff must be equipped to cast spells.

• Added collision to the castle area to prevent players from falling off the map (shoutout to Peaches for the inspiration).

• Fixed weapon buffs so they now properly apply status effects (e.g., fire resins now cause burn, frost resins cause frostbite, etc.).

With each update, I can feel the game getting closer and closer to a full experience overhaul. 😊 There’s always a ton of work to be done, but I’ve got some exciting ideas on the backlog—and hopefully, I’ll be able to start drafting new adventures to expand the game even further very soon. So stay tuned!