Quality of life update

Here we go! Over the past 20 days, the game demo has received several quality-of-life updates (Don’t ask—I’m also confused about what "quality-of-life updates" mean, but it sounds legit, right?).

At the same time, Chapter 3 has entered the mid-stage of development. Just a few more features to add, then I’ll playtest and polish the balancing—and Chapter 3 will be complete!

Here are the demo updates:

Guidance Improvements

• Clear objective hints have been added to each chapter and can be viewed in the top-left UI.

• Players can now more easily notice the entrance to the trading panel.

• It’s now clearer that "left-click to initiate dialogue."

• In the Dark Abilities panel, abilities now indicate which sacrificial totem they belong to based on their level.

• Descriptions of some units have been optimized for better clarity.

• In the Blueprint panel, each blueprint now displays which unit unlocks it.

New Content

• Added the Beehive unit, which provides a steady supply of Food. Its blueprint is unlocked by building the Research Bench.

Quality-of-Life Improvements

• Updated the artwork for most units. The game now leans more toward a pixel-art style!

• The player’s initial backpack slots have been set to 20.

• Updated the appearance of the Dark Corruption orbs—they’re now skulls!

• Added a cool animation when opening magic doors.

• Light Crystals now glow visually.

• In mouse UI tooltips, item consumption is now displayed as icons + numbers for better clarity.

• The initial fuel of the Light Tower in Chapter 2 has been changed to 9.

• The Mushroom Hut button now allows players to "Go Exploring," in addition to the original "End Exploration."

• An initial simple stove has been added to Chapter 1.

• Each Vine Cluster now provides +1 Vine resource, and each gather yields +1.

• Reduced the Food cost to build a Greenhouse, while slightly increasing the food growth interval.

• Players can now pause the game while exploring outside. Exploration location data is no longer saved.

• Improved the camera drag logic for right-click dragging—it’s now much smoother.

• Reduced the visual brightness of the Light Tower.

• Decreased the map size of Chapter 1 and adjusted some resource spawns accordingly.

• Added a small amount of Food resource spawns in Chapter 2.

• Various minor improvements.

• Adjusted the volume of multiple sound effects to make them less harsh and abrupt.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug where the Dark Vortex could get stuck if destroyed too quickly by the player.

• Improved overall game stability.