v1.9 - Goblins Attack! - now on the experimental branch

tldr: You are invited to come beta test the v1.9 release which you can access in Steam through Golden Krone Hotel -> Properties -> Betas -> experimental.

v1.9 summary:

• New branch GREAT HALL: tons of goblins and explosions

• Three new spells: VORTEX, FETTER, and QUILLS

• Six new abilities: AURA, SHRED, WRING, GUZZLE, ASSASSINATE, and FRENZY

• Abilities now take 0 turns and can be chosen out of 3 options

• Changes to Officer, Apothecary, Assassin, Commander, and Challenger disguises

• UMBRA has been properly nerfed

• Improvements to BLINK, TEMPEST, WARD, LEVITATE, and BLAST

• Options menu reworked. Custom input delay option added to fix numerous control issues.

• Tons of bug fixes, gameplay tweaks, and UI improvements

• Secrets?!?

I'm usually pretty quiet about beta testing, but here's the problem. For a variety of life reasons, I've gotten in a habit of releasing only about once per year. And I only get a flood of feedback after I declare the testing done and publicly announce the release. This results in things like UMBRA being wildy broken for months which is a real shame. I've made a lot of spell and ability changes, so I'm hoping to really kick the tires this time around.

Also I want to take a moment to say I'M SUPER PROUD OF THIS RELEASE. The new branch is totally wild and is one of the more interesting branches introduced so far. Some of the new art is among the best the game has ever seen including a new bomb animation. The new vampire abilities are so ridiculous that I can't believe I added them. You'll be shocked the first time you eat a... well, I don't want to spoil it all. And now we have spooky bats on the title screen (shoutout to acro for providing the bat art). :)

I've also fixed an issue that went on steathily for 5+ years and which neither the players that experienced it nor I fully understood, but which totally sucked. Some players would perform an action (like moving or firing the revolver) 10 times a second and they assumed the game was intentionally designed this way (???) so I didn't hear about it for a long time.

Full changelog:

New Content

• New branch GREAT HALL: tons of goblins and explosions

• New monster Goblin Hurler: throws bomb

• New spell VORTEX: pulls monsters in and around you and damages flying/floating monsters

• New spell FETTER: binds a monster in magical chains that cause levitation and prevent movement

• New spell QUILLS: gives you a magical shield based on your missing health that reflects melee attack damage

• Vampire abilities now take 0 turns and can be chosen out of 3 options just like spells

• New ability AURA: a rapidly shrinking aura of immunity that can be used to shield yourself or allies

• New ability SHRED: damages monsters near you and adds Bleeding

• New ability WRING: causes non-bleeders to become bleeders

• New ability GUZZLE: collects all nearby blood

• New ability ASSASSINATE: teleport next to the closest enemy and give them stunned and vulnerable statuses for 1 turn

• New ability FRENZY: sets your hp to 1 and gives you a quills shield equal to your missing health

• New Legendary Grimoire that gives more spell options or more mana

• New MALLEABLE MODE. All spells, abilities, stat upgrades, etc. are chosen for you.

• Added 4 new entrances to the hotel

• New item Hunter's Lens: improves your critical hit chances

Graphics changes

• The explosion animation has been redrawn to look a lot better

• One turn illumination from spells now draws