Long Time Coming - A Big Update

Ahoy, Captains!

It's been a long while since our last major update, and we have been busy. The waters have been rough, but we've charted a new course and made significant progress toward the full release.

Jack and Jeff have been working hard to get all these big overhauls out the door for yall. I know yall know how tough it is for indies out there and that this project has been a heavy load to carry so far for so long.

Please excuse/permit the tool assisted format of the update below, it really helps to organize all the code changes for this update, it was a big one. I won't make a habit of this. Here's what's new in the world of Levantera.

Please note these updates are all only available on the Beta branch. Please go to properties and check out the beta branch to try out these features.

⚓ New Story & World Progression

The narrative has been significantly expanded and restructured:

• AddedCarden City & The Escort SequenceA new, directed introduction to the Carden Empire. You'll be intercepted by a navy sloop and forced to sail to the capital, setting up the central conflict of Chapter 2.

• New Characters: Meet the Windale Governor and the mysterious Archbishop.

• AdjustedRevised DialogueJonathan, Cooper, Crow, and nearly every major NPC have updated dialogue trees to match the new story arc.
• AdjustedNew RegionsRonquerolles has been reworked. The Carden Pier now features reflective water, new tiles, and an imposing military presence.

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⚔️ Combat & Enemies Overhaul

We've completely revamped combat systems for better feel and tactical depth:

• Knockback System: Both player and enemy attacks now impart meaningful knockback. Combat feels weightier and more strategic.

• AdjustedEnemy AI UpgradeEnemies now have access to a unified attack system, with improved charge attacks, hop movements, homing projectiles, and ground stomps. Enemy movement speed scales with their size.

• Boss System Rebuild: All bosses are now children of a unified [c]obj_boss_core[/c] system. They have proper iframes, HP bars, dialogue integration, and story switches.

• Damage Types & Blocking: Weapons now have distinct damage types and block classes. Lesser weapons can no longer block heavy attacks.

• Enemy Drops: A standardized loot system with mission-critical item drops. Tools now hover and bobble, and you cannot leave a room until you've picked them up.

• Specific Boss Tweaks:

  • The Lumberjack now has reduced health and more precise collision masks.

  • Foreman Mev has updated dialogue and config.

🚢 Naval Systems (The Big One)

We've laid the groundwork for the full naval experience:

• Ship Encounters: Bumping into a ship on the world map now properly transitions to a dedicated seabattle map.

• Seabattle Combat:

  • Sprite-stacked 2.5D ships with Verlet physics for realistic movement.

  • Functional cannon firing with muzzle smoke, cannonball arcs, and impact debris.

  • Enemy ships can now pursue, engage, and be destroyed.

  • Basic flee mechanic (sail to the edge of the map to escape).

  • Post-battle report screen tracks victories, escapes, and destruction.

• Ship UI & Management:

  • New ship info panel displays hull, sails, and rigging durability.

  • Shipwright vendors can now repair parts using resources.

  • Ammunition and ship stats transfer seamlessly between overworld and battle maps.

• Ship Boarding (In Progress):

  • Early implementation of the boarding system.

  • Enemies can grapple and board your ship (and vice versa).

• Overworld Sailing Improvements:

  • All ship speeds reduced by half for more tactical navigation.

  • Fog of war system for world map exploration.

  • Shallows now feature Perlin noise for ocean movement.

  • Ships fade out at the edge of vision, with silhouette rendering.

    

🎨 Visual & Atmospheric Overhaul

The game looks dramatically better while maintaining the NES aesthetic:

• Environmental Lighting System: Full day/night cycles with atmospheric shaders. Sky colors shift from deep red at dawn to bright blue at midday. Sun and moon have realistic cycles.

• Darkness & Shadow System: Dynamic darkness masks with light objects (candles, greenstone) that cut through shadows. Light objects have Perlin noise movement.

• Water & Reflections: Reflective water with Perlin noise distortion. Ocean now uses the in-game timer (not your PC clock) for consistent wave patterns.

• Parallax & Depth: Proper multi-layered parallax scrolling. Mountains and clouds now respond to time of day coloring.

• Palette Crushing: A final shader pass crushes colors down to a strict NES-inspired palette for authentic retro feel.

• New Sprites: Complete "Captain B" (female protagonist) sprite set with all weapon animations. New 64px portraits for major NPCs.

  

🎮 UI & Quality of Life

• "MANA" is now "LEV"(Levantera) for lore consistency.

• AdjustedPlayer GUI redesignedHealth pips show fractional damage, LEV bar simplified, stats aligned.

• Inventory Screen overhaul: Smoother navigation, tool selection, and visual transitions.

• Control Settings: Custom keybinds now save persistently across sessions.

• Camera System: New smooth camera with screenshake support in every room.

  

🛠️ Technical & Backend

• AddedDialogue System ReplacementThe old dialogue system is completely gone. Everything now runs on the new Effective Text + Placard System , which is more stable and supports portraits of various sizes, and new styles and transform capabilities for text.

• Console Errors: Hundreds of runtime errors have been squashed. The game is significantly more stable.

• Pause System: Fully revamped; pause now works consistently across all rooms.

• Performance: Objects offscreen now cease step/draw functions.

  

🐛 Major Bug Fixes

• Fixed ladder climbing and platform transitioning.

• Fixed player getting stuck in water or falling through ceilings.

• Fixed boss health bars not drawing correctly.

• Fixed fast travel crashes and location designation.

• Fixed vendor purchase logic for resource-based items.

• Fixed numerous Chapter 1 room transition bugs.

• Fixed sailing restriction messages softlocking players.

📦 What's Next?

We're currently focused on:

• Completing the ship boarding MVP (one ship type, functional grapples, captain duels).

• Implementing the Carden infiltration paths (Favor, Stealth, Prison Break).

• Polishing the Autumn Citadel & Treant encounter.

• Finalizing the Archbishop → Many-Arms → Captain Nate boss chain.

• Working on global market systems and nation favor

  

🙏 Thank You

This update represents over a year of consistent, passionate work. The game is finally shaping into the vision we've had for a decade. Thank you for your patience, your support, and your belief in Levantera.

As always, your feedback is invaluable. Drop a comment, report a bug, or just tell us what you think.

Smooth sailing, Captains.

— The Lasso Games Team

Version 0.8.0.1