Patch Notes v0.5 - Player progression and character customization!

Seasons screamings, Slayers! (Sorry...) As fall finally comes to a close and the streets are chillingly littered with the dead (leaves, that is), we're happy to present the long awaited Progression update, just in time for Thanksgiving! With this update, you'll notice some of the characters that were previously unlocked to start have mysteriously disappeared from the character selection screen. But worry not! They'll soon be fighting by your side again should you be able to survive the horrors the Phantom Halls have to offer! The Progression update finally adds persistent save data to the game (with full Steam Cloud support!), allowing you to earn skill points by completing missions and to spend them in order to unlock abilities to give you the upper hand against the horde! As the game continues to grow, we'll be introducing new abilities into the characters' skill trees, eventually allowing you to swap out and specialize the characters' special abilities! This update also adds the ability to charge melee attacks, granting you bonus damage or knockback depending on the weapon type. Savvy Slayers can use the melee charge state, which locks characters in place, to allow a character to bravely face the horde while the rest of the party falls back. Speaking of which, as different members of your squad attack a single enemy in quick succession, their attacks will grant a small "Combo Attack" damage bonus, culminating in a 30% damage bonus after all three characters have contributed to a combo. Kill an enemy with a combo attack, and, well, you'll see ;) Lastly, we've begun work on adding elemental effects which we'll be expanding on in future versions. Bodies of water can now be encountered during your quests, water-logged basements, and small creeks in the forests, which drench your characters (and enemies too!) putting out any fire-based conditions that might be affecting them. In the future, we'll be introducing more of these environmental conditions and coming up with creative ways of exploiting the elements to dispatch your enemies in unexpected ways. The update's also stuffed to the gills with other bug fixes and improvements ranging from Dualshock 4 support, to an improved level generation strategy, and even a player-requested controller detection toggle. (We're listening, folks!) Thank you again for continuing to support the game, and we're excited to hear your feedback on these new features on our game's discussion boards! Until next time, RIP!

• Implemented the in-game progression system. By undertaking quests, you can now earn skill points, which can be used to customize your characters via a skill-tree. Quests can also award unique bonuses, like character unlocks, additional quests, and more!

• Added combo attacks, which are triggered automatically when different characters attack the same enemy within a short period of time. Each stack of the combo grants +10% damage bonus, up to 3 stacks, after which the combo is reset.

• Added the ability to charge melee weapons by holding down the attack button. Generally, bladed weapons will grant additional damage when charged, while blunt weapons will grant additional knockback chance.

• Added the ability to delay throwing items by holding the attack button down, similarly to charging a melee attack.

• Added the ability to fire the SMG full-auto by holding down the attack button.

• Added the ability to hit some projectiles back. For instance, skeleton bones can be hit back with blunt weapons.

• Added a chance that basement areas will be waterlogged. Water also now appears in the Forest area, and grants the "Wet" condition, which can be used to extinguish burning enemies.

• Improved player character ragdolling.

• Added support for Dual Shock 4 controllers.

• Added a toggle for the dynamic control switching, allowing players to force Keyboard or Joystick controls, or to automatically switch between the two like in previous versions of the game.

• Added the ability to cancel out of most game menus with Escape or the controller's cancel button.

• Fixed an issue in the inventory screen where swapping an equipped item into a different position with an item would unequip it.

• Adjusted the behavior for quest-related room placement in certain quests, and generally improved the level generation so that floor transitions are spaced more reasonably.

• Fixed triggers being broken in the DIY Hard quest, preventing the Hillbilly's dialogue from playing.

• Fixed an issue with looting quest conditions sometimes causing a level generation failure.

• Adjusted Gargoyle so that it is slightly easier to approach.

• Clowns now throw three balloons at once and cooldown for a longer period of time so that they don't end up running right alongside them.

• Adjusted rotation of melee weapons so that they fit better in characters' hands.

• Resized the Tape Reel in Cabin missions.

• Added basements floors to certain quests.

• Adjusted lights on Basement and Conservatory areas.

• Added failsafe if a character is falling for more than 5 seconds, which could potentially happen if barricades were spawned in certain positions.

• When quitting the game during gameplay, you're now returned to the character select screen instead of the title screen.