Early Access - v0.75.10

Wardens of Wen - Update Notes: v0.74.90 to v0.75.10

This update range focused on making Infinite feel less spongey, adding a full gear Upgrade flow, introducing unlockable Rush Mode, tightening Rml menu input reliability, improving several hero and combat systems, and cleaning up a few edge-case shrine and startup behaviors.

The Elephants in the Room

Multiplayer

• Multiplayer is still a work in progress. I am aware of the desync issues and am working on fixing them, though it is quite a large undertaking.

• There are a lot of tools for netcode and things like that in Unity and other popular game engines, but having created the game using raw C++ using my own custom engine it is a lot harder than it would be in one of those engines.

• I'm hoping to have fully working version of Multiplayer out sometime within the year. I know that is not exciting news, and I appreciate your patience!

Modding

• Modding is 'working' as it currently stands. I have created a few 'test' mods and they work as intended. Both simple scripting mods, as well as more complex C++ mods.

• I am working on getting an official wiki going with all the necessary details in order to get modders started.

• These test mods will be available in Discord so that modders can get a sneak peek.

• I plan on having full steam workshop integration in the future as well.

Mac Build

• I am aware that the Mac build is behind, and am working on a solution. The Mac I have access to ran into some issues and I have been unable to utilize it for the mac builds. Solution for this coming soon!

Infinite Mode Rebalance and Late-Run Pressure Pass

• Infinite mode was retuned away from runaway billion-HP trash mobs by removing the extra round-over-round HP exponent that was stacking on top of the base endless curve.

• Late-wave enemy health now keeps the early spike, then tapers into a softer growth pattern instead of exploding out of control deep into the run.

• To keep Infinite dangerous without leaning on health sponges, late waves now push more pressure through denser packs, more frequent elites, and stacked density-plus-danger mutator combinations.

Large-Display UI Scaling, Hover Info, and Startup Cleanup

• Shared HUD and Rml scaling was expanded for very large displays, including ultrawide, super-ultrawide, 3:2, 4K, and even 8K-class setups, so menus and overlays stay readable instead of flattening into tiny layouts.

• Character and Inventory shells were widened on larger viewports so the denser scale path has room to breathe.

• An optional enemy hover-inspection card was added with `Off`, `Minimal`, `Normal`, and `Advanced` detail levels, plus click-to-pin support for targets you want to study mid-run.

• Launch-to-menu startup time was reduced by pushing more UI documents and texture warmups into lazy loading instead of front-loading them all at boot.

• Follow-up fixes hardened first-open behavior for those lazy-loaded Rml screens so Character Select, Dialogue, Quest Log, Talents, shops, recap, and related overlays still appear reliably on first use.

Hero and Combat Updates

• Gunther's old `Diamond Tipped` execute was replaced with `Venomous Spike`, a poison spear that plants a toxic zone and builds persistent poison pressure instead of relying on an instant-kill finisher.

• The poison zone presentation was upgraded from a flat green decal into animated rising poison bubbles, making the area feel more alive without hiding the battlefield.

• Jade's ultimate was rebuilt into `Lightning Strike`, calling repeated sky-to-ground impacts during the active window with new animation, layered lighting, Shock splash falloff, and upgrade scaling tied to strike frequency, search area, and damage.

Upgrade Screen and Gear Enhancement Flow

• A dedicated Upgrades screen was added for gear enhancement, available from the new `U` hotkey and from the Inventory `Upgrade` button.

• The screen previews exact `before -> after` stat changes, shows reagent requirements and totals live, and surfaces milestone `Major Upgrade` bonuses every third upgrade before you commit.

• That overlay was then rebuilt around the shared crafting-style utility shell so it better matches the rest of the Rml UI, with cleaner ledgers, button treatment, and confirmation language.

Rush Mode and New Game Flow

• Rush Mode was added as an unlockable New Game modifier, earned from the `1,000 Total Kills` Steam milestone with retroactive unlock support.

• Rush can be toggled directly from New Game and stacks with all difficulties, including Infinite.

• Rush runs now auto-advance waves every `30` seconds, remove intermissions, and raise enemy wave density for a faster, more relentless run style.

• Several follow-up fixes cleaned up the New Game footer so Rush Mode, Start Run, and Back no longer suffer from drifting hitboxes, ghost button slots, double toggles, or conflicting legacy mouse-input paths.

• Scaled-display mouse hit-testing was also corrected for Rml menus more broadly, so visible button positions line up with the real cursor again on Windows display scaling setups.

Map Cleanup and System Fixes

• Areas of the Main map cleaned up and finished.

• Bombs now remove solitary tree stumps.

• Cleaned up some spots in interior maps that allowed players to walk through the wall.

Gem Shrine Fallback Improvement

• Gem Shrines now handle empty inventories more gracefully.

• If you are carrying gems, the shrine still upgrades one of your loose or socketed gems as expected.

• If you have no eligible gems at all, the shrine now spawns one nearby random gem at your current drop item level instead of effectively whiffing.