Part 3: Stronger Skeletons

Demo 0.9.1 might be hubris to take it this far, and not just name it 0.9.09. but I think I really took considerable steps towards 1.0 , and the polish was so intense I've been dreaming with debugging.

One of the big and obvious features this update is the clock. When none of your playtesters across multiple iteration really get how time works, you are doing something really wrong. In the first days, when the screen just got darker all of the sudden, people thought it was some bug. I guess now I get it why blue is the standard darkness across video games, where lighting your way through actual dark, is not a gameplay mechanic.
The clock now show the advance of time, but more importantly, it will also show the stopping of time. Hopefully, players will instinctively get that not seeing the clock indoors, alleys, menus, conversations, means they can take their time. The clock will also warn the player if they are approaching a level transition that will advance the time, with a red line. To be on the safe side, added a short dialogue before each alley, where it tells players who pass by first, that it will skip time. Not sure if I should replace it with a full-blown tutorial window, will see.

A returning complaint was too much dialogue. I would love to dismiss this as people who don't enjoy RPGs playing the game, but if you ever make something that is still in the process of being done, never, ever take the high-ground against criticism. I think I understand the problem. The real issue isn't really the amount of text (though being a little less verbose helps), people don't mind reading as much as they say they do. It is the amount of button presses they have to do that bugs them. When you've pressed space six times, and it is still the same character talking, saying stuff that would have fixed into half as many textboxes, and none of them are great revelations. Now that is an insult for the player.

Anyway, full change log outside of these:

• Cut the combat options that are unlocked by default. More moves can be unlocked at the gym, and later, at other places.
• The selector in Combat will no longer jump around after picking a defensive option, it will remain on the last picked option when it is your turn again, to not make navigation OCD-inducing.
• Combat techniques are now colored in the menu, based on what height they are. Making for easier decision making in combat. It can be turned off in the options menu.
• For the same reason, combat techniques that cost more fp than the player has, are now greyed out.
• Technique Cards are now toggled with CTRL, instead of having to hold down the button for it to show.
• There was a panel, that is supposed to show the last attack of the enemy. To make it easier to decide on a defensive action. However it was looming empty, until the enemy actually did an attack. No more looming, it will only appear once the enemy attacked.
• Had to adjust the tutorial too for the new UI, otherwise it would just look confusing
• Also reworked the UI a bit, now that we don't need to be shown extra healthbars when we select an enemy.
• Enemy healthbars now always visible in combat.
• Turns out, enemies weren't defending properly. Not like they became master fighters now, but the mechanics are there, and working. Once in a while, they'll decide to go on the defensive, as intended.
• An undiscovered bug was fixed that would have broken the techniques menu if more than the current ones would have been added.
  
• Content after the prologue won't randomly open just because time has passed, sequence breaking everything. Now players can dick around before progressing as much as they want.
• Player now no longer can lose the tutorial fights to attrition, their health replenishes between fights. It never happened, but I've eyed the healthbar warily as playtesters went about it.
• Tutorial enemies now have a little damage but lot of health to practice the mechanics on. The early fights where players should have time to figure things out, ended to early.
• Now after getting your ass kicked on the Playground, you'll be warned that your ass have been kicked, before you run back into another fight with almost no health.
• Playground healing vendor now tells you when you are too broke to use it, instead of pretending it healed you.
• Some behind the scenes stuff been added, to make the bug-free writing of scenes easier. The game now forces a crash at startup and telling me there is something wrong with a line, instead of waiting until I go in there and try to pick it.
• Randomized NPC sprite system is back, so the filler NPCs no longer have just 5 variations populating the whole city. Although there might be some funny fashion choices.
• Training menu have been tweaked for easier navigation.
• Added the event in case you lose the first real fight you get into.