It's been a while, and a project update is long overdue! At the same time, I am pleased to announce that beta version 2 is now on the main branch. You can find out all about it in the latest devlog:
[previewyoutube=ysYOTHlZORg;full][/previewyoutube]
Unfortunately, delays like this are a risk in solo projects, but I am confident that now the development will proceed much more smoothly. Below, you can find the full patch notes as well as the video transcript
See you soon!
Michael
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-Version EA2.0.0e (29.05.2025)
* Added a major new area (Lysandrian Mines)
* Added two minor areas
* Expanded main story and quests
* Added new enemy types
* Added environmental audio cues
* Unlocked final two sections of mines
* Added new model for hostile miners
* Added Beta 2 main menu
* The mines now contain more secrets
* Added animated waypoints / new NPC idle animations
* Reworked connection between Lysandria and the mines
* Reworked lava slime combat actions
* Reworked miner combat actions
* Reworked fishing spots in the mines
* Fixed a bug that prevented fishing in the mines
* NPCs should no longer step into camp fires
* Teleporting to the mines should now place the character in the correct spot
* Fixed a bug that would duplicate items in the factory's furnace
* It is now possible to smelt multiple pieces of ore at once
* Teleporter runes should be noted in the journal again
* Various small bugfixes
* Fixed a bug in the furnace that might occur while saving
* Adjusted difficulty of multiple encounters in the mines
* Added underwater details
* Fixed various NPC names
* Bandits should relocate correctly again after finishing the farm quest
* Fixed various lighting issues
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Hi dungeon-crawling fans!
It’s been way too long and a project update is long overdue!
First of all, let me appologize for the massive delay in development over the last few months. Unfortunately a few things came up that required my immediate attention and that stalled most progress. It is an unfortunate risk in solo projects. Now things are largely resolved and I have been back to developing Monomyth for a few weeks.
You may have noticed that at the beginning of last month I uploaded Beta 2 to the test branch. A few issues still remain but it’s going to the main branch today. So let’s go through all the new content and how we will continue from here on out.
For the most part, Beta 2 became a full rebuild of the game’s second area. The mines were original meant to be restructured, however, the complex vertical layout made a useful restructuring relatively hard and there was no guarantee that the map would work much better as a game environment afterwards.
Therefore I settled with a full recreation of the area, taking over only various concepts and minor sections. I rebuilt the region by the standardized workflow that I have talked about in previous devlogs, and just to put your mind at ease in advance: The third region of the game was already made with that workflow in mind, so there won’t be any restructuring or rebuilding there. It will be brushed up, improved in various parts like collision and whatnot, but that’s it.
But for now, let’s take a look at what’s in the new mines.
The mines themselves are a map that consists of 25 subsections. Scale-wise it is exactly as big as the heartlands, however, there are more individual rooms in it. Besides the mines one additional mini-dungeon and the catacombs, from the demo, have been integrated into the game. The main quests now stretch over both major areas, and while parts of it are not mandatory, you’ll probably stumble over them if you carefully explore.
There are also a few new enemy types, most importantly spellcasters and their servants. Talking of spellcasting, new echo stones can be found in the new area as well.
The mines are well integrated with the original areas and you can easily reach them through teleportation, given that you know the right rune combinations. Technically you can finish the mines even before the heartlands - I made sure that the game could be finished in a non-sequential manner. However, you will have to know the game well and pull off a few tricks to actually make that work.
There have been a few aesthetic changes to existing areas as well. One of the more noticeable are probably the new idle animations for NPCs. Until now the inhabitants of Lysandria would all use the same pose. With the new update you can find them arguing, squatting, crossing their arms, praying, etc.
Another small feature I added are unique environmental audio cues. Some of you may remember this from the Thief series. Whenever you enter a specific section for the first time you’ll get an audio cue, which adds quite a bit to the atmosphere and draws your attention to important locations. I have added this in both the mines and the heartlands.
As far as the fishing goes, you can catch new fish in the mines. Most of them have unique effects depending on whether you consume them cooked or uncooked.
Lastly there have also been plenty of bug fixes and small adjustments in combat encounters. I am trying to expand enemy abilities organically with the normal progression through the game. Of course balancing will have to be reworked once all content has been introduced
So how do we continue from here on out? We are obviously behind time and it’s questionable how much sense it makes to push for another spring update, which would have to be out until mid-june the latest. It is probably more realistic to just shift the original update plan by one season, so the spring update becomes a summer update and the summer update becomes an autumn update.
Alternatively I could imagine bundling beta update 3 and 4 into a single bigger update. As mentioned before, the area of beta update 3 is largely done. It requires polishing, some itemization, performance optimizations and so on. The geometry is completely done, the main quest is fully implemented, etc. What’s not done yet, however, is the area for beta update 4, so that would be another big chunk of work. I guess it all depends on the feedback in the coming weeks and I’ll see what makes more sense timewise.
There are also some small, intermediate updates that I wanted to spend some time on, especially regarding enhanced steam deck support and some character aesthetics. We will have to see how that ideally fits into the schedule as well.
Anyway, beta update 2 is now on the main branch and I hope you’ll have fun playing and testing it. That’s all from me for the moment. I’ll keep you updated and see you soon!
