Hello there :)

Another small update is here!

I once said that I'll be updating and improving the game for as long as there are people trying the new changes; that number is now very close to zero, so if you tried the new patches, feel even more free to give me feedbacks and tell me in which direction Arcante should go.

In this patch:
- Mob despawn time more than doubled
- Cows no longer walk on water (a pity)
- Fixed a problem that required people to restart the game when pressing ESC during a dialogue
- Mob respawn is slower
- Arena spawn is slower
- Peasants should no longer block your way to buildings

If you have never tried Arcante, please consider doing so, the price will be even lower during the next sale, and I could be shaping the game based on your likings too, this doesn't happen that often with big games :P

If you already tried Arcante, please consider sharing it and/or leaving a review, I would really appreciate it :)



Also: Merry Christmas for those of you that celebrate it!

A lot changed since the release, this is a major update that consolidates the changes, add extra content to the game, and proposes a new price tag.

You'll find the game quite changed this weekend!

• There's a new map you can access, which links Asthgar to the desert. This means a new type of enemy, a new boss to fight, and a new quest!
  
• Graphical improvements: Lights are really different, I opted for a more "realistic feeling". Foliage is fairly different, richer and looks more realistic
  
• Added a voice over for the intro cutscene! (If you already saw the cutscene the only way to see it again is if you delete your saves in your game folder).
  
• A new achievement to collect!
  
• Enemies can finally use their shield!

I replayed the game in search of bugs to fix, and I found a lot, most of them introduced by the previous updates.

I also recalibrated spells, experience from quests, and more.

I was finally able to change the price of the game, and I did, I believe it's more fair now (but thanks a lot to those who purcased the game at the full price). Also, Autumn and Winter sales are here!

I hope this can be a new beginning for Arcante :)

Major Changes:

• New enemies: Two new type of enemies with characteristic mechanics, but more are coming soon :)
  
• New peasants: Two new variations of peasants, one of them punches hard!
  
• New Mechanic: Charged melee attack Holding the key of your default attacks will charge them, causing them to deal more damage, and even interrupt some enemies!
  
• New Mechanic: Dodge/Block skill Visit a trainer to train for athleticism, it will help you dodging the attacks, or blocking them in case you have a shield equipped!

Visual:

• A lot more animations.
  
• New visual effects for abilties that last in time.
  
• New visual effect for dodging.

Combat:

• Ranged mobs no longer awkardly tilt to aim down/up.
  
• You can now interrupt mobs that are attacking you, with charged shots.
  
• Mobs will now interrupt themselves if they are clearly going to miss the target, then try again.
  
• Combat Mechanichs differ a lot more from one enemy to another.

Statistics Panel:

• Apply/Discard buttons are disabled if not needed.
  
• A new button allows you to convert Skill Points into Attribute Points.

Updated:

• Skills effects were recalibrated.
  
• Interactions in dialogues that lead to a new quest are better highlighted.
  
• Dodge-jumps are slower.

Fixed:

• Traps explosion is now showing correctly when the Time is set to "Controllable".
  
• Centaurs no longer lose hairs upon death.
  
• Peasants movement is more fluid.
  
• Main quest icons on the minimap are refreshed when the difficulty changes.
  
• "New quest" notification was added, new quest sound only plays once.
  
• Fixed a bug that made mobs slower in a few cases.
  ...and more!

Now Developing:

• Some enemies will be able to block!
  
• A new area, with a new boss!

Even though I did not release Arcante as an Early Access, as the game was fully functional since the beginning, I agree that it was far from a game that is pleasant to be played.

I'm planning on releasing new features weekly, as long as I can think of changes that I want to implement and that I get feedbacks on my previous changes.

Here are the changes for this week:

General:

• "Difficulty" is not anymore a single options, but it's split into three different options. They affect the combat system, the exploration, and the in-game concept of time.
  
• A new step in the character creation will guide you through the various difficulty options. The game will now better adapt to your style.
  
• As part of the "difficulty" options of the game, you can now set the game to be paused in order to heal your characters, swap equipments, choose which abilities to use next, and obtain info on nearby mobs.
  
• The trailer is now slightly different, and, together with the initial tutorials, will only be played the first time you play the game.
  
• You can select each class any number of times in the character selection.
  
• Now characters can use lower tier armor too (e.g. A Vampire can use cloth, leather, and chainmail armor)
  
• The "Inspect" ability (Right click on mobs) can now be used at all times, if no char is ready, its effect is based on the char with the lowest charisma.
  
• Cleaner HUD, amount of gold, time of the day, and number of quests are not constantly shown anymore.
  
• Some dialogues were changed.

Combat:

• When you attack (i.e. unsheathe your weapons) you enter a "combat mode" and your team will be slower for a short time.
  
• You can now "sprint" in order to dodge incoming attacks. You can dodge on your right or on your left, with Shift + D and with Shift + A respectively.
  
• In the early game you now have more mana to spend. Some abilities cost less mana.
  
• The damage you take is in general greatly reduced, especially if you select "Normal" or "Easier" options as your combat style.
  
• Improved "mob avoidance" algorithm. Mobs now move more fluidly.

Stats:

• Tooltip text is shown for abilities too, showing you how much they are affecting your game.
  
• Each level you now get two points, one can be spent for abilities, and one on your main stats.
  
• On the character creation menu, you only get 10 points to spend on each character.

Extra:

• "Charism" is now "Charisma"
  
• Some "Class Perks" were added and highlighted in the characters creation menu

I've made a lot of changes, and I'm excited to let you try them!

Bugfixes:

• Fixed a bug that prevented the game finale to be seen correctly (and interacted with)
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented the cursor to remain visible after clicking on a character portrait.
  
• Magic spells cost was wrongly being defaulted to 10 in a lot of cases
  
• Tricking the bank into giving you money was way too easy :) now it's not!
  
• Fixed a bug that caused mobs not being able to see you in a lot of situations! (Any time a body was in between you and the mob)
  
• Fixed an inventory overflow issue
  
• Fixed a quesiton mark on the map that was not removed after completing the quest

Adjustments:

• Arena mob spawn rate is now slower
  
• "Melee leader" enemies now reach further with their attacks
  
• Some more adjustments to the combat system, archers are more accurate when attacking from longer distances.
  
• Days are now longer.

Features:

• Tooltip text is now shown to describe statistics and more
  
• Added sound and a visual message for dropping an item on the ground
  
• Added a new, more visual, tutorial in the beginning of the game. The tutorial can be accessed again by anyone, and will briefly describe few of the new features.
  
• Now you have an overview of the action bars of every character. This allows you to plan the attacks without having to check the action bar after every attack. If the difficulty is set to Normal or lower, the overview will not show the abilities that can't be used due to lack of mana
  
• You can now select abilities to be used as "quick spells". Based on your two attack profiles (Melee and Ranged), you can set which ability each character should auto cast, whenever the ability is available.
  An example: if you want your Hunter to always cast its ranged spell, instead of its ranged attack, you can set that, and the ability will replace the ranged attack, whenever it is available.
  
• The day number and the current day time is now shown!

Planned for the future:

• More key bindings!
  
• A looot more :)

Live now!

Your feedbacks are vital for me, so I hope they keep coming <3

Here's the changelog for this new small patch:

• A lot more icons in the map will guide you through the quests. Where to go and where to the delivery the quests are now both shown if the difficulty is set to "Normal" or lower, also for the side quests!
  
• Mobs handle attack from the distance in a smarter way, they react to attacks that come from a longer distance and once attacked, they will chase you for longer.
  
• A few more fixes to make the combat feel more fluid.
  
• Fixed some typos.
  
• You can now select the char in a quicker way, with "Shift + 1/2/3/4"

As some of you let me notice: the combat system could be improved.

This is my first attempt at improving it, and it's focused on the "melee" mobs, they now predict your future location and swing in that direction, they are also a little bit quicker! :)

I would like to let you notice that mobs become quicker based on their level. It will be increasingly hard to dodge them!

As suggested, I now added a Map, hopefully the locations will be clearer now. The "star" shown on it only tells you where to go, if you believe you are done with the quest, just go back and report the outcome to who gave you the quest!

This game requires a little bit more patience than average, if you feel lost try and check if the journal has any hint for you :)

The update is now live and the trailer reflects the changes made!