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VERSION 1.1 UPDATE

Oct 13, 2019

Welcome to the version 1.1 update!

It's been a while coming, but I've been squirreling away at a number of features and fixes that have been suggested by the community. Several systems have been re-written from scratch, and some new options have been added to allow you to tailor your experience more than ever!

Thanks again for all the community feedback and suggestions. As a solo dev, no amount of work will make the game better without players actually telling you what they want - so I'm super grateful for all of your comments.

So, what can you expect from this update?

MAP IMPROVEMENTS

So, I added a map marker in a previous update, but people were still having issues actually finding the map guy in the first place. The environments don't really have the visual fidelity and variety of something like Hollow Knight, so it's dead easy to get lost just trying to find the guy with the map!

Frustrating huh.

So, now the game waits until you've entered a 'dungeon' (like, the caves or catacombs for example). Then it places the map guy nearby, in a place that you HAVE to pass to progress.

I also update the visuals for the map, so the location marker is easier to spot when you're trying to find your way:

I know there were some requests that I DON'T add a map marker (some people really got into using the landmarks), and for you folks there's something a little later in this update ;)

SPIDER FORM

Spider form was clunky. Like, most of the forms are weird and that's kind of the point, but spider form was just annoying. Getting stuck on corners. Hopping into lava. Etc. Etc.

So I've rewritten it.

I really wanted to have a cool GIF to show off the new movement, but to be honest it's probably best told with a single before and after:

BEFORE

If you've played the game, then you know what's going on here. If not, well let me enlighten you!

I'm basically trying to retract the web to climb up past that corner, but it won't let me. I'm just glitching and getting stuck on the corner. It seems frustrating now, but just wait until you get to the caves...

AFTER[b/]
Seems like a tiny thing, right? It just pushes you around when you're trying to go up and you're close to an edge. But let me tell you, when you've built a game and not planned this kind of stuff in from the start, it's going to be a pain to add it in later. This is probably why you shouldn't work on a game for 4.5 years...

Anyway, moving on!

NEW OPTIONS
This is the last one I'm going to call out with a header and a picture, but I've added in a little more functionality.

In the main options menu, you'll now see an option for "UI Options". Well, here they are:

This is the least exciting screenshot I have ever taken...

So, we've got 3 options here:

Form tutorials
Currently it told you how to control each form every time you changed into that form (with an overlay). You can now change it so that you only see it the first time. If you forget, you can just change it back to 'repeat' in the options and it will show you again [REPEAT as default].

Map location
So, you like trying to orientate yourself just using landmarks? Well, you can still do that! Just turn the map location off in here. You'll still benefit from getting the maps sooner, but they won't feature the map marker unless you want them to [ON as default].

Gamepad icons
Those DualShocks are popular, huh? Personally I prefer a Switch Pro Controller, but each to their own ;)

You can now change the icons that show up so that it matches your pad. I tried to get this to automatically detect the pad type, but couldn't get it working. XBOX is on as default, but if you swap it to another in the options it will apply it to all your save games on the machine that you're using.

MORE STUFF
A lot of the other work has mainly been around optimising things, but here's a quick bullet-point list of the other improvements that are in this update:

Lava isn't as harsh
Can't get trapped by pillar before village because it's now gone
Escape from the tower is now actually fair
The map guy won't keep respawning if you're repeating a section
Edge collision rewritten for spider (as above), fairy, mole and eagle forms
Ghost no longer traps you in walls in you switch to human on the same frame as the wall collision occurs
Parishioner fight should no longer return you to the start of the fight when you win in one specific room (weird bug, hours to debug, won't happen to many people but SO ANNOYING)
Oh, probably the main one for this 'more stuff' section: I rewrote the death statue so that it will always spawn in a place that you can get to and is safe for you to stand (at least, in that the ground itself won't kill you)

I dunno why I lumped the statue thing in the 'more stuff' section tbh, it makes a big difference and was a pain to get working properly...

But, anyway, that's it for this update!

There's more coming, but hopefully it'll be more focused on fun stuff rather than polishing what's there!

Thanks again for all of the feedback and support, and I hope this update really improves the game for you :)

Cheers!

Andrew

Mable & The Wood

Version 1.0.3 - More fixes!

Aug 31, 2019

Hi everyone,

I'm back with a smaller fix (but with some more fiddly stuff to fix):

The swamp sound will now pay attention to the master volume (at least, the master volume setting when the sound is started)
The old lady after the credits will now talk to you
The slides in the caves now have an 'acceleration' variable, so you won't immediately slide down them at full pelt!
Also in the caves, there are now more checkpoints!
In the priory room (to the top-right when you first enter), there are 2 chests in there - the first chest was missed by a lot of players, so I have moved it closer to the barrier that you can see when you first go upwards
More performance improvements for lower spec machines

I'm looking at some of the harder to fix and harder to replicate stuff now, so that will be in the next update. I'm also hoping to have the new menu options ready for then, but my menu code is like spaghetti, so that may be in a separate update.

Cheers!

Andrew

Mable & The Wood

Version 1.0.2 - Quality update

Aug 27, 2019

Hi everyone,

A new patch is live for Windows and Linux (Mac will be ready tomorrow, so I'll comment on here to confirm when it's live).

This patch addresses some gameplay related requests that I've received:

When you complete a genocide run, it now tells you 'Human Form Unlocked' - this is the final shape that you unlock - before going to the after credits bit
The maps now show your location. I'll be adding a menu option to disable this for those who prefer it, but that isn't in place yet. Let me know if you feel the map marker is readable enough!
Added 'lookahead' on the multi-direction camera. The best example of this is the larger rooms in the caves. When you fall/fly down, the camera tracks down. When you fly up, it tracks up - this should make it easier to see lava etc and react.
Improved responsiveness of fairy controls - let me know if it's TOO responsive! I've been playing the old way for a few years, so I'm the worst person to tell...
Death now only takes half of your diamonds. I will also be improving the placement of death statues in a future build. Please let me know if this still feels too mean!
It should now take Steam screenshots for you!

I'm onto my next list of fixes/updates now, so expect another update by the weekend.

Thanks again for the feedback, and I hope you're finding the changes worthwhile so far!

Cheers,

Andrew

Mable & The Wood

Version 1.0.1 - Bug fixes

Aug 26, 2019

Hi everyone,

The first patch is now live!

It contains the following bug fixes:

Fixed issue where exiting the bat cave to the right would spawn you at the wrong door
Fixed the camera breaking inside buildings
Fixed the issue where, when you killed the Quantum Pilgrim, you could spawn in a debug room (leading to the game crashing when you exit it)
Fixed a soft lock where you would spawn above the level in the caves
Fixed a crash caused by the darkness controller
Key barriers no longer pinch all of your keys (even after you've opened them, the cheeky blighters!)
Fixed various slowdown issues (main issue was the chase after the tower)
Fixed the weird random death loop at the start of the Prison Ship
Fixed the elevator switch that went missing at the bottom of the well
Fixed the crash when you found the hidden brother's house in the mountains
Fixed the eagle killing you when you spawn over the lava (mainly during the last boss fight)
Fixed the eagle collision, so it should no longer push you off the level and kill you D:
Same for the ghost form - no more getting trapped in random parts off the level
Prevented you from gaining the stone form multiple times (if you can get back to him - firstly, well done, that's tough - you just spawn at his dead body)
Boss key no longer spawns if you're attempting the pacifist route
Fixed skipping cutscenes spawning you at the top of the well

That's it for this patch!

I'm hoping to have the next patch ready tomorrow, which will be more focused on 'quality of life' fixes. These are the priority for now:

Show your position on the map
More checkpoints in the harder areas (caves for example!)
Camera improvements, so you can see death coming a bit easier

I'll also look at optimising further and improving the responsiveness of the fairy form when changing direction.

Feel free to throw any other suggestions down in the comments and, if I don't already, I'll add them to the list!

Thanks everyone,

Andrew

Mable & The Wood

Patches Incoming!

Aug 24, 2019

Hi everyone!

First of all, thanks for your feedback on the community pages. I've been working on Mable mostly by myself for 4.5 years, so there's plenty of things I want to fix that didn't get picked up by the QA team (or the console cert teams, surprisingly!)

I wanted to give you a bit of a heads up as to the order I'm planning to tackle things in.

STEP 1

I've been getting feedback from the Steam Community page, through email and also on my Twitter - so the first thing that I need to do is pull them all together into a single document, and sort them into an order so that they're easier to work through!

STEP 2

Bugs!

I'm aiming to have a patch out by the end of the weekend to address the most common bugs that are cropping up. Issues with collision and also button detection on certain pads are the kinds of things that fit in here.

Any that require more work, or are really minor, will be fixed in a later patch.

STEP 3

I've had a lot of 'quality of life' requests. This is things like having more options in the menu, such as the ability to select your button prompts (PS4 for example, rather than XBOX) and allow button remapping.

I've also had a request for an assist mode, which I'd be more than happy to fit if you folks think it's something that you'd like in the game?

A lot of this kind of stuff can take a lot more work, which is why it's step 3. Get the bugs squashed first :)

Oh, and stuff like adding your maker to the map fits in here (which, originally I hadn't put in because I thought it would be fun to orientate yourself using the landmarks - but people don't actually like this - sorry!)

STEP 4

I was super surprised to see people finding more of the secrets already than I'd anticipated, so I think it would be nice to add more in for those of you that are enjoying exploring.

Also, because you get different endings for repeated playthroughs, doing things like adding different creatures in for later playthroughs is something that could be fun (for me - I love drawing the creatures).

I think I'd be most likely to add those in as a big update, all in one go, after the bugs and quality of life stuff is in there.

I'd also thought about other modes, such as local co-op and a horde mode, if you think it'd be fun to play those?

Anyway, I'll provide more details on what bugs the patch will fix, and what will be included in the first quality of life patch (probably map update and controller prompts at least).

In the meantime, thanks again for the feedback and thanks for supporting me and my game!

Cheers,

Andrew

Mable & The Wood

Kotaku picks Mable as Best of EGX!

Oct 2, 2018

More awesome news coming out of EGX. Kotaku featured the game at the top of their roundup of the best indie games from EGX.

I didn't even know that they'd played the game to be honest, but it's awesome that it got featured!

It's actually really odd getting any attention for the game - aside from the Kickstarter and the updates I've been doing there, Mable is just the thing that I do once the kids are in bed. Sitting on the sofa, writing little stories to fit into the game or building out areas and secrets to explore, it's weird to think that people actually think it's cool and are even maybe kind of excited about it...?

Anyway, do check out the coverage here: http://www.kotaku.co.uk/2018/09/25/the-best-and-oddest-indie-games-from-egx-2018

And check out the other games mentioned in the piece, as they're all super cool! I particularly enjoyed Disco Elysium and The Book Ritual was a strange thing you really have to play in the live environment.

I was a bit sad that they didn't cover my top 3 from the event:

Between Stations - a narrative experience where you play by tuning an old analogue TV in
Hypnospace Outlaw - a '90s internet simulator that reminded me of a darkly funny Lawnmower Man ('90s reference for all of you old folks out there)
Flotsam - a city builder/sim where your settlement is floating on the ocean after the end of the world, kind of like Waterworld (but better and with an awesome art style)

Check those out too if you're looking for cool and interesting stuff!

Cheers

Andrew

Mable & The Wood

Mable wins Top 10 Star of EGX Award

Sep 30, 2018

I think it's safe to say that EGX was a success, with great feedback from everyone who played the game and some nice write-ups in the press!

One of the highlights for me was being awarded the first Top 10 Star of EGX by Jupiter Hadley.

Overall it was an awesome weekend and you can read more about the award here: https://www.thumbsticks.com/jupiters-picks-10-award-winning-indie-games-from-egx-2018/

More news from EGX coming soon!

Cheers :)

Andrew

Mable & The Wood

Mable & The Wood is coming to EGX in September!

Aug 16, 2018

EGX is the UK's biggest games event and takes place from the 20th to the 23rd September at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham.

Come check out the game and get a free badge!

At least, until I run out of them...

Find out more about EGX by clicking here: https://www.egx.net/egx

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