Hello!
So, first of all I want to thank everyone for their patience — as I mentioned in my last Kickstarter update, it's been a pretty hectic time for me over the last year. Despite the lack of outward updates, I've been hard at work behind the scenes and have reached a bit of a milestone; as of this update, I'm pretty confident that (aside from any bugs I haven't encountered through a year of testing!) the Alcyone engine is now feature complete. All that's left is the remaining writing, and then we're good to go.
I don't want to set expectations on anything because clearly life keeps throwing curveballs. This feels easy to get away with when tasks are distributed across a team, but this has been a broadly solo operation from the start so delays land on my shoulders. That said, I do feel like all I have left is the writing and then Alcyone will be in tip-top shape for release.
If you're a Supporter, you've got access to all of the Patron commissions — which are wrapped up for the time being with this update, as I've just added two at once! If you backed Alcyone on Kickstarter or pre-ordered on itch before the alpha ended, you should have received a code. Send me a message if you don't see it!
You can check out all of the updates via itch and if you have any questions, feedback, or comments PLEASE get in touch. Release notes are below!
Also: don't forget that you can wishlist Alcyone on Steam — and PLEASE DO, as this helps out with metrics tremendously!
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June 25 2020 —
• Beta6 release
• Fix to the game not unpacking and loading properly in Windows systems due to filename error
• Two Patron Commissions! This now also wraps up the Patron content for the time being
• "Autoplay" system implemented — choose between three, four, and five second delays in the Option menu and play/pause from the UI element in the lower right corner of the Story tray
• Slight adjustments to make the Status Tray more dynamic and reactive
• Slight tweaks to the initial New Game experience
• ESC key always returns to the top menu list instead of the last-used screen
• Fixes to the music state not saving/loading correctly
• TTS now has an independent sound control option
• TTS will repeat previous text when navigating to dimmed passages
• TTS will speak the current volume level when changing music, sound effects, and TTS
• Tweaks to the opacity of previous passages
• Music properly saves track and position between hubs and save game reloading
• Custom cursor added
• Added a glossary overlay to the menu
• Glossary overlays have been increased in size slightly
• Improvements to the navigation system for keyboard use
• Secondary bindings implemented for controllers
• Graphics options now include a font size toggle between three options
• Fixes to some glossary terms not triggering when interacted with
• Fixes to some glossary terms not being interactive if the term line-breaks mid-paragraph
• Status of trays are properly reloaded when restoring saves
• Fixes to some dialogs not properly progressing story when clicked
• Patron code now works when entered mid-game
• Fixes to Hub locations not showing on the overview map
• Tweaks to some equipment, and fixes to some equipment with incorrect stats
• Fixes to wording on receiving and completing Objectives
• Fixes to cursor "blinking" when transitioning between interactive and non-interactive states
• Stowed trays are now properly non-interactive
• Removed mouse scrolling — clicking and dragging now scrolls trays more intuitively and without accidental issues missing text because of the scroll wheel
• "O" binds to Objectives by default and not the Options menu
• As Maladies increase, the UI will now reflect their progression in a more visually interesting capacity