Version 1.09 released!

Version 1.09 is complete!  Now your Porom can wield the Excalibur staff to her heart's content.
Download it here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B9k5jnZ_x-ijRG5BTE1objljbzQ?resourcekey=0-0RFE3TC3A3VnxLH4vaqIdA&usp=sharing

Check the previous post for more details on the new features.  Have fun!

- Crow!

Version 1.09 features

The Lunarian Shuffle version 1.09 is coming soon!  There isn't as large a set of changes here as version 1.08, but that says much more about v1.08 than it does about this update here.

The biggest change is that the Legend weapon, formerly always a sword for Paladin Cecil, is now exclusive equipment for whoever it is awarded to.  So, if the main character becomes Porom when she receives KluYa's blessing, the weapon will become the Legend Staff, with the same stats and properties as the Legend Sword, but only Porom (and not Rosa or Cecil) can equip it.  This change propagates to the Excalbur, should you obtain it.  Also, the randomizer logic now demands that one, and only one, Rat Tail will get placed somewhere in the world, rather than just usually happening to produce one.

In other news, sleeping in the Inn will now be less time consuming if you are using the shortened cutscenes option.  The poor receptionist desk guy will see you collapse as soon as you pay your money, rather than traveling to the beds.

There are a number of other bug fixes, too - for example, it turns out that v1.08 really doesn't like it if you try to make multiple seeds that use the Randomized Names option with the same instance of the program, and no longer will a seed with Golbez not in your party necessarily have Golbez as the villain.

Version 1.08 is live! Also, we have a Discord server!

The Lunarian Shuffle is now officially at version 1.08.  The inclusion of Golbez, the matching of musical themes to the characters' new positions, random character renaming, and many more features give this release the longest changelog of any release yet.  As always, grab the new version here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B9k5jnZ_x-ijRG5BTE1objljbzQ?resourcekey=0-0RFE3TC3A3VnxLH4vaqIdA&usp=sharing

For a complete list of what has changed, look in the "Documentation" folder, which is a thing that exists now.

In other news, we now have a Discord server to act as our official chat room and meeting place.  Expect either tournaments or a league for regularly scheduled races to come in the near future.  Until then, come in, ask any questions you may have, or share your fun and funny moments with The Lunarian Shuffle!
https://discord.gg/V2pUVGH

Version 1.08 Open beta

The Lunarian Shuffle Version 1.08 is, maybe, complete!  In addition to the changes advertised before (including playable Golbez!), it also has an option to change characters' musical cues to match the characters they have been replaced by.

A lot of the changes made have a rather high chance of breaking things.  I believe I've caught the big ones, but it's hard to be sure.  I need players to test The Lunarian Shuffle both with and without the new options active, and most importantly, to let me know what things are broken or just don't seem right.

The beta can be found here:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=16clDUj-qYlOaEbMCWEMoZIks0CIg_78k

Currrent intended Lunarian Shuffle v1.08 feature list

Here are the things I'm currently planning to add to The Lunarian Shuffle's next major release:

• Golbez as a playable character
• Dark Knight / Black Mage hybrid; low damage, high durability.
• The villain will be randomly replaced with one of the player characters.
• Need to figure out how to handle black magic; I'm out of spell learning list slots.
• Bugfix to the Dark Wave attack so it works properly at higher levels.
• At present, the random portion of its damage is limited to a 1-byte variable, shorting the player up to 60% of the intended damage.
• The Paladin Cecil replacement joins at level 5, not 1, if Normal mode is active.
• Duplicate characters beyond the first will be renamed.
• Not sure whether to use combined names (like FuRoSa) or references to other similar characters (like Celes).
• Inclusion of the Assassin Dagger as an obtainable weapon.
• This weapon gives physical stats at the expense of magic, and can inflict instant death.
• It is in the game code, but is not normally obtainable, just like the Hand Axe.

I'm also looking at the summoned monster sidequests as perhaps needing tuned up, but I'm not sure what can be both clearly communicated to the player and thematically appropriate.

Version 1.07 complete!

My test run yesterday found only one glitch, which was easy to fix.  With that bug squished, version 1.07 is live!  As always for a major release, check occasionally for minor updates should I discover something is broken.

In addition to the big changes mentioned in my previous post, this version also slightly widens the level range for random spell learning levels from +/-5 to +/-6, and there is a publicly posted version of the character tracker that allows duplicate characters.

My decision regarding Tellah's early game black magic randomization was to randomly select one of the three level 2 elemental spells to include in the list.  This keeps the odds of having one low rather than nearly guaranteed.  Hard Mode removes this possibility.

Get all these new features at the usual location:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B9k5jnZ_x-ijRG5BTE1objljbzQ?resourcekey=0-0RFE3TC3A3VnxLH4vaqIdA&usp=sharing

Enjoy!

New features coming soon - Character Specifier, Tellah's initial magic randomized

The gears are turning in the production of Version 1.07 of The Lunarian Shuffle.  The theme of most of the changes is to follow up on the duplicate characters patch, and include some features that make sense to have because of the duplicates.  Some improvements include:

•  A Character Specifier and a Character Counter are being introduced as ways to customize your duplicate characters.  If you want only bearded characters, or if you want to do a solo character challenge, your needs are going to be met.
• All equipment is now going through the "Do you have a character that can use this?" check.
• Previously, I was exempting things that were usable by 4 or more characters, since the odds you wouldn't have any use for it was so small.  Now with duplicate characters, this is a more likely scenario.
• Adult Rydia is being introduced to more seeds.
• She will have a small (~20%?) chance to be an adult when she joins the party at a position where she will not leave the party then rejoin in order to age.
• Also, if Rydia remains Rydia after Mt. Ordeals, she will at least change her age.
• Everyone else learns their spells at randomized levels, so why not Tellah?  Now, Tellah's pre-Ordeals magic set will be a random selection of early to mid game spells.
• I'm not sure whether to allow the level 2 elemental Black magic spells or not.  I can make a few arguments for their inclusion, but it could severely warp the game.

 This is in addition to the usual round of minor bugfixes and balance changes.

While I have your attention, here's a PSA that V1.062 had a major error regarding spell sets.  Update to a more recent version if you have not already.