Thrall has been updated!

This update includes a ton of QOL changes and bug fixes. But before we get into that, I need to extend some thanks, because this update would not have happened if not for a certain YouTuber. Graeldon is on an impossible journey to play every Steam game in alphabetical order to sort the hidden gems from the piles of garbage. When he isn't working on his Steam Sequence series, Grael will sometimes play community suggested games on a livestream. Recently, Grael started a new series called "Community Spotlight" where he plays games developed by members of his discord community on livestream. After sharing this game in his discord, Graeldon generously offered to feature Thrall on his very first Community Spotlight! During the 3+ hour livestream, Grael offered lots of praise, and lots of constructive criticism. I was present during the stream, and took lots of notes, so a huge thank you to Graeldon for doing this. This update is thanks to you. Feel free to check out the VOD for the stream here, if you're so inclined.

Now, let's get into the update! What's new?

• Added a Quick Comparison feature to loot tables and equip screens
• Added a battler turn display
• Added unique enemy traits for each species for greater enemy diversity
• Updated the Skill Tree screen UI
• Updated several character Skill Trees
• Streamlined the tutorial sequence
• Added "Pale" enemy variants
• Balanced loot drop rates and quality
• Balanced EXP gain
• Added thematic Thrall sprites based on their current location
• And tons of bug fixes!

So let me address some of the bug fixes first. The Locker, which allows you to transfer loot between save files, was broken. I don't know why. But it's fixed now. Also, Regenerator Elite enemies will no longer regenerate from 0 HP, effectively becoming immortal. Those are the two major critical bugs that needed fixing, so I wanted to highlight them. I fixed a lot more, but nothing worth mentioning here.

Now for the sexy stuff. Let's talk about the Quick Comparison. What was the biggest problem with Thrall's progression? If I had to name one thing, it would be inventory management. You'll find lots of loot, but how do you know if it's better or worse than what you already have? Previously, you'd have to compare every piece of loot you'd find to every piece of loot equipped to all three of your party members. That's just... painful. A lot of unnecessary min-maxing for very little noticeable difference.

Now, introducing the Quick Comparison! You can see an example of this in the new screenshots for the game. Basically, every time you compare loot in a loot table (such as a chest or shop), or equip new loot, you'll see boxes around the loot that you have. Green boxes means that loot is arguably better than what you have equipped. Red boxes means it's arguably worse. No box means it's a negligible difference. You can still min-max if you want, and you can toggle the comparison on or off, but if you don't care about any of that and just want to see the numbers go up, this system makes it much simpler. Instead of comparing every single item you find, just look at anything with a green box. Done. Inventory management, much better.

But that's not all that's changed. I've updated most of the enemy species to have new and unique traits! Thing is, combat sort of felt stale to me. I couldn't figure out why. I thought maybe it was the element system, but that was actually fine. I played with a few ideas, but couldn't really pinpoint the issue, until I asked myself an important question. What distinguishes one enemy from another? In fact, I'll ask you the same question now.

In the previous version, what was the difference between a Slime and a Snake?

Any ideas?

I mean sure, Snakes (or Sneks, technically) have a bit higher DMG and DEX stats, slimes have higher DEF, but that's about it. They both can attack. If they have an elemental variant, they can use a spell. They can... uh... that's about it. So how are they really different?

The answer was to introduce species-specific traits. So for example, slimes can now combine to form bigger, beefier slimes. Gnomes can turn into boulders, gaining massive DEF and some HP regen for a bit. Hawks can potentially ambush you, getting a free round of combat at the start of the battle. Things like that. Nearly every enemy has a new, unique trait that distinguishes it from other enemies in the area. The result is that combat feels more alive and dynamic, and the staleness is severely reduced.

The system still needs work, but that's why this game is still in development. For now, I think it's a significant improvement.

At any rate, there are other updates, but they're mostly self-explanatory. I don't want to sit here and overexplain everything, so go try out the update for yourself! There's a lot of new features, so have fun exploring!

Oh, and one more thing. This version should actually be compatible with previous saves. I've been working on backwards compatibility for a while now, and I think I've finally nailed it down. If for some reason your old saves don't work with this version, please comment below to let me know, and I'll work on a fix. That's all for now! Happy hunting!