What's New

• Hunt Maps

  In this update I have completely changed the way we hunt entities. Now, we must enter their dimensions to hunt them! What does this mean? There are 3 new incredible maps that you will enter through a portal to the entity’s dimension once a Level 3 energy has been absorbed once.
  
  1. Demon - Demonic Cultist Chapel
     
  2. Ghost - Gothic Graveyard
     
  3. Witch - Medieval Village in the Woods
     
  
  

• Redesigned Deduction System

  All entities now start off with 4 abilities (1 ability of each entity type). When hunting the entity will randomly select 1 of 4 abilities to use and will try to prioritize its “TRUE” ability more often than the others. Players can either challenges themselves or make it easier to determine the entity by permanently removing abilities from the entity until only the “TRUE” ability is left by finding and activating what is known as "Embodiment Marks".
  

• Embodiments

  Each dungeon has 3 methods of spawning an Embodiment Mark.
  
  1. Mark 1 – Events: Paranormal Events are the NEW HORROR system in On Dark Terms. Ghost events come in different forms such as a projector that turns on in the Office or a carousel that turns on in the Amusement Park. When this happens, it’s possible that an Embodiment Mark will spawn if players get close enough to it and will need to investigate to see if they can find it. Marks can be activated by taking an image of them with your Video Camera which will remove an ability from the entity making it easier to deduce during the hunt.
     
  2. Mark 2 – Interactions: this new fun mechanic adds more observation to the game, requiring players to pay attention to objects that have been moved/relocated in the dungeon. For example, you might notice that one of the crochet teddy bears in the Amusement Park has moved. You will want to check the bear's body to see if there is a mark drawn on its back. If so, you can take a photo of it to activate the Embodiment and remove and ability from the entity.
     
  3. Mark 3 – Anomalies: anomalies are a replacement for the “Trait System”. When activity level (which has been renamed to "Corruption Level") reaches 100, an anomaly will spawn that can only be seen in your Video Camera for an anomaly that can only be seen in the camera. For example, if you see a small Witch’s Table in your camera but not in the real world, you have found the anomaly and will need to take a picture of it! Taking a picture of the anomaly permanently reveals the object in the real world for everyone to see. You can then activate the sigil that is on it to remove an ability from the entity.
     
  4. Embodiments Deduction – it’s important to know that embodiments have more purpose than just finding marks to help reduce the number of FALSE abilities the entity has. Embodiments are special traits that can grant the entity with different passive perks if players choose to activate the Embodiment associated with them! So, it’s a tradeoff. Activating a mark will reduce the number of abilities making it easier to deduce the entity, however, this will also grant the entity with a passive perk based on which Embodiment that mark belongs to.
     
  
  The player has choices now while investigating. How much do you wish to challenge yourself when entering hunts! Do you think you can figure out which ability the entity uses the most while it is using 4 different abilities or do you need a little more help and wish to search for embodiment sigils to reduce the number of FALSE abilities. That decision is completely up to you!
  

• Hiding!

  Each dungeon now has designated hiding spots that players can jump into to stay safe from the entity when it awakens, spirits when activating the spirit charm, and even mimics when using the summon circle.
  

UPDATES

• Map Size Reduction and visual updates! All maps have been revisited when it comes to floor plan. After hearing player feedback when it comes to favorite dungeons and map layouts, I’ve decided to update the maps so that each map feels similar in size but still completely different in atmosphere and layout. Hopefully all players, whether alone or with friends, will now find that all dungeons feel great. This was also possible by moving hunts into their own maps which removes the imbalance issue of certain entities feeling impossible in certain maps while others feel too easy.
  
• Activity– has been renamed to “Corruption” and can no longer be reduced by burning corruption. Instead, Corruption increases overtime until reaching 100 upon which it will Awaken the Entity and Spawns a corruption mass that players can burn. Burning corruption ends the awakening and resets the Corruption Level to zero.
  
• Awakening – now occurs when the Corruption Level reaches 100. The entity will now kill players it reaches instead of possessing them if they do not jump into a hiding spot in time! Burning corruption ends the awakening.
  
• Awakening no longer kicks players out of Astral Form.
  
• Reaching zero Stamina no longer kicks the player out of Astral Form.
  
• Death – Energy is no longer lost on death for any difficulty! This will remove the burden of dread when dying then needing to repeat the spirit charm and summon circle all over again especially when it’s only the hunt that players are trying to survive.
  
• Attuning – players can no longer select the Entity Type outside the dungeon, attune and then tell other players the answer. Now, players need to select their entity type while inside the dungeon! The drop down for selecting the entity you think it is has been added to the new Database UI.
  
• Database – the “Astral Core” tab has been removed and merged with the database. The database now contains tabs to simplify and separate reading for core topics such as “Deduction, Entity, and Embodiments”. Additionally, the deduction section has been updated to show players what their next main objective is based on which energy they’ve absorbed.
  
• Player movement keys "WASD" is now mappable in the keybinds UI to help with accessibility.
  
• All items are now properly held while crouching (only the camera could be seen previously)
  
• Training Mode objectives (required for “Complete Your First Dungeon” quest) will now update progress depending on which energy was absorbed. For example, if your group member spawns Level 2 energy and you absorb it before you get Level 1 energy, then when you go to get your Level 1, the system will recognize that level 2 is also absorbed and jump your objective progress to level 3 energy objective (assuming you don’t already have that one too). This will address issues that new players experienced while attempting to complete objectives at a different pace than their group members.
  
• The Train Station Map has been raised above ground so that players can run beneath it making it much easier to navigate to maps such as the Mall.
  
• The Mansion has been moved closer to the center of the world map.
  
• Demon Hunts now have 3 monks for 1-2 player group size and 4 monks for 3-4 player group size.
  
• Players no longer take damage when interacting with the The Offering.
  
• Hallucinations will no longer spawn on Training Mode until at least ONE energy has been absorbed. This will allow new players to have more time in the beginning to read and get familiar with the environment without worrying about threats right away.
  
• Players in Training Mode should no longer get possessed by Hallucinations while they have their Main UI open.
  
• Updated lighting to create an eerier atmosphere.
  
• Removed the cooldown from offering, spirit charm, and summon circle. These items now end once their associated mechanic is complete or failed and cannot be interacted with again until then.
  
• Using sprint while crouched now exits crouch automatically and activates sprint.
  

FIXES

• Fixed an issue where new players that press the character menu through escape when prompted to press “H” to progress were getting stuck progressing the story.
  
• Fixed an issue where walking out of a dungeon then back into it without resetting the dungeon was restarting the progress of Journal Dungeon Objectives.
  
• Fixed an issue where brightness and gamma options did not seem to apply correctly to the player on login.
  
• Fixed an issue when closing the Astral Shrine UI while attuning doesn’t cancel the attune process.
  
• Fixed the crafting icon that represents lighter fluid in the crafting station.
  
• Fixed an issue where dying while the castbar was active broke the casting state and prevented further casts.
  
• Fixed an issue where dying while possessed wasn’t cancelling the possession bar.
  
• Fixed an issue where sometimes players would not be able to sprint anymore.
  

Thanks everyone for continuing to support me and providing wonderful feedback! I hope you enjoy this update and I look forward to hearing from you all.