Update 20, version 1.7.7.6 ... there is something sinister about that number that strikes fear into the heart of every Englishman ... fear, fear for the safety of his tea! But ... anyhow ... There is a new BETA branch available! A BETA in EARLY ACCESS - just how much testing can 1 dev ask of you? The BETA branch is a whole new game engine ... well, actually it's kinda the same game engine with a whole new system. This system includes a fully function asset system, Physical Based Rendering (that's cool reflections of roughness and metal to normal folks), and HDR! Want to try out the BETA branch? Go to your game library in Steam and click on Monster Loot Swag, click settings (circled in red) and bring up the drop-down menu, choose preferences and when the new window appears, go to Beta in the sidebar and select the new BETA version. You can opt-out of the BETA in the same way, by choosing default. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/41781053/4ea9956dc295f84cde90f35397700ab65db35554.jpg[/img] Don't want to play the BETA for the new game engine? No problems, the original version is still available. Q: So why is it a BETA and not just the standard game branch? A: Well because it's taken a fair bit of effort for updating and I need extra testing for various internal linkages that I may have missed, before I can set it to the master/default branch of the game. Q: Is the default branch still getting updated? A: YES! The default branch is still getting updated whilst I work on bringing the new game engine BETA version up to speed. In fact, here is the changelog for version 1776 (ouch my tea!). This version replaces all placeholders of special attacks with their final versions. [olist] [*] Update 20: update to v.1.7.7.6 [*] Fix: Monsters could sometimes collide with player only barriers. Added an extra check in C++ to make sure this never happens under any circumstances. [*] Fix: Followers could sometimes collide with player only barriers. Totally removed physical zone collision checks from them. [*] Fix: Prevented unnecessary calls to and from server when opening the Options Screen during play. [*] Fix: Lag on first opening of Options Screen during play if Options Screen had not previously been initialized. [*] Change: Video options lists are now populated at the Main Menu Screen on initial start up. [*] Fix: Stopped Boss Monsters from getting stuck on terrain walls. [*] Change: Increased Monsters climbing ability for traversing terrain and objects. [*] Change: Made loot coins and taels bigger. [*] Change: Monster Boss display stats now allow a small pause before displaying to the player. [*] Fix: Client now makes multiple attempts to get Monster Boss health from client side ghost incase health bar is not displaying. [*] Fix: Missing flame/fire texture. [*] Change: Client call to server for insert coins / buy swag has extra check to see if it has already been bought. [*] Fix: Stopped attempting to delete objects which did not exist when Swag was spawned. [*] Fix: Got rid of phantom projectile spawning near player which sometimes happened at low fps. Engine now ticks 3 times before projectile will render (0.094 seconds). [*] New: Added animated model for Special Use Item: "Angel with an 40mm cannon. Air support on Heaven's behalf." [*] Change: Added pilot to "Dive Bomber" special defend Swag model. [*] New: Added Rocketrix model to "Rocketrix Delivery Service" special attack. [*] Change: Updated audio for "Rocketrix Delivery Service". [*] New: Special Use Item "Bait Bomb" now has a unique model, a distraction catgirl holding a sign which reads; "Free Kitty". [/olist] And here is a quick video of two of the new special use items, Bait Bomb and Angel Cannon ... with a sound problem on the video which I forgot about ... turn up volume high (soz). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls_efdl7Kic Next update will mostly focus on fixing the BETA and bringing it into line with the default branch, How long until EARLY ACCESS ends? I plan to make 3 more levels (total 10), 3 more playable cosplaying catgirl characters (total 8), and have a few more collectables to sort out. At the moment, I am anticipating shipping the final game around May/April 2024.