Hey everybody!
I'm happy to bring to you the latest details on the new 1.3.1 patch. I've been hard at work, and there's a special reason for this performance update: the game's upcoming release on the Nintendo Switch! Now, you might be wondering - if you're playing on Steam, why should this matter to you? Let me dive into that.
Bringing my game to the Nintendo Switch wasn’t just about reaching a new audience. The rigorous optimization efforts for the Switch have directly impacted and improved the game's performance for Steam players as well. Think of it this way: by pushing myself to make the game run well on the Switch, I inadvertently boosted its efficiency on Steam. Plus it shows my dedication to continuously develop and support my biggest title to date.
Adapting the game for the Nintendo Switch was one of the most challenging phases I've ever gone through. When I first tested the game on the Switch, it chugged along at a discouraging 9 FPS. Moreover, memory overflows caused unexpected crashes. Who would have thought that a point and click 2D game can be that performant heavy? Well, I did decide to make games in Unity which, when not making a heavy 3D game, takes a long time to learn how to strip and tune down for simple 2D needs for low-end devices.
But as a dev I really like overcoming challenges like these. I dived deep into the architecture of the Switch, utilizing a unique texture compression method tailored for its Nvidia chip. While this helped a lot I had to rearchitect the way the game loads and unloads its resources. Which meant refactoring yet again nearly every game system. This not only resolved the FPS and crash issues but also ensured the game doesn't exceed the maximum writes per minute on the Switch's HDD (Yes, there are a lot of restrictions like that to make sure the life of things such as the battery and disk is long enough).
In this era of rapid game development, performance often gets overshadowed by aesthetics and features. However, an interrupted or laggy experience can break immersion, no matter how beautiful or intriguing the game world is. I've always prioritized squashing bugs and issues that would challenge that, and this optimization push has been a testament to that commitment.
I am very grateful to be a part of a great indie community and I've been lucky to be around long enough that I can get other devs' help when needed. Thanks to them I've been able to resolve these issues quicker than on my own.
Lastly, a little tease for you: Keep an eye out for upcoming announcements. I've been working on the most extensive update the game has ever seen, and I can't wait to share more about it with you all in the upcoming months!
Thank you endlessly for your support, and here's to more fluid and exciting gaming adventures!
Version incremented to 1.3.1
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- Reduced RAM usage by approximately 400 MB.
- Reduced GPU usage by approximately 30%.
- Added story text to Bakhan and Targdaz indicating they can't deal with the curse of The Hangman.
- Added missing sound effect when stacking items in the inventory.
- Updated the FAQ to indicate the max rank cap for DLC is 12.
- Updated The Enemy's chain lightning damage from 1-6 to 4-6. Increased the magic roll difficulty to resist from 18 to 20.
- Fixed the Vade Mecum tooltip and story text to reflect if Chambara is an available teleport location.
- Fixed location sounds not fading when switching locations before they had finished.
- Fixed an issue with Oil Spill and Hunting Traps causing unpredictable behavior in combat.
- Fixed an inconsistency where meeting Morituri in the forest instead of the tomb did not affect his stats.
- Fixed the display settings not functioning correctly after the last patch.
- Fixed an issue where starting a new game caused the game UI to momentarily freeze before transitioning to the loading screen.
- Fixed Divine Wrath tooltip info.
- Fixed the bokh mastery increase/decrease text to prevent it from exceeding the bounds on Large UI.
- Fixed the Notes view to ensure it updates on Large UI.
- Fixed an issue where map choice selection was sometimes lost when the radial menu was opened and closed without a UI selection.
- Fixed certain controller icons that did not update when a non-default Xbox layout controller was used.
- Fixed outdated tutorial texts for gamepad controllers.
- Fixed various typos.
If you encounter any issues, do not hesitate to reach out. Cheers and happy gaming!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1299620/Fabled_Lands/
