Hey everyone, thanks for being so patient.

My life over the past few months has been hectic. Between working two jobs, then a total career change, moving, and other misc life stuff, it's been hard to really dive into Axu development for any lengthy period of time. Lately I've had plenty more time to dig into the nitty gritty details of the engine and do my best to polish it up.

0.7.6 is a larger one than the number increment may first seem. Though many of the changes may not even be seen by anyone. There's been a complete overhaul to how assets are stored and loaded, placing all the "Core" ones into a module that can be expanded upon without touching what's already there. I realize there aren't many (any?) modders out there that really care about the change, but it's a nice organizational change for myself at least. 

So what's new, Matt? Quite a bit. Between an ability bar and icons, new NPCs, quests, and lots of new items, I'm sure you'll find something you hadn't before. Check out the changelog below for a non-exhaustive list. (I don't usually have my changelog up while developing, so I may have missed something.) I'll keep this short as it's 4AM where I live. Enjoy Axu!

Cheers,

Matt (Cynapse)

CHANGELOG:

Additions:

• Core files are now included as a module. More modules can be added on top of existing data.
  • Added error checking for loaded assets.
• Added a map item. When used, it creates a new location and quest for you to visit it.
• Added a tile for the map creator signifying a non-blocking biome tile.
• NPCs spawned from quests can be given multiple items at spawn.
• Quests can now store an object and NPC for future use in quest goals and events. This adds plenty of flexibility to the system. I can now create and remove NPCs as temporary targets, rather than relying on each to be unique.
• Added new lore books.
• Added resolution options for 800x600, 1024x768,  1366x768, and 2560x1440.
• Added icons for each ability.
• Added an ability bar at the bottom of the screen.
• Implemented icons for the equipment screen.
• Added new item icons.
• Items and objects in data can inherit from parents, saving typing.
• Quests can be set to fail after a certain amount of time.
• Headstones can be read for randomized obituaries.
• Permissions can be set to objects to restrict the player from interacting with them before a specific part of the questline.
• Added new ammunition types for bows and crossbows. Explosive, incendiary, poisonous, runic, and dazing.
• Added a new felony, the Smuggler.

Tweaks:

• Better loading, saving, and accessing of assets.
• Changed some existing quests to create and destroy locations, rather than have them always be on the map.
• Objects no longer have small capacity inventories.
• Path costs are evaluated better. Creatures and the player will no longer take long, strange routes full of diagonals to get to their destination.
• Other general pathfinding improvements.
• Enemies no longer can open doors. Consequently, the player can no longer close doors. This prevents pathfinding slowdown and door exploits.
• Increased the frequency of enemies and chests in underground areas.
• Removed depth requirements for encounter tables.
• Objects can be hidden from the map editor.
• Failing quests and respawning removes map markers for location-based goals.
• Removed floating damage numbers.
• Map objects take up less space in memory, referencing static blueprints instead of containing their own values.
• ProgressFlags are now strings. Modders can add new ones and use them in Lua/Json.
• Better dynamic hostility for all factions. Attacking faction leaders will cause the entire faction to be hostile to you.
• Buffed firearms, and increased their rarity.
• Becoming heavily irradiated can cause Radiation Poisoning. A condition that slows your health and stamina regeneration. It can be cured with Iodine Tablets or by visiting a doctor.

Fixes:

• Enemies will no longer phase through walls to attack the player.
• Living Stone Legs are no longer considered "Arm" limbs.
• The player sprite is no longer blurred when zoomed out.
• Highlighted buttons should properly show their highlighted status more often.
• Webs properly break when entities step off them.
• Better UI scrollbar handling between mouse and keyboard. Not applicable to all windows yet.
• Removed blocking tiles from around village doors. (Such as trees)
• Many panels should scale better with lower resolutions.
• Dying before finding the home base takes you back to the first screen.
• Fixed an error that occurs when throwing an empty liquid container.
• The "Interact" key (Default: Space) no longer progresses you through the character screen. In case you want to put a space into your name.