New patch 0.8.4 coming today!

#1

Just sent out this newsletter:

Dear Defender's Quest fans, 

An auto-update patch is coming later today!

We've tested this feature extensively prior to release, but never with so great an audience. There's always the chance something bad might happen so I want to alert you all in advance.

For instance, there's been some bugs with the auto-update feature where if there's a server timeout, the game hangs on the loading screen. This is FIXED in the upcoming patch, but obviously if our server goes down WHILE you're trying to GET the patch with the fix, you might experience this bug again. 

I think this bug happens only when the server is laggy, and I've tried a simple fix that seems to work on my machine - simply unplug your computer from the internet and run the game. It seems NO connection to the internet is different from a BAD connection to the server and gets you to the title screen with no trouble. The new version explicitly checks for BOTH error cases.

At any rate, this should all be unnecessary if all goes as planned. This first patch has a lot of quick bug fixes, so there's no major changes to content just yet. 

Fixes in version 0.8.4:

  • Fixed broken music tag in "All the Reinforcements We Need"
  • Fixed missing background in "An Even Greater Foe"
  • Fixed missing graphics for unique sword "Evni"
  • Fixed equip bug when getting "Glory of War" too early
  • Fixed triggers/dialog not showing on a critical battle
  • Fixed auto-update mechanism to skip forward after 5-second idle
  • Fixed healer priority logic:
    • HEAL means, "use a heal skill if anyone in range is wounded, even if I have a higher attack skill ready"
    • FIGHT means, "use an attack skill if enemies are in range, even if I have a higher heal skill ready and my friends are wounded."
    • BOTH means, "use the highest skill, regardless of its type."
    • This means FIGHT/BOTH will get the healer to use "ZEAL" even if no-one in range is wounded, so long as there's enemies to hit.
    • Default healer priority is now "BOTH" rather than "HEAL."
We've heard all your feedback about balance, classes, equipment, etc, and we'll be working on tweaks as necessary and another patch should be out soon, but not before we run a lot of numbers and make sure we're doing the right thing.

We'll also be trying to get a wiki and forum up on our website soon. We'll let you know as things develop.

Thanks for being a fan of Defender's Quest!

The Windows version will be up first, followed by the Linux version, and then the Mac version later tonight. All you have to do to get the update is start the game up sometime after the new files have hit the server.

NOTE: demo versions, both in-browser and downloadable, do not auto-update.

Thanks for everything! You have all been WONDERFUL, and as always, if there's any trouble, or you have feedback or bugs to report, send 'em all to leveluplabs@gmail.com.

I'd also like to point out our new FAQ/Support pages in case you haven't seen them yet. If you have questions, go here first before e-mailing us:

www.defendersquest.com/faq.html www.defendersquest.com/support.html

-Lars Doucet Level Up Labs

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at http://www.fortressofdoors.com/new-patch-0-8-4-coming-today/