EXANIMA QUALITY OF LIFE

Exanima takes a radically new approach to many things. Not only are we attempting these things for the first time, but they certainly are not easy to do. Inevitably the results are often not as good as they could be. We're always learning from our mistakes, listening to feedback and striving to improve everything. It's an ongoing process and we know that in time we can make the game really shine.

In this patch we've tried to address players' biggest concerns. We've made important changes to our animation system and combat, introducing features to dynamically change muscle tension and improving procedural elements. We've rebuilt most of our combat animations and improved the modelling of weapon mass. We've made characters negotiate and climb obstacles much better and get snagged on things less. Many other improvements and fixes have been made and this all contributes to an altogether better and smoother core experience.

ADVANCEMENT SYSTEM

You can approach the game in many ways and almost all the content is optional. Whatever you choose to do must be viable, you can fight or befriend who you encounter, explore, look for hidden treasure or piece together mysteries. We designed an advancement system that isn't based on just killing and major goals but rather rewards you for every little thing you do. Every new thing you discover, use, experience and accomplish awards small amounts of experience. Combat also yields experience based on the skill and equipment of your opponent.

Everything that grants experience is not repeatable so with each character what is gained is based on how much of the content they experience and how fully. A portion of the experience you gain is awarded as permanent global experience which gives you a nice starting point for new characters.

Experience earned is gradually absorbed by your character as actual learning towards whatever they are training. This feels more natural and realistic and prevents exploits.

INTRODUCING THE SKILL SYSTEM

Although experience will serve other purposes in future, it currently supports the training of skills.

We are working towards a total of 7 skills. Each skill has 8 techniques to choose from and 5 possible proficiency levels. You begin as Inept and reach levels of Aspirant, Novice, Adept, Expert and Master as you complete the training of each technique. The total number of techniques per character will also be limited to 15 or little more out of the total of 56 techniques.

This update features only the most fundamental close combat techniques that represent basic combat training. Upcoming skills feature more dramatic changes to gameplay and mechanics. Like everything else, skills affect players and NPCs alike so they also work to differentiate your opponents and promote more diverse tactics.

You must choose to train a skill technique to make progress, once training is complete a + icon will appear in the bottom right indicating that you should choose a new technique to train. If you are not training you will gradually forget experience that you've accumulated. Currently in arena mode you are automatically granted all techniques but this will change with an overhaul of the arena and its own advancement system.

NEW PUZZLES AND CONTENT

We've been promising greater environment interaction and this update introduces pits, fire traps, levers, pressure plates, portcullises, buttons and puzzles. We've gone beyond the typical lever puzzles and added some Exanima uniqueness, and of course there's the important element of physics. There are many new features that open up a lot of possibilities that we've only just begun to explore.

When we first made the current content for Exanima we couldn't do it as per our design due to a lack of features and assets. Now we have what we need and we're revisiting our content accordingly. The first map is now as we originally intended, with new and improved lore relevant locations and spanning almost twice the area as previously. Our map designs are not linear so be sure to explore thoroughly and try different routes on different playthroughs. There are various new items and objects, including a container that you can carry to improve your inventory management.

WHAT'S NEXT?

This update introduces some important new features, improvements, many fixes and tweaks, but our efforts have been focused on even more important things for the future of the game. Our highest priority has been the content beyond the portal which has been largely redesigned to provide a more unique and special experience. Some post portal content will be in the spotlight of our next bigger update but there are many things we're working towards. The next update should be with you before too long but we may also release some smaller but significant updates in between.


Best,

Bare Mettle