Go Up Fishing Update

[p]As always there is quite a bit to go through for this update, so strap in. First I want to thank our early access supporters again and again forever, and talk about the "Light Pockets" skill that all early access supporters receive when buying "Go Up" during this early access development process. [/p][p][/p]

Light Pockets Reminder

[p]In case we’ve never mentioned it (I could have sworn I did somewhere), players that buy “Go Up” as early access also receive a special skill called “Light Pockets”.  This has been a free skill that activates from the beginning of the game and gives the player a speed boost based on the number of people that bought the game as early access. What started as a play on words has now grown into a much needed place to store items that the player may acquire on their journeys. “Light pockets” will still give the same speed boost it always has, but now has been reworked as an attribute of the new backpack node. This speed boosting attribute will only ever be available to players who buy “Go Up” as early access as a thank you for giving us a hand up when we needed it the most. We are sincerely forever grateful to our early access supporters. [/p][p][/p]

Backpack

[p]The item bar was starting to get a little crowded and we needed a place for the player to store some of the new items they can acquire, so what better than a sturdy backpack? We reworked the “light pockets” skill node into the new backpack node where you will hold your resources, tools, and key items.[/p][p][/p]

Simple Fishing

[p]To further expand the new crafting and item systems we present the new apex of technological marvels here in the lands betwixt, a fishing rod! With this rod and some bait players can access the new fishing minigame by finding a nice fishing hole and a source of bait. One of the goals of this fishing minigame was that we wanted our fishing system to feel new and unique to our players, which meant starting from the ground up and customizing each feature and mechanic. These features include multiple fishing areas, multiple baits, and multiple fish capable of putting up a fight with varying degrees of difficulty, and a line tension mechanic based on the distance of the rod from the fish. Let the line go slack and the fish might get away, let the line get too tight and it might snap! Keep the fish fighting to fill up the progress meter and you could find yourself face to face with a beautiful catch.[/p][p]
[/p][p]“But what are we going to do with all these beautiful fish?!?”, I hear you cry.  Well we have plans for that in a future update (it’s going to be a whale of a time), but for now you can sell them for more gold and dark dust to help advance in your journey upwards. Fertilizing the Tree of Life is also a future use for fish, most likely coming in the next update. [/p][p][/p]

Ancient Mounds

[p]Along with fishing we are also introducing a skill tree exploration mechanic in the form of ancient mounds. Once revealed on the skill tree map by placing torches you will be able to use the shovel to dig them up and uncover long buried treasure! Expect more exploration mechanics in future updates! [/p][p][/p][p][/p]

Dark Skill Cost Rebalance

[p]Besides fishing we here at Noble Whale can appreciate a good rule.  As the number of dark skills has grown, introducing mini games, new mechanics and powers, calculating the value/cost of the dark skills started to feel a little arbitrary. We’ve decided we’re tired of deciding how much dark dust a skill should cost and instead will let the player decide their fate. The player's first dark skill will cost 1 dark dust, and the cost will go up from there. Not only will this help streamline getting through the early game helping players get to the good stuff quicker, but we believe it is a more fair system and put more agency into the hands of our players to decide whether to hold off buying a dark skill to see what’s around the next corner, or to splurge on that shiny new hard shell.[/p][p] [/p]

Bug fixes and QoL

• [p]Spider visual bugs[/p]
• [p]Rebalanced fruit sell amounts[/p]
• [p]Rewording some skill info windows[/p]
• [p]New notifications and hints[/p]
• [p]Better Notification timings[/p]
• [p]Info window reworks for greater visibility and readability, crisper text[/p]
• [p]Fixed more layering issues[/p]
• [p]Spider event web shot highlights when mousing over for easier clicking[/p]
• [p]Spider event web now gives boost to help fight spider[/p]
• [p]Fixed highlight related crash[/p]
• [p]Fixed skill “Usury” related crash[/p]
• [p]Fixed Suffering Tentacle event bugs[/p]
• [p]Some dark skills were not giving hidden background stats[/p]
• [p]Tree growing and withering time rebalance[/p]
• [p]Certain skills are now hidden behind ascension count requirements[/p]
• [p]Fixed “Dark Dust” notification to show once[/p]
• [p]Fixed ascension bug carrying over momentum after ascension[/p]
• [p]Fixed tree bug carrying growth between ascensions[/p]
• [p]Fixed bug with skills that cost multiple items[/p]