Hello, everyone!

I've released an update to the demo to address some bugs and feedback I've either noticed myself or received from players.

I'm committed to continuously improving the game so thank you to all who have provided feedback so far!

Additionally, I do have the demo page open for reviews so feel free to share your thoughts on the game in its current state if you would like.

Here are the changes:

New Features

• The first combat encounter has been overhauled to better onboard players with the combat system.
• There is a new tutorial specific enemy in the first encounter
• There are a few specific, guided steps to take in order to complete the encounter
• The tutorial encounter will not show up if you have "skip tutorials" option enabled in the options OR if you have already completed the tutorial encounter before on another save file.

• A new tutorial that explains recycling items has been added. It should show up when you first try to pick up an item while your inventory is full.
• You can now adjust the volume of ambient sounds (wind, trees, etc.) separately from background music in the options.
• You can now turn off subtitles for spoken dialogue in the options (under Accessibility).
• Counter Hits and Combo Actions are now tracked during combat and award additional exp and scrap.

Adjustments

• Counter Hits now show an icon above the damage text to better indicate when they occur.
• Skitterer enemies now have a chance to lose balance and stagger itself if they miss you with their attack.
• Increased the visible interaction distance of the axe tool to better identify that it can be picked up
• The overall scene brightness has been increased. I'm trying to strike a good balance between visibility and mood so if you need further tweaking of the brightness it can be done so in the options menu.
• In addition to using the keyboard, you can now use the mouse to select quick actions and combat actions
• The first encounter now has 1 Skitterer instead of 2
• Shooting enemies that are outside of your weapon's attack range will no longer miss, but still does reduced damage
• Made some general improvements to the flashlight
• Reduced the amount of enemy respawns at the Seaside Six from exploring cabins

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where the Scrap shown in the quick action menu did not update when loading a game
• Fixed an issue where recycling a stackable item with multiple amounts did not give the proper amount of scrap
• Fixed an issue with the ponytail render for the Raider costume
• Fixed an issue where the camera did not properly rotate behind the player when loading a game
• Fixed an issue where pressing Escape on the stash screen or save screen closed its respective menu but also immediately opened the pause menu
• Various small UI fixes