The nightmare just got deeper

Hey, Sookuma here! The nightmare just got deeper. I've been reading what you sent me after playing the first demo and working on the controls, combat, and moments that were hard to follow. Here's what's changing from the demo you first played.

What's changed in combat and the dungeon

• Poison stacks with every hit. Before, getting poisoned again only extended its duration, and it always dealt 1 damage per turn. Now, different monsters inflict poison of different strengths, and new poison stacks on top of what's still in your body. Staying in a Suspicious Mold's spore cloud adds more poison every turn, so watch your step. The number on the status badge now shows the total poison damage you'll take each turn instead of the turns remaining. Companions take poison damage too, and curing poison clears every stack.
• Fire damage and fire resistance now follow the same rules. Before, a fire arrow's whole hit counted as fire damage, and even bodies made of fire took damage from it. Now, its physical and fire damage are calculated separately, so only the physical damage gets through to a body made of fire. Fire resistance also works against enemy flames and burns that used to ignore it. Spells and wands follow the same fire resistance rules too.
• Frost Mice have a new ability: Ice Spines. Each hit of cold grows their spines by one stage, making them stronger. Hit one up close and I'll get pricked too. Fire has a chance to melt the spines one stage at a time. I also fixed Frost Spear freezing bodies that aren't supposed to freeze.
• Sewer King Gurgleguts' Backflow now forms a channel. Before, he filled a circle around himself with water. Now, he sends a channel of mud and shallow water toward me. Gurgleguts used to walk one tile per turn on wet ground; now he walks two. When the warning appears, let's step aside onto dry ground. Up close on wet ground, he now attacks once per turn instead of twice, but that one hit hurts more than before.
• There's a new Potion of Haste. Drink it to act twice as fast for 15 turns.
• You'll always meet Suspicious Mold and a Coyote Pup on floor 1. Before, some runs had neither. Now, both always appear on the main dungeon's first floor. I've adjusted monster stats and where they appear, but floor 1 as a whole hasn't become harder than it was in the first demo.
• The same monster has the same stats on every floor. Before, meeting the same monster deeper down meant it was stronger. Now, each monster has its own range of floors to live on, with the same stats throughout. The deeper floors are scary because stronger monsters live there. I've also raised the attack power of deep-floor monsters, so even good armor won't reliably keep every hit down to just 1 damage anymore.
• From floor 2 onward, there's a named foe on every floor. Before, some floors had no named foes. Now, each main dungeon floor from floor 2 onward has one guaranteed, with a higher chance of meeting a second one as you go deeper. I've moved the weaker named foes to shallow floors and the stronger ones to deeper floors.
• Surrounded teammates can hold on a little longer. I've lowered the chance of the monsters surrounding them landing a hit, so they don't fall before I can reach them. That gives me a little more time to get there and help.
• Archers can shoot from an angle now. Before, they could only shoot in set directions, so they'd come closer if I stood at an angle. Now, ranged monsters can shoot from any angle and move to find a shot if something blocks the way. They may also step back and shoot when I get close. My bow could already shoot at any angle, but arrows that used to pass straight through someone in the way can now hit them. Monsters' shots follow the same stray-hit rules, so let's be careful when a companion is in front of us.
• Stay on one floor too long and a new Nightmare Ghost will come looking. First comes the warning, 'The nightmare has caught your scent.' Stay longer and a ghost appears with a second warning: 'The nightmare is hunting you.' Every ghost I defeat locks away 10% of my maximum health, at least 3 points, in gray. Healing or changing floors won't bring that part back. Defeating enemies that give rewards or uncovering tiles I've never seen with my own eyes will gradually unlock it. If the gray fills my whole health bar, I'll fall too, so let's not stay in one place forever. Before, enemies that seeped in over time still gave rewards. Now, they and enemies summoned by bosses give no experience or loot.
• The Guardian of the Dream Heart is stronger now. The Guardian has a new title, 'Nightmare Lord,' and more health, attack, and defense than before. The pulse that used to be unavoidable now shows its area first. I can dodge it by getting out of that area by my second action after the warning, but a hit deals damage and locks away some of my maximum health in gray. New nightmare spikes can rise beneath me even from far away, so let's watch for the warning. When I run off with the Heart of Dreams, the Guardian still chases me all the way to floor 1. Before, it rose without warning; now the spot cracks and glows first. Staying there can hurt when it emerges. Enemies that seep in during the escape now come from the ordinary monsters across every floor of the main dungeon, instead of just the floor I'm on.
• The Dream Sewers are busier and more dangerous. Before, no new enemies seeped in after I'd cleared out the ones already there, and there were no named foes to meet. Now, more enemies are there from the start, and others seep in while I stay. Named foes suited to that depth can appear there for the first time too. Gold, loot, and traps used to follow floor 1 rules; now they follow the depth of the main dungeon floor where the sewers opened. There's also a new chance to find a Dream Merchant's Stall. Dodging Gurgleguts' channels might lead me straight into another enemy, so let's keep an eye on the way ahead.
• Ground monsters now slow down properly when they get bogged down. Before, monsters with normal or slow movement kept going at the same pace even when stuck in water or mud. Now, entering ground that bogs them down, such as water, mud, snow, honey, or webs, makes them skip their next turn. Monsters that don't get stuck in that terrain still behave as before. On the other hand, water-dwelling monsters used to attack faster as well as move faster on wet ground. Now, those extra turns are only for walking. Fishfolk and merfolk can approach faster through water or mud, but still attack once per turn. Honey Golems, Candle Spiders, Wax Grubs, and Hive Sentries were also wrongly treated as flying monsters before. Now they walk on the ground, get stuck in honey and webs, and can't cross pits or lava.

Smoother controls and clearer screens

• Numpad 5 now waits one turn instead of resting fully. S and Numpad 5 both wait just one turn now. To rest fully, use Tab when no enemies are visible. I've updated the help to match the controls too.
• Movement keys let me struggle when my feet are stuck. Before, pressing a movement key only said I couldn't move, without passing a turn. Now, I struggle in place with a creak and spend one turn. S or Numpad 5 still lets me wait. If no enemies are visible, Tab lets me rest until my feet are free, even with full health and mana.
• The way up is easier to follow when I'm escaping with the Heart of Dreams. Before, pressing Tab during the chase only told me I couldn't rest, and O headed for the down stairs once exploration was done. Now, with no enemies visible, Tab or the auto-explore key O follows known paths toward the ascending dream-stairs. If I haven't found them yet, I'll look for them first. Once I'm there, Space takes me up.
• Help and explanations of the gods' trials are easier to find. I've added ways to open F1 help below the minimap and in the Esc menu. Trials that only had a short objective now explain what I need to do to succeed. I also fixed pact card text getting cut off on narrow screens, so the name, benefits, and cost are all visible together.
• Pact cards now tell powers and blessings apart. Before, every upside shared the same benefits label. Now, changes to a god's active power are marked 'Power:', effects that stay on are marked 'Blessing:', and what I give up is marked 'Price:'. It's easier to tell what I use myself and what helps me without pressing a button.
• There are new tooltips for enemy status effects. Before, hovering over an enemy only showed its name and how hurt it was. Now, the names and remaining durations of its status effects appear underneath. Explanations of shared effects like poison and sleep are available right away. Descriptions of monster-specific abilities, like Ice Spines, unlock once I've discovered that ability in the bestiary; until then, they stay as ???. Even before I know the description, I can check a Frost Mouse's spine stage and remaining turns on its status badge and tooltip.
• Enemy wounds now have two simple descriptions. I've simplified the old set of wound stages. A wounded enemy with at least half its health left is 'lightly wounded'; below half, it's 'heavily wounded'. Hover text, the inspection window, and the targeting strip all use the same rule.
• The Reckoning Pact shows health in finer segments. Dreamguide Maze's Reckoning Pact lets me see enemy health in segments. Before, it showed 2 as a Follower, 3 as a Devout, and 5 as a Saint. Now, it's 3, 4, and 5 in that order. I can get a closer read on how much health is left even before becoming a Saint.
• Leveling up is harder to miss. Before, a little message above my head announced a level-up. I've added a golden pillar and a ring under my feet. The level-up message appears near the top of the screen, sparkles rise, and then a fanfare plays. I can keep acting while it happens.

Sounds, little details, and fixes

• Faith cards now appear with one continuous sound. I've replaced the short sounds that kept cutting in and out with one sound that starts as the card rises. All gods used to share the same sound; now gentle and fierce gods have different ones.
• Falls and teleports are easier to follow. The reason for a fall now shows up even with the log collapsed, and the log records which floor's hole I fell through and where I landed. I've added effects and sound as the floor cracks, I struggle, fall, and land. An open hole now remains where there used to be just a trap marker, and debris stays at the landing spot that used to be empty. They're still there after saving and continuing. Teleport traps keep their existing warning, now a little longer, with light wrapping around me and added sound. The log after a teleport also names the trap.
• The final hit gets a moment before the results screen. Before, falling took me straight to the results. Now, when the final hit lands, the music dips and the screen pauses for a moment. The damage number and the name of the enemy or cause that defeated me appear, then I slump down before the results screen opens. Any key skips this scene.
• Companions hidden behind god statues have new outlines too. Only I had an outline before. Now, companions, teammates waiting to be rescued, and friends at stalls have them too. It's easier to see where they are even behind a statue.
• Dropped items bounce before settling down. Before, gifts and loot appeared straight on the floor. Now, they fly in an arc or bounce up on the spot before landing. When I help an injured friend and get a thank-you gift, a new log line also tells me what they handed over.
• The Regeneration armor brand really helps wounds heal now. It used to have a description but no effect. I've fixed that, so each worn piece with this brand makes natural recovery 20% faster. That's one less turn between heals at any level. Natural recovery still stops while poison, burns, frostbite, or bleeding are dealing damage, so let's be careful.
• I fixed duplicate statues of the same god appearing on one floor. A god whose altar is already on that floor won't get another one there.
• I fixed a flicker when returning to the title screen from a new game. Occasionally, pressing Esc to go back briefly showed a different background scene.

Come visit my dream on Mac too

• The Mac demo is already on Steam! This was an earlier announcement, separate from this patch. The demo is free on Windows and Mac, so to everyone who's been waiting on Mac: see you in the dream!

Replays from friends who opt in

• Run records now include replays. Before, I only received run summaries and death records from friends who opted in. Now, when an opted-in friend finishes a run, I also receive its replay to help see what was happening when something went wrong. Since there's more being sent, I'll ask again even if you agreed before. No replays are sent until you give that new consent.

After exploring the dream dungeon, let me know how it went on the Steam discussion board. I'll keep reading what you send and working on it. Thanks for being here with me!