Monsters of Mican Major Update 1: Monster Buddies!

Monster Buddies Update!

The main focus of this update is the Monster Buddies system, but it contains a ton more. The other major addition is the Monster Rush and Boss Rush, but I will go into every change I made (that I can remember) below. I'll separate them into minor additions (some of which are actually extremely helpful), major additions and bug fixes.

Minor Additions:

• Added contextual skill indicators in the equip item screen, letting you compare the selected characters skills governing use of the equipped item and the item to be equipped
• Added clarifications about armor type (i.e. Light Armor/Heavy Armor/Robe Armor) in item descriptions for armor
• Added a red asterisk to any empty equipment slot if you carry an equippable item of that type in the inventory
• Added a green arrow indicator to a filled equipment slot if you carry a better item of that type. (Note: "better" in this case means the base stats are better after skill calculation, special enchantments are not taken into account)
• Added a green crown indicator to show which item in the inventory is the "best in slot" for the selected slot
• Added an "equip best in slot" button to each individual item slot and an overall "equip best in all slots" button, which will automatically equip one/all "best in slot" items for the selected character
• Space button can now be used to sell selected item in sell screen, to help speed up mass selling
• Minor fix to the way the sell screen is displayed
• Added "target needed" crosshair indicator to ability icons which require a target before use
• Added all loading screen tips to a new "hints/tips" section of the notes screen
• Added detailed combat tutorial which appears the first time a player initiates combat
• Added an indicator for which skills and/or stats are checked when hovering over a relevant interaction option (i.e. disarm trap checks burglary, dexterity and luck)
• Added a list of currently equipped items in the relevant slot when hovering over an item in chest
• Added a red text indicator showing how many skill points will be used when hovering over an "add to skill" button
• Changed the text color for "important items" from dark purple to a more viewable light green
• Changed the default sword icon in equipment to be more distinct from the dagger icon
• Added tooltip descriptions for conditions, hover over condition to view
• Removed MP cost for using wands
• Added a KillZ, which will teleport the player back to the default start location if they manage to fall out of the level
• Raised the damage dealt by the trap outside of Commander Blargh's room
• Added "best buddy" trait to Gragh and Bragh, to better reflect their friendship
• Added new input control to select previous character (shift+tab)
• Disallowed targeting bosses before engaging them in boss fight (avoids 1-shotting the boss before the cutscene can play)
• Added additional robe armor items, robe armor now works with the dodge skill
• Shops now refresh items only when loading the level (via saving/loading [savescum away!] or leaving the map)
• Added detailed description for Character Creation menu, explaining each item in detail, including each Class-specific ability

Major Additions:

• Added a Monster Rush Zone, accessible from the Unearthed Pit. Note: Monster Rush is unavailable in the free demo. Stay tuned for the full release info.  
  • Face over a dozen waves of progressively harder monsters, facing one of every monster type in the game
    • Monster Rush resets when leaving the level, so you can grind to your heart's content, if you choose.
  • After completing the Monster Rush you can attempt a Boss Rush, fighting all 13 Bosses in the game- at once!!
    • Completion of the Boss Rush unlocks two extremely useful secret spells.
• Added a new Monster Buddy system, and the associated Monster Lore skill. 
  • Monster Lore introduces the "befriend" ability, which allows the user to recruit any monster they face in battle.
  • Recruited Monster Buddies can be visited and interacted with at the new Monster Glade map, accessible from just outside of town.
    • You will be rewarded for each 10 monsters you add to Monster Buddies
  • Recruited Monster Buddies can also be "unleashed" onto enemies, via the new "unleash" and "stampede" abilities.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed missing collision on several ceilings
• Fixed collision bug on Red Lich
• Fixed issues with saving/loading after Mutono boss (Not available in free demo)
• Fixed issue where the player could jump in some menus
• Fixed issues with minor gaps between some walls allowing monsters to see the player from behind the wall
• Fixed issue with using a scroll on a character who wasn't skilled enough to learn the spell
• Fixed issue with wand use causing unlearned abilities to show up on the quick spell menu
• Fixed player start location in Hall of Bones (Not available in free demo)
• Fixed issues with load button not working during game over screen
• Fixed issue with character menu being toggleable during game over