Hello, guys! League of Corruption version 0.2.5 is ready and up for downloads. You can get it here.
So, let’s see what’s new and start with the usual numbers:
9 scenes with 59 drawn images, 1 scene is animated -> 11 scenes with 61 drawn images, 3 scenes are animated.
18.1k words -> 23.8k words without counting PoV variations. Alright, now I have a little novel.
21 custom soundtracks -> 23 custom soundtracks
18 quests -> 22 quest lines
3+ hours for full clear -> 4+ hours for full clear. 0.2.5’s part may feel shorter due to variable solutions to the main quest line.

Features
Parallax mapping update:
I reworked a pretty decent amount of starting maps into truly great zones for exploration and adventure – check them out in the game. Yes, I wanted to get rid of the default RPG Maker’s trees. They are awful > March development plans.
LoC got a new option – caching for animated scenes. It allows the game to have three seconds before playing the scene. This allows most hardware to cache all the graphics and execute the scene without text stutter at a cost of waiting. Caching is advised but not mandatory and completely up to the player. You can still choose to play all the scenes without this feature. Players can change this setting from the initial configuration prompt at the start of the game, your room in the castle and on the castle’s second floor – right in the album. This option defaults to off.
The stop frame for synching different animations is also gone my logic rework for animated scenes. Now you don’t have to wait for proper animation part to start playing after the previous one is done. This change affects both cached and non-cached versions of scenes.

Difficulty system
Another new feature is an option to choose your difficulty setting. This affects all battles with normal, event or boss enemies. Plus, more complex puzzles like the musical tubes have less interactive elements, which make them easier to beat. Difficulty feature doesn’t change any rewards. This option can be changed during the initial configuration prompt at the start of the game and inside your room in the castle. The default setting is normal.
You may have noticed the low difficulty grow during the last and current LoC’s update. I didn’t want to force unwilling players to try the game on a level, which was too hard for them. That’s why all the combat encounters of 0.2.0 and 0.2.5 were pretty easy. They will stay the same for easy difficulty but I will bring the fight back for challenge-hungry players with the updated normal setting in 0.3.0. More on this during the upcoming developer’s plans.
Perks and passive bonuses from your followers
Version 0.2.5 gives players an opportunity to get two new followers for their castle. Aside from scene potential, they bring passive bonuses for your party after completing certain stages of their quest lines. Remember that your actions matter and some of them will be mutually exclusive.
This system will get a lot of upgrades and will affect all applicable characters, even the standalone pack which patrons will choose if LoC will be successful. By applicable characters, I mean the stats of said characters. For example, Nidalee doesn’t have mana so gaining MP perk will not affect her in any way.

Balance changes
Reworked buff/debuff system for player’s party. Now such effects are much more powerful and handy in battle. This change will be tweaked during the upcoming difficulty scaling.
Crafters in your castle got some extra merchandise to help you and your journey.

Interface changes
Reworked album interface allows players to hit escape and hop up on the upper level of the menu during all choices except the main album menu. Hitting escape there will close the journal.
Cleva upgradz. Now Zogh will give a brief explanation of the upgrade you are going to buy from him and offer a choice to proceed with the upgrade or cancel it.
Fixed quest lines which were too long to fit in the journal’s description tab in some of the orc’s quests.

Bugfixes and other improvements
Improved NPC’s movement range for some zones. No more ducks sailing down the streets of Townsville.
Fixed incorrect layering for bags and boxes inside the bandit’s boss room.
Fixed Broken Fang’s name during the combat encounter with him.