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The big announcement of this post is that KoD 0.5.0 is ready and will be sent out to beta testers! They will need to start from the beginning, plus give feedback on many different systems, so we can't give an exact estimate for how long the beta testing will last, but we will give a release date once everything is confirmed working as intended. We have been testing the game update ourselves the last few weeks, so it is already in good condition, but with so many changes we would need to get feedback from a bigger pool of people.
Meanwhile, we wanted to talk about everything that this update will include and explain why it's more than an ordinary update. As we've said earlier, this will be the last update where players will be required to delete their old saves. Converting the game into its new format so that all future saves are valid was one of our major objectives, but we also finished the following:
Normal Update Content: Aside from the revamp, 0.5.0 contains 5 new CGs with 9 unique scene variations.
Unique Captain Content: Player choice of Captain will have an increased effect, with new events, troops, and sex scenes. Though we intend for most future content to be obtainable by most saves, we also think it's important for player choices to grant unique rewards sometimes.
Makhor Content: After leaving you on a cliffhanger with the Makhor last time, we'll give you plenty of answers and scenes with the new character.
Battle System Revamp Complete: We increased the complexity of the combat system last time, but with this update we've completed the redesign. You can see in the screenshot above that there's a new resource to manage, plus we responded to complaints that the system didn't include enough information about available attacks. The newly balanced system will make battles more varied and more fun.
Army Raiding System: Now that Sabia has gained control of forces, she'll be able to take the next significant step. This includes a brand new system that we have yet to introduce in a preview post. We'll leave you to discover it in the game, but we'll say that it adds another layer of consequences to all your past decisions.
New Maps: You'll be able to see the world map we previewed in the game, plus you can expect some old menus to be transformed into more interesting GUI elements.
This update brings KoD to the state we intended from a design perspective. We will continue to make improvements from a visual perspective, but we will include those over time so we can keep up our momentum. With the above changes in place, we've finished the game's foundation and presented all the core systems that will carry the rest of the game.
Please look forward to the next version of Kindom of Deception!