World of Sopho – Dev Log v0.0.13

Hey folks! This build is a big step forward for stability, moment-to-moment play, and how fast I can add content moving forward. Below are the highlights and the complete changelog you can skim or copy straight into itch.io.

Highlights

• Quest System Overhaul – Rebuilt for clarity and speed so I can create new quests much faster (and with fewer bugs).

• Battle Flow & Options – Attacks now animate with a slight delay (less screen spam), items stack correctly, and you can pick your battle screen style in Settings.

• World Interaction Upgrade – The old Explore command is gone; you now roam freely with NESW buttons (displayed in true N-E-S-W order on the chat toolbar).

• Smarter Systems

  • Guards confiscate contraband.

  • Enemies drop carcasses scaled to their level; Maxwell’s payout scales accordingly (low-level carcasses aren’t worth it—see Maxwell’s tip below).

• Audio & UX Polish – New music across key areas, proper save dialog, working Help commands, defeat screens, and more QoL.

Gameplay & World

• Guards now confiscate contraband.

• Adventure Hall is now accessible.

• Meals now take 15–30 minutes (in-game).

• School is mandatory for Zenas.

• The game now recognizes the Pup Section and Bethia’s Cabin as proper room groups.

• Battle: added a delay between attacks so results don’t hit all at once.

• New defeat screens:

  • Defeated but not game over.

  • Party wipe / Zenas has died (full game over).

• Eat in the dining room now actually restores HP.

• Nap and Sleep no longer damage health; they now restore Health and HP, respectively.

Movement & Commands

• Explore command removed. Free-roam large areas via NESW buttons.

• Chat toolbar now shows direction buttons in N-E-S-W order.

• Help button commands actually work now.

Systems & Economy

• Quest system overhauled for faster content development.

• Battle Settings added—choose your battle screen.

• Items now stack during battle.

• Many items that previously couldn’t be used can now be used in battle.

• Enemies drop carcasses by level; Maxwell’s reward scales with enemy level.

  • Maxwell will warn you that low-level carcasses aren’t worth it; donate or sell to Mickey who cold-stores them until there’s enough to cover the slaughter fee.

• Zack now buys items the item shop wouldn’t, and the more you buy from him, the more he stocks.

Audio, Settings & Saves

• Music tracks added:

  • Main Menu

  • Intro

  • Bethia’s Cabin rooms

• Sound settings: lower, raise, or mute music.

  • Music set to 15% during development (for my sanity).

• Settings are now saved in your My Games folder.

• Save window now pops up; you can name your file or leave it blank for auto-naming.

Narrative & Stability

• New narrative management system for much more stable storytelling.

• Paid down a huge amount of tech debt from the early days. This is why I went quiet for a bit—worth it.

Dev Process

• I now keep a daily change log to help me (and the AIs) track what’s done and what’s next.

What’s Next

• With the quest framework rebuilt and narrative manager in place, I’ll be rolling out quests and location content more rapidly. If you spot oddities—especially with roaming or battle item usage—please ping me!

Thanks for playing and for the patience while I did the heavy lifting under the hood. Onward to v0.0.14!