Hey everyone, I hope you’re all doing well! I’ve been hard at work on Hunter's Hand, and I’m excited to share some recent updates with you all. - I'm just recovering from the flu, I managed to push out a few changes over the past week but it's been slow progress...

- Map Background Images: While the large map background files aren’t on Git (too big!), I’ve added some spooky background animations for all locations. The code now dynamically positions the background in the center, making the scenes even more immersive. I also removed the scale on hover, and now it reacts to mouse movement!

- Debug Features: This one is mostly for me, but opens up a lot more for the players too. I’ve introduced some handy debug features to speed up testing. I can now easily add draftable cards to your deck and select treasure relics. Which should make testing much smoother!
There are also debug buttons for card/relic selection and a discard card option that lets you select a card from the players current deck.

- Event Updates: The gambler now costs 5 coins with improved win chances, and the howling altar costs 20 HP.  The Hunter's cache now lets you pick from 3 card rewards, and the outer world portal allows you to choose which card to discard instead of having it randomly plucked from your deck. The shop has been updated to include 5 card options, including a new colourless card, and the treasure scene offers a choice of 3 relics to pick from!

- Rest Site Options: You can now find a relic or discard a card from you deck as an alternative if you're high on HP,  

- Game SFX: I’ve re-enabled game sounds - I always turn these off on my client as I have to test things a bunch of times It can get repetitive fast...

- Battle Effects: I’ve added new VFX for player status effects like Burn, Bleed, and Shock etc. Now, when a status effect is triggered, you’ll see some particles burst from the Player or Enemy, with a few new  material shaders that really bring the effect to life - much better than nothing at all, but still some work to get them polished off but I can’t wait for you to experience it!

- Renaming of 1st playable character & their cards: I’ve renamed the Radiant defender to "Oathwrought" and their cards to better align with the updated aesthetics and lore of the game. I really wanted to hone in on their backstory and the changed seems more appropriate. I'll be updating their card art too when  I get the chance, but first I need to finish the final remodelling of their character model in Blender & re-render everything... not looking forward to that mammoth task! It took me weeks last time. 

- Battle Hazards: I've saved my favourite till last! I've started adding in special battle hazards into 10% of battles, if you've played games like FTL, Void war or Cobalt Core you'll be familiar with these. Basically they'll add an addtional layer of threat to each battle so you'll need to adjust your strategy for these battles. I've added 6 so far, with many more planned for future releases! 

I’m thrilled about these changes, and I think they’ll add a lot to the gameplay experience. Have you had a chance to check out the new effects yet? Let me know what you think!