Stuff Under the Header

6/29/2017

The Big DT3 Update Is Here

Edit: (7/7/2017) Version 1.5.0.7 hotfix. ------------------------------
Ayeee another one. This one fixes up some issues that slipped in with the new swap methods. They should be working as intended now. Thanks for the bug reports on that you guys. This might be the last update to this blog post. Gonna just make a new post in the event that we need another patch.

 - Precisely 3 birds were added into a map somewhere.
 - A potential fix for the massive frame rate loss issues that some people have. If you suffered from this issue and were unable to play the game prior, this version may work for you, just be sure gamepad support is off. Found under Options - Controls. (Should be the default submenu under Options.)
 - For those that do use the gamepad support, if you attempted to use a Switch Pro Controller, you probably found it behaved badly. A new option for that controller was added to the Gamepad Setup menu. That option should help for those that have gamepads that don't have analog L2/R2 buttons, but want to try DT3's internal gamepad support. (This was mostly added cause NZZ wanted to use the Pro Controller, he kept asking.)

Edit: (7/6/2017) Version 1.5.0.6 hotfix. ------------------------------
Don't mind the version skip, it happens. This is primarily a quality of life patch. Some of these are from player suggestions that I liked.

 - When firing up or down while pressed against a wall with Claire, the shots are no longer eaten by the wall. (The walls will go hungry though.)
 - A certain boss has had some edits.
 - Under Options - Controls. There is a new option called 'Swap Type' that will allow you to change how the ability and character swap buttons behave.
   - Standard: How we have it currently.
   - Dedicated: Each character has their own button. For example, Jerry is assigned to character swap, pressing this button will switch to Jerry if he is not active. If he is active, his ability set will change. The ability swap button will do the same for Claire.
   - Hold: This is closer to a DMC styled set up. When the ability swap button is held, pressing one of the four directions will swap to a specific ability set. If the ability set is on another character, that character will then become active. (Note that the slight cooldown on character swapping is still in effect with this.) For this set up, the character swap button functions as it does on Standard except in certain cases like a certain chapter 16 minigame that has its own ability set.
 - And yes, a bird has been added. If you find it, you'll game over. (This is the best patch note in this update.)

Edit: (7/4/2017) Version 1.5.0.3 hotfix. ------------------------------
- Fixes a crash bug with the story variant of the Decimator boss fight.
- Like all updates, more birds were added. Note the previous versions did have birds added to the world, but was not noted. If the game continues to be patched in this manner, the world will be overrun with birds.

Edit: (7/3/2017) Version 1.5.0.2 hotfix. ------------------------------
- Fixes a silly bug with Gate 3. Apologies for any hold ups that caused.

Edit: (7/1/2017) Version 1.5.0.1 hotfix. ------------------------------
- Fixes a bug with one of the super bosses.
- Changed the option 'Turn off Static Bitrate Explosion' to 'Game Over Settings.' This now has 3 options.
   - Normal: Standard Game Over.
   - Reduce Static: Same as turning off the bitrate explosion.
   - Auto Skip: Skips the Game Over screen and auto selects the default option. For example, if you're on a boss, "Retry Boss" is auto selected. You can still force a Game Over to get to the Game Over screen if you need to leave a boss fight. This setting was added in primarily for Achilles mode players or repeat players.

You're not dreaming, it's finally here! Better super late than... anyway, here are some patch notes.

Patch Notes
- New Content
- A new set of events is available. The epilogue scene will give clues on how to start these new events.

- Ending sequence changes -
  - Game Over no longer occurs when falling off during the final escape sequence. Instead, Chao brings the player back to a nearby stable platform.
  - All ending cutscenes, including the credits, can be skipped.

- New Ability -
  - Spring ball is now an optional item found in Gate 5 - Main Hub.
  - Morph ball can no longer be canceled with the jump button.

- New options -
  - Chao will give an audio alert when an item is in the area if the Item Finder is found. (Default: On)
  - An option to turn off pressing up to unmorph. (Default: On)

- Misc -
  - Contact(Direct) and Trap damage is now shown to the player via an icon when it occurs.
  - Air dashing will now cancel Mario bumper momentum completely just like the double jump does.
  - Bird Swarm and Chainblade Storm now have consistent patterns.
  - The Gate 6 parry will feel a bit more reliable.
  - Blackmore will no longer rise above the level.
  - Jerry and Claire's snap back dash issue has been fixed.
  - Death's Eye in Gate 3 should now properly stay in the player inventory after obtaining it. The eye really liked its prior home.
  - New pointless achievements.
  - Various misc. fixes all over the game.

- New Feature -
A command line argument can now be passed to the game indicating which save file to save/load. If you have multiple saves, this is for you. If, for example, you have a save file called "DT3data_Nightmare.dts" you can pass that as an argument through the command line to save/load to that file instead of the normal "DT3data.dts" file. This is helpful for those that use multiple saves, but don't want to have to rename files constantly. I may make or link to a tutorial on command line usage later.

Shut Up Zephyr, Where Do I Get The Update?
On the side links as usual. There are two download links.

If you are here downloading the game for the first time, use the full game download link. (Or if you had the game but deleted it.)

If you're here simply getting the update and already have the game on your computer, use that link and follow the readme instructions within. It'll have the new executable as well as the new resources.

What Took So Long?
Lots of reasons. Life got in the way many times. Other times, big games came out that I wanted to play on their release. A large reason though is that the update was going to be smaller in scale. The original release was set to be out last year as some of you may recall. But as development went on, I continued to find things in the existing content to tweak and improve, including fixing some persistent bugs and oddities. Another is the update began to scale up a bit bigger than originally planned. (This is the theme for DT3 it seems.) Many things were added in these last couple months that weren't originally planned and those took some time to test and prepare for release. The result turned out nice though. Without spoiling, some of the additions will please the more hardcore players that want more of that kind of content.

Anyway, I'll be playing games and streaming games as well in the future. And of course, hope you all enjoy the game. Have fun, get many more game overs... many more, and eventually come out the winner!

Thanks for sticking with my delays for so long and remaining so patient.