Content Update v2.00

A content update that has long been in the works is now live!

Between writing the chapters of the new Demonheart: The Cursed Trial, I managed to finish the update right before the fourth anniversary of Hunters! Yay!

I've been intending to update Hunters for a long time, but delayed it for multiple reasons, including my burnout with its main characters and the way the pandemic started right after the game's launch. Since then, I have worked on Jester / King, Ice Demon and the most recent Cursed Trial, but I always kept in the back of my mind those extra maps for Hunters that I never quite finished and how I owed the players an update to try to fix the ending which did feel rushed.

While working on this update, I remembered how much effort I put into Hunters, what it took to get every single map working, and how nice it felt to have the freedom of adding random new details and new NPCs to an RPG. I'm grateful that I've worked on this game in the first place, and grateful to all of you for believing in my work enough to purchase it, even though it may not have met everybody's expectations. (It's hard when everything I make is always compared to the first Demonheart.)

This update adds some content between the Serpents' Keep and Thayn's Inferno, as well as some conversations in Thayn's Inferno to slow down the pacing a bit. It also contains some general polish. Below is a list of changes.

Please note: It might be safest to start a new game. The changes to the journal and some inventory items only appear when you start fresh.

Content:

• Added 7 new areas between the Serpents' Keep and Thayn's Inferno, including a small village, a forest and an infamous tavern run by outlaws.
• The witch Emmerie will no longer be in the Serpents' Keep, although you need to search for her in the area where she used to be.
• Added several new NPCs to talk to in the new areas, and two new quests, each with a few objectives and multiple journal entries. You can choose to work for or against the local outlaws, or a bit of both, but eventually you'll have to decide. ;)
• Companions comment on the new events.
• Added descriptions about what happens to the remains of the Python and Love Jayden when they die their final deaths. I also made edits to their graphics. (This is relevant for the Cursed Trial. :'))
• Made reading Love Jayden's journal unskippable - not sure if it was possible to run through the game without reading it, but I thought it would be a pity if you missed it. :') Companions will tell you to do it if you attempt to leave the room.
• Added some companion comments in the Serpents' Keep and Thayn's Inferno.
• Modified Thayn's Inferno to include more interactable objects and a new monster that talks.
• Added a conversation with the companions before the Thayn confrontation.
• Added small references to Demonheart: The Ice Demon and Demonheart: The Cursed Trial - although the latter may be more difficult to spot, especially before Chapter 4 arrives. (It's the green book from the Wise Woman's home and another piece of information found somewhere. :))
• The adult Raze meets a new cat.
• There are more plants to collect, to hopefully max out your poison skill or get the healing salves achievement if you haven't already done so. =') Added more alchemy tables to the late game, so you can use those ingredients.
• The total word count has increased from 85.000 to 94.000+.

Engine:

• Increased the number of save slots from 50 to 100.
• Save files now display the year, month and day when they were made. This turned out useful for replaying a 4-year-old game :)
• Altered the trap detection formula: it should be around 20% faster. Changed the trap detection sound so it no longer haunts your nightmares (though the new one might. o_o)
• Increased damage of Brash's skills, since he somehow felt like the weakest party member. :)
• One map in Thayn's Inferno has changed - a hallway has been deleted and a new room added, which might mess up save files if you made them in that part of the map.
• Deleted one old duplicate map from January 2020 which was replaced two days after the game launched. If you have saves from two days after the game launched in Raze's Inferno, they would no longer work.

If you don't want to miss any future updates or new games in this series, please follow my developer profile here and on Steam!