Swordy Quest: An RPG Adventure

RELEASE GOAL: The main aim of this release goal was to re-implement the help link to the Swordy Questers Facebook group & setup the game for future sound enhancements.

USER INTERFACE:
- Updated the Help section to take users to the Swordy Questers Facebook community page.

USABILITY:
- The Gathering map changes each time you re-enter the Gathering section.
- Players can now fully gather all items from a location.
- Updated many of the leaderboards to be weekly to keep the scoreboards more current.

SOUNDS:
- Added a new enemy death sound for smaller enemies.

BUG FIXES:
- Fixed bug where players could tap on the travelling screen, while travelling, and change their destination.

RELEASE GOAL: The goal of this release was to continue improving the start process for new players and to add a brand new Healer Player Class.

FEATURES:
- Added the New Healer Player Class. Allows Players, when dealing critical hits, to use some of the energy lost by their opponents, to health themselves.

USER INTERFACE:
- Added new battle animations for the new Healer class
- Change the Tabbed theme at the bottom of the page to match the theme of the Heading sections to avoid new players missing that section entirely.
- Crafting, Magic and Trading pages now have the top navigation bar expanding across the entire screen, even on larger screens.
- Fixed text and alignment on the Settings page.
- Fixed the Portal Screen on larger iPads so the parchment background image covers the entire screen.
- Re-worked the naming of and look & feel of boats within the game.
- Removed duplicate imagery in the 'What Next' section of the Actions HomePage.
- Updated theme of header and footer navigation sections to make them more obvious for new players.

USABILITY:
- Added more explanation to some 'What next' items to help make player journeys clearer.
- Best boat owned is now used when fishing. This can be both seen visually and communicated via VoiceOver in the fishing description section.
- Continued updates to the initial tutorial for new players.
- Enemies can no longer steal bows when players fall unconscious, to stop confusion when the Hunt action disappears from the Action Homepage.
- Highlighted potentially confusing travel statuses when using the Map.
- Important map information is now highlighted in bold font.
- Made gathering speed faster across the board.
- Made it clearer how to first learn Magic to unlock the Magic section of The Camp section.
- Made the unconscious screen more descriptive.
- Next task is now animated after closing certain spirit guides to help navigate the game.
- Speeded up gathering speed when only bushes are shown on the gathering screen.

BUG FIXES:
- Fixed bug where Adventurer's personalized name would not always update straight away
- Fixed bug where the background could animate out of view on some larger iPad screens.
- Fixed bug where players could end up in the Snow Biome without having an Eternal Flame to keep them warm.

RELEASE GOAL: The aim of this release was to make life easier for new players to the game.

USER INTERFACE:
- Made closing story scroll button more obvious.

USABILITY:
- Added flashing imagery on the Action Homepage to help draw attention to the Task section of the screen for new players.
- During Early Game, the craft page will now scroll automatically to the next item you need to craft.
- Intro scroll has been expanded to offer more context around the game for new players.
- Reduced the wordiness of early game text to make it easier for players to get into the game quickly.

Release 5.17.2:

PATCH RELEASE: Updated the Help section within the App.

Release 5.17.1:

EMERGENCY PATCH: Emergency fix for the new Academic Achievement to make sure anyone guessing the answer on the first round, from now on, will receive the Academic Achievement.

Release 5.17:

RELEASE GOAL: The main aim of this release was to fix a bug where players could exploit the markets to gain extra silver coins. A new achievement has also been added.

FEATURES:
- Added Achievement for winning the Academia game in the first round of a game.

ACCESSIBILITY:
- Added Banner color names to the Personalization section of Player Homes.
- Re-ordered Spirit Guide message when an area is fully gathered, so items gathered are mentioned sooner.

GAME BALANCE:
- Harder Search Area puzzles now provide greater XP.

USABILITY:
- Added hint to Delivery Quests to explain how to create duplicate items by toggling the 'hide owned items' switch in the craft page.
- Added Hints around harder Search Areas and Academia games now give you more XP.
- Dragon Elite and Demon Shark Boss Killer Quests are only added once they have been defeated for the first time to avoid player confusion.

BUG FIXES:
- Fixed bug where selling items would not always register correct behaviour.

Release 5.17.1:

EMERGENCY PATCH: Emergency fix for the new Academic Achievement to make sure anyone guessing the answer on the first round, from now on, will receive the Academic Achievement.

Release 5.17:

RELEASE GOAL: The main aim of this release was to fix a bug where players could exploit the markets to gain extra silver coins. A new achievement has also been added.

FEATURES:
- Added Achievement for winning the Academia game in the first round of a game.

ACCESSIBILITY:
- Added Banner color names to the Personalization section of Player Homes.
- Re-ordered Spirit Guide message when an area is fully gathered, so items gathered are mentioned sooner.

GAME BALANCE:
- Harder Search Area puzzles now provide greater XP.

USABILITY:
- Added hint to Delivery Quests to explain how to create duplicate items by toggling the 'hide owned items' switch in the craft page.
- Added Hints around harder Search Areas and Academia games now give you more XP.
- Dragon Elite and Demon Shark Boss Killer Quests are only added once they have been defeated for the first time to avoid player confusion.

BUG FIXES:
- Fixed bug where selling items would not always register correct behaviour.

RELEASE GOAL: The main aim of this release was to fix a bug where players could exploit the markets to gain extra silver coins. A new achievement has also been added.

FEATURES:
- Added Achievement for winning the Academia game in the first round of a game.

ACCESSIBILITY:
- Added Banner color names to the Personalization section of Player Homes.
- Re-ordered Spirit Guide message when an area is fully gathered, so items gathered are mentioned sooner.

GAME BALANCE:
- Harder Search Area puzzles now provide greater XP.

USABILITY:
- Added hint to Delivery Quests to explain how to create duplicate items by toggling the 'hide owned items' switch in the craft page.
- Added Hints around harder Search Areas and Academia games now give you more XP.
- Dragon Elite and Demon Shark Boss Killer Quests are only added once they have been defeated for the first time to avoid player confusion.

BUG FIXES:
- Fixed bug where selling items would not always register correct behaviour.

EMERGENCY PATCH: This release was launched early to fix the Valentines Day misnaming bug for this Annual Event.

GAME BALANCE:
- Increased max loot provided by Searching Areas of the Infinite. The harder the search area the greater the loot!

USER INTERFACE:
- Improved the UI of the Academia game to include round counts.

BUG FIXES:
- Fixed bug where Valentines Day event was incorrectly labelled.
- Fixed accessibility bug where VoiceOver would select the heading rather than the spirit guide message when an area was successfully searched.

Release 5.16.1:

EMERGENCY PATCH: This release includes an emergency fix for the game crashing when travelling to settlements within The Beyond realm.

Release 5.16:

RELEASE GOAL: The main aim of this release was to introduce Player Buffs available in the Home Personalization section for all players of the app. The Puzzle game side of Swordy Quest has also been improved. Additionally, a full year's worth of events has now been added to the Game.

FEATURES:
- Added Player Enhancements within House Personalizations. Choose which Mark you want on your player for added benefits throughout the Realms.
- Mark of the Fighter Enhancement gives you more loot when killing enemies.
- Mark of the Gatherer Enhancement gives you more resources when gathering.
- Mark of the Enchanter gives better odds of finding Enchantments within the Realm.
- Mark of the Fish Catcher provides you with more food from fishing.
- Mark of the Academic that gives you higher rewards when playing the Academia Puzzle Game.
- Added Search Area Puzzle game into The Infinite Map as a way of gaining resources. Following the request of one particular community member who loves that puzzle.
- Added new Super Foods so every other month has a rare gatherable superfood that relates to that month's main event.
- Added an Easier version of Academia Game within Fonetazia Realm, following community feedback.
- Replaced Easter Annual Event with a Saint Patrick's Annual Event offering three times as much XP than usual!
- Added Blind Dog Month Annual Event.
- Added Earth Day Annual Event.
- Added Burns Night as a new Annual Event.
- Added Canada Day Annual Event.
- Added Cinco De Mayo Annual Event.

ACCESSIBILITY:
- Added full instructions for how to play the Academia Game, following community comments.

USER INTERFACE:
- Updated description of Enchant events so they are correct, now the chances of finding an enchant during these weekends have been greatly increased.

USABILITY:
- Replaced all references to Ocean Port with Seaport, to avoid confusion for newer players.

GENERAL:
- Further performance enhancements were made to eating during battles, to reduce the risk of the app crashing during a battle.

BUG FIXES:
- Fixed bug where Academia section of Hints was wrongly labelled.
- Fixed bug where the difficulty of Academia game was persisting when you switched between The Infinite and The Beyond Realms.

RELEASE GOAL: The main aim of this release was to introduce Player Buffs available in the Home Personalization section for all players of the app. The Puzzle game side of Swordy Quest has also been improved. Additionally, a full year's worth of events has now been added to the Game.

FEATURES:
- Added Player Enhancements within House Personalizations. Choose which Mark you want on your player for added benefits throughout the Realms.
- Mark of the Fighter Enhancement gives you more loot when killing enemies.
- Mark of the Gatherer Enhancement gives you more resources when gathering.
- Mark of the Enchanter gives better odds of finding Enchantments within the Realm.
- Mark of the Fish Catcher provides you with more food from fishing.
- Mark of the Academic that gives you higher rewards when playing the Academia Puzzle Game.
- Added Search Area Puzzle game into The Infinite Map as a way of gaining resources. Following the request of one particular community member who loves that puzzle.
- Added new Super Foods so every other month has a rare gatherable superfood that relates to that month's main event.
- Added an Easier version of Academia Game within Fonetazia Realm, following community feedback.
- Replaced Easter Annual Event with a Saint Patrick's Annual Event offering three times as much XP than usual!
- Added Blind Dog Month Annual Event.
- Added Earth Day Annual Event.
- Added Burns Night as a new Annual Event.
- Added Canada Day Annual Event.
- Added Cinco De Mayo Annual Event.

ACCESSIBILITY:
- Added full instructions for how to play the Academia Game, following community comments.

USER INTERFACE:
- Updated description of Enchant events so they are correct, now the chances of finding an enchant during these weekends have been greatly increased.

USABILITY:
- Replaced all references to Ocean Port with Seaport, to avoid confusion for newer players.

GENERAL:
- Further performance enhancements were made to eating during battles, to reduce the risk of the app crashing during a battle.

BUG FIXES:
- Fixed bug where Academia section of Hints was wrongly labelled.
- Fixed bug where the difficulty of Academia game was persisting when you switched between The Infinite and The Beyond Realms.

RELEASE GOAL: The aim of this Release was to introduce a new sub-game called Academia into Universities.

FEATURES:
- Added a new mini-game for gaining resources from Universities.
- Fish now provides Sashimi, a more potent dish that also provides a little water to keep players hydrated in hotter climates.

ACCESSIBILITY:
- Added full VoiceOver accessibility to the new Academia Game.

USABILITY:
- Added new hints for the new Academia Game.
- Double resource counts should no longer be even values.

BUG FIXES:
- Slowed down the speed of eating during fighting slightly to increase realism & reduce the risk of app crashes, following community feedback.

RELEASE GOAL: The main aim of this Release was to expand on the new Class Feature, available for Premium Players of the app.

FEATURES:
- Added a new Ranger class for those favouring stealth & ranged attacks.
- Added a new type of Food within Neverdora that provides food, health and water with each bite.

GAME BALANCE:
- Increased the impact of classes on players' stats following community feedback.
- Increased the impact of different class choices following community feedback.

USER INTERFACE:
- Updated close battle button.

USABILITY:
- Renamed existing classes moving away from Roles towards traditional class types.
- Added Hint about where to change Player classes.
- Critical hits can only occur when the weapon an enemy is weak towards is used. This also means the use of Enchants can be actively avoided by using the non-optimal weapon.
- Renamed Flaming & Freezing Orbs to Eternal Flame & Icicle.
- Updated player class descriptions to include what type of Roles they might play.
Usability - You can now use gems (if you don't have enough event tickets) to change player class, as requested by the community.

BUG FIXES:
- Fixed a rare bug where an Infinite Map could cause the game to crash.
- Fixed bug where Elites were dropping only 1 elite blood during double resources Battle Weekends.

RELEASE GOAL: The main aim of this Release was to Introduce the Idea of Player Classes into the Game.

FEATURES:
- Added 3 different Player Classes to the Game: The All Rounder, The Tank and The Glass Cannon. Bug - Continued to fix crashes now we are below 1% crash rate.
- Added a new Fan Fiction by Sarah: Emeralds and Obsidian 3

ACCESSIBILITY:
- Boss fights now announce via VoiceOver how many minions are remaining.

GAME BALANCE:
- An item is now unlocked at least every 5 levels to the point of level 100
- Future Enchantment Weekends now drop twice as many enchants as they did previously.
- XP bonus now received if you use only a ranged weapon to fully defeat an enemy

USABILITY:
- Added back button to Worship screen for those already at full health.
- Added Hints section of the new Player Classes added into this release.
- Enchants now ordered by type of Enchant within the Inventory, as requested by the community.

BUG FIXES:
- Checking if player can still move is now done each time the map page appears, rather than each time the map is loaded.
- Fixed bug where 4th active quest would not display in quest lists.
- Fixed bug where inventory food pop-up VoiceOver text does not always update correctly as health drops.
- Fixed bug where level 500 players were not receiving achievement unlocks.
- Fixed bug where out of date auto travel destinations could remain on map page as you cross between portal boundaries.
- Fixed bug where pressing back button on gather screen would stop screen refreshing if close button on spirit guide was ignored.
- Fixed bug where super food chime was playing sometimes, even when no superfood was gathered.
- Fixed spelling mistakes and out of date information within the Hints section following community feedback.
- Renamed all HomePage instances to be Homepage (no capital on the P) to help with VoiceOver pronunciation.
- When first joining a PvP battle, the final joiner will auto attack the enemy to stop players updating their chosen tame, having seen the enemy tame.

RELEASE GOAL: The main aim of this release is to hopefully improve the performance lag that some players have been experiencing during play.

ACCESSIBILITY:
- Improved the performance of weapon choice during battles to hopefully decrease lag when using VoiceOver.
- Added various fixes for the performance issue with VoiceOver that high-level players were experiencing.
- Improved the wording of the Gods page so the text is of an easily readable size.

GAME BALANCE:
- Defeating a dragon now gives 0, 1 or 2 gems (under non-event circumstances). This makes it more exciting than simply giving 1 gem each time.

USABILITY:
- Made gathering more usable for iPad users in landscape. No longer only see 2 rows of items.
- Updated numbering of Swordy Quest creatures in Fonetazia and The Beyond so their numbering makes more sense.
- XP bonus chime now sounds when closing battle page if the correct weapon was used, allowing Boss Fights to make chime sounds too. Whether the Correct weapon used is now determined during battle.
- VoiceOver and visible cues now show when you win a correct melee weapon XP bonus, even if using a bow but have the correct melee weapon equipped.
- Added 'what next' blue text to the action page to help visual users with what to do next.

BUG FIXES:
- Fixed bug where weekly events could sometimes get overwritten by Annual Events.

EMERGENCY FIX: If players tap on the Fight update section then a keyboard appears that is hard to get rid of. This emergency patch fixes that bug.

PATCH RELEASE: This patch release was added to fix the bug where Enemy Critical hits were not removing the correct damage from players & dragon food loot has been added back in. Additionally, Dragon Elites now give 100 Gems when first defeated.

ACCESSIBILITY:
- If you own a dragon you can now fly over Lava.

GAME BALANCE:
- Every enemy you encounter has a relative weakness to one of the 3 melee weapon types. Defeat the enemy using the right type of weapon and you will receive an XP bonus for each win.
- Dragon Elite now gives 100 Golden Gems when first killed.
- Enemies are slightly harder, but they only steal 1% of your coins (no longer 3%).
- Dragon, Dragon Elite & Demon Shark resources back to giving 3 different food types.

SOUNDS:
- XP Bonus Chime now sounds when you loot an enemy having defeated it with the weapon it has a weakness towards. This signifies extra XP being added for the kill.

USER INTERFACE:
- Updated the image of the Newdeath Demon Shark to make it look more realistic.

EMERGENCY FIX: This emergency fix was released to fix the bug where Boss sounds would not always play when introducing the Boss Battle. Some other game balances have also been worked on.

ACCESSIBILITY:
- Re-worked the positioning of lava in The Beyond so lava no longer causes occasional issues with Auto-Travel.

GAME BALANCE:
- Each Boss continues to have a weakness to one weapon type depending upon their level. But all minions now each have a weakness to one weapon type. For example, all Imps might have a weakness to the Staff.
- Updated Bosses stats slightly so they get progressively harder as the game progresses.

USER INTERFACE:
- Added Quests completed count to the Active Quests Page.


Release 5.11:

RELEASE GOAL: The aim of this release was to re-balance enemies following the reworking of enemy battles in the previous release. Also added Boss sounds with the Game Upgrade following requests that the upgrade purchase has more things included in it.

FEATURES:
- Enemies can now perform critical hits doing 3 times the normal damage.

ACCESSIBILITY:
- Made weapon switching button more accessible for VoiceOver users new to the game.

GAME BALANCE:
- All Enchants are now twice as common.
- Defence Melting Potion now stops enemies from blocking more than twice in a row, making it 33% more powerful.
- Dragons only provide Cactus Fruit as food when killed, but they give more of it. Dragons giving too many different types of loot meant players could not see everything they had looted on screen, causing confusion.
- Following community feedback increased the difficulty slightly of flame enemies (except flame dragons which remain the same).
- Increased cost of food very slightly.
- Increased the difficulty of Infinite enemies following community feedback they are too weak.
- No longer use up a Critical Cast when fishing, unless you actually catch a fish first. Stops charges being used up when hunting sharks.

USABILITY:
- Added a one-time spirit guide popup explaining you can eat during battles, to help newer players.
- Added Hint around coming across higher level enemies as you obtain stronger weapons and armour.
- Last eaten Battle Snack is now saved even when the game is fully backgrounded.

SOUNDS:
- Bosses now each have their own sound when fighting if the main game upgrade has been purchased.

BUG FIXES:
- Fixed bug where Dragon Bow alone would not display the Hunt action.
- Fixed bug where locked items were still being read out on e.g. the crafting page.
- Fixed bug where No stamina warning would appear when just levelled up.
- Fixed bug where players could not remove active quests from within their Homes.
- Fixed bug where players would be sometimes told they had defeated a Demon Wraith even if it was a different Boss.
- Fixed spelling and font reduction bug in the Farms.

RELEASE GOAL: The aim of this release was to re-balance enemies following the reworking of enemy battles in the previous release. Also added Boss sounds with the Game Upgrade following requests that the upgrade purchase has more things included in it.

FEATURES:
- Enemies can now perform critical hits doing 3 times the normal damage.

ACCESSIBILITY:
- Made weapon switching button more accessible for VoiceOver users new to the game.

GAME BALANCE:
- All Enchants are now twice as common.
- Defence Melting Potion now stops enemies from blocking more than twice in a row, making it 33% more powerful.
- Dragons only provide Cactus Fruit as food when killed, but they give more of it. Dragons giving too many different types of loot meant players could not see everything they had looted on screen, causing confusion.
- Following community feedback increased the difficulty slightly of flame enemies (except flame dragons which remain the same).
- Increased cost of food very slightly.
- Increased the difficulty of Infinite enemies following community feedback they are too weak.
- No longer use up a Critical Cast when fishing, unless you actually catch a fish first. Stops charges being used up when hunting sharks.

USABILITY:
- Added a one-time spirit guide popup explaining you can eat during battles, to help newer players.
- Added Hint around coming across higher level enemies as you obtain stronger weapons and armour.
- Last eaten Battle Snack is now saved even when the game is fully backgrounded.

SOUNDS:
- Bosses now each have their own sound when fighting if the main game upgrade has been purchased.

BUG FIXES:
- Fixed bug where Dragon Bow alone would not display the Hunt action.
- Fixed bug where locked items were still being read out on e.g. the crafting page.
- Fixed bug where No stamina warning would appear when just levelled up.
- Fixed bug where players could not remove active quests from within their Homes.
- Fixed bug where players would be sometimes told they had defeated a Demon Wraith even if it was a different Boss.
- Fixed spelling and font reduction bug in the Farms.

RELEASE GOAL: The aim of this Patch Release was to fix the bug where enemies would sometimes increase slightly in health when receiving a hit.

GAME BALANCE:
- Enemies no longer have the same stat for Melee, Stealth and Defence, making them more realistic to real-life creatures.

USER INTERFACE:
- Added uniformity to inventory items in terms of all similar items facing the same direction, etc.
- Improved background image for Dragon Hive so it doesn't look so grainy.

GENERAL:
- removed the Email Bugs button from the app after receiving various abusive non-bug related emails.
- Added Dragon Weaponry to Gem shop.

BUG FIXES:
- Fixed bug where enemies could receive minus figures of damage.

RELEASE GOAL: The aim of this Release is to introduce Dragon Weaponry and the dreaded Dragon Elite. Annual Events have also been increased to the same duration as weekly events.

FEATURES:
* Added the Secret Dragon Hive location.
* Added full sets of Dragon Weaponry and Armoury.
* Added the new ultimate Dragon Elite nemesis.
* Added Dragon Elite Blood as a new resource.
* Added new Achievement for defeating the fearsome Dragon Elite.

GAME BALANCE:
* Chance of fleeing from a dragon now increases each time you attempt to flee, in line with other enemies.
* Refactored how each battle interaction is calculated to give more control going forward over impacts of future stat enhancements.

USER INTERFACE:
* Clarified that Hammers are in fact War Hammers.
* Updated look & feel of the Section navigator along the top of craft, magic and other pages.
* Updated Neverdora Forests to be Neverdora Jungles following a very loyal Fan's request.
* Updated name of Wet Room to more suitable Drinks Room.

USABILITY:
* Players are now informed on the Actions HomePage what next section when it's their turn on an outstanding PvP battle.

BUG FIXES:
* Fix implemented to help reduce crashes caused by in-game audio.
* Fix implemented to reduce crashes on the Fight screen.
* Fix implemented to reduce Gather screen crashes.
* Fixed bug where Dragon owners without a raft could not fly across the ocean.
* Fixed bug where players wouldn't ever get knocked unconscious while trying to flee.
* Added additional error logging for player saves to reduce future crashes.

RELEASE GOAL: This emergency patch release is to increase the probability of finding Enchants during the upcoming Halloween Event from 3 times as likely to now 10 times as likely. Listening to the community about their concerns is key to making Swordy Quest even better as we go forward.

GAME BALANCE:
* Following the first enchant event, normal enchant weekends in future will make enchant drops 5 times more likely and Halloween events will make enchants 10 times more likely to drop.
* Dragons are no longer restricted to levels 1 to 3 as they are becoming stronger over time.

ACCESSIBILITY:
* Added section navigation to the top of Buy and Sell Marketplace pages to help VoiceOver users navigate these pages.

GENERAL:
* Added more gem purchase options.

BUG FIXES:
* Fixed bug where fight music would continue when having killed a shark but then gone back to fishing.
* Fixed some spelling mistakes in the Hints pointed out by a very observant player.

RELEASE GOAL: The goal of this release was to start introducing Player Homes. This will evolve over time following your feedback. Gem purchases were also added for those time-poor players that still want to be involved in Swordy Quest.

FEATURES:
* Added Player Homes to the Game. Upgrade homes to get more convenient access to actions like Alchemy, Health regeneration, Water, etc.
* A new Fan Fiction Chapter added and a new Poem added to Universities, thanks to Karine and Will.

ACCESSIBILITY:
* Added new section navigation system on various pages including Crafting, Magic and Alchemy.
* Added quick section navigation buttons to the Gem Store.
* Increased minimum font size and button size in the marketplace, crafting, magic and other screens to help with usability for Blind & Visually Impaired Players.
* Remain Fishing after you have defeated a shark you caught while fishing.

GAME BALANCE:
* Added a gem option for all craft-able, magic & tradable items.
* Added achievements around Home Ownership.

USER INTERFACE:
* Updated Crafting icon from scissors to a more suitable anvil.

USABILITY:
* Added new Homes section into the Hints page.

GENERAL:
* Added Crashlytics to help reduce crashes experienced by Players in future releases.
* Moved Player Customization into Player Magical Homes. Mirrors now provide full Stat Descriptions.

BUG FIXES:
* Fixed bug where occasionally the Gather screen would load twice at once.
* Fixed bug where selecting the Inventory button, when Battle Snacks ran out, didn't always work.

PATCH GOAL: This patch fixes the 1% chance of hit success. This issue impacted very few players, but it was such a big impact on them, was keen to get it fixed asap.

Release 5.8:

RELEASE GOAL: Following Blind Abilities YouTube discussion on the Fighting page & Swordy Questers' suggestions, this release has focussed on adding new & varied weapons to hopefully make fights far more dynamic, while still work seamlessly with auto-fight. Love the way the community continues to shape this game. You are all so inspirational with your ideas & feedback!

FEATURES:
- Added different melee weapon options to be used during fights.
- Added full set of Battle Hammers (Wood, Stone, Metal, Gold & Obsidian)
- Added full set of Weapon Staff (Wood, Stone, Metal, Gold & Obsidian)
- 2 brand new fan fiction added to the University Library.
- Added additional superfoods throughout the year for special annual events.
- Added an Easter Day event ready for 2022.

ACCESSIBILITY:
- Added shake option to progress fights.
- Completely overhauled the Gather Screen VoiceOver interactions to make moving your finger around the screen far easier for navigating.
- Updated battle snack button to say 'Use' rather than 'Consume' as requested by various VoiceOver players.

GAME BALANCE:
- Crossbreeds made 4 times more common in the Grassland, Snow, Desert & Lava Biomes, once enough Mongrels have been defeated. Full details in the Village Hints.
- Increased resources required for late mid-game items, now that gathering is more stable.
- Re-arranged item unlock levels, including making sure all weapon types of each tier unlocked at same time to give the player more choice of character development.
- Tweaked the 3 weapon classes so the Hammer wasn't quite so over-powered (OP) compared with other weapons.
- Added damage fluctuation on End Game Creatures & depending upon the type of Weapon selected.
- Added new Hammer and Staff Weaponry to the Gem Shop Battle Packs.
- Dragons are intelligent and have learnt that spawning right next to a Dragon Slayer is no longer a sensible thing to do.
- Increase food counts dropped by Dragons and Demon Sharks to make up for lower-level foods being removed from loot (to improve performance).
- Increased coins dropped by dragons and Newdeath Demon Sharks following Raul's very amusing Poll in the Group chat.
- Updated Pumpkins and other superfoods to give 20% of their previous gain, but you now gather 5 times as many as you used to. This means eating 5 at a time now makes sense and avoids you wasting lots of them when your health is already full.

USER INTERFACE:
- Rotated certain weaponry so all hits now show weapons directed towards the enemy.
- Removed low-level foods as loot from Dragons since the screen was not dealing well with so much loot being displayed.

USABILITY:
- Most recently equipped Weapon is now remembered ready for next battle.
- Renamed natural enemies to their respective map names to reduce confusion as to their location.
- Added neutral sound when new weapon equipped to help sighted players not using VoiceOver.
- Further performance improvements were made to the Gathering screen to make it flow smoother.

SOUNDS:
- Added different sound effects when hitting enemy, depending upon the Weapon Type used.
- Reduced sounds of certain fishing noises that were quite high volumes compared with other sounds.

GENERAL:
- Improved performance of gathering page to help make the page run more smoothly.

BUG FIXES:
- Fixed bug where Easter Eggs were being given out instead of Halloween Pumpkins.
- Fixed bug, where players would be told to craft items above to unlock them. This is out of date advice.
- Fixed bug where a dragon would delay its attack sometimes.
- Fixed bug where positive sound no longer played when an area was fully gathered.
- Fixed bug where release notes would appear when new players first started playing the game.
- Fixed bug where VoiceOver wouldn't always announce details of a new battle.

Emergency Patch 5.8.1:

PATCH GOAL: This Patch was released to stop Easter Eggs from being given out in October. Some game balance enhancements were also made to the new Weapon Types.

Release 5.8:

RELEASE GOAL: Following Blind Abilities YouTube discussion on the Fighting page & Swordy Questers' suggestions, this release has focussed on adding new & varied weapons to hopefully make fights far more dynamic, while still work seamlessly with auto-fight. Love the way the community continues to shape this game. You are all so inspirational with your ideas & feedback!

FEATURES:
- Added different melee weapon options to be used during fights.
- Added full set of Battle Hammers (Wood, Stone, Metal, Gold & Obsidian)
- Added full set of Weapon Staff (Wood, Stone, Metal, Gold & Obsidian)
- 2 brand new fan fiction added to the University Library.
- Added additional superfoods throughout the year for special annual events.
- Added an Easter Day event ready for 2022.

ACCESSIBILITY:
- Added shake option to progress fights.
- Completely overhauled the Gather Screen VoiceOver interactions to make moving your finger around the screen far easier for navigating.
- Updated battle snack button to say 'Use' rather than 'Consume' as requested by various VoiceOver players.

GAME BALANCE:
- Crossbreeds made 4 times more common in the Grassland, Snow, Desert & Lava Biomes, once enough Mongrels have been defeated. Full details in the Village Hints.
- Increased resources required for late mid-game items, now that gathering is more stable.
- Re-arranged item unlock levels, including making sure all weapon types of each tier unlocked at same time to give the player more choice of character development.
- Tweaked the 3 weapon classes so the Hammer wasn't quite so over-powered (OP) compared with other weapons.
- Added damage fluctuation on End Game Creatures & depending upon the type of Weapon selected.
- Added new Hammer and Staff Weaponry to the Gem Shop Battle Packs.
- Dragons are intelligent and have learnt that spawning right next to a Dragon Slayer is no longer a sensible thing to do.
- Increase food counts dropped by Dragons and Demon Sharks to make up for lower-level foods being removed from loot (to improve performance).
- Increased coins dropped by dragons and Newdeath Demon Sharks following Raul's very amusing Poll in the Group chat.
- Updated Pumpkins and other superfoods to give 20% of their previous gain, but you now gather 5 times as many as you used to. This means eating 5 at a time now makes sense and avoids you wasting lots of them when your health is already full.

USER INTERFACE:
- Rotated certain weaponry so all hits now show weapons directed towards the enemy.
- Removed low-level foods as loot from Dragons since the screen was not dealing well with so much loot being displayed.

USABILITY:
- Most recently equipped Weapon is now remembered ready for the next battle.
- Renamed natural enemies to their respective map names to reduce confusion as to their location.
- Added neutral sound when new weapon equipped to help sighted players not using VoiceOver.
- Further performance improvements were made to the Gathering screen to make it flow smoother.

SOUNDS:
- Added different sound effects when hitting enemy, depending upon the Weapon Type used.
- Reduced sounds of certain fishing noises that were quite high volumes compared with other sounds.

GENERAL:
- Improved performance of gathering page to help make the page run more smoothly.

BUG FIXES:
- Fixed bug where Easter Eggs were being given out instead of Halloween Pumpkins.
- Fixed bug, where players would be told to craft items above to unlock them. This is out of date advice.
- Fixed bug where a dragon would delay its attack sometimes.
- Fixed bug where positive sound no longer played when an area was fully gathered.
- Fixed bug where release notes would appear when new players first started playing the game.
- Fixed bug where VoiceOver wouldn't always announce details of a new battle

RELEASE GOAL: Following Blind Abilities YouTube discussion on the Fighting page & Swordy Questers' suggestions, this release has focussed on adding new & varied weapons to hopefully make fights far more dynamic, while still work seamlessly with auto-fight. Love the way the community continues to shape this game. You are all so inspirational with your ideas & feedback!

FEATURES:
- Added different melee weapon options to be used during fights.
- Added full set of Battle Hammers (Wood, Stone, Metal, Gold & Obsidian)
- Added full set of Weapon Staff (Wood, Stone, Metal, Gold & Obsidian)
- 2 brand new fan fiction added to the University Library.
- Added additional superfoods throughout the year for special annual events.
- Added an Easter Day event ready for 2022.

ACCESSIBILITY:
- Added shake option to progress fights.
- Completely overhauled the Gather Screen VoiceOver interactions to make moving your finger around the screen far easier for navigating.
- Updated battle snack button to say 'Use' rather than 'Consume' as requested by various VoiceOver players.

GAME BALANCE:
- Added damage fluctuation on End Game Creatures & depending upon the type of Weapon selected.
- Added new Hammer and Staff Weaponry to the Gem Shop Battle Packs.
- Dragons are intelligent and have learnt that spawning right next to a Dragon Slayer is no longer a sensible thing to do.
- Increase food counts dropped by Dragons and Demon Sharks to make up for lower-level foods being removed from loot (to improve performance).
- Increased coins dropped by dragons and Newdeath Demon Sharks following Raul's very amusing Poll in the Group chat.
- Updated Pumpkins and other superfoods to give 20% of their previous gain, but you now gather 5 times as many as you used to. This means eating 5 at a time now makes sense and avoids you wasting lots of them when your health is already full.

USER INTERFACE:
- Removed low-level foods as loot from Dragons since the screen was not dealing well with so much loot being displayed.

USABILITY:
- Added neutral sound when new weapon equipped to help sighted players not using VoiceOver.
- Further performance improvements were made to the Gathering screen to make it flow smoother.

SOUNDS:
- Added different sound effects when hitting enemy, depending upon the Weapon Type used.
- Reduced sounds of certain fishing noises that were quite high volumes compared with other sounds.

GENERAL:
- Improved performance of gathering page to help make the page run more smoothly.

BUG FIXES:
- Fixed bug where a dragon would delay its attack sometimes.
- Fixed bug where positive sound no longer played when an area was fully gathered.
- Fixed bug where release notes would appear when new players first started playing the game.
- Fixed bug where VoiceOver wouldn't always announce details of a new battle.

EMERGENCY FIX 5.7.1:
- Fixed bug where auto-fight had to be re-activated each time a new battle started.
- Fixed bug where secret time of year superfoods were accidentally given out when certain bosses were defeated.
- Fixed bug where VoiceOver was pausing at the wrong points when reading out loot.
- Explain in app that there will be a VoiceOver delay before reading out Fan Fiction, due to long length of stories.

RELEASE GOAL: The main aim of this release was to introduce Universities into the Game. With a Library of Fan Fiction & some with Music Rooms to listen to Swordy Quest sounds when you are out and about. Also, various game imbalances were addressed following comments on the Swordy Questers group page.

FEATURES:
- Added Universities to visit. Each with a Library of Fan Fiction. Thanks to Sarah & Karine!
- Added a new Halloween themed Superfood for the rest of October.
- Added a new Christmas themed Superfood for the whole of December.
- Added a PvP leaderboard for all-new PvP matches won.
- Added new Leaderboard for Unique Swordies defeated
- Added University Music Rooms for those players with main app upgrade within the Infinite & Camp Tab.

ACCESSIBILITY:
- Players must now confirm the first time they try and leave a fight prematurely, so accidental battle ends don't happen.
- Reduced visual loot animating on-screen to help reduce VoiceOver pauses when large loot gathered (e.g. after Quests completed).
- Trying out a new navigation system for the Hint section (please feedback on Swordy Questers FB page).

GAME BALANCE:
- A re-balance of buy and sell prices. Will see how this goes and can change going forward.
- Defeating Purebreds now provides you a random potion & enchant.
- Increased cost of staying at Inns for The Beyond and The Infinite Maps in line with silver coins owned at these later stages.
- Increased the frequency of Enchants within the realm
- More diverse loot is handed out when Players go up a Level.
- XP for eating is now brought in line with XP for drinking to ensure consistency of XP for similar actions.

USER INTERFACE:
- Added parchment background to buy and sell Market Place screens.
- All players (not just VoiceOver) now get to see exactly how much loot they have won at the end of battles.
- Button at bottom of Fight Screen now expands the entire screen so strange empty space no longer appears at end of the fight.

USABILITY:
- Added music player to the Camp Tab for anyone having purchased the main game upgrade.
- Improved ordering of Hints section to be fully alphabetical.
- Made it clearer using accessibility & visual cues that food can be eaten mid-battle for health.
- Re-arranged some Actions offered by each different location, so actions are more evenly spread across locations.

SOUNDS:
- Lowered the volume of fight intro sounds to make them less invasive.

GENERAL:
- Some improvements were made to Gathering screen performance.

BUG FIXES:
- Fixed bug when fighting where you could spam the attack button if auto-battle is on.