There has been quite a few assets in the game that were never intended to be final game assets, but rather just placeholders. It was long overdue to replace them.

More importantly, the level generator for the Desolate Forest has been updated. It can now generate deeper forests and there is generally a wider variety of both layouts and colors. The position of each biome is the same every run, but how they look like exactly is still random. This way it will be possible to memorize the map to some degree.

• New background image for the menu.
• New Strike FX for Halberd, Short Blade & Executioners Axe.
• New Projectile FX for Arbalest.

• Most enemies now get a temporary speed boost when spawning, making the early game a bit more fast paced. This was already implemented long ago, but didn’t activate due to a typo.
• Ironically, the effect of the speed boost is that you get a lot more XP in the early game. The level XP formula has been adjusted.
• Succubi now stand still while casting Enrage.
• Arbalest now has 25% Size Growth.
• Arbalest “++Size” Upgrade
  • 20% -> 30% Size
  • +6 -> +8 Damage
  • +10% Damage Increase
  • -1 -> -2 Projectiles
• Poleaxe “Burst” Upgrade now also gives additional Hit-Rate.
• Increased the max number of heartseeker projectiles to 256.
• Lowered Heartseeker projectile lifetime from 8 seconds to 4 seconds.
• Holy Nova “+Strikes” is now a common upgrade.
  • +2 -> +1 Strike
  • x0.65 Damage -> x0.9 Damage
• Holy Nova “+Crit”
  • +5% -> +10% crit chance
  • 2 -> 3 damage
  • +20% -> +25% crit multiplier
• Holy Nova Shock Infusion Chance 25% -> 40%
• Holy Nova Fire Infusion Chance 50% -> 60%
• Holy Nova “-Cooldown” now gives 0.06 casts/second instead of 0.04 casts/second.
• Holy Nova now starts with 2 Strikes (instead of 1).
• Holy Nova now starts with 5s cooldown (instead of 6s).

For the Hell level I really want to bring the way monsters are designed to the next level. To do this I have added state trees means each monster can have multiple “States” it can switch between. State switching can happen by triggering certain events, including when a certain amount of time passed. A state can be seen as a set of behaviors. Monsters in Hell Slayer already have a multitude of behaviors, like moving in sync with nearby friends, kiting by keeping a certain distance or avoiding obstacles. By changing states they can adjust their movement patterns on the fly.

In addition to the behaviors, each state also has their own acceleration, movement speed, color, texture, CC and damage multipliers allowing very complex monster behaviors.

Imagine for example a monster that gets faster and more aggressive the more health it loses. Or a skirmisher that slowly approaches the player, throws a few projectiles, then hastily retreats again. Or lastly a long boss fight with a variety of phases and choreographed attacks, all that is now possible with the state system.

The other new internal feature is that Specials can be “attached” to monsters. Specials are effects like the Knockback of the Gatekeeper or the Enrage effect of the Succubus. Theoretically Specials can do anything and are free from the restrictions of the monster system.

Attaching means that the special will follow the monster, this allows us to attach weapons to monsters. Why not give a boss monster a Arbalest or Poleaxe? Who said these were restricted to the player?

Another thing I have been working on is fleshing out the lore and story behind Hell Slayer. There was already an extensive lore behind it from the beginning, but extremely little of this actually ends up being in the game. At some point I want to add lore blurps to the various items in the collection, but it doesn’t have very high priority at the moment. (If someone with a interest in Christian mythology wants to help out, hit me up.)

The Lucifer update, if and when it finally comes out (after the end of Early Access), would tell the end of the story through a series of boss fights and the conversations with them. I have extensive notes on the machinations of the primordial being called Sin, of the immortality of Angels (and thus Lucifer as well) and their fall from grace.

There is also a lot about the historical and meta-physical aspects of the world. How could the demons sever humanities connection to the divine? How was the Holy Order established, and how do they manage to survive against the demonic onslaught?

It was rather easy to define what is happening on earth, the struggles of humanity, it explores many literature themes that have been explored many times before, of nobility, of religion, of subversion, of suffering and redemption. But Hell has something otherworldly to it that can’t and should not be so easily described. In Greek mythology sources it is implied that the underworld is just as vast, varied and detailed as the entirety of the above ground universe, not simply another place to visit, but rather a mirror to our own world, a very different space to occupy. I obviously can’t create that vast within the bounds of the game, however I want to at least imply a certain level of otherworldly-ness, of there being much more than meets the eye, not just fire and brimstone.

I have some interesting ideas about the design of the second level, using such words as “tide of battle”, “territory advantage” and “exhaustion mechanic”. What those words mean? Who knows, certainly not me.