First Slice
The first slice of the game will be the goal of the next playtest. This is essentially the first hour or so of core progression content for the game.
Progression
Early cooldown and basic spells are upgraded through at most 3 stages like so:
Weak → Mid → Peak
→ 
→ 
Spells able to be obtained easily early on will start in the “Weak” category and must be upgraded or their replacements obtained for further progression. Spells obtained later will either be Mid or Peak categories and will not have weaker forms available.
As the player progresses, their choices of what to use grow wider and it is up to the player to decide which combination of spells suits them best.
Biomes
The primary biome for the first version of this slice will be the forest and underground biomes, with their sub-biomes.
The focus will be on obtaining and crafting Earth spells, with existing fire spells being available from a sub-biome as an optional addition to the player’s spell set.
Boss
The goal of the first slice will be to become strong enough to defeat the boss. Progression-wise, the defeat of the boss marks the end of the first slice.
Spells
For the first round of earth spells currently in the game we have (without vfx / particle effects yet)
Earthen Fist (combo spell):
Axe Hurl (3 uses, cooldown spell):
Rising Earth (cooldown spell):
New Stacked Cooldown Spells
Other than spells that go on cooldown after use like in previous tests, there are now stacked cooldown spells. For example, the axe hurl has 3 uses. After the first use, a cooldown timer starts ticking but two more uses are still possible, each adding another timer to the stack:
After using once:
twice whilst still on cooldown:
three times whilst still on cooldown:
(The number here instead represents the time until the next stack is ready)
Item Tooltips
Items now have tooltips that show their name, description, category and relevant stats
Food and Grass Decoration
New food and grass decor was added to make the surface look less visually flat but also to add the vital beginnings of resources used in cooking and as part of the food system.
Taller patches of grass growing
Flowers growing from grass
Food such as carrots growing which can be picked once fully grown
Mushrooms growing in cave areas
Different mushrooms that grow on the surface
In Progress
Cooking
At the start of the game, options will be limited. Most grown food can be eaten raw, but their effects are limited. The tier 1 cooking item is the campfire. This allows you to cook one food item into one cooked food item.
Eating
Players do not have a hunger bar. Instead, there is a satiation meter that limits how much food you can consume until it runs down, but you can get buffs from food as a result. This means eating is a choice of which longer-term (minutes) buffs you want. Shorter term buffs (seconds) are provided by buff spells and are limited by cooldown.
Food buffs include things like:
- Health Regen
- Increase in max health
- Player glow
- Lower cooldowns
- Damage increases
- Movement speed bonus
- Armor bonus
Farming
Occasionally, upon harvesting a crop, whether natural or planted yourself, you will obtain seeds. With tilled, moist soil, you can plant these seeds and eventually grow them into a full-grown crop to repeat the cycle.
Farming is not available immediately from the beginning and requires progressing enough to obtain some key resources for setting up a farm.
Generated Structures
Hellfire Conclave
A fiery dungeon placed in secret in the depths below the forest biome - in search of the materials necessary to build something capable of smelting. This is essentially a sub-biome of the underground forest and a completely separate biome from the one that will be used in the future for the element of fire. The player must fight their way through this dungeon to find important materials required for progression.
Treasure Chests
Some treasure chests are now generated as part of some set pieces. The structure, if any, that the chest is part of, is an indication as to what kind of loot may available in the chest.