This update is not that big, but it changes some parts of the game in a major way. On top of that, I will talk about other smaller changes I did in previous minor patches.

But first, I want to thank those of you who are posting bugs and suggestions on the forums. It really makes my life a lot easier and it also makes me happy to see people care about the game. Thank you all.

Contacts system

This started as efford to make raising favor forHelena and George easier. Helena now gets favor for humanoids you kill with her divided by two. George gets favor if you work out with him in your party. Naturaly, having him in your party while working out should give you some kind of bonus, so that's what I did. However, the workout spot is in your hideout and george can be quite far away every week. To play optimaly, you would have to leave your hideout, go find him, return back, work out and then do whatever you wanted to do that week. That's quite a bit of time that quickly adds up as you play. And that's how I came up with this system.

Contacts is a new item in the radial menu (Select Followers to expand it). This screen allows you to call all NPCs that you know and ask them to join your party. In the future, I will be expanding this system to allow you doing more than just recruiting them, but you will still have to see them eye to eye to get all their functionality like working, trading or learning. For now, you will only ask them to follow you.

As you can see, there are some limitations. You will need quite a bit of favor to be able to call NPC to join you. Much more than just finding them and asking them directly. On top of that, you can't use this system if you are in any kind of interior like caves, dungeons or hauses. Other limitations also still apply, like not being able to recruit people when on bike or if your party is full. You will also not gain any mood or favor by just calling them. And no, Arf and the wolf do not have phones.

This will make child followers more useful, since you can call them very early and will reduce the amount of time you spend walking around when all you want to do is going through a dungeon.

Soviet bunker remake

If you paid attention to the forum, then you know I'm currently working on original tileset for the upcoming story expansion. As a testing ground, I started reworking the soviet bunker to use that tileset. Only the first sections are remade for now but I will be expanding this.

There might be some pathing problems, like being able to walk through walls and you might spawn stuck if you saved in one of these areas in previous versions (Use the autosave or other previous save). Again, these will get fixed.

Previous small versions

These things got added or changed in previous minor versions. If you pay attention to the forum, you can skip this section. This also includes some changes from the previous month report. I will be including only changes made between 0.29.1 and 0.29.7.

Combat stat screen

You can press SHIFT when selecting an enemy in combat to disply its stats. The stats you will see depend on your bestiary entry. The more complete it is, the more information you get.

Ranged weapons rework

I reworked some parts of ranged weapons by removing the invisible stat bonuses you get from them and replacing them with completely new "Accuracy" and "Speed" stats. Accuracy gives you a hit chance bonus and speed makes your action bar fill faster. Basicaly, it is now easier to hit your enemies with rifles and shotguns, even with very little weapon skill and fast firing weapons like SMGs or pistols will now fill your action bar faster, so you can attack more often. On top of that, I buffed all ranged weapon damage ranging from 20% to 100%. This should make ranged weapons much stronger and useful. This will need more balancing, but should be good enough for now.

Wolf companion

You can now start with a weaker companion to assist you right from the start. He is always in your hideout and doesn't require any relationship to follow you. You will need to give him raw meat to make him follow you though. The trait also gives you some meat at the start.

Cutscene pausing

You can now pause the cutscenes instead of skipping them. Pressing the right button will then either continue playing them or skip them.

AK-74 and VSS Vintorez

Two new weapons you can buy from Mr. White.

New title screen and ability to change the title screen after finishing the game

I added one new title screen, making the total number of them three.

First one appears when you didn't start a new game yet. Second one appears when you have a save file, but you didn't finish the game yet. And the last one appears after you finish the game for the first time. You can change the title screen you want to see after finishing the game once. Go to the options screen from the main menu.

The new title screen is again a little experiment. I made a very simple animation (It doesn't loop like in the gif). Doing this was quite simple and it gave me quite a few ideas for the future.

Those are all the major additions done since the last major release.

And as always, please report any bugs you find. Can't fix something if I don't even know it doesn't work.

Full changelog:

• Fixed broken cutscene with two generals
• Helena now gains favor if you kill any humanoids with her in you party. (Favor = hum.kills /2)
• George gains favor when you work out with him in your party
• Working out is more effective with George in your party
• Added new Contacts system, allowing you to invite people to your party over the phone
• Reworked first areas of the soviet bunker dungeon

Previous minor patch changes:

• Adjusted some trait values
  
• Fixed the hunger potion not working properly
• Fixed some map passage errors
• Fixed Arf not having a party size check
• Switched the bandit dialogue options. Fight is now the default option
• Added enemy stat screen to combat. Press SHIFT when selecting an enemy in combat
• Fixed some crashes when using older saves and trying to finish the game
  
• Fixed abomination kills not counting
• Skills will still show up in battle even when you don't have enough endurance
  
• Fixed Igor switching sprites
• Fixed unlock for "raise relationship with Helena above 100" not working
• Fixed some passage errors in the soviet bunker dungeon
• Reworked the way events at the start of the week are handled
• All ranged weapons were buffed. Ranging  from 20% to 100%
• Added Accuracy and speed to most firearms (except bows and crossbows)
• Fixed some passage errors
  
• Added new trait, which will give you a wolf companion at the start of the game
• Fixed some issues with cutscenes disabling sprinting
  
• Added the ability to pause cutscenes first instead of skiping them
• Fixed game crashing when wearing some clothing at certain age stages
  
• Added two new weapons for sale to Mr. White. AK-74 and VSS Vintorez. (You might have to open and close the trade window on your old save for these weapons to appear.)
• Added one new title screen, which starts showing after starting new game
  
• Added the option to switch between title screens once you finish the game for the first time (Options menu accessed from the main menu)
• Reworked one area of the bunker dungeon into using the new original tileset