Patch Notes

The Blackwater Castle team is attentive to your feedback. We will continue to release patches to enhance your experience within the Castle. An overview of all new updates and bug fixes in the list below.

Castle of Blackwater 0.9.73 Release Notes

The focus for the past month—and the next one—is all about polishing and stability. While this means you’ll see fewer new features, we’re doubling down on fixes and improvements to ensure a smooth and polished experience for everyone. Let’s dive into what’s new in Build 0.9.7:

Game Development

○ New Skins, Cosmetics, and Emotes – Added support for a wide variety of new visuals to let you customize your in-game look even more.

○ Anti-Cheat System – We’ve implemented a new anti-cheat system that actively monitors player activity to detect impossible actions and ensure fair play.

○ Visual Tutorial Page – A brand-new tutorial page has been added with a fresh visual design.

○ Tutorial Progression System – You can now track your progress in the tutorial as you learn the ropes of Castle of Blackwater.

○ New UI Sound Triggers – Additional sound effects have been added to improve the feel and feedback of interacting with the UI.

○Window Size and Resolution Setter – Players can now adjust window size and resolution directly in the settings menu. Perfect for fine-tuning your game experience.

○Updated Player Pop-Up – The player pop-up has been moved from left-click to right-click, making it easier to access options like “Add Friend” and “Report.”

Bug Fixes

○ Resolved several game crash issues for more stable gameplay.

○ Fixed various bugs by wearing and selecting cosmetics, ensuring they load and display correctly.

○ Addressed issues where players could select the same color, making lobbies visually clearer.

○ Improved the functionality of the friend’s system with many fixes.

○ Fixed several voting round bugs to ensure smoother gameplay.

○ Resolved a bug that prevented movement as a dead ghost in some cases.

○ Fixed bugs where alive players could sometimes see or hear dead players.

Fixed UI Issues

○ Some UIs could not be closed manually. Fixed.

○ Some UIs refused to close automatically during events like cycle changes. Fixed.

○ Fixed a bug where the psychic barrier sometimes failed to disappear.

○ Resolved an issue where kills under laggy conditions created duplicate bodies. No more extra corpses.

○ Fixed a bug with cosmetics that occasionally turned players invisible.

○ Improved and fixed numerous issues related to the tutorial.

○ Resolved audio bugs when switching between input/output devices on Mac.

Work in Progress

○ Continuing to improve and expand the tutorial.

○ Addressing additional stability-related issues to reduce crashes and hiccups.

○ Progressing on the shop system and in-game payments.

○ Begun working on localization and translation to bring Castle of Blackwater to more players around the world.

Game Nights with Our Brand Ambassadors

We’re thrilled to announce that each of our two amazing brand ambassadors will now be hosting one game night per week. This is your chance to hop into the latest build, experience all the new updates, and share your feedback.

We can’t wait to see you there!

V0.9.3 build (all platforms) – December 5, 2024

Features:

○ New Back-End Infrastructure – Completely revamped back-end. You now need to create and verify your account through email (the process is now functional!).

○ Player Profile – Access your player profile by clicking your profile badge in the main menu. Customization coming soon!

○ Friends List – Invite friends, track their online/offline status, and enhance your social experience with the new friends list.

○ Change Colour – Players can now select their default colour in the inventory. More color management coming soon to prevent same-color lobbies.

○ First-Time User Tutorial – The first two chapters of the 3-part interactive tutorial are now available! Test it out via the settings menu (look for the Twitter bird icons).

○ Custom Player Names – In-game names are now based on your email. Steam username integration coming soon.

○ Lobby UI Overhaul – A cleaner, simplified lobby interface for better navigation.

○ Inventory Access in Lobby – Access your inventory directly from the lobby by interacting with the changing rooms and the “Q” object.

○ Lobby Text Chat – New feature allowing players to chat while waiting in the lobby.

BUGS FIXED

○ Fixed issue where dead players’ voice chat wasn’t muted.

○ Resolved multiple game-breaking crashes.

○ Refactored voting round code to prevent game freezes.

○ Addressed various bugs from recently introduced features.

WORK IN PROGRESS

○ Steam Playtesting Review – Currently working on getting the build through Steam’s playtesting review process.

○ Cosmetics NFT Integration – NFTs now integrated! Finalizing front-end for the new account management page.

○ Shop UI – Work has started on the new Shop UI.

○ Additional Cosmetics – More cosmetics are being implemented into the game.

○ General Polish – Continual improvements and clean-ups across several parts of the game.

V0.1.8 build (all platforms) – April 25, 2024

BUG FIXES

Accessibility:

○ Fixed the issue where only players from the same region could see each other in the lobby list.

Gameplay:

○ Knight shield bug: Resolved an issue where the shield sometimes did not activate when equipped by a nightwatcher.

○ Exploitable killing bug at the start of the game has been addressed and fixed.

○ Dragon slayer and Book stack: Corrected bugs related to the new movement system that adversely affected game physics.

○ Psychic barrier: Fixed a bug where the barrier could fail in specific areas if the host had poor internet connectivity.

○ Vigilante fix: When using his ability on a protector equipped with a knight shield, the Vigilante will no longer die but will instead hear the shield activation sound.

User interface and user experience:

○ Joining private lobby: Resolved a null reference error encountered when joining.

○ Q interact button: The interaction button now properly displays in the shortcut transitioning between the left and right yard.

○ Courtyard voice chat: Addressed an issue where voice chat could be heard in the exact middle of the courtyard from distant players.

○ Implemented Elixir SDK so you don’t have to login to our game when already logged in at the Elixir launcher

Communication systems:

○ Muting in dead voice chat: Fixed a bug where attempting to mute in dead voice chat incorrectly notified that muting was not possible.

○ Dead chat participation: Resolved an issue where being voted out while silenced muted players in the dead chat.

○ Visibility of dead players: Corrected rare edge cases where dead ghosts were visible to living players.

○ Improved functionality to mute dead players correctly.

V0.1.4 build (all platforms) – April 4, 2024

NEW UPDATES

Features:

○ Elixir SDK Integration: For those using the Elixir launcher, say goodbye to manual logins! Your email is automatically fetched from Elixir, speeding up the account creation or login process based on your account status.

Gameplay:

○ Movement Input Overhaul: We’ve addressed the lag in movement input that affected mini-games involving physics. These are now handled in a separate scene to ensure smooth gameplay, unaffected by the new movement input system.

○ Mic Unmute Bug Fix: Fixed a bug where players silenced in the voting round remained muted after being voted out, preventing them from unmuting themselves.

○ Vigilante vs. Knight Shield: Corrected the interaction where a Vigilante attacking someone protected by an active knight shield would mistakenly die; now, the knight shield is correctly deployed.

○ Ghost Players Visibility: Resolved an issue where alive players could occasionally see ghost players.

Miscellaneous

○ General Bug Squashes: Thanks to your reports via our Sentry system, numerous specific bugs have been fixed.

V0.1.0 build (all platforms) – March 20, 2024

NEW UPDATES

Features:

○ Tutorial screens! First-time users will now see some introduction tutorial screens. These are also accessible from the in-game UI.

Gameplay:

○ Implemented a new start-of-game spawn animation with cool red crystals.

BUG FIXES

Accessibility:

○ Fixed a bug where dead ghosts weren’t hearing the ambient music anymore during the voting round.

Gameplay:

○ Fixed an exploitable bug where players could stand in a specific spot and steal all souls that spawned.

○ Fixed a bug where werewolf could enter the safe zone.

○ Fixed some bugs related to the deadly duel not picking the right winner.

User interface and User Experience:

○ Fixed issues surrounding the opening of the dead shop.

Communication systems:

○ Fixed a bug where players would disconnect from voice chat functionality after playing a game, without being able to reconnect.

○ Fixed a bug where a dead satanic could still talk in their private satanic chat to their alive satanic team mate.

V0.0.5 build (all platforms) – March 12, 2024

NEW UPDATES

Features:

○ Implemented the integration of MetaMask with your account on our website. Upon linking your wallet, we scan for Castle of Blackwater NFTs in your possession. The quantity and faction of your NFTs determine an NFT multiplier, which is then used to calculate your position on the leaderboard and estimate your $COBE airdrop allocation.

○ Introduced a new referral program. Each user is provided with a distinct referral link, found in their account on our website. By sharing this link and successfully recruiting new players who complete a game, the referrer earns extra beta points. This increases their portion of the $COBE airdrop in the play2airdrop campaign.

○ Transferred all assets from Opensea.io to Sphere.market.

○ Completed the migration to our custom backend system. This new infrastructure offers enhanced flexibility for developing features and architectures previously unattainable.

Gameplay:

○ Developed a new power-up for Satanic players in the dead shop, allowing them to lock the safezone for a night cycle.

User Interface and User Experience:

○ Overhauled our backend to a fully custom solution, removing any limitations on API calls and enabling more efficient data collection from players for their statics on the play2airdrop.

○ Improved the announcement phase with better visuals and transitions, including rescaled images for dead body cards and smoother day cycle announcements.

Sounds & Animations:

○ This update includes new UI elements, sounds, and animations for the day-night cycle notification when the new power-up is active.

Miscellaneous:

○ Enhanced our voice chat logging to more easily identify and address instability issues. Also introduced a debugging tool that automatically forwards player logs in the event of errors.

BUG FIXES

Accessibility:

○ Fixed the inability to navigate from the email to the password field using the TAB key on the log-in and sign-up screens, and the use of the ENTER key to confirm credentials.

Gameplay:

○ Resolved an issue where the XP gained from an easy task was equal to that of a hard task after completing a hard task.

○ Addressed a bug where the sound from the Satanic Sense would continue playing if the player was killed by a Werewolf at night while the sense was active.

○ Corrected the explanation of the Satanic Sense win condition in the Information book.

User Interface and User Experience:

○ Addressed a discrepancy in the book of tasks where the total XP displayed was incorrect immediately upon opening.

○ Corrected a visibility issue preventing users from seeing their current email address in the settings.

○ Fixed a crash that could occur on the victory screen if the player did not proceed to the home screen before the host exited the victory screen.

○ Fixed the minimum screen time for the Record Keeper note, ensuring messages are displayed long enough to be read properly.

Communication Systems:

○ Improved the responsiveness of the switch between dead and alive voice chats.

○ Fixed an issue where dead ghosts could hear the teleporter sound at the end of the night cycle without seeing the teleportation animation.

Miscellaneous:

○ Resolved a bug where dead ghosts could become stuck in the safezone if they clicked the “Go to safezone” icon at the exact moment the voting round began.

○ Resolved a glitch that occasionally caused the total games played and kills to be duplicated in your statistics on the website.