Ironmace, the developer of Dark and Darker, released the first update for the game's fifth alpha test, including a lot of fixes and tweaks to content.
The game, which has been removed from Steam due to a legal dispute with Korean publisher Nexon, is currently being tested by its community with downloads provided via Torrent. To download the update, you have to find the link on Twitlonger.
Nexon certainly seems to be fighting against this distribution method, as the tweet that contained the original alpha has been taken down due to a "report from the copyright holder." That being said, the torrent is still available on Discord (pinned in the Communuty-Announcements channel).
On Discord you can also find a description of what to expect from the patch and a set of update notes.
In our rush to show off the Ruins map we moved a little too quickly and pushed it out before it was fully ready. We realized we need more time to get it to the standard you expect from us. For this reason, we have decided to test it as its own experimental stand-alone locale, like the Goblin Caves. We need your help to test out the map and give us your feedback so we can better incorporate it into the game in the future.
The experimental Ruins will have a similar Survival of the Fittest ruleset like the Goblin Dungeons, except for parties instead of just solo adventurers. We have removed the stairs to go down and only escape portals will appear for the strongest or most devious adventurers to survive. Due to the increased intensity of the new Ruins map, we’ve tuned the balance so the loot attained from this map will now be better than the first floor of the Normal difficulty Howling Crypt dungeon. The loot from the Normal Inferno dungeon will still be better than the loot from the Ruins.
Since the Ruins will become a stand-alone locale, the Normal dungeon mode will return to the original Crypt down to Inferno format found in our previous playtests. We may have also gone a little overboard with the new lighting schemes as we were excited to make each of the new settings have a different feel. We will continue to experiment with the lighting and visuals in the future but for now we’ll return to a more classic fantasy look as they better fit the tone of our current monsters down there.
We’ve also added the return of Valentine to give testers an easier way to test some of the higher-grade items due to the greatly reduced drop rate for this playtest. We’ve also fixed some annoying bugs and improved the balance a bit. We apologize for the lack of polish from this playtest compared to previous ones and promise to use this as a learning moment. We will continue to work on fixing bugs and improving balance for the duration of this test. Thank you once again for all your support.
- 'The Ruins' has been changed to a single layer dungeon.
- The 'Normal' and 'High-Roller' dungeons in 'The Ruins of Forgotten Castle' are renamed 'The Howling Crypts' and return to their previous appearance.
- Fixed an issue where players could get stuck in infinite matchmaking when no server list was selected.
- Fixed an issue where Bard's Tranquility was not properly healing players.
- Fixed an issue where Arrows and Bolts could not be sold in the shop.
- Fixed an issue where Jokester, Holy Aura, Slayer could stack unintentionally.
- Fixed an issue that could cause the lantern to remain lit while wearing it at the waist.
- Blue light has been changed to yellow light. - Fog has been removed from dungeons.
- Rest now only restores health that can be recovered by resting.
- Achilles Strike duration changed from 2 seconds to 3 seconds, movement speed reduction changed from -40% to -10%.
- Shield Slam movement speed reduction changed from -10% to -20%.
- Hunting Traps now have increased duration and skill checks are triggered more frequently.
- Japanese can be used again.
The alpha test will continue until April 19.
Recently, Ironmace has shared a large batch of documents about the development of Dark and Darker to bolster its case against Nexon, but we'll have to wait and see what will happen going forward. In the meanwhile, fans can at least enjoy the alpha test.
