It has been almost 5 years since the last release of Ananias.

Well, prompted by a critical situation where the Android version was completely broken due to Crosswalk no longer working in Android 10+, I decided to release a new minor version, fixing that as well as including some minor fixes that had been in the repo for years, see below for the full changelog.

• Standard Edition
  • Any Device via the Official web version, just point your browser there and you’ll always get the latest version.
  • Android via Play Store
• Fellowship Edition
  • Android via Play Store

In addition to removing Crosswalk and doing some tweaks around to modernize the deployment to 2022 standards, I uncovered a couple of interesting things that will be seeing the light of the day soon enough; the HD layout and the support for localization.

Also, I’ve started the work required to reestablish the iOS version, which had been down for some months. The store listing is available again but the game is crashing on start on the latest iOS versions.

v2.4.5 changelog

Technical

• Remove crosswalk dependency from Android build.
• Update to cordova-android 10 including updating build scripts for signing automatically.
• Update the build process to accommodate with 2022 Google Play deployment process.

Fixes

• Prevent issue with window.prompt not available
• Prevent playing SFX before initialization
• Prevent bug when sorting monsters or player without sprite (dead)
• Prevent issue with using alchemy with a single reagent using keyboard
• Prevent issues when using items from an old version save whose Spell no longer exists.
• Prevent friendlies from using skills outside of combat
• Hand gifts directly if no available room space
• Disable pet command button as soon as pet is killed to avoid invalid commands

Known issues

• The manual is currently pointing to an online version due to an issue with the InAppBrowser loading of local pages.
• Since the HTTPS setup for the game server is still pending, some tweaks were done to be able to connect to it via HTTP which is no longer the default or acceptable in 2022.

Congrats to the winners of The Tournament!

• #1 – Jebidiah, with Sheena the Barbarian. Killed by a Porpworm on level 29 after 81:36. Downed 555 monsters
• #2 – Geist, with MarMi the Alchemist. Killed by a Drogon on level 28 after 308:37. Downed 462 monsters
• #3 – @burdfishdemon, with Red Warrior the Barbarian. Killed by a Guardian on level 17 after 75:57. Downed 270 monsters
• #4 – @moemustaine, with Scalebearer the Barbarian. Killed by a Demonspawn on level 16 after 43:41. Downed 259 monsters
• #5 – Adam Boyd, with Rodney the Monster Slayer. Killed by a Sireen on level 14 after 75:06. Downed 200 monsters

I missed the date, but we hit the 1K milestone for the paid version of Ananias on Android, last February 23 🙂

We also surpassed the 1K mark on steam about 3 months ago (for sales), activations are waaay higher now (over 5K!) I wonder where I got that many? (maybe some bundles which I forgot to deactivate unused keys) while it took about 4 years in Android, it took less than a year on Steam. The Free edition on Android is now close to 60K cumulative installs

Meanwhile, on the Apple Store,  Ananias has sold a bit over 300 units, in about the same period of time than Steam. So far, all of this has been without marketing campaigns or major advertising (besides some minor and useless facebook ads).

In other news, I decided to make the project board public, take a look if you feel curious 🙂

It was about time to make a release for itch.io. Last release was 2.4.1 from July 10 2017! I was hoping to pack more into it but since there are many good gameplay changes (including a new class), and it’s unlikely I’ll be able to work on it in the next couple months, I figured it was a good time to do it. I also packed a new version to Steam (which had 2.4.1 from October 31 2017)

• Standard Edition
  • Any Device via the official web version, just point your browser there and you’ll always get the latest version.
  • Android via Play Store
  • Windows/Mac/Linux via itch.io
• Fellowship Edition
  • Android via Play Store
  • Windows/Mac/Linux via Steam and itch.io

New version coming soon to Newgrounds, GameJolt and  AppStore. Here’s a summary of the changes.

It was about time to make a release for Android. Last release was 2.4.1 from July 10 2017! I was hoping to pack more into it but since there’s an important UI bug and many good gameplay changes (including a new class), and it’s unlikely I’ll be able to work on it in the next couple months, I figured it was a good time to do it.

• Standard Edition
  • Any Device via the official web version, just point your browser there and you’ll always get the latest version.
  • Android via Play Store
• Fellowship Edition
  • Android via Play Store

New version coming soon to itch.io,  Newgrounds, GameJolt,  AppStore and Steam. Here’s a summary of the changes (for Android)

User Experience

• Allow continuing games from older version, warn game wont be saved.
• Fix issue with confirming spell selection on mobile

Gameplay

• Add Witch character class and Witchcraft magic school
• Limit usage of stat upgrades to 7
• Make charm effect only work for 10 to 15 turns
• Make summon spells create a single monster by default
• Make befriend monster spells higher level
• Make sick fountains reduce attack instead of contracting it (allow recovering)

Halloween comes with a new version of Ananias including a new class: the Lunar Witch! In addition of being experts concocting potions, they have access to a whole new school of magic: Witchcraft.

Witches cast spells (or hexes) sacrificing their own blood. However, if they have a familiar they will share the burden with him, causing him small harm in exchange for much less pain for the witch.

Hurry up and get it now from Steam‘s halloween sale! (coming soon to other outlets)

Other changes include:

UX

• Allow continuing games from older version, warn game wont be saved.

Bugfixes

• Prevent issue with sprite positioning when morphing floating enemies
• Prevent issue with summons sprites being misplaced
• Fix achievements relying on count number of levels
• Make sick fountains reduce attack instead of contracting it (allow recovering)
• Prevent items from disappearing when dropped and no space
• Fix issue with confirming spell selection on mobile

Decided to pack a new version, this one contains small but important gameplay tweaks, seeking to make the Arcane, Hunter and Alchemist classes be more fun to play. Full changeset available below.

• Standard Edition
  • Any Device via the official web version, just point your browser there and you’ll always get the latest version.
  • Android via Play Store
  • Windows/Mac/Linux via itch.io
  • Online via Newgrounds, GameJolt
• Fellowship Edition
  • Android via Play Store
  • iOS via the AppStore (Submitted for review)
  • Windows/Mac/Linux via Steam and itch.io

Gameplay

• New skill for Alchemist: Can use reagents multiple times
• New spell: Momi Gyr (Create Arrows) first circle of Matter magic. Creates a pack of arrows (quantity depends on the magic power)
• New spell: Rew Ram (Attack self) first cirlce of Mind magic. Makes an enemy attack himself once (works as a ranged attack for wizards)
• Remove separate spells to recover blunt and edge weapons, add weaker variation of repair weapon
• Make Hunter start with Momi Gyr spell.
• Make Arcane start with Rew Ram spell.
• Reduce MP cost of Kam Va (enchant wand) spell.
• Change Hunter magic schools to second circle of life and matter.
• Change Hunter starting magic power to 1.
• Make starting wands have full charge
• Cap combat to 13 max

UX

• Allow closing the action dialog (canceling selection)
• Tweaks on help screens

Bugfixes

• Create sprites in case they don’t exist, for the gameover screen
• Fix issue with magic power 0 when used in empty room
• Prevent targeting yourself on ranged mode
• Add key captures for arrows to prevent scrolling when embedded.

Plans for the future

I won’t have a lot of time next month for Ananias, however I have a big revamp in mind related to the structure of the world, and the plot of the game. Also pending are some missing steam achievements as well as fixing the steam overlay and finishing the keyboard command (although 90% of the game is now playable using a keyboard).

Following advise from Juegos Indie, I decided to release Ananias in some more storefronts. First up is the classic, newgrounds.com

Check it out here and vote for it so it’s taken off the “Under Judgement” status 🙂