Hey Guardians!

This update marks a huge milestone for Guardian Realms. With the introduction of plugins, systems, custom assets, and expansive new content, v0.4.0 brings the game to life in new and exciting ways. What started as a humble demo is quickly evolving into a fully immersive RPG experience- and this update proves it.

Here’s everything that’s changed (and it’s a lot):

🔧 Systems Overhaul – Core Plugins & Functionality Added

The game now officially runs on a suite of plugins, opening the door to endless future possibilities.
Newly added systems include:

• 🎵 Menu Music  (Casper Gaming MZ plugin)

• 🛠️ Options Menu (Casper Gaming MZ plugin)

• 🖥️ Fullscreen Toggle (Casper Gaming MZ plugin)

• 📏 Stretch Display Option (Casper Gaming MZ plugin)

• ❌ Exit to Desktop Button (Casper Gaming MZ plugin)

• 🌗 Day/Night Cycle (McKathlin_DayNight plugin)

• 💀 Enemy Health Gauges (Casper Gaming MZ plugin)

• ⚔️ Difficulty Selection Menu (Casper Gaming MZ plugin)

• 🐎 Mount System (Custom made, for future use in larger areas)

📦 Loot & Creature Expansion

More loot to collect, more animals to fight, more depth to your journey.
New Loot Items:

• Bones

• Wolf Pelt, Alpha Wolf Pelt

• Black Bear Pelt, Brown Bear Pelt

• Crab Carapace, Queen/King/Giant King Shells

• Dog Pelt

• Cracked Bottle

New Wildlife:

• Fawn

• Doe

• Buck

• Rabbit

• Boar

• Raven

• Evil Rabbit

🗺️ World Expansion

Note that these locations are unfinished, unpopulated, but can be reached to explore via completing the demo.
New Locations Created:

• 🏰 Carrowland Capital - Stormbarrow

• 🏛️ Empire Capital - Rythguard Citadel

• 🛡️ Ironhold Bastion

• 🏔️ Ironhold Mountain

• 🪦 The Ruined Barrows

• 🦅 Fort Ravenshade

Area Size Increased:

• Starting Zone Forest

• Hollowhaven Woods

🎮 Gameplay & UI Tweaks

• 🦶 Removed Dash

• 📱 Removed UI Touch Option

• 🚶‍♂️ Default Walking Speed slowed slightly to account for future mount system

• 💬 Fixed chests in Hollowhaven not showing "already looted"

• 🧑‍🎤 Fixed Captain Artha's profile image when speaking to Hollowhaven’s Mayor

• 🩸 Fixed enemy health bar visibility when large enemy groups would cover them

• 🍽️ Added Cooking System

• 🔥 Added Fireplaces

• 📚 Added new readable books

• 🖼️ Added world map + interactive images when examining certain objects like paintings or maps

• 🔊 New sound effects and music added to every map

🎨 Visual & Balance Updates

• 🧍‍♂️ Sprite updates for multiple characters

• 🧑‍🎨 Updated enemy image for Captain Zack Briar

• Brine the Hero - Yet again removed! 

• 🧠 Rebalanced XP gain in Act 2

• 📈 Increased interactivity on every map. Talk, explore, examine!

This is easily our biggest and most important update yet, and it was a blast streaming the majority of the progress. Your feedback continues to help me learn and grow as I shape the future of Guardian Realms RPG, so please keep sharing your thoughts, bug reports, and ideas!

Thanks for sticking with me on this journey. More magic, more secrets, and more mayhem await.

- DeeZie