- Final Release - 7 August 2024
Burning Branch is finally complete! It’s been a pretty fulfilling journey from start to finish, although it’s made clear I probably need a change in direction regarding my games. More on that after the patch notes. This update brings a completely reworked and completely, err. Complete Contract system. That is to say the post game difficulty system has been fully remade to create a challenging climb through 20 different levels with a pick your curse style customizability to how hard you’d like the game to be. The most exciting one of these is the remixed act bosses which provide a formidable challenge. And that’s it for Burning Branch! We’ve been in early access for a little over a year, and in development for almost 2 years. I’ll be honest, the reality of releasing a game as a solo indie dev was really rough. It really hurt my motivation and quality of life. I love making games, I’m goi…
- Demo and Development - 5 July 2024
Okay the Penultimate update for Burning branch. So the most exciting news is that a Demo should be available for Burning Branch so everyone can give it a try! Also I finished up a small story I meant to include in the last patch, mainly the unfinished story of the Lilies and Lupine. On top of that we have the final balance patch, I detail the changes below. The biggest thing I wanted to target was what I identified as “Build Accelerators” passives that take an input then give you more of the same input. The two being Consume and Engraving Hits (Through the Bell Engraving) Skin of the Glutton Old: Consume 3 of your health every time you heal, every 7 times you Consume heal 7 Health New: Consume 3 of your health every time you heal, at the end of combat heal equal to the consumes this combat Healing at the end of combat, on top of not making you consume after you consumed x times. Removes…
- Keepsake Complete - 18 June 2024
The keepsake system is now complete! Yay! What does that mean exactly, though? Well it means the addition of 19 unique keepsakes and variants to be able to mix and match to create your perfect build with. With the massively increased selection size (from 8 to 27) you can also choose three keepsakes to bring with you on your attempts. But keepsakes aren’t just items to give you new and interesting effects in combat. Keepsakes are tied to characters, so all characters with keepsakes have received a bit of story as well. That’s all for now, my hope for next time is to finish up some stray bits of story. Have a few balance tweaks and release the demo for the game. See you then!
- Final Boss Update - 20 May 2024
The final boss is now complete, as well as the entirety of the main story. You can now reach the top of the branch and confront Shade! On top of the final boss, the entirety of Burning Branch’s main story is now complete. So you’ll be able to play until you hit credits! Now obviously this is a huge milestone in Burning Branch’s development! I’m sure some of you might be wondering when Burning Branch will be coming out of Early Access. The answer is Soon. There are three more patches I’ll have to do before I consider this game complete. The first is a patch that completes both the keepsake system, and wraps up the side character stories that are wrapped up in those keepsakes. The second will be a Demo for the game, that will likely come with the final balance changes. The last is the completion of the Contract system, which will give some more endgame replayability to the game. This will…
- Keybinds And Achievements - 31 January 2024
A small patch that adds controller Keybinding and Steam Achievements. B button dodgers and achievement hunters rejoice!
- Act 3 Release - 16 January 2024
Act 3 is here! And will take you through the sea of grass as you encounter new bosses before arriving at the lone tower! With 7 more bosses, including the fiery bird secluded in their tower, Beacon! A person who’s sworn off love altogether. And many more interesting fights on the way. Runs now feel quite sizable with the addition of this act spanning 15-30 minutes each. Allowing for builds to progress to new satisfying heights! I’m happy with the length of runs now, which is good considering… Act 3 is going to be the last area in Burning Branch, all that’s left is the final confrontation. Which will be coming soon
- Passives Crush and bug fixes (0.3.1) - 27 October 2023
Overview: Damage passives have been reduced by around 20% across the board. With reduced enemy health scaling to compensate. This is to achieve two things. First it will bring down the difference in power between a good build and a bad one as the game draws on. Because of the difference in scaling, it was reaching the point where you could either one shot Hyacinth or struggle to whittle down her health over an eternity. And impossible balance point for combat, and one that will get worse as the game gets longer. Broken builds are part of the fun in a roguelike like this, however I want to retain some of the boss fighty skill based elements deeper into the game. Secondly I want to emphasize Weapon Upgrades and Engravings. Many passives were so good they outshined these much rarer upgrades, and a great deal of these weren’t the build-shifting hard to use passives with downsides, just raw…
- Act 2 Release - 24 October 2023
I’m excited to finally be releasing Act 2. A giant batch of content and an important milestone for the development of Burning Branch. But what is Act 2? Well the trip to the top of The Branch won’t be as easy the second time around, after reaching its base you’ll have to descend into the darkness beneath its roots. And see what lies beneath. 7 new bosses including the new Act 2 end boss Hyacinth, a vampiress in an estate deep underground with her own thoughts of what love looks like. A new shop system in between acts to help empower your runs. And a whole chunk of story. Runs will be longer and more deadly, now with 2 major bosses to test your skills. With more time, and opportunities to develop your build. It also means that Burning Branch is more than halfway to a complete combat loop! Yay! I hope you have fun with the new Act and look forward to another Act to come. As for what is di…
- August Devlog (For Version 0.3.0) - 11 August 2023
I hope you are having a good august. I’ve been hard at work at Burning Branches first major update. I’ve mentioned in the last update that 0.3 will be the update that adds the “Act 2” area, but alongside the new area and new bosses we’ll also see the Bottom of the Branch where Candle resides built out a little more. Some of you might have noticed that the first act boss Hemlock gives you a large amount of coins as a parting gift. While Hemlock is the current final boss. And will remain the final boss of chapter 1, your quest to reach the Burning Branch will take you to new places in subsequent chapters. But before we delve into the unknown, it’s best we prepare a little with our new friend Candle. The Bottom of the Branch will function as a rest stop between acts, complete with a full heal, and brand new shops. The Shop will give you a chance to pick from a random assortment of passives…
- Pushing Passives (build 0.2.2) - 10 July 2023
I got a sizable update for you with 33 new passives to explore. A brand new engraving, large reworks and changes to Oak, Glutton, and Crit as a whole. And a whole bunch of extra tweaks to make your build making experience as interesting as possible! BELL ENGRAVINGS Let’s start with a bang, or should I say a ring? Let me introduce to you the brand new Bell Engraving Moves engraved with The Bell will build a bell on top of the enemy, which rings every 3 times that enemy is hit, dealing its damage as an Engraving Hit. ENGRAVING HITS Now what is an Engraving Hit? Well, it refers to the yellow damage done by engravings like Royal, Oak, Tinkerer, Stone, and now Bell. Some of you might remember a few passives in the previous version of the game that did things off of “Non-Status Engraving Procs” This is the same thing. Renamed and expanded a lot. And by expanded I mean that in the old Burning…
- 0.2.1 Hotfix - 20 June 2023
Fixed a bug that allowed you to continue changing the contract after it was signed. Fixed controller being able to interact with the map so quickly it never comes on screen.
- Bosses and bug fixes (Build 0.2.1) - 19 June 2023
I want to start by thanking everyone for playing, reviewing, and spreading the word of this game. This has been an incredible opening week, and has filled me with lots of optimism. Thanks to everyone who’s told me about bugs they’ve encountered. I’ve been hard at work getting rid of them, as well as adding at least one (intentional) bug into the game. This sanguine styled fella; Joining the Mosquito will be two other bosses, a massive clumsy slime shark in the Slime Chasm, and the much anticipated mouse ghost in the cathedral. An early boss that can’t help but fall down. And a late boss that can only move by teleporting. Many have probably noticed, due to having seven boss fights in the game, and seven bosses. You might fight bosses in different orders, but you’d always fight the same bosses every run. Now you’ll start to see a little more run variation. Bug Fixes Fixed camera jittering…
