- Effect Display Fix - 24 September 2026
Fixes an issue where the full list of beneficial effects on a character would only show up on the character sheet if the character had at least one negative effect active.
- Game Updated - 7 September 2026
Set a bunch of trees and large plants as non-walkable so you can't pass through them. Being able to walk where trees are seemed like a good idea at the time, but people mostly didn't like it. Most exits will now be shown on maps, with the exception of ones that should be "secret" or otherwise hard to find. Some fixed-position combat encounters will now be shown on maps. Translation improvements, especially with combat-related messages.
- Game Updated - 27 August 2026
Fixed an issue that could cause Steam achievements to be delayed or fail to trigger. Changed non-stackable buffs so that the duration will renew when re-cast on a character that already has that effect. Pure spellcasting classes now get a bigger bonus to natural mana regeneration when walking around. Pure spellcasting classes now have a higher base minimum amount of mana per level up. Resting will now continue after an encounter. More buffs will be shown in the full list of effects displayed on the character sheet, up to a limit of 6. If a character has more than that, only the most important will be shown. The resolution settings dropdown will now be populated with the full list of every screen resolution available on your system rather than a specific predefined set. Monster special abilities will be shown in the bestiary if they have any. You can no longer attack an already-dead grou…
- Game Update - 22 July 2026
Changes in this update: Fixed an issue that would cause identifying items to be far too difficult for very high-level thieves. Mana and hitpoint drain amounts from special attacks now depend on the level of the attacking monster. Added some basic animated open and close transitions to some UI windows. Monsters will visibly shake a little in combat when they're hit.
- Larger Inventory - 22 June 2026
Characters now have 12 inventory slots instead of 8. Resting is now faster. The chance for thieves, mercenaries, and skalds to detect and disarm traps on chests has has been increased. As a reminder, detecting traps is modified by intelligence and disarming is modified by dexterity. First-level thieves will still not be very competent, but by level 15 or so they will be pretty reliable. The level of the zone is also a factor, with traps in higher-level zones being more difficult.
- Game Update - 25 May 2026
Fixed an issue that would cause custom portraits not to save. Fixed an issue that would cause the game to get into a weird state when selecting "Leave" after selecting "Use Item" in combat. Fixes an issue where the game would get into a weird state where keyboard movement commands would function after browsing for a character portrait during character creation. Drastically reduced monster breath weapon damage. It now does 33.3% of a monster's remaining hitpoints as base damage, rather than 100%. Don't worry, it still hurts. Added the Quench spell for Paladins and Clerics that will remove a character's burning status. Running the "add map note" command on a square that already has a note will now edit the existing note. If the text is then set to empty, it will delete the note. Usable items will now show the number of uses they have remaining in parentheses in the item's tooltip. Transla…
- Achievements FIx + Frame Rate Setting - 17 April 2026
Fixes an issue that causes an incorrect achievement to be unlocked and adds a frame rate cap setting.
- Small Fix - 31 March 2026
Fixes an issue with treasure chests.
- Portrait Fix - 13 March 2026
Fixes an issue with saving and loading portrait changes made after character creation.
- Game Updated - 20 February 2026
Added a portrait browser for selecting character portraits. It is accessible on the character sheet as a portrait icon just to the right of the character image. To browse for a file on your local system, there is now a folder icon to click instead of clicking on the character's portrait. This is also available on the character creation screen. Changed the default key mapping for movement. Q and E are now strafe left and right. The quest log can now be opened with the TAB key. If you have already played the game before, you can reset your key mapping to the new one by clicking "Restore Defaults" on the controls screen accessible via the escape key menu. Depending on what you're used to, you may want to swap the A-D and Q-E mappings if those feel more normal to you. I didn't go with that because I didn't want to disrupt existing players by changing the A-D mapping they may already be used…
- Major Update - Many New Features - 5 January 2026
This update brings in a bunch of new features that were developed for Toward The Ice plus some additional game-specific changes. Here's what's new in this release: Added the ability to have a roster of "extra" characters. You can have up to 25 characters total with 6 in the party and up to 19 "extra". These extra characters will stay at an inn when not in the adventuring party, and new characters can be created at the inn. You can also delete a character. Deletion is not permanent until you save the game. I plan to add a confirmation prompt to the deletion process at some point, but there isn't one now, so be careful. The option of using a pregenerated adventuring party. If you don't feel like going through the process of character creation and just want to get into the game quickly, you can start with a pregenerated party. You can always create more customized characters at the inn lat…
- Minor Update - 25 June 2025
Fixes an issue with completing Omar The Sage's quest.
- A Small Update - 9 May 2025
This is a quick fix for a quest that I broke in the last update, and two recent changes from Navigating The Labyrinth are coming along for the ride. Warriors now gain an extra attack every five levels instead of six. Thanks to JCServant for this suggestion (and others) If a character has more than one status effect, hovering over their portrait on the character sheet will show all of them. The last update broke getting the Ratkin Letter of Passage from the Nomad Chieftain after finishing the plateau tunnels. This has been fixed.
- Crossing The Sands Updated - 29 April 2025
Added French, Italian, Japanese, Polish, and Turkish translations. These are machine-translated, so could probably be improved. Please share any observations in the discussions area. Added some new quests. There are a few in the Grand Oasis plus one in the Grand City and one in the City of Assassins. Some of them drop items that may be useful in the final battles. Fixed a problem with using items in combat. When using an item, the target select buttons will now show more info, just like when casting a spell. A sound effect will now play when a battle begins. Characters with the hide skill will now attempt to remain hidden after a backstab. This will make a skilled thief or assassin much harder to kill. An image will now be shown on characters or monster groups when a hit is scored to give a visual indication of who's taking damage. Healing a character who has taken enough damage to put…
- Crossing The Sands Updated - 3 January 2025
Fixed an issue where the Windrider quest could not be completed because his location could not be entered (because I overdid blocking locations off in the last update). The empty building in the Western Desert crossroads has been converted into a new inn. Undead and golems are no longer affected by the Sleep spell. In addition, some monsters with natural resistances will have a chance to save vs. sleep. Most monsters still fall asleep easily. Warriors now gain a permanent +1 to strength and slightly more hitpoints per level (+1 extra HP every 2 levels on average). Warriors will now have 15% faster natural base hitpoint regen (fewer steps per hitpoint healed) and monks will have a 7% faster base hitpoint regen. Wizards will now have 2.5% faster natural mana regen (fewer steps per point of mana regained). Fixed an issue where loading a game with the music turned off but sound effects on w…
- Crossing The Sands Updated - 13 November 2024
Adds combat sounds, more spell sounds, and directional building entry. Changed the towns (Grand City, City of Assassins, Arcane City, Ratkin Stronghold) so that buildings can only be entered from the street-facing or door side. Previously if a location could be entered, it could be entered from all directions. That was a limitation of the map design code that has been overcome. All spells now have sound effects, and the spell sound effects have more variety. Combat now has hit and miss sounds. Sound effects can be enabled or disabled via the settings menu (escape key -> settings). Fixed an issue that could cause the game to freeze in some cases.
- Crossing The Sands Update - 16 September 2024
Custom portraits have been implemented. You can change a character's portrait by clicking on their portrait on the character sheet. That will let you browse for a file to use. Note that these portraits are NOT saved in the cloud and won't transfer across PCs (though if you have images with the same exact file path for the same image on both machines, they will still load). If a character's image is not found, it will pick a random one from the available character images. Be sure to save your game after selecting character portraits so they're remembered. The amount of hitpoints and mana that a character has gained will now be shown in the level up notification message. Improved the Thief class's ability to identify and disarm chest traps. Saving the game (resting) at an inn will now cure sleep on any characters affected by it. Immobilized (sleeping, paralyzed, etc) characters can no lon…
- Crossing The Sands Updated - 17 July 2024
Changes in this Version of Crossing The Sands: Added tooltips to the spellcasting screen that give a quick summary of what a spell does so you don't have to refer to the manual as often. They'll appear when a spell button is hovered over with the mouse or has keyboard focus. Made an adjustment to the camera field of view and added a field of view slider to the escape key settings menu. It can be adjusted from 75 to 105 degrees, with 90 as the default, and is a computer-specific setting. Added more things to the City of Assassins (buildings, furniture, etc). Changed the ring of swiftness quest reward to be usable by all (was previously Monk-only). Updated the end-of-combat gold drop message to be accurate (it was still showing the amount of gold per character rather than for the full party). Improved the rendering code. Large zones with many buildings, like the Grand City, will perform b…
- Item Drop Fix - 30 June 2024
Fixes an issue that caused unique item loot drops to repeat.
- Cossing The Sands Patched - 24 June 2024
This patch solves a couple issues caused by the big update and adds rendering of shadows. Fixed a problem that could cause a new game not to start when selected from the main menu. Fixed textures for some mushroom models in the game. Fixed an issue that could prevent being able to sell items in a shop. Added shadows to the game. You'll see objects like trees, rocks, and buildings casting shadows now.
