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DARKWOOD REOCCURRING NIGHTMARE==============================Built upon Darkwood v1.4.2 (Latest version as of 21st of June 2024). Increases difficulty (not extreme, but unintelligent subpar play will be punished), improves balance such as nerfing ridiculously powerful bandages or consumption of odd meat, diversifies encounters and events, empowers the player with some core upgrades (hotbar, control), and rolls back some changes introduced in the latest official update such as neutered late game enemies, forcing controller users to use a bad control scheme, and introducing distasteful casual features to an otherwise prestigious, principled, intelligent masterpiece.Normal difficulty recommended first time around, same as the base game.FEATURE LIST:if an entry ends in *** then this feature is a v1.3 rollback or adjustment to bring it closer to the vision of 1.3.1. Trader rep gain for surviving a night is reduced slightly.2. More random spawn free-roaming enemies are encountered. ***3. You start the game with +1 hotbar slots to bolster equipment tactics.4. Late game EXP multiplier is reduced, making it take slightly longer to reach max level. 5. Some enemies you may encounter earlier, particularly in hideout night segments. The easier hideouts also get slightly harder than normal as the days go by, and in general nighttime is slightly harder.6. Most enemies have slighty reduced item drop rates.7. Daytime free-roam random spawn enemies can spawn closer to hideouts and buildings, as well as on trail paths.8. All attacks deal 20% less damage.9. Player location is not marked on the map when at landmarks (except for hideouts) - navigation is harder. Note this also adds value to the (not very good) Navigator perk. 10. Some wolves will immediately attack on sight rather than standing their ground barking.11. Eating Odd Meat now grants you 15% damage resistance (was 50%) for 3 minutes. Additionally, all stacking armor values cannot collectively exceed 50% damage reduction. ***12. All healing sources are nerfed, with emphasis on overpowered bandages. 13. The staff only has a 20% chance to appear in the trader's inventory for sale (was 100%). ***14. Some crafting requirements are increased slightly (e.g bandages, lockpick, chain trap, light armor, weapon repairs). Be prepared to lean on the trader a little more for common items.15. Shiny Stones have less sell value (130 -> 100).16. Very slight randomized reduction of resources found in containers. There's still more than neccessary as long as you're thorough.17. Enemies have a low chance to overrun player hideouts while you're away. The odds are dependent on how well barricaded the hideout is.18. Random 7% chance for any given wooden door to be locked. Use of lockpicks, breaking down the door or finding an alternate path is required.19. the sickle has 20% chance to interrupt an enemy attack, drains 10% less stamina per attack and has +15% durability.20. Trader inventory is randomized (not all his usual stock will spawn every day) slightly.21. Black chompers will be encountered in the swamp night hideout.22. Increased the trade value of all ammunition slightly.23. the indiegogo backer box in hideout 1 now has a random combination (removal of access to balance-nerfing DLC type crap!).24. Disarming bear traps only gives 1 scrap metal, not 2.25. Player health is not restored to full after a night anymore. Only up to 1 full bar, if you had less.26. Free-roam enemies have a 50% chance to respawn every 2 days. 27. Daytime is 5% shorter.28. Sharp melee kills aren't always guaranteed to split the enemy in half. 29. New night event variation: shadows has a 10% chance to turn off all the house lights. Head for the generator or toss a flare (flares protect you against shadows).Firearms Overhaul:Guns have a small damage reduction with the exception of overpowered shotguns which a well-placed shot would kill most things in one hit and so that is no longer the case, however to offset this they have been made a little less cumbersome to use, and other general balancing is present e.g double barrel may be preferred over the pump-action by some players for its handling.Homemade shotgun: +10% aim speedSingle-Shot Shotgun: +30% aim speed, +30% reload speed, +15% weapon swap speedDouble-Barrel: +25% aim speed, +25% reload speed, +15% weapon swap speedPump-action: +10% aim speed, -1 clip sizePistol: +25% aim speed, +15% weapon swap speedBolt-Action Rifle: +10% aim speedAssault Rifle: +10% aim speedSingle-Shot Pistol: +25% aim speed, +15% weapon swap speedAll shotguns now also have a low chance to dismember enemies at the waist.Ammo is a little rarer (barely) and slightly higher value for purchase, so be prepared to make use of these to the best of your ability.Note that aiming speed is not the accuracy cone being faster, but rather the animation speed. It is merely how fast you can open fire after pressing aim, as well as begin performing other actions after releasing aim.Hard Difficulty:Hard difficulty does more than just limit lives now. Provides a hardcore alternative to (ironman) nightmare. Includes all features of the mod plus: -The moth skill (best tier 1 ability) is unavailable on hard.-Odds of randomized reduction of resources found in containers are slightly more weighted against you.-Bonus +2% chance for wooden doors to be locked randomly.-Daytime is 10% shorter on hard difficulty.-Trader rep gain for surviving a night is reduced further still.-Random freeroam spawns are increased further still. -Trader inventory is randomized further still.-You receive an additional 20% damage from all enemies on hard. This extra damage is not factored into armor degradation rate (armor breaks at same rate as normal).-Higher workbench upgrade levels are required to unlock weapon upgrade slots.-Shiny stones have even less value.-Some new special nighttime spawns happen earlier, and potentially with greater odds.Late game enemy buffs: ***-Swampers have a bonus +15% health & stamina. -Human Spiders run 10% faster. -Centipedes run 20% faster. Controller Users: ***-Autorun is back: left stick gently to walk, or all the way to run. The new control scheme in the latest update not only removed the ability to rebind controls but also forced you to use an objectively (!) bad scheme. This brings the game back to superior twin stick control from prior versions.-Automated climbing/vaulting is removed, rolling back to previous versions.-While running, pressing aim will cancel running and begin aiming.-Input delay for scrolling menus wih the controller is halved. This allows you to scroll through menus faster and most notably the hotbar! Essentially, switching weapons' is now faster comparable to what it is with mouse & keyboard.-The new aim assist option introduced in the latest update is disabled.Controls still cannot be rebound. The only way to do that is switch to mouse & keyboard or roll back darkwood to the prior version. With these changes it shouldn't be necessary though.Mouse & keyboard functionality remains unchanged, as it wasn't touched in v1.4 and works fine.
It also stands out as having a flawless ending. Indies especially have a hard time with this, given that wrapping up so many choices and consequences in an inexpensive manner seems nearly impossible even for AAA games. But Darkwood delivered.
Too bad it drops the ball at the end gameplay-wise. So certainly not what I consider flawless. Pretty easy to forgive though. I cant say what it is for spoiler reasons ofc. And nor can I fix it.
SKILL SYSTEM EXPANSION:New Skills: each Tier of skill now offers a selection of four positive skills to choose from, just like the first Tier does. This means there are three entirely new skills, which are:-ELECTRICIAN (Tier 2) reduces the rate at which generators consume fuel by 33%. This allows you to focus fuel usage elsewhere, such as traps, molotovs, saws and light sources.-POTENT COOK (Tier 3) gives each active skill a 10% chance for two uses per day. If you chose plenty active skills this may be a powerful skill if used effectively.-STAMINA (Tier 4) gives you one extra pip of maximum stamina (+25%).Existing skills are also improved. There were some balancing issues present so the below focuses on that.Positive Skills: -MOTH heals you 35% less and may short-circuit nearby lamps, disabling them briefly. -ADRENALINE is now always active regardless of player health and grants +35% melee attack speed.-EAGLE EYE now in addition to letting you see further also lets you see better in shaded areas.-MUSHROOM HEALING and APPETITE, originally lacking in value, are indirectly boosted as healing is given more importance/better balance (see further down this list).-NAVIGATOR is redesigned entirely - Freezes the clock for a minute, allowing you time to navigate home or explore longer. Can also be used at night to get a breather between enemy spawns. Negative Skills: -WEAKNESS is in effect for less than 43% of the stamina bar, not 33%. This means Weakness is felt more harshly.-WEAK LUNGS makes you out of breath for 1 extra second when the stamina bar is completely drained, not 2. This means Weak Lungs is felt less harshly.-FEARFUL now reduces your FOV (Field Of View) 30% less and for 20% less duration. This means Fearful is felt less harshly.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE:-Some dogs will immediately attack on sight rather than standing their ground barking.-Stone-throwing Savages will sometimes throw stones twice in a row.-Banshee teleporting is extended to let them teleport over furniture barricades, through locked doors and more.-After losing sight of the player, sometimes enemies will start walking in the direction of your last known position for a moment before giving up.-Mushroom men's explosion sprays poison spores in a small radius. Keep some antidotes handy if exploring mushroom forests.-The swamper now does its jump attack on land, but like most of its land actions, is less effective than when used in water.-A banshee's screech will completely drain your stamina if you're very close.-Enemies that can open doors may sometimes open them aggressively with force.-Enemies are very slightly more persistent in chasing you. -Swampers can now jump through windows and attack barricades. Especially relevant for their new nighttime presence.-Slight extra diversity to enemy attack intervals.-If an enemy spots you but you back off before they become aggressive, they may come search in the area they spotted you.-1 in 5 savages will attack immediately on sight instead of punching the floor etc as a warning.-Enemies will give up attempting to break through barricades slightly less often, and will enter seeking your general location more often after having destroyed a barricade.-Dogs are a little more vicious in attack frequency (note: not Mutated Dogs).-Enemies will pause for reduced periods of time during their wandering and patrols, generally being a little more mobile.-More stone-throwing savages will engage in "hit & run" tactics, and this behaviour now has more diversity to it.-Pigs have slightly increased movement speed.-Once spawned, floor gore will not stop attacking the player until they are INSIDE the hideout. This is a compromise to the nerfed floor gore in the latest version of Darkwood. -Human spiders are overhauled in a number of ways, but most notably they are a lot more aggressive at range, throwing projectiles more frequently.-Horned savages (fist-fighters) have slightly increased dodge rate (40% -> 50%).-Deterred an AI-abusing glitch in hideout 2.-Dogs have slightly better vision range.-Stone-throwing Savages and Human Spiders throw their projectiles slightly further and faster.-Swampers have increased health & +50% melee attack damage (it was pitifully low). -After losing sight of the player, enemies will stand around waiting for a reduced and semi-random period of time.-Enemies now sometimes react to the death cries of other creatures nearby and come investigate.-Dogs have slightly increased sniff range.-Stick savage's overhead slam attack deals less damage, but he recovers from the attack a little faster leaving him less vulnerable to punishment.-Certain Centipede animations have been increased in speed to bring them closer to their threat level in prior versions of Darkwood.-Elk Rotate slightly faster to fix their broken AI.
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