HAPPY NEW YEAR, FALLERS! It’s time for PinesQuest 2D’s first update of 2017, starting with a new version of the demo, Version 0.3.0! Yes, we’ve gone from 0.2.2 to 0.3.0 because this is another MAJOR UPDATE with a ton of fixes, tweaks and new additions! Just take a look at them all!

Version 0.3.0 Changelog:

• Total rebalancing of character stat growth.

• The flashback scene with the “Weak Voice” and “Ethereal Voice” now only plays the first time the player enters the hub area after completing Dungeon 3.

• Fixed a bug where enemy encounters in Dungeon 3 from the second map onward were 30 steps on average. Dungeon 3 enemy encounters on all maps are now 50 steps on average.

• Fixed a bug where all the signs in the hub area after completing Dungeon 3 would say “^ ENCHANTED FOREST.” The signs no longer have this issue.

• Players must now interact with Waddles after leaving the Mystery Shack for the first time to initiate Mabel telling him to stay behind. Waddles can also now be interacted with before going into the Mystery Shack for the first time.

• More objects in the exterior and interior areas of the Mystery Shack can now be interacted with.

• Fixed a typo when the player’s party gets the advantage in battle. The text now says “[Leader Character]’s party got the upper hand!” instead of “[Leader Character]’s party got the uppder hand!”

• New items added to the merchant’s shop after completing Dungeon 3.

• Some item icons have been updated.

• The drop rate of special items that can only be obtained through enemy drops has been increased.

• If the player returns to the room where they fought the boss of Dungeon 2 after defeating it, there will now be an NPC that gives items if interaced with.

• [REDACTED] now says the correct (currently expected) release date for the full version of the game at the end of the demo.

As for progress on the full version, Dungeon 4 is currently around 60% complete. Now you may be thinking “Wait, only 60%? Haven’t you been working on Dungeon 4 for months now?” It’s true, I have, but there’s a very specific reason why this dungeon in particular has taken so long, and that’s because I’ve had to make all the new assets for it myself. I had someone else working on D4′s assets originally, unfortunately this person stopped contacting me entirely after just barely starting them. At the time I had no one else I could give the job to, meaning I had to pick up where they left off. It was doable for me, but because I’m such an inexperienced pixel artist it’s taken me quite a while.

I now have other wonderful contributing pixel artists who’ve consistently been in regular contact with me helping with creating assets for Dungeon 5 and onward (in fact, D5′s assets are nearly complete as I write this), so once D4 is finished, the following dungeons should only take a fraction of the time as this one did to complete. Thank you so very much for your patience and understanding!

Finally, I’m happy to say the game now has its very own TV Tropes page! In the past I’ve discovered a lot of really awesome TV shows, games, movies, etc by reading about them on TV Tropes, so here’s hoping this new page for the game helps to spread the word about it even further! Everyone is welcome to edit and contribute to it, especially since I’d really like to see what tropes you think the game includes! :D

That’s all for now! Don’t forget, we also have a Discord chat server that anyone is welcome to join and talk about the game, Gravity Falls in general or anything else in the off-topic channel! Thank you for following the development of PinesQuest 2D, I hope you all have a fantastic new year, and as always, stay weird, my fellow Fallers! <3