Since the game came out, we have been following your feedback and comments, and identifying the points where we could improve our game. Patch 1.0.3 for The Stone of Madness includes a lot of those small changes, as well as updates to a few features added in our last patch, along with tons of fixes, polish,quality of life changes, and a full text review. We've also made some important changes to how the Sanity system works, as we felt difficulty was focused too much on the early stages of the campaign, and wanted to achieve a smoother balance during the whole playthrough.
Summary
- Addressed more than 200 issues.
- Added full Keybinding and Controller remapping
- Full text revision, with lots of typos and errors fixed in all supported languages.
- Sanity costs and loss per day has been revisited. Characters will now lose more Sanity as they progress through the campaign. Difficulty setting will affect this loss.
- Agnes spell selector now features an extra slot. With 4 spells available, our favorite witch is able to spread mayhem in more creative ways.
- Previously reserved keys that were not available for rebinding use are now free to use.
- Full AI balance review.
- Full routes and guards revision across all campaigns.
- Menu navigation with mouse has been revisited and updated.
Big changes
Keybinding and Control Remapping
We had to lock a few keyboard keys out of the input remapping options, in order to deploy the feature for patch 1.0.2. We are happy to announce the following keys are now available for remapping!
U - Character menu
I - Inventory menu
P - Codex menu
K - Revelations menu
J - Journal
R - Skill Selector
M - Monastery map
Direction Arrows - Vision cone selection
New spell slot for Agnes
We realized Agnes was too limited in her usage of magic, especially when trying to cast interesting spell combinations while possessing a Gargoyle. In order to address this, we decided to increase her spell limit to 4. The new slot will start empty, and can be customized after unlocking a fourth skill in her Revelations menu.
Sanity and Madness
The Night Actions available during Night Phase allow our players to keep the group sane even after through the obstacles they face during the day. We realized that Sanity made things a bit difficult at the beginning, but was easily contained once the party was completed, and players got the hang of how Night Actions work. In order to improve the difficulty curve, we have tweaked the sanity cost per day and the way it changes during the campaigns. In this way, the cost will not be as important at the beginning, but will increase as players progress through the story. The text shown at the end of each day will change accordingly to reflect this!
We have also increased the cost when playing in the Despair Mode difficulty setting. This mode now requires an expert managing of the team resources to keep the group sane, and is perfect for those that completed the game already and want to tackle the Madness lurking in the monastery head on.
New stuff!
- New tooltip added: 'How Agnes can defeat the Soldiers'.
- We've added a new setting in the graphics options menu that allows player to cap their max FPS. The available options are: " None, 30, 60, 120, 144
- Nine (9) new tracks for cutscenes introducing special characters and story moments in the game.
- New VFX added for corpse disappearance effects.
- New VFX added on top of the gargoyles when they are being sanctified by Alfredo.
- New VFX added for the 'Deploy ropes' Skill.
- Amelia now enters in the "Out of view" for chasing NPCs while she's using tunnels during a chase.
- Active effects from Planning Actions are now reflected in the Monastery menu tab.
- New VFX added to sleeping NPCs
- Highlight unoccupied hiding places when carrying a body
Polishing & balance
NPC and objects
- NPC search max distance has been reduced. This makes it easier for the player to keep them away from a particular area.
- All enemies now take two seconds to start chasing the player upon detection. This greatly improves the window of opportunity and the player's ability to improvise, and feels more consistent.
- Guard detection time has been increased 0.2 seconds.
- Anima sanity attack now does +5 damage to the sanity (for a total of 3).
- Foot traps now take 10 days to regenerate (instead of 3).
- Tweaked Guards/Soldiers attending 'Help' calls by friars and nun, so they behave more naturally.
- Noise distraction duration has been increased.
Other
- Wall reveal groups have been reviewed to avoid blind spots and uncomfortable visibility.
- Object occlusion has been reviewed to improve mouse click interaction.
- Picking up a dead/unconscious chicken now is an immediate action.
Character Skills' changes
- Agnes' spell selector slots have been increased to 4 slots (from 3).
- Agnes's "Sleep Spell" has been tweaked.
- Added a new Agnes reading animation that she now uses when crouched (once she has her glasses!).
- A yellow outline is displayed around the NPC or objects currently selected by an interaction, when several interactions are available.
- Hidden characters now can change the selected skill while staying hidden.
- Added a log message to show Knowledge used on unlocks after closing the Revelations tab.
- Alfredo
- Modified Alfredo's Headache animation. Alfredo no longer stops as he loses his sanity due to headaches.
- "Sermon"
- Duration of its effect has been slightly increased against all npcs.
- Duration of its effect has been slightly increased against all npcs.
- Modified Alfredo's Headache animation. Alfredo no longer stops as he loses his sanity due to headaches.
- Eduardo
- "Throw Rubble"
- Noise area adjusted.
- Can now be used in the dark.
- Noise area adjusted.
- "Block Door"
- NPCs remain trapped much longer.
- NPCs remain trapped much longer.
- "Throw Rubble"
- Amelia
- "Mouse Trap"
- Stun and limping duration has been increased.
- Stun and limping duration has been increased.
- "Chocolate Trap"
- Enemies spend more time drinking.
- Enemies spend more time drinking.
- Added a bottle of "Sleeping Chocolate" to Amelia's initial inventory.
- "Mockery"
- Cooldown has been removed. This allows the player to perform multiple taunts at once and trigger multiple chases.
- Range has been increased.
- Cooldown has been removed. This allows the player to perform multiple taunts at once and trigger multiple chases.
- Walking and running speed has been slightly increased.
- Stealth move speed has been significantly increased.
- "Mouse Trap"
- Agnes
- "Evil Eye"
- Stun duration has been increased to 100 seconds (+20 seconds).
- Stun duration has been increased to 100 seconds (+20 seconds).
- "Light and Darkness"
- Sanity cost now depends on the object she is targeting. Candles are way easier to light on/off than pyres.
- Sanity cost now depends on the object she is targeting. Candles are way easier to light on/off than pyres.
- "Possession"
- Cooldown has been reduced, and is now 2 seconds shorter.
- Agnes messages now show up on top of the possessed gargoyles when she can't execute some actions, instead of above her.
- Cooldown has been reduced, and is now 2 seconds shorter.
- "Evil Eye"
- Skill unlock costs have been reviewed
- Sleep people skill (Agnes) raises its unlocking cost to 500.
- Night robbery skill (Amelia) raises its unlocking cost to 400.
- Mischief skill (Amelia) lowers its unlocking cost to 450.
- Holy Light skill (Alfredo) lowers its unlocking cost to 100.
- Gunshot skill (Leonora) raises its unlocking cost to 650.
- Planning skill (Alfredo) raises its unlocking cost to 550.
- Pray for the Souls skill (Alfredo) lowers its unlocking cost to 450.
- Sleep people skill (Agnes) raises its unlocking cost to 500.
Items
- Increased the stack size of some items. (white chickens, plants, rubble, moonshine barrels, cocoa).
- Panecillo shop update
- Cocoa price drops to 4.
- Chocolate price drops to 8
- Bandage raises its price to 10.
- Parts raise its price to 10.
- Lockpick raises its price to 18.
- Ragged raises its price to 25.
- Pistol raises its price to 35.
- Crucifix raises its price to 25.
- Dead man finger price drops to 20.
- Cocoa price drops to 4.
UI and dialog changes
- Right click now acts as Back when navigating on menus.
- Added message to some doors that can only be opened through a switch or mechanism.
- Back UI Option improvement using middle click or left click outside of many menus: Inventories, management actions, tactic pause, rebinding menu and with the pop-ups.
- The alert shown when a non-controlled character is close to an appearing Anima has been changed to improve noticeability. It now specifies that there are Animas close.
- The Wishes available on dialogs with the Man in the Hat now show the sanity cost.
- Special dialogs with the Inquisitor no longer cause automatic shock. Instead, they remove some Sanity (shown beforehand) and grant better rewards to the player.
- Several Icons have been added to dialog to showcase item costs.
- All texts have been reviewed in all languages and updated where applicable
- Adjusted Aunt of Nest active gossips during campaign objectives, so players can unlock secret paths that have been left behind.
General
- Adjusted sanity drain and ability costs, including buffs and nerfs to characters, anima effects, and action costs.
- Balanced gameplay elements, such as regeneration times for traps, crafting requirements, and guard search coverage.
- Added new Anima appearances across various locations (dining hall, wine cellar, riverside, cloister). These new animas appear gradually as the campaigns progress.
- Reviewed and fixed NPC routes and overrides to avoid overlaps, improve patrol logic, and enhance gameplay flow.
- Improved stealth and interaction mechanics, visibility fixes, and updated vision blockers.
- Reviewed scripting corner cases during key objectives (i.e., Grimoso's dialogue, secret door).
- Polished late-game scenes, with refined balance, object placement, and challenge tuning for better pacing and strategy.
Cloister
- Adjusted NPC routes to prevent overlaps, reduce complexity, and enhance visibility.
- Updated guard placements and schedules to balance difficulty and clarity.
- Improved environmental visibility through camera adjustments and level design tweaks.
- Modified anima appearances to optimize pacing and difficulty across chapters.
- Simplified NPC behaviors to streamline interactions and reduce unnecessary obstacles.
- The difficulty of routes and enemies during the last objective of the campaign "Corrupt hand of the church".
- 2 yellow security guards have been removed.
- A soldier has been added for security level 2.
- Added a window in the Abbot's room.
The Cells
- Fixed fear aura issue near the heater affecting Leonora due to an unintended vision blocker.
- Reviewed and simplified guard and friar routes, reducing overlaps and improving patrol logic both day and night.
- Added new Anima appearances, including near the central heater and in the pharmacy, throughout the campaign.
- Corrected navigation issues, such as the Doctor's unreachable path during specific objectives.
- Implemented route overrides during key objectives to reflect increased surveillance and context.
- Improved visual coverage and occlusion with invisible walls, semi-transparent objects, and hidden doors to enhance stealth and mouse usability.
- Enhanced visibility in specific areas like the giant painting corner and pianist room.
- Added new hiding spots, such as latrines and barrels near central pathways.
- Fixed object interactions, including mechanical doors and controller compatibility.
- Placed new vision blockers and made several fences, sheets, and wooden blocks semi-transparent when the player passes behind them.
- Some guards are replaced by soldiers over the course of the campaign.
- Added a new level 2 security soldier on the outer south side.
- Some of the doctor's routes have been updated to make them more usable for the player.
- The difficulty of the first floor routes has been reduced. The soldier now sits down from time to time and there is a new piece of furniture blocking the view near the crawlable block.
Laundry
- Adjusted guard and NPC routes to reduce overlaps, blind spots, and overall difficulty.
- Improved visibility and cover, including semi-transparent elements and new hiding spots.
- Optimized garden and nun building layouts, with revised paths and more natural behaviors.
- Fixed spawn conditions and overrides to better align with specific objectives and game events. New specific routes have been introduced for special targets that occur in this scenario.
- Added a new level 2 security soldier, who guards the garden gate and occasionally enters the garden.
- Added new hiding places in the pillared hall and in the central courtyard.
- A standard guard has been removed to lower the difficulty in the pillar room.
Gate of St. Jerome
- Including a new anima and fixable interactive elements.
- Resolved object interaction and layering issues, especially with the apple tree and related triggers.
- Reviewed and fixed trigger-based interactions to ensure proper functionality across the scene.
- Adjusting routes of specific guards and Mother Superior's to fit narrative and gameplay needs.
- Added new routes during the special objectives that take place in this scenario.
- Ensured guard presence and positioning, including replacing a level 2 guard with a soldier and preventing NPCs from leaving the scene.
- Adjusted behaviors like friars consistently throwing water and deactivating specific NPCs when needed.
- Added cover elements (e.g., barrels) to block unwanted sightlines during key moments.
- Updated object interactions, such as disabling the tree hole searchable after a certain objective.
- QA-tested puzzle flow to ensure stability during natural progression and saved game reloads.
- Added two new animas, which appear as the campaign unfolds.
- Added an extra hideout by the river.
- Fixed a bug that prevented the burning apple tree from scaring Leonora.
Wine Cellar
- One new anima in the morgue from the beginning.
- Add an anima in a specific objective at the entrance where the friar is (when he leaves the scene).
- The lab guard has been replaced by a soldier.
- Added new hiding places and parapets to the lower part of the cellar.
- The button on the wine cellar oven can only be used once, to prevent a character from getting stuck behind the fire.
Refectorium
- Adjusted table props to prevent visual issues with the soup-serving friar.
- Reviewed visibility through kitchen door slits, but no blockers were added due to lack of sightlines during testing.
- Configured object occlusion groups for improved mouse interaction visibility.
- Added new anima appearances.
- Reduced difficulty of NPC routes, including Mother Superior, lavatorium, balcony guards, and the kitchen.
- Updated kitchen and Doctor routes to improve pacing and player opportunities during key moments.
- Adjusted NPC behaviors, such as the nun and friar leaving the scene during specific bells to accommodate gameplay changes.
- Improved reveal group configuration, including new carpets and corrected groups for better object visibility.
- Applied capsule highlighting to relevant interactive elements for clearer player feedback.
- Added new guard behaviors to create better stealth windows for Amelia.
- Revised the doctor's routes to make them more usable by the player.
- Revised Mother Superior routes for less difficulty and more opportunities for the player.
- Reduced difficulty of entering the interior of the building through the lavatorium.
Inquisitor's office
- Implemented blockers for Jeremias corpse so PC are not able to wall and overlap the corpse asset
Inmate Courtyards
- Relocated security yellow guards. They never leave the scene.
- A security yellow guard has been eliminated.
- A level 2 security soldier has been added to the west courtyard.
- Vision blockers were added inside the nuns' building to reduce the difficulty.
- Added an alternative way to enter the east courtyard during the objective "Rescue Alfredo".
Hall of Paintings
- Fixed a shadow glitch close to the climbable wall.
- Fixed a bug related to Eduardo's cell tutorial.
Library
- Corrected the routes of the nuns, who were appearing one objective earlier in the scene than they should have.
- Some hens stay on the stage after a certain objective, so that the player can complete an optional objective later in the campaign.
- Revised security yellow guards routes to make them simpler and never leave the scene.
- Added a new security yellow guard on the balcony.
- Corrected several drawing errors in the room of the volume guarded by the soldier.
- Added a new anima to the scenario.
- Improved cover for all tables, making it easier to hide behind them.
- Added new specific routes during the special objectives that take place in this scenario
- Some high shelves and curtains become transparent when you walk behind them.
Bug Fixes
Crashes & Freezes
- Fixed a crash when returning to the main menu after completing the Gate of Saint Jerome campaign.
- Fixed a bug that caused the game to freeze when rescuing Leonora in Refectorium.
- Fixed a crash when exiting after navigating from the tab menu.
- Fixed a crash when loading a save file and selecting a trapdoor in the management menu.
- Fixed Windows 'Not Responding' error and misaligned assets after clicking during a loading screen.
- Fixed an error that launched an exception when getting detected while carrying a body.
Gameplay Logic & Progression
- Fixed the tooltip about the engravement hidden below the carpet appearing before it was interactable.
- Fixed a bug that caused guards to revive if they were killed while waking up their colleagues.
- Fixed friars always throwing water during certain objectives.
- Fixed patrol paths so guards no longer leave scenes unintentionally.
- Fixed animas respawning after completing objectives and returning to management phase.
- Fixed NPCs not brought to Saint Dymphna's statue when in hiding during time progression.
- Fixed PC not reacting as crouching when dragging corpses.
- Fixed traps appearing under stairs or having wrong Z-index on slopes.
- Fixed wrong skill costs and missing requirements in the skill tree menu.
- Fixed passive abilities triggering in incorrect situations (e.g., Eduardo's Desperate Defense at 0 HP).
- Fixed unintended behavior when using abilities like "Flies," "Desperate Defense," or "Steal Supplies" twice.
- Fixed Grimoso ignoring collision during "Memories."
- Fixed pursuit logic remaining active inappropriately (e.g., "Pursuit_Playback" not turning off).
- Daily sanity loss evolution now properly updates per objective in both campaigns.
- Fixed same sanity loss being applied after using "Light and Darkness" with Agnes.
- Fixed Mother Superior not spawning in "Rest in Peace."
- Fixed Doctor's routes and presence across objectives.
- Fixed Agnes's cure disorder interfering with Alfredo's study.
- Fixed guards and friars overlapping or freezing due to incorrect routing.
- Fixed overlapping NPCs in Cloister during Corrupt Hand's final objective.
- Fixed invisible NPCs being selectable during possession.
- Fixed guards moonwalking or getting stuck when paths are blocked.
- Fixed incorrect climbing and navigation logic with objects and levels.
- Fixed apple tree blocking interactions with NPCs behind it.
- Fixed chains and other items not properly moving to inventory.
- Fixed player being expelled from tunnels during cutscenes.
- Fixed trap behavior inconsistencies and misaligned detection.
- Fixed chocolate not being detected by guards or triggering correct behavior.
- Fixed interactable furniture and objects not behaving correctly.
- Fixed an issue that could cause some in-game cutscenes to freeze characters.
Visual & Camera Issues
- Fixed camera not centering on selected character during tactical pause.
- Fixed clipping and visual artifacts in cutscenes and character selectors.
- Fixed missing lighting/shadows in areas like The Cells 2F or Hall of Paintings.
- Fixed improperly aligned NPCs like Amelia with tunnels, or guards in cutscenes.
- Fixed VFX issues like floating skeleton remains, misplaced fire, or invisible gates after cutscenes.
- Fixed spell VFX like "Evil Eye" or "Flies" persisting or behaving incorrectly.
- Fixed sprites (chains, traps) remaining after day phase or wrongly changing state.
- Fixed characters clipping stairs, floating, or walking incorrectly on various surfaces.
- Fixed crates being climbed from too far or when not intended.
- Fixed invisible walls, bad seams, and occlusion issues in places like Laundry and Wine Cellar.
- Fixed monastery pieces, objects, or decorations being improperly cut or displayed.
- Fixed missing borders or environmental collisions in specific locations.
- Fixed objects that did not become invisible from lower floors or behind walls and could disturb mouse navigation.
UI & HUD
- Fixed UI tunnel lines not displaying correctly in Cloister and Laundry.
- Fixed UI showing duplicate or incorrect options.
- Fixed counter staying on-screen during possession.
- Fixed visual overlap issues like book blocking vision in Refectorium.
- Fixed visibility triggers and highlight issues across scenes.
- Fixed management menu inputs and escape behavior in skill trees.
- Fixed Escape Plan checkbox not updating correctly.
- Fixed colored circle indicators disappearing during cutscenes.
Controls & Input
- Fixed inability to bind controls to the 4 back buttons on Steam Deck.
- Fixed remap option not selectable when using left-click.
- Fixed command showing as "Left Command" when binding to the Windows key.
- Fixed controller-specific errors when launching the game via Steam.
- Fixed keyboard prompts running off-screen in the skill UI.
- Fixed incorrect behavior when aiming under a roof.
- Fixed inability to change PCs during tactical pause using keyboard.
- Fixed skill aiming staying active after resuming from pause.
- Fixed skill selection resetting after a cutscene.
- Fixed 'Cone Selection Mode' label remaining after canceling a cone with a controller.
- Fixed an issue that made non-interactive items to seem interactive when clicked from a distance.
Sound & Feedback
- Fixed NPCs not detecting sound or reacting to player actions.
- Fixed Persecution music not ending correctly after certain triggers.
- Fixed idle SFX playing for missing PCs during management.
- Fixed sound effects triggering from wrong sources (e.g., missing PCs, windows).
- Fixed unreachable sound-emitting windows.
- Fixed bell continuing to move after shock events.
- Fixed audio logic after interactions with stunned or waking NPCs.
Phew! That was quite a lot of madness to ford through, but we somehow managed! Some of our team members might or might not be wearing bread buns as hats after this many words, but we love them anyway. As always, we're immensely grateful for your constant support and your valuable feedback. Join the community on Discord if you want to reach us!
