Desktop Survivors 98 news & patch notes

Hey! So I decided to do a full revamp of the game's systems and prioritize optimization for this patch. The game should now have major FPS improvements across the board. If you run into any new issues or crashes let me know either in the forums or the Discord :) 🔧 Optimization Overhaul

• Collision systems have been completely overhauled for better efficiency.
• Major game systems now utilize multithreading to distribute workloads.
• Revisited all weapon projectiles to significantly improve performance and reduce overhead.
• Improved object pooling across systems for improved memory efficiency.
• Revamped some rendering behaviors that caused occasional stuttering, especially with cursor movement.
• Expect smoother gameplay, especially during chaotic moments with lots of projectiles.

🛠 Additional Fixes & Tweaks

• The game no longer intercepts keyboard input from other applications until an opaque game element is clicked.
• Fixed an issue that could caused system lock-ups on some machines.
• Patched a certain infinite money exploit involving Blackjack ;)

Hey everyone! This patch brings another big round of improvements as I continue refining things during launch week. It includes a bunch of important bug fixes, a brand-new overlay rendering system for (hopefully) better performance, and several quality-of-life upgrades based on your feedback. Thank you all so much for the incredible support during this launch. It seriously means the world to me. I'm going to keep rolling out updates to squash bugs, smooth things out, and make the overall experience better and better. Balancing and more QoL are up next so keep the suggestions coming! Also feel free to join the Discord community if you haven't already. :) Thanks again! - Brandon

🛠 Bug Fixes

• Fairy Crash Fixed: Resolved a crash caused by the Fairy enemy’s behavior.
• Hit Numbers Crash: Attempt at addressing a crash caused by floating hit numbers.
• Cursor Cost Rounding: Fixed rounding issue with purchasing cursors.
• Milo Picks in Endless: Milo’s mining picks can now appear in all endless modes and are received for each minute survived.
• Stray Pixel Pass: Cleaned up various stray pixels across multiple enemy sprites.
• Broken UI: Fixed a UI-related bug where UI elements would break after a certain boss fight.

💾 System & Optimization

• Overlay Rendering Framework: Built and implemented a new overlay rendering pipeline which should help with the game's performance. Along with some other general optimizations.
• Text Rendering: Text rendering has been revamped and should now be clear on all different scaling.
• Improved Save Backup: Safer and more reliable save backups in case of corruption.

🎮 Content Changes

• Remix Room Preview: You can now preview music tracks in the Remix room.
• Clicking Chance: Chance can now be clicked to REDACTED.
• Plant Pal Toggle: Max Level boosts from Plant Pal can now be disabled from the zone selection screen.
• Ignis Flame: Ignis flames are now blue.

🧭 UI & QoL

• Map Improvements: Added a stair icon to exit room and now shows room depth.
• Next Level Text: Clearer level-up text (e.g., “Level 1 → 2”).
• Sort Discoveries: Discoveries now sort alphabetically.
• Highlight Equipped Items: Equipped items are now highlighted in the Library.
• Dim Shop Items: Items you can’t afford are now dimmed in Piper's shop for clarity.
• Golden Cursor Indicators: Added clearer indicator for what stat golden cursors are affecting.

⚙️ New Settings

• Auto-Close Menus: Added a toggle to auto-close menus when a round begins.
• Glitch Effect Toggle: Screen glitch effect now also disables with flashing effect toggle for those sensitive to visuals.

Hey guys! So this patch addresses some of the common crashes and soft-locks that have been reported, among a few other things that were suggested. I'll still be continuing to bug fix, with the next focus being optimization and a new overlay rendering pipeline that will hopefully improve the game's performance. Then I'll be moving towards QoL and implementing some of the suggestions that have been mentioned. Thanks so much for all of the feedback from everyone. I'm so determined to get these bugs squashed <3 Also! If you haven't already, feel free to join the Discord. It makes it so much easier to bug-fix and address issues directly. Plus there's an awesome community there :) Thanks again! - Brandon

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Boss + Coroutine Crash Fixes: Fixed crashes when coroutine-based weapons killed enemies at the end of a room or during boss fights. Should also address mid-session crashes.
• Fixed Chest Bugs: Resolved various issues with chest behavior not closing after acquiring all gold.
• Scheduler Issue Fixed: Scheduler can can no longer bring clock speed to 0%. It has been dampened in the shop and no longer available in Plant Pal.

🎵 Audio

• Improved Music System: Now features smoother track transitions with a dual-track overlay and improved fading.
• Stability Fixes: Fixed music-related crashes, especially during track looping and transitions.

⚙️ New Settings

• Added VSync Toggle: Players can now enable or disable VSync from the settings menu.
• Added Frame Limit Option: New option to cap framerate for less usage.

Minor Changes

• Removed a stray pixel from the Tentacle enemy.
• Ace card is now treated as the highest card in Chance rooms.

Hey everyone! After a super exciting release day comes... lots of bug-fixing 😅 Huge thank you to all of you who’ve been playing, sharing kind words, and sending in bug reports - it means the world. I’ll be continuing to patch and improve the game as quickly as I can :) - Brandon Here’s the first official patch for Desktop Survivors 98!

🎮 Gameplay

• Gill Unlock Fixed: Gill’s achievement requirement "Survive 10 rooms in Dunes" no longer incorrectly requires 12 rooms to complete.
• Controller I-Frames: Increased invincibility frames when using a controller.
• Fire Trail Fix: Fire trails no longer deal damage while fully transparent.
• Level-Up Clarity: Added "Acquire" text to the level-up menu for items not yet in your inventory.

🛠️ Bug Fixes

• Boss Fight Crash Fixes: Boss encounters should no longer cause crashes. If you still experience any, please report it! (Wasn’t able to recreate it, so fingers crossed)
• Milo’s Mining Bug: Resolved an issue where Milo could break if you exited mid-level-up.
• Chest Soft-lock: Occasional soft-locks when opening chests should be resolved. Also added a "Take All" button as a fallback.
• Steam Achievements: Steam achievements should now be unlockable mid-run while in Desktop mode. If you missed any before, they should appear on the next launch.
• Cycler.dll Issue: Fixed a bug causing Cycler.dll to add weapons incorrectly.
• Desktop Scaling: Fixed a problem where desktop icons would shrink to original size after being re-enabled.

Minor Graphical Tweaks:

• Fixed a visual glitch with disabled dungeon borders.
• Removed weird gray line around in-game wallpaper edges

⚙️ New Settings

• Pass-Through Mode: New option allows you to click through the screen mid-run. The in-game cursor will hide unless hovering over game elements.
• Screen Shake Toggle: You can now disable screen shake effects in the settings.

🖥️ Overlay Performance

• Rendering Overhaul: Revamped the overlay rendering pipeline to help reduce frame stutters. If you're still experiencing major issues, please let me know so I can look into it further :)

✨ New Features

"3D" Environmental Art: New environmental assets have been added, inspired by 90s game art. This includes updated visuals for crates, barrels, doors, shop tables, and chests. Treasure Chest Mechanic: Treasure rooms and keys have been removed. Treasure chests are now occasional room rewards with a revamped opening mechanic to make them more fun. Dungeon Wallpaper: A brand new dungeon wallpaper has been created that better fits the new environment aesthetic. End Fight Button: An "End Fight" button now appears in the bottom-left corner after one minute in a room (excluding boss fight). Clicking it ends the fight but forfeits XP and Gold from remaining enemies.

🗡️ Weapon Rebalancing

All weapons have been revisited and rebalanced. Notable updates include: Firewall: Nerfed for balance. No longer applies knockback. Minesweeper: Mines now spawn near the center. Paint Brush: Visuals and behavior have been revamped, and now more optimized.

🔧 Gameplay Tweaks

Enemy Projectiles: All enemy projectiles are now red with a red line trail, making them easier to see amidst the chaos. Additionally, projectiles are now invincible and must be dodged to avoid damage. Grid-Aligned Room Furniture: Room furniture now spawns in a grid-like fashion with improved spawning rules, creating a cleaner room layout. Level-Up and Treasure Effects: New visual effects have been added to make treasure chest openings and leveling up feel more exciting. +XP and +GP Indicators: Moved to the Taskbar HUD for a less intrusive display. King Fight Updates:

• Defeating the King now rewards a generous treasure chest with gold and the Recycle bonus.
• The King cannot damage the player until he starts attacking.
• The King's health now scales based on your Recycle stat.

Shop Room Changes: Shop doors have been removed for a more RNG-driven experience. Shops are now discovered by chance. This may change in the future. In-Game Wallpaper Behavior: Using an in-game wallpaper now ensures the game will not render above everything else. This allows you to open and interact with other windows on top of the game.

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where Pointers wouldn't appear properly when using the Floppy Disk upgrade.
• Fixed bug where fights wouldn't end.
• Fixed the white text issue on the level-up menu.
• Fixed an issue where unlocking an item mid-run would add it to the level-up pool, causing the game to crash when acquired with a full inventory.
• Fixed an issue where enemies would sometimes shrink over time.

Hey! I'm very happy to announce that the demo now has controller support and steam deck compatibility! Along with many other tweaks. Thanks so much to everyone for all of the awesome support and feedback as I continue to work on the full game. <3 - Brandon

✨ New Features

Full Controller Support: Control the cursor with a controller, complete with a right-trigger speed boost. When using a controller, a fake cursor will be enabled. A Controller Sensitivity option has also been added to the settings menu. Console Mode (Steam Deck): The game now supports OpenGL, making it compatible with Steam Deck and full-screen play via Steam Big Picture mode. An option to launch in Console Mode is now available when you launch the game through Steam. Pause Menu: You can now press ESC to pause the game, opening a small pause menu at the cursor's location. The game can still be toggled by clicking on Swordy. Desktop Shortcuts: Desktop icons have been added as extra flair when using an in-game wallpaper. They behave similarly to the Begin menu buttons. Room Navigation: You can now navigate rooms using arrow keys, WASD, or D-Pad without needing to click on doors.

🔧 Gameplay Tweaks

HUD and GUI Overhaul: The HUD has been revamped with dynamic resizing based on inventory, repositioned taskbar elements, and added HP text. The achievement menu has also been resized to be less tall. Boss HP Bar: A boss HP bar now appears at the top of the screen during the King fight. Enemy Spawning Behavior: Enemies now spawn away from the side of the screen where the cursor is located, hopefully reducing spawn-related frustrations. Fractional Stat Chance Rolls: Integer-based stats with remainders now use chance rolls. For example, Amount of 1.4 gives a 40% chance to fire an additional projectile. Enemy Projectile HP: All enemy projectiles now have HP. On-Screen Enemy Projectile Limit: Limited the number of projectiles enemies can have on screen at a time for better performance and balance.

✨ Polish and Visual Updates

Pop-Up Text for XP and Gold: Added +XP and +G pop-ups for clear feedback when collecting resources. Start Room Campfire: A campfire has been added to the first room as a visual marker for the starting area. King's Intro Dialogue: Added dialogue for the King on your first visit to bring more personality to the encounter. Developer Message: A small developer message has been added to the start of the Calibration Wizard.

🗡️ Weapon Changes

• Fishing Pole: Revamped to grapple and fling enemies away. Upgrades allow grappling more enemies, and "Amount" now adds additional fishing lines.
• Minesweeper: Added a slight detonation delay, allowing more enemies to be caught in the blast.
• Pointers: Now always active during combat to make them more effective.
• Pinball: Now bounces endlessly off enemies without removing the projectile.
• Cookie Crumbler: Manual clicks now deal 25% of the weapon's base damage (minimum of 1).

🔧 Enemy Behavior Changes

• Fairy: Movement heavily nerfed; they now flutter toward the cursor instead of large circles.
• Purple Mage: Projectiles now move in small circles toward the cursor.
• Skeleton Mage: Bone circles have smaller radii.
• Fire Mage: Fireballs are larger, slower, and leave a small fire trail.

✨ New Features

Wallpaper Settings: A highly requested feature has been added—players can now set a wallpaper behind the game! Choose from pre-packaged wallpapers or add your own custom ones to personalize your experience. This can be found in the Settings menu. Item Recycling: A new "Recycle" stat has been introduced, allowing players to remove items during a run. Each dungeon completion grants a permanent +1 stat bonus to your cursor. Shield Stat and Failsafe Passive: The Dodge stat has been removed and replaced with a new Shield stat. Shields absorb damage, with one shield being removed per hit and resetting after each fight. A new passive item, Failsafe, has been added, granting +1 Shield per level-up.

🔧 Tweaks

Dropped Item Movement: Dropped items (XP, Gold, etc.) now move towards the cursor beyond the base pickup radius. Health Regeneration Display: Health regeneration numbers will no longer display if your health is already full. Fairy Movement Adjustment: Fairy enemies have had their movement speed reduced.

🐛 Bug Fixes

Enemy Transparency Fix: Revisited the enemy transparency bug that occurred during level-ups. This issue has been addressed and should now function correctly. Key Spawning Improvements: Key spawning has been improved once again to ensure proper functionality in treasure rooms. Cookie Pointer Bug: Fixed an issue where leveling up outside of a fight would spawn auto-clickers in the middle of the screen.

✨ New Features

First-Time Setup Wizard: A calibration wizard has been added to help you set up the game for the best experience! It appears on first-startup but is still accessible from the Settings menu. One of the important settings added to it is Transparency Threshold for systems which process black colors differently (e.g. black text is rendering transparent). Swordy Tutorial Sequence: Per request, after Swordy’s intro, players will now be guided through starting their first run, opening the map and stats menu, navigating rooms, and surviving their first 60-second wave. This tutorial makes it easier for new players to jump in.

🛠️ Optimization

Vertical Sync (VSync): VSync is now implemented, syncing the game’s frame rate to your monitor's refresh rate for reduced system usage. To keep gameplay responsive, VSync is disabled during combat to reduce input lag. Process Priority Optimization: The game now lowers its process priority when hidden, freeing up system resources.

🔧 Tweaks

Level-Up Enemy Opacity: Reduced the opacity of the enemies during level-up selection to improve readability. Word Art Behavior: Fixed an issue where Word Art wasn’t properly using the "Amount" stat. The functionality has been adjusted to fire off a new word in the opposite direction. To keep things balanced, the pierce for the Word Art projectiles has been reduced to 2 (might reduce more based on feedback) Level-Up HP Gain: HP restore from leveling up now provides 25% of max HP. (e.g. If you're max is 100, you can heal for 25) Room-Consistent Item Drops: Items will now stay in the room they were spawned in. For example, if you open a chest, but leave the room, the coins will be disabled until you re-enter.

🐛 Bug Fixes

Pointers Weapon issue: Fixed an issue where the Pointers weapon would persist after a game-over. I've also cleaned up its behavior upon leveling up. Time Stopwatch Fixes: Stopwatch freezes now correctly pause all enemy behaviors including projectile firing & enemies spawned from parents (e.g. frog->fly) Swordy Visibility: Investigated an issue where Swordy would sometimes hide unexpectedly. This was related to GUI scaling and has been fixed. Combat Softlock: Addressed an issue where combat would sometimes softlock at the end of a round. I've added a fix that will destroy off-screen or disabled enemies once wave spawning ends, which should hopefully fix the problem. (This is sort of a hot fix until I figure out what's actually causing it) Sixth Passive HUD adjustment: Fixed a slight HUD visual issue where the sixth passive power-up would overlap the XP/HP section. Pass-through issues: I've cleaned up some issues related to pass-through clicking disabling itself.

New Features

QoL Keyboard Controls Added: Per request, some keyboard controls have been added :)

• Press ESC to toggle the game.
• Use Tab to toggle stats.
• Press M to open the map.

Click-Through Toggle Button: A setting for toggling pass-through clicking has been added to the Settings menu! When enabled, it will prevent your cursor from interacting with your desktop.

Bug Fixes

5120x1440 Resolution Crash: Fixed an issue where launching the game at 5120x1440 caused it to crash. There still may be visual issues with ultra-wide monitors, but I'm still working to make the game accessible to all monitor sizes (I only have a 1920x1080 monitor so there's been a lot of trial and error haha) Upgrade Checkbox Mismatch: Fixed the issue where small upgrade level checkboxes in the stats menu didn’t align with the actual upgrade levels. Floating Point Error: Resolved the classic floating-point error that occurred when applying certain heals. The visual indicator is now properly rounded. Opaque Background Scaling Issue: Fixed the opaque background setting not covering the entire screen at certain resolutions (e.g., 1680x1050). There's also a better background fill as well. Cursor Size Reverts on Close: Fixed an issue where the cursor size would revert to Size 1 after closing the game, even when set to a custom size like Size 4. (That was a weird one)

Visual Improvements

White Outlines for Environment Props: Added white outlines to environment props to improve visibility and make objects stand out more per request. Shake on damage instead of Crit: A few people have mentioned the critical shake effect felt like taking damage, so I swapped it around! It should be a bit more clear now when you take damage. That's all for now! Thank you to everyone whose played the demo, wishlisted the game, given feedback, or even just watched the announcement trailer. The support is amazing and I'm very thankful <3 Now... time to make the full thing. - Brandon