Heartstone Update 1.3: The Savior Update
Oct 31, 2025
Beta 1.3 "The Savior Update" is Live!
Hello, all! Happy Halloween!
I am very proud to announce that Beta 1.3, ‘The Savior Update’, is now live! This update introduces several major new features and locations, along with system overhauls. This is named 'The Savior Update' due to the inclusion of the improved save system and side quest content where you, quite literally, save people. There is a lot more to explore here and I hope you have fun in the world of Valeria!
New Content
Update 1.3 brings over 100+ new rooms and items to the game. New areas include a treetop village area, farmland expansion, a jungle-like terrain, and more to be discovered by you!
Items include readable books, unique armors and weapons, and more items to collect or sell. Inventory management may get a little hectic if you like picking up interesting things (like myself), so while I work on a better inventory screen, there are crates and chests around in areas for you to store items.
This comes along with several quests, character arcs, and secrets to uncover. Some characters have been renamed or moved around, and dialogue for some is still being edited. Characters to look out for who have quests are:
- Kaitlyn
- Takeshi
- Marla
- Chief Changdis Nane
- Elena/Yelena
Not sure how many unique quests there will end up being, but as you can see in some of the quest lines, there are hints towards more in the future.
Gameplay Features
On the engine/gameplay side, there are new interactive commands such as place and open, the addition of special attacks, a magic/spell overhaul, and many other various backend engine changes.
- Leveling & Classes: The leveling system now goes up to 12, and there are unique spells/special attacks that go with each class. It now feels like each class has its own difficulty and playstyle.
- Interaction: Some rooms will have intractable features within them (crates, tables, altars, or even dirt). If there is a logical place for something to be placed in a room, I’m going to try to make it so you can place something there.
- Aliases: Some items now have aliases, so you can refer to them by multiple titles. “Elven Dagger” can be “Elven Blade” or “Blade”, for instance. I am working on making every item have multiple different aliases.
Note: I am tracking one medium-sized bug right now. When presented with a choice during text cutscenes, the main game menu expands to shrink the tabs on the right. The fix right now is just to leave the room after the cutscene is done. I ran out of time to fix it for this update (I still have a paper I need to write for school today!).
Looking Ahead to Beta 1.3.5 and 1.4
I have started calling these current updates the 'beta' versions, as there is a lot planned for the future.
Update 1.3 is the addition of "side material" to make the overall game world feel substantial. In coming updates, the crystal cavern area will be overhauled to make way for the main quest. The main quest will consist of areas not yet added to the game, so expect even more to get lost in.
Eventually, I want to include a visual map system in the game. I am aiming for a total room count of ~500, and my map on Twine currently has 208 rooms. I am expecting the largest area in the game (the city of Gort) to be over 100 rooms, so a map feature would be very helpful.
I will be entering a very busy time of the year (holiday season, semester finals, etc.) so progress may slow down on my end. I am hoping update 1.3.5 will fix even more issues and weird occurrences that I spot during this time. 1.3.5 will likely release by the end of the year.
Peace and Love to all (except Big Orange and his golden ballroom),
Connor | YodaInTheAttic