Heartstone Update 1.5: The Persistence Update

Jan 30, 2026

"Bring out the snakes!" - Family Guy: Season 15, Episode 1

Hello, everyone!

Beta 1.5 of The Heartstone Caverns, The Persistence Update, is now live! This update has been a huge undertaking and includes a new introduction to the game, a new region, changes to settings, character creation, menus, save/load game, combat/leveling, the command parser, along with more quests, a mobile overhual, and so much more! THERE'S A TON!!!

Let's get into what's all here! (It's a long one)

New Narrative Content

The next part of the main quest has been added, taking players southeast into a new region filled with flooded swampland. There you can meet tribes of Lizardfolk and Serpentmen, along with uncovering forgotten history!

This new region is currently under lockdown due to a dispute between the two tribes, and it is up to the player to settle this debate if they wish to make it through the mountain pass into the dwarven city of Gort.

The next part of Enchantress Kaitlyn's quest has also been added, taking players to the sunken town of Dragonsmarsh which is south of Turtle Lake.

This region is the most interactive area of the game yet, where the choices you make here will have direct consequences throughout the story.

Players who have initiative and seek to uncover the whole story may even find unique paths that only open under certain conditions. The world will change due to what the player believes and decides to act on, for better or worse.

It was my goal with this update to have the consequences and player influence be front and center; the player needs to feel like they are crafting their own story.

Narrative Continuity and Worldbuilding

Another major goal of this update is connecting and refining the continuity of what is present in the world.

There is now a new intro cutscene, which is a rewritten version of the Heartstone Crystal short story. I will leave that version up, but a few elements have been retconned or made clearer in the new update.

I've always approached worldbuilding as something that exists to serve character and action. Until there's a clear narrative reason to fully define something it's intentionally left open.

When I first wrote the Heartstone Crystal short story, I was not planning to explore the characters present as much as I am now. The ideas for the main quest came much later, and it was only after Beta 1.1 (and the Alpha of my 2D RPG that is in stasis) that I knew the groundwork of the story I wanted to tell.

It is my philosophy that worldbuilding should do more than add flavor, and overdefining details too early risks boxing the story into ideas that may later limit creativity.

For example, this is why much of the Kingdom of Elordia, including its leadership and deeper history, is only hinted at through small fragments across the game and stories.

What's present now is exactly what the narrative needs to function, so I have yet to officially pencil in the greater lore in my draft.

It's more just an idea in my head, and when the time comes to expand it, that expansion will be driven by specific story requirements and a clear understanding of scope.

But of course, there are certain story elements and scenes that have been drafted for months. Such as what will happen during the main quest in the city of Gort

I don't want to spoil too much here about the content itself, but this update is introducing a bunch of lore that will start to make the universe feel more lived in and consistent.

We are at the point in the story where we can begin to start defining large parts of character/regional history.

The main questline is focusing on high level, divine/magical ideas, while the side quests are zooming into the world and telling personal stories about characters.

There's a lot here and the story is just getting started!!!

Technical Stuff and Engine Changes

To accommodate telling this part of the story, I had to do new work on the choices and cutscene system. There are two types of cutscenes in this game now, one that is used for larger branching scenes and the other that is more linear and nested.

The first type is a node based, almost flowchart like design where the player can move more fluidly around the dialogue and can easily be presented with 4-5 different options at once. (This design was implemented specifically for this update to meet the needs of the main Lizardfolk quest and story I wanted to tell.)

The second type is nested and is what you see during the Kaitlyn quests, or when using the Arcane Detonator, where the player either makes 1-2 choices (or none at all) then special effects trigger.

This is the standard for how our text cutscenes are delivered, and is actually how all book items work– books are just reskinned detonators that don't set flags... Or do they sometimes? (HINT! Read books!)

Returning players will also notice leveling and combat has received yet another refinement. I have fixed some bugs that deal with stat allocation, spell costs, combat difficulty, and leveling. There is now more of a challenge in combat and you have to plan ahead, manage healing spells, and sell items to invest in better gear/consumables.

As always there needs to be more playtesting, but I hope the combat does not feel tedious and actually manages to be challenging.

The settings menu has changed, and the entire character creation has been overhauled to include more information, along with having a more cinematic style intro.

Items can now be containers (be on the lookout for a briefcase), the entire mobile experience has been overhauled once again, poison has been added to some weapons, the armor system has totally changed so now you can wear multiple garments at once, and the command parser has been worked to improve some phrasing.

I'm sure there are things I am missing, such as minor changes and bug fixes that aren't too important in the scheme of things.

I wanted to name this update the Persistence Update for two reasons. The first being the narrative content dealing with two tribes that once were massive groups, but now they are what is left of their culture. The second reason is for me personally, as despite some time spent in the mud managing this project and all it's threads, I continue to keep going and keep hitting the goals I have set out to accomplish. I have not scaled back scope from my original plans, and as you'll read, the pathway to the end of this project is well defined.

The theme of this update is: if you keep pushing forward and keep the belief, the future will shape itself.

Looking At The Whole Kit And Caboodle

Overall, I want to do a "re-branding" of sorts for the definition of this project. The Heartstone Caverns will always be a "Zork-like text based RPG" first and foremost, but a better descriptor now as it has evolved is "an interactive fantasy roleplaying novel."

The Heartstone Caverns does not have a linear plot, but it's not a classic choose your own adventure style story either.

Player agency and unguided exploration is a key piece of this experience. I'm not trying to railroad the player into a certain path of story, I am trying to make an experience that gives narrative within structured freedom.

The RPG systems are there to encourage player freedom while validating a preferred playstyle. It is my hope that this type of immersion, where the player feels a sense of connection to their "in-game avatar", can be made stronger by these systems. (I read a research paper on this alright, dat means eye smart)

And Finally, Next Time On...

This was a long update post, but as you'll see when you boot up update 1.5, a lot has been added! So, take that, huh! ;~)

I see a clear path to the finish of this project. I have scoped out the narrative additions for the next updates, but as always, there will be more bug fixes and engine work done between.

If all goes according to plan on my end, this will be by ~June of 2026. Which means this beta phase would have lasted a year, while the alpha phase lasted 6 months. A year and a half for a project with 100k+ words where I had to program all the systems from scratch ain't bad!

Update 1.6 will include the mountain pass region and the third part of the main quest. This will be taking players through a crumbling monastery that was used as a refuge for King Requinnic in his final living days. Important lore will be here so don't miss it!

Update 1.7 will be when the city of Gort is added, with a potential 1.7.5 if the content gets too massive. I am currently in the process of planning out the specific city layout. I am thinking there will be five 'regions' to the city, each with 4-5 main buildings. (And inside of those buildings it would have varying amounts of rooms. A bank will have more than a tavern, for instance.)

Updates 1.8-2.0 will be venturing back to the crystal caverns, finding the Heartstone, and then facing the consequences from that action. I am still writing out what exactly will happen at this part but it is 85% set in stone. And due to the nature of the story, update 2.0 may end up being the finale of the main quest and could then be one massive celebratory update.

I am then planning for Beta Update 2.0 to then also act as a "Release 1.0". Anything after that will probably be bug fixes and engine tinkering, as I am not planning more main narrative or side content beyond my current scope (there's gonna be at LEAST 5-6 full side quests in Gort).

Thank you to everyone who has supported me along this journey so far. I could not have created this update without the feedback from great people, and I want this project to be as much yours as it is mine!

Now, go have fun and talk to some Snakepeople!

Peace and Love to all, (except Big Orange and the redacted totally finally released 'we promise guys this is all there is' Epstein Files)
Connor | YodaInTheAttic

P.S: For my fellow U.S. Citizens, remember to write your local congressional representative and tell them you support the abolishment of the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Agency.

P.P.S: What is EFTA01660679 all about??? You should search it up!!!