No time no see. I had one of the busiest times of my life in the first half of 2022, meaning I couldn't keep my promise of regularly updating this game. And I also failed to realize that the game was in an unplayable state for the last 6 months because of decisions not working. Because of that, I released this update before finishing the variable AI difficulty I promised. Still, AI logic greatly improved. Listing all of the improvements would be difficult. It also would make playing around with the supposedly better AI easier, so I will be light on the details. But I still plan on writing a devlog on my AI's general design.

With me returning from my long slumber, the updated roadmap for Alpha 1 is like such: 

• Variable AI difficulty still has some work to do, so I plan on releasing Alpha 1.2.1 next week, which will include several minor improvements. I will also be continuing with the refactoring of the code. After that, I finally plan to release variable AI difficulty in Alpha 1.2.2. Without any big bug fixes that might prompt an Alpha 1.2.3, this will be the end of Alpha 1.2. 
• Alpha 1.3 will be an overhaul of the atrocious UI, especially the menus. I also plan the change how stages work and load to make them more modular. I plan to improve the tutorial and add drag and drop during the lifetime of Alpha 1.3.
• Alpha 1.4 will overhaul cards, making them both generated in the game. This will enable me to both change them easily and use dynamic effects on them, such as boldening the text related to their current effect. I also plan on separating zoomed card sprite and on field card sprite. Zoomed card sprite will be the updated version of the current sprite. On field card sprite will let go of the card effect text, instead giving you the name, faction, card type, and cost information more effectively.
• Alpha 1.5 will include several small things the more important features in the previous updates are done and polished. If I get any new ideas, they also will be in Alpha 1.5 most likely.

With all of this out of the way, here is the changelog for this update.

Alpha 1.2 (02/09/2022)

Major Changes

• Major refactoring of the code. If I did it correctly, you won't feel anything different but I assure you, it is in a better place.
• Major AI improvements.

Minor Changes

• Some performance improvements.
• Sound settings are now actually useful and not overly sensitive.

Balance Changes

• Removed second starting bonus selection. Now, a second-going player starts with the resources they would get from an empty field.
• Lowered resource requirement for a resource win.

Fixes

• The game was unplayable due to a bug related to decisions that I somehow didn't realize until recently. It is fixed now.
• The playable card highlighting was bugged, it was not updating properly.
• Fixed a UI bug in the settings page.
• The Recruiter was drawing spells, not people.
• Fixed typos in the changelog as well as improved several items in it.
• Resource wins other than the crystal win were not implemented correctly.
• Fixed Negotiator and Deal Maker permanently changing the trades for both players.