*SPOILERS* Rare Items & Minor Bits

[Shakura Jolithion]

First of all, thanks for updating and fixing the level I was stuck on earlier! I've now managed to get through the game 3 times (NG+ is amazingly easy/short in a good way if you've already gotten all golds and are just secret hunting).

Major spoilers for anyone who hasn't played from here on, so... don't read.
Right now I've taken both routes at the town, explored the area through the door in the arctic place (taking the sewer route out of town, I can't remember names off the top of my head and wiki isn't very helpful xD), and I'm having trouble filling out my encyclopedia and finding the last 3 code papers that I'm missing. I have the first, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th (Eye, missing, lightening, star, yellow star/sun, ahnk, missing, beaker, missing), and can't figure out where the other 3 are or what I'm missing since I've now taken both routes (NG+), and am on my 4th play through. I noticed I'm missing a few tools in my encyclopedia as well as a weapon mentioned on the wiki. Is the weapon to kill golden-grays actually in the normal game, or does it require cheats/dev mode/etc. to access?

I also have about $10,000 in-game and haven't filled out my health bar all the way (at least, it's not taking up all the space it has in the little box next to the character).

The encyclopedia also mentions protecting NPCs... but the only time you can is at Alden Ridge, and if you *do* somehow manage to save the ones at the start there, they'll be dead when you come back to the screen or die quickly. Are there any situations where you can, legitimately, save NPCs?

And I think this is answered somewhere else, but I can't remember where... but the lightening door to the north of Alden Ridge (where a cut scene can occur if you went through the sewer) leads to a large gap, and I think someone said the other side wasn't in the game yet. Any idea if/when it will be in? I definitely want a different ending and to deal with Shadow Man!

I also noticed through a few code-doors are notes clearly intended for new players and explaining basics of the game. There's one behind the Switch Maze door (eye-code) in the starting forest, and I think I saw a few in the area off of the winter zone (can't remember name, but you go through a door to get to the entire area to the east where it triggers a story moment and you can find the lightening code in the spring valley- that valley has a few both around and in the levels IIRC).

Lastly, I bought this in the Indie Bundle, and having played this and some AI wars, I have to ask if there's any way to donate money to support the development of these games? 'Cuz this is a lot of content for like $10, and very good service/patches

Edit: One other thing I noticed, *somewhere* there's a note or sign or tooltip mentioning having a # of lives and getting a new one every X dollars you get... Either I've *completely*  missed something despite dieing a ton, or this is a wee bit outdated and should be removed. My best guess is that it's in the area you get the lightening code, but I honestly can't remember where =/
And another thing I just noticed is if you take the cave path on NG+ and then go to the screen in Alden Ridge with the docks, you'll still see Zombie Mom.

[x4000]

First of all, thanks for updating and fixing the level I was stuck on earlier! I've now managed to get through the game 3 times (NG+ is amazingly easy/short in a good way if you've already gotten all golds and are just secret hunting).

My pleasure!  And glad you're enjoying it so well.

Major spoilers for anyone who hasn't played from here on, so... don't read.
Right now I've taken both routes at the town, explored the area through the door in the arctic place (taking the sewer route out of town, I can't remember names off the top of my head and wiki isn't very helpful xD), and I'm having trouble filling out my encyclopedia and finding the last 3 code papers that I'm missing. I have the first, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th (Eye, missing, lightening, star, yellow star/sun, ahnk, missing, beaker, missing), and can't figure out where the other 3 are or what I'm missing since I've now taken both routes (NG+), and am on my 4th play through. I noticed I'm missing a few tools in my encyclopedia as well as a weapon mentioned on the wiki. Is the weapon to kill golden-grays actually in the normal game, or does it require cheats/dev mode/etc. to access?

You actually have all of the papers that are currently used in the main adventure, apologies for the confusion.  Bear in mind that we created this with an eye toward having lots of player-created adventures as well, so I wanted to have enough combination papers for people to make proper adventures.  In our case we were also hoping to put some extra secrets in place with the remaining combination papers, but after the way the game sold right out of the gate, the post-release content plans pretty well got nuked. 

I also have about $10,000 in-game and haven't filled out my health bar all the way (at least, it's not taking up all the space it has in the little box next to the character).

This is again a case of us building both an "engine for adventures" as well as a specific adventure.  The current adventure was built around having lower amounts of max health, but I didn't want that to be a restriction for all adventures.

The encyclopedia also mentions protecting NPCs... but the only time you can is at Alden Ridge, and if you *do* somehow manage to save the ones at the start there, they'll be dead when you come back to the screen or die quickly. Are there any situations where you can, legitimately, save NPCs?

In the final implementation of the current adventure, pretty much all of the "NPC lives or dies" events are based on your overall path.  That said, via the extremely robust scripting language it's possible to set up all sorts of things in other adventures.  It's also possible to just place an NPC in peril in a level, and then have the player have to save them.  We didn't happen to actually make any levels that did that, but again when I was coding the whole "engine for adventures" thing and wrote the encyclopedia entries, that was something I had in mind.

And I think this is answered somewhere else, but I can't remember where... but the lightening door to the north of Alden Ridge (where a cut scene can occur if you went through the sewer) leads to a large gap, and I think someone said the other side wasn't in the game yet. Any idea if/when it will be in? I definitely want a different ending and to deal with Shadow Man!

Yeah, we had two other endings planned for shadow man, that we were going to put in as post-release content, with a couple of sub-variations on one of them.  At some point, this is something I would like to do simply because I really like the game and would like to do it.  It will have to be kind of a hobby thing for me, though, because it's not something that will make any money.  One of the big things holding me up on that is that I don't have any fully-fleshed-out ideas for making the shingen research facility suitably epic yet.  I have a lot of ideas, but I'm not sure they are going to fully do justice to what I had in my head.

I had planned for that to be something that I'd spend a week or two working on post-release of the game, but instead it financially bombed and we had to scramble fast to do something else or risk having to shed staff.  I'm not sure when I'll have time to revisit this, but there's a chance I might have some time later this year, possibly in either September or December.  It's hard to predict time that far out, but it is something that is hanging around in the back of my mind as a loose thread that I want to tie up.

I also noticed through a few code-doors are notes clearly intended for new players and explaining basics of the game. There's one behind the Switch Maze door (eye-code) in the starting forest, and I think I saw a few in the area off of the winter zone (can't remember name, but you go through a door to get to the entire area to the east where it triggers a story moment and you can find the lightening code in the spring valley- that valley has a few both around and in the levels IIRC).

Yeah, those first two in the Phoenix Forest were parts of the original progression, but then people were complaining and bashing it.  Rather than just cut those levels entirely, I gated them off.  The maze one in particular I think is fun in general.  There were a number of reviewers who panned the game without remotely getting past the Phoenix Forest, and those levels in particular were called out as being too slow by some players and the press.  So I moved those in hopes of getting people to get to Stantonsburg faster, and to have a more condensed-fun time on the Phoenix Forest.  Alas it seemed to have no effect, but I think it's a stronger start to the game anyhow.

Lastly, I bought this in the Indie Bundle, and having played this and some AI wars, I have to ask if there's any way to donate money to support the development of these games? 'Cuz this is a lot of content for like $10, and very good service/patches

You are too kind!  We definitely don't ask for donations, but we do have a page up for it: http://www.arcengames.com/w/index.php/company/donations

[Shakura Jolithion]

Thanks! Glad to know I've gotten everything there is for now, and hopefully you'll get a dedicated enough fanbase to make adventures or at least fill in gaps. And if not... well, at least you made some more money right now

[x4000]

Wow, that's extremely generous of you!  That is above and beyond, and we're very grateful.

Whether or not this finds a long-term fanbase, I am determined to get the other endings in there at some point.  We have the graphics and the voice acting files all ready to go!  Make sure and subscribe to this forum for new topics (or just remember to check back), since it will probably be a goodly while.  But I'll definitely post about it here when I do have a chance for it.

Thanks again. 

[Shakura Jolithion]

You're welcome! I figured the games probably cost about that much retail... and if it's less than that, well, I've *paid* more for less so I may as well put some money to places that actually deliver good games. And on a side note, playing through AI wars now... I am *so* glad to have a "strategy" game involving strategy, rather than twitchy fingers like an FPS. And I'm definitely looking forward to more Shattered Haven endings, it reminds me of things I loved from other horror franchises like Silent Hill & Resident Evil (can't remember if Parasite Eve did it or not) where you can get different endings depending on how you play through at major points. And I don't have to deal with the stress of scares/worrying about death to get there xD

[x4000]

Thanks again, and glad you are enjoying AI War also.   I'm a big fan of Silent Hill 2 in particular, by the way, but I've only managed to finish that one and SH1.  I played through some of SH3, but tend to give up either in the mall or subway, I can't remember which comes first.  Maybe I made it through the subway and back into a mall?  I can't recall.  Anyhow, that game really bothers me.