Mewgenics, the distinctive roguelike title, has consistently released post-launch updates since its debut last month. Given the game's intricate design and interconnected systems, it was anticipated that a public release would uncover various bugs and issues. Developers Edmund McMillen and Tyler Glaiel have been diligently working to address these.
The latest patch, version 1.0.20870, primarily delivers a series of bug resolutions and minor adjustments. However, it stands out for an exceptionally specific fix: "Resolved an instance where a non-binary cat afflicted with dwarfism would lead to a game crash when played in Brazilian Portuguese." This peculiar issue quickly garnered attention within the gaming community.
According to developer Tyler Glaiel's recent posts on social media platform X, the root of this crash lay in the game's naming conventions. Cats exhibiting dwarfism are assigned the modifier 'Little' in their names. In Portuguese, this term is gendered, necessitating distinct forms for male and female cats. The game lacked a linguistic variant for cats with an undefined gender, leading to a system malfunction when attempting to name them. While the term "non-binary" is used in the patch note, Glaiel suggests that given these cats can interbreed with both male and female counterparts, a more accurate scientific descriptor might be a "sci-fi intersex" condition, though he acknowledges the shorthand for clarity.
Another significant change introduced in the patch involves the miniboss Arthur and his 'Metronome' ability. Previously, an unfortunate combination of random number generation (RNG) could result in Arthur unleashing devastating spells such as 'Split the Atom,' which inflicted 50 instant damage to all player cats, or 'We Are One,' which soul-linked all combatants, making it nearly impossible to defeat him without also eliminating one's own team. The new update strategically restricts some of the most potent and disruptive spells, thereby making encounters with Arthur less arbitrarily punishing.
Furthermore, the patch ensures that certain abilities which cause self-inflicted damage to cats, including 'Itch' and 'Chonkwalk,' are now correctly recognized as damage-dealing actions. This is crucial because it allows these abilities to properly activate various passive skills that trigger upon taking damage, such as the Fighter passives 'Dumb Muscle' and 'Hulk Up.' This correction opens up numerous engaging strategic possibilities for players.
Beyond these notable adjustments, the update includes a comprehensive list of other bug fixes. Players who have experienced frustrating issues during their runs will likely find solutions to problems that have impacted their gameplay. The developers' ongoing commitment to refining Mewgenics is evident in the continuous stream of these detailed patches.
