v0.5.3 Patch Notes: Stability & Polish

v0.5.3 Patch Notes: Stability & Polish

This is a pure bugfix and polish release. No new features, just making the existing ones actually work properly.

Events Fixed

The biggest fix in this patch: event encounters along the map now work correctly. Previously, choosing rewards from events (mysterious elders, cursed artifacts, spirit springs, etc.) would silently fail. Items wouldn't be granted, stat changes wouldn't apply. This affected every event in the game.

• All event item rewards now grant their items as intended
• Stat buffs and debuffs from event choices now apply correctly
• Event choices with requirements (items, cultivation progress) now unlock properly. Several were permanently locked due to a data mismatch
• Risk/reward penalties now trigger as intended

Progression Fixes

• Fixed an issue where certain late-game milestones were unreachable. The tracking behind them wasn't hooked up
• A rare artifact could never appear due to a mismatched reference. Now drops as intended
• The cultivation progress bar now shows accurate thresholds instead of stale hardcoded values
• Achievements and Codex buttons now appear on the main menu much earlier. Previously required winning a full run, now unlocks after your first achievement

Combat & Gameplay

• Enemies no longer briefly track your position after dying
• Fixed an edge case where dodge invincibility could cancel damage invincibility (or vice versa), leaving a gap in protection
• Fixed potential crashes during combat, encounters, and scene transitions
• The HUD health bar now updates correctly. It was previously stuck at zero in certain conditions

UI & Display

• Codex entries and achievement names now display properly instead of showing raw text keys
• Debug menu no longer permanently locks the main menu if opened and closed
• Consistent font sizes and colours across all screens, no more mismatched text
• Score, wave, and timer displays are now localization-ready

Stability

• Fixed multiple potential crashes: division-by-zero in encounter rewards, out-of-bounds access in loot and shrine encounters, and several timing-related crashes during scene transitions
• Save data is now written after all end-of-run processing completes, preventing rare cases of lost progress between runs
• Cleaned up deprecated code and removed dead references throughout

Dao Rush is in early development. Feedback, bug reports, and ideas are all welcome.