Release Notes for Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate

1.515i (2025-11-05)

Fixed a crash when picking up the shotgun in the tutorial.

Thanks for your support!

1.515h (2025-10-14)

• Fixed a language-related crash on MacOS and Linux. • Fixed language selection on MacOS and Linux

1.515g (2025-01-17)

Updated German translation

1.515f (2025-01-06)

v1.515f:

[SAVE] Now using a new save system which should be more stable!
[BUGFIX] Fixed a crash when Lady in the Tower should have saved you from other pieces after landing in their way
[BUGFIX] Fixed phrases with no space characters in story screens and in tutorial not showing correctly
[BUGFIX] Fixed CRT shader for MacOS
[MODDING] Fixed 'require' only returning the first result of the required file

1.515e fixed (2024-12-26)

v1.515e

[BUGFIX] Phrases with no space characters (notably in Chinese, Korean and Japanese) are now properly broken down into multiple lines again
[BUGFIX] Pieces will no longer randomly stop acting at all
[BUGFIX] Folly shields no longer warn you against safe Sokoban Rooks
[BUGFIX] Knockback angle now calculated before strafe movement with Royal Loafers
[BUGFIX] Sabotaging the Mangonel card will now cancel prepared mangonel shots

v1.515d

[BALANCE] Inquisition bishops are less likely to target Moles and Undercover Mission tiles if other moves are available
[BALANCE] Black Mist now teleports you to an actually safe tile even if you are in stealth
[BUGFIX] Bishops and rooks will no longer use Tag Team for no reason
[BUGFIX] Rooks will no longer use Sokoban for no reason, and are less likely to sacrifice other pieces
[BUGFIX] Rooks will no longer use Sokoban on you when you are in stealth
[BUGFIX] Sokoban rooks will now actually try to kill you if they have the chance
[BUGFIX] Fixed a bug where pieces could stack on top of each other because of simultaneous Sokoban pushes and Tag Team swaps
[BUGFIX] Fixed a rare crash on aiming with a game controller
[BUGFIX] On a gamepad, pressing B no longer triggers special abilities
[BUGFIX] Fixed the Discord link on the title screen
[BUGFIX] Seer's Orb now positions itself correctly above the boss white king
[BUGFIX] Horsemen no longer get buckler and bow when you step on the third Unholy Call pentacle
[BUGFIX] Stepping up to the mole as you kill it with Royal Loafers will no longer crash the game
[BUGFIX] Folly shields now properly warn you against shooting at a pawn when you have Low-Cost Disguise but a Mangonel rook is about to fire at you
[BUGFIX] Mangonel shot line and circle now properly disappear if canceled with Castling
[BUGFIX] Sabotaging Vampirism now properly removes blood sucking abilities from queens and leaders
[BUGFIX] More precise knockback
[BUGFIX] Fixed rendering of kite shields on knightmares
[BUGFIX] You can no longer shoot before reloading ends
[BUGFIX] King's Shoulders now explicitely excludes blade cards using codex tags
[BUGFIX] Moving into an Inquisition bishop's path with holocloak will now properly use up a folly shield
[BUGFIX] The correct track is now played after triggering Black Mist during a secret boss fight
[BUGFIX] If Lady in the Tower places a promoted rook on a square that blocks another threat to the black king, then you are now actually saved from that threat
[BUGFIX] Fixed button hitbox position for reloading the shotgun with the mouse
[BUGFIX] Fixed a bug were pieces would appear to slide on the board after getting pushed off the board by a Sokoban rook then saved by Bouncy Castle or Black Mist
[BUGFIX] Poor cannonballs can no longer be scared
[LANG] The spanish translation was reviewed and reworked
[LANG] The spanish translation was further localized into a LATAM spanish translation!

1.515e (2024-12-26)

v1.515e

[BUGFIX] Phrases with no space characters (notably in Chinese, Korean and Japanese) are now properly broken down into multiple lines again
[BUGFIX] Pieces will no longer randomly stop acting at all
[BUGFIX] Folly shields no longer warn you against safe Sokoban Rooks
[BUGFIX] Knockback angle now calculated before strafe movement with Royal Loafers
[BUGFIX] Sabotaging the Mangonel card will now cancel prepared mangonel shots

v1.515d

[BALANCE] Inquisition bishops are less likely to target Moles and Undercover Mission tiles if other moves are available
[BALANCE] Black Mist now teleports you to an actually safe tile even if you are in stealth
[BUGFIX] Bishops and rooks will no longer use Tag Team for no reason
[BUGFIX] Rooks will no longer use Sokoban for no reason, and are less likely to sacrifice other pieces
[BUGFIX] Rooks will no longer use Sokoban on you when you are in stealth
[BUGFIX] Sokoban rooks will now actually try to kill you if they have the chance
[BUGFIX] Fixed a bug where pieces could stack on top of each other because of simultaneous Sokoban pushes and Tag Team swaps
[BUGFIX] Fixed a rare crash on aiming with a game controller
[BUGFIX] On a gamepad, pressing B no longer triggers special abilities
[BUGFIX] Fixed the Discord link on the title screen
[BUGFIX] Seer's Orb now positions itself correctly above the boss white king
[BUGFIX] Horsemen no longer get buckler and bow when you step on the third Unholy Call pentacle
[BUGFIX] Stepping up to the mole as you kill it with Royal Loafers will no longer crash the game
[BUGFIX] Folly shields now properly warn you against shooting at a pawn when you have Low-Cost Disguise but a Mangonel rook is about to fire at you
[BUGFIX] Mangonel shot line and circle now properly disappear if canceled with Castling
[BUGFIX] Sabotaging Vampirism now properly removes blood sucking abilities from queens and leaders
[BUGFIX] More precise knockback
[BUGFIX] Fixed rendering of kite shields on knightmares
[BUGFIX] You can no longer shoot before reloading ends
[BUGFIX] King's Shoulders now explicitely excludes blade cards using codex tags
[BUGFIX] Moving into an Inquisition bishop's path with holocloak will now properly use up a folly shield
[BUGFIX] The correct track is now played after triggering Black Mist during a secret boss fight
[BUGFIX] If Lady in the Tower places a promoted rook on a square that blocks another threat to the black king, then you are now actually saved from that threat
[BUGFIX] Fixed button hitbox position for reloading the shotgun with the mouse
[BUGFIX] Fixed a bug were pieces would appear to slide on the board after getting pushed off the board by a Sokoban rook then saved by Bouncy Castle or Black Mist
[BUGFIX] Poor cannonballs can no longer be scared
[LANG] The spanish translation was reviewed and reworked
[LANG] The spanish translation was further localized into a LATAM spanish translation!

1.515c (2024-10-17)

Changelog for v1.515c:

[BUGFIX] Fixed a crash when releasing the soul of a sanctified bishop with no soul slot
[BUGFIX] Fixed a visual bug where after killing a santified bishop it looks like you're about to steal its soul even if you don't have an empty soul slot
[BUGFIX] Codex and Shotgun progress badges no longer share the same save space

1.515b (2024-10-16)

Changelog vor v1.515b:

[BUGFIX] Fixed a crash on picking the disrupt reload option
[BUGFIX] Fatality check now takes Bodyguard, Kite Shield and Cathedral into account

1.515 (2024-10-15)

v1.515 Changelog:

[NEW] You can now track your best rank won on each shotgun in Throne mode
[LOCA] Added Italian and Portuguese localizations!
[BALANCE] Rooks can no longer protect the king with Castle when stunned
[BUGFIX] Tentative fix for a bug on controllers where the right stick stops responding
[BUGFIX] Fixed a bug on controllers where confirming your first move would send you to inspect your cards
[BUGFIX] Move squares no longer flash at the start of your turn if you're holding right stick
[BUGFIX] First choice on level ups no longer flashes when the appearing animation ends
[BUGFIX] Fixed a bug where receiving ammo at the same time as you reloaded
[BUGFIX] Further refined arrow folly shield detection
[BUGFIX] Tentative fix for a bug where arrows kill you when they hit the square you just moved from
[BUGFIX] Prevented level up screen duplication
[BUGFIX] Bleeding buffs every separate shot from Unjust Decree
[BUGFIX] Force-feeding now properly capped to 8 shells, even with Yvan IV
[BUGFIX] Fixed piece %hp bonuses
[BUGFIX] Mausoleum now gets the leader tag as intended
[BUGFIX] Castle, Theocracy, Commoner's Reign, and Heir cards now all get the leader tag
[BUGFIX] Can no longer get sanctified bishops' souls with the Wand of Souls
[BUGFIX] Extra kings now get leader bonuses during the boss battle
[BUGFIX] Removed irrelevent delay after white piece moves when there is no bow and arrows
[BUGFIX] Vampire boss king can now properly suck the blood off the pieces surrounding it on all sides
[BUGFIX] Codex back button now always shows above card descriptions
[BUGFIX] Black Mist should no longer move you into arrows
[BUGFIX] Fixed a bug where some achievement-tracking stats were not properly reset on hitting try again on the gameover
[BUGFIX] Kite Shields now properly block and get used up by rats and taunting hops
[BUGFIX] Castling now properly protects the king from rats and taunting hops
[BUGFIX] Seer's Orb no longer lets you cycle through a piece's options
[BUGFIX] Grenades will now always trigger Castle before doing damage to any pieces
[BUGFIX] Castling now protects the king from bleeding
[BUGFIX] Ambush no longer gets the grenade tag
[BUGFIX] Fixed the Humiliation achievement so that it only triggers when killing a king by hopping on him
[BUGFIX] You can now use grenades again right after refilling them with a disruption effect
[BUGFIX] Can no longer shoot after resigning while being stuck in Analysis Paralysis
[BUGFIX] Mangonels won't show the targetting line if they're not about to attack because of Selective Listening
[BUGFIX] Unicorns no longer charge you if you're in stealth mode
[BUGFIX] Plural forms of words now properly reset when switching languages
[BUGFIX] Fixed a bug that prevented Sokoban rooks from trying to push you
[BUGFIX] Folly shields now detect Sokoban rooks who can push you off the board
[BUGFIX] Fixed a bug where Sokoban rooks or the pieces they push wouldn't fully register as going to their destination if the piece previously at that destination was just pushed off the board, resulting in other pieces being able to move to that same destination and stacking with the piece that just got there
[LANG] The Royal Hunt's description now mentions the shooting speed increment on stack
[LANG] Low-Cost Disguise's description now says "when a pawn dies" instead of "when you kill a pawn"

1.514 (2024-10-03)

v1.514: Bugfixes!

[BUGFIX] Elusive now works properly with pieces than are blocked
[BUGFIX] Pieces no longer update their move timer while they're stunned
[BUGFIX] Only the first rat hitting a bleeding piece during the same turn gets the bleed bonus
[BUGFIX] No more double sound on pause exit
[BUGFIX] Stun now transfers to morphing pieces
[BUGFIX] Adjusted deepwater description (Knight can't attack from moat)
[BUGFIX] Commoner's Reign now adds a knight to the white army
[BUGFIX] Sokoban rooks can't push leaders anymore
[BUGFIX] False Kings morph to knight AFTER bouncing back to board with Bouncy Castle
[BUGFIX] Monarch's Confidence doesn't give negative firepower for overfed shotgun anymore
[BUGFIX] Triggering Spy with Black Mist won't result in multiple disrupt panels and deafening sound
[BUGFIX] Militia is now properly removed from pawn when sabotaged
[BUGFIX] Seer's Orb attack target is now updated after holoking's death
[BUGFIX] Humiliation achievement is now fixed
[BUGFIX] Finer arrow detection for folly shields
[BUGFIX] Lifting the Seer's Orb target with King's Shoulders now sends the Seer's Orb to some other piece

1.513 (2024-10-01)

Cumulative changelog for 1.513:

[NEW] +43 cards
[NEW] +2 shotguns
[NEW] added 4 disruption effects
[NEW] improved AI
[NEW] 27 new achievements!
[NEW] Added new Dutch, Romanian and Vietnamese localizations!
[GAMEPAD] Fixed, improved and updated controller and Steam Deck support
[GAMEPAD] New inspection controls for controllers and Steam Deck
[BALANCE] knockback can now push pieces off of the board
[BALANCE] Force-feeding also gives +1 firepower while your gun is full, +1 ammo bonus removed
[BALANCE] +100% Knockback on Imperial Shot Put
[BALANCE] Analysis Paralysis now lets you recycle cards
[BALANCE] Iron queen now removes a queen (need 2+ queens to spawn)
[BALANCE] Throwing grenades doesn't spend a turn anymore and their damage is increased to 3
[BALANCE] Kingly Alms only gives 1 grenade now
[BALANCE] Bunker, Throne, Hunt, Buckler and Dagger now work on any leader
[BALANCE] Guillotine and cards mentioning leaders are now excluding each others
[BALANCE] Caltrops now has 50% chance to inflict bleeding on moving pieces and bleeding pieces lose 1 speed
[BALANCE] Caltrops doesn't delay backup cards anymore
[BALANCE] Kingly alms now inflict +2 dmg on center square
[BALANCE] Small Fry Harvest now have +1 blade instead of +1 ammo_max
[BALANCE] Healers now heal poison and bleeding
[BALANCE] Saddle doesn't need Cavalry anymore
[BALANCE] Jump from Taunting Hop is now a stat you can stack. You have to choose different targets for each jump on a single turn.
[BALANCE] Disrupt effect Stab now only works on king (invisible if no king on board)
[BALANCE] Engraved Scope now has search +1
[BALANCE] Theocracy now needs 2 bishops to spawn
[BALANCE] Wand of Wrath can't be used on leaders in general instead of just kings
[BALANCE] Black Mist may bring you unexpected opportunities
[BALANCE] AI now has difficulty levels which increase at ranks 4 and 10
[UI] new interface for disruption effects (undercover mission)
[UI] All temporary bonus/malus to firerange/firepower/fire arc now display in white/red
[UI] Changed wand selection instructions and FX
[UI] Fright range now displayed in left panel
[UI] Wand selection now lets you see target hp
[ERGO] Can now speed through the gameover animation after resigning by clicking anywhere
[BUGFIX] pikes now work through moat
[BUGFIX] Added a reset stats button in the codex
[BUGFIX] Pieces with no possible actions will no longer shake
[BUGFIX] grenade icon is now hidden when no grenade available
[BUGFIX] Flipping Secret Heir now works properly
[BUGFIX] Codex now displays achievements and completion correctly
[BUGFIX] Healer can't heal allies above hp_max anymore
[BUGFIX] Ammunition Depot rooks will now properly give you free ammo when they die, whatever the cause of death
[BUGFIX] Re-fixed Fool Companion spawning requirements
[BUGFIX] Lifting the last piece with king's shoulders does not end the level anymore
[BUGFIX] Pieces now take full damage before knockback is applied
[BUGFIX] Fixed pluralization of pieces on a few card descriptions
[BUGFIX] Iron pieces no longer look like regular pieces when held with King's Shoulders
[BUGFIX] Messages announcing backups now use the localized version of the card names
[BUGFIX] Strafe shots now use parameters from before moving
[BUGFIX] Killing the last leader with bushido while holding a piece no longer results in a soft lock
[LANG] Corrected and modified some texts
[LANG] Replaced all instances of "bullets" with "pellets" which should be less confusing in all cases
[LANG] Ensured card effects will always be described in the same order
[LANG] Updated the French, Spanish, Ukrainian, Polish, Russian, Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Catalan translations!

1.41 (2024-02-02)

v1.41 Patch:

[ERGO] You can now read mods' descriptions (or at least the start of it) in the mod menu.
[LANG] Fixed a typo in Bloodless Coups' english description.
[FIX] Fixed controller rumble not initializing correctly on launch.
[FIX] Fixed some controls counting twice or too early for both mouse controls and gamepad.
[FIX] The shotgun and rank menu arrows now light up red again.
[FIX] Attempting to use blade on iron pieces now triggers a folly shield.
[FIX] Restored mouse drag controls for King's Shoulders.
[FIX] Analysis Paralysis now properly pauses the timer.
[FIX] Mod menu buttons won't get misplaced anymore if you spam-click the arrows.
[FIX] Fixed switch back to gamepad controls on game over when using a mouse and a gamepad is plugged in.
[FIX] Fixed a bug on the level up screen where a choice's descriptions sometimes wouldn't go away if clicking too fast.
[FIX] Cannonballs are no longer affected by Saddle.
[FIX] Catalan language was added back.
[FIX] In settings the back button will now translate every time the language is changed.
[FIX] Mod menu buttons are now always drawn with the pixel font, showing the correct icons.
[FIX] Fixed an issue with game mode descriptions when scrolling.
[FIX] Title will no longer appear behind the play menu when coming back from the tutorial and mods are present.
[FIX] Game will now switch back to the default language if a modded language was previously selected but is no longer available.
[MODDING] Mods can now access mouse controls variables
[MODDING] Both local and workshop versions of a same mod will now be loaded up.
[MODDING] Made the mod menu's upload buttons a little nicer.
[MODDING] If an upload fails it will now tell you why and also print the reason in the log.txt.
[MODDING] 'run' function now allowed in mods to restart the game.
[MODDING] Empty mods (no language, game modes nor script) will no longer be loaded up.
[MODDING] Fixed append and prepend so that they wouldn't crash if multiple mods use them. (or any, in the case of prepend)
[MODDING] Now properly allowing global variable replacement for a set of variable names. (check 'gimme("replaceable")')
[MODDING] Mods can now use newbnk, bset, bget, and savbnk to safely save players' progress to a mod-specific save.
[MODDING] Custom pieces can now have custom movement, custom attack, custom draw, and custom debris.
[MODDING] Added "cond_only_pieces" in language keys.
[MODDING] Replaced deprecated function table_from_file with quarentine_req and quarentine_req_env.
[MODDING] Fixed unhelpful "Error in error handling" error message when a mod's code crashes the game.
[MODDING] Added support for custom pieces' souls.
[MODDING] Shotgun sprites are now mode-specific. (load your spritesheet in initialize())
[MODDING] Fixed custom pieces effects not showing in card descriptions.
[MODDING] Fixed the Saddle carry effect when applied to non-knight & non-rook pieces.
[MODDING] Added piece properties nocarry and freelift, they can be given with custom cards.
[MODDING] Added support for custom game mode scores.

1.4 (2024-01-29)

v1.4 changelog:

[NEW] Gamepad support! The game supports Xbox controllers, PS controllers, Switch Pro controllers, and hopefully any other old controller you might throw at it.
[NEW] A new scripted tutorial.
[NEW] New art from the folks at Headbang Club who did the console port of the game.
[NEW] In-game achievements.
[NEW] Improved modding!

1.37 (2023-01-19)

v1.37 Patch: • [BALANCE] Promoted jesters now pass the hat. • [FIX] You can no longer trigger a right click ability and fire your shotgun on the same frame. • [FIX] Fixed Iron Maiden description. • [LANG] Added Catalan language option! Thank you to Arnau Frago from Projecte Ce Trencada! • [LANG] Fixed a few issues in the Ukrainian, Korean, Chinese and Spanish translations. Thank you very much to players who submitted corrections! • [LANG] Added translator names on the credits screen.

1.36 (2022-12-20)

v1.36 Patch

[BALANCE] Heir status is now preserved after promotion.
[BALANCE] Iron Maiden now deactivate if there's only queens on the board.
[BALANCE] Guillotine and Iron Maiden are not excluding each others anymore.
[FIX] Fixed a crash bug involving Kingly Alms and Black mist
[FIX] Healer won't heal cannonball anymore
[FIX] It's no longer possible to jump over knighmares with taunting hop.
[FIX] Fixed a bug where you can over-reload your gun if moving too fast after reload
[FIX] Fixed a bug preventing the use of unjust decree if moving too fast after reload
[FIX] Healers can no longer heal boss over max hp
[FIX] Game won't freeze when secret heir, last guardian and king are killed with the same shot.
[FIX] Philanthropy extra turn now work even if grenade fall off the board or in the moat.
[LANG] Wording for iron effect : can't die -> can't take damage
[LANG] Fixed Ukrainian plurals in descriptions
[LANG] Now correctly replacing the $leader tag in disruption descriptions
[FILES] Saves are now saved to a save folder to support GOG save cloud

1.35 (2022-11-25)

v1.35 Patch:

[LANG] Piece's names are now correctly displayed on undead armies description
[BALANCE] Undead Armies now reduces pawn hp by one
[BALANCE] Golden Aging now reduces king and queen hp by one
[BALANCE] one by one reloading removed from Church Organ
[BALANCE] Richard III reworked: -1 ammo_max, +1 firerange, +25% pierce
[ERGO] Title Intro now plays only once when you launch game
[ERGO] Retry sequence is now active after resign
[FIX] Wizard achievement was fixed
[FIX] Imperial Shot Put added to the chase mode banned cards
[FIX] Stray pixels have been hunted down and decimated
[FIX] Philantropy now works even if Kingly Alms is removed
[FIX] Philantropy extra turns now bypass folly shield
[FIX] Chase mode unlocked too early
[FIX] bishop move-grid now takes account of the red book
[FIX] stabbing the big king with Undercover Mission was fixed
[FIX] It's now possible to throw a piece while moving with Royal Loafers even if you don't have any ammo
[FIX] Shields are now totally removed on the same turn you put them to zero in options screen during game.
[FIX] Fixed hint display for knockback and pierce
[FIX] Kingly Alms is now added to needed card for Bunker & Philantropy
[FIX] Big King won't step on zombies anymore
[FIX] Undercover Mission now only displays available missions
[FIX] Autoflipping white cards like Zealot or Witch's Curse can now be deactivated with Undercover Mission
[FIX] Can't lift anything with King's Shoulder if you are already holding a piece or a cannonball
[FIX] Fixed some gfx problem with lifted pieces from the moat

1.344 (2022-11-28)

v1.344 Quickpatch:

[LANG] Updated existing translations
[LANG] Added German, Polish and Japanese
[FIX] Missing degree symbols in codex
[FIX] Fixed an issue that was breaking multi-line texts in Chinese, Korean and Japanese, resulting in wrong and/or missing characters
[FIX] Fixed an issue with "Add X pieces" text that occured after switching between certain languages.