Version 1.50.6 Released

Version 1.50.6 is focused entirely on release reliability, automated QA, and making sure the game behaves correctly from startup to navigation, saving, dynamic loading, and back again.

There are no gameplay, balance, economy, reward, or progression changes in this update.

Golden Smoke Release Gate

The full Release Test now includes a new Golden Smoke validation layer.

Instead of checking individual systems in isolation, the test verifies that the actual game can move through its critical runtime flow successfully.

The new gate validates:

• All 36 navigation routes
• Live navigation DOM state
• Renderer coverage for every route
• Save serialization
• Dynamic module and pack state
• Core accessibility hooks
• Active-screen rendering
• Technical error-boundary state

This gives the release pipeline a much stronger final check before a build is considered ready.

Full Browser Route Testing

The release browser harness now walks through all 36 routes inside a real Chromium DOM.

Each screen must render correctly without falling into a technical recovery or error panel.

This is a major improvement over relying exclusively on static module and renderer checks, because navigation is now tested much closer to the way a player actually uses the game.

Stronger Save Validation

Save QA has been expanded with a real runtime round-trip test.

The release test now:

• Writes an actual save
• Reads the stored data back
• Parses the serialized save
• Verifies that the payload is valid
• Confirms the expected save schema

The existing Save Compatibility regression suite remains in place as an additional protection layer.

Save Schema 39 remains unchanged.

Mobile Navigation Regression Testing

The mobile More / Less navigation test has also been upgraded.

Instead of testing an isolated synthetic element, QA now interacts with the actual rendered navigation button.

The test verifies that:

• The disclosure opens correctly
• ARIA state updates correctly
• The secondary navigation becomes visible
• The disclosure closes correctly
• The interface returns to its original state afterward

This specifically protects the navigation fix introduced in version 1.50.5.

End-to-End Runtime Coverage

The release workflow now also validates several systems together that previously had more isolated coverage:

• English → German language switching
• German → English language switching
• Atlas lazy-pack readiness
• Dynamic module health
• Accessibility root configuration
• Return-to-Home navigation
• Clean technical foundation state

The goal is simple: verify that systems still work when they interact with each other, not only when tested individually.

1.50.5 QA Reference Fix

A QA issue from version 1.50.5 has been corrected.

The navigation hotfix self-test was checking for a non-existent KOC_GAME API instead of using the exported KOC_DEBUGtest hook.

The test now references the correct runtime interface, preventing a false failure in the release validation process.

Release Metadata Synchronization

Package metadata has been cleaned up as well.

VERSION.txt, release metadata, the itch.io README, build identifiers, and cache revision are synchronized with the shipped 1.50.6 build again.

Current cache revision:

1.50.6.137

Compatibility

Existing compatible saves remain supported.

Progression is preserved across:

• Campaign
• Story
• Heroes
• Company Tactics
• Arsenal
• Abyss
• Atlas
• Crownstead
• Arcade
• Management systems

The dynamic loading architecture introduced in 1.50.1 and the navigation hotfix from 1.50.5 remain intact.

Final Notes

1.50.6 is intentionally a technical release.

Rather than adding another layer of content, this update strengthens the infrastructure used to verify every future build of Knights of Crystalis.

With full route walking, real save round-trip validation, live mobile navigation testing, lazy-loading checks, localization switching, and the new Golden Smoke gate, the release pipeline can now catch significantly more integration problems before they reach players.

No gameplay formulas were changed. No balance values were changed. No progression was reset. Save Schema 39 remains unchanged.