Enjoying FTP "kill-or-be-killed" awesomeness of BOID in multiplayer? Pick up the Single Player Campaign DLC to this intense sci-fi strategy at 71% off:
BOID is out now on Steam! After 18 months in Early Access, the game is finally done! Here's how it works
Multiplayer is completely free
We've decided to make the multiplayer part of BOID completely free. This includes the level editor, competitive match making, ranking, playing with bots on all maps, etc - no catches here.
The only things you can buy within the multiplayer are cosmetic skins to showoff on the battlefield.
Single Player is DLC
The single player campaign (which will take you about 10 hours) is a standalone DLC package. It is created AAA-RTS style with cutscenes, a full story, and is based around teaching players how the multiplayer works. It can be overwhelming to be dropped right in there, and we found that placing bot matches isn't always enough to teach people the game. So if you want to get a quick tour and 10 hours of entertainment, we appreciate everyone buying this DLC.
However it's completely not required if you don't like single player experiences and are good at RTS games.
Everyone in Early Access gets the DLC for free
If you bought BOID during Early Access, you should now have the DLC with the single player campaign in your library.
Enjoy!
BOID launching on July 8 with free multiplayer
We are super excited to announce that BOID is launching on July 8th and will have Free Multiplayer!
Yes, free multiplayer for everyone with no catches
The game's full online functionality, including rankings, the level editor, replays, etc -- will become completely free. The only thing you can buy within the multiplayer are purely cosmetic skins that do not obstruct the gameplay, nor enhance it in any tactical way.
A 10-hour Single Player Campaign Will be DLC
We have worked really hard on a single-player campaign for BOID, and we're super happy with the result. The campaign serves as a very extensive tutorial for players who aren't comfortable with the multiplayer straight away, and is a good standalone experience if single-player is what you're after. The price of the DLC will be $9.99, so you still have time to save before release (currently the game is $6.99)
Everyone who bought BOID during Early Access gets the Single Player for free
If you supported the game during Early Access, on July 8th you will get the full package (Multiplayer + Campaign DLC) for free. Thanks for supporting us!
r5: Redesigned Match Making and Units
A whole new matchmaking experience with no idle waiting
You know how it can be boring to sit around waiting for an online opponent? We do. We fixed it!
Now you can be searching for a match in passive mode, while doing something else. BOID will give you an estimated waiting time, and you can do whatever you want - play a match with bots, design a map, browse the leagues, etc. Your actions will get paused when you find an opponent, and you can return to what you were doing after the match is over.
Neat, am I right?
Release notes
Matchmaking redesigned
Added controls page to the settings menu
Scouts redesigned
Turret redesigned
Added new spawners animations
AI magic usage fixed
Turrets and magic added to minimap
Keyboard interaction reworked
Let us know what you think!
r4: AI upgrade, workshop improvements
Hi everyone! BOID Update 4 (r4 for short) is now live. It adds significant improvements to the AI and now you can play against bots on any map - even a user map. There is a complex algorithm behind the AI, and we'd love to get some feedback on it.
Building upon the workshop integration, Mokus also added a thumbs up/down button after user-made map matches.
Full update log
First version of AI that can play on any map created
Chat history added
Play with bots menu changed
Thumbs up/down added to rematch screen
Opponent name added to the game interface
Venom Valley map changed
Possibility to test map against bot added to the map editor
Crash while typing chat message fixed
Map building crash fixed
Wrong score calculation on network outage fixed
Various memory leaks fixed
AI performance fixed, moved to a separate thread
Crash while connecting to opponent fixed
Crash while updating subscribed map fixed
Bug with illegal characters in map name fixed
Crash when canceling invitation fixed
Outlined ground in map editor fixed
Triangulation changed from Farseer to Triangle.net
Undo-Redo crash fixed in map editor
Possible duplicates in my maps and subscribed maps fixed
Crash when deleting map fixed
Rally points behaviour fixed
Esc button behaviour while typing chat message fixed
Behaviour of group bindings fixed
Let us know what you think about the update in the comments below!
Level Editor, Trading Cards live
Woo! We just launched the Level Editor within Steam Workshop. You can now create full-on BOID levels and play them online against other people. It's INCREDIBLY easy to use. Here's Tom and Matthijs figuring it out within 5 minutes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDUPqS_kMM0
Full update log
Here's a full list of what you can expect to find:
New Features:
Map Editor added
Trading Cards added
Added "beginner" difficulty to bots
Improvements:
After opponent quits a ranked match the result gets saved
Exceptions logging improved
Leagues points calculation slightly changed
Label control improved - MaxWidth added
InputLabel control improved
Detailed analytics integrated
Maps list scrolling changed
Maps directories changed
Changed Map format
Balance:
Melee vs. Melee fight time shortened
Amount of defending units on all maps lowered
Enclave map changed
Warp Zone map changed
Basic units nerfed. -15% speed -10% damage
Kamikaze explosion time lowered
Base claim time lowered
Bugs:
Turrets vs. Guns fights fixed
Fixed issue with long names overlapping scores
"Select by unit type" hotkey fixed
InputLabel capital letters input fixed
Fixed bug with wrong user league/division icon in versus view
Fixed bug with info panel not showing closest friends results
This is the biggest update to BOID yet, and as promised the price for BOID is now $5.99 -- up from the initial $2.99 price point.
Let us know what you think about the new features!
Achievements now live
Last few weeks have been a little bit hectic. Between launching the League System and this latest update, BOID had an enormous show presence during PAX East 2014.
This update also adds an important feature - you can now take over Ability Bases (Teleporter, Reverter, Freeze). Please try it out and let us know what you think!
Update 3: Leagues Are Live
Hi everyone
Today's update introduces a reason to keep on playing - Leagues and Ratings.
The League system is done in an interesting way. Before the start of a match - based on your gameplay history, and your opponents -- you get a chance of winning, alongside other stats. These stats determine how many points you might get or lose.
Leagues and ratings live
Fixed start-up crashes
Removed CommunityExpressSDK dependency - moved to Steamworks.NET
Added Windows Cursor option
Pressed mouse cursor state added
Right click on minimap now moves units
Taskbar icon will blink if error during matchmaking occurred
Options button redesigned
New hot-keys added Z,X,C... (test mode)
Fixed messages in options window
Fixed Bombs behavior - now they attack frozen units
Please let us know what you think, as this system will keep on evolving and it's a first pass at it.
WHO IS COMING TO PAX East? COME AT ME, I'm taking challenges in a match of Boid.
PAX South: the post-mortem
Hi everyone!
Last weekend I spent in San Antonio at PAX South, getting people to play BOID, give us feedback, and to test out some marketing messages -- to see how they resonate with twitch streamers, youtubers, the press, and you - the players.
To my surprise many people described BOID as "a very advanced tower defense" game, not the streamlined online strategy message we had going on before. This comes from younger players.
What I absolutely loved though is that even super casual players were able to pick BOID up easily. All I had to do is launch the tutorial, and then pitch people against each other in a simpler map.
We will be going full force with BOID at PAX East in Boston next month, so be sure to stop by the most orange booth you can find.
If you're curious to read the full post mortem of our PAX South experience, head over to the tinyBuild blog - there is a novel-sized PAX South 2015 Post Mortem there.
Who is coming to PAX East in Boston???
Update 2: Rally Points, PAX, Group Bindings, 10 New Maps
Hi everyone,
We just spent the weekend at PAX South in San Antonio, where thousands of people checked out BOID. Gamespot just put it into it's 10 Upcoming Games List, and there's loads more coverage coming. We're wroking really hard with Youtubers and streamers to setup showcase matches.
Did anyone see Luke play BOID on the Twitch main stage during PAX?
Meanwhile Max and the dev team worked really hard on Update 2. Here are the details:
Added Rally Points - automatically send units to a certain location on spawn
Group Bindings - use ctrl+[number] to group units
10 New Maps
A New Type of Spawner Base
Medics can now occupy enemy bases if those have no units
Added borderless display mode
Smoothened unit movement
Optimized the units selection panel (on the left)
Optimized path finding
Scouts visuals changed
Turret visuals changed
Added mouse speed option in settings
Fixed loads of crashes in the game
Development update:
In the last update I mentioned an upcoming port to unity and a temporary feature freeze. Looks like this is not the case any more, since the game is getting tons of traction right now and Max is able to fix loads of common bugs. The idea was to make the engine export into Unity and then add all the Steamworks features, like achievements and cloud support. For now this is on hold as we are working on an insane set of features to make BOID more competitive, with a league system.
