Brink of Extinction
Menu bug issue resolved
The main menu issue has now been resolved. This was due to an error when there is no save file. I apologize for the inconvenience and hope everything is in order now.
Fix for main menu bug uploading now
I've been made aware of a bug in the main menu, this is being addressed now. I will update in a while when the patch is live.
Version Blitz Ant is now live!
I've now updated the game to version Blitz Ant, which adds a handful of new features and fixes.
- Optimization
Shadow system has been optimized and settings for it tweaked.
FXAA removed in favor of TSAA. This means that the aliasing has been minimized even on low resolution scaling. TSAA is more performance heavy than FXAA, but the added performance cost is offset by allowing lower resolution scales to get the same or better graphical fidelity.
Loading times between levels lowered. Music is compressed into memory in the background instead of on load and SFX uses faster compression.
Improved pooling system and waypoint path generation to allow for pool expansion and drawing from a single pool. This dramatically improves the loading times, in particular it lowers the load of creating many objects on start (noticeable by a lot of stuttering when level is first loaded in).
Optimized UI code.
Some adjustments in large scenes to lower the number of objects and their FPS impact.
- Features and balancing
- General changes
Difficulty ramp on campaign changed. Earlier levels are now a bit easier, later levels slightly trickier.
Powerup costs will increase per use.
Turrets now have a special attack that unlocks when you match a specific stat. The special ability requires a 60/105s (campaign/endless) charge time.
Turret upgrade cost offset. Each upgrade costs more than the previous one for the same stat. In the campaign this generally means the special abilities cannot be unlocked on the early levels and pushes players to build in more locations instead of maxing turrets early on.
Turret recoupable credits from sales the same as before, meaning less of investment on upgrades can now be recouped from sales.
All enemy and turret stats rebalanced. To allow for more finetuning, DMG and HP has been doubled and then tuned further. This means the repair speed has been changed to accommodate higher HP values for turrets. It also means fully repairing turrets is now more expensive than before.
There’s now a 5 % chance turrets will score a lucky chance when enemies fire the killing shot. This sets the turret hp to 1 and stuns enemies for a second, allowing turrets to survive even the most devastating hits. Using the Bull turret’s gentle giant special ability sets the chance to 50 % for a short time.
- Endless mode
Continuous mode leveling system overhauled. Instead of all stats leveling up each 5-8 spawn cycles, either of DMG, HP or yield is randomly picked to level up each 1-2 spawn cycles. This should make each game more different and changes the difficulty ramp a bit – If you are lucky, yields will level up faster than damage and hit point, for instance.
Insect generals added to the continuous mode. Every fifth cycle, the last enemy spawned from one point will be a general – the general is three levels ahead of the wave level for DMG and HP and 5 levels for yield stats. Works as an extra challenge and a way to boost credits. Marked with a red vortex particle underneath.
Wave pause time changed from linear random to normal distribution. Making very long and very short pauses rarer.
Pause time between enemy spawns in wave changed from linear random between -0.1 and 0.2 to normal distribution between -0.1 and 0.4.
Spawn amount per wave in endless mode changed from random between starting value and starting value to cycle, to normally distributed with starting value as mean. This mean shifts up by value one per 5 wave cycles meaning each 5 cycles will increase the number of enemies spawned. Getting very few or very many spawned enemies should thus be rarer in the beginning and more common later in a game.
Yields changed from linear to log normal curve, meaning faster in the beginning and slower later on in the endless mode.
- Graphical changes
Some turrets have had some animations and more particles added.
Explosion effects overhauled.
- Other
The game has been translated into Russian, Swedish, Romanian and French.
Button press sound moved, to avoid “false” click sounds.
First wave starts briefly after placement of first turret to allow planning.
Level 14 deathbox fix. Enemies would sometimes miss the deathbox causing the level to not finish.
Bug where raycasting would bug out when not using SSAA fixed.
Additional hexes on level 5 and 9 and the endless mode highway level.
Unfortunatly There were a things that I had intended for this version, but simply did not have time to implement or finish implementing.
- Remaining additions for the future
I had intended to have these additions added this update, but due to a lack of time they’ve been cut. Should hopefully see implementation fairly soon.
* Mac version added. Was intended for this update, but due to continuing issues with the Mac build it has been pushed to the future.
* In game scoreboards when you finish a continuous level. Will be implemented in the next update.
* Hexagon level. Was pushed to a later date due to lack of time to balance it properly and give it the required time to test it.
* German, Spanish and Chinese translations.
Upcoming update
I'm in the process of finalizing some of the last feautres for the update and also testing the game. My overall observation thus far is that the first half of the campaign will be easier than before, and the second half will be more difficult.
To my knowledge, this is a bit reverse to how it is in the current version and should mean the game follows a more natural progression of being more forgiving in the beginning while emphasizing the need for good planning towards the end of the game.
The endless mode, however, is where the most noticable change in difficulty will come in. First of all, the give 'em hell and prime example achievements will be more separated. In the current version, you usually unlock both at roughly the same time. Now, give 'em hell will unlock later due to the change in the yield structure of the game's endless mode.
Obviously, the central change of the upcoming update is the introduction of special abilities for each turret. Unlocked when maxing out a specific stat, each turret gets a special attack that charges over time and either deals massive damage, or adds protective buffs to your turrets. This will push strategic thinking and also make it more important than ever to protect specific turrets.
The game also features a completely redone balancing. Many of the linear structures, like credit yields and upgrade costs, have been redone, as well as spawn rates and spawn counts.
The current status of the update is:
- Features and balancing
- General changes
Difficulty ramp on campaign changed. Earlier levels are now a bit easier, later levels slightly trickier.
Powerup costs will increase per use. For example, the cost of placing mines starts at 600, and by 50 placed the price will have doubled.
Turrets now have a special attack that unlocks when you match a specific stat. The special ability requires a 120s charge time.
Turret upgrade cost offset. Each upgrade costs more than the previous one for the same stat. In the campaign this generally means the special abilities cannot be unlocked on the early levels and pushes players to build in more locations instead of maxing turrets early on.
Turret recoupable credits from sales the same as before, meaning less of investment on upgrades can be recouped from sales.
All enemy and turret stats rebalanced. To allow for more finetuning, DMG and HP has been doubled and then tuned further. This means the repair speed has been changed to accommodate higher HP values for turrets. It also means fully repairing turrets is now more expensive than before.
- Endless mode
Continuous mode leveling system overhauled. Instead of all stats leveling up each 5-8 spawn cycles, either of DMG, HP or yield is randomly picked to level up each 2-3 spawn cycles. This should make each game more different and changes the difficulty ramp a bit.
Insect generals added to the continuous mode. Every fifth cycle, the last enemy spawned from one point will be a general – is three levels ahead of the wave level for DMG and HP and 5 levels for yield stats. Works as an extra challenge and a way to boost credits. Marked with a red vortex particle underneath.
Wave pause time changed from linear random to normal distribution.
Pause time between enemy spawns in wave changed from linear random between -0.1 and 0.2 to normal distribution between -0.1 and 0.4.
Spawn amount per wave in endless mode changed from random between starting value and starting value to cycle, to normally distributed with starting value as mean. This mean shifts up by value one per 5 wave cycles meaning each 5 cycles will increase the number of enemies spawned.
Yields changed from linear to log normal curve, meaning faster in the beginning and slower later on in the endless mode.
- Graphical changes
Some turrets have had some animations and more particles added.
Shadow system has been optimized and settings for it tweaked.
FXAA removed in favor of TSAA. This means that the aliasing has been minimized even on low resolution scaling. TSAA is more performance heavy than FXAA, but the added performance cost is offset by allowing lower resolution scales to get the same or better graphical fidelity.
Explosion effects overhauled.
- Other
The game has been translated into Russian, Swedish, Romanian and French.
Some adjustments in large scenes to lower the number of objects and their FPS impact.
Button press sound moved, to avoid “false” click sounds.
Level 14 deathbox fix. Enemies would sometimes miss the deathbox causing the level to not finish.
Loading times between levels lowered.
Bug where raycasting would bug out when not using SSAA fixed.
Optimized UI code.
- To do
* Further testing.
* In game scoreboards when you finish a continuous level.
* Hexagon level added.
I estimate to finish the update next week, and release it after some further testing the week after around March 23rd.
Edit: Issues with mac version found.
Regards, Nick
Update - some more details
I've decided to make the next update a more substantial one than I had first planned. That means, first of all, that the scheduled release will be mid to late march - hopefully sooner if possible, but no promises at this stage.
The update will feature what I have mentioned prior:
- Localisation, the languages I have sorted are Russian, Swedish and Romanian. I am hoping German, French and Spanish can be arranged also, if you are interested send me a message.
- Mac version of the game.
- Reduce the impact of some levels by optimizing objects placed and which cast shadows etc.
- Further overall object optimization.
- Shadow system has been updated again which I am hoping will mean some further optimization.
Aside from this I've decided to implement the following:
- Turrets will receive a special attack when you max one of it's stats (a specific stat for each turret). It will be timed and activated similarly to how the Tesla turret functions.
- Damage mods, some enemies will be stronger or weaker to some turrets' attacks.
- Enemy level system overhaul in endless mode. Instead of leveling up ALL stats every 5 to 8 spawn cycles, one stat will randomly level up ever 2-3 cycles instead.
- Turret and enemy stats will be doubled so that I can tweak them more (using ints, not floats).
- Turrets will be spruced up a bit with some getting some animations and more particles etc.
- Hexagon level.
On top of this some minor fixes of click sound etc. I will also try to add some other minor fancy stuff also and as usual, if you have requests, leave them in a thread and I will take them into consideration.
Upcoming update
I just wanted to outline the upcoming update a bit.
This one will focus more on performance, availability and user friendliness, so here's what I've planned going in:
- Localisation, the languages I have sorted are Russian, Swedish and Romanian. I am hoping German can be arranged also.
- Mac version of the game.
- Reduce the impact of some levels by optimizing objects placed and which cast shadows etc.
- Further overall object optimization.
- Shadow system has been updated again which I am hoping will mean some further optimization.
There are also a handful of minor issues, such as click sound on click instead of on submit, that are also on the list of things to fix.
Currently there's no date for the update, but mid to late february is my current guess.
Small patch
I've updated the game to fix some minor issues:
Superior scorpion projectile was glitched since the last update, fixed the distortion effect on it.
Changed the end of the campaign a bit to avoid confusion.
The options for shadow quality appeared to be broken, changed shadow quality settings from none/hard/soft to samples of 16, 32 or 64.
Also, this patch lowers the fire ant base health from 80 to 70 and lowers the base damage of the double turret slightly. Lighting has also been adjusted slightly in the patch.
Brink of Extinction update now live!
The update also adds in a collectible in the form of mem discs, that can be found in the campaign levels. The mem discs contain brief story elements, that pieced together will give a view of the events leading up to the campaign.
Lastly, the update adds Steam leaderboards, so that your best scores in the continuous mode are saved and can be compared to those of other players around the world.
Here’s the full list of changes, fixes and additions:
Optimizations:
Game has been upgraded from Unity 5.5 to Unity 2017.2 which means SSAA (Res scaling),
NGSS (shadow system) and post processing effects have been optimized.
Bugs and issues:
Level 5 base object (the truck) has been moved to increase visibility.
Level 5 some hexes have been moved to allow max range turrets to reach the base object.
Fixed issue where base options in the ui would get displaced when switching res.
Increased music fadeout speed when switching scenes.
Adjusted post proc effects in the achievement display area.
Fixed the heatwave effect offsetting.
Fixed sound not playing when clicking next/previous button before last achievement in achievement display area.
New features and rebalancing:
Two new endless mode levels, the Forest and the Overpass.
Objectives for each level have been added to the loading screen.
If there's an object to protect, an indicator shows which one it is.
Zooming has been implemented, mapped to the scroll wheel.
Collectible story notes added to campaign levels.
Story note reading room added in main menu.
Song in reading room.
Five new achievements, Give 'em hell 7+8, Prime example 7+8 and Librarian.
Steam scoreboards implemented for continuous mode levels.
Acid turret, Bull turret, Missile turret, Plasma turret, Rail turret, Double turret and Machinegun turret rebalanced.
Enemy level up stats (including yields) rebalanced in endless mode.
Bug zapper range slightly increased and damage greatly increased.
Turrets can be rotated using the arrow keys.
Minor adjustments:
Plasma turret smoother textures.
Level 5 DoF has been adjusted to avoid the turret at the far right position on the screen blurring.
Level C1 DoF has been adjusted to avoid bottom turret position blurring.
Level C1 Grass was growing through some cars.
Level C1 Lens dirt decreased.
Added more songs to the playlists in the continuous mode.
Spruced up turret firing effects for plasma, sonic pulse.
Added barrel heat on the Double turret.
Text on game over in continuous mode adjusted to not line break.
Increased Missile turret emission.
Update on the update
Figured I'd do a short write-up on the current state of the upcoming update. I've again set a new date for the update seeing as things are progressing very well. Currently I think the update should be able to release January 1st. This is all dependent on how the testing goes, but currently things are progressing very well.
One of the new levels is finished, except for some minor further testing (making it more difficult!). I will start work on the second new level tomorrow and it should be finished before I go on a short xmas vacation!
I've decided to expand on the todo-list for the update and implemented keyboard controls for airstrike, mines and bug-zapper (default mapping A, M and B, remapable in the launcher). Also decided to buff the bug zapper from 200 damage to 275!
The yield structure in the endless mode will be greatly changed, meaning that the large yields you generally receive towards the later stage of a game will be much smaller. This should increase the difficulty by disallowing spamming of mines and airstrikes and forcing the played to be more careful with their placement of the special attacks.
I've started implementing the story note collectible, I have not, however, begun work on the actual display area for the collected notes. In time!
Lastly, I've finished the achievement icons for the five new achievements that will be added when the game is updated. All in all, this will be a more extensive update than I had first imagined, but I hope it will improve what I think is already a very stable and good game. :)
Of course, if there are any further requests, just send a message and I will consider adding it for this update or a future update!
/ Dispersing Minds
Nerfs and buffs in the upcoming update
This is a brief post about the nerfs and buffs of turrets in the upcoming BoE update. The rebalancing follows some feedback I've received - feedback that I had expected following more people playing the game.
So, let's get to it!
Acid turret: Starting HP from 500 to 450, minus 50. Starting Damage from 35 to 25, minus 10. Speed will be equivalent to that of rail (40). HP upgrade will give 125 instead of 100, damage upgrade till give 25 instead of 20. Splash range will go from 1.25 to 1.3.
Bull turret: 10 less starting damage, from 40 to 30. Damage upgrade will give 20 instead of 16. Starting HP up 50.
Plasma: Starting damage 25 instead of 20, and damage upgrade 8 instead of 10. Splash damage radius from 0.9 to 1.
Missile turret: Increased damage upgrade, from 30 to 35.
Overall, the concept is to differentiate the turrets from each other more. So the Acid turret will be stronger and have better range than rail, but is weaker. Bull turret gets a more emphasized role as high HP and strong, but is slower than machinegun turret and double turret. The double turret will remain a sort of all round turret. The plasma turret and acid turret both get splash range improvements, making them suitable for large hordes of enemies. Plasma is weaker but faster than acid. I've yet to decide about the cost of upgrades, and some more minor adjustments may still follow after more extensive testing.
Lastly, enemies will get some tweaks, but primarily when it comes to their upgrade values, so this won't affect the campaign, as all enemies are level 0 in the campaign. It might be that this makes the endless mode more difficult so if you wanna get those achievements more easily, now is the time. :D I have yet to start tweaking enemies, so a post on this will follow once I have done this.
Edit: The update is still scheduled for febuary the latest, but it's possible it might release in january already. The update will also feature a move from Unity 5.5 to Unity 2017.2 which means a lot of the post processing effects have seen optimizations, which the game can now benefit from.