New blood on enemies


• Optimized the system to apply the blood on enemies. The new system has several advantages:
  
• Fixes a crash when gore was active and you hit the enemies (specially on ATI Radeon cards)
  
• Allows to have blood when hitting the enemy with 2h weapons and arrows (it was disabled before)
  
• Is much faster to apply the blood, resulting in less re-projection when hitting the enemies
  
  

  General Improvements

  
  
• Upgraded to UE4 4.17.2
  
• Added more weight to the ragdoll of Archer, Tigers, Minos, and gladiators.
  
  

  Fixes

  
  
• Fixed text in the arena menu showing that Blood arena is unlocked after completing Day 1
  
• Fixed a bug that would show a black screen on the Oculus rift when starting the game.
  
  

New blood on enemies


• Optimized the system to apply the blood on enemies. The new system has several advantages:
  
• Fixes a crash when gore was active and you hit the enemies (specially on ATI Radeon cards)
  
• Allows to have blood when hitting the enemy with 2h weapons and arrows (it was disabled before)
  
• Is much faster to apply the blood, resulting in less re-projection when hitting the enemies
  
  

  General Improvements

  
  
• Upgraded to UE4 4.17.2
  
• Added more weight to the ragdoll of Archer, Tigers, Minos, and gladiators.
  
  

  Fixes

  
  
• Fixed text in the arena menu showing that Blood arena is unlocked after completing Day 1
  
• Fixed a bug that would show a black screen on the Oculus rift when starting the game.
  
  

New locomotion mode: Arm swing


• You can select this new mode in the options menu.
  
• To move, press the trackpad (or X/B in the Rift) and move the controller.
  
• Known issues: Collision detection against walls is not activated yet.
  
  

  Tiger AI Improved

  
  
• Tigers AI has been revamped to change their attack and movement patterns
  
• Added two new attacks. Now they can hit you on the head.
  
• You can now stab tigers in the head
  
• Removed the snap turn
  
• 25% chance of fury attack ( they will attack you right after you hit them )
  
  

  AI Improvements

  
  
• Archers now always get out of cells in the blood arena before shooting any arrows.
  
  

  Reverse grip

  
  
• Added reverse grip to the Gladius, Long Sword, Spartan and Katana. Rest of swords coming in the next updates.
  
• To activate it just "double-click" trigger when holding the weapon.
  
  

  Ragdoll on hit: Experimental

  
  
• Human enemies will be knocked out under the following conditions
  - Hitting them on the legs if they are trying to kick you
  - Hitting them on the head if they are not wearing a helmet
  - 1/5 chance when hitting them on any part exposed part
  
• You can enable this new feature in the options menu. It's disabled by default.
  
  

  General improvements

  
  
• Blood arena is now unlocked when completing Day 1 instead of Day 3.
  
• Moved selling basket further away from the racks to avoid accidental selling of items.
  
• Added weapon poke - this feature blocks enemies from moving towards the player without hurting them when the weapon moves slowly.
  
• Added extra blood spurts when beheading an enemy (more gore coming)
  
  

  Fixes

  
  
• Fixed blood of hits not being rendered at impact location floor (tigers)
  
• Fixed not being able to pick up the bow again after storing it in the belt and releasing it
  
• Fixed bug for the Rift that would not initialize some options in the menu.
  
• Fixed oculus rift height
  
• Fixed enemies not attacking in "The Days"
  
• Fixed Spectator camera in Day3 not following player
  
• Fixed flail crash when hitting enemies
  
• Fixed internal errors when dying in the chariot
  
• Fixed left hand would not allow to store items back to the locker in the lobby or the chariot.
  
• Fixed picking up the sell basket would leave it floating in the air.
  
• Added more granularity to the logs.
  
• Fixed game crash when hitting the enemy and he was sent to ragdoll right after it.
  
• Fixed hitbox error in sword master and legionaries at waist level that would register as a block instead of a hit
  
• Fixed belt not storing food
  
• Fixed belt not storing helmets
  
• Fixed AI alignment to player when behaving in group
  

New locomotion mode: Arm swing


• You can select this new mode in the options menu.
  
• To move, press the trackpad (or X/B in the Rift) and move the controller.
  
• Known issues: Collision detection against walls is not activated yet.
  
  

  Tiger AI Improved

  
  
• Tigers AI has been revamped to change their attack and movement patterns
  
• Added two new attacks. Now they can hit you on the head.
  
• You can now stab tigers in the head
  
• Removed the snap turn
  
• 25% chance of fury attack ( they will attack you right after you hit them )
  
  

  AI Improvements

  
  
• Archers now always get out of cells in the blood arena before shooting any arrows.
  
  

  Reverse grip

  
  
• Added reverse grip to the Gladius, Long Sword, Spartan and Katana. Rest of swords coming in the next updates.
  
• To activate it just "double-click" trigger when holding the weapon.
  
  

  Ragdoll on hit: Experimental

  
  
• Human enemies will be knocked out under the following conditions
  - Hitting them on the legs if they are trying to kick you
  - Hitting them on the head if they are not wearing a helmet
  - 1/5 chance when hitting them on any part exposed part
  
• You can enable this new feature in the options menu. It's disabled by default.
  
  

  General improvements

  
  
• Blood arena is now unlocked when completing Day 1 instead of Day 3.
  
• Moved selling basket further away from the racks to avoid accidental selling of items.
  
• Added weapon poke - this feature blocks enemies from moving towards the player without hurting them when the weapon moves slowly.
  
• Added extra blood spurts when beheading an enemy (more gore coming)
  
  

  Fixes

  
  
• Fixed blood of hits not being rendered at impact location floor (tigers)
  
• Fixed not being able to pick up the bow again after storing it in the belt and releasing it
  
• Fixed bug for the Rift that would not initialize some options in the menu.
  
• Fixed oculus rift height
  
• Fixed enemies not attacking in "The Days"
  
• Fixed Spectator camera in Day3 not following player
  
• Fixed flail crash when hitting enemies
  
• Fixed internal errors when dying in the chariot
  
• Fixed left hand would not allow to store items back to the locker in the lobby or the chariot.
  
• Fixed picking up the sell basket would leave it floating in the air.
  
• Added more granularity to the logs.
  
• Fixed game crash when hitting the enemy and he was sent to ragdoll right after it.
  
• Fixed hitbox error in sword master and legionaries at waist level that would register as a block instead of a hit
  
• Fixed belt not storing food
  
• Fixed belt not storing helmets
  
• Fixed AI alignment to player when behaving in group
  

2h weapons!


• Added 4 new two handed weapons to the market. The weapons are unusable with only one hand (Gorn style), so you will need to grab them with both hands, but you gain additional reach and more power.
  
• There are two types of weapons for now:
  
  
  
  • Halberds: Bonus damage vs flesh
    
  • Hammer: Bonus damage vs armor and enemies heads
    
  
  

  AI Improvements

  
  
• Enemies attack you only one at a time. The only exception are tigers and archers, that still attack you independently of other enemies.
  
• Improved positioning and surrounding when attacking in groups. Enemies now try to gradually surround you.
  
• Added turning speed to enemies. It is now possible to flank them when they attack.
  
• Hitting the helmet makes enemies stumble in the direction of the hit.
  

  Grabbing system improvements

  
  
• Grab system revamped: Hands don't have collision anymore, this makes grabbing objects much easier than before.
  
• You can now grab stabbed weapons and arrows from dead enemies!
  
• Locker behavior simplified:
  
  
  
  • Items can now be grabbed directly, is not necessary to put the hand in the red sphere anymore. Just grab the weapon and it will dettach from the locker.
    
  • Store items just putting the hand in the red sphere, no click required.
    
  
  

  Spectator screen

  
  
• Added different options to show in the mirror screen. You can change them in the graphics section of the options menu.
  
  
  
  • Mirror: 1rst person view
    
  • Arena view: 3rd person view
    
  • Combat view: 3rd person view - close up
    
  
  
  

  Performance improvements

  
  
• Significant performance improvements when fighting against legionaries.
  

  Gameplay improvements

  
  
• Training special kills mode now spawns enemies without helmet, or shields. This makes it much easier to practice dismemberment.
  
• You can now sell weapons from your lockers for 25% of the cost! Just throw the weapon in the basket next to the training gate, and you will automatically receive the money back.
  
• Added option to hide the hands while holding weapons.
  
• Experimental: Go ragdoll on hit on gladiators added to the debug menu
  

  Fixes

  
  
• Fixed incorrect lighting on day2 walls
  
• Fixed dismemberment of the left leg in legionaries.
  
• Fixed the text of the shops the market so is visible again.
  

2h weapons!


• Added 4 new two handed weapons to the market. The weapons are unusable with only one hand (Gorn style), so you will need to grab them with both hands, but you gain additional reach and more power.
  
• There are two types of weapons for now:
  
  
  
  • Halberds: Bonus damage vs flesh
    
  • Hammer: Bonus damage vs armor and enemies heads
    
  
  

  AI Improvements

  
  
• Enemies attack you only one at a time. The only exception are tigers and archers, that still attack you independently of other enemies.
  
• Improved positioning and surrounding when attacking in groups. Enemies now try to gradually surround you.
  
• Added turning speed to enemies. It is now possible to flank them when they attack.
  
• Hitting the helmet makes enemies stumble in the direction of the hit.
  

  Grabbing system improvements

  
  
• Grab system revamped: Hands don't have collision anymore, this makes grabbing objects much easier than before.
  
• You can now grab stabbed weapons and arrows from dead enemies!
  
• Locker behavior simplified:
  
  
  
  • Items can now be grabbed directly, is not necessary to put the hand in the red sphere anymore. Just grab the weapon and it will dettach from the locker.
    
  • Store items just putting the hand in the red sphere, no click required.
    
  
  

  Spectator screen

  
  
• Added different options to show in the mirror screen. You can change them in the graphics section of the options menu.
  
  
  
  • Mirror: 1rst person view
    
  • Arena view: 3rd person view
    
  • Combat view: 3rd person view - close up
    
  
  
  

  Performance improvements

  
  
• Significant performance improvements when fighting against legionaries.
  

  Gameplay improvements

  
  
• Training special kills mode now spawns enemies without helmet, or shields. This makes it much easier to practice dismemberment.
  
• You can now sell weapons from your lockers for 25% of the cost! Just throw the weapon in the basket next to the training gate, and you will automatically receive the money back.
  
• Added option to hide the hands while holding weapons.
  
• Experimental: Go ragdoll on hit on gladiators added to the debug menu
  

  Fixes

  
  
• Fixed incorrect lighting on day2 walls
  
• Fixed dismemberment of the left leg in legionaries.
  
• Fixed the text of the shops the market so is visible again.
  

Grip Improvements


• Sticky grip only unlocks weapons after 0.5s of pressing the grip and only if the controller speed is lower than 75. This greatly reduces the instances where the player unintentionally loses the weapon in the middle of a fight.
  
• Lock grip has the possibility to use "trackpad up" button instead of the trigger to unlock/lock the weapon. You can change it in the options menu.
  
• Added option to hide hands when holding weapons.
  
• Removed the possibility of disabling the physics grip in the options menu. Is now the only mode in the game.
  

  Sword hit angle

  
  
• Damage now depends on hitting the enemy with the right angle, and also hitting them with the sharp edge of the blade.
  
• Under the new system damage is reduced to 10% if you hit the enemy with the blunt edge (e.g. back side of the Katana) or with an incorrect angle. This is a hit or miss model, so if you hit them correctly you get 100% of the damage, and 10% if you don't.
  
• Tolerance depends on difficulty. The current set up is: +- 30 degrees hero, +-40 Gladiator, +-50 Novice.
  
• Visual and sound effects change depending on the strength and hit angle.
  

  Blood Arena

  
  
• Blood arena is now locked until day 3 is completed.
  
• Added new panel at the blood arena gate to show your current rank and max score.
  
• Removed skeletons and mummies from the list of enemies in the blood arena. It will only spawn humans and minotaurs.
  
• Reduced Minotaur frequency to 1/8 (from 1/5)
  
• Added a few stones on the floor.
  

  Gameplay

  
  
• Shields now push human enemies and tigers when they attack you!
  
• Stones now deal 35 damage vs flesh and 10 vs armor.
  
• Reduced stabbing minimum speed to 200 from 250.
  
• Reduced safe distance to 100. This allows you to get closer to enemies. I will further reduce this distance in the next updates.
  
• Added sounds when punching helmets.
  
• Use risky attacks is now disabled by default for new players. You can still activate it in the options menu.
  

  Group AI

  
  
• Slower disengage velocity to 160 vs 220 (gladiator, sword master, Barbarian)
  
• Enemies always make a sound when attacking if they are behind the player.
  

  Chariots

  
  
• Increased break speed of horses (0.5 to 0.35). You can break faster now!
  

  Lobby

  
  
• Brightened up the lobby and made overall lighting adjustments to the area.
  
• Changed sign materials so they are less reflective.
  
• Fixed UV maps of the barrels (they were darker than they should be)
  

  Fixes

  
  
• Fixed lobby menus not working.
  
• Fixed custom training not spawning archers.
  
• Fixed enemies getting stunned and not attacking anymore.
  
• Fixed error when trying to add blood to a sword that can't have it.
  
• Fixed new players not seeing the early access panel.
  
• Fixed blunt weapons being able to stab.
  
• Fixed stabbing not doing full damage.
  
• Fixed barbarian sword not registering a hit at tip of the sword.
  
• Fixed momentum damage not being applied to armor.
  
• Fixed shield bash against gladiators
  

  Internal stuff

  
  
• Updated to UE4 4.16.2
  
• Completely switched to Grip motion controller (VRExpansion Plugin)
  
• Added animation granularity to gladiators
  
• Added blocking blend parameter at Gladiator level. This will allow to block with shields and swords in the future.
  

New game mode! Chariot races


• In this new game mode you can be like Ben-hur and compete to be the fastest to finish (alive) a chariot race! You will have bows and pilums to kill your enemies, while you avoid being hit and crash against the walls and traps.
  
• You also have a new leaderboard in the lobby that shows the fastest players. The current champion is Turbatus, with an impressive 40s average lap (after bonus x kills)
  
• The new game mode is available through the Menu -> Arena -> Chariots. Prepare to sweat, a lot! :D
  
• Instructions:
  
  
  
  • The chariot works like a car (with gears). To whip the horses grab the handles with both hands, and whip them at the same time. This will up one gear and start moving the cart.
    
  • The carts have 6 gears, each with different time outs. Once the timeout expires, the gear switches automatically to a lower gear and starts a new time out.
    
  • To turn the chariot grab both handles and bring one arm close to you and the opposite arm forward.
    
  • To break, just pull both ropes
    
  • If you hit a chariot or a chariot hits you, you will slow down to gear 2
    
  • If you hit a wall and you go faster than gear 2, you will die
    
  • You have a bow and arrows to kill enemies. If you hit a horse in the head twice, the horse will die and flip the cart
    
  • The pilum now works as a throwing weapon (you have two in the cart). To put the pilum in throwing position, "double click" the trigger button. This alternates between normal position and throwing position. If you throw the pilum to a wheel, the cart will flip
    
  • To win a race you have to finish 3 laps in easy, 4 laps in normal and 6 laps in hero. There is a leaderboard in the lobby that registers the best time.
    
  • The best time is calculated as the average time of all laps - bonus per kill depending on the type of kill. (e.g. killing a horse gives more points than killing the archer)
    
  • Every time you kill an enemy, another one spawns, so the total number of enemies in the race is always 4.
    
  
  
• Movement options: The chariot races in general are only recommended for people that are comfortable with trackpad movement, as the continuous movement of the chariot can induce motion sickness if you don't have good "VR legs". In this case, you have two additional options:
  
• You can activate the option to rotate the camera with the chariot. By default you have to physically turn (which minimizes motion sickness)
  
• Chariots also have the option Dual Drive mode to control the horses individually. This allows you to turn faster at the expense of more complex controls. This might induce motion sickness on some people.
  

  New crowd!

  
  
• The new 3D animated crowd replaces the 2D People in the Blood Arena (Finally! :). I will gradually add this new crowd to the other arenas in the next updates and add additional animations and transitions as well.
  
• The new crowd has 7 levels of LOD, 4 different animations, and has no significant performance hit over the old sprite system.
  
  

  Throwing

  
  
• Revamped the system to throw weapons! Throwing is now more natural and predictable than before.
  
• Some weapons now have different holding positions. To switch between them "double click" the trigger.
  
• For instance, the knife rotates 180 degrees to a stabbing position, and the pilum rotates 120 degrees so it's easier to throw.
  
  

  General improvements

  
  
• Archers are now much more accurate in Gladiator and Hero difficulty.
  
• Changed wall textures of the blood arena to be stone instead of plaster.
  
• The Minotaur will only appear every five enemies killed (at least). This will stop the frustration of killing a mino and another one spawning right after it.
  
  

  Day 3 improvements

  
  
• Chariots in day 3 don't snap anymore! I know this was very immersion breaking... sorry :) They now move in continuous trajectories.
  
• Chariots don't collide with each other anymore.
  
• Archers spawn in different positions so they can't be killed by chariots.
  
  

  Performance

  
  
• Switched to the latest version of Unreal Engine (UE4 4.16).
  
• Activated forward render. This brings some performance improvements over the previous renderer.
  
• Added new LOD levels to the 2d crowd. Most noticeable in the new circus maximus.
  
  

  Fixes

  
  
• Fixed the player would be sent to the lobby after being killed in the blood arena.
  
• Fixed sword master would spawn a broken shield after breaking the left gauntlet.
  
• Fixed arrows sometimes clinging mid air right after being released.
  
• Fixed error that would result in a crash if overmind was not assigned
  to the player.
  
• Fixed not being able to select any option in the menu when grabbing a flail
  
• Fixed crash when shooting arrows very close to the minotaur
  
• Fixed crash when shooting arrows very close to a tiger
  
• Fixed crash when putting on a helmet while wielding another weapon
  
  
  

Breakable Armor
Added breakable armor to human enemies which offers them additional hp. The new system works as follows:


• Armor gives enemies full protection until it breaks or falls off. Exposed areas receive damage as usual.
  
• In the case of helmets, there is 2/8 probability that the helmet will not break and will fall to the ground so it can be reused by the player.
  
• Each armor type provides different protection/number of hits to break:
  
  
  
  • Shin guards 40hp (1-2 hits)
    
  • Gauntlets 60hp (2-3 hits)
    
  • Helmets 100hp (4-5 hits)
    
  • Body armor 200hp (6-8 hits)
    
  • Shields 250hp (7-10 hits)
    
  
  
• Stabs in the face and arrows can still pierce helmets like before (a shot in the head instantly kills most enemies)
  
• Added bonus vs armor and bonus vs head in all weapons. Bonus vs armor is set to 1 by default, except the mace that has x2. Bonus vs head is set to x3 for all weapons to compensate for the additional hp.
  
• Added new fx and sounds for helmets, body armor, shin guards and gauntlets when hit
  
• The new armor system is completely configurable, so it will be easier to add different types of armor pieces and configurations in the future.
  
• The only exception to this new system is the archer, which can still be beheaded with just one hit for the amusement of the crowd :)
  
  

  Performance Improvements

  
  NOTE: This the first pass of an overall effort to improve the performance of the game, I plan to add more improvements in the next update.
  
• Significantly improved the performance, specially when fighting against Gladiators, SwordMasters and Legionaries. You should now be able to figth against more enemies with less frame drops.
  
• Reduced the number of materials per mesh, thus reducing overall drawcalls.
  
• Activated DBuffer decals in preparation for the Forward Render.
  
• Reduced crowd numbers in the blood arena
  
• Disabled dynamic shadows on objects that don't need it (e.g. shin guards and bracelets)
  
• Disabled separate translucency pass
  
• Disabled lens flares
  
• Disabled screen space reflections
  
• Added LOD to most rendered meshes
  
• Significantly reduced the polycount of most meshes in the game:
  
  
  
  • Legionary sandals 12K -> 2K
    
  • Legionary Dismembered legs - 14K -> 3.6K
    
  • shinguard polycount LOD SM from 26K to 864
    
  • rezario polycount LOD SM from 52K to 2.6k
    
  • manica polycount LOD SM from 12K to 1.2k
    
  • brucae polycount LOD SM from 32K to 6k
    
  • belt polycount
    
  • player belt polycount LOD SM from 62K to 21k
    
  • loricasegmentata1 polycount LOD SM from 20K to 1.2k
    
  • loricasegmentata2 polycount LOD SM from 55K to 22k
    
  • gladiator helmet polycount LOD SM from 22K to 6.8k
    
  • 300 helmet polycount LOD SM from 4K to 1k
    
  • centurion helmet polycount LOD SM from 4.5K to 2.2k
    
  • legionary helmet polycount LOD SM from 22K to 7.2k
    
  • gladius sword LOD SM from 36K to 22k 9K
    
  • legionary shield sword LOD SM from 10k to 2.6k
    
  • shield0 LOD SM from 88k to 8k
    
  
  
  

  General Improvements

  
  
• Reduced the time that enemies take to enter ragdoll when dismembered or beheaded
  
• Oculus Thumbstick button can now be used as sprint button
  
• Added blood to Axe1
  
• Added blood to Axe2
  
• Training custom enemy list is now saved as preferences
  
• Enemies no longer keep track during slowmo(It is now possible to flank them and hit them on the side)
  
• Expanded the size of the grabber when the quiver is mounted on the back. Now is easier to grab arrows.
  
• Shortened the rope of the flail
  
• Added "Default settings" option in the graphics menu
  
• Added lazy mode (debug) to allow hitting the enemy with just 200cm/s (vs 500cm/s normal mode)
  
• Weapons now have a bonus vs armor and bonus vs head parameter. Blunt weapons have additional bonus against shields and armor.
  
• All weapons now have a x3 damage bonus vs a hit on the head, and beheading is easier than before.
  
  

  Fixes

  
  
• Fixed small bow's erratic behavior
  
• Fixed sarcophagi lighting in day 2
  
• Fixed pilum attachment rotation
  
• Fixed going to the market from the armory not saving the weapon layout
  

Physics grip - BETA!

Access through gates

Gameplay Improvements

New weapons

Training

AI Improvements

Fixes