Another minor release build (v1.02) has been uploaded for Keep Defending with some additional fixes in preparation for the upcoming game release.
The fixes included in this build are listed below:
Teleports are now transferred correctly between zones in advance levels (Crystal Caves and Sand Trap).
Fixed lighting issues when looking back into the zone 3 area from zone 4 in Crystal Caves.
Fixed environment colliders blocking player arrows when positioned in some of the other portal locations (via the teleports) on the Eagle Heights level.
Thanks for playing Keep Defending!
Minor release update build available (v1.01)
A new v1.01 build for Keep Defending has been released with a few minor changes in preparation for the upcoming game release.
Alongside some small optimisations to ally unit AI, there is also a new interim screen between scene loads (Vive only) and updates to the credits panel on the level selection scene.
Thanks for playing Keep Defending!
Completed v1.00 (Release) build uploaded
I've just uploaded the v1.00 build for Keep Defending which contains the missing sound FX and detail pass mentioned in the notes for the previous update.
The game is now content complete although I need to do some solid testing before release, which I've tentatively planned for early next week (commencing 19th June 2017).
If I find any issues during testing, then I'll release further updates as required. Hopefully not though! :)
Thanks for playing Keep Defending!
Final campaign level: King's Ending is now available
This latest Early Access update (v0.89) for Keep Defending contains the final level in the game's campaign which is called: King's Ending.
King's Ending is a large gate defense level featuring 32 portals for you to buy allies and manage your defenses. Please note that this level is locked until you play all of the previous 9 levels and record a score (win or lose).
Like the previous level (Tower Of Stars), King's Ending will take a lengthy 25 minutes as it progresses through 3 stages to completion.
Fortunately there's a new ally unit to help in defense of the city. The Kingsguard is an elite knight unit and features a lightning shock attack alongside formidable melee fighting skills.
I hope you all find King's Ending a great (and challenging) finale to the Keep Defending campaign!
Alongside releasing the final level, I've begun polishing the other levels in the game including new mountain backdrops for Homestead, Eagle Heights, The (Small) Wall, and Highguard.
I've also quadrupled the number of lights supported in the game which really helps the darker levels (Crystal Caves, Tower Of Stars, and Highguard Stage 2) to stand out when multiple light sources are flying around!
Improving the performance of the game has also been a large part of this latest update and it can now handle many more enemies better than it could before - which sets the scene for what to expect in King's Ending! :)
The headline features in the v0.89 update are as follows:
New King's Ending (Gate defense) map.
King's Ending is locked until you've played (win or lose) all previous levels.
New Kingsguard ally unit.
Additional (boss) enemies.
Implemented 2 new music tracks.
Steam achievements and leaderboard setup for King's Ending.
The level selection / main menu scene is now complete with the level orb for King's Ending, a new "Credits" orb, and the finalised Exit Game orb.
I've included some subtle animations to some of the level orbs in the level selection scene.
Huge improvements to the efficiency of Enemy and Ally AI.
I've implemented the final version of the fog fx for the level selection scene.
New mountain backdrops for Homestead, Eagle Heights, The (Small) Wall, and Highguard.
Quadrupled the number of realtime light sources supported.
Removed the Healing Druid and Soul Collector from Salt Town Docks as they shouldn't have been in there!
Fixed an issue when using Walk-In-Place (Arm swinging) locomotion in the level selection scene where you could walk through the blocks holding the level orbs if you stopped walking too near to them.
Numerous additional fixes and improvements.
The next update should hopefully be the final release v1.0 and feature missing sound fx (still some to add) as well as a detail pass on all of the levels plus any last minute additional optimizations and bug fixes.
Please report back any issues you find in this latest version as I'm hoping to sweep up any final bugs into the "we're leaving Early Access!" update planned for next week.
Thanks for playing Keep Defending!
More fixes for today!
I've just pushed another (quick) update out (v0.73) for Keep Defending which includes a couple of additional fixes:
Fixed a possible crash on Tower Of Stars.
Fixed a possible crash on Highguard affecting Oculus Rift users.
Apologies for not seeing these soon enough to fix them in the v0.72 update I pushed out earlier today!
Thanks for playing Keep Defending!
The Mad Crow Fix
A small update (v0.72) for Keep Defending has been released that fixes the enemy AI problems introduced in the previous (v0.71) update.
This affected the crows on Mutton Valley as well as the bats in Crystal Caves.
Both enemy types should now be back as mad as expected, and return to attacking your ally units with relish!
:)
Thanks for playing Keep Defending!
Tower Of Stars latest level released
The latest update (v0.71) for Keep Defending now includes the penultimate level in the game's campaign which is called: Tower Of Stars.
This is a gate defense level where you need to manage the defense of 4 gates, 1 on each side of a central tower that's being attacked from all directions.
You can place teleports around the tower to help you go from one side to another, or place a teleport at the very top if you don't mind heights! :)
This level also introduces a new ally for your defenses: the Soul Collector.
If you struggle to shoot and reap the benefits of soul orbs as they rise from slain enemies, then the Soul Collector is the ally you're looking for.
If you have enough money to afford one...
Soul Collectors can only collect soul orbs that they have line of sight to, so the best position for them is as high as possible:
There are many new enemies introduced for this level and the action in the later stages is ferocious as can be seen in this YouTube clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5eMk004ESY
The headline features in the v0.71 update are as follows:
New Tower Of Stars (Gate defense) map.
New Soul Collector ally unit.
Many new enemies.
Steam achievements and leaderboard setup for Tower Of Stars.
Fixed the player's position being set incorrectly when restarting a level after teleporting to a portal positioned higher or lower than the start portal.
Fixed the camera jitter in the level select scene.
Further improvements to the efficiency of Enemy AI.
Ally AI is much improved with melee units (knights) behaving as they should.
Ally AI is also much more efficient than before.
Teleport behaviour has been amended. Previously after teleporting you were automatically rotated to face the forward direction of the portal you'd travelled to. This was fine for all levels up until Tower Of Stars where any auto-rotation can quickly be confusing. Now when you teleport you remain in the direction you were facing before you shot the teleport.
Eagle Heights has received an optimization pass and is now much smoother on lower end hardware.
A new setting called "Disable hand switching" has been included in the Options menu for players who keep switching bow hands while playing. Note that the setting can only be set while in the level selection scene, so be sure the bow was in the correct hand before returning to the level selection scene and checking this option.
Fixed enemies freezing in mid-air when dieing.
Hint messages are now closer to the viewer (but with a smaller font) so they appear in front of UI panels.
Additional fixes and improvements.
Known Issues:
Crows are not as vicious as they should be so Mutton Valley is a little easier than normal.
With Tower Of Stars done I've got one more level to implement and the Keep Defending campaign will be complete!
Next steps will then be to add missing FX, bug-squashing, polishing, and finally further optimizing (which I've already started).
And then we can leave Early Access behind!
Thanks for playing Keep Defending!
Sand Trap new level available
The latest update (v0.60) for Keep Defending features the next level in the game's campaign which is called Sand Trap.
This is another Advance mode map/level (like Crystal Caves) that consists of four zones you must progress through before the timer runs down.
I've implemented many new enemies just for this level, as well as a new ally unit to help with your defenses: the Healing Druid. This unit replenishes the health of other allies which you can see in the short clip below:
Like Crystal Caves, the zones in Sand Trap feature more and more ally portals to manage as you progress until you're dealing with up to 24 portals in the final zone in preparation for the enemy onslaught!
The four zones total up to 20 minutes of gameplay so be sure you've got enough time to complete it before you start!
Here's another short clip from the third zone in Sand Trap:
The headline features in the v0.60 update are as follows:
New Sand Trap (Advance mode) map.
New Healing Druid ally unit.
Many new enemy and boss units.
Steam achievements and leaderboard setup for Sand Trap.
Enemy AI is much more efficient.
Fixed portal units being overwritten in Crystal Caves if the player teleports to a different portal position before progressing to the next zone.
Added additional scoreboards to Crystal Caves (and repositioned existing ones) in case player teleports to a different portal.
Reduced the possibility of ally units shooting into the air when spawned near other units (enemy or ally). Haven't removed this entirely though as it makes me chuckle! :)
Implemented varied enemy magic colors and cycle them for certain enemies.
Fixed the ally wizard firing without waiting for its reload cycle to complete.
Fixed ally knights not properly engaging with enemies attacking gates.
Fixed the ambient sound positioning of cannonballs in Salt Town Docks.
Improved the cannonball hit explosion visual FX.
Improved the wizard fireball hit explosion visual FX.
New healing buff visual effect added (activated by the Druid or shooting a green soul orb).
New healing buff audio FX implemented.
New portal spawning audio FX implemented.
New soul orb audio FX implemented.
Implemented arm-swinging locomotion method for the main menu scene and a new hint message to notify players about it.
Numerous other fixes and improvements.
Known Issues:
Ally Knights sometimes get stuck circling around a point.
You can see a longer (and better quality) video showing Sand Trap footage here on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXED652zbVA
As a usual part of my testing, I've done a play-through of all the levels to ensure I haven't introduced any breaking changes with this latest update. However, if you spot something out of place then please leave feedback in the discussion groups or by replying to this post.
Apologies for this update taking so long. Sand Trap took an age to implement which is the nature of these Advance mode levels. With four zones, Sand Trap effectively took 4 times longer to create than a normal level in Keep Defending.
Levels 9 and 10 will both be gate defense levels (fortunately) and so I'm hoping to turn these around much quicker in order to complete the campaign and release the game out of Early Access! :)
Thanks for playing Keep Defending!
Salt Town Docks new level available
This update (v0.50) for Keep Defending includes a new level called Salt Town Docks which has a number of new game features.
Salt Town Docks is a gate defense level featuring an attack on two fronts. Overwhelming numbers of enemies are approaching the town gate over land, while another force is attacking from the sea!
The enemies have acquired some pirate vessels to deliver their forces to the docks alongside the ground enemies. Even worse the ships fire cannons at your forces. A direct hit is instant death!
Fortunately you have the means to repel them. New cannon units of your own can be placed in support portals to reinforce your defenses.
Salt Town Docks has double the number of defense portals available in previous levels and so features a new wider portal interface for you to assign your allies:
With so many enemies, and allies to fight them, the resulting conflict can be furious:
Here's a list of the headline features in the v0.50 update:
New Salt Town Docks (Gate Defense mode) map.
New Cannon ally unit.
New enemy unit: Ship Transport.
Implemented support for carrier units (the Ship Transports) that can spawn other enemies when reaching a destination.
Implemented a wider portal interface to support larger maps that feature more than 12 portals (up to 32).
Steam achievements and leaderboard setup for Salt Town Docks.
Tweaks to audio sound levels for many of the FX in game.
Increased the distance that audio effects can be heard from.
Increased lighting range on Wizard fireballs and enabled shadow casting.
Fixed the crystal colours not matching their base lighting colour in Crystal Caves.
Numerous other fixes.
You can see a better quality (and longer) video showing Salt Town Docks footage here on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCTY5dJQWeM
I've done a thorough test of all the levels to make sure I haven't introduced any breaking changes with this latest update. However, if you spot something amiss then please leave feedback in the discussion groups or by replying to this post.
Thanks for playing Keep Defending! :)
State of Play and the Path to Completion
Just a quick post to say I'm between updates again as I expand the capabilities of Keep Defending to support upcoming levels.
I'm presently planning out and designing the remaining 4 levels I'm intending to feature in the main campaign of the game to complete it.
Although I'll release each level in-turn with upcoming updates, there are certain aspects of these next 4 levels that require expansion of the current game engine to handle them.
These next levels will be bigger than previous ones in the sense that I'm going to focus on the tower defense aspect of managing units to handle enemies. This is to compensate for the over-reliance on Elite archery skills (which the levels to-date have required)!
The current levels featured in Keep Defending have featured up to 12 portals for placing defenses. For levels 7 and 8, I've already doubled this to 24 portals, and for levels 9 and 10 we'll require even more - I'm planning up to 32 portals for these.
To require so many defenses, I'm intending for greater numbers of (varied) enemies to throw into the mix as well as new ally units to help you fend them off.
Once the 10 campaign levels have been finished I'll take a few weeks to polish the game and fill in missing effects (graphics and sound) to hopefully release the game in a completed state.
Development won't stop there however!
There are a number of new levels and features planned post-release as I want to make Keep Defending a challenging and content rich title for the VR audience.
If you have any questions about the above then please leave a comment or start up a discussion and I'll get back to you as soon as I see it! :)
Thanks for reading and taking part in the Early Access journey so far!
