Steamhounds version 0.4.6 has landed! What’s new you ask?
New Feature – Terrain Effects
UI improvements
Terrain Effects has been on our radar for some time, and we are excited to finally share them with you! We believe they add another layer of strategy that supports our core gameplay – we are looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
Terrain Effects
Terrain Effects are effects positioned on a tile that trigger when a character steps on them. Beneficial in some situations, and harmful in others, they can quickly turn the tide of battle if used correctly.
In our first wave of available terrain effects (more to come), we have two effects that you’ll encounter in your battles. Half Cover is defensive, mitigating incoming ranged attacks by halving their damage. Corrosion is a harmful effect that causes Poison – at the start of the character’s turn, they’ll take 5 damage.
We feel that terrain effects are an interesting addition to grid layouts. We can already see new strategies developing where positioning becomes an even more important factor in every battle. We can’t wait to see you try them out!
Tournament Announcement
We are hosting yet another Steamhounds tournament this upcoming Saturday (July 25th) 6:00pm UTC / 2:00pm ET. Prizes will include a custom in-game avatar and Steam gift cards!
Stream info: 25th July 2020, 5:30pm UTC / 1:30pm ET - Developer update with Andrew (@andrewrtrahan) 25th July 2020, 6:00pm UTC / 2:00pm ET - Live tournament coverage begins
Tournament prizes: 1st place - Custom in-game avatar, Discord role, in-game title 2nd place - £10 Steam gift card, Discord role, In-game title 3rd place - Discord role, in-game title
Steamhounds is currently in prototype phase, and right now we have a free / open playtest running via our Discord (https://discord.gg/StrayBasilisk). This is also where we'll be running tournaments!
Steamhounds version 0.4.4 “Mantel” has arrived! Here’s what’s new:
New character prototype – Character 7
Ability and balance tweaks
Bug fixes / stability improvements
Main news is that a new character prototype has landed (details can be found further below)! We are excited to have players try them out – let us know your thoughts!
New Character Prototype – Character 7
Character 7 is like the Warrior in that they perform the role of a tank. Their main stance “Sweeping Guard” is an alternate take on the Warrior’s Guard where they can guard not only the tile behind them but also to their sides, providing cover to more than one ally simultaneously. But that’s not all. They can also dish out solid damage with row based attacks which can be effective in breaking up enemies formations along rows.
While you may think they are overpowered, they have a major weakness. They are vulnerable to a stackable status effect called “Fatigue” which reduces both their physical and elemental defense by 1. They can gain Fatigue by performing certain skills or stances, and without paying close attention, their Fatigue can quickly pile up, making them susceptible to heavy damage.
This is a prototype character! There’s much to be tweaked. We are really looking forward to everyone’s feedback – please take them for a test drive, and let us know what you think!
Tournament Announcement
It's tournament time! Again, there are prizes up for grabs (such as Steam giftcards) so make sure to sign up by visiting our Discord, and dropping a message in #tournament-chat. And tune in to our Twitch channel as we stream a live coverage of the tournament and talk about the updates in the new patch!
Stream info: 27th June 2020, 5:30pm UTC / 1:30pm ET - Developer update with Andrew (@andrewrtrahan) 27th June 2020, 6:00pm UTC / 2:00pm ET - Live tournament coverage begins
Tournament prizes: 1st place - £25 Steam gift card, Discord role, in-game title 2nd place - £10 Steam gift card, Discord role, In-game title 3rd place - Discord role, in-game title
Steamhounds is currently in prototype phase, and right now we have a free / open playtest running via our Discord (https://discord.gg/StrayBasilisk). This is also where we'll be running tournaments!
Steamhounds version 0.4.2 “Lighthouse” has released today! Here are the changes:
New feature: Alternate Battlefield Layouts Ability and balance tweaks Minor bug fixes / performance improvements
Yes, we now have the ability to tweak our battlefield for different layouts! This means that the battlefield is not only restricted to a 3×3 grid, but can have rows or columns blocked off, or even have specific tiles be inaccessible. We are currently experimenting with different layouts so please help us find the most interesting ones!
New Feature: Alternate Battlefield Layouts
With the introduction of alternate battlefield layouts, certain characters may have an advantage when fighting on certain grid patterns. Take, for example, the Berserker where they may be well suited in a stage that restricts movement to only two rows – this narrows down the number of rows that can be targeted with Tunnel Vision, making that stance easier to pull off.
With this in mind, the battlefield layout for each battle will be shown while players are in the character selection screen so that characters can be chosen accordingly.
In addition to our normal layout, we currently have two alternate layouts in the game which are chosen at random when a match is created. As you may see above, the layouts basically block off a single row or column. We felt that we should start simple before it evolves into something more complicated. Please try these out yourself, and help us discover what other interesting patterns we can put in the game!
And to let you know, these new layouts will be implemented for our upcoming tournament so be ready!
Tournament Announcement
Time for another tournament! Again, there are prizes up for grabs (such as Steam giftcards) so make sure to sign up by visiting our Discord, and responding to the tournament post in our #announcement channel using an emoji or by dropping a message in #tournament-chat. And tune in to our Twitch channel as we stream a live coverage of the tournament and talk about the updates in the new patch!
Stream info: 30th May 2020, 5:30pm UTC / 1:30pm ET - Developer update with Andrew (@andrewrtrahan) 30th May 2020, 6:00pm UTC / 2:00pm ET - Live tournament coverage begins
Tournament prizes: 1st place - £25 Steam gift card, Discord role, in-game title 2nd place - £10 Steam gift card, Discord role, In-game title 3rd place - Discord role, in-game title
Steamhounds is currently in prototype phase, and right now we have a free / open playtest running via our Discord (https://discord.gg/StrayBasilisk). This is also where we'll be running tournaments!
We just dropped the first big patch in a while for our game, Steamhounds! Here's a breakdown of the updates:
New character prototype - "Character 6"
Ability and balance tweaks
Bug fixes / performance improvements
The main update here is the introduction of a new character: Prototype 6 (name not permanent =P). This is part of the team’s effort to start dropping new content every few weeks for players to try out. So be on the lookout for more content in the weeks to come...
New Character Prototype: Character 6
The new charcter's main tactic revolves around a skill called “Place Totem”, which drops an object onto an enemy tile. This object can then be manipulated to deal damage and inflict debuffs on nearby targets.
One major bonus to this skill is that the object will block enemies from occupying the tile that it’s placed on. We're interested to see what players will do with this, and how it'll affect positioning in play, or be used to disrupt enemy formations. We'd also love to hear any feedback people have about the concept!
Tournament Announcement
We're also trying something else new - running regular developer streams and tournaments! We'd love to have people take part, and we also have a bunch of prizes (like Steam credit) lined up.
Stream info: 2nd May 2020, 5:30pm UTC / 1:30pm ET - Developer update with Andrew (@andrewrtrahan) 2nd May 2020, 6:00pm UTC / 2:00pm ET - Live tournament coverage begins
Tournament prizes: 1st place - £25 Steam gift card, Discord role, in-game title 2nd place - £10 Steam gift card, Discord role, In-game title 3rd place - Discord role, in-game title
Steamhounds is currently in prototype phase, and right now we have a free / open playtest running via our Discord (https://discord.gg/StrayBasilisk). This is also where we'll be running tournaments!
