Hey there Billies! "Jolly Edition" seasonal content is now active in TWBI. For the most part the changes are aesthetic (a new addition may change that in the coming weeks). Feel free to fire up the game and discover things for yourself (ensure that Seasonal Content is set to "auto" on the Options page), or check out the list of changes below:
All bullets are replaced with snowballs
Dust clouds are white
Red ink (ie 'blood') is replaced with white ink (ie 'snow'!)
Helmets are replaced with Santa hats
Smoke is red, white, or green
Rockets leave behind glitter instead of smoke
Grenades explode into glitter instead of fire
Rainy weather is replaced by snow
Some aesthetic changes to main menu
It's time to get jolly*!
*or not; you can disable seasonal content on the game options page. Humbug.
Beta 3.0 - Now with lasers!
Ahoy there, Catptains!
There is a good bit going on in this update. I’ll get into the details of the bigger parts of the update before getting to the change log down below. Here we go!
New Unit: Zaponeer!
The Zaponeer is a new combat unit with some pretty state-of-the-stick-art gear. First off, the Zaponeer sports a nifty new laser rifle, which is a pretty steady weapon (low movement & recoil penalty, not affected by wind) with slightly shorter range than the standard rifle but with more ammo capacity and dealing more damage. The Zaponeer starts with armour (30% damage reduction) as a ground soldier and can be equipped with a jetpack using training points on the Barracks page. I’ve updated unit AI so that non-player troops, including the Zaponeer and T-Rex, will now use jetpacks. Watch out for that dino smash! Right now the jetpack is the only unlock for the Zaponeer, but more abilities are on their way.
Campaign Customization
Campaigns now track stats separately, so units and abilities unlocked in one campaign won’t necessarily be available in another. For the existing Beta & Alpha campaigns, if they are already in progress, data is duplicated where it’s currently at and branched from there. This separation will make it easier to balance progression within a campaign and also works better with other campaign customization. For instance, Campaigns now have a unique set of units that show up on the Barracks page. In the upcoming Campaign Editor, there will be something along the lines of a list of units with checkboxes to enable them in the campaign. There is also a little info sheet on the main menu that gives a quick description and difficulty level of the current campaign.
Tutorial Campaign
It’s been a long time coming, but there are now the beginnings of a tutorial campaign in the game to help ease in new players. At present the campaign consists of just one mission (covering movement, rolling, running, stamina, exhaustion), but more are on their way. The tutorial mission makes use of a new map customization code system that will also be used to create more variability in other missions.
Call Medic/Backup
Have you ever had a superstar unit ranked up to the max but badly wounded and no medics nearby? Well now you can call for a medic (‘M’ on keyboard, d-pad down on gamepad) and the nearest medic will come to your aid. Similarly, you can call for backup (‘B’ on keyboard, d-pad up on gamepad) and the nearest combat unit will come to your aid (unless they have the “hold position” behaviour). Calling for backup can be done repeatedly and each time the next nearest comrade will come to your aid.
High(er) Definition Art
This process was started previously with updating weapon sprites, but I’ve carried on to update all unit sprites and trees. It is a subtle effect, but it gives the units a less pixelated look, especially when zoomed in. Here is the old vs. the new:
vs.
Shocking! Right?
New Missions
There are three new beta campaign missions featuring the new Zaponeer unit: “Zaponeer!”, “Blast ’em”, and “Rugged Country”. Check ’em out!
What's next?
Well, there is a lot in the works, but, most immediately, something jolly this way cometh…
Changelog
New Features & Content
New Unit: Zaponeer! Laser rifle infantry with armour and a(n unlockable) jetpack
Created new Tutorial campaign, so far consisting of one mission on walking, running, rolling, stamina, etc
Added “Campaign Details” note to main menu page, listing active campaign name, difficulty, description, and units
Added new player ability: Call medic
Added new player ability: Call backup
Added three new missions to Beta campaign: “Zaponeers!”, “Blast ’em”, & “Rugged Country”
Added new ‘MCODES’ to map files: allows for greater customization to maps down the road
Added stats for Zaponeer
Added Zaponeer to Quick Battle page
Added seasonal content to unlock soon…
Changes & Enhancements
Unit progress and campaign stats are now tracked separately for each campaign
Doubled resolution and fidelity of all unit art & animations, including T-Rex
Doubled resolution of trees
Shifted positioning and eliminated gaps between unit spawn icons over barracks (in battle)
Added a “max height” value to jetpack units; climb speed now slows when approaching this height
AI: Flying (ie jetpack) units now fly when approaching target or attacking
AI: Flying units no longer try to seek cover
Increased speed boost of jetpack
Changed order and spacing of main menu items
Stamina bar is now drawn for non-player units
Changed the default campaign for new games to “Tutorial”
Optimized code around how wind affects projectiles
Legs can now have an armour rating (as with Zaponeer)
Customized text that shows up on Missions page is based on the active campaign
Units available in a campaign are now customizable and dynamically loaded (hard-coded for built-in campaigns)
Modified engineer helmet sprite
Bug Fixes
Fixed bug where Assault & RPG units were using ancient alternate torso sprites
Shells now fall from the proper height for jetpacking units
Legs & head of flying units no longer separate when rising or falling
Units exploding in the air no longer leave a crater
Flying units will no longer collide with ground units
Fixed bug where ‘dust’ left by bullets was sometimes the incorrect colour
0.2.4 - Flagpoles, Fixes, Pricing, and New Content!
Hey hey ho ho!
Spooky season is over. On to new things!
Flagpoles and Capturing Buildings
First off, you may notice in this update that buildings now have a happy little flagpole next to them, like such: By simply running up to a flagpole, any player-controlled, ranked unit (rank 1 and up) will automatically lower or raise a flag. If the building is the same team as the unit, the flag will be raised. If it is an enemy flag, it will be lowered. Rank increases the range and speed of raising and lowering a flag. Once an enemy flag is fully lowered, it and the building next to it will be converted to the active player’s team, and the flag can then be raised back up. This new mechanic adds an extra level of strategy to the game, and there is a new campaign mission, “Outnumbered”, that relies on this new tactic. In addition to affecting who owns a building, the flag height determines how quickly units will spawn (Barracks) or abilities will become ready (HQ). Building health now affects spawn rates as well, and spawn rate is weighted 50/50 for flag height and building health.
Pricing
There Will Be Ink is a one person project and my first (soonish-to-be) completed game. I started work on it in September of 2018, and the original plan was to keep it to a six month development period and release it for a low price, as a test run of sorts. As is usually the case, things took longer than expected (work on the game has been part time, as I need to keep my day jobs to pay the bills) and the scope went well beyond the initial simple concept. I’ve grown to love the game and there is still a lot more planned for it (more on that coming soon). The main feature I plan to add for the version 1 release is the in-game Campaign Editor, which will enable the stringing together of missions into campaigns and for greater customization of missions. It will also serve as a foundation for some of the other new features planned. The game currently sells for $4.99 USD. I will likely slowly ramp up the price as we near version 1.0, with the price finally settling around $9.99 USD. I think this is a reasonable price for what the game offers. It’s certainly not enough to make the game a financially sustainable project (I calculated my earnings so far to be about a nickel per hour, yikes), but I work on this game only because I love it (the game and the work) and want it to be the best it can be.
Anyhoozle, back to fun things! Aside from the new flagpole/conversion mechanic and new mission, the latest update also includes a new ability, a river variation, Quick Battle improvements, and several bug fixes. Check out the full list below:
New Features
Flagpoles – Buildings now have a flagpole next to them, which can be lowered and raised by player-controlled, ranked units
Once the flag of an enemy building has been fully lowered, the player takes control of that building
Hi-Tech Ability, “Ammo Regeneration” – Ammo slowly regenerates for player-controlled units
Added HQ to Quick Battle options
New campaign mission, “Outnumbered” – It’s a tricky one
Added river variation, “River 2b” – Horizontal mirror of “River 2”
Changes & Enhancements
Barracks & HQ unit/ability spawn rates are now affected by building health and flag height
Quick battles/random maps now include a single Rifle unit for each side by default
Destroyed buildings are now in the proper team colour
When determining where to lay mines, Engineers will no longer consider medics performing healing to find out where battle fronts are located
Seasonal Content in Options menu is now listed as “Auto” when enabled instead of “On”
Bug Fixes
Fixed bug where game crashed when resuming from pause after game paused due to controller unplug
Fixed bug where not all objects were properly paused when controller unplugged or Steam overlay brought up
Fixed bug where battle progress state was not properly saved/loaded when restarting a mission after winning
Fixed bug where mission progress was not properly saved when achieving victory in Sim mode after winning in Arcade mode
Fixed bug where player could no longer join as B-team after achieving victory on a level
Fixed bug where player could join as B-team when having achieved victory on a level in a different game mode
Fixed bug where Engineers would sometimes face the wrong direction when moving or performing actions
Halloween Sale, Random Maps, Quick Battles, Spooky Edition!
There Will Be Ink is now 20% off as part of the Steam Halloween sale! In addition to that, there is a new update for the game, featuring quick battles & random maps, overheating, and more! Be sure to check out the game before the end of the month if you'd like to see some of the spooky edition content.
Quick Battle / Random Maps
The main new addition to this version of the game is the new "Quick Battle" option from the main menu. On the Quick Battle page, players can move sliders for the amount of trees and rocks and toggle barracks count and unit spawns. From there the game uses the provided parameters to generate a random map and then launches into battle. Upon exiting the battle, the player is taken to the map editor, where they can edit and save the map if they like. The customization options are somewhat limited in this early version of the randomizer (rivers also appear randomly, but a slider will likely be added for those too), but it's off to a good start for players wanting to jump into a unique battle without taking the time to manually lay out a map. As with the map editor, the Quick Battle page only works with mouse & keyboard controls at present (though you can back out of it with gamepad using the 'select' key)
HMG Overheating
A new mechanic has been added to the game in the form of overheating. Right now this affects only the heavy machine gun (HMG), which is still a little (intentionally) overpowered, but a little less so than before. Once a player starts firing the HMG, a little thermometer will pop up showing the current temperature of the weapon. If the HMG overheats, the player will have to wait a cooldown period until the weapon is usable again. There are of course little heat lines that come off the HMG when it has overheated. Fret not though, the performance of the HMG can be improved with three new heat-related unlockable abilities on the Barracks page:
Low Friction Rounds - Reduces the amount of heat generated per shot by 30%
Water Cooling - Reduces the overheat recovery time by 40%
Heat Dissipation - General cooldown speed of the HMG is increased by 30%
So far AI is responsible enough not to overheat the HMG, but maybe it shouldn't be. Maybe it shouldn't be. Also I may experiment with adding overheating to other weapons in hardcore mode, just to be cruel.
In addition to the new HMG abilities, there is also a new Rifle Infantry ability called "Hand-ye-down", which, when unlocked, allows a Rifle unit to (automatically) hand off their remaining magazines to a nearby friendly Rifle unit. Those are all the big changes. Check out the list below for the full change log. Going forward, I have more ideas than ever for the game. Who's to say what will come next! (Probably more missions)
New Features
Quick Battles & Random Maps - Allows the player to select tree & rock quantity plus barracks count and unit spawns. Randomly generated map can then be edited in map editor
HMG Overheating - The HMG will now overheat when fired in rapid succession for a period of time
HMG Ability - Low Friction Rounds
HMG Ability - Water Cooling
HMG Ability - Heat Dissipation
Rifle Ability - Hand-ye-down
Changes & Enhancements
Option mini-menus for units/barracks/etc on Map Editor now slide to the left when at right edge of page to remain visible
Added "Error loading map" message to Map Editor when there is an error loading a map (previously crashed game) - Note: This should only happen if a map file has been tampered with or sometimes when trying to load a map made with a newer version of the game than the version trying to load the map
Balance: Increased point cost of "Grenade Satchel" rifle infantry ability from 2 to 4
Created slightly louder, higher pitched sound for mine ticking
Bug Fixes
Fixed bug where player could not advance missions when losing if battle was previously won
Fixed bug where smoke was being drawn behind rocks
Game Update 0.2.2.0 - Run Through The (Spooky) Jungle
Another week, another update!
The focus this time is on general improvements along with a bit of new content, including a new campaign mission, a new river variation, and new animations and art. Cover now plays a little more differently, in that a bullet is less likely to hit a cover object (sandbag, rock, etc) when nobody is behind it. In a further attempt to set expectations for the game’s difficulty (and to notify players of Arcade mode and unlocking abilities on the Barracks page), I’ve also added an intro/disclaimer page that will show one time at game launch, including for existing saves. I’ve also made Arcade mode a little more arcade-y.
Check out the full list of changes below. Pew pew!
New Features
New campaign mission, “Run Through The Jungle”. This is a full-on battle in a wooded area with a forking river running through
New river variation added to map editor
Added “Go To Barracks” option to end-of-battle screen and pause menu
Added “Ctrl + R” to “Controls” page – can be used to quick-restart a battle
Added new alternate sprites for applicable weapons for when they are out of ammo (eg rifle missing clip)
Added a reload animation. Can be used to tell when an enemy unit is reloading
Added intro/disclaimer page that is displayed once, advising the player that TWBI is a difficult game but that Arcade mode can be enabled from the Options page for a more casual experience
Changes & Enhancements
In Arcade mode, all units start with a base evasion of -100%. This effectively makes it so that all bullets on a collision course with a unit will hit their target. No more narrow misses. Sim & Hardcore modes remain as before.
Adjusted the base cover vs. bonus cover for sandbags, rocks, etc to be weighted more towards bonus cover. This means that a cover object provides less cover than before on its own and more when a unit is hiding behind it. This is meant to simulate units shooting over top of objects when their true target is farther away.
Increased the collision-box size of crates, making them easier to activate (eg in the case of resupplying ammo)
A sound now plays when selecting new abilities on the Barracks page
Pressing ‘Esc’ from a battle launched from the map editor now surrenders by default instead of bringing up the pause menu
Bug Fixes
Fixed crash bug that would sometimes occur when switching units (using number keys) after a battle was over
Fixed bug where weapons were drawn behind player highlighter
Game Update 0.2.1.0 - Spooky Edition!
There Will Be Ink, so spooky right now.
Spooky Content
I've added some seasonal content, as it were, to the latest update. For the remainder of October, you may notice the following changes while playing TWBI:
All units (except T-Rex) have pumpkins for heads
All helmets are replaced with pumpkin stems
All trees are burnt out
All units emit a ghost when killed
Red ink (ie blood) is replaced with orange ink (uh, pumpkin juice?)
Some aesthetic changes to the main menu
If those things aren't to your liking, simply disable "Seasonal Content" from the options menu. But that's not all that's new!
Pause Menu
I've also added a new pause menu. Whereas previously exiting a battle would destroy all friendly units, the player can now choose to surrender (saving results towards towards unit upgrades etc) or exit (without saving results).
Weapon Art Rework
All weapon and tool art has been given an upgrade to double the resolution, for a less pixelated look, which I think works better with the hand-drawn theme of the game. Here is a side-by-side look at the old (not spooky) and the new (spooky):
The plan is to upgrade player and terrain art as well.
Pro Tips
The most common feedback that I get about TWBI is that it is very difficult and that some of the game mechanics aren't clear. To address this, I've added a new "Tips" page to the main menu that explains such things as Rank, Cover, Evasion, Weapon Accuracy, and Stamina. The game remains difficult, but hopefully the new "Tips" page helps get players on the right track, at least until I can get a proper tutorial in place.
In addition to the major items above, several smaller tweaks, enhancements, and changes were made, and many a bug were blasted into oblivion (aaand possibly some new ones have turned up, who's to say!). Cheerio!
Game Update 0.2.0.0 - Hardcore Mode!
Commanderfaces!
There is a new update available for There Will Be Ink. It involves some neat things like a new “Hardcore” game mode, land mines, cover adjustments, a new campaign mission, and a general rebalance. This update seemed significant enough to bump the version up to beta 2.0. Here we go!
“Hardcore” Mode
Many aspects of the game are adjusted in Hardcore mode. It’s probably easiest to write them out in a list:
All units start with 1 health and 50% of usual stamina
All units start with -10% evasion
Bullets are no longer visible
Sight lines and “aiming cones” are no longer visible (sight cursor remains visible), except for snipers, who retain faint sight line
Enemy spawn rates (in Barracks) are doubled
Enemy units can activate powerup crates (eg. T-Rex!)
Enemy units also get “Basic Training” ability once it is unlocked (making them more accurate, smarter about taking cover, etc)
Upon passing a mission in Hardcore mode, missions are labelled with a red star sticker (to join silver & gold stickers for Arcade/Sim victories)
The gif above shows the HMG in action in Hardcore mode (the grey sight cursor is jumping all about due to recoil). In testing things out, I found Hardcore mode to be a pretty good challenge. It’s generally easier to get kills, but also easier to die. There are also a lot more enemies to face with the doubled spawn rate. Further adjustments will likely be made once more testing has been done.
Rebalance
While playing around with Hardcore mode, I discovered that the game was actually more fun when units had less health. Who knew! As a result, I’ve reduced all unit health from between 25-30 down to between 8 and 12. Most weapons do between 8-12 damage, and now there is a modifier of +/- 2 points each hit, to add some variability. The result is that many more hits than before are lethal, making cover even more important. On the topic of cover, units now gain a cover bonus when next to cover (sandbag, rock, etc). The bonus is 5% when standing and 10% when prone. As a result of the hit point reduction, body armour (30% damage reduction for Assault Infantry) and the Longevity ability (+1 hp every 10 seconds for player-controlled units) become more significant. In order to make Medics and Engineers more effective and worthwhile to play as, each now heals/repairs/constructs 50% more hp when player-controlled. All player-controlled units now also get an evasion bonus of 10%. I’ve also added a new Medic ability, “Fortify”, which gives Medics the ability to grant allies a 10% armour bonus.
Mines
Engineers can now lay mines once the “Mine Deployer” ability is unlocked. Once a unit comes within a close proximity to a mine, there is a brief delay and then the mine goes off (there is a ticking sound during the delay, during which time it is advisable to roll to safety!). Friendly mines are visible, while enemy mines are not. During a vs. multiplayer match all mines are visible. Additional abilities unlocked once “Mine Deployer” has been enabled include “Mine Sweeping” (enemy mines become permanently visible once an engineer gets near to them), “Mine Defusion” (Engineers will remove hostile mines), and “Mine Recapture” (defused mines are added to the Engineer’s mines). To deploy mines, simply swap weapons with the engineer. Non-player controlled Engineers will lay minefields on their own behind battle fronts.
Graphical Tweaks
For the sake of thematic consistency, player highlights are now, well, highlights instead of circles. That’s to say they look like a little scribble done with a highlighter instead of just a circle. I’ve also replaced smoke (from fires, explosions, RPG trails, etc) with little clouds that look drawn instead of the more realistic looking dark clouds of yore. They do indeed seem to fit better, despite being less fancy, though I have some scaling issues yet to work out.
Those are the main changes for this update. I’ve also added a new campaign mission, “Hold Steady”, which features the HMG and is more of a continuation of the previous mission, “The Retreat”, though it plays quite differently. For more info on smaller items, check out the complete list below. As for what’s next, there are many things in the queue, including more campaign missions, additional rebalancing, more unit types and abilities, additional graphic variations, new music, a “Tips” page, a random map generator (for quick battles), a campaign editor, possibly some Halloween themed content, and who knows what else! Please let me know if you have any questions or comments. I’m curious to hear how people find the rebalance and the new Hardcore mode.
New Features
New Game Mode: “Hardcore!” (details above)
Mines – Can be deployed by the engineer once unlocked
Cover Bonus – Cover objects (sandbags, rocks, trees, etc) now provide more cover when a unit is next to them: 5% when standing, 10% when prone
Engineer Ability: Mine Sweeping – Allows Engineers to flag hostile mines
Medic Ability: Fortify – Allows Medics to give their comrades a 10% armour bonus
New Campaign Map: “Hold Steady”
Added end-of-battle stats for “Mines Defused” and “Damage Repaired” (Tab on keyboard or d-pad left/right will switch stat pages at end of battle)
Changes & Enhancements
Rebalanced hp and damage values for all units and most weapons
Added a red ‘H’ star sticker for missions completed in Hardcore mode
Modified star sticker placement and varied their angle for a more natural look (the outcome provided me much more joy than it probably should have)
Player-controlled Medics & Engineers now heal/repair 50% more health/damage than do their non player-controlled counterparts
Player-controlled units are now granted a 10% evasion bonus
Created a new “highlighter scribble” for player-controlled units
Created new art for smoke, to match doodle-style art
T-Rex powerup now granted at 1% chance for first 1,000 kills (same as before) and 0.1% for each additional 1,000 kill (instead of 1% for each additional thousand)
“Mines Defused” now count towards Engineer ability points
Building construction now counts towards “Damage Repaired” stat (and in turn goes towards Engineer ability points)
HMG points are now granted at a rate of 1 per 200 kills instead of 1 per 100
Bug Fixes
Engineers will now rank up during battle based on damage repaired & mines defused
Fixed bug where units would sometimes get non-stop Longevity powerup at the end of countdown style missions
Fixed bug where crates were sometimes activated while they were parachuting in
Game Update - 0.1.2.0
Hey There!
First off, thank you to everyone who has checked out There Will Be Ink! Thank you also to those who have provided feedback. It is much appreciated. TWBI is still 20% off until tomorrow (Friday) at 10AM PST.
There is new game update available featuring some tweaks around co-op play, a new campaign mission, a new ability, some new game options, and a few bug fixes and other tweaks. Check out the full changelog below!
New Features
Campaign Map: The Retreat
Unit Ability: Athletics - increases stamina regeneration by 30% for all units
Game Option - HQ Ability Deployment: Can be cycled to be manual/player-controlled (default) or automatic
Game Option - Super Powerups: On by default, but can be disabled in order to remove balance-tipping powerups, like the T-Rex
Added "longest kill streak" to end-of-match stats
Added a new crater variation
Changes & Enhancements
HQ icons display in player colour when player is in the HQ
Exiting a battle (Esc or select/back on gamepad) now destroys all friendly units & buildings
This shows match stats and also saves campaign progress (for campaign missions) when quitting mid-battle
Power-rolling (in Sim mode) can now lead to exhaustion
"Longest Streak" stat now tracks how long a player lasts without any unit currently controlled by them dying
Notification icon now pops up over ammo crates when players resupply
Game camera now takes into account whether a gamepad-controlled player is pointing the right analog stick
This helps reduce the amount by which the camera cycles away from the battle in cases where a player is resupplying etc
Balance: T-Rex powerup now unlocks after 1,000 kills (can still be placed in map editor)
"Rarr" sound plays when a T-Rex crate is spawned
T-Rex will only spawn after first two minutes of a battle
Added medical crate to map editor
Corpse shadows are now slightly lighter (for airborne units)
Yellow mini-notes on Barracks page now show other notes stacked underneath when more than one page is available
Bug Fixes
Crash when unlocking ammo & medical crate powerups (hotfix released shortly after beta 1.1)
Crash when player would enter HQ when no abilities have been unlocked or assigned to HQ
"Basic Training" ability was not granting full magazine capacity at start of mission
Gamepad-controlled player would automatically select ability when entering HQ
Sidearm max clips now also increases with rank
Camera now zooms all the way out when a player enters the HQ when there is more than one player
"Longest streak" now ignores first two seconds of pre-battle time
There Will Be Ink - Out Now On Early Access!
Hello there!
There Will Be Ink is now available on Steam Early Access! In addition to the release, a new update has just been rolled out, Beta 1.1, with some interesting new features, enhancements, and fixes. Oh, and there is a new music track, featured in the brand new trailer. Check it out on the store page!
The game is still very much in development, so please send all comments, bug reports, ideas, and insults to hi@summitfevergames.com, or post in the community forums, sure!
Alright, on to the update...
Team Colours
Team colours can now be adjusted in the map editor using a set of sliders, one each for hue, saturation, and luminosity. This allows for a little more creativity and customization. Along the same line, I plan to add alternate paper and background types as well.
T-Rex
I’ve had it in my mind for a long time to add a T-Rex with a jetpack and an uzi to the game, why not? At last, the day has come! I haven’t quite decided whether to make the T-Rex a full time, regular unit or not, so for the time being [SPOILER ALERT] it comes in the form of a mysterious crate powerup. The T-Rex is unlocked once the player defeats 100 enemies. From that point on, with each kill there is a 1% chance (plus an additional 1% for every 1,000 campaign kills) for a T-Rex crate to drop. The T-Rex has a lot of health and is equipped with an uzi (new). Instead of going prone, the T-Rex has a jetpack (obviously), which uses up stamina. If the T-Rex falls from high enough, it will create a shockwave that damages nearby troops, enemy or friend (and a crater is left if there is enough force).
Campaign Progress
Campaign progress now tracks whether a mission has been completed in Arcade mode or Sim mode, with a silver ‘A’ star for the former and a gold ‘S’ star for the latter. Completing a mission in either mode will unlock the next. For now the stickers are mostly for bragging rights, but I may introduce unlocks (powerups etc) or achievements based on them in the future.
Other… Things
Here also are some other things!
New music track: “Paratrooper Glide”. A shorter version of the song is featured in the new trailer
New terrain: small rock. It is a small rock
Two new campaign maps: “Betrayal on the Banks”, and “Storm a Comin'”
I also reworked most of the text for the existing campaign missions
New map filenames in the Editor now have a number suffixed to them, to avoid overwriting any maps that the player forgot to give a file name
Weapon sight position is now affected by recoil (in sim mode) when playing with the mouse. The sight makes its way back to the mouse location more quickly with unit rank
Gamepad aim is no longer affected by recoil in Arcade mode
Reduced base evasion of all units to 0, making them easier to hit (don’t forget to use cover!). Evasion still goes up by 5% with each rank increase
There is now a slight delay in handing over controls to a new unit after a player-unit dies, to reduce the occurrence of accidentally thrown grenades (this used to happen a lot to me)
The player indicator now flares up in size when control changes to a new unit, to make the location of the new unit more obvious
Multiplayer: Players are now re-assigned to new units in the order they were killed (instead of player one first, player two second, etc)
New sounds for Magazine Hyperexpansion and Longevity powerups
New weapon: Uzi! Though only the T-Rex has access to (a larger version of) it at the moment
Many smaller enhancements, changes, and bug fixes
Up Next…
I’ve got a lot of ideas in queue, and much work to be done on what’s already there, but I’ll also be listening closely to player feedback to address any issues and possibly implement any new ideas that fit with the game. As mentioned, please get in touch with any feedback or bug reports. I’d also love to play any maps that players might make (typically found at %localappdata%\ThereWillBeInk\Maps\). An in-game campaign editor is planned, but please get in touch if you'd like to know the current out-of-game way to string campaigns together.
Thanks, everyone!
Early Access Release - Sept. 6th!
Good news, everyone!
There Will Be Ink is being released on Steam Early Access one week from today, on Sept. 6th. There are some exciting new things coming to the game. T-Rex with a jetpacks and an uzis are one of those things, obviously!
vs. 
