This should be the final substantial update before merging the outstanding beta changes into the standard release. You can opt into these changes from the Betas section of the game's properties in your Steam library. I expect I may have a few fixes or tweaks to make before the merge to standard, but there are no significant to-do items remaining on my beta list.
Sorry, again, for such a prolonged beta period; there is a lot in here that is sorely missing from the standard release, and I hope to correct that soon. Thank you for your continued support and patience ːtotcordialː!
What's New?
This is mostly a bunch of adjustments to the codex and other UI elements, but there are also (mostly) minor cosmetic changes to several characters, floors, and effects. Most notably, the Mangler and Conflagrator construct minions have been renamed and redesigned; they are now the "Jacked Hammer" and "Fryborg," respectively. I wanted the names to fall in line with the portmanteaus or wordplay of other construct names (like T-Wrecker or Dobermech), and I wanted their visual design to feel more distinctive than just "robotic human." "Mangler" always felt kind of generic, and "Conflagrator" was an awkward mouthful.
There are some bug fixes, too, and the biggest one is a longstanding matching glitch, where you could kind of scramble the mouse around really fast and get the game to swap tiles mid-move. I guess you could sort of cheat this way, but it wasn't very controllable; it was just sloppy that it was possible, and now it should be resolved.
Changelog
Changes:
Characters now have a subtle outline in the codex
Codex has a new cover, which appears when it is dismissed from the screen
Several characters received coloration fixes or improvements, some new accessories (cultists, pirate-types, deep ones, and bards, for sure--probably others)
Something like a net 100 new names/honorifics were added
Performance improvements, so hopefully the game can continue to run on toasters
Renames and makeovers for the Mangler and Conflagrator
Some characters probably received small stat tweaks, but I'll call out the Forest Spirit for a swap to a caster type unit with a corruption debuff
The fog on the surface should now share assets with the same effect on other floors--it's a different style from before
Smoke particles are less stylized than before; the old particles have felt out-of-place for some time, and I finally swapped them out
When a controller is in use, the cursor is no longer rendered until the mouse is used
Fixes:
Corrected a matching glitch where the grabbed tile could swap mid-move
Clicking grayed entries in codex should go to their unlock page
Floor previews were conflicting with the hoard cover at the bottom of the dungeon
Corrupted character coloration/corruption drip were no longer applying correctly
Corrections to XBox controller mapping
Navigating character cards with a controller encountered multiple nuisances
[Beta] 2022.04.21 - Codex Revamp
(No new floors, just some new art.)
Beta
This is a continuation of the long-running beta branch. You can opt into these changes from the Betas section of the game's properties in your Steam library.
I'm sorry. I know, it hasn't been updated in nearly three years--I can't even bring myself to check how long it's been since the last standard release. It's terrifying.
The good news is that this update represents the last chunk of changes I expect to include in this beta phase before standardizing the branch. I will allow some time to gather feedback, make a few more improvements (e.g., a few tooltips still require updating, balance may need tweaking) and fixes. There'll likely be a minor release or two to address any issues, and then I plan to push these changes out to everyone.
Codex
The biggest changes in this release revolve around the in-game codex, which has received a complete face-lift. This was partly necessitated by a move away from the game's tiniest fonts, which have been completely eliminated. The still-small-but-hopefully-more-legible outlined font has also been adjusted to have generally larger lower-case characters. The various icons used to represent almost everything have also gained an entire pixel in height, and maybe that will help with readability, too.
There's definitely still room for improvement, and on many pages, you can see there's a fair amount of unused real-estate, so I hope to maybe include session stats, fold-out floor trees, or other interesting elements that are a bit more possible now.
Other Changes
The rest of the changelog is all over the place. There were a bunch of random art and flavor updates, and several important fixes (4K and controller issues) that are long overdue. Some floor prerequisites changed, new traits were added, and UI behavior and effects were altered in places. My notes say that at some point in the last three years, I fixed this little corner issue: And I had completely forgotten about it. Do you see it? Maybe it's unnoticeable, but I think it's awesome, and I'm sorry I made everyone wait so long for it.
Changelog
Additions:
New Codex
New traits: Fey (elves, dark elves, sprites, gnomes), Giantblood (ogres, trolls, half-giants, giant rats/spiders), Earthly (humans, dwarves), and Flora (essentially unused so far)--I'm setting up these groups for more future effects
Changes:
The two tiniest fonts in the game (a plain single-pixel font, and a sort of scrawly handwritten variant) have been completely removed
The game's standard font and its double-resolution variant have both been modified to have taller lower-case characters and sometimes wider characters where the fonts felt overly compressed
Nearly all icons have gained a pixel in height, to bring them in line with the font height
Several pieces of floor art have been altered or improved; the most significant is probably the Undercroft
When resources were very low with a large cap, the meter could appear empty, but now you will always see at least a sliver when you have some of a given resource
Removed references to the heroes' motive system, which still technically exists, but is very nebulous and will eventually be phased out
Improved dump details
A lot of flavor text updates
Renamed Coffers to "Treacherous Treasury" and adjusted Belfry to "Bellowing Belfry"
If polling for new controllers takes too long, controller support will be automatically disabled to prevent the game from hanging every time it looks for controllers
Simplified floor requirements; a floor can have no more than two prerequisites and can have no alternative prerequisites. The latter change results in some floors no longer being accessible to some paths: Belfry, Undercroft, Guildhall, Rookery, and Attic are most impacted.
Battle Balm damage buff only applies to allied melee units now
Giant Rat gained another point of agility
Some Hoard effects, such as bobbing items or the various sparkles that erupt from collected tiles, are no longer affected by pausing
Fixes:
Pixel scaling was capped at 4x, which meant the game did not scale well to 4K displays; now theoretically extends to 64x
Controller disablement via the game's advanced config file wasn't working as expected
Several character coloration and animation issues: elf bard jank, minotaur's axe, brood sister's legs, etc.
Film grain effect doesn't pause in menus
Punji no longer lists a defensive save in its description (this mechanic was removed in a previous beta update)
"Bad color" exception could occur when player names included bracketed words
XBox One controllers that didn't contain "One" in their reported name would use the wrong mapping
Option menu bars weren't all using the same pattern
Outlines on the hoard were missing a corner pixel on "L"-shaped regions
Several scrolling/grabbing issues involving the character/floor buttons or trying to scroll on the surface level--just trying to make things feel more intuitive here
The cycling arrows that appear on the Hoard would become faster or slower based on how many instances of the effect were in play
[Beta] 2019.06.23 - Threatening Throne
Beta
This is a beta release that you can opt into from the game's properties in your Steam library. Beta releases include new mechanics or significant changes that require testing and refinement before they can be made standard.
Raw Damage
I am introducing a new mechanic called "raw" damage, which is a damage modifier (and not a new type of damage) that ignores standard defenses (but not firm defense or immunity). Raw damage is indicated by a flashing damage icon.
Traps and damage-dealing items now exclusively deal raw damage types. This makes these damage sources slightly less effective, because previously, they ignored all defense (except immunity). For traps, this has been offset by the removal of trap saves, where each trap had a designated type of defense that ignored that trap.
Replacing their current behavior, weaknesses now convert all incoming damage of the indicated type into raw damage of that type. This definitely makes weaknesses more impactful, but because characters gain firm defense as they level, their weaknesses diminish with advancement.
The goal of these changes is to replace a handful of poorly explained mechanics (Why did trap and item damage ignore defenses? Where do you view trap saves? What do weaknesses really mean?) with a single, more visible mechanic.
I had started to go down the route of having characters gain raw damage as they level, but I felt it was a little unintuitive. However, the mechanic may offer another thing for items, abilities, or banners to play with in the future.
Tooltips
All tooltips have been moved to a single tooltip bar at the bottom of the screen. One recurring and very reasonable category of criticism I hear from players is that the game is too busy, and the tooltips constantly popping up and changing right next to the mouse cursor felt like part (though certainly not all) of the problem.
Additionally, many icons throughout tooltips and in the codex are now grouped in threes when they appear adjacent to other icons of the same category. This helps compress large amounts of icons, and also makes them easier to count quickly.
All of the tooltips now appear on a single line, and in a few places, this meant trimming down the content. If there is any information you would like to see in the tooltips (whether it was there before or not), or you have any other feedback on this subject, I would love to hear it!
Miscellany
There's a new floor with an Orc Warlord; the appearance of a certain floor element is such that it would have been more timely about a month ago, but whatever. The Warlord is tough and he buffs physical damage on melee units, so he's pretty useful, if not so unique. There are a lot of goblin path floors now--I'll try to move away from that for a bit.
Now that everyone has just a single attack, everyone's been given either a Ranged (this one was in the last update), Melee, or Caster trait. Some abilities have been altered to leverage these new traits.
There have been some pacing changes to combat, to make it easier to follow how damage is being applied. A more deliberate pace means longer battles, which has balance implications. As always, let me know how the game feels to you.
I also added a simple scanline filter; it could use some improvement, but considering the game's other graphical filters, this seemed like a glaring omission.
Over such a long span of time, there have been other assorted modifications going on; I've included the nature of those changes below, but most of these are minor elements that haven't been closely tracked (such as individual pieces of art revision or character stat changes).
What's Next?
I didn't want to address this up front, but if you've been following the game for a long while, you may have noticed that it's been an entire frickin' year since the last update. And that update was also a beta; I don't even dare look at the timestamp on the last real update--the shame is too great.
I don't want to dwell on that here, though. I want to focus on the short-term: making these beta changes standard. In order to push all of these elements into the standard release, I need help finding problems and improving balance. With your continued help, I hope I can make this happen in the next few weeks; it is long overdue.
Thank you for all of your feedback, bug reports, and patience ːtotcordialː!
Changelog
Additions:
Raw damage mechanic (a modifier for existing damage types that ignores standard defenses)
Logging to ToTDump in your .prefs save folder when the game crashes unexpectedly
Single tooltip bar at the bottom of the screen
Melee and Caster traits added
Simple scanline filter
Changes:
Traps deal raw damage
Items deal raw damage
Weaknesses convert incoming damage of the specified type into raw damage
Battle damage calculation was revised to be more consistent
Battle pacing has been slowed to allow clearer visual damage application
Many icons--especially damage types--have been altered, to increase visual clarity
Some alterations were made to leveling bonuses; characters with countable passive bonuses (such as a damage boost) now gain an additional point to their passive rather than a second damage bonus
Some character stat and ability revisions (for instance, to leverage the new Melee and Caster traits)
Related icons are now grouped into threes to aid in countability at a glance
Removed trap saves
Lots of tooltip language and content revisions
Assorted flavor text, floor art, and character appearance modifications
Fixes:
There were a lot of passive application and eligibility issues in the previous beta release; I believe these have all been addressed
Potion effects weren't scaling properly
Codex "history" tabs at the bottom weren't cutting off items, traps, and banners
At least one confirmed crash, involving the Taskmaster
Tooltips no longer display during the epilogue
[Beta] 2018.06.01 - Killer Katabasis
This update introduces two significant changes to combat:
Characters have a single attack rather than different attacks or damages in all three slots.
Attacks can deal multiple types of damage.
A single attack means less Codex clutter and slot positioning matters less than floor composition, which are both great things for more casual players. Multiple damage types per attack prevents this change from diluting the strategy by increasing the depth of floor composition. A lot of characters have received damage revisions, and you'll see a lot more non-physical damage, and ultimately more interesting combinations coming out of this.
These changes required significant rework under the hood, and I have a few reservations about dropping that on everyone without more testing (there are also tutorial and help topic texts to update), so this is a beta release. Anyone can opt in to the beta by viewing ToT's preferences in their Steam library and checking out the "betas" tab. You will then automatically receive this and any future beta updates.
Because this is a beta, I would love to hear your thoughts on these changes, and if you see anything that seems strange to you, please let me know!
What's Next?
Some of you may recall that I was working on a major beta release that never materialized last year; this update represents some of the changes that that build contained, and my goal is to gradually pull more of those features into the standard release in updates like this one.
However, my development time remains very limited, and this update stretched into months, so I don't want to dive right back into another major set of changes. Instead, I'm planning to spend the next couple of months producing a few smaller updates with minor fixes, improvements, and content. Hopefully, bite-size updates will be more compatible with my current schedule.
I'm afraid this changelog is highly abridged; individual changes were not closely tracked this time around--smaller updates may help with this, as well. I covered the key items, but I know there are additional changes and fixes, so I may amend this list if I recover further details.
As always, thank you for your continued support and patience :totcordial:!
Changelog
Additions:
Killer Katabasis floor (Harbor + Cemetery); produces the Ferryman, a minion that can resurrect allies when they fall
Changes:
All characters have a single attack--no variation by slot position
Attacks can deal multiple types of damage
Attacks are no longer classified as ranged or melee, but "ranged" has become a new character trait
All character stats have been re-evaluated--particularly with regards to damages and special abilities
New icons for most damage types
Adamantiserum renamed to Battle Balm
Magi-jack renamed to Siphon Sip
A bunch of assorted graphical tweaks
Fixes:
A bunch of these, too
2017.11.24 - Creepy Cabin
Over a year ago, I announced plans to rework major mechanics in the form of an opt-in beta. I provided details up front because I wanted to hear your opinions, and I'm grateful for everything you shared. However, over that year, the little development time I had spiralled from one experimental overhaul into another, and now a year has passed and the "big beta" still hasn't materialized--the beta build is currently a convoluted mess of insane changes.
I've always wanted Tomb's development to be responsive and this year has been anything but; you all deserve more than the handful of meager updates I've provided in this time--there hasn't even been a new floor since last Halloween!
Fortunately, while the big beta is far from releasable, there are a lot of elements that are completely ready to go--many of which I feel confident releasing outside of a controlled beta. So I've decided to spend the next few months porting those changes and some content from the beta copy into the standard release. My development time is still limited, so this may take a while, but at least you'll start seeing new stuff on a more regular basis, and I can continue to hear and iterate upon your thoughts.
The first change I've brought over is the hiding of the original dungeon Hoard, so that the left-hand Hoard is the only one you'll play with. The dual-Hoard setup was the result of a desire to provide a more practical left-hand Hoard without ditching the one at the bottom of the dungeon--which was a core part of the game's original premise. However, a lot of players make comments about how silly or confusing this looks, and they're absolutely right. I am sorry it took so long to see that.
Secondly, the Fence, Shop, and Guildhall have been collectively altered. These floors were unique in that they were the last example of floors altering what later floors provided; this one-off mechanic was being phased out, but these floors didn't get handled before beta development started. Now, the Fence will produce the existing Thief minion, the Goblin Sneak has been changed into a Goblin Swindler and placed in the Shop, and a new Goblin Ringleader has been added to the Guildhall. The net result of these changes is that all floors finally produce either a minion or a trap, and none of it is dependent upon other floors.
As for those minion changes, the Swindler has a unique "bargain" ability; when a Swindler is purchased or resurrected, another minion will be purchased or resurrected for free. The Ringleader has a new "delegate" ability, which directs a more powerful minion to attack in their stead; you may place the Ringleader on a floor with one of your most powerful minions to essentially give that minion an extra attack every round.
There's also a new Creepy Cabin floor that produces Psychopaths, some more shader revisions, a larger default window size, and some other assorted fixes and improvements. As always, let me know what you think!
What's Next?
There is still a bunch of finished stuff in the beta that I can pull into the standard release, and my current plan is to start with damage changes. The beta removes the separate-damages-by-slot mechanic and allows some attacks to deal two or more types of damage. This means that slot placement will matter a lot less than floor composition; previously, you could have a minion that buffed fear damage, and a minion that only dealt fear damage in a certain slot, and you would have to be sure you placed both correctly in order to benefit, but now that second minion may have an attack that deals some fear and some cold damage, so the fear buff will apply to them in any slot--and another minion could be buffing their cold damage, to boot!
Of course, that change requires bringing in a lot of character damage changes, and while I'm at it, I will try to bring in some of the other character changes (new abilities and visual improvements). The game is moving away from all of those different damages and instead giving each minion one damage and possibly one special ability; as a result, more characters are receiving the latter.
I'll also pull in another floor and maybe a new item or two from the beta. I'll slowly bring in most of this stuff, and maybe doing so will help me get a better grip on the focus of the beta, because it's pretty crazy right now.
Thank you, again, for all of your continued suggestions and support this year, even in the face of sparse updates. I greatly appreciate all of it :totcordial:!
Changelog
Additions:
Creepy Cabin floor; produces Psychopath, a fear damage dealer
Goblin Ringleader added to Guildhall; they can provide powerful minions with an additional attack
More hats for the Masquerade banner
Changes:
Dungeon hoard has been hidden
Thief moved to Fence
Goblin Sneak changed to Swindler and moved to Shop
Guildhall now produces Goblin Ringleader
Visual options now affect the pause menu
Menu dims the background image slightly more, to reduce visual noise in the menu
Several visual changes to some existing characters
Minor improvements to shaders
Fixes:
"B" button icon appeared on Codex when controller was detected, even when not in use
Genies and Ifrit were not marked "hattable," so hat banners weren't affecting them--unacceptable!
Minions wouldn't always receive a randomized visual appearance when newly spawned
[Beta] 2017.07.29 - Shader Changes
First off: this isn't the beta you're looking for. Many of you have been patiently awaiting the big beta overhaul, and while this is a beta release, it is just the standard build with a couple of potentially volatile items that I need tested.
This update contains changes to the launcher and primary fragment shader, which are two things that can cause a lot of unforseen headaches on different OS and hardware setups, necessitating a beta release before pushing these changes out to everyone. You can opt to receive beta releases at any time by looking for the betas tab of the game's properties in your Steam library.
So why am I pushing these volatile changes out now instead of holding them for the big beta? This shader change aims to address one of the more common complaints I've seen: why does the game have to look so retro? I get it, you like pixels, but these ones are too big, or the pixelated fonts can be hard on your eyes, or you're just not in the mood to have sharp, saturated blocks of color pumped into your retinas. I've done things in the past to assist with this: various filters and the "double-res" fonts, but it seems nothing has quite done the trick!
So I'm introducing new "smooth" and "artsy" pixel filters (leftmost section of images is "hard" pixels). The "smooth" setting is replacing the default "soft" pixel setting (which was virtually indistinguishable from "hard" at most standard resolutions), while the old, rubbish "artsy" filter has been completely discarded in favor of a much smarter smoothing algorithm of my own design (I had a great vacation this year!).
The "smooth" filter intelligently rounds the corners of non-contiguous pixels to create a subtle softness without compromising sharp pixel edges. It even helps improve the double-res fonts:
The old "artsy" filter was a poor attempt to disguise the game's pixels, but it ended up a mess; the new version, on the other hand, is very playable. However, the double-res fonts are not usable with this filter (it makes them look worse, while the low-res fonts actually look quite smooth and legible).
Other changes: the double-resolution fonts are now the default, and the launcher no longer keeps a console window open while you're playing (an inadvertent side-effect to launcher fixes from this past spring).
Changing the default shader and font set is a significant design change for me, as most of the game was developed to adhere very strictly to the grid (no rotating, scaling, or offsetting pixels), and compromises were available but never pushed in the past. Development on the beta has me re-evaluating a lot of priorities, though, and I need to offer the best default experience I can. Please let me know whether you feel this is a step in the right direction, and of course, please report any issues you have with this release so I can prepare the standard release quickly.
Thank again, everyone!
Changelog
Changes:
"Artsy" filter is completely different, no longer sucky
"Soft" filter (the default setting) replaced with "Smooth" filter with slightly rounded corners
Double-res font set is now enabled by default (for new players)
On Windows, launcher no longer leaves a console window open while the game is running
Beta Progress Update - Inventory
I am sorry to say that I still do not have a beta release date in sight, but I feel I owe you all some insight into the changes you can expect when it arrives.
First off, for those who are unaware, my last few months have been spent working on some massive changes to the game's mechanics which I will eventually release in a beta form, for additional workshopping. Progress has been slow on account of this now being a part-time gig for me along with having had a new child recently, but I am trying to make more time available. My relative silence is mostly due to difficulty justifying talking over working, but I really do want to keep you all in the loop, so it's about time I share some more.
My general goals for this beta period are to:
Reduce the number of core mechanics and types of interaction
Increase the clarity and depth of remaining mechanics
Introduce end-game content and victory scenarios
Emphasize an escalation in complexity over time
This post will be focusing on the first couple of points, but I want to make it clear that while some of this may sound like "dumbing down" the game, this beta is really about growing the game's scalability (and enjoyability) from casual to core. The aim is to achieve this by distilling the early game into fewer essential elements--so it is more approachable and well-defined--, and then ramp up the complexity and interplay of those elements through the unlocked content (increased minion synergy, advanced items, and layered late-game rules).
Possibly the largest mechanical change going into the introductory beta release is the removal of the traditional inventory and refactoring of item functionality. In the beta, you will no longer have a ten-slot inventory of passive and usable items; instead, each resource will now have an assigned item--chosen before the game starts--, and these items will relate more directly to their associated resource.
In conjunction, the current resource-specific matching bonuses are being removed. These are the effects inherent to each resource--like healing when matching Flesh--, which were introduced to give resource-matching a little more weight beyond buying things.
At face value, these changes may sound alarming, but here's my reasoning:
The game's inventory and item mechanics went through a lot of iterations before settling where they are today, but most items currently fall into one of two categories: static items that give you a bonus in exchange for an inventory slot, and usable items that you have to remember to click every so often. I suppose this system works fine, but neither of these options are really engaging; many of the usable items encourage immediate re-use over careful planning, and the passives are essentially a trade-off that keep you from having another usable.
The matching bonuses were poorly explained and easily ignored; by design, they were rewarding even for players who did not pay attention to them, but that didn't make them feel relevant. Even if you did pay attention to them, it was easy to dismiss the resource effects you didn't care for. It was all about saving those Bone matches, right?
The resource/item changes are designed to address these shortfalls, while maintaining the benefits of both mechanics. At the start of a game, you will be able to swap freely between any unlocked item (between games, the hoard area has been changed to offer options for this and banner selection), with each item retaining the level it was last at, so you can level each item across multiple games, then trade it out for a round without feeling punished for trying something new.
Each item is now tied to its resource in a deliberate fashion, and currently, they fall into five basic categories (category names are, as any of this, subject to change): Artifacts, Contingencies, Potions, Conduits, and Modifiers.
Most of the game's passive items are becoming Artifacts and Contingencies; these are passive categories, but with a minimum or maximum required resource threshold, respectively. For example, the holy damage reduction from the Helm only remains in effect so long as you maintain an indicated level of the Gear resource. On the other hand, the Punji contingency now offers a bonus trap on all trap floors whenever the Growth resource is low.
The previously usable Potions now function similarly to the past matching bonuses; the item's effect is activated per every so many points of the target resource. The key difference is that partial progress toward the next activation carries between moves. For example, the new Lazarus Lotion requires (currently) 10 Bone to activate, resurrecting a minion for free; this is steeper than the old bone-matching bonus, but it can be activated across multiple matches. (If you are concerned about timing the larger quantity to coincide with the loss of a minion, check the miscellaneous updates below for a relevant change to resurrections).
Conduits are similar to Potions, but offer a bigger bonus that require larger single matches to activate; progress does not carry across moves, and while a potion can be triggered multiple times in a single move, the conduit's effect is detonated once per move. When gathering a large quantity of Ruin, the Balding Bomb now detonates any remaining Ruin tiles (explosion size scaling with Bomb level), gathering neighboring tiles and building upon the current move's multiplier.
Finally, we have Modifiers, which create different Hoard matching behaviors when grabbing tiles of the same color. The Magnet, for instance, will now cause all Scrap drags to have a range within which Gear matches with Scrap; the Gear will gain an orange Scrap background, but be collected as Gear--of course, the increased multiplier will also benefit any Scrap gathered. These items are generally the most experimental, but everything here is subject to change based on how the beta plays.
So there are more types of items than before, but I've removed several forms of interaction (clicking usables, managing inventory items, selling items, etc.), and these new mechanics don't rely upon any new interactions. Aside from possibly some Modifiers, none of these effects strictly require player knowledge, either; they are bonuses that can simply occur through standard play, but the new model should reward strategy far more than before and allow players to better customize the mechanics to match their playstyle. The thresholds will also make it easier to balance passive items--I am aware that there are some rather OP items in the current release...
This is the WIP Hoard with composite sample resource bars taken from multiple sessions--I thought you all may be able to chime in on your preferred layout for the min, max, and resource icons. The first six bars use a 30-pixel height to represent any maximum; notice how the 17 Growth appears higher than the 20 Gear. The last two resources use a different bar with a 1:1 pixel:unit height, where the total max possible is 40 but the meter's level is a truer representation of its value. I am leaning toward that sizing, but I'd like to have others weigh in. The entire Hoard frame and background should be receiving a facelift, as well, but I can't really work on styling things until these other decisions are settled.
I would also love to hear your thoughts on which items should become the new default for each resource. I am thinking the four pillar Potions (Cordial, Quaff, Adamantiserum, and Magi-jack), a couple of Contingencies and a couple of Conduits, but I am not sure.
Other things you may notice about this image: the rituals are missing and the moving tile queue is gone. The rituals were temporarily removed from this build, because I have been experimenting with reserving them for another mechanic; this is not likely to be in the initial beta release, so you can probably expect those to appear on the edges, as before. However, the moving tile queue that catches falling tiles and reserves cleared rows is out, because in this build, I have removed the clearance requirement for new floors. You'll be able to build any floor you can afford without clearing room, and there will instead be an overall space constraint that increases with the wave count (this rule will itself change later in the beta).
There are a lot of other things going on, too; here are some of the other changes slated for the initial beta release:
All characters are receiving stat and ability revisions
No more resurrection time limit on minions; minions always resurrect to their previous selves (so long as they are not dead when the dungeon crumbles), but this means minion purchase prices go steadily up as the game progresses and your minions increase in level
Heroes no longer build checkpoints but instead establish them on undefended floors
Floors are "fortified" by placing three defenders on them; each floor bestows a different bonus when fortified
About a dozen new items to build variety
And there are many other changes (and additions!) planned for this extended beta period. It is just going to take longer to get there than I had expected.
Of course, throughout all of this, the standard release will remain the standard release. The beta is open to all, but requires an opt-in from the game's properties in your Steam library; you can actually opt-in right now to receive the beta branch as soon as it goes live, and it will replace the standard release in your library.
Please let me know what you all think, either here in the comments, or over on the thread I've set up for more in-depth discussion. Thank you again for all of your ideas and patience :totcordial: !
2017.03.19: Cumulative Fixes
It has been another busy couple of months--just not for Tomb of Tyrants, I'm afraid. But with my newborn finally settling into a sleep pattern and a major release wrapping up at work, I found a bit more time for Tomb than usual this week; hopefully that is a sign of things to come.
The beta still isn't ready, but a few important fixes have accumulated which needed to be added to the standard release. I would love to offer an updated estimate for the beta, but I've already put my foot in my mouth a few times there.
However, it isn't fair of me to continue to leave everyone hanging for weeks or even months without an update, so, from now on, I will try to make an announcement at least once every couple weeks, even if I don't have any releases going out, just to keep everyone apprised. I'll try to focus on specific topics and request your input. Of course, you can already read some of the details and offer your thoughts here.
Thank you for your patience, and for your continued suggestions and assistance in identifying and implementing the fixes below! :totcordial:
Changelog
Fixes:
Character outlines weren't always on when turned on in settings
Resetting prophecy progress wasn't functioning as expected
Another possible "track 7" crash for some legacy players
A 64-bit Windows library loading crash on start-up
2017.01.13: Happy 2nd Anniversary!
I'm afraid all I got you was some fixes and minor gameplay changes, but that's because I'm still busy working on the next big beta release. In fact, some of those changes are the reason I needed to make this standard release.
First, there was a complete rewrite of the character animation system to allow for some advanced character types in the future--I'll need your help to spot any glitches here--, then there was some precautionary code for loading saves that are newer than the release--for those who opt back out of the beta.
I also temporarily removed anchor stones (and dirt). If these tiles were in your Hoard when you last played, they will still be there, but no new anchors will appear. These (and other tile-based) mechanics are being reserved for later use in situations where they can be given adequate introduction and visibility.
It has been a busy few months preparing for the beta (I also had a baby!), but it is still on the way. In the initial release, you can expect a complete item overhaul (no more inventory), removal of the Hoard view beneath the Sanctum, and some significant combat streamlining (simpler attack readouts and more special abilities).
I am looking forward to trying these (and more!) out and seeing what you all think. Thank you, again, for all of your patience and support ːtotcordialː!
Changelog
Changes:
Save rules to accommodate saves that are newer than the current build
Massive animation rewrites
Many character previews are now animated
Some item graphics have been revised
Improvements and corrections to many character animations
Item drop rules now allow items to drop multiple times in a single session, but only if you aren't currently holding the item in your inventory
Removed anchor stones and dirt tiles
Eliminated excess attacks when the target character is already doomed
Capped early hero levels
Fixes:
Crash on some Windows XP 32-bit setups
Physical damage was inappropriately listed on some character tooltips
Start-up crash for outdated track overrides
Sanctum capacity breach message spam
Gremlin welder's healing ability was hidden
2016.10.30: Bloody Bedchamber
Happy Halloween! I'm celebrating with a classic Halloween monster that I'm sure some of you were missing: the vampire!
This is a high-level undead unit that deals corruption damage; his health, defense, and damage are somewhat low compared to some top-tier minions, but he comes with rapid healing and a leech ability that gives additional health when successfully harming others.
The new Bedchamber prophecy also comes with a new banner, the Midnight Masquerade. This banner increases Corrupted unit defense by 1, and--in the spirit of Halloween, and in the vein of past holiday hat updates--gives suitable characters a random "costume" hat.
Finally, there is a new Sleepless Cemetery floor, which is the new home of the Ghoul, which has been divorced from the Wight and Barrows. If you previously had the Barrows unlocked, the new prophecy will also be unlocked.
The patch notes are a little slim this time around; due to the upcoming beta period, the game is now in a branched state, where new fixes (and in this case, content) are added to two separate versions of the game. As a result, I think there may actually be more fixes and other minor changes in this patch than are listed below. I am sorry for any inconvenience or confusion.
The "Beta"
Some of you may recall the previous beta period, during which a whole bunch of game mechanics were overhauled, and your feedback was used to create and refine those changes and bring about a better experience.
Well, it's about that time again.
For the next few months, major updates will likely be marked as beta releases. These updates will only go out to players who have opted in to the beta branch (you can do this right now from the game's properties in your Steam library). Everyone else can continue to enjoy the game as-is, with occasional fixes or improvements.
Unlike the last beta, which was focused on mechanical changes and UI revisions first and foremost, the primary intent this time around is victory scenarios. The game has grown to a point where players feel significantly invested in these dungeons and minions that they have build up over several sessions, and it's time for that to pay off, in the form of elaborate machinations that require multiple Tyrants to achieve, and which result in an ultimate victory for the player.
That said, there are tons of revisionary goals, as well; you can read up on most of these plans and leave your preliminary feedback over here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/340360/discussions/0/333656722968833525/
If you enjoy the game and would like to see it evolve into something more significant, I hope you'll join in on the beta and help me make it even better. Thank you, again, for all of your support! ːtotcordialː
"Leech" ability; successful attacks heal one point of health (vampire and vampire bats have this)
Changes:
Barren Barrows now requires Catacombs + Warrens and produces only Wights
Adjusted volume for death audio cues (higher-level minions receive a louder sound)
Several language changes to improve clarity or style
Fixes:
Crash caused by rare fear damage situation
Gift-bearers would drop the same items over and over if all item drops had been exhausted in this run (they will now ignore the item drop limits and give any unlocked item)
