[Uploaded 2015.12.07c to address a handful of minor issues and make some adjustments to character stats.]
This update addresses a number of outstanding bugs, makes some minor changes and additions, like true passive abilities (rather than "faking it" with third- and fourth-slot abilities), and includes a couple of new floors to keep things interesting: the Hostile Harbor (pirates!) and the Shivering Shipwreck (g-g-g-ghost pirates!).
Thank you for all of your reports and screenshots over the last couple weeks; some of the bugs crushed here include saving issues for large dungeons, broken elevator AI, dying legacy champions, graphical glitches, and more--thanks to your assistance!
I am planning to enter another beta phase with several major and experimental changes over the next couple of weeks, so this may be the last standard update for a little while. I would love to hear your opinions on the beta changes when they are ready, though :totcordial:!
Character passive abilities that automatically affect the battle rather than using tertiary and quaternary abilities to simulate this
New shader capabilities
Changes:
Savefiles re-named to avoid conflicts
Combined multiple "+2 max resource" messages
Revisions to some ability icons
Slight changes to some icon tooltip terminology
All characters reduced to no more than three ability entries (including passive)--only a few characters actually affected by this
Legacies now reset when you reset your stats (due to cleared prophecy progress)
Improvements to a couple of ability visuals
Warning klaxon sound is more intelligent; it now triggers when heroes are only one floor away and there definitely aren't enough minions to keep them from continuing on to your Sanctum--it should no longer be ignored
Fixes:
Elevator AI was behaving very poorly, causing tremendous congestion on the surface, in particular; everyone should move through the dungeon more efficiently now
Extremely large and busy dungeons with tons of heroes and minions could fail to save all characters
Legacy champions could mysteriously perish during dungeon destruction
A Shader problem on some older nVidia hardware
A couple of prophecies had recruitment objectives that could be impossible on a given playthrough, if the "wrong" floors were built
Legacy champions could end up erroneously assigned to the Sanctum in the next game
A single Balding Bomb use could count as multiple item uses
Items weren't always awarding resources when collected
Unnecessary healing pop-ups would appear on characters that had the maximum amount of health (9)
Animated particle animation glitch
Trap animation glitch when trap-disabler entered a floor while the trap was firing
2015.11.24: Laborious Labyrinth
Here's an oft-requested high-level, brute-force minion: the minotaur! The Laborious Labyrinth requires the Promenade, Workshop, and Lair (you must also have previously unlocked the Wildwood in order to see this prophecy--no hidden item requirements this time, though). The prophecy also unlocks a "Bull's Eye" banner that temporarily buffs ALL melee damage (including that of heroes) when you match flesh tiles.
There are also a number of fixes (some of which were quietly deployed yesterday in a minor update) and small changes. Thanks for your reports and suggestions :totcordial:!
Changelog
Additions:
Laborious Labyrinth floor (Promenade + Lair + Workshop)--minotaur minion (lots of health, melee damage, and the beast trait)
Advantage/disadvantage lines changed over to red/cyan outlines; cyan outlines indicates a character that is a good match-up for you, red bad
Minor adjustments to Hut graphics
Witch now carries a crooked walking stick instead of the knife
Witch now has Eldritch trait
Fixes:
Plot difficulties (which typically escalate over the course of a session) would reset when loading a game
Stationed minions would leave a floor if it changed position
Obscure crash occurred while mousing over a specific champ portrait element during tomb destruction
Character indicators would spawn at the top of the map upon loading, and then fly down to their owners
Characters could become invincible by failing to die in specific circumstances
Some minions could walk out into the ground during tomb destruction (harmless, but weird)
Ritual count could be off for those who had participated in previous beta
2015.11.23: Auto-Saving, Now Standard
I'm pushing the new atuo-saving out to everyone! The game now saves when you close the game, as well as at the start of each wave (just in case). There may still be some room for improvement or some kinks to smooth out (and please let me know if you encounter anything horrible!), but this feature has been requested for ages, and I'm glad I was finally able to provide it =).
Now that saving renders longer sessions more tenable, I am planning several changes and additions that will steer toward greater player investment in each game, and hopefully lead to more memorable reigns.
I noticed that with this update's new floor (the Hexed Hut, a goblin witch alternative to the kobold shaman's Hazy Hovel), there are now 70 floors in the Codex, doubling the launch version's 35. This was the last content category to double in quantity, as there are now 99 vs 42 characters, 31 vs 12 items, 10 vs 4 traps, and, uh, 22 vs 0 banners. We're getting very close to the 100 prophecy mark, as well. Thank you for keeping the game alive, everyone :totbacon:!
Changelog
Additions:
Hexed Hut floor (produces Goblin Witches, dealing ice and poison damage)
Queued floor is now saved
Changes:
Minor adjustments to some ability animations
Champion portraits are now sorted by rank then name, to promote determinism when loading saved games
Improved button spawns to produce slightly less bouncy floor/character buttons on deeper dungeons
Checkpoint floors are highlighted in red when mousing over them (rather than an inviting yellow that suggested you could interact with them equally)
Fixes:
An obscure save-loading crash
"Send [mounted-/spirit-trait] minion pillaging" plots weren't properly named
Trash/Sell inventory "slot" looked like a normal slot briefly when trashing/selling items
Champions could appear odd colors on the minimap (not just shades of blue or red)
Missing line break on deployable tooltips when replacing an existing deployable
Loading music track could cause the track to skip about a bit
[Beta] 2015.11.19: Saving Fixes and Improvements
I've made numerous saving-related fixes and improvements this week, and I'm feeling pretty good about it now; barring any disastrous bug reports in the next 24 hours, I'll probably push saving out to all players sometime this weekend. Thank you :totcordial:!
Changelog
Additions:
Some new effects on a couple of attack types
Visual time of day is saved
Camera position is saved
Music track bias is saved
Changes:
Reduced overall savefile sizes by as much as 80%
Slight hero wave size adjustments
Fixes:
Champions could become disassociated from their floors after loading a save, allowing them to be replaced without losing them
A couple of rare loading crashes
Tile queue saved in the wrong position
Some things would load incorrectly after saving during destruction
Saved resource counts were capped
Sanctuary deployable wasn't saving
Pillagers weren't saving as pillaging
Ritual progress wasn't saving
Inventory wasn't saving
Minion floor assignments weren't saving
Some unnecessary effects and feedback would trigger upon loading a save (new floor construction smoke, for instance)
Game was capable of generating rituals beyond the intended maximum dimensions
Champion codex pages would always list "[price] for 1" instead of using pack size
There were a couple of visual glitches with the battle HUD
[BETA] 2015.11.13: Auto-Saving!
I am finally adding what is easily the most requested feature: saving. The game now saves when you close it, and a new instance of the game will attempt to pick up where you left off. When I first started development, I was targeting quick, 15-minute sessions, in which case, saving felt pretty unnecessary. But as the game's grown, I've realized that you were all right; games are getting longer and more involved, and you need to be able to take a break and pick it back up later.
Note "attempt." This is a super extra beta release for those who have opted in (you can do so by visiting the game's properties in your Steam library and checking out the "betas" tab). Upon loading a saved session, there will be discrepancies: some mechanical--character's don't save mid-turn--, but mostly cosmetic--like floors moving into place. Score submission has also been temporarily disabled, due to the high potential for exploits.
I think I've ironed out most of the biggest issues I was seeing, but there are definitely still bugs. Please report anything you notice; I've been making my own list of shortcomings to address, but even if I've already made a note of something, seeing others report it helps me to prioritize and decide how I'm going to tackle each issue =).
I've also added a new floor, the War-Torn Wasteland, which produces an entirely different sort of bug, inspired by some other game I was playing recently. In order to avoid wholesale plagiarism, my roaches have mini rocket launchers on their backs (boy, I hope that isn't in the other game, too).
I hope we can get problems ironed out quickly, so I can push saving out to everyone sometime in the next couple of weeks =). Thank you for requesting and driving me to add this feature :totfedora:.
Changelog
Additions:
Session auto-saving
Tons of saving bugs to discover!
War-Torn Wasteland floor (Scrapheaps + Gallows + Cellar); produces Rocket Roaches, which deal poison and explosive damage
Fixes:
Item cooldowns weren't always processing correctly on floors with active battles
2015.11.06: Pythonic Pyramid
This update contains several fixes and adjustments based on your recent feedback. Traps got a bit of a nerf in the form of a longer cooldown (15 seconds between triggers), but it's likely some traps will be adjusted to have longer or shorter periods. Heroes once again heal completely upon reaching a checkpoint, and the Culpable Conscience now targets heroes who are actively engaged in combat. Let me know what you think.
There's also a new floor with some Lizardman Mummies (who gain bad-ass skeletal snake bodies when they become champions). And the shadows/poltergeists got a passive ally-buffing ability for shadow and ranged damages, respectively.
Some of the critical fixes below were actually patched in quietly a couple of days ago. Thank you for all of the bug reports and balance suggestions :totbacon:!
Changelog
Additions:
Pythonic Pyramid (Lizardman Mummy--draconic undead with ice damage and ward de-buff)
"Corrupted" trait for heroes brought over to your side
Changes:
Traps now have a 15 second cooldown
Culpable Conscience now deals 1 corruption damage to all heroes in active combat
Shadows boost shadow damage
Poltergeists boost ranged damage
Corrupted heroes gain holy weakness
Checkpoints immediately and fully heal heroes
Fixes:
Champion legacy padlock was broken
A crash related to certain tooltips
Plot bug when building a floor that blocks a plot-target floor
More item miss-labeling in the codex
Shadows and Poltergeists showed up with "living" and "biped" traits
Champion limit was broken
2015.11.03: Leftover Sweets (A Belated Halloween Part 2)
I hope everyone had a great Halloween weekend! I prepped a lot of assets for potential Halloween updates, but I suspected the weekend might turn out too busy (mostly because our place is undergoing reconstruction, but also due to projects like Harry Potter baby). I wanted to put something out there, and I ambitiously dubbed it "Halloween Part 1."
So "Halloween Part 2" is a bit late, but fortunately, Halloween is always Tyrant-appropriate =). This update contains four related haunted house-inspired floors: the Foreboding Foyer (chandelier trap), the Naughty Nursery (shadow minions--shadow and fear damage), the Decrepit Dinette (poltergeist minions--ranged and fear damage), and the Atrocious Attic (a corruption trap). There are also two items, the Dirty Deeds (artifact--10% cost reduction on floors) and the Culpable Conscience (usable--all checkpoint heroes take 2 corruption damage).
The Deeds are required to build the Foyer, which in turn is the "anchor" floor for the others in the series. You do not need to keep the Deeds to legacy the Foyer and build the other floors, though. In fact, some legacying will be necessary in order to build the full set, as the Foyer requires the Cellar to build, but the Dinette requires the Catacombs.
What is "corruption" damage? The Conscience and the Malicious Mirror on the Attic floor now deal corruption damage; if a hero is defeated by corruption damage, they will be converted to your cause. They can continue to level up and can even be legacied.
I appreciate all of your feedback over the weekend; I am also tweaking some balance (drop and spawn rates) and addressing bugs this week. I hope to get some more improvements and content in before I take the game back into beta for some bigger changes, and I'd love to hear all of your thoughts. Thank you all :totcordial:!
Changelog
Additions:
Corruption damage (corruption-slain heroes will join your side--albeit with one remaining health)
Culpable Conscience (usable relic that deals 2 corruption damage to all heroes at checkpoints, potentially converting several at once)
Dirty Deeds (ruins artifact that reduces floor prices by 10%)
Naughty Nursery (shadow minions; requires Foyer and Portal)
Decrepit Dinette (poltergeist minions; requires Foyer and Catacombs)
Atrocious Attic (corruption trap; requires Foyer, Nursery, and Dinette)
Changes:
Adjust drop rates to scale more with Hoard emptiness
Champion portraits now display the full character info tooltip while hovering over them
Many items now have icon labels written out, for clarity
Heroes reaching checkpoints no longer instantly heal (but they do instantly regain fatigue)
Fixes:
Pillaging champions could still be dragged around, although they would still behave as though they were out pillaging
Several text errors
Some prophecy objectives were not tracked appropriately, giving credit where it may not have been due
Stronger heroes (like genies) were sometimes spawning earlier than they are supposed to
Some tooltips had extra lines or error codes in them
Disabling the tutorial could cause popup text to linger
Some items were miss-labeled as deployables
2015.10.29: Halloween Part 1
Happy almost Halloween! This past wave of beta changes is now available to all, alongside a small batch of Halloween-inspired content, too: a new banner (Hearty Harvest--gathering growth heals minions), a new item (Starving Scythe--collects all flesh and growth tiles on use), and a new floor (Feared Field--offers Scarecrow minions that deal fear damage). There's also some "rowdy rabble" trick-or-treaters to bring some torches and pitchforks to your dungeon.
Short notes below, but this update technically contains the extensive balance and mechanical changes from the past three beta builds. Most prominently: heroes "fight fair" by only engaging minions in equal or lesser numbers. This allows for far smaller and shorter waves, and overall reduced character counts. There are also significant changes to tile drop pacing, and floor pricing.
I still have some Halloween content to dole out, so I'll be updating again in the next couple of days; let me know what you think about the latest changes, and I can try to work any adjustments or fixes into the next build!
Also, the Steam Halloween sale is underway, and the game is 40% off for a short time; now is a great time to share it with others =)! Thanks again, everyone!
Starving Scythe usable (Gathers all flesh and growth tiles in the Hoard)
Hearty Harvest banner (Heals all minions 1 point per 4 growth tiles gathered)
Feared Field floor (Scarecrow minion; high agility, deals fear)
[Beta] 2015.10.28: More Fixes and Balancing
This should be the final release of this beta wave. I actually expect to leave this beta in the next 24 hours, but I wanted one last chance to gather any additional input before I push these changes out to everyone.
There are mostly bug fixes, balance changes, and minor UI adjustments here. Not terribly exciting, but there's some new stuff coming soon; if you've watched any of my recent art streams, you may know some of what to expect :totfedora:. Thanks!
Changelog
Changes:
In casual mode, heroes won't descend until the first floor has been built (they will gather, but the wave timer will wait on empty)
Slightly reduced deployable drop rate
Slightly reduced hero wave sizes
Minions are patrolling again
Completing a ritual is now worth +2 max resources
Adjusted some tutorial entries
Further reduced savefile sizes
Lamp now notes the new Ifrit limit
No item is worth more than two different types of resources when fenced
Sable Sisterhood has been changed to "Sanguine Sisterhood," which I think is close enough in spirit...I need "Sable" elsewhere
Fixes:
Fixed a rare crash involving characters dropping tiles upon taking damage
Target ritual counts weren't resetting at the end of a round
Queued floor wasn't cleared at the end of a game
Right-click region for rituals was off
Legacy resource minimums weren't reinforced when starting a new session
Fence was broken
Legacy champions didn't lose fatigue after dungeon destruction
Items' "can't use [x] before making your first move" message shouldn't show up when clicking passive items
Message log entries were slightly overlapping purchase buttons when DHV was enabled
Trait descriptions in character tooltips were cycling with play time, rather than real time, so they wouldn't cycle while the game was paused
[Beta] 2015.10.26: Balance Tweaks
[2015.10.26b uploaded to fix a small yet significant error in the hero wave size formula.]
Compared to the previous beta build (2015.10.21), this one focuses more on small mechanical and balance changes: increased resource pool sizes and floor costs, smaller wave sizes, decreased time between waves, tile drops for each point of damage, some tooltip changes, and Hoard refill removal.
I am still attempting to move the game toward a more intimate experience with changes designed to improve pacing and player investment. There will be additional beta builds in the near future, to test these other changes, but if I can gather a bit more feedback on this beta's balance, I plan to push it to everyone with some Halloween content this week =).
Thanks again, everyone :totbacon:!
Changelog
Changes:
Shortened wave times in standard (non-casual) mode
Reduced hero counts
Casual mode hero counts now use the standard formula
Resources start at 10
Resource pool sizes start at 25
Collecting items now grants the associated resource, the same as collecting any other resource tile (previously, items were not actually worth any resources)
New functionality added to tooltips
All floor costs increased
Number of resources a floor requires now increases with the number of lines that floor needs cleared (so the size of the purchase button scales with the size of the floor)
Characters drop a tile for each point of damage taken (to counter the lower character counts)
Characters drop fewer tiles on death
Collecting an item now rewards a point of the related resource
More informational item tooltips
Lamp now has a limit of three Ifrit
Adjustments to minion AI (the "fight fair" change will require more changes here)
Removed Hoard refill button (hopefully, changes to tile drops will make it less necessary, and I think a lot of people found this button confusing)
Fixes:
Legacy champs were not saving across game sessions
Light artifacts caused by rituals
Hoard matching flashes shouldn't pause with the game
Inventory tooltips were mostly broken
Minor text errors
General help codex pages' left/right dog-ears weren't appearing
