Small update this week, the most noteworthy change is that runs now start with a forced weak fight. This should be a small step in solving how the start of a run is much harder than the end.
Major Changes
Added 3 new items: R Volatile Formula, C Porta Wall, C Damage Up+
First node of the map is now a forced fight where enemies have 75% hp
Minor Changes
Targetable items with no cost now show 0 energy cost
Towers now deal a minimum of 10% damage against armoured targets
Enemy descriptions no longer show armour or damage if they have baseline values
Cleaned up some code
Next week's update will be large and focus on reworking events. Functionally they should remain mostly the same, my goal for the update is to make them more impactful and much higher quality. Some ideas I have are event specific items or each event having its own art, but neither of those are set in stone yet.
If you want to help with the game, leave your bug reports and feedback in the Discord
Weekly Update #5
This week's update ended up being on the small side. The main changes are a few new items, updated map visuals, and quality of life when selling things out of combat.
Major Changes
Added 3 new items: R Leaf, A Shock, T Mercenary
Minor Changes
Several improvements to map visuals
Previews now show enemies that spawn from other enemies
Can no longer start a wave while previewing a wall
Can no longer sell walls during combat
Walls are now refunded if sold the same wave they are placed
Towers are now fully refunded if placed and sold out of combat on the same wave
Bug Fixes
Fixed interaction between anergy tower and beam converter
Fixed potential issues with selling towers near beacons
Next week's update may potentially be even smaller than this one. However, the week after I'll try to tackle something larger like reworking events.
If you want to help with the game, leave your bug reports and feedback in the Discord
Weekly Update #4
No major changes or additions with this update, just some standard polish and items. The new items need to be unlocked with the meta progression experience that was added last update.
Major Changes
Added 3 new items: T Ganerator, T Bank, A Magic Wall
Minor Changes
Generator: Cost 4 -> 3, Sell Price 0 -> 2
Changed pierce so that a value of 1 pierces 1 enemy
Pierce and burst count are now hidden if they have baseline values
Upgrade cap is no longer shown as a stat when inspecting a tower
Beam towers no longer have projectile speed
Generator now uses "Income" rather than "Energy Per Wave"
Added update_tower_ids debug command
Bug Fixes
Fixed bug where the enemy path preview didn't show on some (most) maps
Fixed issues with Generator tower preview
Fixed several issues with inputting debug commands
At the moment I don't have any urgent ideas to put into next week's update, so it could be anything from a new or reworked feature to just a larger version of this update.
If you want to help with the game, leave your bug reports and feedback in the Discord
Weekly Update #3
Late on the update this week but it's the first bit of added content since launch. The main feature of this update is the addition of meta progression. Throughout runs you will gain experience and level up to unlock new items. Speaking of unlock, there are now 5 new items gained from this system.
Going forward with unlocks, I plan to have it where most new items that are added need to be unlocked first. This may change in the future, but I believe that a fairly large pool of items to unlock adds replayability to the game, or at the very least gets the player encouraged to keep playing. The same could be said for achievements, but that's for down the road. On the other hand I don't believe in pure stat bonuses from meta progression.
Major Changes
Finishing a run now shows a score screen with actions done in the run
Score unlocks items for future runs
Added 5 new items (C Health potion, A Awaken, T Assasin Tower, U Growth, R Restock)
Elite fights now drop a choice of relics
Minor Changes
Enemies now hide auras during death animations
Removed burst tag
Can no longer click on a tower through UI
Fixed health bar on Triangulator spawns
Added debug commands for die, give_score, unlock_all, and lock_all
Next update should be on Monday like usual and will mostly be polish and bug fixes since this update was light in the regard. Now that there is meta progression, I'm fine with some updates being purely polish with some new items. I'd love to be able to work on new things like act 2, but there are so so many existing features, such as events, that need love before that.
If you want to help with the game, leave your bug reports and feedback in the Discord
Weekly Update #3 Delayed Until Wednesday
Weekly update 3 is going to be delayed until this Wednesday. Although a 2 day delay is rather small, I want to avoid this becoming common practice if I can help it.
The main change in update 3 is adding meta progression. You gain experience from doing runs and unlock items from your level. Currently the meta progression system is fully functional, however I want to make some new items that will be unlocked by it. Furthermore I want to include some more general polish and quality of life improvements.
Weekly Update #2
It's a new week and that means a new update for the game. My goal for balance was to make it so that the game can be won at least most of the time on each class. In general, classes now start with more towers and upgrades, since the first few combats are the hardest. Ideally the first few combats of the game, or each act, would be weaker than the rest, but that's something for down the line. Weaker items got buffed, a few strong items got slight nerfs, and some waves got nerfed. There's also a handful of minor changes and bug fixes in this update.
Minor Changes:
Enemy death animation now plays when the game is paused
Displayed ability costs now round to the nearest integer
Enemy path preview now shows when the game is paused
If a combat is cleared while paused, new combats start at 1x speed
Spread shot tower with the beam converter upgrade now shoots 3 beams at the target
Slight tooltip and description changes
Bug Fixes:
Fixed a crash when previewing the final wave mid combat
Fixed mine being invisible
Fixed mine dealing damage to all enemies that touched it at any point in time
Fixed anergy tower not shooting
Fixed anergy tower showing it's range by default
Fixed problems with projectile AoE scaling size
Fixed energy conversion not being usable
Fixed DoT on hit upgrade crashing the game
Fixed projectile wall not being usable
Fixed crash when gaining overshield relic
Fixed overshield not blocking damage at full health
Balance Changes:
Towers
Basic Tower
Cost 3 -> 2
Upgrade cap 4 -> 2
Sniper Tower
Damage 75 -> 80
Projectile speed 15 -> 20
Cannon Tower
Damage 20 -> 25
AoE size 1 -> 2
Anergy Tower
Cost 2 -> 0
Reload time 2 -> 1.5
Cost per shot 2 -> 1
Beacon Tower
Cost 5 -> 4
Effect strength .5 -> .75
Triple Shot
Damage 15 -> 25
Sawblade Tower
Upgrade cap 4 -> 2
Abilities
Smite
Cost 10 -> 8
Damage 50 -> 120
Zap
Cost 0 -> 2
Damage 25 -> 50
Explosion
Size 3 -> 2
Damage 50 -> 75
Projectile Wall
Damage 25 -> 50
Overclock
Effect strength 3 -> 2
Land Mine
Cost 15 -> 5
Damage 50 -> 100
Upgrades
Twin Strike
Damage .8 -> .7
Add Projectile AoE
Size 1 -> 2
DoT on Hit
Damage .2 -> .1
Relics
Gold Tooth
Money no longer needs to be gained all at once to get the heal
Waves
Normal Wave 3-1
Enemy delay .3 -> .5
Normal Wave 3-3
Added enemies between the mega tanks
Level 6 (2 converging spawners)
Increased enemy delay on top spawner for the final wave
Level 9 (2 separate spawners) Wave 4-2
Enemy delay 1.75 -> 2
Level 11 (3 long pillars)
Increased delay between enemies for all waves
Elite 2 (2 spawners elite)
Starting energy 20 -> 12
Starting ability energy 60 -> 40
Energy per wave 8 -> 4
Boxer (level)
Starting energy 25 -> 20
Boxer (enemy)
Health 1200 -> 3000
Speed .3 -> .2
Classes
Vagrant
Now starts with mine
Now starts with freeze tower
Now starts with 2 nukes
Starting damage upgrades 3 -> 4
Starting fire rate upgrades 2 -> 3
Starting basic towers 2 -> 4
No longer starts with cannon tower
Merchant
Now starts with sell bandages
Starting damage upgrades 1 -> 2
Starting fire rate upgrades 1 -> 2
Starting basic towers 1 -> 3
Rogue
Now starts with gatling lazer tower
Starting money 50 -> 40
Other
Shop
Max hp cost 10 -> 5
Tower cost 15-20 -> 18-24
Ability cost 15-20 -> 18-24
Map
Shop weight 5 -> 3
Event weight 10 -> 7
These changes by no means solved the issues with the game, but hopefully it's a nice step in the right direction. Balancing and bug fixing are going to be an ongoing fight that I'll chip away at with each update. Speaking of future updates, next week's update will likely be less focused on a certain topic like the first two updates were. Next update may also introduce some new items but no guarantees.
If you want to help with the game, put you bug reports and feedback in the Discord
Weekly update #1
The people have spoken and the game is objectively not enjoyable. I fully intend to continue working on this to make that no longer the case, no matter how long it may take. That will come in the form of weekly updates each Monday such as this one.
Addressing some problems with the game:
The game looks bad There isn't much I can do about this especially in the short term. Eventually I hope that the gameplay is fun enough that the graphics take a back seat.
The rules aren't clear This was the main focus of this week's update. The main feature of this update is a tutorial that plays at the start of the first combat on a save. Hopefully that helps a bunch with explaining game mechanics, however the game could stand to be more intuitive. Also, it would be nice if the tutorial guided the player through actions rather than just saying them, but that's something for down the line.
The game is horribly unbalanced Yeah... this is going to be the main thing that the next update focuses on.
Major changes:
Added tutorial
Added map key
Minor changes
Added more tooltips to the top UI
Can no longer open inventory from character select
Fixed crash when reverting some settings
If you played the game prior to this update, you may need to enable the tutorial under settings.
If you want to help with the game, put you bug reports and feedback in the Discord
