Quick update for the South Brazil map that fixes some of the graphical glitches with the District names on the right side.
Anyways, that should do it now, and the Campaign development is well underway. Actually, most of it's ready, but I still have to record all the video footage for the cutscenes.
-Chris
Tyrannis: The Many Modifications Update
Okay, I swear I didn't mean to have an update that is, quite literally, based on the Seven Deadly Sins and release it on the Monday after Pentecost, but things just happen.
I could make a joke about a "Day of Rest," but I fell asleep before I came up with one.
So, let's dig in, yeah?
What Are Modifiers?
Modifiers are, basically, a set of sixteen different gameplay modifiers that affect different aspects, from how Draws are calculated, to game length, to the number of AI Units spawned, and another dozen different changes that'll add a new spin on gameplay.
Think of them as like the Skulls from Halo 3, where they change gameplay. Some make your life easier, while others make it a whole lot harder.
That's the kind of mechanic I want to bring into Tyrannis, as well as its upcoming Campaign.
What Do The Modifiers Do?
Wrath
AI Aggression is set to 10.
AI Offensiveness is set to 10.
Pride
Rebel Support/Turn is reduced by 50%.
Sloth
+1 Turn Penalty when Rebels attack their own territory.
Greed
Player Income is reduced by 25%.
Lust
All draws go to the Merc Players.
Gluttony
All costs are increased by 50% across the board.
Envy
Mercenary players start with twice as many Units.
Despair
Mercenary players start with twice as many Bases.
Hope
Bases have -50% Health.
Humility
Player Recruitment is 1 Turn faster (minimum of 1 Turn).
Purity
Bases receive double the damage they would normally receive.
Temperance
+1 Turn Penalty when Mercenaries attack their own territory.
Diligence
Property damage is repaired twice as quickly.
Kindness
Rebel Perk Threshold is reduced by 20%.
Charity
Unit upkeep is reduced by 50%.
Patience
Number of Turns is increased by 25%.
What Does This Have To Do With Campaign?
Now, this is still in the dev phase, so it's subject to change, but the main idea for Tyrannis' new Campaign mode is to have a rogue-lite style of gameplay where the gameplay becomes increasingly-difficult as the player progresses through the gauntlet of 41 maps of varying sizes with randomized challenges through the inclusion of Modifiers (and possibly both factions and players).
As the gameplay progresses, there will be more Modifiers that will add to the difficulty, but there will also be purchasable Modifiers that the player can use to make their lives just a little easier.
Now, Modifiers won't be the only mechanic, but I'll save the whole "This-Might-Be-The-First-Grand-Strategy-Game-With-A-Pacifist-Run" mechanic for another day, so I can really go in-depth about how it turns out an armed revolution that overthrows a tyrannical dictatorship is one thing, but reconstruction is another beast entirely.
And a Hell of a lot easier if you don't burn down everything in your path.
Conclusion
This should do it for the Many Modifications Update. Campaign is coming along well, but work is picking up.
I'll probably cut it close to the deadline, but I think I can pull it off.
Quick update to fix some of the menu options that should not be highlighted when you're loading a Skirmish.
Should help clear up some confusion about what you can and can't do when rejoining one.
Also, there's now an option to select whether or not you want to end a Skirmish when you reach the minimum requirements for victory when playing for Regional Control.
-Chris
Tyrannis: The Rebel Hub Update
Well, I'm getting pretty good at actually updating this game. So, let's have a quick rundown on what we have in this update.
Bug Fixes and Quality of Life Improvements
The big one here is a glitch where the Regions'd all be named the wrong thing, and that should be fixed now.
Looks like it was a glitch with the new content from Long Way Home's update, but it's all good now.
But one of the things I'm pretty happy to add is a few minor Quality of Life improvements when setting up a Skirmish.
It's not much, but little things like having it default to one human player vs. one AI player and having a set amount of Turns definitely makes it less of a pain to set up games.
Rebel Hub
The Rebel Hub's the new Structure you can build to help your Rebels move around the map a whole lot faster. Kinda like how the Mercs use Bases to get around quickly.
To build a Rebel Hub, you need to be playing as a Rebel, have full control of the Region you want to build it in, $200k in cash on you, and enough patience to wait 5 Turns.
Once the Rebel Hub is built, you can use it to travel to any other Rebel Hub on the map in a single Turn.
Conclusion
And that does it for the Rebel Hub Update. The new campaign's coming along, and it should be on track, assuming I don't have too much work at my new job making video games...
...As opposed to my current job, of making video games.
Two updates in a short period of time? I think I'm getting the hang of this game development thing.
In all seriousness, there's a whole lot of content to go over today, so let's get started.
Bug Fixes
Here are the bugs I fixed while working on the new maps for the update:
The debug trigger linked to 0 on the Number Pad has been removed, so players won't accidentally destroy hours of progress while playing Reconquista.
Region names during the selection process should no longer be bugged in the menu. So no more weird names that put Georgia in South America.
The city of Lima on the map "Peru" has been removed due to difficulties drawing the graphics for it.
New Maps
The big part of this free update is the addition of eight new maps to play on. Everything from Texas to California to New England to the Midwest.
Since America is, well, America, these maps can have up to 30 Regions for you to liberate.
Here's a quick preview of these new maps:
Texas
California
Cascadia
Sky Country
The Midwest
Canada
New England
The Capital (Mid Atlantic States)
A New Campaign Mode
Yeah, I mean it.
One of the big reasons I'm making this a major update is to announce the new campaign mode for Tyrannis, called "The Revolution." In it, players will be tasked with freeing the Americas, as in all of the Americas, from dictatorial control.
We're talking, 27 Areas for you to liberate from pole to frozen pole.
Now, I can't say too much, but it's going to be a unique campaign that combines roguelike mechanics with turn-based grand strategy gameplay in what might, quite possibly, be the first of its kind.
Pricing Adjustments
As much as I hate to do it, I'll be increasing Tyrannis' price from $5.00 to $10.00 upon the launch of "The Revolution" Update.
While I know price increases aren't the most popular thing, I think the addition of nine new maps this year, plus the new rogue-lite campaign, are enough to justify the increase.
That, and I got scammed out of about $100 by a company claiming to be the people I needed to pay to renew my Sole Proprietorship requirements with.
But for what it's worth, I'll only increase the price once the new campaign is added, so you probably have until June to buy it at the lower price.
Conclusion
Anyways, that'll do it for this new update. Tyrannis' new campaign, "The Revolution," will hopefully be out by June, at the latest.
