Genre: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Simulator, Strategy, Indie
War for the Overworld
Patch 1.6.4 Release Notes
Darkest Greetings Underlord,
As part of the unleashing the huge undertaking of supporting an entirely new language we’ve developed a large number of fixes and improvements to your game! Want to know more about the aforementioned language? Read here! Otherwise, read on for all the awesome changes that have come in Patch 1.6.4!
Chinese Language Support
As of today War for the Overworld is now available in Traditional and Simplified Chinese, you can read our full announcement here.
Special Worker Skin - Dragon Worker
To celebrate the Chinese release we’ve unleashed a special worker skin upon the world.
The Dragon Worker has a very special unlock condition, upon logging into the game between now and Chinese New Year (In February) you will be treated to a special achievement and find the new worker already available in game.
Should you miss this window it will be available again every Chinese New Year!
New Maps
Once again we’re introducing a number of new maps all loving crafted by our excellent team of volunteer QA members. As always a huge thank you to them for their time and efforts, be sure to give them a pat on the back if you see them.
Localisation & Community Translations
Cutscenes now showing subtitles on all cinematics
Improved reliability of game loading into the correct language
Performance Optimisations
We’ve implemented a number of significant performance optimisations which should greatly enhance game experience, especially on lower end GPUs. We’re really pleased with these improvements and of course we’ll continue to keep seeking opportunities to further improve the performance of the game.
Numerous Performance Optimisations with up to 25% increased FPS and reduced stutter:
Implemented a new deferred renderer
Optimised Unit Shields
Improved Minimap Performance
Refactored a number of older scripts for to improve performance in newer Unity versions
Improved Animations to reduce memory & rendering load
Improved Floating Emoticon performance
Optimised dynamic battle music performance
General pathfinding performance improvements
Huge vaults now build and destroy much faster
Sound Changes
Vastly improved battle music system to improve reactivity in combat
Sound Effects volume slider now affects more sounds
Spirits now play an appropriate death sound
Added an attack sound to the Archon
Improved Audio Levels during cutscenes
Visual Changes
Piggy Projectiles in the tavern are now appropriately flambeed
Improved image quality of Floating Emoticons and Unit Shields
Improved Animations when units eat piglets in the Slaughterpen
Added a new Kasita Hand and Pickaxe
Improved Cutscene Quality
Added Warden Work Animation
Added VFX on Juggernaut Work
Traing dummys in the Barracks are now more reactive to hits
Improved menu transitions
Improved visuals on the Wormhole potion
Brightened the Walls, Floor and Tiles of the Mira theme to bring them in line with the rest of the theme
Improved Alchemy Lab lights
Updated the main menu
Chunders now play work animation
Skarg plays sleep animation
Fixed brightness of the campaign map
Realigned torture chamber vfx
Multiplayer Changes
The minimum character limit for creating a lobby in Multiplayer has been reduced to 1
Level Changes
Lockshackle (My Pet Dungeon)
Beasts will no longer become angry on this level
Skirmish Maps
Styx
Replaced Artefacts of Greater Sin with Artefacts of Sin
SeasteadII
Added extra outer defenses for the Empire
Changed inner water areas to use Empire Water tileset
Changed Wooden Bridges to Empire Granite Bridges
Changed Artefacts of Greater Sin back to Artefacts of Sin (unintended change)
Set Destroyable setting of Empire Gateways to True so they can no longer be captured.
Populace
Moved the Core of all players closer to the middle of the continent, distance between players is now equal
Fortified path between players with Augrum Walls
StarDust
Tweaked central area, now with more building space and gold!
Miscellaneous Improvements
Upgraded to Unity 5.4.5p5
Updated game credits
Tutorial videos are now played from a local file rather than streamed
Port Forwarding Advice link now takes players to the updated Userecho Article
Clicking on the Port Forwarding Advice link will no longer revert the player to the main menu upon return
Gold Statues can now be dropped on allied ground and thus transferred into an Ally’s control
Bug Fixes
Crashes
Possessing a Piglet that gets placed into an Oven will no longer soft lock the game
Fixed an issue that could cause the game to seize on startup, this only affects the GOG version
UI
Double clicking buttons on the main menu will no longer cause them to disappear
SFX
Fixed an issue which prevented dynamic battle music from playing
Levels
An Empire owned tile will no longer appear next to the player’s Dungeon Core on Lagoon (Sandbox)
Ghouls now correctly follow necromancers on Snowhope (MPD)
Rhaskos’ Dungoen on Hell’s Deep (MPD) is now correctly revealed by Revelation
Optional Objective on Hell’s Deep (MPD) now correctly required Rhaskos to be defeated to complete
Home Realm can no longer be restarted as intended
Incorrect number of Democorns will no longer be present after reloading Ponygrasp (MPD)
Volcanic Bridges on Lavafall and Caldera now correctly have lava beneath them instead of Water
Reported Map Size should be consistent in all menus now
Fixed an exploit which allowed access to locked MPD levels without owning the DLC
Fixed map editor placed beast den for a single faction showing black incorrect tooltips
Rooms
Fixed an issue wherre Garrisons in range of a Posession door never activated
Fixed an issue that resulted in defences being buffed multiple times by a garrison
Prevented tavern getting stuck when a table was deleted.
Tavern table now has correct amount of need satisfiers
Fixed an issue where Inhibitor’s would no longer be owned by the Empire if the Empire player had a Dungeon Core that was destroyed
Spells
You can no longer cast a number of Warband associated abilities (Such as Add to Warband or Peaceband) on the Warband icons. Preventing such things as accidentally adding all units to the Peaceband
Units
Added handling of units in walls on map load that got there from saving under extreme lag conditions
Fixed workers refusing to mine golden rats and piggies
Fixed up the frostweaver animsation and prevented the passive ability triggering the hit animation
When you mine Walls as a possessed worker, your workers will now correctly claim the tiles
Fixed an issue that prevented workers from collecting gold/defence parts
Neutral Vampires should no longer die in Prisons
Mutators
Titan Sin Summoning cost increase now also increases the excess Sin Cap to allow late-game summoning after all aspects are researched
Environment
Prevented Siege shrine effect persisting after level change
Multiplayer
Alchemy Artefact now correctly works for clients
Improved Forge spell reliability in MP for clients
Fixed an issue that caused some defences and constructs to never build in MP
Fixed Unit mood constantly showing as “Content” for clients
Visual Fixes
Fixed the orientation on the Temple Guard’s shield
Corrected an issue that caused some parts of the Archons neck to be split
Evil Arcane Portcullis is no longer incorrectly rotated
Fixed a number of broken team colour instances on Theme ceilings
Possession door projector added
Fixed rotated tile in mira theme water
Fixed founders theme core floating
Fixed projector wall not being the right size when building aureate monolith
Removed red tiles in Empire Sanctuary
Ally & Enemy Titan canceled icon improvements
Fixed golden statues returning to their original after save & load
Fixed Canceling selection of a min. 3x3 room leaves a blue mark in prop place
Prevented an issue which could cause the menu to animate off of the screen
Upcoming Steam Pricing Adjustments, New Currencies
Darkest greetings Underlord,
We have a short and sudden announcement today regarding the pricing of War for the Overworld for several regions around the world, as well as our pricing strategy moving forward. This is all part of our continuing efforts to be as transparent as possible in our business practises, and should in no way reflect on any company other than ourselves.
We’re making this announcement today to make it clear why certain actions are being taken and because we didn’t want you, our customers, to be caught off guard.
What’s This All About?
As you may be aware, regional prices on Steam are advised by Valve, and yesterday we received an email informing us that they had updated their pricing matrix.
The changes have introduced several new currencies into Steam’s systems to offer a better customer experience for these regions. They have also adjusted existing prices to better reflect the strength of those currencies against the US dollar, and the local purchasing power of those regions. As such, with the exception of the USD, which prices are based off, and the Euro, which remains unchanged, all other currencies in the matrix now have new advised values. Items have either increased or decreased in price from their current standings, in most cases by relatively minor amounts.
As this is the first major change to advised regional pricings for many years, we have considered the advised changes carefully, weighing up the repercussions for both ourselves and our customers. We’ve considered how this works into our continued support of WFTO and our future as a company, as well as how it may affect your lives.
From this careful deliberation we have decided not to follow the advised changes to the letter. Rather, we will only be adopting the advised prices where the relative cost of the game in local currencies has decreased compared to previous values. We will not be increasing the price of the game for any region.
Why No Increase?
As a business we recognise the need to maintain appropriate levels of pricing, as the strengths of various currencies and buying powers across the world fluctuate; the advice offered by Valve in this regard is both appropriate and fair.
It is a fact that many economies are in very different positions to where they were years ago, when these prices last changed, and that in most cases the price of video games has not risen in line with inflation, despite increasing development costs. Simply put, Valve’s advice is something that we expect many publishers to follow, and we believe that for the good of the industry this is a sensible action.
With that said, Valve also advised developers to “always do what’s best for your players”, and this is something that resonates strongly with us. As a team of not just dedicated developers but also gamers and consumers, we want to ensure that the game can continue to reach a wide audience who will enjoy it for years to come.
As a British-based developer, we know firsthand what it’s like to live in a country where the economy is in flux due to recent political changes; we know what it’s like to feel the squeeze of a currency weakening, and we don’t want that to be a barrier to the enjoyment of our games.
Furthermore, we do not wish latecomers to feel as though they are punished, especially as WFTO is now an ageing game - one which is still supported and developed, but ageing nonetheless. We do not believe it would be as fair on those affected by price increases as it might be for a new title.
We also believe in pricing our products based on our perception of what is fair for the work we’ve dedicated to them, and for now we do not feel that there is a need to increase any prices to achieve this.
The Future
With all this said and done, we plan to review our pricing at least once a year, and we can’t say what will happen when we do so. We cannot rightly say that price increases will be off the table if we feel they are appropriate, though they will always be carefully considered; and regardless of any changes, we’ll be sure to inform you appropriately. Rest assured that we would never ever increase the price of any of our products without giving you a window of warning.
It should also go without saying that we will of course follow Valve’s guidelines for any future titles, and as such you can expect the next expansion to use the advised pricing structure. But as always we will aim to ensure that our prices are not only fair for our team but also our fans.
And of course we’re always happy to receive feedback from you on any of these matters. It’s important to us that you feel your voice is heard, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch through any of our channels. Now, after that incredible wall of text, here’s the nitty-gritty of the changes:
Reduced Regional Prices
The pricing of all WFTO products in the following currencies has been reduced to reflect the new pricing matrix. We have submitted the pricing changes and expect them to be approved by Valve within the next few days, so if you're amongst the following currencies keep your eyes peeled for reduced prices in the near future.
Edit: These changes have been approved by valve now and should be live.
Indonesian Rupiah
Malaysian Ringgit
Philippine Peso
Singapore Dollar
Thai Baht
Korean Won
Indian Rupee
Chilean Peso
Peruvian Nuevo Sol
Colombian Peso
South African Rand
Hong Kong Dollar
Taiwanese Dollar
Saudi Arabian Riyal
Emirati Dirham
CIS Territories USD Regional Price
New Currencies
The following local currencies are now supported by Steam, and as such these regions have new prices in line with the pricing matrix. As above we have submitted the changes to allow these currencies and expect them to be approved in the coming days and weeks. The actual time will depend on Steam of course.
Edit: These changes have been approved by valve now and should be live. However we can not confirm this and if you do not see your currency it is likely that Valve has not officially launched them yet and may be waiting for more developers. If that's the case there's no timescale for the launch but we'd certainly expect them this year, probably in the coming weeks.
It is somewhat unusual for us to announce a hotfix patch with the full hurrah, but today we’re unleashing a fix to an issue that has plagued a specific subset of users for quite some time. At long last players on OS X based systems should no longer have issues with the pre-rendered cinematics, and may breathe a sigh of relief. It may be a small change, but we know it makes a big difference for some.
For those affected we know this has been a long time coming, so we have to thank our fans on Apple machines for their enduring patience. We apologise that it has taken so long for this issue to be resolved, and we hope that you continue to enjoy WFTO.
Patch 1.6.3F2 Release Notes
Fixed a major issue that resulted in the game crashing on all macOS computers when attempting to play any in-game pre-rendered cutscene
For the rest of you we have another minor patch on the way sometime in early October, and of course look forward to more news as we head towards Patch 2.0 and Expansion 4!
Until then here's a little sneak peek of something yet to come.
It wails from the nether Aether, sending a tingle down even a Behemoth's spine.
New Maps, Discounted Expansion Bundle, and the Future
Darkest greetings Underlord,
The work on War for the Overworld marches on, and we’re really starting to make headway on the huge changes that will be due as part of our final major updates. But in the meantime, we have a small content update to unleash, and some improvements to our expansion and DLC offerings on the Steam Store.
We’ve also been working on our next project, which is really exciting for us, and marks the next step in our company’s journey! This has allowed us to reflect on where we’re going with WFTO’s final expansion, so we’ll also be talking a bit about that as well.
New Maps and Patch 1.6.3 Now Available
Patch 1.6.3 is now bounding its way to you through the bowels of the Underworld. Within you’ll find a bunch of new maps for Skirmish and Multiplayer, kindly donated by our volunteer QA team, to help fill out the default map roster. There are also additional multiplayer stability improvements, as well as a number of bug fixes.
You can read about the maps and the full patch notes here.
New Expansion Bundle and Steam Store Updates
We’ve made some changes to how the content on our Steam Store page is laid out and presented, offering easier ways to get multiple pieces of content. This won’t affect most of our existing customers, but we thought it prudent to inform you just in case!
We’ve packaged the game’s content expansions into a single discount bundle, offering a small bargain if you’re yet to pick up Heart of Gold and My Pet Dungeon. Frankly, there’s never been a better time to complete your WFTO experience!
Naturally, when we release the final expansion, we’ll be adding that as well.
To make it easier to distinguish purely cosmetic content from gameplay expansions, we’ve decided to group the cosmetics into a bundle as well. This means that both the Underlord Edition content and Worker skins can now be found in a single purchase and at a small discount.
We’ve decided to group the seasonal Worker skins together into a single DLC, aptly titled “Seasonal Worker Skins”. This is to help simplify the DLC list by compressing them down into a single item.
The gang, together at last!
If you already own all the Worker skins there’s no need to worry, as you certainly won’t have to repurchase - your current purchases will continue to work. If you don’t yet own them all but have picked up any Worker skin and want to complete your collection, then you’ll find this package 50% off for the next six weeks. For those of you yet to take the plunge, you’ll find the skins slightly cheaper than they were before.
Looking to the Future: Expansion 4
We always endeavour to make sure that all our fans remain informed of where WFTO’s development is headed, and today we’re going to do just that. From our previous posts on the subject, the situation is largely unchanged; so for anyone who has read those, you can feel safe knowing that there’s still something in the works!
A thing in the works!
Over the past year, we’ve made no secret of the fact that WFTO’s development cycle is coming to an end, and that we have one more big content drop in the works, which we refer to collectively as Patch 2.0 and Expansion 4. The release date of this content is as yet unconfirmed, but it’s still our aim to have it out between Q4 2017 and Q2 2018.
Why such a large window? We’ve learned from the past that we don’t want to promise a release date too quickly, but we at least want to give you an idea of what we’re aiming towards.
In addition, as we look towards the future, we’ve had to dial down WFTO’s development temporarily, while we focus on prototyping our next title. This has given us an opportunity to refine our processes as a developer, and we’re looking forward to bringing the fruits of this experience to WFTO, when we come to place the final touches upon our much loved firstborn.
For us, this is a thrilling experience of being able to look forward not in terms of weeks and months, but years, something that we’ve never had the opportunity to do before now. As always we have to thank our fans for their patience and support over the years, and reaffirm our promise to ensure that WFTO’s final major update will be the most definitive yet. To that end, here is some idea of what you can expect:
New single-player campaign with a focus on Underlords and replayability
New Underlord AI
New Aspects in the Veins of Evil
New Dungeon Themes
And much more
And there we have it. So until next time, Underlord: Keep it evil.
We’ve just unleashed another patch for War for the Overworld upon the unsuspecting citizens of Kairos. Within you’ll find a bundle of new maps for Skirmish and Multiplayer, constructed by our incredible volunteer QA team, as well as a number of stability improvements for Multiplayer and a few bug fixes.
We’ve also prepping a short statement on our future plans, and an explanation of some changes to our Steam Store, which we'll be uploading if not tonight then tomorrow!
Patch 1.6.3
Seven New Skirmish Maps!
Loose Ground - 1v1 - by Biervampir
Keeping your footing here is the least of your worries - what with artefacts just waiting to be seized.
Eutharia’s Realm - 1v1 - by Fireeye
Underlord Eutharia dwelt here in eons gone by. Would you and your opponent care to poke through her carcass?
Sub-Zero - 1v1 - by nutter666
Within the freezing depths of this tundra, you'll find all you need to dig in and build a well-fortified dungeon. But your rival is not the only thing that stirs beneath the ice.
Blood Hazard - 1v1v1 - by Biervampir
A particularly potent Underlord met their end here. Will it be you, or your enemies, that donate to the pool of blood?
Borehole - 3P FFA - by Biervampir
A newly-discovered realm which is unfortunately short on gold. It stands poised for an epic showdown of Underlord frugality.
Populace - FFA or 2v2 - by Green.Sliche
Peopled by you and your fellow Underlords, this realm is a pressure cooker of gold and ambition. But only one can rule. Prepare for a battle of biblical proportions.
Stardust - FFA or 2v2 - by Green.Sliche
Deep in the Aether, where gold twinkles like stars and chasms gape like black holes, four Underlords try to avoid oblivion.
Gameplay Changes
Rituals
Assembly ritual now completes all defences in one cast, with the exception of the Sentinel and Stone Knight, which only take 5 Defence Parts per cast
AI Improvements
Improvements to targeting checks mean that units should now respond to attacks more reliable
Performance Improvements
Drastically improved main menu performance
Improved the FPS in pre-rendered cutscenes
Multiplayer
General improvements to multiplayer stability
Visual Improvements
Removed gap in Hero and Hero Crypt Chasm border
Miscellaneous Changes
Cian Noonan, our QA Analyst, is finally credited in the game’s credits! Yay for him
War for the Overworld Level 5 speedrun achievement is now set to 23 minutes
Bug Fixes
The Possession camera should no longer become locked and broken if a Spirit Worker expires while being possessed
Doors will now correctly display their locked state in Multiplayer
Compiled 1.6.3 Hotfixes
Crashes
Playing the game with the official Russian translation will no longer crash the Crucible
Units
The Eternal now correctly absorbs 90% of damage done to the owner's Dungeon Core
The Eternal now correctly resists 50% damage, down from an unintended 75%
Multiplayer
Fixed a few broken elements from when we made under-the-hood changes to Multiplayer - fixes Blood Money, and potentially the torture workflow
Clients in Multiplayer should once again be able to toggle defence states
Levels
War for the Overworld Level 5’s Shifting Bond ritual now goes slower over time, rather than being suspended for a fixed period and then going at a fast pace (attempt #5894 to fix this rare issue)
Fixed incorrect rotation on the Siege Doors in War for the Overworld Level 13
Increased the height of the Emperor's throne in War for the Overworld Level 13; now he can sit up straight and see the throne room once more
Fixed an issue where the Emperor's throne would disappear after loading a save of War for the Overworld Level 13
Fixed a critical issue where the Drawbridge on War for the Overworld Level 13 would become impassable following a save and load in which it was lowered
Visuals
Prevented duplicate VFX on Research Shrine
Prevented the Empire Arcane Core from having a brown Underlordy base
Fixed a material on the Bafu projectile that became corrupt in a build
Fixed a broken defuse on the Behemoth, which would cause him to pop out of existence instead of fading upon death
Fixed a missing material in the Chasm on War for the Overworld Level 3
Evil Arcane theme Possession Door is now correctly team coloured
Audio
Improved sound disable on prop death to be more robust
Mutators
The Disable Payday mutator will now correctly disable Payday when checked
Performance
Additional minor performance improvements which can yield up to 15% increased FPS in extremely late games, and minor improvements throughout earlier stages
Miscellaneous
Fixed "corpses" typo on Crypt info panel
Corrected an issue that could cause offline saves on GOG versions to become unloadable
Fixed My Pet Dungeon level name ordering for IT, ES, PL, and RU languages
Improvements to the GOG Leaderboards for Crucible; should now display more consistently
Small typo correction in the overwrite message for save games
Fixed an issue where Skirmish achievements would not be awarded if the name of the opponent AI was translated
Fixed missing non-English versions of a narrator line on War for the Overworld Level 6
Fixed an issue that would prevent the Steven Fright achievement from being awarded
The achievement for defeating Kasita on Master difficulty has been correctly renamed in-game to "Yanis Varoufakis", to match the achievement list
Fixed a typo in the Wither ability description for the Cultist
Removed a broken miscellaneous line from Mendechaus
Fixed a typo in certain abilities on the Firebreather and Behemoth
Today is an auspicious occasion for the denizens of the Underworld! For you see, twenty years ago today, a little game known as Dungeon Keeper was unleashed upon the world by Bullfrog Productions and Electronic Arts.
Evil certainly was very, very good - Dungeon Keeper - Electronic Arts - Bullfrog Productions
The brainchild of Peter Molyneux and the team at Bullfrog, Dungeon Keeper would be the progenitor of a whole new unholy sub-genre, now known as Dungeon Management, which melded together aspects of RTS, God Games and RPGs, to create a truly unique experience. Placed into the mind of an abhorrently cruel godlike being, you were charged with the creation and management of a deathly dungeon and its despicable denizens.
The pioneering gameplay of slapping Imps - Dungeon Keeper - Electronic Arts - Bullfrog Productions
This unique concoction of gaming flavours would go on to touch countless lives, and become a cult classic with a dedicated following all across the globe. It is now one of the most recognisable achievements of Bullfrog, which considering their success, is truly saying something.
A sequel, the aptly titled Dungeon Keeper 2, was released two years later in 1999. It continued the ignoble legacy, even promising a third title, before the series’ life was brutally cut short by a shifting industry direction, and the loss of core members of the Bullfrog team.
’Twas still good to be bad - Dungeon Keeper 2 - Electronic Arts - Bullfrog Productions
Fans bayed for the promised third coming but it was never to be. Dungeon Keeper 3 would never be realised, and the original trailer and premise of the “War for the Overworld” would continue to taunt fans for well over a decade.
The deathly silence that followed was punctuated only by a few games inspired by the long absent king, many of which failed to meet the great expectations left behind in the void of Dungeon Keeper’s passing.
The years slipped away into the abyss, like so many Lords of the Land, but the Dungeon Management community grew in both size and age. With no sign of a new Dungeon Keeper on the horizon, it began to scheme and plan projects that could take up the reins of evil. If the industry would not fill the gap in our lives (with anything of value at least…) then we would do so ourselves.
This evil was less good - Dungeon Keeper Mobile - Electronic Arts
Dozens of projects coalesced and dissolved. One such project, first envisioned on the Keeper Klan forums in 2007, reformed in 2011, and successfully Kickstarted in January 2013, is now better known by a name that meant so much to every Dungeon Keeper fan: War for the Overworld!
We’ve never made any secret of how much Dungeon Keeper has inspired War for the Overworld. We wanted to create a game that held as true as possible to the DNA of Dungeon Keeper – a game that could truly be considered a spiritual successor, taking what we felt was best about the gameplay and finding places to evolve it into a modern Dungeon Management game in its own right.
We hope you’re having fun being evil again
This is a story we’ve told time and time and time again. But a story we haven’t told is how Dungeon Keeper has inspired us on a personal level, as developers, as people, and how it has shaped our lives in ways that we’re sure no one at Bullfrog could ever have imagined. So allow us to now share a few tales from our team:
Lee Moon – Community Manager
My first experience of Dungeon Keeper was shortly after its release in 1997 when I was just a wee lad of 6 years. I remember my older brother bringing this game home and watching him play it on our old Windows 95 desktop that was primarily used for my father’s work – but also for such gaming classics as Doom, Theme Park and Command and Conquer.
As I watched my brother play I just knew I had to have a go! This game looked like nothing I’d ever seen – the incredible isometric view, dynamic lighting, unique creatures, and ability to dig, shape and build rooms captured my imagination immediately. I waited… and waited while my brother played. Days later I finally got my chance!
I sat down in the big seat, eager as you might imagine a 6-year-old would be, and played my first level. So eager was I to build that I forgot to give my Imps time to fortify the walls. My dungeon was destroyed by the invading heroes before it even began! Rather pathetically I had lost the first level.
Most decidedly not the screen I received on the first level - Dungeon Keeper - Electronic Arts - Bullfrog Productions
From then on I played the game on and off through the years. As I grew I became more and more competent. I finally beat the game and begged my parents to buy the sequel in 1999 (they eventually gave in). Since then I’ve played both games many, many times, most famously when I wrestled with the AI assistant on stream. I often look back on them as two of my favourite games ever made.
I remember for many years wishing for a third game, following various projects online (I’m sure you can imagine which!). For years I talked with friends about wanting to learn how to make games myself so I could work on something like that, but being pragmatic as I am, I decided to pursue a life in computer networking.
I jumped with joy when War for the Overworld’s Kickstarter happened, and backed £200 immediately. From there I became extremely active in the community, and the rest is history.
Dungeon Keeper played a huge role in my life, and without it I would not be where I am today – helping to shape a fantastic Dungeon Management game and a dedicated community around it!
Thanks for all the fun times and memories Bullfrog! You will always be missed!
Josh – Managing Director & Lead Designer
From an early age I knew that I wanted to be a game developer, after all my father had been one for my entire life so it seemed like a natural fit. Back in those early days I never would have imagined I’d have been directly responsible for one of the most popular modern Dungeon Management games.
I don’t entirely remember how old I was when I first played a Dungeon Keeper game. I know that I was certainly quite young, perhaps 7 or so when I dove headfirst into Dungeon Keeper 2. I was always a big fan of strategy games such as Command and Conquer and Populous: The Beginning, and something about DK2 really called to me. Though I wouldn’t encounter the original until much later, I can truly appreciate how much is owed to it.
Keeper Klan is still a hot location for Dungeon Management fans!
I remember spending hours just working my way through the campaign and the disappointment that came in knowing that there would never be a third game. Over the years I watched games attempt to capture the magic, but nothing ever felt quite right. By 2007, at the tender age of 15, I knew that if I wanted to play a game that truly captured the feeling of total control, I’d have to make it myself. A decade and a whole lot of stress, sweat and graft later here I am, with something I’m proud to put my name to.
Scott Richmond – Director, Producer, Programmer
Dungeon Keeper was a game I played far before I ever considered becoming a game developer. It was a game I found myself reinstalling often to get that unique management game fix that only the DK series seems to have ever given.
My gamedev story in brief is one of self-learning and a lot of failed experiments. A lot. I have the DK series to thank for the high benchmark I pressured myself to achieve, and it was a constant inspiration and driving force as my attempts to make games became progressively more complex.
Patrick Hore – 3D Artist
Although I never played DK1 as a kid, its sequel completely grabbed my attention. Atmospherically, Dungeon Keeper 2 was captivating. The gritty colours, the eerie sounds, the twisted style of the landscape, made the dungeon management experience so inviting and addictive.
Being introduced to the game by my friends, I was immersed into a dark world so unlike many other games. It felt as if few games were willing to explore the point of view of the bad guy, which made the whole experience even more exciting. For me, creating an army of my favourite creatures and traps meant playing so many hours of skirmish matches.
I feel games like Dungeon Keeper are so inspirational for their integrity of their vision and feeling.
Nano Boucher – Director, Programmer
Hello. Many years ago now I remember having an absolute blast when playing Dungeon Keeper 2 online with my friends. We’d almost every weekend get together and devise strategies to see who could crush the others first.
From my experiences playing I was inspired to teach myself programming so that I could develop video games, and started working on a prototype in the UDK engine with similar principles to Dungeon Keeper. I’m sure you can find footage of that if you look around. It was a huge challenge – Dungeon Keeper is an extremely unique game and honestly something of a technical marvel for its time.
What WFTO looked like circa 2007-2008
Shortly thereafter I discovered the WFTO project on Keeper Klan and I signed up to join the team. The rest is as they say is history!
Tim White – Writer
I think I’m one of the few members of the team who didn’t play Dungeon Keeper as a child – you know, how sometimes a classic will pass you by for some random reason. Thing is, I loved Theme Park. Maybe my innocent childhood self just wasn’t ready to be the bad guy! But I think discovering it as an adult, without the aid of nostalgia, just shows how much of a timeless experience Dungeon Keeper is. In particular for me, the strength of the setting is striking: the innovative mix of weird and otherworldly creatures, some of whom just don’t get along; the happy and hapless world full of places called “Flowerhat” and “Lushmeadow-on-Down”. The black comedy is always there, and I can only marvel at the succinct wit of the script, and deadpan delivery of Richard Ridings. Who can forget the intro to the first level: “The people of Eversmile are plagued only by aching facial muscles, and not anthrax as we had hoped.”
Conclusion
These days there are dozens of Dungeon Management games, either released or in production, all inspired by a single progenitor to some degree. Dungeon Keeper is to us what games like Wolfenstein or Doom are to the FPS genre – a true genre-defining classic that has inspired countless people to carry the torch and get into game making themselves.
We’re proud to have been one of the most influential of the Dungeon Management games in recent times, and to have been the first to achieve a successful Kickstarter, Early Access, launch, and post-release support cycle that is still going to this day!
It is our honour to truly have been a project by fans of Dungeon Keeper, for fans of Dungeon Keeper.
Dungeon Keeper 1 and Dungeon Keeper 2 are available to purchase from GOG.com!
The last few weeks have been incredibly busy for us here in the depths of the development dungeon, with the recent launch on GOG.com dominating much of our work. We have to say that it’s been an absolutely incredible success, and we’re extremely pleased that we can now finally offer War for the Overworld as a solid DRM-Free experience!
With this huge launch now behind us we’ve taken a step back and thought even more about what we can offer, to improve the experience of players that don’t want to participate in the Steam platform.
Introducing the Foundry
At Brightrock we consider community content to be one of the greatest things in PC gaming, and something we can’t get enough of. We want to bring this experience to our GOG.com players as well, and that brings us to the Foundry.
Whilst Steam has the Steam Workshop on which WFTO has thousands of custom creations, we knew that there was no place where non-Steam players could share and download maps and translations from. This is what we’re looking to solve with the Foundry.
We’ve set up this special page on our website as a repository for players to share, download and discuss their creations. We’ve already filled it up with some of the most important and popular maps and translations from our Steam community, to help you get your hands on the best content developed so far.
Now we’d like to invite you, our players, to help populate the Foundry with awesome content, and we look forward to helping you develop even better community content in the future! If you’d like to find out how to use the Foundry, then click through to this knowledgebase article.
As we move forward towards the last updates of WFTO, we’re keen to see what our community comes up with in terms of content, and we’re very interested to hear what improvements you’d like to see to the content creation tools. We’re also looking to resurrect our community spotlight, to reward the very best content in the community with small gifts and news spotlights, as our way of thanking the dedication and commitment of creators. We hope this new initiative will inspire everyone to get involved!
It’s been on the Public Test Branch for little over a week, and now with the release of our GOG version we’re proud to say that Patch 1.6.2 is now finally going live! It brings with it a variety of improvements, but none more so than those for Multiplayer. So read on, Underlord, and discover what magic lies in the bowels of:
Patch 1.6.2 - Multiplayer Mayhem
We’ve introduced some serious new netcode with Patch 1.6.2 which should drastically improve the quality of multiplayer matches. We’ve had this on the Public Test Branch for just over a week and the response has been positive so far. Want to give it a go? Here’s some tips to get you started!
Finding a Multiplayer Match What would a multiplayer patch be without multiplayer matches? Head on over to our Discord and join the Matchmaking channel to find other players with whom to go head to head!
Don’t forget if you’re going to host you’ll need to port forward!
Reporting Issues We’re looking to try and improve the experience for our multiplayer fans as much as possible, so if you run into an issue while playing please get in touch with a bug report via User Echo.
Release Notes
Multiplayer Improvements
We’ve reworked our netcode to deliver significant improvements to the Multiplayer experience.
Multiplayer behaviours should be much more consistent with gameplay, for example:
Constructs and defences are more reliable
Casting Recall on the Worker Rally no longer breaks the Worker Rally
Unit actions are now consistent between client and host
We’ve implemented new systems to combat desyncs by slowing the game down, giving it time to catch up after network issues
Visual issues have been greatly reduced, for example:
Reduced instances of units visually teleporting
VFX should be correctly synced to unit location
“Ghost” units have been exorcised
Possessing a unit should no longer cause unit shields to break for your opponent
Unit shields no longer become detached from their unit
Workers who are undertaking a task should no longer become lost
Implemented support for cross-platform play with GOG Galaxy players
Performance Improvements
Multiplayer code no longer runs in single-player, which yields a small performance boost for all players
Visual Changes
Improvements to the gold pile highlight
Significantly improved the Crackpot/Gnarling working animation
Improved the floor texture for the Empire barracks
Campaign map highlighting improved
Made some changes to the lights on the main menu scene to improve contrast between rendered objects and UI objects
Small changes to the Archive Lectern lights
Glowing runes are now present on Arcane/Evil Arcane theme door frames
Fixed a number of significant issues with the Dwarven Core
Arcane themes now use a new arcane portcullis frame
Improved Archon emissive map
Reduced the VFX height of the Necromancer’s heal which should improve combat clarity when they are present
Levels
Made some slight visual tweaks to War for the Overworld Level 13
Bug Fixes
Units
Shambler no longer incorrectly has a wage
Porkzilla can now correctly deal damage to units and defences once more, praise the bacon!
Corrected an issue that caused the Behemoth’s heal rate to be far higher than it should have been - it now correctly generates 0.75% health per second
Visuals
Fixed highlight on all Archive props
Evil Arcane theme glowing runes now match what is engraved in the wall
Necromancers on War for the Overworld Level 8 now correctly use the Necromancer Possession effect
Fixed team colouring on a number of objects:
Sovereign Theme door frame
Sovereign Theme connector
Sovereign Theme Midas Door
Santa Worker
Empire and Phaestus theme wall lights
Kickstarter theme Dungeon Core will now display the correct damage states
Kasita and Draven Cores on War for the Overworld Level 12 should now animate correctly
Corrected highlighting on Empire and Phaestus themes
Texture corrections on War for the Overworld Level 8 water gates
Fixed Rocky Earth normal map
Fixed Gold Shrine highlighting
Overworld Gateway unit shields should now display more reliably
Snowy Sacred Earth now uses the correct textures, instead of the Snow textures for Sand walls
Phaestus theme now correctly uses the Underlord props rather than Empire props
Fixed compression settings for some stray textures
Fixed the transparency on the Overworld Gateway
Improved the visuals of the standard theme wall torch
Minor improvement to the lamps in the Empire Lair
Fixed an issue with the highlight on small dropped gold piles
Rooms
Heightmap data of Empire Slaughterpen and Barracks now matches that of their Underlord counterparts
Destroyed and claimed Overworld Gateways can no longer be used to dismiss units
Levels
Improved the effect that is played when Mira is capturing the Kenos on War for the Overworld Level 10, by fixing clipping and misalignment
Further improvements to the Shifting Bond ritual progress on War for the Overworld Level 5, in an attempt to fix a long standing issue
Multiplayer
Removed ping column in lobby due to it being unimplemented at this time
Fixed an issue where the host would always try to send a copy of a map to the client even if it was not required
Fixed an issue where the location of units and them taking an action would not be correctly synced
UI
Improved floating emoticon compression quality to prevent pixelation
Miscellaneous
GameText - Minor grammar corrections
GameText - Fixed "Claim" Worker task type to correctly display as "Unclaim" when unclaiming enemy tiles
Removed unused textures
That covers this update for now Underlord. We’re still working hard on bringing further under-the-hood improvements to War for the Overworld, and we expect a new UI middleware shortly, followed by Unity 5.6 in the near future! Stay tuned!
Chained away in the darkest corner of our dungeon the code imps, beavering away with their gnarled hands, continue their never-ending task of improving the inner workings of War for the Overworld - all so that you might enjoy the fruits of their labours even more.
Recently, on a rare expedition beyond the confines of the coding chamber, one of these wretched beings encountered a rare artefact - no less than the source code for an integral component of our multiplayer systems! Darting back to the chamber exuberant in his find, this fervent little fellow locked himself away, determined not to see the light of day again until his task was complete.
We’re now proud to say that for the first time in weeks he has re-emerged with a new WFTO build - one that we’re pleased to share with you today via the Public Test Branch. That’s right, we’re reopening the test branch for public exhibition with this new 1.6.2PTB1 build!
1.6.2PTB1 - A New Multiplayer
1.6.2PTB1 includes a number of changes intended to dramatically improve the multiplayer experience. We’ve been redeveloping our netcode, which in our tests has shown significant improvements. Now we’re eager to see how that works in real life and to do that we need your help!
Accessing the Public Test Branch Gaining access to the PTB is almost as easy as snapping your evil fingers. Simply do the following:
Right click War for the Overworld in your Steam Library
Select Properties from the drop down menu
Click the Betas tab
From the drop down select Publictest
Wait for the update to download
Finding a Multiplayer Match What would a multiplayer patch be without multiplayer matches? Head on over to our Discord and join the Matchmaking channel to find other players with whom to go head to head!
Remember you’ll both need to be on the same version of WFTO, so if you’re on the PTB your opponent will need to be as well! Don’t forget if you’re going to host you’ll need to port forward!
Reporting Issues We’re looking to try and improve the experience for our multiplayer fans as much as possible, so if you run into an issue while playing on the PTB please get in touch with a bug report via User Echo.
Release Notes
Known Issues
Glacial Doors do not animate for the client
Unit mood is not visible to the client (all units are always displayed as content)
Multiplayer chat does not work on macOS
When you place defences/constructs as the client, it will show the purchase cost multiple times
Multiplayer Improvements
We’ve reworked our netcode to deliver significant improvements to the Multiplayer experience.
Multiplayer behaviours should be much more consistent with gameplay, for example:
Constructs and defences are more reliable
Casting Recall on the Worker Rally no longer breaks the Worker Rally
Unit actions are now consistent between client and host
We’ve implemented new systems to combat desyncs by slowing the game down, giving it time to catch up after network issues
Visual issues have been greatly reduced, for example:
Reduced instances of units visually teleporting
VFX should be correctly synced to unit location
“Ghost” units have been exorcised
Possessing a unit should no longer cause unit shields to break for your opponent
Unit shields no longer become detached from their unit
Workers who are undertaking a task should no longer become lost
Performance Improvements
Multiplayer code no longer runs in single-player, which yields a small performance boost for all players
Visual Changes
Improvements to the gold pile highlight
Significantly improved the Crackpot/Gnarling working animation
Improved the floor texture for the Empire barracks
Campaign map highlighting improved
Made some changes to the lights on the main menu scene to improve contrast between rendered objects and UI objects
Small changes to the Archive Lectern lights
Glowing runes are now present on Arcane/Evil Arcane theme door frames
Fixed a number of significant issues with the Dwarven Core
Arcane themes now use a new arcane portcullis frame
Improved Archon emissive map
Levels
Made some slight visual tweaks to War for the Overworld Level 13
Bug Fixes
Units
Shambler no longer incorrectly has a wage
Porkzilla can now correctly deal damage to units and defences once more, praise the bacon!
Visuals
Fixed highlight on all Archive props
Evil Arcane theme glowing runes now match what is engraved in the wall
Necromancers on War for the Overworld Level 8 now correctly use the Necromancer Possession effect
Fixed team colouring on a number of objects:
Sovereign Theme door frame
Sovereign Theme connector
Sovereign Theme Midas Door
Santa Worker
Empire and Phaestus theme wall lights
Kickstarter theme Dungeon Core will now display the correct damage states
Kasita and Draven Cores on War for the Overworld Level 12 should now animate correctly
Corrected highlighting on Empire and Phaestus themes
Texture corrections on War for the Overworld Level 8 water gates
Fixed Rocky Earth normal map
Fixed Gold Shrine highlighting
Overworld Gateway unit shields should now display more reliably
Snowy Sacred Earth now uses the correct textures, instead of the Snow textures for Sand walls
Phaestus theme now correctly uses the Underlord props rather than Empire props
Fixed compression settings for some stray textures
Fixed the transparency on the Overworld Gateway
Improved the visuals of the standard theme wall torch
Minor improvement to the lamps in the Empire Lair
Rooms
Heightmap data of Empire Slaughterpen and Barracks now matches that of their Underlord counterparts
Destroyed and claimed Overworld Gateways can no longer be used to dismiss units
Levels
Improved the effect that is played when Mira is capturing the Kenos on War for the Overworld Level 10, by fixing clipping and misalignment
Further improvements to the Shifting Bond ritual progress on War for the Overworld Level 5, in an attempt to fix a long standing issue
Multiplayer
Removed ping column in lobby due to it being unimplemented at this time
UI
Improved floating emoticon compression quality to prevent pixelation
Miscellaneous
GameText - Minor grammar corrections
GameText - Fixed "Claim" Worker task type to correctly display as "Unclaim" when unclaiming enemy tiles
Removed unused textures
That covers this update for now Underlord, but be sure to check back in the coming weeks as we’re currently working on some exciting improvements on the backend. Specifically we’re moving WFTO to a newer version of Unity and updating our UI middleware. We’ll keep you informed as these projects move along, and you should expect to see these on the PTB in the coming weeks.
Would you like the good news or the bad news first? Given your outlook, I suppose you’re eager for the bad: Your Workers have formed a union, the National Union of Dungeon Excavators. But it’s because of the good news: You’ve been working them into the ground!
The leader of this union is a veteran Worker, The Cynical Imp, who’s come out of retirement just to head this campaign.
The Cynical Imp is proffering these terms, and is threatening a Workers’ strike if you don’t agree:
The Underlord may not slap a minion in their minionship except in the explicit circumstance where the said minion has refused to excavate a tile designated by the said Underlord’s Hand.
The Underlord must establish a Payday giving scheme whereby minions can donate a portion of their earnings to charity, tax free.
He has also prepared this short broadcast for you:
https://youtu.be/JMS-tQxTFdY
So unless you want your dungeon to be as empty as a room after a Chunder’s fart, you should have a good think about this.
The Cynical Imp is ready to hit the campaign trail across all non-Campaign game modes!
Download The Cynical Imp skin from our website or Steam - select your bundle and 100% of all Brightrock Games proceeds will be donated to the GamesAid Digital for Good initiative. Larger donations will grant access to the previously-exclusive Kickstarter and Founders Dungeon Themes!
