·Completely reworked the UI ·Removed the ability to buy additional storage tabs. This feature will come back in a different form. ·Removed internal cooldown on a lot of modifiers, so they trigger as expected.
Bugfixes
·Fixed damage over time modifiers causing problems to enemy AI ·Fixed skills cast from modifiers not causing a cast event
Here are some previews of the new UI.
Update 0.86 - Major new feature: Masteries
This update includes a new major core feature. Based on the weapon you use you will be unlocking your skills and earning class skill points. Spending class skill points can greatly changes your skills. Sadly the new content is not translated, but I am nearly finished with workshop integration for translations.
The next update will focus on a lot of polish and some content.
Gameplay
·New feature: Masteries. Starting out with one mastery per weapon, for a total of 5 masteries ·New NPC where you can reset your spent mastery skill points ·Improved gold lighting and performance by grouping gold into piles of three ·Added steam rich presence ·Improved healthbar design of elite enemies ·Changed claw weapon 4th skill. Applies a DoT in an AoE. ·Picking up items does not try to auto-equip them anymore. For now this is a necessary change so the multiplayer works bug free. ·Added workshop support for game translations ·Minimum supported screen resolution is now 1024x768 ·First load into the game is now way faster ·Multiplayer invite codes are now more readable ·Removed big UI when player got a level up ·Reduced enemy amount by ~30% ·Increased enemy health by ~30% ·Removed cursor customization ·Added a new well visible custom cursor ·Mouse cursor now changes when hovering over special objects ·Hovering over objects now shows a name and short description ·Removed tornado totem enemy. Now spawns as a proper totem ( the same type the player can place )
Bugfixes
·Fixed ranged slightly shooting in the wrong direction ·Items are now properly synced over the server. This causes clients to have a small delay when equipping items. This is necessary for a bug free experience. ·Falling into void now deals damage again ·Fixed screen resolution from resetting
Issues
·'Tornado Totem' does not stick to moving platforms anymore
Development Progress #6
Still working on finishing all the masteries. The technical side is done, but I still need to add good icons, particles and sound effects. Various other parts of the game also received some polish and improvements.
Enemy rarity now also shows in the healthbar.
Skill charges now show their cooldown.
The icons are obviously still work in progress.
Development Progress #5 - Weapon Masteries
Currently there are 5 weapon types. Each weapon mastery skill tree has 14 nodes. You will be able to skill 10 nodes. Right now ~85% of the nodes are done. Here are some previews of some of the possible effects.
'Meteor Rain' has a chance to cast 'Firenova' on impact.
On crit. chance to cast 'Heavy Slash'.
On attack chance to trigger 'Slice'.
Update 0.85 - Multiplayer Improvements
With the new update the menus and gameflow got more streamlined. With this I can guarantee a more stable multiplayer experience. The improved netcode also allows me to easier add new features.
With the new system you do not preselect a hero before entering a game, but select them after you joined a lobby. Creating and deleting heroes now happens in 'Manage Heroes'.
'Singleplayer' simply creates a solo offline lobby where you can pick your hero and play the game. 'Multiplayer' allows you to invite friends to the lobby. Currently the maximum player count is 8. This may increase. After the game starts joining is not possible anymore.
In the top-right is the invite code you need to share with others who want to join.
Gameplay
·Major rework of multiplayer netcode ( improves performance and stability ) ·There is now has a proper lobby system when creating a game ·You can now drop items everywhere ·Added a new gui above the skills to show positive and negative modifiers ·Skills that apply a buff now apply them as modifiers ·Skills now show a more detailed cooldown ·Improved blacksmith UI ·Improved loading times ·Updated korean translation ( thanks to DeTK ) ·Improved flow how to create and join multiplayer games ·Spawned enemies now also count towards the floor clear progress ·Changed so all players need to be alive when changing a map
Bugfixes
·Better syncing for player position ( no more sliding ) ·Various fixes
Issues
·Currently not everything is translated ·Falling into void currently does no damage ·Ranged enemies don't retreat anymore if you get to close ·Items lying around currently have a generic 3d model ·Cursor size can't be changed in settings ·Potion does not apply any buffs, only heals ·Big UI boss healthbar is currently disabled
Development Progress #4 - More Technical Improvements
I'm still working on improving the technical details. There are a lot of improvements to the multiplayer networking, loading times and UI performance.
While reworking the UI on a technical level, I also redid the layout for the workbench.
Development Progress #3 - Technical Improvements
The next update is still not ready. While working on adding all the cool new features that masteries would have, I hit several dead-ends where it would be technical not really possible to properly add the feature.
So I decided to improve some technical core parts of the game. The multiplayer is currently receiving a complete overhaul, and is already way better then before. Playing with friends is also made easier and I am looking into adding 'Steam Invites'. Currently you create a game and have an invite-code that you can share. This also ties in with a future feature of customizing your island more. It would also be possible to have a list of open games. It is currently not supported, but I may add it if there is demand for it.
All of this will increase the game performance, multiplayer stability and make the game easier to continue develop and add new features.
Development Progress #2 - Masteries
The update this month is going to be delayed, because it adds quite a bit of new features, that are not ready yet.
Currently I am working on adding more depth to combat and character customization.
There is one mastery layout per weapon type. Every mastery has its own level. You gain exp. in the mastery you currently use. There are 4 active skills, that are unlocked based on your level. Additionally there are 21 passive nodes that will modify the active skills. The right bar shows the level needed to gain a skill point, to be used to unlock a passive node. In total you can get 10 skill points.
This is all work in progress and may be further adjusted.
Update 0.84 - Boss and Localizations
Gameplay
·Added localization for German, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Korean and Portuguese ·Moved key display into backpack, next to gold ·There is now a preview where the abilitiy will hit before casting it. Also applies to enemies. ·Added a boss between Dungeon and Castle biome ( first version ) ·Completely reworked enemy AI ( first version ). This fixes various desync problems in multiplayer and allows for more complex AI later on ·Moved menu icons in the bottom right into one unified tray. This is necessary as there will be more features later on that will need their own window.
Bugfixes
·Fixed rare bug in multiplayer which would desync world generation ·Fixed a bug where you sometimes would not be able to attack
1 Year of Early Access
Today marks the 1 year anniversary of Warman being in early access. I want to write about what went well and what comes in the future.
Updates For updates, I was trying to meet a schedule of 1 update a month. I think that works well, except for big updates that I can't finish in 1 month, but that's not too big of an issue. I plan to continue working like this.
Community Communication I am bad at marketing and showing off new features, so at times it might seem that the game is abandoned. But I assure you that, that is is not the case and I am constantly working on improving Warman.
Release There are some features that I want to finish before a 1.0 release. Nothing is set in stone, but I hope to release out of early access at the end of the year.
Boss. A bossfight that happens at the end of a biome, before going into the next. Currently I am working on a boss, that will release with the next update. Multiple bosses are planned.
Weapon Skill Tree. Every weapon type will have it's own skill tree, with new active and passive skills. The player will earn experience in the mastery of the weapon that is being used.
UI Improvements. A more cleaner and polished UI. In combination with the weapon skill tree, that will add more skills, the UI will be more compact and focused.
Performance and Multiplayer Networking improvements. This might not be an immediately noticeable change, but necessary to have a good gameplay experience and so I can expand in features and content.
Localization. Some languages that are currently planned are: Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Spanish. On request, more languages can be added. Also it is going to be technically possible to load custom community translations, ideally with steam workshop support. But I do not know when this is going to be added.
Controller Support.
Player trading. It is nice to have, but may be delayed after 1.0.
As always, if there is something I missed that the community deems necessary, then there might be changes.
Post-Release Warman is the type of game where you could always add something new or more content ( e.g. another new biome ). That is exactly what I plan to do.
Most of those features are still only roughly laid out. They will probably evolve over time and their design is not final.
More weapon types, bosses, biomes.
More NPCs. Changing your appearance, gamble-type npc, more ways to modify your items ( e.g. sockets ).
Companions. Find companions ( AI controlled ) in the dungeon that will fight with you.
Pets. Similar to companions, but persistent, with their own items and different playstyles ( e.g. only collect items, heal, etc. ).
Fully handcrafted 'dungeons'. As in, you open a portal to an instance with set challenges. Groups of monster, traps, bosses, etc.
More 'Gamemodes'. I consider the current dungeon to be just one way to play Warman. E.g. Not traversing from floor to floor, but having a single point of defense, where you need to fight of waves of enemies.
Your own island / hideout. Freely place objects, trophies of defeated bosses, etc.
