I've upgraded the visuals of the game about as far as I think I can take them, and I'm surprised and happy with how well it's gone. Seeing the rapid progress I've made to make this game look professional has been really inspiring and I've added a whole bunch of new features and fixed a bunch of bugs.
The big new feature is the cinematic shot camera. You'll get one of three types of camera shots when you fire your catapults. In one of the types, an AI analyzes the layout of the map and picks a shot angle that will look good. It seems to pick pretty great shots most of the time, I'm really happy with this bit of polish.
Units now animate when they move, it's pretty satisfying.
I've also fixed a major bug where units might die for no reason after capturing an enemy piece.
I'm currently working on a 'colour replace' feature in the army painter so that you can quickly reskin existing models. Not everyone wants to paint their models from primed scratch.
If the community has any suggestions about what I should do next, leave your ideas in the comments!!
Been working hard mastering this new style kick I've been on. Now we've got baked ambient occlusion on both sides of faces, really bringing out the colours on the map. I've also replaced the skybox on all the maps, really looks nice I think.
Here's an example of the style progress in the last month:
ORIGINAL
LAST UPDATE
AFTER
Very happy with how it's coming along. It's really motivating me to see how far I can really take it.
I've also added a shot indicator for the catapult. It will help you aim by drawing an arc that aproximates the ball's trajectory, and it also tells you how much power is going into your shot.
So that's nice. It's not so good that you're going to make every shot though. I'm thinking I should add an accessibility option to make it show the full arc though, for less able players.
The UI has been updated, and the main menu screen looks nicer. I will not admit to how addicting it is for me to stare at this now.
That's all for now. I've got a growing list of things I'd like to do to update the game. Comment if there's anything you'd like to see!
Major Graphics Update + Massive Optimizations
Hello Commanders!
I've been feeling especially creative these last few days so I poured some time into updating the graphics for Warpaint. I applied some skills I've gained over the years to this project and I'm pretty happy with the results. The biggest difference you'll notice is that everything's got a thick coat of baked ambient occlusion on it. That means all of the cracks and crevices will look much darker, really bringing out the colours in the game!
I've also gone in an optimized the crap out of all the levels. Where normally I'd be sitting at 60fps, now we're running at 250+fps!!!! Massive increase, especially important for the VR players. So enjoy that!
BEFORE
AFTER
I've got plans to upgrade the UX of the game too, things feel a little to clunky for where my gamedev skills are at. Some features I'm thinking about adding:
-Highlight enemy movement locations when any unit is selected. This will allow you to not move into a spot that your opponent can attack in the next turn. -Shot tracer: imagine an arc that shows you where your catapult shot will land. I'm thinking this might take some of the skill out of shooting, so I might reduce how far it will predict your shot. -Post Processing: there's still some visual goodies I can use on this project for the flat users. This will improve the overall look of the game. -Knight charge: I'm thinking it would be cool if knights and wizard had some special effects when they kill an enemy. For the knight I'm thinking it would punch the target piece from the direction it was attacked, possibly knocking over adjacent units. For the wizard, maybe a kill could shoot the target enemy in a random direction and with high velocity. I'm thinking this could add a cool level of tactical depth.
SteamVR 2.0 Upgrade! + Bugfixes!
OpenVR has been upgraded to version 2.0! That means you can use all of the new keybind features and expect better support across all VR devices!
I've also patched some minor bugs including: -shader missing issues -localized text appearing inconsistently
I've also included some analytics to get better insight into bug reporting, and how people are actually playing the game! This will help target future upgrades!
See you on the tabletop!
Scheduled Server Upgrades
Hello All!
The matchmaking servers are currently down for upgrades. This means you will not be able to play online for the duration.
Sorry for the inconvenience! Servers will be back online ASAP!
To War!
Adam
Join Warpaint Tournaments!
Hello Everyone!
We're running official Warpaint tournaments through our company discord channel. Join the discord if you would like to be involved!
https://discord.gg/kRnFAt2
See you on the battlefield!
Scheduled Maintenance
Hello Warpaint Community!
I'm pleased to see so many good games go down, especially during the summer sale period! I wanted to inform you all of the maintenence being done on the server.
You will be unable to find onine ranked matches and matches with your friends during the disruption.
July 17-21.
I'm glad you you're enjoying the game!
Invisible VR Controllers Hotfix
Patch Notes:
-SteamVR is updated, players should be able to see their controllers on both Occulus and Vive.
-Optimized lighting conditions with Unity 2017 update.
Major Content Update! New A.I, Maps, Networked Painting, and Languages!
Warpaint receives a huge update today!
New A.I, Maps, Water, Networked Painting, and Languages.
AI
The AI has is a lot smarter now. It will form escort squads to move catapults around. It won't try to shoot through walls. It's now a challenge to assult the AI's castle, it's got new defensive tactics. It can also create it's own objectives, such as targeting your throne or capturing your catapults. I also gave it beleivable catapult shots, so it won't shoot perfectly anymore. Be careful though, that means it will get lucky double kills!
Maps
There are 4 new maps:
SineHills
Designed to be the introduction map, it's simple, small, highly competitive, and has lots of cover. It features a central tower with a neutral catapult, surrounded by an inaccessible lake.
Vikings
Open combat, on a deserted and sandy island-fort. There's no where to hide on this map, so make sure you get some double kills. Take the center catapult for both a catapult and a height advantage. This screenshot was taken with an orthographic perspective because it's pretty :3
SwampWaste
No neutral catapults on this map. Battle for control of the slightly elevated cover in the ruins of a castle wall. Larger army size, perfect for competitive play.
MidnightInParis
This map is designed for maximum epic. It features 5 catapults per team, back by huge armies. The attacking force is split into two squads, one assulting the broken castle wall, and the other rushing the gates. This one will take you about an hour to play through. Built for advanced players. Inspired by the TV show 'Vikings' and their assult of Paris.
Water
Many of these maps now have water, and the water has silly water physics. Shoot a dude into the water and watch him flop around!
Networked Painting
Your enemies will now automatically see any of your painted figures. Enjoy!
Languages
The game has been translated into:
-German
-Spanish
-Portuguese
-Chinese
-French
-Swedish
-Russian
So with any luck, ranked matchmaking will be lively again!
Also, I've packaged the soundtrack as DLC. Please purchase this to support me and the other devs!
Localization
Localization is going well, so I'm gearing up for the major content update. French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian is all complete and in game. Waiting on Mandarin and Swedish. Expect an update on Friday April 28th!
