Hi everyone!

Gladius 1.2 is now live!

- Re-created the enemy ragdolls so they are much more stable when simulating physics.
- Improved the getting up from ground animation. Now is smoother and doesn't skip animation frames.
- Added an option to run by just moving your arms instead of pressing a button.
- Fixed some cases where the enemy would not die but was lying on the floor unconscious.
- Fixed some cases where weapons stored in the belt would accidentally drop while climbing.
- Fixed enemies not dying when falling into the water in day 4 sometimes.
- Fixed not being able to cut the left arm in the tutorial.
- Fixed enemy blood spawning in incorrect places sometimes.
- Fixed being able to loot enemy weapons multiple times.
- Fixed weapons being grabbed by the pommel tip sometimes after distance grabbing.
- Fixed the game continuing when killing the last enemy in the round right after the end panel showed up.
- Fixed teleport transportation disabled while in the arena/weapon master mode.

Cheers!

Hi everyone!

Gladius v1.1 is now live!

- Upgraded visuals for the endless arenas and training arena.
- Achievements! Added new achievements to the profile, such as kill 1000 gladiators, behead 25 gladiators, etc. Will add more in future updates.
- Improved parry animations
- Improved getting up animations
- Improved food grip poses
- Fixed not being able to teleport while holding certain weapons (specifically the claws).
- Fixed Gladiators not dying sometimes in day4
- Fixed being able to kill the tutorial guy
- Fixed weapons disappearing from hands sometimes
- Fixed dead enemies disappearing in front of you at the beginning of rounds

Cheers!

Hey everyone!

I just uploaded a small patch that fixes the loading screen. It makes the transition from one level to another much smoother.

Also fixed Day 7 would not showing the Titan sometimes.

Cheers!

Hi everyone!

I'm very happy to announce that Gladius v1.0 is finally live! After many, many months of work fusing the code bases from both Steam and Quest, optimizing the performance, and adding a ton of new features I finally have a single code base that I can release in all platforms at once, so it will be much easier to release new updates to all platforms in the future.



There are a ton of improvements to the game vs the previous Steam version.
- Completely revamped weapon and enemy physics: All weapons and enemy interactions are now 100% physics based.
- Two handed weapons revamp and many new 2h weapons added such as the war hammer or the glaive.
- Custom grabbing poses
- AI improvements
- New tigers and female gladiators
- Bhaptics support
- Performance improvements: rebuild and optimized almost all the assets in the game.
- Completely revamped the access to the arenas to make it more immersive and comfortable.
- Completely revamped day5, day 6 and day 7 and optimized all levels in the game.
- Better animated crowd
- Distance grab! no need to crouch down to grab the weapon anymore.
- UI improvements
- New starting area (the cell)
- New tutorial
- Added a new training arena (the gladiator school)
- Mods! Gladius now supports community-created mods! You can create weapon and level mods and publish them so others can play too.
- In-game mod downloader: Just browse the mods and download the ones you like directly from the game.
- Weapon Mods: lightsabers, thor hammer, capt. america shield, beach ball gun, rubber chicken, butcher knife, frying pan, halo sword, hidden blade, and many more!
- 8 new arenas: Egyptian night, Infinity Arena, Infinity Forge, Roman villa, Jedi Council, Dragon ball arena, Arabian Arena, and linear level.
- Modding guide: Modding guide
- Hundreds of small fixes and improvements


This is the final day of the campaign! In this new epic level you will have to steal the fire from the gods and kill the titan to win your freedom!

• Stage1: In the first stage you need to defeat the gladiators by throwing all of them into the fire pits.
• Stage2: After killing the gladiators, enter the temple and light the torch.
• Stage3: In the third stage you have to kill the temple guards.
• Stage4: In the final stage you will need to kill the Titan and survive the hordes of enemies that it will send to you.



Rome awaits you. Grab your Rudis from the table and you will be free, Gladiator!


We added a new Arabian Arena!


- Added a new Unlimited Strength potion to the arena. When in super strength mode you can rip gladiator heads with your own hands, and do super punches a la Dragon ball.

- Added the Unlimited Strength modifier in the training arena.
- Added localization to the game. Gladius is now available in English and Spanish, with more languages to come soon.
- Added option to remove bodies in 20s

Fixes:
- Fixed initial steam vr configuration not being applied correctly
- Fixed several steam vr visual glitches
- Fixed team fight not working sometimes
- Fixed Index controllers Run button not working
- Fixed leaderboard numbers overlapping the name
- Fixed grabbing the sword in reverse would not position the hand correctly
- Fixed hands on steamvr projecting a weird shadow
- Fixed gladiators not getting up sometimes
- Fixed ragdoll glitches when trying to pull a gladiator from different directions
- Fixed the position of the dismembered Head
- Fixed day6 not working in teleport mode
- Fixed day4 ballista
- Fixed Enemies rotating to face you on the floor before getting up
- Fixed Thor´s hammer would activate without grabbing it

That's it! I hope you like this update and thank you very much for your patience and support during all these months and during the whole Early Access period. I hope the wait was worth it :)

Cheers!

Hi everyone!

First of all, my apologies for the delay... I try to publish an update every 2-3 months approx (this is update number 30 since we started Early Access!), but this one has taken much longer than expected. The two main reasons have been a lot of technical issues upgrading to UE4.22, and lack of funds, which required me to take some paid work on the side to continue developing the game.

The good news is the wait is over! :) Also, I´m adding two more levels to the game! Day 7: Pharaoh Palace (coming with this update) and Day 8: Jungle (coming in the next update). With this change Prometheus is now Day 9; which brings to total number of days to 9. Two more than originally planed for Early Access :)

So, here it is, I hope you guys like it!

• In this level you have to survive the usual 3 waves, but here you have a whole palace to explore while you fight. There are a lot of weapons, gold, food and potions hidden in the palace, make sure you find them all!
  
• Stage 1: Every time you kill an enemy, food, gold, weapons or potions will spawn in diferent places of the palace. Make sure you move around to find all the objects.
  
• Stage 2: This stage is short, just 2 enemies to kill. Use it to your advantage and gather all the presents before the final stage.
  
• Stage 3: Kill all the palace guards, the Immortals!
  
  
  
  
  New Unit
• Immortal: This unit is similar to the sword master, but with less armor, more hp and a few more attacks. The new unit is available at the training arena and at the blood arena after the 2nd round. They are armed with Khopesh, a powerful egyptian sword.
  
  
  
  
  New Cell and fame improvements
• New cell for Gladiator and above players! Now when you reach gladiator level (7) you automatically get the new and more luxurious cell.
  
• No fame demotions. Now you can only go up!
  
• Removed the commentator "He was too weak" when the player lost a game.
  
• The crowd automatically gives presents when you have the crowd bar to max.
  
• Increased variety of presents. The crowd can give you a spatha, claw, shield legion or parma shield.
  
  
  
  
  Chariots
• Changed chariot weapons, now you have two bows.
  
• Fixed chariot item lockers, now correctly store the item when the chariot is moving.
  
• Enemy Chariot in easy difficulty move faster.
  
• Chariots now slow down or chase you if you are too far away from them, so you have more enemies around during the race.
  
• The handles now work with the grip buttons.
  
• Disabled jumping on the chariot.
  
• Updated level look and feel.
  
  
  Market
• Improved weapon menu system.
  
• Added HP descriptions to shields.
  
• Added weight descriptions to all items. This will be used in future updates.
  
  
  Improvements
• Upgraded the game engine to UE4.22.
  
• The UI has been improved to be easier to use.
  
• Added a skip button to the introduction.
  
• Day 1 - Enemies come out of the ground in elevators.
  
• Day 1 - Arena improved with new decorations.
  
• Day 1,5 - Improved ground shadows.
  
• Day 3 - Made poles higher so it's easier to take cover from the archers.
  
• Day 6 Maze - Simplified the second maze and added reference points so it's easier to navigate.
  
• Day 6 Maze - Enemies now check if they have line of sight before attacking the player. This avoids a situation where they would attack through the walls.
  
• Keys in gates turn faster.
  
• New high resolution sand textures.
  
• You can now chose the sky in the Arena modalities.
  
• Blood arena improved: new textures and decorations.
  
• Cell gates now work with grip buttons, the open gradually and are correctly initialized.
  
• Improved sword hit sounds.
  
• The belt has bigger snap zones making it easier to grab and store weapons.
  
• Changed font so it's easier to read the menus.
  
• Tutorial doesn't hide the weapons anymore.
  
• Added Secutor Helmet to the market.
  
• Track pad - tap to turn is now the default option.
  
• Removed click sound when trying to grab something from an empty slot in the belt
  
• Legionaries in easy and normal difficulty now randomly appear without helmet.
  
• Quivers on the belt won't remove until there is no arrows or you press trigger 3s.
  
  
  Fixes
• Fixed enemies slipping while moving.
  
• Fixed grip not grabbing weapons the first time.
  
• Fixed menu not working sometimes.
  
• Fixed Snap Turn and Smooth turn, now rotate the player camera instead of the play area.
  
• Fixed settings not being stored: enemy combat distance.
  
• Fixed settings not being stored: slowmo.
  
• Fixed Looting and grabbing enemies not working with grip buttons.
  
• Fixed traps killing the player even when they where underground.
  
• Fixed sword being reversed after stabbing an enemy.
  
• Fixed enemies not being spawned sometimes in the challenge arena.
  
  As always please let me know what you think, if you find any bugs, suggestions, etc. here, in the forums or in our discord channel.
  https://discord.gg/63PBXdQ
  
  Thanks!
  
  Multiverse
  
  

Hi Gladiators!

Sorry it took so long, but the new update is finally here! This update adds new units, new weapons, new mechanics, and.. the last day! Here is the list of improvements, I hope you guys like it!

Day7: Mount Olympus!
• In the final day of the game you relive the legend of Prometheus, the Greek hero that stole the fire from the Gods to give it to humanity. The day has 4 stages:
  
• Stage 1: You need to throw (dead or alive) a gladiator into one of the fire pits to sacrifice them to the Gods.
  
• Stage 2: Steal the fire; enter the temple, and light the torch.
  
• Stage 3: Kill the temple guards. You can use the new incendiary arrows and the explosive barrels to make your job easier.
  
• Stage 4: Kill the Titan! This is the final boss of the game. Have fun! ;)
  https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1634151997
  https://gfycat.com/SpeedyFluidAntarcticgiantpetrel
  
  
  
  
  LIV Mixed reality supported!
• Added support for LIV Mixed Reality! To start streaming just switch to the new betaliv branch.
  
• Changed helmet hide/show mode so if you hide it it's still visible if you are streaming.
  
• Disabled low latency update on grip controllers to get the sync between the hand ik and the controller.
  
  
  New Units
• NEW Centurion: This unit is similar to the legionary, but with more armor, more hp and a few more attacks. It also has a ranged attack. He can throw 3 plumbatas before engaging in melee combat. The new unit is available at the training arena and at the blood arena after the 2nd round.
  
  
  
  Vive Trackers Support (BETA)- HUGE Thanks to JonJonJP!!
• Added support for vive the vive trackers. You can enable them in the new "Body" section in the options menu and they will show as a nice pair of sandals.
  
• In this first version your feet work like fists. In the last update will add the ability to push them away (300 style).
  
• Also, HUGE Thanks to JonJonJP (Discord). He was extremely generous and paid TWO trackers so I could implement them in the game :D
  https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1634859719
  https://gfycat.com/SnappyWhoppingBarasinga
  
  
  Improvements
• Added the ability to loot swords and shields from fallen enemies! This has long been a request from the forums.
  https://gfycat.com/FirsthandTenderLark
  https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1634174446
  
• Added Jumping! By default is disabled, but you can enable it in the options menu. To jump just press double grip.
  https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1634207348
  https://gfycat.com/WastefulAptDingo
  
• Quick sword reversal (Double trigger) can now be disabled in the options menu.
  
• You can now choose the main locomotion controller in trackpad mode.
  
• You can now control the enemies preferred fighting distance. In the Combat section of the menu.
  
• Improved gravity equations. Falling is now smoother.
  
• Added blob shadows when shadow setting is = low. This significantly improves the look and feel of the game in the lowest graphic settings.
  
• Added new section to configure your appearance. For now you can only choose to see the torso or hide it, but I plan to add full body in the next update.
  
• Added reverse grip to the Greek axe.
  
• Improved Gladiators and Legionaries animation blending (Still working on this one)
  
  
  Stabbing Improvements
• No sword reversed when you remove it, it just returns to original position when it entered the body.
  
• Added additional blood when stabbing and removing the weapon.
  
• Added additional blood on the floor.
  
  
  New Weapons
• Added incendiary arrows and their corresponding quiver. You can buy them for 25000 gold at the market. This new arrow type deals the usual 30 damage on hit, but if is set on fire deals 10 damage every second until the enemy dies. The only exception is the Titan, he only receives fire damage during 3 seconds.
  https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1634176763
  https://gfycat.com/LastingSilverJohndory
  
• Added torch: This weapon deals 15 damage, plus an additional 5 damage during 4 seconds if it's lit on fire (so, min 15 / max 35 hit).
  
• Added Centurion shield: It has 3 holsters that come equipped with either plumbatas or knives depending on the type of shield. You can buy it at the market for 4500 gold.
  https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1634228346
  https://gfycat.com/BoilingImpressionableBlackwidowspider
  
• Added Plumbata: This is a historical dart used by the roman legions. They are part of the new centurion shield and work like a knife but with a bonus against armor.
  
  
  Difficulty adjustments
• The message panel now tells you where you are in the game (STAGE 1/X), and improved the messages so it's clearer what to do in each stage.
  
• Slow motion is now a difficulty multiplier, so you get more points if you disable it.
  
• Reduced Minotaur attack speed by 20%.
  
• Day1: Reduced the number of enemies to kill in day1 in all difficulties.
  
• Day1: Stage 4 now allows you to bring any weapons to the fight with the sword master.
  
• Day5: Reduced accuracy of the catapults in the first stage for difficulties easy and normal.
  
• Day5: Removed the minotaur in the third stage in easy difficulty.
  
• Day5: Limited to 5 and 8 the number of crocodiles to kill in easy and normal difficulties respectively.
  
• Messages now stay for 25s at the beginning of the match to give more time to read them.
  
  
  Fixes
• Fixed issue that would prevent users from grabbing weapons from the floor sometimes.
  
• Fighters now release claws when they die instead of a knife.
  
• Fixed the message shown in the first stage of day 4 in normal difficulty. It incorrectly stated you had to kill the gladiator.
  
• Fixed Gladius 3 being replaced by a Spatha when going from the cell to the arena.
  
• Fixed the game losing audio while not on focus.
  
• Fixed arrows getting frozen in midair after hitting a shield.
  
• Fixed AI getting frozen after being hit by an arrow while attacking.
  
• Fixed "the Jesus bug" that would make some enemies come to life after being stabbed.
  
• Fixed not being able to use Halberd1 with 2 hands.
  
• Fixed weird scenario where stabbing with the pommel would leave the enemy hanging in midair (added StabbingTraceByChannel)
  
• Fixed enemies won´t disappear until the player releases the weapon or pulls it out. This created weird states.
  
• Fixed tiger spawning a blood spurt in the wrong location when recovering the sword from a stab.
  
• Fixed an issue in the Blood arena, that would make the crowd not stop throwing stones if using trackpad locomotion and entered in a gate.
  
• Fixed doing two consecutive jumps in the ladder not working.
  
• Fixed an issue that would allow to instakill any enemy in the game with a Pilum or Trident after throwing it.

This update is the last one I push before the final update, the one that will release the game from early access. The final update will focus mostly on polishing certain aspects of the game, fine tuning mechanics, and adding the ending (yes, we will have a proper ending! ːsteamhappyː).

As always please let me know what you think, if you find any bugs, suggestions, etc. here, in the forums or in our discord channel.
https://discord.gg/63PBXdQ

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I just uploaded a small update with some fixes, difficulty adjustments, and quality of life improvements based on what you guys told me since the last big update.

Training
• New arena! Added colosseum at night arena (Egyptian theme)
  
• Added configurable number of total enemies to spawn and max enemies at the same time.
  
  
  Improvements
• Ballistas now don´t reset their loading position if you lose grip of the handle. This makes it much easier to use them in the heat of the combat.
  
• Changed the colosseum sand back to original color (more saturated).
  
• Changed the name "spectator screen" for "PC Screen" and modified the position to make it more visible and understandable.
  
• Flail damage reduced to 30 from 45.
  
• Trackpad movement speed is now independent from framerate. Makes trackpad locomotion smoother if you get into reprojection.
  
• Grabbing a ladder now makes a sound for improved feedback.
  
• Enemies now always drop weapons if you don´t have any weapon on your hands.
  
• Improved how enemies drop their weapons when they die so they don´t fly away from the player. This is especially noticeable if you kill them up-close.
  
  
  Tutorial
• Added tip explaining the double tap trigger to reverse the grip.
  
• Added tip explaining the helmet view is available on the options menu.
  
  
  Difficulty adjustments
• Challenge arena: Added a 5s delay on Easy, and 3s delay on Normal in the beginning of the match to give more time to players to equip the weapons.
  
• Chariots: Archers won´t fire until the first curve.
  
• Day3:
  
  • You can now move within the confines of the cell using with trackpad, teleport or arm swing. You can still break the stone in the last stage to break free.
    
  • Added an additional quiver in easy and normal difficulties.
• Day4:
  
  • Increased the spawning frequency to 45s from 15s for the ballista soldier on hard
    
  • Added a shield and an axe in the last stage
    
  • Added wooden struts to offer additional protection in the first stage
    
  • Increased the spawning frequency of the enemy waves in the third stage from 15s to 30s on easy, and from 12s to 20s on normal, from 8s to 15s on hero.
    
  • Fixed player sometimes falling through the cracks.
    
  • Enemy Ballistas now make a "lock" sound 2s before firing, and fire every 7 seconds (vs 5 before).
    
  Fixes
• Fixed archer not being damaged while being grabbed.
  
• Fixed not being able to store items on the back with the left hand and grip mode "hold".
  
• Fixed being able to take away items from the market just by storing them on the belt.
  
• Fixed visual issue with a flag clipping the wall in the blood arena.
  
• Fixed ballistas not killing gladiators with shields sometimes.

I´m still working on other issues and suggestions that you reported this week (especially hits sometimes don´t register in slowmo, and swords sometimes get into a weird state after stabbing a knocked enemy). Some issues are proving to be hard to replicate (and thus difficult to fix) but as soon as I fix them I will push another update.

Cheers!

Hello Gladiators!

I hope the heat of the summer is not preventing you from a good battle in the arena, because the new update is finally here and with a ton of improvements and gameplay changes! ːsteamhappyː

Weapon Grip Improvements
• You can now grab swords or knives depending on the direction of your hand.
  
• You still can use double trigger to switch between those two positions (very useful for sticky or lock grip modes)
  
• For a more spectacular gameplay, I strongly recommend using the "hold" grip. This is the default grip mode now :)
  https://gfycat.com/PersonalUnhealthyAmphiuma
  
  
  Stabbing completely revamped!
• Stabbing is now much easier than before. I reduced min stab speed to 125 (from 200), and increased min angle from 20 to 35.
  
• Stabbing a human enemy on their chest or face will instantly kill them if you are close enough to them (<170cm)
  
• Weapons will stick to the body and spawn a blood spurt when you stab them.
  
• While the weapon is stuck to the body, you can move the enemy (They are physically attached!).
  
• Added specific sound effect for stabbing.
  https://gfycat.com/MassiveNeatBrahmancow
  
  
  Grabbing!
• Now you can grab enemies and hit them while you grab them!
  
• You can also throw them away, but you need to use both hands. If you try to throw them using only one hand they will automatically detach.
  
• Grabbing is only allowed on human enemies for now.
  https://gfycat.com/PlaintiveOffbeatKoi
  
  
  Weapon throwing improvements
• Revamped throwing calculations, force and rotations of all weapons to make them more predictable.
  
• Reworked knives throwing from the ground up.
  
• Knives now stick to flesh like arrows and can be recovered from enemies even while they are still alive.
  https://gfycat.com/SandyBlondBubblefish
  
  
  Slow motion improvements
• New slowmo SFX! (desaturation of all colors except red, and background blur to focus on nearby enemies).
  
• Slowmo will now auto-activate if you parry enough enemy attacks. You can still manually activate slowmo.
  
• Added option to disable manual slowmotion.
  
• Added option to disable automatic slowmotion.
  https://gfycat.com/GrizzledHauntingAfricanharrierhawk
  
  
  Improved Crowd!
  Yes, we can finally say good bye to our beloved Amiga64 guys! :D
  
• Added more realistic 3d models.
  
• Added new gates to the colosseum.
  
• Optimized Colosseum stands polycount
  
• Made crowd face textures clearer.
  
• Skeletal meshes only tick when rendered. (Improves performance)
  
• Removed bones from fingers (Improves performance)
  
  
  AI Improvements
• AI blocking improved! Enemies will now try to block the most pressing threat and respond better against two swords.
  
• Dodging
  
• Gladiators and sword masters will now try to dodge your attacks.
  
• AI Dodging behavior becomes more frequent on higher difficulties.
  
• Enemy kicks now push you away from them. This is especially dangerous in Day 4, as they can push you into the water.
  
• Unconscious enemies now take a random time to get up (between 2 and 3 seconds). This gives you more time to stab them or grab them while they are on the floor.
  
• Hits to helmets will only stun enemies if you hit them with the sword edge and with enough force (10 vs 5 before).
  
• Improved skeletons arm hitboxes.
  
• Improved reposition to attack to properly detect distance to player camera and always is triggered if you get too close to the enemy.
  
  
  Day 4 Improvements
• Added two wooden boards hanging from the last ladder to provide cover from the archer.
  
• Fixed water particles continuously spawning after enemies falling into the water.
  
• Applied gravity to enemies in the water.
  
  
  Improvements
• Made easier to behead gladiators. Relaxed a bit the angle and hit location requirements.
  
• Hold + Trackpad is now the default mode for new players.
  
• Added smooth turn as an option.
  
• Added speed slider to smooth snapturn.
  
• Added arena selection in the training mode. For now you can choose between the training arena and the colosseum. I plan to add the rest of the arenas in the next updates.
  
• Reduced Minotaur attack speed by 10%. Still working on this one though, not finished!
  
• Added a new option to make the helmet visible while you are wearing it. It´s OFF by default.
  
• Made easier to get close to the enemy. Reduced 20cm the safe distance to enemies to make it easier to get to them.
  
• Increased the minimum distance to register a stab instakill to 170cm.
  
• Added grab sound to bodies and weapons.
  
• Chaperone bounds now indicate forward direction, this makes it much easier to orient yourself in VR.
  
• Improved physics of bodies when falling to the floor.
  
• Added 50 angular damping to heads to make them more stable when they are dead.
  
• When you kill an enemy, he will always spawn a weapon if you are bare handed.
  
• Spectator and mirror screen performance improved. It still decreases the overall performance of the game, but the effect is less severe than before.
  
• Legionaries got a better (and lighter) shield! Working on making this one available at the market too.
  
• Grabbing weapons on the floor is easier now. Grabbing radius increased to 30cm ( from 20).
  
• "Only tick montages when not rendered" option applied to mesh crawler and crocs. This allows to have more enemies on the screen.
  
• Day 5: Changed skeletons for sword masters in stage 1.
  
• Added new section in the options menu to group combat settings.
  
• Added option to disable extra blood on strong hits.
  
  
  
  New Weapons
• New Scissor! Available at the market for 15.000 gold (deals 45 damage). Special thanks to https://www.skipperrandd.com/ for this amazing model.
  
  
  
  Fixes
• Fixed archer firing right after being killed.
  
• Fixed stones not doing damage when wielding them.
  
• Fixed duplicated hands when opening the menu and grabbing a knife.
  
• Fixed skeletons and mummies getting duplicated sometimes in the second stage of the Challenge Arena.
  
• Fixed enemies on the boat falling to the water day 4 before boarding.
  
• Fixed food falling from the boat.
  
• Fixed error that would register a double trigger if pressed in both controllers at the same time.
  
• Fixed arrow blood spurt not being attached to the body sometimes.
  
• Fixed recently spawned arrows not dealing damage.
  
• Fixed AI not aligning properly to player position when circling you.
  
• Fixed Hold grip would automatically swap weapons by just touching another weapon.
  
• Fixed text description of the arena menus.
  
• Fixed bug that would send 0 as a valid result to the chariots leaderboard.
  
• Fixed arrows still doing damage after they hit something and being completely stopped.
  
• Fixed cell´s music volume not being affected by settings.
  
• Fixed tiger attacking with a wrong orientation sometimes.
  
• Fixed quadruple clicks needed to reverse the grip when the weapon was initially grabbed reverse gripped.
  

This update is the first of a series of updates that will improve the combat engine and prepare the game for its official release from Early Access during Q4 2018. The work is now going to focus on improving two-handed weapons, making each weapon unique (special abilities, different values for stabbing, slashing and bludgeoning, and using any part of the weapon to inflict damage), the work on Day 7 and much more :)

As always please let me know what you think, if you find any bugs, suggestions, etc. here, in the forums or in our discord channel.
https://discord.gg/63PBXdQ

Thanks!

Hello!

Time for a new Gladius update! This one is much smaller than v1.25, but it comes with some important improvements, especially the new Day 2, the bow mechanics, and a fix to the endless mode ladder scoring system.

Day 2 scenario improved
• Changed the scenario to an Egyptian temple! The fights against mummies and skeletons take place in smaller areas within the temple, and the fight against the Minotaur on the arena.
  
  
• The minotaur now bursts through the gates in stage 3 and now looks at the player from behind the gate.
  
• Fixed bug that would stop spawning mummies after repeating the level several times.
  https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1433138054
  
  
  Bow mechanics improved
• The arrow is now positioned to the left side or the right side of the bow depending on the main hand. If you grab the bow with your left hand, the arrow will be on the left side of the bow, and if you grab it with your right hand will be on the right. Thanks [-NoE-] CODY3446 for reporting this one!
  
• The bow now rotates with your hand following the perpendicular axis.
  https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1433142393
  
  
  General improvements
• Day 3: Added notification to tell players to break the stone with the hammer and moved the hammer closer to the player.
  
• Team fights has the option to activate the Gore mode (1 hit kills the enemy)
  
• You can now save your team configuration as the default configuration.
  
  
  Fixes
• Fixed bug that in some cases would set the difficulty bonus to 160 in the endless mode. Sorry, but because of this issue I had to remove some leaderboard records (they were simply impossible to beat).
  
• Fixed killing your own horse in the chariots would leave the player in limbo. Now if one of your horses dies, you die as well.
  
• Fixed end of combat stats panel not being clickable some times. The panel will now follow your gaze if you look away. This fixes a bug that wouldn't let you continue if the panel appeared behind a solid object.

Cheers!

Hi everyone!

The new update is finally here! This one is probably the biggest update since we started early access. It brings a lot of improvements and fixes, and some of these considerably change gameplay in all game modes. That's why as of today, all leaderboards will be wiped so the rankings reflect players performance under this new system.

Here it goes!

Combat improvements
• Increased enemies animation speed in normal difficulty by 10%.
  
• Your helmet breaks when you don't have any armor left, making more "visible" the need to grab a new one.
  
• While you still have your helmet on, if you are hit by an enemy your vision will blurry but not become red.
  
• Increased a bit the blurry time when hit.
  
• Engage system will unlock when enemies are knocked out.
  
• Engage system is not experimental anymore and can be activated at the difficulty menu.
  
• Enemies in the blood arena now have full health instead of 1/2 like before.
  
• Ragdoll on hit is not experimental anymore and is now active by default. This makes the gladiators sometimes fall unconscious to the floor if you hit them on the head, on the leg while they kick you, or if you hit them hard sometimes. This is specially useful against a group of enemies, as you can stun one of them whil you kill the other one.
  https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1417378931
  
• Enemies will be pushed back a little bit if you hit their armor, helmet or shield. This makes combat against armored enemies more responsive.
  
• Added grunt sounds when hitting the enemy armor or helmet.
  
• Added body armor to your own avatar for increased sense of presence. It does not increase your hp points, for now.
  
• Shields now break after some hits and visibly deteriorate when they are at 50% and 20% HP.
  
• Enemies will drop their shields sometimes when they die (like they already do with their swords).
  
• UPDATED: Nerfed skeletons damage to 10 from 20 and slowed them down when they are in close range.
  
  
  
  
  
  New scene and starting point! The cell
• By default, you will now start the game at your cell in the gladiator school. The cell has the new main menu always open, which makes easier to start a new game.
  
• The starting point is also configurable, so if you prefer to start at the armory like before, you can do it just by changing the starting point in the options menu.
  
  
  
  Main menu UI Revamped
• Restructured the content to make it easier to navigate.
  
• Added new Leaderboard section with all leaderboards and your stats summarized (the summary section is work in progress)
  
• Added a new "Your stats" section. You will have a summary of your positions in the leaderboards and your fame level.
  
• You now have your name, rank, gold and fame visible in the main menu.
  
• Added new difficulty section in the options menu to select the different parameters that effect the difficulty bonus.
  
  
  
  New leaderboards!
• Completely removed old leaderboard system from the game and implemented a new one, which will give me much more flexibility in the future.
  
• You can now see your position in the in the global ladder (you could only see top players before this update)
  
• You can now see how you compare to your steam friends!!
  
• Also, very important, you have leaderboards next to the main stats panel at the end of each fight in the games or in the arena.
  
  
  New Scoring System: Difficulty bonus
• The difficulty bonus is applied to the final score of The Games, Endless and Challenge and allows us to compete in a global leaderboard using different difficulty and locomotion settings.
  
• The new system to calculate the points on the leaderboard will take the money you get from a match and multiply it by the difficulty bonus. The difficulty bonus is calculated by adding the following parameters:
  - Difficulty level: 0.5 points for Easy, 1 point for Gladiator, 1.5 points for Hero.
  - Locomotion: 0 points for teleport, 0.2 points for Trackpad, 0.5 points for arm-swing.
  - Engage mode 0 points if it´s off, 1 point if it´s On.
  For instance, if you select Hero+Trackpad+EngageOff = 1.5+0.2+0 = x1.7 Difficulty bonus.
  
  
• This system applies to The Games, Endless and Challenge Leaderboards. Chariots already have their own system for scoring based on time and difficulty.
  
• The Games: Points are now accumulated between days if you continue playing. The only way to be the top player in the leaderboard is to complete all 7 days in a row.
  
  
  New Fame System (beta)
• Added a ranking system of 16 levels that will rank you depending on how much the crowd loves you.
  
• For now, the fame system only ranks you, but the idea is to use your fame for unlocking levels, etc. For instance, you will not be able to fight in the Colosseum without being at least a Slave.
  
• You gain or lose fame every time you fight in the colosseum or in the arena games (endless, challenge or chariots).
  
  
  Weapons
• The Barbarian sword has now a x2 bonus vs armor and shields
  
• Reduced Mace damage to exposed parts to 12 and vs armor (48)
  
• Added a Scythe: 6000 gold at the market. Works like the halberds but will always behead the enemies. Thanks to 불법 Loli Nutcake for the idea! :D
  
• Added a new small shield that has 600 hp (the hardest in the game). Available at the market.
  
  
  
  New sound effects
• Added over 200 new sound effects to improve overall sound quality of the game.
  
• Added sound effects and sounds when enemies drop to the floor: Effect added to archers, gladiators, sword masters, barbarians, legionaries, fighters, mummies and skeletons
  
• New sword drop sounds
  
• Changed sounds of gates chains
  
• Cheering will continue in the Blood Arena between waves.
  
• Improved legionaries sounds (attack, pain, die)
  
• Improved gladiators sounds (attack, pain, die)
  
• Improved archers sounds (attack, pain, die)
  
• Improved sword masters sounds (attack, pain, die)
  
• Improved barbarian sounds (attack, pain, die)
  
• The stadium crowd will now celebrate your death.
  
• Crowd raised volume a bit. 07. 09
  
• UPDATED: Improved sounds when hitting the floor with the sword.
  
• UPDATED: Added sounds and effects to shield bash animation
  
  
  Tutorial (BETA)
• Added a complete new tutorial that walks you through the basic concepts and controls in Gladius. The tutorial includes a section to practice dismemberments, and most importantly, stabbings.
  
• This is a first version that I plan to improve in the next update. Please If you find any issue let me know.
  
  
  Training Team Fights revamped!
• It's now possible to play unbalanced teams (e.g. 3 vs 5)
  
• You can play against 2 teams (e.g. 2 vs 2 vs 2 )
  
• You can also select each type of enemies per side (e.g. you can set a team of 2 tigers vs 4 archers and a mino.)
  
• Teams now spawn on opposite corners of the arena.
  
• Added two modalities:
  - Timer 5 or 10 minutes (you respawn every time you die until the timer is up ) - Default
  - Endless (until you die )
  
• In both modalities the team with more kills at the end wins. Killing your own team mates does not count (of course :). Thanks for the feedback Ubi!
  
  
  
  General Improvements
• Improved animation blending of all enemies.
  
• Modified Weapon Lock icons positions so they are more visible with the rift ( -90 vs - 45 degrees + Position)
  
• Added text to lock icons to tell users how to unlock their weapons depending on their grip configuration.
  
• Changed teleport visualization from straight line to arc.
  
• Teleport in Oculus now works by just pressing the thumbstick up in addition to A/X buttons.
  
• Added stats panel at the end of the games instead of starting again the game. You now get money just by playing it, but you risk losing fame if you lose.
  
• Improved lighting in all levels.
  
• Added warning before you start a fight without weapons.
  
• Chariots starting position closer to the handles.
  
• Chariots crash when gear > 3 (before they crashed if gear > 2), so it's a bit easier now.
  
• Chariots weapons configuration changed: you now get 2 quivers and 3 pilums.
  
• Chariots crowd will cheer every time you complete a lap, when you kill someone, or when you destroy a chariot. Also turned up the volume.
  
• Chariot handles collision boxes improved.
  
• Chariot handles make sound when you grab them.
  
• Moved starting position in Day3 so you are closer to the bow.
  
• Added the selling basket to the market for easier selling.
  
• Optimized poly count of the temple in the gladiator school to just 2k.
  
• Spectator screen is disabled by default for better performance and is properly recovered from saved settings.
  
• Updated control helpers.
  
• UPDATED: Added hitting on the standing leg of an enemy while they try to kick you while will send them to the floor.
  
• UPDATED: Moved catapult in Day5 so enemies can attack you.
  
• UPDATED: Improved attack distance in mid range situations.
  
• UPDATED: Improved fighters animations and added a left hand punch to the list of available attacks.
  
• UPDATED: Added warning you need more space for engage mode.
  
• UPDATED: Added warning to sell basket explaining that only works for previously bought items.
  
• UPDATED: Added LOD to the market trees.
  
  
  
  Fixes
• Fixed some shields getting huge after storing them on the item locker.
  
• Fixed bow disappearing from you hand when starting the endless mode
  
• Added torchs in day 2 for more ambiance and additional weapons. Since skeletons and mummies don't spawn any shields when they die.
  
• Fixed stones being able to stab.
  
• Fixed Day 3 not showing the rope attached to the player.
  
• Fixed orientation of Parma and Cetratus Shields.
  
• Fixed weapons launching out of the arena when in slowmo.
  
• Fixed going directly to blood arena from the armory would make a lot of weapon noise sometimes.
  
• Fixed quiver still showing one arrow when was already depleted.
  
• Fixed gladiators getting up from ragdoll still moving.
  
• Removed old bow from the archery range.
  
• Fixed tigers not hitting the player sometimes.
  
• Fixed using hold grip setting and arm swing locomotion, when holding your weapons with the grip button, you'll be unable to use
  Arm-swing locomotion until you release the grip button, thus losing your weapons.
  
• Fixed belt rotating in weird ways when you looked at the floor.
  
• Limited gladiator's mutilated bodies from flying away.
  
• Fixed pressing trigger while pressing grip and grip mode = hold would release the weapon.
  
• Fixed pressing grip while trigger and grip mode = hold would release the weapon.
  
• Fixed Hold grip + Teleport locomotion not working
  
• Oculus - Fixed Pilum not going into throwing position on the Rift (Or using sticky setting and trying to change to throwing stance with your pilum, it doesn’t work.)
  
• Oculus - Chaperone bounds not showing up correctly.
  
• Oculus - Fixed "start here" paper text for oculus rift.
  
• Oculus - Fixed help menu for oculus rift.
  
• Oculus - Fixed Shield1 attachment position.
  
• Oculus - Fixed the chariot handles grabbing position
  
• Oculus - Fixed Sprint sometimes only sprints a little bit ç
  
• UPDATED: Fixed distances of attack of all enemies so they always can hit you.
  
• UPDATED: Fixed bow not working properly when grip = hold.
  
• UPDATED: Fixed being able to stab through the shield.
  
• UPDATED: Fixed weapons would store on the belt while the game was on pause.
  
• UPDATED: Fixed crash in the challenge arena by temporarily removing tigers from list of possible enemies.
  
• UPDATED: Fixed MazeCrawler and Scorpio not dealing any damage.
  
• UDPATED: Fixed mummies not spawning sometimes in day 2.
  
  
  
  Update to UE 4.19
• Upgraded to Unreal Engine UE4.19.2.
  
• Added support for NVIDIA Ansel.
  
• The default settings set to vr pixel density of 0.8 and mirror screen disabled.
  
• Vive PRO is now supported.
  
• Adjusted graphics settings to the new UE4 system.
  
• Screen percentage is always set to 100
  
• IMPORTANT: Spectator screen now disabled by default. I noticed a significant performance improvement when disabling it. You can enable it back in the graphic settings if you need to capture footage.
  
• New VR Pixel density = 100. Works like supersampling.
  
• Fixed Assertion failed: !IsUnreachable() https://forums.unrealengine.com/development-discussion/vr-ar-development/1444158-error-with-vr-assertion-failed-isunreachable

With this update we are getting close to finish the early access period. If you have any additional feedback/ideas please let us know as soon as possible. We can still try to include it in the final version before we release the game in aprox. 3 - 4 months from now.

As always, thank you very much for your support! please let me know what you think either here, in the forums or in our discord channel: https://discord.gg/63PBXdQ

Cheers!!