Mar 15, 2024

Z-STOP - mezclone

This update marks the release of the promised character reworks along with new items, new guns, new NPCs and more general balancing changes. Eight of the fourteen characters received some level of changes/reworks. Eight new guns and two new weapons have added more variety to gameplay. Four new items have been added. New "Enforcer" class NPCs have been added relating to stores. General balancing changes have been made to many different things across the game, most notably the player damage system has been reworked. As always more details below.

Character changes/reworks:
Veteran Can now carry a second gun/weapon in place of an item.
Warrior Now has an "undying" ability. When charged and reduced below one health, instead of dying will enter a "bleeding out state". This state only lasts a short time and then results in death, however if you use any medical items you will be healed and taken out of the "bleeding out state." The ability starts charged and will be recharged when you heal to full.
Ranger Power shots spawn more often.
Survivor Gets slightly more ammo from pickups.
Slayer Bullets readjust to follow the crosshair.
Soldier Care packages now spawn at the beginning of most levels. They contain a good amount of stuff, but aren't equivalent to airdrops. No longer starts with an airdrop signal, instead has the new airstrike beacon item.
Businessman All bullets are hollowpoints.
Monster All bullets are incendiary. New "Enforcer" class NPCs automatically spawn.

New guns/weapons:
M9 A highly accurate pistol with a high rate of fire. Spawns in Rare crates.
AR-MOD An AR style rifle with occasional shotgun blasts. Spawns in Survivor crates.
Lever Action Shotgun A shotgun that increases rate of fire as you fire it. Spawns in Survivor crates.
Scatter Machine Gun Similar to the Scatter Rifle/Pistol, but in a more automatic form. Spawns in Ultra crates.
M249 A belt fed machine gun with a large magazine. Spawns in Military crates.
Phantom A short barrel rifle that creates a cloud of smoke on reload. Spawns in Military crates.
Prototype Fury A long rifle that has a burst of 22cal bullets on reload. Spawns in Bandit crates.
Prototype Phoenix A sub machine gun that occasionally creates a burst of flames. Spawns in Bandit crates.
Blowtorch Low tier flamethrower. Spawns in Common crates.
Crossbow Shoots new arrow projectiles. Spawns in Uncommon crates.

-The Blowtorch and Crossbow assets have existed since before launch. We finally found a way for them to fit into the weapon line up. A Crossbow or Bow and Arrow has been suggested by players for a long time.

New items:
Disruptor Level 1 Creates a wave that causes zombies to retreat and destroys spawn shots.
Disruptor Level 2 Creates several waves that causes zombies to retreat and destroys spawn shots.
Military Medkit Heals you for six hit points and "overheals" you for the difference plus three.
Airstrike Beacon Creates many targets in the area around where it is placed. A barrages of explosions come down on every target.

-The Disruptors were requested to give players some way to deal with projectiles. The Military Medkit was added to give players a higher tier healing item that's worth carrying in the late game. Airstrikes were added to be the ultimate destructive item, making the split grenade look like nothing.

Damage system overhaul:
There used to be several ways to be one hit in the game. This was never intentional and can really discourage players. After taking damage, you are now unable to take more damage for the next second to health or armor. Granted the amount of damage depends on the source. Don't go try and hug bosses, they will still one hit you.

New "Enforcer" class NPCs:
Stores have become easier to rob now that the store keepers have to shoot several times to kill you. The "Enforcer" class NPCs will spawn after boss fights if you've killed the previous store keeper. Only one will spawn per level generally, but you can always run away from them. If you run they will meet you again in the next boss level. It is possible to have three Enforcers in a level if you keep running.

Changes and additions:
New "overheal" system in place. If you are "overhealed" and below six health it'll heal you one hit point every second until you are at full or the reserve is depleted.
New arrow projectiles have a chance to not break and be picked up.
Player night vision increased
Spawn shots now glow in the dark
Ghost shots now glow in the dark
Vampire shots now glow in the dark
Alphas now glow in the dark
Acid crawlers now glow in the dark
Bosses now glow in the dark
Bosses drop loot when they die
Power shots for sale in certain stores
Military Medkits for sale in certain stores
World map tile added to mansion
Npcs now are more accurate
Riot Zombies now either drop level 1 armor or a medium ammo pack
Sniper bullets no longer pierce NPCs
Rifle bullets can no longer pierce NPCs

Bug fixes:
No new reported bugs and the list is currently empty.

Other news:
Z-Stop is currently on sale for 25% for the duration of the Spring Sale until 3/21/2024

Mar 15, 2024

The Bread Must Rise is a finalist for the 2024 Nebula Game Writing Award!

The Bread Must Rise - kate

We are thrilled to announce that The Bread Must Rise, by Stewart C Baker & James Beamon, is a finalist for the Nebula Game Writing Award, and it's on sale for 40% off until March 22!

The Bread Must Rise is a 450,000-word interactive comedy/fantasy/baking/eldritch horror novel by James Beamon and Stewart C Baker. In this magical baking contest, you'll team up with the Queen Undying to bake your rivals into an early grave—or out of the grave, with necromancy!

To celebrate, we are also putting every previous Nebula Finalist game on sale.

Check out our Nebula Finalists bundle on Steam for an even bigger discount!

Since 1965, the Nebula Awards have been given annually to the best works of science fiction and fantasy published that year, as voted on by the members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). The 59th Annual Nebula Awards ceremony will be streamed live during the 2024 Nebula Conference, June 6-9, 2024. Stay tuned for more!

Mar 15, 2024

Military unit rework

Great Houses of Calderia - Lau_Rad

Oy rulers,

In our latest update, we've implemented a significant overhaul of military units. Our primary goal was to provide clearer and more tactical roles for each unit. It was driven by your feedback, and we really appreciate the comments you shared with us.

Military unit rework

One of the biggest changes is the revision of the "good against" logic for military units. Units
armor is now a much more important part of their unit type, as it is compared to weapons they are attacked with. Before, units wielded weapons that dealt extra damage against specific unit types. Now, units also have armor types (Light, Medium, and Heavy) and some attacks are more efficient against specific armor types. For example, Crossbows deal increased damage against Light and Medium Infantry, and Light and Medium Cavalry. For example, Light Infantry has light armor and Heavy Cavalry has heavy armor. This change adds depth to unit interactions and encourages you to consider your army compositions carefully.

Additionally, we've introduced short descriptions accompanied by lore snippets for military units and extra information for unit icons to provide a quick overview of each unit's type. These tooltips provide insight into a unit's capabilities and backstory.

More specificities and rules

In addition to the categorization and weapon adjustments, we've implemented several tactical improvements. Ranged attacks now have varying ranges, which makes positioning and unit composition more impactful. For example, the Calderian Fire used by Ignis Iaculatores has a range of 2, while catapults boast an unlimited range.

We've also introduced special rules for certain units to increase their survivability or effectiveness in combat. Healing units, like the Ordo Vita unit, can tend wounds to keep your army alive. Ordo Fortis, on the other hand, can bolster the morale of your units with their activated ability Rally Troops. Shields now reduce incoming ranged damage for units like Swordsmen, Armigeri, and Ordo Fortis, while Pikemen benefit from the Long Reach special, increasing their defense in melee combat.

Armor has been reworked to provide more survivability, particularly against ranged attacks. This change ensures that armored units remain viable and impactful on the battlefield.

"Bonus against" examples

Indicators for the arrow up and arrow down indicate if a unit has a special rule against another. This still does not mean they are ultimately good or bad in their matchup. For example: Poleaxer (Tier I) has attack 2.0 / defense 1.5. City Guard (Tier II) has attack 2.0 / defense 3.0 with their medium armor.

Poleaxe special ability allows 50% bonus attack against medium and heavy armor, effectively giving the Poleaxer unit attack 3.0 against City Guard. Sounds dangerous for the City Guard, but they still beat the defense value of Poleaxers and have higher morale and health values. City Guard will win the one-on-one match but will suffer about 50% of their health damage in the process.

Unit roles and economy balancing

With these changes, the tempo of military conflicts has shifted as some units have gained increased resilience. We'd love to know your opinion on how these changes have affected the flow of military combat. Deploying the correct units in the right place to capitalize on their strengths effectively is key to prevailing on the battlefield.

We've also introduced units with bonus damage against specific armor types, representing their weapons' capability to minimize the effectiveness of opposing armor. For example, Ignis Iaculatores' Calderian Fire deals bonus damage against medium and heavy armor, making it particularly effective against heavily armored foes.

Furthermore, we've adjusted unit tiers and their unlock conditions to provide a more balanced progression system. All unit stats and economic aspects are subject to further rebalancing as we gather feedback and conduct additional testing internally.

Some unit role examples

Ignis Iaculatores is our glass cannon anti-armour unit, but its short range and lack of armouring make it vulnerable to opposing long-range fire.
Knights are armed with lances and are especially good against heavy infantry and heavy cavalry. Again, they hurt everyone else too, but they are well-equipped against other heavily armoured combatants.
Pikemen excel at holding ground in melee, especially against cavalry, but are prone to crossbow fire. Their medium armor allows them to still ignore extra damage from normal bows.

Economy balancing

Rough guidelines for resource values as gold equivalent. These values will likely evolve as we keep balancing the game.

Tier

Upkeep

Raise cost

0.5-1

50-100

1-2

100-200

III

2-3

350-400

5-8

500+

Some notes about resource uses:
Cavalry needs Horses
Better armour needs Steel
High-end units may require other resources

These changes aim to provide a more nuanced and strategic combat experience with your feedback. Feel free to share your feedback on the Steam forums, we're eager to keep improving the game mechanics with you!

- Great Houses of Calderia Team -