We're pleased to see that Patch 1.3.2 has been extremely well received across the community. With reports of significantly improved performance in some cases as well as many issues you've raised since the release of Patch 1.3 having being addressed!
As we head into the new year with WFTO we're looking to make it easier for you to get in touch, report bugs to us and see progress being made on the issues that matter most to you!
To this end we're introducing a new bug tracker, a fully featured suite that will allow you to search for known bugs, comment on them, raise new ones or just track our progress!
It's a big old post so head on over to WFTOGame.com for the full scoop!
If you'd like to skip the instructional then why not check out User Echo right now? Don't forget to follow our bug report guidelines if you have something to report!
We're pleased to see that Patch 1.3.2 has been extremely well received across the community. With reports of significantly improved performance in some cases as well as many issues you've raised since the release of Patch 1.3 having being addressed!
As we head into the new year with WFTO we're looking to make it easier for you to get in touch, report bugs to us and see progress being made on the issues that matter most to you!
To this end we're introducing a new bug tracker, a fully featured suite that will allow you to search for known bugs, comment on them, raise new ones or just track our progress!
It's a big old post so head on over to WFTOGame.com for the full scoop!
If you'd like to skip the instructional then why not check out User Echo right now? Don't forget to follow our bug report guidelines if you have something to report!
It's good to see you returning once more in this new year to inflict further suffering on the goodly people of Kairos. We can see that the clock ticking over into 2016 has granted you even greater aspirations for true evil, indeed, since our last announcement in the twilight days of last year we've received even more feedback and suggestions piled high upon our desks.
To reward your commitment to the darker pleasures in life we have acted with haste to deliver to you this delicious update. It’s packed full of improvements in various areas of the game, a new spell to help those of you who seek to destroy your rivals with an ally or two, and indeed a chunk of fixes to bugs uncovered by your roving eyes since our previous update!
We love to hear your suggestions so keep them rolling in while we work towards some of the extremely exciting stuff coming this year! Now onto the patch notes!
New Spell: Unclaim
This is a new spell we’ve introduced to fill a very minor niche, while we don’t expect there are many scenarios where the player may wish to unclaim their own territory it can be very useful in 2 vs 2 multiplayer games to make way for your ally to claim an area.
Available immediately as a baseline spell
Unclaims tiles and walls that belong to the casting player
No mana cost
Cannot unclaim rooms or shrines
Map Editor Improvements
It is now possible to select any theme in the game for the Empire dungeon theme, regardless of whether you own the theme
UI Changes
Workers that are fortifying walls are now shown as idle on the unit panel, helping players assign important tasks in preference of low priority ones like fortification
Units which are unable to level no longer show their level in their unit shield
Unit shields rotate what they are displaying faster - unit level is shown much more often
Finished rituals can now be activated by clicking the ritual button
The replay button on the mission briefing screen now reads as “Repeat”
Gameplay and Balance Changes
Units which recently underwent corruption in a Torture Chamber will no longer seek pay instantly
Workers that are automatically spawned by the Dungeon Core will now seek the whole map for tasks at equal priority
Previously they would prioritise tasks based on distance and thus may have fortified walls when other more important tasks were available.
Workers spawned by the Summon Worker spell are unaffected
AI Improvements
Units which try to avoid enemy threats, such as the worker, are now less frightened by smaller threats
Workers now have less fear when combat is occurring nearby, provided they are in good health.
As a result rescuing your own minions and imprisoning enemies from the middle of combat should be more efficiently handled
Introduced new dynamic variables to worker priorities:
Priority for bringing piglets to the spit roast is now adjusted based on the current “ammo” remaining in the spit roast
Artefacts, defence parts and gold piles now have different priorities for collection tasks, artefacts being highest and gold being lowest
The level of a unit will now be considered when rescuing or imprisoning unconscious units, the higher the level the higher their priority
Claim tasks now get a slight boost in priority for each additional tile or room that becomes claimable after claiming the target tile
Mining gold shrines now has a lower priority than mining gold and several other high value tasks
Several small tweaks to worker behaviour and task priorities
Performance Optimization
Memory allocation in large combat has seen a reduction of up to 90%. This should reduce micro-stutter caused by code garbage collection
Improved overall performance when many units are clustered together by up to 25%.
Rendering and AI processes are now better balanced, boosting the AI’s performance when rendering is requesting use of the entire CPU. May reduce FPS on lower end systems, but ensures that AI is always reliable and does not freeze in long games on large levels
Misc Changes
Multiplayer mode spectator camera has been improved
Bug Fixes
Fixed a critical issue where some units would suddenly stop moving when CPU load was too high, often on large maps with multiple players and units
Units will no longer perform certain actions slower when CPU load is high
Fixed a game freeze that could occur under specific conditions when a large room was claimed (often on custom maps)
Fixed a long standing issue on level 8 in the campaign where it was not possible to defile all tombs due to ghoul limits on the Necromancer. Ghoul limits are now disabled on this level
Fixed an issue where units that had created their bed before a save game would not be rescued after that game was loaded
Fixed an issue where unit beds would not be visible after loading a saved game
Fixed an issue where the spit roast in the Tavern would no longer serve meals after loading a saved game in extremely particular circumstances
Feral ghouls will no longer be brain-dead
Fixed an issue with the Map Editor whereby maps with a colon in their name could not be saved
Fixed an issue with the Map Editor whereby maps with a colon in their name could not be imported
Fixed an issue with the Map Editor under which it was possible to create unclaimable tiles by painting claimed tiles over fortified walls, creating the greatly misunderstood but none the less beautiful fortified claimed tile
This has also been fixed in all existing maps
Fixed an issue where it was impossible to place constructs on certain shrines in the Map Editor, if that shrine was not placed on claimed ground
Clients in multiplayer should now be correctly removed from Possession when their unit is knocked out
Fixed a crash which occurred after playing many multiplayer maps in a row
Fixed an issue in multiplayer where clients could be desynced from the start and thus be unable to play
Fixed an issue for clients in multiplayer where rituals could sometimes lock the Sanctuary permanently, making further rituals unusable
The sound indicating that a player has joined your multiplayer lobby should now play correctly under all circumstances
Fixed a visual issue with the corrupted skins of the Priestess and Bard Empire units
Fixed an issue where casting Blood Money upon a prisoner would cause their model to be left behind, even though they were correctly removed from the prison
Fixed an issue that prevented the loading of a save game when an object in the player’s hand was destroyed directly before saving
Fixed a rare issue where unit shields could sometimes continue to be displayed even after a unit’s death
Fixed an issue where the progress shield on Crypt pyres would show incorrect values after a ghoul had risen
Fixed a bug where the load and save menus were not correctly showing the “Sandbox & Scenarios” category
Fixed an issue where the Kickstarter and Founder’s themes were listed twice in the multiplayer and skirmish lobby
It's good to see you returning once more in this new year to inflict further suffering on the goodly people of Kairos. We can see that the clock ticking over into 2016 has granted you even greater aspirations for true evil, indeed, since our last announcement in the twilight days of last year we've received even more feedback and suggestions piled high upon our desks.
To reward your commitment to the darker pleasures in life we have acted with haste to deliver to you this delicious update. It’s packed full of improvements in various areas of the game, a new spell to help those of you who seek to destroy your rivals with an ally or two, and indeed a chunk of fixes to bugs uncovered by your roving eyes since our previous update!
We love to hear your suggestions so keep them rolling in while we work towards some of the extremely exciting stuff coming this year! Now onto the patch notes!
New Spell: Unclaim
This is a new spell we’ve introduced to fill a very minor niche, while we don’t expect there are many scenarios where the player may wish to unclaim their own territory it can be very useful in 2 vs 2 multiplayer games to make way for your ally to claim an area.
Available immediately as a baseline spell
Unclaims tiles and walls that belong to the casting player
No mana cost
Cannot unclaim rooms or shrines
Map Editor Improvements
It is now possible to select any theme in the game for the Empire dungeon theme, regardless of whether you own the theme
UI Changes
Workers that are fortifying walls are now shown as idle on the unit panel, helping players assign important tasks in preference of low priority ones like fortification
Units which are unable to level no longer show their level in their unit shield
Unit shields rotate what they are displaying faster - unit level is shown much more often
Finished rituals can now be activated by clicking the ritual button
The replay button on the mission briefing screen now reads as “Repeat”
Gameplay and Balance Changes
Units which recently underwent corruption in a Torture Chamber will no longer seek pay instantly
Workers that are automatically spawned by the Dungeon Core will now seek the whole map for tasks at equal priority
Previously they would prioritise tasks based on distance and thus may have fortified walls when other more important tasks were available.
Workers spawned by the Summon Worker spell are unaffected
AI Improvements
Units which try to avoid enemy threats, such as the worker, are now less frightened by smaller threats
Workers now have less fear when combat is occurring nearby, provided they are in good health.
As a result rescuing your own minions and imprisoning enemies from the middle of combat should be more efficiently handled
Introduced new dynamic variables to worker priorities:
Priority for bringing piglets to the spit roast is now adjusted based on the current “ammo” remaining in the spit roast
Artefacts, defence parts and gold piles now have different priorities for collection tasks, artefacts being highest and gold being lowest
The level of a unit will now be considered when rescuing or imprisoning unconscious units, the higher the level the higher their priority
Claim tasks now get a slight boost in priority for each additional tile or room that becomes claimable after claiming the target tile
Mining gold shrines now has a lower priority than mining gold and several other high value tasks
Several small tweaks to worker behaviour and task priorities
Performance Optimization
Memory allocation in large combat has seen a reduction of up to 90%. This should reduce micro-stutter caused by code garbage collection
Improved overall performance when many units are clustered together by up to 25%.
Rendering and AI processes are now better balanced, boosting the AI’s performance when rendering is requesting use of the entire CPU. May reduce FPS on lower end systems, but ensures that AI is always reliable and does not freeze in long games on large levels
Misc Changes
Multiplayer mode spectator camera has been improved
Bug Fixes
Fixed a critical issue where some units would suddenly stop moving when CPU load was too high, often on large maps with multiple players and units
Units will no longer perform certain actions slower when CPU load is high
Fixed a game freeze that could occur under specific conditions when a large room was claimed (often on custom maps)
Fixed a long standing issue on level 8 in the campaign where it was not possible to defile all tombs due to ghoul limits on the Necromancer. Ghoul limits are now disabled on this level
Fixed an issue where units that had created their bed before a save game would not be rescued after that game was loaded
Fixed an issue where unit beds would not be visible after loading a saved game
Fixed an issue where the spit roast in the Tavern would no longer serve meals after loading a saved game in extremely particular circumstances
Feral ghouls will no longer be brain-dead
Fixed an issue with the Map Editor whereby maps with a colon in their name could not be saved
Fixed an issue with the Map Editor whereby maps with a colon in their name could not be imported
Fixed an issue with the Map Editor under which it was possible to create unclaimable tiles by painting claimed tiles over fortified walls, creating the greatly misunderstood but none the less beautiful fortified claimed tile
This has also been fixed in all existing maps
Fixed an issue where it was impossible to place constructs on certain shrines in the Map Editor, if that shrine was not placed on claimed ground
Clients in multiplayer should now be correctly removed from Possession when their unit is knocked out
Fixed a crash which occurred after playing many multiplayer maps in a row
Fixed an issue in multiplayer where clients could be desynced from the start and thus be unable to play
Fixed an issue for clients in multiplayer where rituals could sometimes lock the Sanctuary permanently, making further rituals unusable
The sound indicating that a player has joined your multiplayer lobby should now play correctly under all circumstances
Fixed a visual issue with the corrupted skins of the Priestess and Bard Empire units
Fixed an issue where casting Blood Money upon a prisoner would cause their model to be left behind, even though they were correctly removed from the prison
Fixed an issue that prevented the loading of a save game when an object in the player’s hand was destroyed directly before saving
Fixed a rare issue where unit shields could sometimes continue to be displayed even after a unit’s death
Fixed an issue where the progress shield on Crypt pyres would show incorrect values after a ghoul had risen
Fixed a bug where the load and save menus were not correctly showing the “Sandbox & Scenarios” category
Fixed an issue where the Kickstarter and Founder’s themes were listed twice in the multiplayer and skirmish lobby
We’ve entered the period when snow falls and the lands freeze. The people of Kairos call it, “Christmas”; I call it “Disgustingness”! So while they wash down their overcooked turkey with tankards of sickeningly sweet ale, those of us still sober can delve into their dungeons and purloin their presents ...
But your minions are snoozing off their own feast of micropiglet sandwiches and pails of noble blood - so how is an Underlord supposed to get things done? You are wide awake, restless, daydreaming of the ultimate gift: the Empire, wrapped in the skin of your foes, and tied off with a bow of their fairest, flowing locks!
Wait a goblet-clinking moment ... What’s that jingling emanating from the tunnel?
A gift has entered your dungeon! You have been a good Underlord this year, after all! This mischievous minion’s name is Santa Worker. While the others drool in their slumbers, he’s at the rock face, digging through the permafrost towards your ultimate victory! But what’s that he’s wearing? He’s dressed like, well, some kind of red reaper, I suppose ...
Unwrap your Santa Worker skin on Steam and receive a special Christmas discount for a limited time - then unleash his festive generosity in Skirmish, Sandbox, Scenario, and Multiplayer modes!
Priced at just £0.79 / $0.99 / 0.99€, the Santa Worker is waiting for you on the Steam store.
In addition, backers of our original Kickstarter campaign using the Steam version of the game will receive this skin for free!
We’ve entered the period when snow falls and the lands freeze. The people of Kairos call it, “Christmas”; I call it “Disgustingness”! So while they wash down their overcooked turkey with tankards of sickeningly sweet ale, those of us still sober can delve into their dungeons and purloin their presents ...
But your minions are snoozing off their own feast of micropiglet sandwiches and pails of noble blood - so how is an Underlord supposed to get things done? You are wide awake, restless, daydreaming of the ultimate gift: the Empire, wrapped in the skin of your foes, and tied off with a bow of their fairest, flowing locks!
Wait a goblet-clinking moment ... What’s that jingling emanating from the tunnel?
A gift has entered your dungeon! You have been a good Underlord this year, after all! This mischievous minion’s name is Santa Worker. While the others drool in their slumbers, he’s at the rock face, digging through the permafrost towards your ultimate victory! But what’s that he’s wearing? He’s dressed like, well, some kind of red reaper, I suppose ...
Unwrap your Santa Worker skin on Steam and receive a special Christmas discount for a limited time - then unleash his festive generosity in Skirmish, Sandbox, Scenario, and Multiplayer modes!
Priced at just £0.79 / $0.99 / 0.99€, the Santa Worker is waiting for you on the Steam store.
In addition, backers of our original Kickstarter campaign using the Steam version of the game will receive this skin for free!
It’s been just over a week since Patch 1.3: Workshop was unleashed upon the unsuspecting Steam populace. Since then we’ve seen a veritable flood of new maps hitting the Steam Workshop, with well over 240 maps at time of writing, a truly outstanding achievement
As an appreciation to the fantastic work you’re putting we thought we’d highlight some of our favourites in this Community Spotlight, as well as draw your attention to a few more things you may enjoy!
Community Map Spotlight
With so many maps it’s been quite difficult for us then to pick which ones we’d like to spotlight, there are so many great designs that it almost feels like a disservice to pick only a few.
Still we’ve looked through each map in the workshop, combed through the multiple designs and tested quite a few, in the end we narrowed it down to just five of our favourite maps.
Three player maps are among some of the most difficult to make, so when one comes along that both looks and plays fantastically it’s easy to take notice.
Stygian Emperor has taken a definitively egyptian theme with this map, the design is centered around a large pyramid containing, rather appropriately, a crypt surrounded by layers of sand; within the crypt lies the only Gold Shrine on the map, making it a prime target for contention.
When we devised the concept of allowing players to create their own scenario levels we never imagined that one as vast as this would be realised. Shocky has taken the maximum size of level and ran with it, creating a vast and unique realm to explore.
Conquering the Empire fortress here will be truly monumentous task, but not insurmountable, be sure to explore the whole level to discover what might lie in the depths of the realm
Another scenario map that should require no introduction. Sovengarde Underhall by Coolskeleton95 is one of the most popular maps on the Workshop, and for good reason as it provides one of the most enjoyable PVE experiences on the workshop.
With a huge empire fortress to plunder you’ll have to build a dungeon as grand in nature as your target to overcome it’s defenders.
Water Tide represents the 2-Player skirmish levels, TheBurningFox has diligently crafted a realm that leaves nowhere to hide. With open water making the majority of this map you’ll have to make good use of the islands on your side to best your opponent.
Be wary because an attack can come at any time once the thin white line of Empire defenders is banished from the realm.
Stygian Emperor is quickly becoming one of our favourite authors and returns for a second showing in this Spotlight. His 4-player offering Bloodied Colosseum couldn’t go by without a mention.
This map sees four Underlords vying for control of a huge arena, are you not entertained?
There are so many maps on the Workshop and there’s more every day, we’ll be keeping our eye out for more of the outstanding ones, so don’t worry if your map has been missed this time, perhaps you’ll be featured in our next spotlight!
WFTO Multiplayer Group
Are you looking for others to play WFTO with? Want advice on how to open your ports so you can host multiplayer matches? Then you’ll want to check out the official WFTO Multiplayer Group on Steam.
If you’re ever looking for people to play with it’s members of this group who are most likely to be up for a game, more over the group leader Bohser Onkel is a dedicated member of the WFTO QA Team and dedicated WFTO Multiplayer participant.
He’s got advice for you and the thread he’s set up will help match you with similar skilled opponents provided you rank yourself appropriately.
As a quick Reminder we pushed out Patch 1.3.1 recently which has added a few more features for map creators to exploit.
We’ve introduced a Possession door which only opens when the unit that wishes to pass is being possessed, we’ve also extended the capabilities of the mirror tool to ensure that defences and unit levels are correctly mirrored!
Here ends our second Community Spotlight we have one more little thing for you tomorrow Underlords so keep your eyes peeled for a post tomorrow before we close up for christmas!
It’s been just over a week since Patch 1.3: Workshop was unleashed upon the unsuspecting Steam populace. Since then we’ve seen a veritable flood of new maps hitting the Steam Workshop, with well over 240 maps at time of writing, a truly outstanding achievement
As an appreciation to the fantastic work you’re putting we thought we’d highlight some of our favourites in this Community Spotlight, as well as draw your attention to a few more things you may enjoy!
Community Map Spotlight
With so many maps it’s been quite difficult for us then to pick which ones we’d like to spotlight, there are so many great designs that it almost feels like a disservice to pick only a few.
Still we’ve looked through each map in the workshop, combed through the multiple designs and tested quite a few, in the end we narrowed it down to just five of our favourite maps.
Three player maps are among some of the most difficult to make, so when one comes along that both looks and plays fantastically it’s easy to take notice.
Stygian Emperor has taken a definitively egyptian theme with this map, the design is centered around a large pyramid containing, rather appropriately, a crypt surrounded by layers of sand; within the crypt lies the only Gold Shrine on the map, making it a prime target for contention.
When we devised the concept of allowing players to create their own scenario levels we never imagined that one as vast as this would be realised. Shocky has taken the maximum size of level and ran with it, creating a vast and unique realm to explore.
Conquering the Empire fortress here will be truly monumentous task, but not insurmountable, be sure to explore the whole level to discover what might lie in the depths of the realm
Another scenario map that should require no introduction. Sovengarde Underhall by Coolskeleton95 is one of the most popular maps on the Workshop, and for good reason as it provides one of the most enjoyable PVE experiences on the workshop.
With a huge empire fortress to plunder you’ll have to build a dungeon as grand in nature as your target to overcome it’s defenders.
Water Tide represents the 2-Player skirmish levels, TheBurningFox has diligently crafted a realm that leaves nowhere to hide. With open water making the majority of this map you’ll have to make good use of the islands on your side to best your opponent.
Be wary because an attack can come at any time once the thin white line of Empire defenders is banished from the realm.
Stygian Emperor is quickly becoming one of our favourite authors and returns for a second showing in this Spotlight. His 4-player offering Bloodied Colosseum couldn’t go by without a mention.
This map sees four Underlords vying for control of a huge arena, are you not entertained?
There are so many maps on the Workshop and there’s more every day, we’ll be keeping our eye out for more of the outstanding ones, so don’t worry if your map has been missed this time, perhaps you’ll be featured in our next spotlight!
WFTO Multiplayer Group
Are you looking for others to play WFTO with? Want advice on how to open your ports so you can host multiplayer matches? Then you’ll want to check out the official WFTO Multiplayer Group on Steam.
If you’re ever looking for people to play with it’s members of this group who are most likely to be up for a game, more over the group leader Bohser Onkel is a dedicated member of the WFTO QA Team and dedicated WFTO Multiplayer participant.
He’s got advice for you and the thread he’s set up will help match you with similar skilled opponents provided you rank yourself appropriately.
As a quick Reminder we pushed out Patch 1.3.1 recently which has added a few more features for map creators to exploit.
We’ve introduced a Possession door which only opens when the unit that wishes to pass is being possessed, we’ve also extended the capabilities of the mirror tool to ensure that defences and unit levels are correctly mirrored!
Here ends our second Community Spotlight we have one more little thing for you tomorrow Underlords so keep your eyes peeled for a post tomorrow before we close up for christmas!
The festive period is upon us and we're closing up shop to spend time with our families. We're not leaving you without one last patch to add a few new features and some improvements and other fixes to the editor.
We also have a couple more updates coming in the next few days as well as our second Newsletter! So stay tuned!
Read on for the improvements in Patch 1.3.1!
Gameplay & Balance Changes
Possession (Spell)
Unit needs will no longer reduce while possessed
Map Editor Improvements
“Possession Door" added
This door can only be opened by minions under the effect of the possession spell
Neutral owned doors can be opened by anyone, player or empire owned can only be opened by their appropriate faction.
Defences and Unit levels are now correctly mirrored by the mirror tool
“Paint random gold” tool added
Paints a random gold density in selected tiles
Misc Changes
It is no longer possible to earn the “Defeat X AI” achievements on custom maps
Sleigh bells are ringing, something is coming...
Bug Fixes
The game will now attempt to recreate the minimap preview if it is missing
Fixed an AI issue where the AI player would not correctly claim objectives if their path lead over an unclaimed tile adjacent to their Dungeon Core.
Fixed several issues for Multiplayer clients when using the possession spell
Fixed an issue related to neutral factions being captured in Fog of war on clients in Multiplayer
Fixed several issues where units on clients in multiplayer would not be correctly bound to in-game physics
The festive period is upon us and we're closing up shop to spend time with our families. We're not leaving you without one last patch to add a few new features and some improvements and other fixes to the editor.
We also have a couple more updates coming in the next few days as well as our second Newsletter! So stay tuned!
Read on for the improvements in Patch 1.3.1!
Gameplay & Balance Changes
Possession (Spell)
Unit needs will no longer reduce while possessed
Map Editor Improvements
“Possession Door" added
This door can only be opened by minions under the effect of the possession spell
Neutral owned doors can be opened by anyone, player or empire owned can only be opened by their appropriate faction.
Defences and Unit levels are now correctly mirrored by the mirror tool
“Paint random gold” tool added
Paints a random gold density in selected tiles
Misc Changes
It is no longer possible to earn the “Defeat X AI” achievements on custom maps
Sleigh bells are ringing, something is coming...
Bug Fixes
The game will now attempt to recreate the minimap preview if it is missing
Fixed an AI issue where the AI player would not correctly claim objectives if their path lead over an unclaimed tile adjacent to their Dungeon Core.
Fixed several issues for Multiplayer clients when using the possession spell
Fixed an issue related to neutral factions being captured in Fog of war on clients in Multiplayer
Fixed several issues where units on clients in multiplayer would not be correctly bound to in-game physics