In our last update we've added auto generated tags to new workshop maps. You can now filter by...

• Map
  
• Skirmish (the map has AI)
  
• 1v1
  
• 2v2
  
• 3v3
  
• 4v4
  
• Symmetric
  
• Asymetric
  
• Zero Gravity
  
• ...more to come

To add these tags to your existing map, simply open the map in the map editor, make a minor change, and save & publish it.

Have fun!
EWG

In our last update we've added auto generated tags to new workshop maps. You can now filter by...

• Map
  
• Skirmish (the map has AI)
  
• 1v1
  
• 2v2
  
• 3v3
  
• 4v4
  
• Symmetric
  
• Asymetric
  
• Zero Gravity
  
• ...more to come

To add these tags to your existing map, simply open the map in the map editor, make a minor change, and save & publish it.

Have fun!
EWG

G'day Forts Fans! This week we're comin' atcha with a host of fixes and, more importantly, balance changes. We've been hearing your calls about the new weapons which came online with the Tons of Guns update and have made the below changes. There are quite a few improvements to the zero gravity mod that we are excited about too.

Chinese, Japanese and Korean players will be happy to know that text input and lobby name display has been fixed. We’ve also better organised the lobby selection screen. Lobbies made in the same language as you will appear at the top with a speech bubble icon, to help you select low-ping hosts.



20mm Cannon - Overpowered. Makes shield almost obsolete.

• Increase build cost (500/3500 -> 650/4500, cannon is 900/6000 and does less total damage)
  
• Slight increase to fire cost (30/2000 -> 40/2500)
  
• Slight increase to reload period (25 -> 26 - same as cannon)
  
• Sandbags take little damage from 20mm rounds (20% of normal damage)
  
• Shields reflect 20mm rounds
  
• Firebeam stops 20mm rounds instantly

Rocket - Overpowered (especially with Hurricane's rapid fire)

• Increase reload period (10 -> 12)
  
• Reduce Hurricane's effect on Rockets (5 -> 8 )
  
• Reduce damage Rocket has on shield

Shotgun - Overpowered (especially with Eagle Eyes explosive rounds]

• Reduce health to one sniper shot (140 -> 130)
  
• Reduce potency of explosive rounds on Shotgun
  
• Slight increase in reload period (6 -> 9, minigun is 6, heavy mortar is 9)

Firebeam - Underpowered

• Slight bump to direct damage (100 -> 130, same as sniper)
  
• Reduce reload period (18 -> 14, laser is 26)
  
• Reduce fire cost (2000 -> 1500)

Swarm - Underpowered

• Add 3 projectiles to swarm

EMP - Put focus back on disabling things

• EMP does not destroy shield if it is hit, just disables with damage
  
• Increase AOE against swarms and warheads

Sniper

• Double the extra damage sniper explosive rounds do

• Mortars can slope
  
• Increase device placement slope
  
• Reduce mortar speed to 40% of normal
  
• Reduce drag by 50%
  
• Add: allow weapons to face backwards by blocking with structure
  
• Fix: can't fire weapons at some angles
  
• Remove: disable screen/cursor restore on group restore

Add: sort/highlight lobbies with matching language to the top
Add: allow pasting of Windows clipboard into console and edit boxes
Add: columns to lobby select and replay screen
Add: 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4, Skirmish, Symmetrical, Asymmetrical, and Zero Gravity map tags added
Add: tech tab to classic mode
Add: key to cycle technology tab (C)
- Cycle weapon moved to V
- Re-assign mirror terrain vertically from V to Shift + V
- Re-assign aim down from V to Shift + F
Add: Make a chance that EMP struck missiles will reset their target to the current position

Optimise: Don't attempt to call nested ApplyMod calls for mods that have no mods folder

Fix: IME text input for Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc. only produces question marks
Fix: IME enabled during gameplay when text input not expected
Fix: Chinese characters don't show up in lobby select screen
Fix: apostrophe + s added to lobby names in non-English languages
Fix: Team and All not translated on command prompt in Multiplayer
Fix: door closes on Firebeam and other weapons when deselecting
Fix: cursor unresponsive for some users
Fix: splash damage is being applied twice to all structure
Fix: reflected projectiles can sometimes pass through solid struts
Fix: downloading stats sometimes shows errors and blocks intro movie
Fix: panning the screen causes drift when vsync is off
Fix: aiming arc fill glitchy when weapon upside-down
Fix: missiles hit by EMP do not have their guidance properly disabled
Fix: crash calling ApplyMod when loading and modding effects (experimental)
Fix: can’t connect rope to ground behind Team 1 fort in Ledge Grab
Fix: tab order on main menu wrong

Remove: left click on strut on a material picks a material (replace with option)
Remove: right click on strut picks material
Remove: expire effect from flaming projectiles
Remove: prevent all weapons from flipping to avoid desyncs

Add: clients can request mods to be added or removed
Fix: inverted swarms don't have extra projectiles
Fix: commander descriptions missing
Fix: rapid fire not applied properly to Eagle Eye
Fix: weapons can be reloaded by deleting then undo delete
Fix: missiles fire when deselecting a group
Fix: missile device type dropped on deselection when keep device selection is on
Fix: crash when painting target for remote client and upgrading a device at the same time
Fix: remote clients will send open door messages for autofiring missiles
Fix: resend game config before starting game to ensure clients are in sync
Fix: EMP disabling missile guidance not effective when not circling
Fix: crash when beam destroys projectile and its splash damage destroys a strut the beam is also intersecting
Fix: desyncs when clients drop out during loading TDM (use client state at start of loading)
Fix: show Windows cursor in crash handler
Fix: reflecting projectiles sometimes leak through the strut
Fix: crash in Sandbox when stream completes and critical sections not initialised
Fix: crash when flipping normals of a block with no nodes
Fix: terrain block can have zero nodes (now deletes block)
Fix: unicode characters without visual representation are blank (now ?)
Fix: lobby icons all show 'classic' for 'ToG' games
Fix: crash when creating error message for a map folder name that already exists

Snipers sometimes leave their doors open after painting targets for missiles

Thanks for playing Forts!

Cheers,
EWG

G'day Forts Fans! This week we're comin' atcha with a host of fixes and, more importantly, balance changes. We've been hearing your calls about the new weapons which came online with the Tons of Guns update and have made the below changes. There are quite a few improvements to the zero gravity mod that we are excited about too.

Chinese, Japanese and Korean players will be happy to know that text input and lobby name display has been fixed. We’ve also better organised the lobby selection screen. Lobbies made in the same language as you will appear at the top with a speech bubble icon, to help you select low-ping hosts.



20mm Cannon - Overpowered. Makes shield almost obsolete.

• Increase build cost (500/3500 -> 650/4500, cannon is 900/6000 and does less total damage)
  
• Slight increase to fire cost (30/2000 -> 40/2500)
  
• Slight increase to reload period (25 -> 26 - same as cannon)
  
• Sandbags take little damage from 20mm rounds (20% of normal damage)
  
• Shields reflect 20mm rounds
  
• Firebeam stops 20mm rounds instantly

Rocket - Overpowered (especially with Hurricane's rapid fire)

• Increase reload period (10 -> 12)
  
• Reduce Hurricane's effect on Rockets (5 -> 8 )
  
• Reduce damage Rocket has on shield

Shotgun - Overpowered (especially with Eagle Eyes explosive rounds]

• Reduce health to one sniper shot (140 -> 130)
  
• Reduce potency of explosive rounds on Shotgun
  
• Slight increase in reload period (6 -> 9, minigun is 6, heavy mortar is 9)

Firebeam - Underpowered

• Slight bump to direct damage (100 -> 130, same as sniper)
  
• Reduce reload period (18 -> 14, laser is 26)
  
• Reduce fire cost (2000 -> 1500)

Swarm - Underpowered

• Add 3 projectiles to swarm

EMP - Put focus back on disabling things

• EMP does not destroy shield if it is hit, just disables with damage
  
• Increase AOE against swarms and warheads

Sniper

• Double the extra damage sniper explosive rounds do

• Mortars can slope
  
• Increase device placement slope
  
• Reduce mortar speed to 40% of normal
  
• Reduce drag by 50%
  
• Add: allow weapons to face backwards by blocking with structure
  
• Fix: can't fire weapons at some angles
  
• Remove: disable screen/cursor restore on group restore

Add: sort/highlight lobbies with matching language to the top
Add: allow pasting of Windows clipboard into console and edit boxes
Add: columns to lobby select and replay screen
Add: 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4, Skirmish, Symmetrical, Asymmetrical, and Zero Gravity map tags added
Add: tech tab to classic mode
Add: key to cycle technology tab (C)
- Cycle weapon moved to V
- Re-assign mirror terrain vertically from V to Shift + V
- Re-assign aim down from V to Shift + F
Add: Make a chance that EMP struck missiles will reset their target to the current position

Optimise: Don't attempt to call nested ApplyMod calls for mods that have no mods folder

Fix: IME text input for Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc. only produces question marks
Fix: IME enabled during gameplay when text input not expected
Fix: Chinese characters don't show up in lobby select screen
Fix: apostrophe + s added to lobby names in non-English languages
Fix: Team and All not translated on command prompt in Multiplayer
Fix: door closes on Firebeam and other weapons when deselecting
Fix: cursor unresponsive for some users
Fix: splash damage is being applied twice to all structure
Fix: reflected projectiles can sometimes pass through solid struts
Fix: downloading stats sometimes shows errors and blocks intro movie
Fix: panning the screen causes drift when vsync is off
Fix: aiming arc fill glitchy when weapon upside-down
Fix: missiles hit by EMP do not have their guidance properly disabled
Fix: crash calling ApplyMod when loading and modding effects (experimental)
Fix: can’t connect rope to ground behind Team 1 fort in Ledge Grab
Fix: tab order on main menu wrong

Remove: left click on strut on a material picks a material (replace with option)
Remove: right click on strut picks material
Remove: expire effect from flaming projectiles
Remove: prevent all weapons from flipping to avoid desyncs

Add: clients can request mods to be added or removed
Fix: inverted swarms don't have extra projectiles
Fix: commander descriptions missing
Fix: rapid fire not applied properly to Eagle Eye
Fix: weapons can be reloaded by deleting then undo delete
Fix: missiles fire when deselecting a group
Fix: missile device type dropped on deselection when keep device selection is on
Fix: crash when painting target for remote client and upgrading a device at the same time
Fix: remote clients will send open door messages for autofiring missiles
Fix: resend game config before starting game to ensure clients are in sync
Fix: EMP disabling missile guidance not effective when not circling
Fix: crash when beam destroys projectile and its splash damage destroys a strut the beam is also intersecting
Fix: desyncs when clients drop out during loading TDM (use client state at start of loading)
Fix: show Windows cursor in crash handler
Fix: reflecting projectiles sometimes leak through the strut
Fix: crash in Sandbox when stream completes and critical sections not initialised
Fix: crash when flipping normals of a block with no nodes
Fix: terrain block can have zero nodes (now deletes block)
Fix: unicode characters without visual representation are blank (now ?)
Fix: lobby icons all show 'classic' for 'ToG' games
Fix: crash when creating error message for a map folder name that already exists

Snipers sometimes leave their doors open after painting targets for missiles

Thanks for playing Forts!

Cheers,
EWG

G'day Forts Fans! We're back fresh from our stint exhibiting Forts at PAX Australia, with a brief update, and a report on our successful weekend.


As some of you may know, Forts was nominated at the AGDA awards, along with sixteen other great Australian developed games. Gathered at the front of the hall with the other nominees, and after another couple of games had been honoured, the host started describing the winner of the next award. Slowly it dawned on us that she could only be describing Forts. Sure enough, Forts was proclaimed the winner of The Best Defence is a Good Offense award, and we went up to collect our prize. It was great to be recognised by our peers in the Australian games industry and to share our moment of triumph with them.


After such a great start to our week in Melbourne, we then proceeded to exhibit Forts for three days at PAX Australia. Forts - Tons of Guns got a great reception there. It was nice to be able to demo the game without our lives depending on it, for the first time. We met many new fans and some of you who had already purchased and played the game. All in all, a great week was had.

Add: scroll bars added to lists where necessary
Add: map name used for folder name if only ASCII characters used
Add: ApplyLate flag changed to a Priority value to give skirmish mod a high priority
Add: French display names for mods
Fix: map download notification missing, preventing ready up after subscribe
Fix: Height Challenge structure is neutral
Fix: Chinese ToG strings
Fix: crash when selecting keyboard layout if no default exists for language
Fix: Chinese keyboard layout defaults to QWERTY
Fix: Pinchfist refund of upgrades greater than cost of building
Fix: Inverted Warhead not available when unlock all weapons mod activated
Fix: download icon in ready column can be confused with actual button
Fix: item highlight is offset in editor menu

Thanks for playing Forts - Tons of Guns!

Cheers,
EWG

G'day Forts Fans! We're back fresh from our stint exhibiting Forts at PAX Australia, with a brief update, and a report on our successful weekend.


As some of you may know, Forts was nominated at the AGDA awards, along with sixteen other great Australian developed games. Gathered at the front of the hall with the other nominees, and after another couple of games had been honoured, the host started describing the winner of the next award. Slowly it dawned on us that she could only be describing Forts. Sure enough, Forts was proclaimed the winner of The Best Defence is a Good Offense award, and we went up to collect our prize. It was great to be recognised by our peers in the Australian games industry and to share our moment of triumph with them.


After such a great start to our week in Melbourne, we then proceeded to exhibit Forts for three days at PAX Australia. Forts - Tons of Guns got a great reception there. It was nice to be able to demo the game without our lives depending on it, for the first time. We met many new fans and some of you who had already purchased and played the game. All in all, a great week was had.

Add: scroll bars added to lists where necessary
Add: map name used for folder name if only ASCII characters used
Add: ApplyLate flag changed to a Priority value to give skirmish mod a high priority
Add: French display names for mods
Fix: map download notification missing, preventing ready up after subscribe
Fix: Height Challenge structure is neutral
Fix: Chinese ToG strings
Fix: crash when selecting keyboard layout if no default exists for language
Fix: Chinese keyboard layout defaults to QWERTY
Fix: Pinchfist refund of upgrades greater than cost of building
Fix: Inverted Warhead not available when unlock all weapons mod activated
Fix: download icon in ready column can be confused with actual button
Fix: item highlight is offset in editor menu

Thanks for playing Forts - Tons of Guns!

Cheers,
EWG

G'day Forts Fans! We hope you've been enjoying the new weapons and mods. This weekend we will be in Melbourne for PAX Australia. We're lucky enough to have been selected for the Indie Showcase, and have been nominated for the Australian Game Developers Awards. We are also part of Pinny Arcade, so if you're in town be sure to head to booth AIS05 and say hi!



Balance: reduced Firebird active effect
Fix: rockets sometimes diverge from target
Fix: AI fort selection ignores required mod filtering causing errors and inactive AI
Fix: Debris cleanup causes a desync on join
Fix: increase projectile allocation
Fix: in-game help panel in ToG is obsolete
Fix: remove longburst mod
Fix: 20mm cannon destruction sound effect missing

Thanks for playing Forts!

Cheers,
EWG

G'day Forts Fans! We hope you've been enjoying the new weapons and mods. This weekend we will be in Melbourne for PAX Australia. We're lucky enough to have been selected for the Indie Showcase, and have been nominated for the Australian Game Developers Awards. We are also part of Pinny Arcade, so if you're in town be sure to head to booth AIS05 and say hi!



Balance: reduced Firebird active effect
Fix: rockets sometimes diverge from target
Fix: AI fort selection ignores required mod filtering causing errors and inactive AI
Fix: Debris cleanup causes a desync on join
Fix: increase projectile allocation
Fix: in-game help panel in ToG is obsolete
Fix: remove longburst mod
Fix: 20mm cannon destruction sound effect missing

Thanks for playing Forts!

Cheers,
EWG

G'day Forts Fans! We're pleased to finally be able to bring you our new free multiplayer update, Tons of Guns! Over the last few months we've been hard at work adding new tech buildings, weapons, game mods and AI forts. The biggest update we've done so far, Tons of Guns expands the strategic possibilities for Fort commanders, and battle modes.

We’re also excited to be welcoming Chinese players to the ranks, as Forts has undergone deep localisation. We are looking forward to receiving some dents from this giant pool of potential commanders.



Armoury - This vertical tier 2 tech building is buildable straight from the reactor, and allows the construction of the Flak and EMP launcher, which can both be upgraded to Shotgun and Rocket launcher, respectively. It also unlocks the Factory and Munitions Plant.
Munitions Plant - A vertical structure, this tier 3 building runs parallel in the tech tree to the Factory, and unlocks the ability to build the new 20mm Cannon and the classic Cannon.

Flak - This Anti-air weapon is great for clearing the skies of enemy projectiles. As well as the ability to auto-fire, the range can also be set manually to take out hidden weapons, such as clearing mortar pits.
Shotgun - Upgraded from the Flak, the Shotgun is great for punishing the enemy for building weapons in the open. Primarily an offensive weapon, it lacks the auto-fire feature of the Flak, but the spread of projectiles can be dictated by the distance the cursor is from the weapon in the fire arc, meaning it is great for defending attacks from above, in a pinch.
EMP - Releasing an electromagnetic pulse on impact, this weapon can disable enemy tech, halting resource production, paralysing weapons and stalling construction. Great for powering down troublesome weapons or interrupting building of the enemy base.
Rocket - Exchanging the subtleties of the EMP for pure destructive power, the Rocket launcher releases two explosive projectiles, doubling the chance of impact. Grouped up, a salvo of rockets can turn the tide of a battle.
20mm - Coming in at around half the price of the classic cannon, the 20mm fires a burst of destructive shells, great for taking out multiple enemy targets and softening up the oppositions fort. Use in a battery, it's effects can be devastating, while staggering fire from multiple 20mm means the enemy receives a seemingly unending stream of projectiles.
Firebeam - The Factory has been repurposed in Tons of Guns. With the classic Cannon now being built in the Munitions Plant, the Factory now produces not only the classic Plasma Laser, but also the new Firebeam. This incendiary weapon can be used to bypass enemy armour and ignite anything that lies behind it. It can also be used to set fire to projectiles, increasing their potency and granting them incendiary qualities while shortening their lifespan. Skillful use means that it can be used to defend from enemy weapons, including cannons, or igniting friendly projectiles shortly before impact for increased firey carnage!

To see these weapons in action, check out the trailer below:
https://youtu.be/i6SAuyIDVCw

Players can now select from a host of new mods, either in isolation or in combination, allowing for a diversity of game modes, a selection of which can be seen below. We’ll be adding mod support for the Steam Workshop in the near future.
Truce - Many players have expressed a wish to be able to build up their fort in peace before hostilities start. Game hosts can now set the truce mode to 3, 6 or 9 minutes, before the first shots are fired.
Zero Gravity - Tired of pesky gravity holding you down? Now you can battle without it with the Zero Gravity mod, and watch as projectiles fly into the enemy fort exactly where you aim them, with no dip, and see parts of their fort float away.
Rapid Fire - Speed up the ferocity of destruction by reducing reload times to a minimum. All that’s holding you back is your resources (unless you use the Unlimited Resources mod at the same time :)

We have updated our existing roster of From Scratch maps with Tons of Guns enabled Forts, for you to try all the new weapons out on, as well as some Pre-built maps. Just look for the gold Tons of Guns icon for maps with the new weapons. For those who yearn for the purity of the original tech tree, simply deselect the Tons of Guns mod in the mod selections screen.

We’ve added a new alarm sound that triggers when your base is on fire, to make it easier to hear in the thick of battle.

We hope you enjoy the new content, and thanks for playing Forts!

Cheers,
EWG


Add: Simplified Chinese language and deep localisation
Add: Flak, Shotgun, EMP, Rocket, Firebeam and 20mm Cannon weapons in Tons of Guns mod
Add: Technology tab when Tons of Guns active, combined with Devices tab in editor to save space
Add: Armoury and Munitions Plant to technology tab to build Flak/EMP and 20mm Cannon/Cannon
Add: gold icon to indicate which maps have AI scripts for Tons of Guns
Add: "Classic" and "Tons of Guns" icons to server list
Add: built-in mod selection in Skirmish, Multiplayer, Sandbox and Editor modes
Add: 3, 6 and 9 minute truce mods
Add: mod to hide forts during truce
Add: zero gravity mod
Add: fire alarm sound, starts several seconds after fire detected
Add: flaming projectiles ignite material even when hitting armour
Add: mods can require AI fort specialisation, AI forts mark dependence on such mods
Add: maps can reference AI scripts in another folder by adding the path to the FortGroups table entries, including in mod folders
Add: \import console command to paste a particular standard fort (e.g. \import ai/forts/vanilla)
Add: language mods can apply to the intro movie
Add: prefer language selection using Steam's game language setting
Add: AntiAirHitpoints and AntiAirDamage to projectiles, default to 1 and ProjectileDamage respectively
Add: video capture continues in background when game isn't in focus
Add: mod.lua flag to apply mods late (ApplyLate)
Add: weapons added in a mod can have faction variants
Add: FireEndEffect triggers for all weapons
Add: 1 minute warning and 5 second countdown to truce
Add: use Steam's language only for initial selection and when change detected
Add: legend key to describe what gold icon means in map select screens
Add: Firebird rockets get incendiary trail when active
Add: gold icon added to Tons of Guns mod item
Add: don't show items if their prerequisites are disabled (outside of campaign)
Add: neutral/detached (debris) structures expire with effects
Add: SparksEffect gravity is adjusted based on current world gravity
Add: increase available meshprojectiles to handle rapid fire mod
Add: separate map foldernames from display names to allow non-ANSI characters in map name
Add: created maps are now called "playermap[x]" where [x] is an auto incremented number
Add: workshop icon added to editor menu file select
Add: lobby supports multiline chat messages
Add: MP workshop map display names read from displaynames.lua (for localisation) or Steam if not found
Add: display names for mods with optional "displayname.lua" file
Add: the ability to mark map mods as selectable in their mod.lua
Add: Tons of Guns enabled for Skirmish, Sandbox, Editor and MP by default
Add: console errors for failed Workshop Creation and Updates

Balance: Armourdillo can see enemy armour and shields during active
Balance: Warhead takes two hits, more erratic & dark smoke after first hit
Balance: reduce damage reactor takes from fire to 50% when Tons of Guns is active
Balance: commander updates for Tons of Guns
- Eagle Eye - explosive shotgun rounds
- Firebird - flak, shotgun, and cannon20mm are incendiary. Firebeam longer & wider.
- Warthog - 20mm damage increase
Balance: about 25% damage or splash damage bonus to flaming projectiles
Balance: Swarm missile incendiary to a radius to ignite background bracing, even when hitting armour
Balance: Firebird active mortars, cannons, missiles ignores armour
Balance: Laser has splash damage on destruction
Balance: Cannon round takes two rockets or a few swarm missiles to destroy
Balance: fast build mod reduces material build/scrap times

Fix: desync when refiring a damaged weapon then repair area
Fix: Desync if a weapon about to fire is repaired
Fix: crash on host when a client times out during instant replay
Fix: crash when map doesn't have weapons added from a mod (replaced with machine guns)
Fix: crash with replays containing mod names >= 20 chars long
Fix: if a player disconnects while using refire, the weapon can't be used by others
Fix: Spook does not gain resources on theft in TDM
Fix: Armourdillo doesn't instant repair entire base when activated in TDM
Fix: Anti-air not working with zero gravity
Fix: door doesn't close when refiring as door shuts
Fix: Reactor explodes consistently when falling out of world
Fix: Prevent laser destroying light arms fire
Fix: when a weapon refires but is unable to afford to fire it can leave a door open and remain associated with the door
Fix: when a weapon tries to fire and must open a door, if the door is already associated with the weapon the command to open it is never sent
Fix: Increase the size and quality of map preview images, now set in constants.lua
Fix: weapons open doors when blocked by structure/device
Fix: Apply skirmish mod before map mods
Fix: Shield strut is visible and fully opaque while disabled and warming up
Fix: 'Key' string in Options -> Input tab not translated
Fix: prevent observer showing HUD using F2
Fix: prevent construction of disabled materials (solar panel exploit)
Fix: factions mod a single sprite called gunner in order to customise falling troops
Fix: random sprites shown when hiding early ground blocks with edges
Fix: Cursor snaps to disabled ground blocks
Fix: activate commander message sent by HUD if not fully charged
Fix: ActivateCommander can work if not fully charged
Fix: classic Cannon and Laser only specify Factory as their requirement
Fix: Resave map previews in higher quality and fix cameras of all included maps
Fix: devices and links highlighted when taking preview screenshots
Fix: potential string copy overflow issue with map names
Fix: missile clearance slightly too far

Remove: 'Unlimited Resources in Sandbox' option (now handled by mod)