• Fixed Ball disappearing if a player who was holding it was killed by a Spike Trap.
  
• Chargers now rebound on impact, instead of waiting for the character they attack to finish their 'take damage' animation.
  
• Mawbreaker achievement no longer unlocks if the Maw can't be pushed because something's in the way.
  
• Player sprites no longer pop behind the ropes in the victory ending.

⚠ Session Save Data Reset
Your mid-run session save data will be reset in this update!
Fortunately, I have now implemented a feature that allows updates to only reset your mid-run session data, rather than ALL of your save data. As always, I'll avoid this wherever possible, but sometimes it's necessary due to major data structure changes. At least now your achievements, settings and stats will remain intact, but any sessions you have unfinished will unfortunately be deleted when the game starts.

Now, on to the big new changes...









And here's the full run-down of changes in this update...

• Player introductions at the start of each run.
  
• Stage progress with rank icons on the loading screen between stages.

• Overhauled the Timeline seen at the end of each trial.
  
• Daily Challenge mode can now only be played once per day.
  
• Selected menu buttons now have an outline instead of being enlarged.
  
• Updates can now delete mid-run session save data to avoid deleting ALL save data.
  
• The Judgment now makes less noise while spectating.
  
• "Normal Ball" renamed to "Standard Ball".
  
• Updated the main title logo so it matches store page version.
  
• Total score popups are now brighter blue and more visually prominent.
  
• Total score popup now appears on the loading screen between stages.

• Fixed crash when skipping menu page transitions.
  
• Fixed Options menu navigation moving to unexpected buttons (when using a keyboard or controller).
  
• Trial intro jingle now correctly uses your music volume setting.
  
• Trial intro jingle pitch no longer gets distorted if you skip the sequence.
  
• Title text on loading screens now uses pixel-perfect scaling.

Enjoy!

Matt

Here are some of the big new changes...









And here's the full run-down of changes in this update...

• Players show different animation, facial expression, audio and visual effects when their stamina drops to 4 or less.
  
• More hairstyles for players.
  
• 2 additional voice variants for male and female players.
  
• More voice events for all players (move, move with ball, rest, low stamina).
  
• Slam Lad Goalie enemy.

• Stamina gauges animate over time (instead of changing instantly).
  
• "Enemy Info" now just shows "Act Order" popups for all enemies and hazards.
  
• Aforementioned Act Order shortcut button now changes colour when used.
  
• Characters are still pushed by Ball shots, even if they catch the ball (affects Sascatches and other human players).
  
• Characters no longer drop the Ball when pushed by 'Wind' type attacks.
  
• Randomly-generated players' hairstyle is now partially determined by their skin tone.
  
• Judgment Mode now replaces all Mad Lads with Slam Lads (including goalies).
  
• Reduced maximum number of Lil Lils per stage from 4 to 3.
  
• When enemies are stunned, the duration is displayed in the "Stunned!" popup.
  
• Enemy info sidebar now shows how long the enemy is Stunned for.
  
• 'Team Fortress' achievement now displays a progress bar.
  
• Only currently-used player voices are loaded to reduce memory usage.
  
• Added audio filter to all sound effects (previously only applied to crowd sounds).
  
• All character voice audio ducks music volume more aggressively.
  
• Player upgrade node icons now have a dotted outline when not purchased.
  
• Moved health bars lower so they're not hidden by attack tooltips.

• Fixed Ball Modifiers not applying score multipliers.
  
• Fixed crash on 'mode select' screen.
  
• Fixed stage results text not appearing when skipping results sequence quickly.
  
• Fixed loud audio mess when skipping stage results sequence.
  
• If players are pushed over the finish line by Wind attacks or Ball shots the stage now instantly ends in victory (instead of nothing happening until you act on the next turn).
  
• Sascatch no longer catches the Ball if shot when stunned.
  
• "Touch down" text changed to "Touchdown" when you complete a stage.
  
• Fixed 'dangerous tile' hazard stripe icon not disappearing from Spike Trap tiles after enemies have targetted that tile.
  
• 'Rokoban' achievement no longer counts pushes where the rock was unable to move.

Enjoy!

Matt

Your save data will be reset in this update!
I try to avoid doing this wherever possible but this update brings more significant changes to the way data is structured. Apologies for any frustration this causes.

With that said, here are the major changes in version 0.27.

There are now a grand total of 78 achievements to unlock! You can view your progress in the standard Steam interface, or by viewing the Achievements menu in-game.



Until now, all game modes were unlocked from the beginning. This was because I was looking for feedback in the Early Access phase.

As Dungeon Deathball nears its full release I have decided to lock these modes off and implement the mechanics for unlocking them.

It works as follows:

• New modes are unlocked by earning Achievements.
  
• The criteria for each mode is displayed when you hover over its button when starting a new game.
  
• A popups will now appear on the title screen when you've unlocked a new mode.

Here's the full run-down of changes in this update...

• Steam Achievements.
  
• In-game Achievements menu to view your progress.
  
• Unlock system for game mode.

• "Boss Mode" renamed to "Judgment Mode".
  
• You can now skip several of the sequences between screens (camera movement when a stage first starts, the reveal of your stage results, and the delay before results appear on Game Over).
  
• It's now faster to get into gameplay after beginning a stage.
  
• "How To Play" page list is divided into sections.
  
• "How To Play" now contains information about Gems.
  
• "How To Play" now contains information about Player Classes.
  
• Pacists team now has a fixed Snatcher perk.
  
• Updated credits with a new patron.
  
• Changed the way stage results are saved under the hood.
  
• Selecting a different game mode no longer shows a popup explaining how it works.
  
• Selecting "Save & Quit" when you already have a saved game will now show a warning and various options for what to do next.
  
• A trophy icon is now displayed next to each mode when you've completed it.
  
• Currently-selected team now shows a 'tick' icon instead of a white border.

• It is now possible to skip cinematics using a controller.
  
• Fixed crash when unlocking new teams.
  
• Fixed "Done" button not being automatically highlighted after skipping the Game Over cinematic.
  
• Team Hodgepodge's Skull Keys are now correctly awarded after beating each trial.
  
• Fixed "Skull Keys acquired" popup not appearing.
  
• Fixed Enemies section of "How To Play" missing data.
  
• Fixed timeline icons not showing when you achieved S-Rank on a stage.
  
• Fixed tick-box backgrounds sometimes being misaligned in the Options menu.

Please note that the price has now increased as mentioned earlier in this post. This now represents the final, full release price.



Enjoy!

Matt

As part of the Early Access phase of Dungeon Deathball's development I am trying to find the sweet spot for its price.

When I started development, the game was much, much smaller in scope. In the 3 years since then it's grown and grown into something much bigger and (I feel) better. As a result, the price that I feel is fair for this game has crept up.

Therefore, I will soon be raising the price to:

• $11.99 (USD)
  
• £9.29 (GBP)
  
• €9.99 (EUR)

These regional variations are in line with Valve's recommend regional pricing structure.

This change will go into effect when Update 0.27 is released (most likely within the next week).

This will be the last time I raise the price during Early Access, and therefore represents the base price for the final 'full release' version.

I am posting this update in an effort to be transparent about my intentions and reasoning, and to give anyone who was on the fence a chance to buy the game at the current, lower price.

I hope you understand and agree that this is a fair price for the game. Either way, I'm always open to hearing your thoughts so please drop a comment below or join my Discord if you have feedback.

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported development so far. I couldn't do this without you!

The game really is nearing completion and I am well on track for release this summer. Stay tuned for another update coming soon which will add Steam Achievements and more.

Thank you!

Matt

This will be the last discount before the price goes up again, bringing it to its full release price. It won't be this cheap again for a while!

Now with that out of the way, allow me to present some new stuff...

• New monster: Lil Lil (wind attack).
  
• New monster: Sascatch (catches the ball if shot).
  
• Time pressure: lightning gradually fills the field if you go over par.
  
• Tile info popups: displays information about the contents of the currently-highlighted tile (traps, gems, pickups, etc.)
  
• "Enemy Intention" page in How To Play section.
  
• "Attacks" page in How To Play section.
  
• Current turn phase displayed during stages (Players turn / Hazards turn / Monsters turn).
  
• Number of turns used/remaining displayed during stages.

• Moved Rest/Pass/Shoot buttons to bottom-left corner of screen (so they're grouped with other player UI, and to make room for the new tile info popup).
  
• Moved Confirm/Cancel popup so that it's nested within the action info popup.
  
• Hovering over Pass button now displays a "Catch" icon on the recipient, and the same goes for when enemies such as the Sascatch may catch a shot.
  
• Command tooltip (Stamina/AP info) now follows the mouse cursor when using a mouse.
  
• Goalie movement description changed to "Blocks the ball".
  
• Daily Challenge mode now tracks its own high score (instead or reusing Normal Mode).
  
• Action Mode high scores are now saved and displayed for each team.
  
• Changed layout of unlocked team info panel in Teams menu.
  
• Improved layout and information in How To Play section.

• Fixed crash when using certain combinatins of perks and teams.

Enjoy!

Matt

• Intro cinematic.
  
• Ending cinematic.
  
• Credits.
  
• Developer logo and loading screen when the game first starts.

• Action mode description no longer says that it's harder than Normal mode.
  
• You can no longer restart the stage in Daily Challenge mode.
  
• Spectators can now use the full list of player sprites.
  
• Some scene transitions use a simple fade out instead of the 'slamming logo' screen-wipe effect.

• Data is now correctly saved when the application is quit.
  
• Trial timeline no longer says "survived" when your players died.
  
• Removed single frame of partially-visible scene during loading screens.

Enjoy!

Matt

In Dungeon Deathball version 0.24 you can unlock a number of Teams from the main menu. To unlock teams you need the newly-added Skull Keys, which can be acquired by completing each of the game's 4 trials.

This update also adds the brand new Action Mode which grants your players an additional Action Point.


The team you use can affect:

• your players' classes
  
• your players' perks
  
• positive and negative traits assigned to all your players

See which teams work best for your play style!

NOTE: The list of teams is yet to be finalised. Traits, stats and names may change in the run up to the final version of the game.

ALSO: Your saved progress may also need to be reset at various points in development. I try to avoid this where possible and I always mention it this in these announcements if I need to do it.

• Team system - Unlock and select teams from the main menu. Your players' classes, perks and other traits can be affected by the team you use.
  
• Skull Keys - Unlock them all by completing each of the 4 trials with each team. Use them to unlock new teams!
  
• Action Mode - New game mode in which your players have 3 AP but face tougher challenges. This mode has a new leaderboard. Eventually Action Mode will need to be unlocked but during Early Access it's freely available.
  
• Hardfoot perk - Provides immunity to Spike Traps.
  
• Feedback form - Follow the link in the main menu to send me your feedback.
  
• Icon for each of the 3 Player Classes.
  
• Lots more names for randomised players.

• Reworked the 'New Game menu flow' so it's easier to select teams and view leaderboards for your current mode.
  
• Increased the monster budget in Daily Challenge mode by 20% per stage.
  
• Players' outfits are now colour-coded based on their Class.
  
• "Floor Spikes" renamed to "Spike Traps".

• Reloading a save from Boss Mode will no longer reset back to Normal Mode.

Enjoy!

Matt

Ever wondered who's been running things round here?



Wonder no longer. It's this jerk.

• Final boss - The Judgment (stage 4-3).
  
• The Judgment now spectates every stage and reacts to in-game events.
  
• Boss Mode (name to be confirmed) - face off against the final boss in every stage. Includes its own leaderboard. In the final game this mode will be locked until you beat normal mode, but it's always unlocked for Early Access.
  
• A Brutolith sub-boss now spawns in stage 2-3.
  
• New music tracks, including a unique one for the final boss.

• Crowd sounds are now a little softer and quieter.
  
• Crowd sounds fade out when the stage ends.
  
• The music track order is now shuffled each time you boot the game.
  
• Snatcher perk now costs 120 instead of 160.
  
• Any bonus points you earned now display in green on the 'Stage Complete' screen, even if you didn't meet the full bonus target.
  
• The crowd characters now animate faster when reacting to in-game events.
  
• Default music volume is slightly quieter.

• Save data is no longer deleted when your last save version had a higher patch number than the current version.
  
• Crowd sounds transition more smoothly between separate in-game event reactions.

Enjoy!

Matt

Your save data will be reset in this update! I try to avoid doing this wherever possible but this update brings more significant changes to the way save data is structured. Apologies for any frustration this causes.

• Ball Score Multipliers - The ball you use will affect your final score for the stage. Balls with penalties or restictors will increase your score while stronger balls will reduce it. If you're aiming for a high score you'll need to work harder!
  
• Option to choose 1 of 3 balls for each stage - Pick a stronger ball, a weaker ball or the default ball. Each time you use a stronger or weaker ball it will be discarded from the pile. A different ball of the same type will be available in the next stage with an increased score multiplier.

• Improved attack "Push" stat icon so it looks less like a "Range" icon.
  
• Stage Start menu layout improved.
  
• Team Info menu is now a separate page to avoid UI issues.
  
• Improved sprites for "Hollow" and "Soft" balls.
  
• Hatcheries have more health (now 4, increased from 3).

• You no longer score a touchdown if a goalie is holding the ball.
  
• DualShock 4 button icons for Options/Share are now the right way round.

Enjoy!

Matt