Hey there everyone!
This update brings 2 new game modes, toggled sprinting, new menu designs and animations, and a ton of bug fixes!

BOSS RUSH is a mode where you face off against endless waves of bosses. Select a boss to begin with (harder bosses will start you off with more weapons), and see how many you can beat in a row before dying!

SURVIVAL MODE is a mode where you pick a starting Multiverse (again, just like with BOSS RUSH, the harder the Multiverse you choose, the more weapons you start off with), and fight against endless waves of enemies on that Multiverse alone, with each wave increasing in difficulty!

Sprinting is now a toggled mechanic, with the default of it being toggled ON. This decision was made due to the fact that players were nearly always sprinting, only ever wanting to walk during select times during gameplay.

Those are the major things! As always, be sure to report any bugs or balancing issues, and we will get on fixing it right away!

See you in the Multiverse!

UI (1)
-Added icons to display if sprint is toggled on or off

Mechanics (1)
-Boss health is now dynamic. The more overpowered a player is, the more a boss will adjust its health to compensate

Other (2)
-Added BOSS RUSH game mode! Pick a starting boss, get a certain number of weapons based off the initial pick, and fight bosses endlessly. Score is based on number of bosses beat rather than points
-Added SURVIVAL MODE! Pick a multiverse, and try to survive for as long as you can against endless waves of enemies! Guns and pills replenish every 5 waves. Score is based on number of waves completed rather than points

Pills (3)
-Changed how System Crash affects Schizo text appearing (No more super fast text flashing)
-Score affecting pills (System Crash, Geometric Dollar Bath etc.) now multiply stars as well
-Overcompensating and Shrinkage no longer affect player projectile size

Enemies (14)
-Increased chainsaw health from 5,500 to 15,000 on THE LUMBERJACK
-Increased THE LUMBERJACK health from 60,000 to 75,000
-Increased TOOB DOOB WITH A LASER speed from 3.5 to 4.0
-Increased REGEN JUICE base health from 3,000 to 5,000
-Increased HEAT SEEKING ROCKET health from 200 to 1,000
-BOMBER BETSY now floats a bit more off the ground. This should help them transverse rougher terrain
-Increased CHAINSAW JOE health from 2,500 to 5,000
-CHAINSAW JOE no longer can take damage from shooting their arms
-CHAINSAW JOE gets stuck on objects less often now
-Minions that spawn from MAGIC BOIs and FLYING MAGIC BOIs will now die automatically after 30 seconds
-Increased ANGRY MOVEY WALL health from 7,500 to 8,000
-Increased STRANGE STRING speed from 5 to 6.5
-Increased STRANGE STRING health from 100 to 200
-Increased STRANGER STRING health from 1,000 to 2,000

Multiverses (9)
-SLIPPY SLIDEY ICE LAND ice now much slippier
-Increased total enemy count for waves 6 and 7 on SLIPPY SLIDEY ICE LAND
-Added random player spawns to SPIKY SPIKE ARENA
-Added more boulder spawns on MOUNTAINSIDE
-Increased boulder spawn rate on MOUNTAINSIDE
-Removed SCOOTIN TOOTIN ROCKET SHOOTIN PAL from CASINO
-Added a second gun spawner on VOLCANO
-Lightning strike hitting THE MOST MAGIC BOI OF THEM ALL is now much larger
-Lightning summoning particles for THE MOST MAGIC BOI OF THEM ALL is much denser and more noticeable

Mechanics (2)
-Sprinting is now togglable. Players start off sprinting, but can toggle it on and off by pressing the sprint button (Left shift on keyboard, left joystick on controller)
-SHOP now includes stars in pill purchases (So if a player has 1 star and 100 points, they can buy something for, say, 50,000 points, and the star will convert back into points)

UI (3)
-Redesigned the play menu to make it much more stylish
-Updated credits
-Redesigned credits menu

Enemies (3)
-Fixed issue where fire particles wouldn’t appear on DEPRESSED AS HECK CONE FELLA’s Liver
-Fixed issue where fire particles wouldn’t appear on FLAT FOE
-Fixed extremely low health issue on STRING

Multiverses(7)
-Fixed bug where player sometimes wouldn’t die on POLY RAISER
-Fixed bug where enemies would sometimes stop spawning on VOLCANO (I really did it this time guys, last time I only solved one of apparently two issues that was causing this)
-Fixed bug where player would get stuck at bottom of SPIKY SPIKE ARENA
-Fixed issue where shield and metal sounds wouldn’t play on THE MOST MAGIC BOI OF THEM ALL
-Fixed lighting glitch on HIGHWAY
-Projectiles now go through the ground on MOUNTAINSIDE way less often (almost never, though it will still happen on occasion)
-Fixed bug where player would respawn in a different location if they had extra lives and were hit by the wrecking ball on HIGHRISE

UI (3)
-Fixed misalignment of current level background on the main menu
-Fixed improper text wrap for pause menu multiverse name on MOUNTAINSIDE
-Fixed bug where score sometimes wouldn’t show final score multiplier upon death

Other (4)
-Fixed bug where after beating SAVE THE MULTIVERSE, players would sometimes get sent to the SHOP
-Fixed issue where guns would fire after clicking RESUME in the pause menu
-Fixed issue where pressing the pause button (as opposed to clicking resume) would fail to relock and hide cursor (You would not believe the amount of effort required for such a seemingly simple task. Computers suck sometimes)
-Fixed issue where cursor would fail to lock after clicking outside of the game window a single time during runtime

An erroneous build setting caused all but a few procedural grass maps to disappear from the game. This hotfix puts the grass back where it belongs.

Something new is coming, stay tuned for more info!

*cough* mobile version *cough*

It is going to be closer for the first playable update of the new version of the game and September is set as a date. The update will replace the current game version, but I will keep it as an option in the Beta section of Steam for a short duration.

My goal is to show you how the changes affect the game positively in the long run. Even though this new version came out completely out of nothing, it shall provide more gameplay than the current version does.
The main tasks will be to collect resources, build shelters, produce goods and nourish your citizens. This version is mainly meant for you guys who already own the game. I can not yet predict how much fun it provides, but over the next couple of months it will grow continuously.

Keep in mind that this version will not include everything that you know already, such as the weather and daytime system, which anyway had no real impact. It will come later on, when it makes sense.
Farms for example are simplified to remove micromanagement. Previously you placed individual plants and even fences, now you only place a field and select the crop you want to plant.
I plan to have crops and cattle in the next version, but it might not yet be in the final state. So no animations for instance. Gameplay first.


I made a new attempt on the UI design and this is what I came up with. Let me know what you think. It is not final but shows the overall direction.
I would especially be interested if you think that the Options menu has too many diagonals :) The checkboxes are still placeholders anyway.



Before the new version is out I will also update the frontpage on Steam. The Roadmap on the website requires a bit more work but it will also be done within Fall.

To participate in development, I plan to add a feedback system into the game. So you will be able to report a bug or feedback with just two clicks (and some writing) right in the game. This feature might not be available in the first version. I hope that this makes it easier for both sides.

There wasn’t much more visual progress. The people are finally rigged and animations are in progress. Also some new buildings are ordered and shall be ready before the release.

This week we will finalize the AI system, it is the backbone of the project and requires a few more touches. The pathfinding was improved and is using C# Tasks now. Linux tests will be also made this week.

For the next Update I have some exciting news, you will like it ;)

Today's build includes the new Quest Slots system and the new Story Quest, Heirloom!



One of the neat things about the Quest Slots system is it allows me more options when creating quests. For example, a quest can now ask you to craft something. The new system allows me to add that craftable to the crafting list only when the quest asks for it and then remove it when that part of the quest is over. It also allows me to add the new item to the Quest Slots, rather than your inventory.

Note that two existing quests that formerly put items in your inventory, Cursed Trees and Improved Helmet have been updated to use the Quest Slots system. In the case of Cursed Trees, any cursed wood that you have will no longer work with this quest. So if you have some cursed wood and your save is at the part where you need to bring it to the townsperson, just cut down another tree and get a new cursed wood.

For Improved Helmet, the quest system will work for either an in inventory Meteorite Ore or one in a quest slot. This is because if you already got the Meteorite Ore, but saved before dropping it off, you'd have no way of getting one again for your quest slot. So I made that quest backwards compatible, but any time you get it going forward it will fully use the Quest Slots system.

All four story quests also use this system now. These quests will also all work just fine if you are midway through a quest in a save before the Quest Slots system went live. So if you already used the Magic Pool on the Apple in the Apple Tree quest, but haven't returned it to the NPC yet, when you load your save, you won't see the Magic Apple in your Quest Slot. But speaking to the NPC will complete the quest. The same is true for Bookworm and Wishing Wisp.

In addition to adding new quests, I'm also going to redo the Bed Rest quest to use this system. I never really liked that quest as it didn't feel like an adventure at all. The new version will have you craft something special after finding some special ingredients to heal the sick NPC. Should be a lot more fun and you won't have to give up a healing potion!

This build also includes a couple of fixes related to chopping down trees and the house roof color system.

I just uploaded the latest build with Maker Mode! This allows 4D gaming - that is, triggering of real world effects to add to the jump scares. It will be available on 8/13/2018 when Steam allows the game release.

This is a mode for Makers - you know - people who like to hack with the Raspberry PI, Arduino, Trinket, etc.

You first connect the microcontroller to the PC via USB. When you pause the game, hit the letter 'm' for maker to cycle through your available COM ports.

When you resume the game, it will start sending a number 0 through 9 to the microcontroller at key events. Makers can code a microcontroller to trigger things like the following:

-blink lights on and off in your house
-turn on a fan
-start an old school tape recorder playing something creepy
-triggering a buzzer clipped to your collar to give you a jump


If you are a maker, the sky is the limit to adding in the 4th dimension.

Here is an Instructable to help build your Arduino code:

https://www.instructables.com/id/4D-Gaming-With-the-Arduino-aka-4D-Gaming-Engine

Remember, don't let him go into the light---or he may awake!

See ya',
Sean

8/5/2018
v3.0.6 Misc

New Features:
Improved battle backgrounds.
Created battle camera for enemies.

Balancing:
20% easier to run from battle.

Misc:
Fixed Poetry of Paint save.

Howdy Folks!

Hope you're all having a pleasant beginning to your August. As my vacation is coming to a close, I figured it would be a good time to prepare you all for what's in store for H3 for the remainder of the Summer.

We're going to be starting a new Alpha cycle, similar to what was done for Update 52 (but hopefully much shorter). For those of your not familiar with the last cycle, in short, Updates over the coming weeks will ONLY be pushed to the Alpha Branch on steam.

In addition, during the Alpha cycle, several things will be different about the game that will result in a sub-par experience for folks used to 'things as normal' such as:

• Some scenes will be intermittently disabled or broken without warning as core systems are replaced/modified.
  
• Game balance will be WAY OFF in modes like Take and Hold, while things related to firearm damage, etc. are rebuilt.
  
• Performance may be terrible in certain scenes, with certain objects, agents, etc.
  
• Bugs, so many bugs

Now, you might be asking, why is this all happening? Well similar to with Update 52, there are systems in need of work, to support future modes, to improve performance, to fix long-broken issues, that need a level of rewrite that is... not frictionless. Some of this work is experimental/iterative where testing will need to be done in phases to determine if design decisions being implemented are the right ones. It will likely get messy. For the Update 59 Alpha Cycle, my focus points and goals are as follows:

System Set 1: Ballistics System Refactor

H3's current ballistics system is OLD. Much of its structure and thinking actually predate the game, and come from an earlier non-vr prototype I was working on, back when... I... um... was a far far worse coder. It's wasteful, tries to simulate far more than is needed, is almost impossible to control design-wise, makes bad assumptions, and doesn't actually produce terribly interesting ricochet and penetration behavior, despite performing a lot of expensive calculation. It was also designed at a time where the player was the only one firing projectiles, and so its computation overhead was acceptable. That is no longer the case so...

SO, instead of continuing to do what I've done for the past 2.5 years, which is just to throw more on the pile, and engineer around old terrible decisions, I'm ripping off the band-aid and completely rebuilding the projectile class itself, and the generic damage class system that everything uses for transmitting 'damage' and related things like force, references to things that do damage, etc.

The hope is that when this is all done, we should get the the following benefits:

• MUCH cheaper projectile code in general.
  
• More interesting, differentiatable behavior when projectiles of various types strike various materials. Wood, plastic, and thin metal, plaster and like will be more able to be penetrated.
  
• Ricochets will be more common and occur at the types of angles they should.
  
• Multiple penetration will actually happen when it should.
  
• Transmission of damage, especially differentiating armor-penentrating rounds from expanding and frangible projectiles will be more interesting and accurate.
  
• Projectiles and melee hits will be able to 'carry' other types of damage as well, from thermal, to emp, to just physics force. Instead of a nasty hacky set of additions i've made over the past year, this will all be unified.

In short, it will matter more what type of round you're firing out of a gun (AP, FMJ, JHP, Slugs, Buckshot, Flechettes, etc.). Certain round types will be far more situational, and there will be more reasons for me to to make combat environments contain more types of materials, as the penetrability of those materials will make the range of cover-to-concealment more tactically interesting based on weapon platform.

It will be a cleaner, faster, and roundly better simulation, and despite juuuuuuuust how many things I will have to break and rebuild to make this happen, it will be more than worth it in the end. The goal is to make this the last time I ever have to significantly change or expand this part of H3's systems.

System Set 2: Impact Sounds

This was originally planned for Update 52, but due to the changes that were needed both for core Physical Objects and Melee weapons, I opted to hold off on this upgrade rather than delay Update 52 another 2-3 weeks. So we're going to finally deal with this now. The focus will primarily be on cartridges, shells, guns, mags and melee weapons, but other generic holdable objects should also get a sonic upgrade from this. Everything will be migrated over to the sound pooling system, so in addition to sound better, impact sounds should get the consistency and performance improvements brought by those systems.

System Set 3: Sosig Agents

Anyone who has been watching the Twitch streams know about these. I've been planning these on paper since the New Year, and development on them is finally moving apace. Essentially a Wiener-bot Mk. 3, the Sosigs are the first truly new bot approach I've taken since the first multi-segment agents.

They will have a host of new features including:

• Truly physics reactive movement and behavior rather than the current bots just pushing through things
  
• Ability to 'crouch' and go 'prone' to more effectively use cover
  
• More efficient and reactive pathing that will allow for the placement of obstacles without the bots freaking out
  
• Complex damage system that includes leaking mustard, joints that can be broken, the ability to fall down and recover.
  
• Jointed weapon holding such that held weapons can be deflected and disarmed
  
• The ability to be grabbed, whacked, thrown, stabbed, lodged, and every other manner that you folks enjoy beating your meat.
  
• Significantly more nuanced and complex perceptual system that will be able to be manipulated better with toys, sounds, as well as enabling stealthier game-play
  
• More hilarious Voice Lines
  
• HATS!

The order of development on these will proceed from the ground up in three rough phases:

Phase 1 (in progress): Sosigs will be implemented as incredibly reactive targets first, with damage balancing done against firearms, melee weapons, explosions and physical/collision trauma.

Phase 2: Following this, they will be 'taught' to 'fight locally', meaning to react to targets in their immediate area and attempt to dodge fire when engaged. Their only navigation in this mode will be immediate vicinity, and they won't yet 'know' anything about the map in general

Phase 3: A new, much more efficient pathing-and-cover grid will be built for them (available only in some modes), that will allow them to cross large distances to fight, pick cover and engagement direction based on what they're fighting, flank, and run away. This will be the _hard_ part. Truth be told, I'm not even sure this will work out how I envision, but I'm going to give it my best shot.

Important Note on these: Due to just how different these bots will be from the existing wiener-bots, these will NOT be replacing the bots in Wurstwurld and Take & Hold. They will behave far too differently such that those entire scenes would have to be rebuild/redesigned with them in mind, and that effort is better spent on new content and modes moving forward.

The Update 59 Alpha Cycle Will Begin On Friday

If you would like to participate in the Alpha: Right click on H3 in steam, go to properties, go to the betas tab, and switch to the branch called 'Alpha 1'. REMEMBER, things will be broken randomly during the Alpha cycle, and there may be multiple 2-3gb downloads a week during it. If bandwidth usage is important to you, do proooobably don't want to be on the alpha.

If you do NOT want to run the Alpha: Do the above, but make sure you have 'none' selected in the betas drop down.

So in conclusion, to those of you who stuck through reading all of this, thanks! and I hope you're excited to journey through another Alpha cycle with me. This one's tremendously exciting to me, as its emphasis is on truly refining the core game-play systems of H3, creating new opportunities both tactical and ridiculous, and establishing the ground work for some exciting seeeeecret things coming early in 2019 (taps fingers together maniacally).

Hope you all have a wonderful week, and I will see you all on stream this week, or on the devlog on Friday!

Peace,

Anton

The patch today has introduced a game changing system, for the better. We currently have 33 towers in the game (11 towers of 3 levels) but that's not enough, we want more. Making it 66 will do nicely.



Starting with this patch, we have added the ability to evolve a tower. You can evolve a tower at any level and depending upon the level of tower you evolve, the stronger and different the evolve effect will be.

We will be gradually working through each tower and adding the relevant evolve to it. This patch introduces the evolve system only for the Coin Generator tower (others will come soon!).

Once a tower has been evolved, the evolve cannot be removed and upgrade costs will be substantially higher so plan carefully.

We're really looking forward to seeing all of the different tactics this system brings to the game, especially once they're all in the game.

Patch notes
==========
Added Evolve to Coin Generator. Sacrifice the tower to heal your base for (5/25/60) health depending upon level.
Level 1 Evolve cost: 50
Level 2 Evolve cost: 250
Level 3 Evolve cost: 600

Due to the nature of this Evolve, only the owner of the Coin Generator can perform this action to stop any grieving.


* Fixed spawn points on Desert 4
* Updated graphics on the base upgrade window in PvP
* Added coin generator tower to PvP
* A notification is now displayed when upgrading crit chance/damage in PvP
* Improved text clarity on tower upgrade window
* Resolved issue in PvP where base upgrade window wasn't clearing correctly

Due to the nature of adding a new system into the game, there may be some bugs introduced as we add each evolve into the game so we apologise in advance, should this be the case.

How are you handling the heat? Maybe you should take some time off and sail the high seas? Escape the heat and get Robot Pirates for 50% off all week!