- Multiplayer co-op is now enabled with a new lobby system that allows players to create private sessions of up to 3 total pilots. - Patrol Mode gameplay loop has been overhauled with a time capped play session that features a wide array of challenges in varying difficulty to earn resources and level up. - All players will have a starting loadout featuring a mech of each type equipped with two weapons and one thruster. - Vex, Aerial, and Bulwark combat types have been added as identifiers for how corresponding weapons and thrusters can be assigned to them. [V] = Shotguns, Sub-Machine Guns, Compact Cannons [A] = Grenade Launchers, Assault Rifles, Sniper Rifles = Beam Weapons, Machine Guns, Missile & Rocket Launchers - The Threat Level system has been normalized to values between 1 - 100 across all areas that utilize this numeric system to indicate power level correlations. - RNG has been removed from all areas of the modding system and replaced with one that yields consistent stats when points are assigned.
PATROL MODE
- Private Patrol Mode session invites can be facilitated by creating and sharing a lobby ID or inviting Steam friends by activating the Steam community overlay with Shift + Tab. - Radio Missions and Random Encounters have been removed temporarily while our new gameplay mechanics are implemented and tested. - Patrol Mode now has a 40 minute timer. - A new Enforcer mech unit type will now spawn into Patrol Mode at the final 10 minutes of a Patrol Mode session. If you see it, RUN. - Some locations will spawn in enemies at higher TLs to increase the risk of engaging them. - Loot caches have been added around the map that drop various resources and Scrip currency that scale based on the World TL. - Causing a nearby faction to turn hostile towards you by attacking them or their property will cause nearby members of the same faction to also turn hostile. - Factions have their banners placed in locations that they have control over.
GAMEPLAY
- The new Meteor Burst SMG Drone and Asteroid Gun Drone have been introduced as new aerial enemy types. - Enemy units now scale in both difficulty and stats based on the number of players in the multiplayer co-op session. - Drones now fly through the air more fluidly with improved spatial and navigational awareness. - Tracers on projectile weapons have been reworked to have clearer and better visuals. - Improved aim assist to target the closest enemy unit instead of a random one. - The crosshair reticle will now expand when sustaining fire to visually communicate the weapons bloom. - All shielded enemies will now visually show their shields popping when depleted. - Enemy accuracy has been rebalanced after the implementation of our recoil system. - Assault and Sharpshooter infantry retreat behaviors and animations have been improved. - Added a little more grit to infantry to be braver against mechs before running for their lives. - Rebalanced the Rocketeer thruster to have better handling. - Components and platforms have been updated with a new socket locked system in line with our new Vex, Aerial, and Bulwark combat types. - Faction hostility towards pilots has been changed to the following categories: Hostile - Prosk & Sentium Neutral - Burning Flag Friendly - Dawning - TL scaling has been reworked to factor co-op gameplay, time, and other variables. - Mission rewards now give better and more resources based on Threat Level. - Persistently getting too up close and personal with neutral factions will cause them to turn hostile towards you. - Enemies with Threat Levels that are 100+ will have a skull icon above them.
AUDIO
- Various areas of game sounds have been remixed for a better audio experience. - New sound effects added when shields and hulls take damage from various weapon types. - Weapon audio should feel more balanced against the combat music that plays in the background. - Several weapons have had their sound effects reworked including the Kalituhan, Tornado, Shershen, Gieren, Kettie, Deadeye, and Rasiseri.
GRAPHICS
- Improved destructibility across various objects in Zone A (Refuge). - Fixed various structures around the world that created collision issues causing players to get stuck. - Can you fly, Bobby? Infantry now have more realistic physics effects applied when being shot, crushed, or sent hurling into the air by a mech. - Sent a maintenance crew out to the Any Weather Wharf in Zone B (Wyndham Moors) to fix some structures that made it a bit cumbersome to engage in combat.
QUALITY OF LIFE
- End of session screen has been reworked in various areas for better visibility and quality of life changes such as scrollable resource lists of collected resources and schematics. - The enemy area of engagement has been decreased to avoid hostiles from a substantial distance from attacking the current combat zone of a pilot. - Increased the minimum distance required to spawn enemy encounters to avoid having too many instances that can cause combat encounters to overlap. - Connecting to an MTP will put pilots in an invincible state while interacting with it. - Enemy sniper laser sights are now only activated while they are aiming at a target. - It's now easy to equip and unequip items in the hangar making swapping items between slots much more fluid. - Schematic drop rates increased to make crafting components quicker and easier. - Credits are no longer available as a purchasable currency to avoid any potential Pay to Win scenarios. - Repairs are now done with Credits instead of Credits or Scrip. - Resource nodes have been repositioned to make it easier to reach in certain areas. - Enemy nameplates are updated with subtle animations and have clearer color indicators to indicate their danger levels relative to a pilot. - Faction flags have been added to name plates above non player characters. - In Camp Valac, an MTP portal has been moved to ground level for better accessibility. - Resource icons have been updated to better communicate their types and rarity colors.
UI / TEXT
- Some resources now come from multiple types of nodes so their descriptions have been updated to reflect this change. - Link to the Official Hawken Discord (https://hwkn.link/discord) has been added to the Patrol menu to better direct traffic to our server for sharing lobby IDs and joining our multiplayer co-op section. - Once an item or mech unit has reached its maximum TL level, it will be marked by a skull icon. - All components in the hangar will now have a V, A or B icon to indicate their Combat Type. - Some weapon and component descriptions have been updated to reflect some reworks to their abilities and stats. - Post-mod stats are now visible in the modding menu before deciding to craft.
BUGS
- Volta beam weapon should no longer continue to fire after releasing the trigger. - Removed instances where an enemy spawns in as a friendly and then becomes hostile. - Weapons should no longer stop firing for no reason.. - Some zone notification pops no longer constantly trigger unnecessarily or appear in places where they should not have. - Fixed idle state for some Drones that were stuck in water. - Heat weapons should now clearly display how their heat management works in the HUDs ammo indicator. - Weapons no longer stay pointing up during certain collisions with the environment. - Enemy mechs should no longer sit idle when being shot at.
MISCELLANEOUS
- Asked Neil the poet to take a breather to make way for new combat encounters where he’d normally lament about his sorrows.
I’m so excited to announce that the public demo for Pine Lily Village is now live! This is a huge step for the game’s development and I can’t wait for more people to play the game.
If you follow any content creators (YouTube, Twitch, etc.) who would enjoy playing a new cozy farming sim, please let them know the demo is out now. It really helps increase the impact of the demo launch which, in turn, allows more people to discover the game. 😊
If you want to dive deeper into the development of this game and be the first to know about future alpha/beta testing, sign up for my mailing list here: Sign up here!
Hello friends! Due to the fact that many people had to stay at home in isolation due to COVID-19, we decided to add another Let's Play Together competition in the middle of the week, just for fun-with different crazy levels and (alas!) no prizes. We think it is clear by now this extra LPT is a permanent addition too :)
The rules are the same: log in to our Discord server, keep it running, play a competitive level, complete it with 5 stars and have fun! Visit our Discord server (#lets-play-together channel) to learn more.
- Improved countdown clock sound and cleaned up background noise - Fixed playback bug caused by a non deterministic operation in physics system - Fixed unseted username after a repetition on a playback - Fixed attempts text disabled in all levels by tutorials - Improved quality & volume levels in music - Adjusted start screen buttons, smallest and with more padding - Added 20 achievements - Fixed countdown sound playing multiple times - Fixed D3L10 attempts text, it's a special case with different initial gravity - Reduced sound latency preloading it at the beggining of the level - Adjusted icon of gravity door - Changed fanfare sound - Decreased music volume by 40% when complete screen appears - Fixed frame rate independent visuals updating when the game is paused - Exiting the pause menu is now considered a failure
We've been hard at work addressing some pesky bugs and making tweaks to improve your adventures. Here's what's new in the latest update:
Bug Fixes:
BUG: Harvest/Timewarp blacked out spell icons, causing confusion. BUG: Clicking escape didn't close the tarot UI. BUG: Freeze spell going off in transition regions. BUG: Powerup UI occasionally showing blank icons and defaulting all decks to warrior deck. BUG: Pressing TAB during an egg scene paused the game without opening the tab menu. BUG: Egg event not spawning properly. BUG: Hatching a sheep egg didn't save to your herd properly. BUG: Crates were overlapping each other. BUG: Spell orbs hitting dead spiders and bouncing around the scene. BUG: Potion of strength description had overlapping last words. BUG: Tarot vendor slots were messed up in lava transitions. BUG: Cloud spell almost crashed the game when the farm scene loaded. BUG: Seed shown as "Hay Seed". BUG: Infinite money hack when buying and selling the treasure powerup. BUG: Farm mana not updating with levels passed outside.
Tweaks & Improvements:
Tweaked: Changed egg displayed message to "Sheep Egg" instead of "Shegg". Tweaked: Disabled teleport, freeze, and gravity reload on sprint. Tweaked: Descriptions for spells including Cocoon, Lasso, Shield, Freeze, Fire, Polymorph, Gravity, and Teleport. Added: Pop-up text when stunned and petrified for better feedback. Added: Manual ignition support to fireworks for more control. Improved: Coin purses are now clickable for easier access. Improved: Foragable hitbox made more forgiving. Improved: Wool now gives more gold. Improved: Added variable gold amounts per crop for a more dynamic economy. Improved: Added ">" symbol to inventory HUD for clarity. Improved: Leaving the herd scene without collecting the basket now auto adds basket wool to player cash. Tweaked: Magic butterfly now interacts with enemy hitbox instead of collider.
We hope these updates enhance your farming and magical adventures! As always, thank you for your feedback and support. Happy farming!
Stay tuned for more updates and magical surprises in the future!
It's been a while! I'm still working on the game on my spare time, so obviously the game is not ready for the 1.0 release but we are slowly approaching this big milestone. This patch has a lot of stuff, major bug fixes and a new feature called Transfer which makes the Break mechanic more game changing. Next patch is coming next month with big quality of life changes so stay tuned!
Main Menu
Title Screen has been reworked entirely. Hope you’ll like it!
Character Selection now displays all the information about the character you choose. You won’t start a new run without knowing his stats and capacities (it was about time!).
Meta Progression
Permanent upgrades are gone! The meta progression in Tower of Spirit was not very interesting, as it only provides flat stats bonus. Plus, the game’s overall balance suffered a lot from it. A new system is coming next patch, more on that below.
Combat
New Transfer mechanic! Whenever you perform a Break, your character can transfer his free turn to another character of your group. It means so much synergy and strategy can be deployed and experimented with. Please note it does not change the rest of the turn order, so it is possible with a transfer that a character play two times in a row. And of course, if he’s able to perform a Break as well, he can play more or transfer to another character!
Reworked the VFX when a break is triggered.
Characters
Increased Pejius and Reyna' speed.
Kora’s passive has been reworked! The counter attack is gone and that’s for the best, since it caused countless game breaking bugs regularly. The new passive gives Kora a flat 25% critical chance on all her attacks.
Pejius’ passive has been simplified slightly to accommodate the rework of the burn status effect (see below). All his attacks apply burn status and that’s already enough considering his potential with the new burn effect.
Added a unique visual effect when Krouet’s Passive capacity is triggered.
Enemies
Decreased several enemies' speed.
Status Effect
Burn has been completely reworked! New effect : Increase damage received by 1 per stack of burn.
Some status effect’s descriptions have been changed slightly for greater clarity on the effects applied.
Status effect’s tooltip now displays the visual of the status.
Emblem
Whenever you find a new emblem and have enough emblem nodes to equip it, the emblem is automatically equipped.
Increased Thief Crest emblem’s trigger effect to 10 or 20 Gold if upgraded (previously 5 or 10 Gold if upgraded).
Added new and specific visual effects when Thief Crest is triggered.
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue with specific emblems which prevent the game to continue whenever you reach the second area.
Fixed an issue with camera settings which could cause some visual and performance problems over time.
Fixed an issue with several UI elements not properly triggering sound effects when the player interacts with them.
Fixed an issue related with Biggy whenever it was rolling which prevented the channeling VFX to not show properly, since this is considered a channeling attack.
Fixed an issue with characters and enemies spawning causing performance drops over time.
Fixed an issue with on turn start effects (poison, burn,...) which could be triggered several times during a single turn.
Fixed inconsistency issue with the status effect system, which could make the same status act differently depending if it was applied on player’s characters or enemies.
Fixed an issue with the tooltip system causing performance issues over time.
Fixed a visual glitch appearing whenever a new character was added to the active group.
Fixed an issue where some basic attacks did not trigger the effects (Thief’s Gloves Emblem, MP Recovery, etc…).
Next month, a new feature will be introduced: the starting snacks! It will give players different kinds of bonus to start a new run with. The goal is to speed things up at the begining, allowing you to reach the cool part of the game faster. Some bonus are also designed to help players who struggle with the difficulty.
Without spoiling everything, here is a quick preview of one of the starting snack's effect:
More stuff are also coming next month to deeply improve the game's experience. A new character is also coming along the way (cannot guarantee it will be included in march's patch though, still a lot of design work and animation to complete before.
== Metropolis 1998 - Late February/March 2024 release ==
Hey everyone, a major update has been pushed out for the Metropolis 1998 pre-alpha demo! Please review all the new features and fixed below!
Note that the simulation is still about the same (really simple, units will sleep, work, and go home. Their textures dont match job descriptions yet, but they do keep the same job/home)
NOTE: To build in mixed-use zones, select the building/zone type, then click on the room menu and place the rooms within the mixed use zone! Any room type is allowed in this zone, but will be associated with the last building/zone type clicked!
Major Updates:
Units can now use sidewalks and can walk to work! Unit must be able to reach destination on sidewalk to walk.
Added mixed-use zones & buildings! You can now create buildings with businesses and apartments
Blueprint backend code is now in alpha! The goal was to get this work done so your blueprints are not lost when the game updates. This isn't a promise that it wont happen again, but it's very unlikely. Saving your creations is very important to me!
Blueprint GUI preview is now outputted in isometrically when camera is isometric
You can now export and import blueprints. Share your creations with other people!
Filter blueprints by density
Added camera rotation!!
Wild object placement (place items outside zone!)
QOL & Minor Updates:
Apartment building blueprints now displays apartment total, not bedroom count
Show which building and apartment a unit owns on click
Added more hot keys for various action states. Pay attention to the tips at the bottom left corner of the screen!
Blueprints search for road to connect to will only check driveway connection now, instead of any driveway tile
Added hot key to output original blueprint as created by the player
Blueprint items are now grouped and randomized as a whole. e.g. 10 same colored chairs will all change to a new random color
Blueprint windows are now randomized in groups, in case player used more than one window type
Started implementing backend localization for other languages.
More assets added to the game
Fixed loud wind noise on game launch
Started replacing internal code names with read-friendly text when moussing over stuff in game
Delete unit from game
Units scheduled has a random delay trigger
Cars wont be deleted when repathed while in an intersection (EXCEPT when loading from save file)
Camera panning in isometric mode matches perspective
Added pagination to both blueprint GUIs
Replace all windows in buildings now replaces all windows of clicked on type
When placing blueprints, windows will not output (and delete in adjacent buildings) if window is touching a different building
Bug Fixes:
Centered current floor text properly
Subdivision boarders output properly, and remain on top floor if active floor is higher
Fixed inability to duplicate floor & update wall types when walls were partially visible
Fixed wrong subdivision (i.e. apartment) count caused by deleting rooms
When placing subdivisions after driveway is connected, they weren't registered by incoming units. Now they are!
Fixed bug where zone_ids were being stored in incorrect road edge when blueprint touched 2+ roads.
Fixed top down blueprint preview drawing order. e.g. floors were drawing over objects
Fixed bug where stairs were not fully deleted when expanding room deleted existing stairs
Fixed blueprint message spam when bad placement
Added missing object variants. Some blueprints outputted the same object every time
Fixed top down chairs being centered on tile, which did not match isometric version
Fixed bug where zone_ids were erased when bisecting road from road edge, preventing driveway re-connection in some cases
Fixed wall height issue when placing/deleting rooms
Fixed curved pavement tiles not outputting
Fixed pathfinding bugs
Clicking on zone will now also pull up building UI
Fix update interior/exterior E key toggle not updating texture
Fixed room placement bug which may have prevented saved games from loading. When replacing an entire lower floor with new room, sometimes not all walls would delete
Our next map for the upcoming major content update is Attu Island, Alaska, defending as Americans.
The map will also introduce a new weapon, M45 Quadmount, and two new enemies; Type 2 Ka-Mi Amphibious Tank and Fu-go balloons.
Speaking of new weapons and enemies, for Peleliu map we will also introduce a new weapon, Type 11 light machine gun, and two new enemies which will be DUKW, amphibious truck, and Seep, amphibious jeep.
The Drath are an ancient species in the Galactic Civilizations universe, and alongside the Altarians, a long hated rival, they evolved on the planet of Altaria a long, long time ago. Strange rumours and whispered legends amongst both the Altarians and the Drath hint that Altaria may have once been known by another name, but if the lore-masters of each race know more, they’re not letting on.
Unceremoniously exiled from their homeworld in millennia past by a strength far beyond theirs, the Drath have long brewed a powerful concoction of cunning and resentment: two skills vital to survival in a hostile universe, if harnessed in the correct way.
With access to the Ancient trait, like the Altarians and the Iconians, the Drath Freehold also have access to the Elemental Fabricator and the Tower of Procipinee, and for details of those two special Improvements, check out last weeks developer journal focusing on the Iconian Refuge.
But the Drath have another unique Improvement too, the Arms Expo, a base for the import and export of the Drath’s most lucrative trade resource: weapons of war.
The Drath Freehold make a good profit from Trade Routes when trading with civilizations at war, but now this powerful Civilization Achievement assists this goal even further: the +1 Diplomacy Bonus goes some way to offset the penalties incurred when convincing other civilizations to declare war on one another. Furthermore when employed as part of a wider effort to support relations with existing trade partners, this extra diplomatic ability reduces the likelihood of the Drath being on the receiving end of a declaration of war themselves.
But that’s not all! This is a powerful Wealth Improvement that not only grants a large +25% to the Core World’s Gross Income, but also boasts an impressive Adjacency Bonus: +3% per level to both Gross Income and to Research.
You’ve got a choice here: do you powerhouse your generation of credits or stack up your Research efforts instead? Fortunately, this incredibly useful Improvement will provide a centrepiece for either of these extremes, or a healthy mix of the two, ensuring your precious tiles on Dratha are always well utilised.
The Tales of Centauron DLC adds a homeworld Event that kicks in soon after the game’s start, as always presenting the Drath with a choice between three new homeworld Improvements.
First up is the Eldars' Council Chamber, where the very oldest Drath lecture the younger spawn on the deepest affairs of the ancients, alone granting a modest +1% to Research but also adding a hefty+3 Level to Research to all qualifying adjacent Districts and Improvements. A lucky placement can grant the Drath a huge Research bonus once it is fully developed to best take advantage of the arcane ramblings of these wizened old dragons.
Next up is the Warrior Training Grounds. Sometimes, even a shadowy collection of sneaky warmongering lizards need to get their claws dirty, and so once more the Drath Freehold turn to the wisdom of their long, dark past. The Warrior Training Grounds instil young Drath Soldiers with the martial history of their people and increasingly… draconian training regimes that grant Dratha a massive +20% to Soldiering, and a further +3 Level to Military Adjacency Level Bonus.
If you’re planning on a very war-focused playthrough, or you’ve got someone big and scary breathing down your neck in the early game, this might be a great choice to propel the Drath Freehold into the top tier of all military civilizations in the game.
When the younger, less educated Drath shut their ears to the lectures of their elders and refuse the honourable teachings of their ancient war philosophers, the temptation to indulge in extra-societal activities can take hold. Choosing to place the Dragon Mythos Preserve brings these wayward elements back into line by instilling in them the pride of their illustrious past, reducing Crime by 50% and granting a +1 Military Adjacency Level Bonus too.
With these new tools at their disposal, the Drath Freehold can be now be played in many new ways, whether that’s emphasising their traditionally Tall, secret trade-empire style, building them to be more militarily active or propelling them forwards technologically for a more Research oriented approach to victory.
Those sappy, do-gooding Altarians will never know what hit them, and a return to the ancient world of Elemental seems all but assured!