Diplomacy is Not an Option News

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Good Lords, fair Ladies!

Let the feast begin.

Steam Strategy Fest kicks off today! As a promising representative of the genre, DiNaO is also taking part in the event. We believe this is an opportunity for our game to find its way to the hearts of new fans. And to celebrate it properly we've prepared a gift for you. Would you, please, welcome the August Update which as always comes alongside a short story about its key features?

[h2]Take positions on the rooftops![/h2]
~ Community Suggestion ~


We have all been waiting for this and, finally, the day has come! From now on, in DiNaO you can place troops on the rooftops of the Townhall and Barracks. Apart from the fact that it looks great and apart from the fact that in an urban battle, the shooters actually should take the height, this feature allows you to organize the very last line of defense if the enemy has broken into the settlement.

Rooftops in our game have different shapes. So for you to know exactly who and where to place, we made a separate window, with which you determine the position for each trooper.

[h2]New enemy buildings (And new mechanics)[/h2]


The Door 407 dev team is busy with the story campaign right now. This work brings with it some gameplay changes you can already check out. Previously, in the Campaign, the enemy attacked you with small forces from time to time. These attacks were not displayed on the wave counter, making some players confused, and most importantly, annoying a lot of people.

We've completely redesigned these mechanics. With the August Update, the Rebellious Peasants and the Royal Army get new buildings that spawn units. Once appear, these soldiers will immediately rush into battle and march towards your Townhall.

The new buildings can already be seen in the missions in the preview of the story campaign. But we plan to add them to both Challenge Mode and Endless Mode in the future.

[h2]Pause in cutscenes[/h2]

Another innovation directly related to the work on the single-player campaign. From now on you can pause the playback of clips you watch between missions by pressing Spacebar. (Just in case an important matter prevents you from fully enjoying the story of our game).

[h2]The new message box[/h2]


One of the few tools for explaining what's going on in missions from a narrative perspective is the messages from the Advisor. (Those who played the campaign preview know that some of the enemies talk to you via this box as well.) This is one of the key interface elements when it comes to the story. In the August Update, it gets an improvement. The box became more compact, it looks nicer and no longer blocks the map view so much. (Comes in handy for players that value gameplay more than storytelling).

[h2]The crystal clear mission objectives[/h2]


Even now, when DiNaO is still in Early Access, we try to diversify mission objectives. Even now they are not always about to withstand attacking waves or about to kill all the enemies on the map. For this reason, we consider it significant to give you an additional indication of mission objectives. You can now see them in the top left of the screen. That's where the story messages appear. (Previously, you had to go to a separate window to check the mission objectives). Of course, this option can be turned off. However, this is a useful feature at least in the early stages of the game. Especially for those who are just getting to know DiNaO.

[h2]Winds of Change[/h2]

An exceptional visual improvement that adds realism and scenic beauty to our game. With the August Update, the wind system debuted in DiNaO. Accordingly, from this day on, our grass sways and smoke spreads wherever the wind blows. Shortly, we will also apply this system to flags and banners. For them to spectacularly flutter instead of statically hanging.

[h2]A clarified amount of 'requisitioned' stuff[/h2]


As you may know, one of the options for resource replenishment is to collect carts scattered around the map. You always could see how many resources you find in such carts. But there might have been misunderstandings if your storage couldn't hold everything you grabbed. You still don't receive, say, more wood than you can stock. But, starting from today, when you collect a cart, an image briefly appears indicating how many resource units you actually add (not the amount that a cart contains).

Since we're talking about carts, there's another thing worth mentioning. A little visual improvement. Previously, there was only one cart model in the game, and it looked like a shabby pile of junk (which was a great way to show the everyday life of rebellious peasants). However, such carts are not quite appropriate if they belong to the King's army (before you requisition them, of course). From now on, the Royal Army has its own cart models, sturdily built and pleasing to the eye.

[h2]The front of the attack is displayed on the mini-map[/h2]


The essence of this innovation is perfectly summarized in the title. Just in case, we clarify. Minimap shows the width of the front of the large-scale enemy offensive even before the attack starts. This gives you time to prepare your defense and redeploy your forces if necessary.

[h2]A few words in conclusion[/h2]

As you can see, many of the things we added to the game illustrate a vector of development. And this vector is the story campaign. But it doesn't mean that we have forgotten other promises we made. We remember about the map editor. About the fact that it wouldn't hurt to add new content to other game modes. And we will definitely implement all this and much more in the upcoming updates.

[expand]
Update 0.9.97

Features

• Player troops can be placed on the rooftops of the Townhall and Barracks.

General

• On the minimap, you can see the front of an upcoming attacking wave (if the front is large);
  
• When selecting a Barrel Mine or a “Burrdam Chimera” their explosion area is displayed;
  
• Cutscenes can be paused;
  
• Updated message box (a window where you can read texts from your Advisor and from some enemies);
  
• When collecting carts, an image is shown indicating the type and the amount of resources that go to your storage;
  
• SFX improvements (including longer intervals between notifications about attacks);
  
• UI and UX improvements;
  
• Some visual improvements (including new cart models for the Royal army).

Balance

• “Wooden age” Challenge: difficulty increased;
  
• The number of Soul crystals has been reduced in many Challenges;
  
• Barrel mine:
  
  1. Damage area: 1x1 -> 3x3 cells
     
  2. Damage: 200 -> 90
     
  3. Price (iron): 1 -> 2
• Trebuchet:
  
  1. Damage: 40 -> 45
     
  2. Price (iron): 4 -> 5
• "Summon" spell (after completing the "Power of Darkness" research):
  
  1. "Power of Darkness I", number of summoned Dark knights: 10 -> 15
     
  2. "Power of Darkness II", number of summoned Dark knights: 15 -> 30
• "Boiling oil":
  
  1. Cooldown: 40 -> 50 sec

Bug fixes

• A bug with not attaching unemployed workers to buildings under construction (when the game is paused, the number of unemployed may not have decreased properly);
  
• A rare bug that caused a closed area to appear near the Townhall during the map generation;
  
• Some crash fixes:
  
• Multiple localization fixes.

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Thank you for your attention, See you soon!

Yours, the Door 407 dev team

Hello, guys!
One of the latest updates brought the Sandbox mode to the game. And you gained an opportunity to build cities that won't necessary be attacked. No doubts you've built many tremendous castles! Please, share screenshots of your creations in the comments section. Let everyone see the images of DiNaO urban planning!

The Door 407 dev team

Good Lords, Fair Ladies!

Our audience is expanding, and we are very grateful for your feedback and suggestions. It is through constant communication "Diplomacy is Not an Option" reveals to us fresh, and sometimes, unexpected sides. For instance, there is no common opinion about the difficulty of the game. Some people find it unbearably challenging, while others consider it too easy. Moreover, receptions differ among both, strategy lovers and newcomers.

Therefore, we ask you to share your best tactics that lead you to epic victories in the comments. Or, on the contrary, tell us about the goals you set for yourself to make the game even more fun. Maybe you can give some tips for beginners? Or have you already experienced some particularly vivid moments and would like others to value your achievements?

So why are we writing this now, you may ask? Because it is essential for us that you exchange your experiences, thus developing the game community. Also, because apart from the Story Campaign, Diplomacy is Not an Option is getting Steam achievements on the full release. (That's right, guys, the achievements will appear in the game once it leaves Early Access). Yet the work on them has already started. So we came up with the idea that your unexpected tactical solutions and unusual strategic challenges could become a great basis for what players will get Steam achievements for.

For a dessert - one more thing to look forward to. A week has not passed since the Summer sale on Steam, and Diplomacy is Not an Option is once again discounted. If you wanted to buy our game this summer, but something stopped you, here's your chance. The offer is valid for one week, until the 24th of July.

Yours, the Door 407 dev team

Good Lords, Fair Ladies!

We again want to give you an update on what's coming to Diplomacy is Not an Option before it leaves Early Access.

As you may know, not all the foes and not even all the enemy factions are currently presented in the game. However, as time goes on, the nature of each of them is shaping clearer. This allows us to find solutions common to all factions and unique, applicable only to one of them. As we proceed with the story campaign, we decided to rework the mechanics that we call between ourselves "micro-waves" or "mosquitoes". With the next update, the Rebellious Peasants and the Royal Army factions will get several buildings where their units will spawn. On the one hand, this gives players more control (destroying such a building partly weakens enemy reinforcements). On the other hand, this feature helps to integrate the game mechanics into the narrative. Enemy units spawn at these buildings when meeting a certain condition or at every specified time interval. This feature will change the missions presented in the story campaign preview. Whether these buildings will appear in Challenge Mode or Endless Mode is still an unanswered question for us.

There have been many requests (and still counting) for an alternate source of Soul Crystals. In the beginning magic in Diplomacy is Not an Option was designed as additional mechanics to encourage the extermination of enemies and slightly increase the chances of withstanding subsequent attacks when your army has not yet recovered from the previous ones. It's quite simple: you kill enemies, get a resource with which you can annihilate them in a different way. The question about adding an autonomous source of Soul Crystals not related to military successes is a big question of balance. After all, if there is a shortcut to victory in the form of virtually unlimited spellcasting - it would devalue the need of managing the economy and the army. Nevertheless, after continuous experimentation, we are ready to announce a new building - the Alchemical Transgressor. With it, you will be producing Soul Crystals while spending a certain amount of Iron. And since this building is already tightly linked to the new economic balance, you can expect it to arrive in the nearest DiNaO updates.

We still can't announce a release date for the updates (nor can we give an accurate prediction of how many of them we'll deliver before the game's full release). Still, we hope the details about our work will ease the waiting time.

Thank you for your attention, and until next time!

Yours, the Door 407 dev team

Good Lords, Fair Ladies.

We're very pleased to hear that you enjoyed the large maps in Sandbox (even though they take a bit longer to load). There have been so many requests from you for map presets of similar size in other Diplomacy is Not an Option modes that we just can't help but comment.

Developing Challenges and Endless Mode versions takes some effort from the game designers. Yet they (the game designers) are busy right now with the story campaign. Nevertheless, having received feedback on the June update, we made an important (and fairly obvious) decision...

Ladies and gentlemen, large maps will show up in Endless Mode, as well as in Challenge Mode. The question is, when. We're not ready to announce the exact date yet. But certainly, before Diplomacy is Not an Option leaves Early Access.

Yours, the Door 407 team