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Crawl Tactics Dev Update: What’s Changed and What’s Next

Hello, tactical crawlers. It’s been quite a while since the major update late last year. Since then, we’ve tried to swiftly fix and update bugs as they appeared, but we haven’t been able to post update logs on the main Steam page. We also made minor balancing and UI updates as long as they didn’t drastically change the core gameplay. Thank you always for providing feedback on our flawed and inconvenient game. As I’ve mentioned a few times in the discussion boards, Crawl Tactics has one last major update remaining. In this post, I’d like to share the changes since the last update and what’s coming in the final major update.

Summary of Updates Since Version 2.6


Since version 2.6.0, updates have mostly focused on UI/QoL improvements and balancing based on player feedback, rather than major changes to the game.

  1. CrawlPedia Improvements:
    Many pointed out that while the idea of the CrawlPedia was good, it lacked necessary information and was difficult to navigate. Now, you can access the CrawlPedia not just from the main menu but also during gameplay. A search bar was added to look up each entry, and we’ve included info sections for each stat and resource.

  2. Enhanced Info on Proficiency/Knowledge:
    Proficiency and knowledge were often confused conceptually, and players lacked reference material. Now, small icons distinguish them. Clicking relevant stats in the stats window or the CrawlPedia will show you the list of skills that can be learned with that knowledge and all info on penalties/bonuses based on proficiency.
    Also, when skill books are quest rewards, the game will show which allied units can learn the skill. For equipment, units that are proficient with the weapon will be shown. When equipping a weapon with low proficiency, a confirmation message appears to reduce the frustration and confusion from unknowingly equipping poorly-suited weapons.

  3. Improvements and Bug Fixes in Town Buildings:
    There was a bug in the tavern where hired units were always level 1, now fixed. Also, many found it inconvenient to manage unused skills, so we added a skill-selling feature to the Magic Research Lab.
    In dungeon mode, skills sold at the barracks scaled with dungeon difficulty, making it impossible to buy low-level skills in the late game and resulting in only level 7 summon spells spawning.
    To fix this, we changed dungeon mode to behave like quest mode, so skill levels in the barracks no longer scale with dungeon difficulty. A level cap was added to prevent only level 7 skills from appearing late game.
    Now, rare rings will also grant bonuses to non-summon spells, including melee skills and others.
    Skill scrolls can now be viewed not just by knowledge level but also by skill level (the basis for barracks spawns), and we added a button to view this info from the barracks.

  4. Unit Appearance:
    Many requested the ability to customize the appearance of hired mercenaries. You can now change their appearance from the equipment screen. We also added a checkbox to hide armor if it doesn’t look good.

  5. Combat:
    As the number of units increases, the fixed battlefield size became an issue. Now, the battlefield size changes based on the number of allied units.
    From watching gameplay videos by streamers, we noticed that familiars like wolves would rush into battle without hesitation, causing problems for players. While you can change familiar AI mid-battle, many are unaware or forget to do so.
    To fix this, AI units now act after the player ends their turn, so they don’t act first. Their strategy is displayed above their HP bar, and it flashes during battle prep to catch the player’s attention.
    We changed the default strategy from neutral to defensive, so they’ll only move if there are enemies to attack. A retreat strategy has also been added, where units move away from enemies.

  6. Unlocking:
    Previously, new units were unlocked only upon game over. Now, units are unlocked whenever you reach town based on the number of soul stones collected. Soul stones can now also be used for unlocking in quest mode, not just dungeon mode.


Final Major Update Roadmap


The final update won’t bring as big changes as v2 but will focus on improving areas that felt lacking, with mod support being the main goal. The plan is to complete the major update by the end of this month, conduct a short beta test, then release the full update.

  1. Mod Support:
    The goal is to allow players to play how they want, beyond debug parties or custom difficulty. The game’s data is stored in pseudo-JSON files, so simple mods can be made by editing values.
    You’ll be able to create custom classes and skills, and multiple mods will run independently.
    However, due to resource constraints, there won’t be a dedicated GUI editor; mods will be edited via text files.
    We’ll provide example mod files and upload them to the Steam Workshop for players to follow.

  2. Combat Variety and Interesting Battles:
    Currently, enemy AI just rushes the player. We’ve developed patterns like retreating or defending from high ground to encourage varied strategies and break away from kiting-dominated gameplay.
    Undead enemies revive after a few turns, but are vulnerable to healing magic. Since most healing scales with max HP, late-game enemies—especially final bosses—are too weak to healing spells.
    We plan to introduce support enemies that make allies immune to holy magic to prevent parties from becoming too overpowered.
    Depending on dungeon type, we’ll also add enemies that are immune to specific magic or grant immunity auras, encouraging use of a wider variety of skills.

  3. Balancing:
    AP (Action Point) increase mechanics have been problematic from the start. AP increase is too strong compared to other benefits, so players always prioritized it.
    We’ve decided to remove AP increases for all characters rather than trying to balance it for every class.
    Instead, we’ll introduce skills that increase AP only under certain conditions, like the old Nightside Burst.
    AGI (Agility) increasing movement range was also an issue. While removing AGI-based movement boosts entirely is an option, we’re leaning toward exponentially raising the AGI required and capping max movement.
    Since complex terrain makes movement feel restrictive, we plan to increase base unit movement from 3 to 4 and jump height from 1 to 2.

  4. Terrain/Battlefields:
    We revised the terrain generation algorithm to produce more natural-looking maps. Current maps have awkward visuals and contribute to movement-related issues.
    We’re testing a new battlefield generation algorithm.
    We also received many requests for trap placement improvements and new trap types.
    While not yet implemented, we’re considering improving the trap algorithm and adding new traps.
    However, we’ve added pots that change weather or temperature, such as causing rain or random lightning strikes each turn, and are testing such environmental hazards.


If you have feedback on the balancing direction or methods, please feel free to leave comments on this post, the discussion board, or Discord. As mentioned earlier, we plan to open a short beta build to gather more feedback.

Mod window:


New battlefield:

v2.6.0 Custom Difficulty / Debug Party / Subclass Update

This update focuses on enhancing gameplay variety and allowing players to enjoy the game in their preferred way.


Custom Difficulty
Break free from predefined difficulty levels and customize the game to your liking. For example, you can face stronger enemies while recovering health after battles.

Debug Party
Similar to Custom Party, but without financial restrictions, allowing you to freely test party configurations.

Subclass
Subclasses grant access to skills from another job but require more experience points to level up. This feature enables strategic play by combining skills from two different classes.

v2.5.1 - v2.5.13 UI and QoL update

The recent update focused on addressing the inconveniences players felt, based on gameplay videos and feedback.

Main Changes

  • Screen Rotation Animation Added: An animation has been introduced to reduce confusion during screen rotation.
  • Fast Travel Feature Added: Rooms that have already been explored can now be quickly accessed from the map screen.
  • Unlock Information Screen Improved: The number of souls required for unlocking is now displayed, and units with similar traits are unlocked together, reducing the total number of soulstones needed.
  • Turn Message Speed Option: An option has been added to allow the turn messages to transition faster.
  • Tutorial Improvements: Several bugs were fixed and the content was adjusted to make it easier to understand.
  • 4K Screen Support Enhanced: The default screen zoom has been appropriately set for 4K resolution.
  • Pixel Perfect Movement on Mouse or Analog Stick: Movement on the screen using the mouse or analog stick has been improved to work in pixel-perfect precision.
  • Warning Added When Moving to Corrupted Rooms: A warning has been added when moving to corrupted rooms.


Version 2.5.1 - 24-11-20
Bug Fix: Fixed a bug where the Grofkan Warrior Chief in Quest Mode had two Amphibian Skin perks.
Bug Fix: Fixed a bug where staves were affected by Club Mastery but couldn’t use club skills.
Bug Fix: Fixed a bug where clicking on Mercenary Camps after the update caused the game to crash.
Bug Fix: Fixed a bug where the event involving a 1v1 duel with the allied leader in Quest Mode did not function properly.

Version 2.5.2 - 24-11-21
Bug Fix: Fixed a crash that occurred when opening the class info window in the Crawlpedia.
Difficulty Adjustment: In Quest Mode, on Veteran difficulty or higher, security now decreases at the end of every week.

Version 2.5.3 - 24-11-21
Bug Fix: Fixed an issue where controller triggers malfunctioned on macOS.
Changed screen movement with the mouse to ensure pixel-perfect precision.

Version 2.5.4 - 24-11-22
UI: Added screen rotation animation.
Convenience: In quest mode, you can now return from anywhere within the quest map after clearing the quest.

Version 2.5.5 - 24-11-24
Bug Fix: Fixed a crash issue when a speaking unit disappears during an event.
Bug Fix: Fixed an issue in quest mode where tamed enemies could not be selected in the village.
Balancing: Reduced the success rate of taming.
Convenience: Increased the speed of phase start messages when fast-forwarding.
Convenience: Made animations skip when fast-forwarding.

Version 2.5.6 - 24-11-26
Bug Fix: Fixed an issue where the screen would go black and the game could not progress after clearing quest mode.
Bug Fix: Fixed a crash issue that occurred during screen rotation in certain situations.
Bug Fix: Fixed an issue where the gender of gender-restricted classes could be changed in custom parties.

Version 2.5.7 - 24-11-29
Bug Fix: Fixed an issue where flying units couldn’t reach higher ground when their jump stat increased.
UI: A warning is now displayed when attempting to move into a corrupted room.

Version 2.5.8 - 24-12-05
UI: Improved visibility of in-game tip windows / Enhanced in-game tip content.
UI: Adjusted default zoom level for 4K resolution.
UI: AP is now displayed next to the HP bar without needing to hover over the unit.
UI: Skill wheel now shows the name and description of selected skills when using a controller.
UI: Skill wheel also displays unavailable skills when using a controller.
UI: Modified enemy info display for better detail when using a controller.
UI: Desktop HUD is now unavailable at lower resolutions.
UI: Warning message appears when selecting Corruption during the first playthrough.
UI: Default font changed to a non-pixel font.
Bug Fix: Fixed an issue where keyboard selection boxes couldn’t be opened in the settings menu with default key mappings.
Bug Fix: Fixed an issue where summons remained in the village after clearing dungeon mode.
Bug Fix: Fixed an issue allowing infinite rewards from certain quests.

Version 2.5.9 - 24-12-08
Bug Fix: Fixed an issue where players could not proceed to the village from the tutorial.
Bug Fix: Fixed an issue where cards could not be used with the controller.
Bug Fix: Fixed an issue where the corpse explosion skill caused nearby items to disappear.
Bug Fix: Fixed an issue where skills in the alternative weapon slot wouldn’t recharge in the next dungeon.
Bug Fix: Fixed an issue where the move target skill wouldn’t function properly.
UI: Enabled screen movement during tutorial when using a controller.
UI: Improved tutorial experience for controller users.
Game: Added functionality to save and load custom party setups.

Version 2.5.10 - 24-12-09
Bug Fix: Fixed an issue where pressing the new skill button in the tutorial caused progress to halt.
Bug Fix: Fixed an issue where shield overwatch would not function.
Bug Fix: Fixed a crash when selecting a custom party after unlocking it.

Version 2.5.11 - 24-12-11
Convenience Feature: Added Continue (play from the most recent save).
Convenience Feature: Added Quick Start (start a new game with the previous game settings after a game over).
Bug Fix: Added missing text.
Bug Fix: Changed the True Evil achievement to require killing 30 neutral party members across the entire game, not just a single run.
Tutorial: Now allows selecting tutorial entries.
Tutorial: Enabled zoom in and zoom out during tutorials when using a controller.

Version 2.5.12 - 24-12-16
QoL: Added fast travel feature on the map window (allows quick revisit to already visited locations).
QoL: Added fast turn message option.

Version 2.5.13 - 24-12-20
QoL: Added class unlock info.
Balancing: Lowered class unlock requirements.
Balancing: Grave Digger skill now summons corpses only at the start of combat.

v 2.5.0 Quest mode update

In this update, new features have been added, including turn skipping, the Doomsday counter, the safety system, and soul return when demolishing buildings. Additionally, the early game difficulty has been adjusted. A new feature also allows players to restart at a higher difficulty level while retaining existing assets after completing the quest mode.

1. New Features in Quest Mode

* Turn Skipping and Safety System
A feature has been added to skip turns without selecting a quest. Skipping turns will recover some health for all mercenaries, but the town's safety will decrease. If the safety is high, positive events such as gold or soul bonuses will occur, while low safety can lead to negative events like monster invasions that destroy buildings.

* Doomsday Counter Added
After a certain number of turns, evil spirits will invade. If the evil spirit invasion is not repelled, buildings will be destroyed. Success in exploration or boss quests will raise the counter and delay the invasion. The Doomsday counter can be enabled or disabled in the settings.

* Soul Return When Demolishing Buildings
Demolishing unused buildings will return souls. Demolished buildings cannot be rebuilt in the same turn, but this is designed to prevent resource waste when players are unfamiliar with building functions in the early game.

2. Completing and Restarting Quest Mode
After completing quest mode, players can restart at a higher difficulty level while retaining their existing buildings and mercenaries. This allows for continuous challenges.

3. Combat and Healing System Changes

* Adjustments to Healing Magic and Unit Recovery
The number of times healing magic can be used in quest mode has been reduced compared to dungeon mode. Units that haven't completed quests will recover some health without needing a church. If a church is built, recovery will increase, and additional healing can be purchased using gold.

* Combat-Related Changes
The amount of healing after combat is lower in quest mode compared to dungeon mode. Experience Orbs and Soulstones will spawn during combat, just like in dungeon mode. Boss difficulty has been segmented, and the difficulty of early exploration quest bosses has been lowered.

* Card System Added
In quest mode, cards can be obtained as rewards or purchased through buildings, just like in dungeon mode. Cards disappear after being used once.

4. Special Events Introduced
Special events, like in dungeon mode, will also occur in quest mode. Building an observatory will activate special quest events with a certain probability.

5. Special Mercenary Hiring
Once the tavern is built, special mercenaries with unique traits will appear with a certain probability, just like in dungeon mode.

6. Other Changes

* Novice Tavern Added
Once one or more regional bosses are defeated, the reward will be the ability to build a Novice Tavern. High-level mercenaries who haven't had their skill points distributed can be hired using Soulstones, allowing for greater unit customization.

* Hall of Experience: One free experience boost per turn.

* Potion Shop: One free healing potion provided per turn.

v2.4.4 - v.2.4.8

  • Now, even if the ‘Remove Ally Corpses’ option is enabled, weapons will drop from ally corpses after the battle ends.
  • Bug Fix: Fixed an issue where the Alchemist would not take the Philosopher’s Stone during the Philosopher’s Stone event.
  • Bug Fix: Fixed an issue where the description for Dual Gun Mastery was not displayed.
  • Bug Fix: Fixed an issue where summoned units' levels always appeared as 1.
  • Balancing: Changed ranged overwatch to apply only at the edges of the attack range.
  • Bug Fix: Fixed an issue where equipping a shield to a non-leader unit in the equipment tutorial made progression impossible.
  • Bug Fix: Resolved an issue preventing the settings menu from opening during the tutorial.
  • Bug Fix: In Quest mode, if the inventory is full when receiving a reward, the reward item is now sent to the storage.
  • Bug Fix: Corrected description of Extra attack skill