Dome Keeper News

Hey Keepers,
time for another hotfix! Despite resolveing some issues, we are also listening to your feedback on the new domes. Tesla is at a slightly strange spot right now, where it can be very very strong later on, but initially does not feel great, especially if you don't combine all abilities. It just got a slight rebalance with this patch.
Artillery on the other hand is great fun to use already for many people, but a bit too strong. We are seeing winrates that are a good bit above the other domes. While that is not forbidden in general, the domes should be a bit closer together in balancing, so this is an attempt to improve it.
We'll continue to listen for feedback on balance, and improve as much as we can. Likely the next patch won't be in october, as right now it seems we better wait for some more feedback, prestige runs and telemtry data.

[h3] Changelog V3.0.2[/h3]

• fixed a very deep layer being indestructible despite looking like normal dirt
  
• tesla reticle slowdown only sets in right before finishing the charge
  
• tesla now has a second quickshot upgrade and two instead of three perfect timing upgrades. This makes perfect timing less important and quickshot more useful. Second quick shot upgrade deals 120% of base damage, from initial 60%.
  
• slightly increased tesla base damage to compensate for lower buffs from perfect timing
  
• limiting maximum size of tesla dome's electro orbs. They can still be charged higher to remain for longer, but their size is hard capped now (still very large).
  
• reduced spire's targetting time from 0.5s to 0.2s (reload time is unaffected)
  
• reduced artillery mortar damage by 10% on later upgrades
  
• reduced direct hit damage bonus on artillery splash upgrade line
  
• slightly reduced rate of fire on artillery machine gun
  
• better visibility for artillery mortar aim line
  
• fixed prospection meter not detecting power core chamber or relic switch chambers
  
• made orchard roots explode in short succession after each other instead of all together
  
• fixed electro orbs not doing damage while keeper is outside of dome
  
• updated localisation
  
• better font for vietnamese
  
• fix small visual error of tesla dome in loadout stage
  
• no points will be deducted in prestige, even if the multiplier reaches a negative value
  
• fixed relic switch chambers looking inactive on reload, after activating them before
  
• fixed kept gadget getting lost if not immediately starting a new run
  
• removed small arc effects from the reticle after auto aim is bought
  
• added custom supplement order for prestige pro mode
  
• vignette will show up later the deeper the map is
  
• whitelisted three mods for prestige (Ste - Prestige Quick Restart, Nanimonull - Tech Tree Loop Select, Kana - Hello There)
  

I sometimes share a little thing from behind the closed development doors. This is a concept for a panel that could be shown before the first run to explain the game a bit more and establish some lore (one of three). I never got quite satisfied with the concept, so for now it went on hold. I hope we can eventually get around to make migration mode and add a lot more story panels into the mix.


Thank you and have a great autumn!

Hello friend! Have you been suffering from a pronounced lack of domes in your life of late? Are your videogames dispiritingly dome-less? Well, good news - the "small, but perfectly formed tower defence game" Dome Keeper has just received a big free update, adding two new domes to its roster together with a dome supplements system, that you may dome like you've never domed before. Domes!

Read more

Hey Keepers,
René here, i made a big mistake! I accidentally omitted the fixes we made vor v2.6.2 and v2.6.3 from yesterdays v3.0. That means that some of the things that were fixed before broke again. I now pulled the fixes over to the current build and got v3.0.1 ready.
Please let me know if you experience any issues. Best reported on our Discord Server, as it's easiest to share files there.
Generally this is important:

1. if you experience crashes especially when the game tries to start, first try to unsubscribe from all mods. They might not be compatible yet.
   
2. if you continue a savegame from v2, it might not work correctly
   

Apart from pulling in the old fixes, i fixed the invulnerability effect of the artillery dome being misplaced. I also updated the localisation from crowdin. The new dome tutorials were not completely translated yet, but now are in some more languages. If you ever want to help out make the localization of your language more complete or simply better, check out our community translation project :)
https://crowdin.com/project/dome-keeper


Just for completeness, these were the fixes from before.
[h3] Changelog V2.6.2[/h3]

• Fixed achievement "Thorough" for mining map completely not triggering
  
• Fixed assessor not being able to pick up dropped gadgets inside dome
  
• Fixed music cycles being one-off
  
• Fixed prestige score hud showing 0 as total when multiplier was zero (for countdown)
  
• Fixed prestige score hud adding a plus sing in front of negative changes (like +-2 instead of -2)
  
• Fixed exploit around friendly mode
  
• Fixed some false positives of cheat detection in countdown mode
  
• Modding: updated mod loader to v6.1
  
• Modding: fixed existing upgrades appearing twice if they were changed through a mod
  
• Modding: better support for adding your own game modes
  
• Modding: whitelisted HelloWorld-RunLogger and Ste-Petmagotchi for prestige runs

[h3] Changelog V2.6.3[/h3]

• fixed worlds already showing up in relic hunt that you hadn't unlocked yet
  
• fixed getting stuck playing the same world and palette over and over again after some specific game loading situations
  
• if some mod content was used in the loadout screen and the mod was later unsubscribed to, it should revert to default options instead of showing an empty space now
  

[previewyoutube] [/previewyoutube]
Greetings, Keepers! The Keeper’s Guild is thrilled to announce that the Double Dome Update is live and available now! This means that you now have access to not one but TWO new domes: the Tesla Dome and the Artillery dome, as well as the new Dome Supplements system.

Quick warning: if you played with mods before, your game might crash with this update due to the mods not being updated for 3.0 yet. The safest route is to unsubscribe from the mods via steam and then test what mods are already working.

The Artillery Dome wields the greatest fire power of any dome to date, and is sure to make short work of any monster when used right. It comes equipped with a mortar firing high explosive shells as well as a fast firing anti air machine gun.

The Tesla Dome is nothing short of electrifying, literally, and it is the only dome that allows you to aim freely in both dimensions. With this dome you can place Electro Orbs around your dome for defense and zap those monsters before they even reach your dome.

Did you ever wish that you could use Dome Hardening on the Sword Dome instead of the Laser dome? With Dome Supplements, you can! We’ve removed some of the dome upgrades from the Tech Tree, and replaced them with “Supplements” which are additional upgrades that can go into already existing upgrade tracks for your dome. You find these supplements by uncovering a new chamber containing a power core, similar to how you would find gadgets.

This update is, of course, packed with a lot more than the headliners! (You can read more about the domes and the dome supplements in our previous dev diary by the way!) We have several fixes in the mix and our Prestige players will be happy to know that with this update we also move into Season 5 of Prestige Mode. There is a full changelog further down in this post with all of the details, of course.

Oh and another thing: if you’ve changed your dome ability control key bindings you might find that they have reverted back to the default after updating. Since we added the Artillery Dome we needed to make room for the secondary fire ability in the keybindings, and if the keybindings have been changed from the default that could cause a conflict.

[h3]Changelog[/h3]
New Content Domes

• Added Artillery Dome
  
• Added Tesla Dome
  
• Added custom sprites for all primary gadgets per dome
  
• Replaced cobalt branches in dome tech trees with a new system, the dome supplements
  
• Added a new chamber type, the power core chambers. Retrieve the core inside to receive a supplement.
  
• Added 6 dome supplements
  
• Added run modifier that lets you get 3 dome supplements instead of only one
  
• Added "mine view", where you can watch the mine you dug out after finishing a run and even show the resources you missed
  
• Added run modifier that lets you play completely without monsters
  
• Added classic "Dome Romantik" palette (orange, blue, purple)

Gadgets

• Improved how orchard shields are spaced across domes, adapting better to different dome shapes and sizes
  
• Orchard root explosion won't remove other roots anymore
  
• Improved orchard shield destruction effect

Improvements

• Gamepad auto switch option now also works for steam deck, resolving some issues of inputs being unresponsive
  
• Improved positions where domes are shot at
  
• Relic switches can now be activated immediately after uncovering, no need to wait for the animation
  
• Stingray is back to the old animation, does not look squished anymore
  
• Assessor can now collect again when in cellar
  
• Changed gadget chamber placement to be less predictable
  
• Prospection meter does not target rooted resources anymore
  
• Auto cannon and stun laser won't target burrowed monsters anymore
  
• Teleport won't trigger if you or the moveable portal are still inside the dome
  
• Improved visuals of the shield battle ability "electro blast"
  
• Updated localisation
  
• Improved some sound effects
  
• Changed run modifier "double iron" to simply increase the iron in the underground by 50% and no increase in upgrade cost

Balance

• Cycle time: increases slightly slower the larger the dugout mine is
  
• Orchard: halved how quickly moving uses up the orchard buff
  
• Orchard: increased initial buff strength and decreased growth time
  
• Orchard: slightly buffed orchard shield hp (120->130)
  
• Shield: very slightly decreased max strength (6.6%)
  
• Scarab: slightly increased health
  
• Repair: depends slightly less on dome health
  
• Auto repair: is not a standalone upgrade anymore but instead comes for free with the inventory upgrade
  
• Engineer: buffed drill strength of the last drill upgrade
  
• Engineer: slightly buffed the speed upgrades
  
• Engineer: slightly buffed the second carry strength upgrade
  
• Assessor: buffed the sphere base damage to be a more viable mining option, especially in the deeper layers
  
• Assessor: slightly buffed the upgrades for minimum speed when carrying or collecting
  
• Assessor: slightly decreased effectiveness of contact mining, with the last stage being weaker and rock hardness still having a small impact. It was faster than the engineer in deeper layers, but really spheres should be the main mining tool for the Assessor
  
• Assessor: slightly changed costs of some upgrades, 2 iron more or less

Fixes

• Fixed stag shooting too much if hit by sword and stunned while walking
  
• Fixed some resources not getting revealed initially when picking up scanner from cave
  
• Fixed vignette not showing up for cobalt bomb, if you disable the vignette in the mine
  
• Fixed all worlds showing up in some cases, irrespective of unlocked ones

That’s all for now, Keepers! We hope that you’ll enjoy playing these new domes as much as we do. Bippinbits - Dome Keeper

With Dome Keeper celebrating its one year anniversary, we really wanted to make something special. So instead of just adding a new dome, we decided to double up and add two! In this dev diary, we are going to take a deeper look at both the Artillery Dome and the Tesla Dome as well as the new Dome Supplement mechanic, all coming in the Double Dome update on October 5th!

Like with the keepers, we want every dome to feel really different, to set them apart from each other and offer more variety in gameplay. The goal is to have them offer new challenges and make you as a player approach battle differently with each dome.

[h3]The Artillery Dome[/h3]
The Artillery Dome is the only dome that actually comes with two weapons: the mortar and the anti air gun. The slow-firing mortar stands out amongst the existing dome weapons, because you have to plan with the travel time of each shot. When you fire the mortar, a few seconds will pass before the shell arrives at its destination and explodes. In combination with the slow rotation, you have to plan ahead and predict where the monsters will be at the time of impact. While this poses a challenge, you can also really use this to your advantage and make good use of indirect fire as well. If you manage to directly hit a monster, you’ll always get some bonus damage.



While the mortar is excellent for obliterating ground based monsters, the anti air gun is more useful for flying enemies. Riddle the sky with bullets and hope for the best! However, there is an upgrade in the tech tree for the Anti Air Gun that allows you to aim at ground based enemies as well. Double the trouble, all around. Especially since you can also, technically, use the mortar for flying enemies too. Ultimately the success you’ll have with the dome is all about how nifty you can be in combining the power of these two weapons.

Speaking of upgrades, let’s talk a bit about the tech tree for the Artillery Dome! The mortar has two different lines of upgrades: one is focused on making direct hits with the mortar shells. With this upgrade any direct hits deal massive amounts of damage and if you follow this track you’ll end up with a dome that can easily deal with even the most high level monsters in no time. Did you ever wish to one-shot a Driller? If so, then this might be your path. However, weaker monsters that attack from both sides will be more of an issue, because of your limited rate of fire and area of effect.

The other upgrade track is all about area damage. It lets you expand on the mortar's explosion radius and adds additional shells per shot. Following this track you can pretty much cover the entire ground in exploding mortar shells with just one shot and easily deal with whole packs of attacking monsters.



There’s also some choices you can make when it comes to upgrading the Anti Air Gun. One track is centered around drastically improving the rate of fire, and the other on homing rockets that will detect monsters and change their course to find their target.


[h3]The Tesla Dome[/h3]
While the Artillery Dome is in its essence based on ballistic explosions, the Tesla Dome is built around the power of electricity. It also just happens to be the first dome that allows for two dimensional aiming.



You aim by moving your reticle in any direction across the screen. When you’ve found a suitable target you hold down the shoot button to charge your weapon. Once you are fully charged you then release the button to shoot. This means that when you release, you really need to be in the right spot, as otherwise you have to charge again from zero. This is very different from, for example, playing with the laser, where you can easily adjust your aim while firing. You can of course charge as you move, but as movement speed is decreased while charging, you need to plan your moves carefully to be in the right spot at the right time.

Another useful upgrade worth mentioning is Perfect Timing. A perfectly timed shot will happen if you charge your weapon and release it right when it’s fully charged. This is indicated by visual cues on the reticle, and as a result your shot will be a lot stronger.



Where it really gets interesting however, is with the Electro Orb upgrades. With this, every shot creates an Electro Orb that remains in place for some time, stunning and damaging any enemy that passes it. So let’s say you see a horde of ticks coming towards your dome. Instead of shooting right at them, you can place an Electro Orb in their path and move your attention elsewhere, while the orb deals with them.

You can, of course, also upgrade these orbs! The obvious one is to increase their longevity with the Persistent Orbs upgrades. Another very useful thing is the Nurture Electro Orbs upgrade. With nurturing, you can boost an already placed Electro Orb by shooting it again to both increase its size and how long it stays.

The Electro Orbs challenge you with a brand new way of thinking about how to work with the space around your dome for defense. You could, for example, place two orbs on one side of the Dome to block off that space from enemies, while you focus on bigger targets Or, knowing that a diver is incoming, you can simply place a sphere where it’s most likely to attack and not worry about keeping an eye on them. You can even start placing a few orbs before the battle starts, to better prepare for the first enemies.



The Electro Orbs also work together with Perfect Timing to create stronger orbs. if you also have upgraded your Shot Power, then your orbs can end up dealing quite a lot of damage. You can also upgrade the stun power of the orbs, to make sure the monsters slow down and take as much damage as possible.

All in all, the Tesla dome is an interesting dome to play in, as it requires a lot of planning and gives you new ways to think strategically about the space around you.

[h3]Dome Supplements[/h3]
Besides the two brand new domes, this update will also come with an exciting new feature: Dome Supplements. Previously, each dome came with its own basic branch in the tech tree where you had the various health upgrades, repairs and so on. Each dome also had their own specializations like how the Laser Dome had the hardening ability, and the Sword dome had combat repair.

With the Double Dome update, we are changing that. The domes will not come with this predefined upgrade branch, but instead you will be able to unlock Dome Supplements as you play. Once you bring a Dome Supplement back to the dome you can choose between 6 different kinds of supplements to add to your already existing upgrade track:

• Reduce melee damage (also buffed with this update)
  
• Reduce projectile damage
  
• Combat repair (also buffed with this update)
  
• Electrified hull that hurts melee monsters(basically thorn damage if you know you hack and slash games)
  
• Dome resurrection, where instead of being destroyed, the dome fully restores and even gains additional max health
  
• Scrap repair, with which you can repair your dome for iron, but lose max hp when doing this (max hp can be restored once)

We’ll add more supplements in the future, and are curious to hear your feedback and ideas.
This change will bring more variety to each run, letting you form more intricate strategies and making the game more challenging and enjoyable!

[h3]The one year anniversary of Dome Keeper[/h3]
Time sure swooshes by when you’re having fun. The one year anniversary for Dome Keeper is coming up next week! To celebrate, we are going to have a livestream with René and your friendly neighborhood Community Manager Sanna.

We’ll be playing Dome Keeper using one of the new domes of course, and talk about what’s happened with Dome Keeper over this past year, what the future holds AND we’ll be answering your questions about Dome Keeper. The stream will take place on Tuesday, September 26th, at 21:00 CEST on the Bippinbits twitch channel, so make sure to join us then!

[hr][/hr]
We hope you’re as excited about the Double Dome update as we are, keepers! That’s all from us this time. As always, we really appreciate hearing from you so please let us know what you think in the comments below, and join us to discuss all things Dome Keeper on our official Discord server: Bippinbits Dome Keeper Discord Server.