King Arthur's Gold News

Hi folks,

This small update brings bugfixes for some newer and older issues. We sneaked in some improvements to map voting, to the cinematic camera, and added 15 new TDM maps.

We took some steps to improve map votes at the end of CTF/TTH rounds. It no longer nags the user quite as much and the random option was replaced with a 3rd map to vote for. Also, hovering a map will also show a zoomed preview to make it easier to discern its features.
Our goal was to make map voting a little less tedious, and hopefully people feel more interested and satisfied in the process.



The cinematic camera was improved in a few ways. It should now be much more obvious how to temporarily disable it, and that will now be remembered across rounds. If you don't like it, you now have the option to permanently disable it in settings (under the Misc tab). Additionally, we tried to address unnecessary motion and shakiness when tracking a lot of players. We may adjust this even further in the future, and feedback is welcome.

Full changelog:

[fixed] catapults could not be unpacked (thanks gingerbeard)
[fixed] players not gaining velocity when thrown from a catapult (thanks gingerbeard)
[fixed] incorrect catapult button icons (thanks gingerbeard)
[fixed] the ballista arm facing an incorrect direction after being unpacked (thanks gingerbeard)
[removed] map voting: no more dimmed screen to nag the player (thanks guift)
[modified] map voting: 3 maps to select instead of 2 + 1 random vote (thanks asu)
[added] map voting: hovering a map shows a zoomed in version of the map (thanks asu)
[fixed] map voting: rewrote heaps of logic, easier to mod/tune and less sync bugs hopefully (thanks asu)
[fixed] incorrect seclev loading made some clients think they were admin when they weren't and vice versa (thanks asu)
[dev] moved "/" command prefix to a unique place (thanks epsilon)
[fixed] synced up flag animations across outposts/ballistae/warboats/flags (thanks kos)
[modified] reworked some emotes (thanks noahthelegend, asu)
[modified] cinematic camera motion adjusted to be less shaky (thanks asu)
[modified] slightly improved next map behavior wrt camera, starts straight centered and zooms in (thanks asu)
[fixed] cinematic camera setting was not preserved on next map (thanks asu)
[added] v_camera_cinematic and setting in Misc. to permanently disable the cinematic camera if desired (thanks asu)
[added] small notice on top left that is contextually brought up to indicate cinematic camera status, and a hint to toggle it with RMB (thanks asu)
[modified] toggling the cinematic camera with RMB will only take effect after the camera "death lock" is gone to reduce accidental clciks (thanks asu)
[fixed] archer grapple going through red barrier (thanks asu)
[fixed] drill now gets team colored in the builder shop (thanks asu)
[fixed] siege arms (cata/balli/bow) attached to a vehicle would mismatch vehicle direction (thanks gingerbeard)
[modified] boats are now much more robust against bombarrows: 8-9 to sink a warboat, 3-4 to sink a longboat (thanks gingerbeard)
[fixed] hid the respawn timer in warmup instead of having an incorrect one (thanks asu)
[fixed] TTH/CTF solo tutorials incorrectly showed map votes (thanks asu)

[modified] TDM mapcycle: added 15 (thanks noahthelegend for changes, maps from biurza, noahthelegend, ferrezinhre), see PR #1640

[updated] accolades for UKC 16-19 (thanks shamwow)

Hi folks,

It has been a while! We are happy to announce that the much-awaited 2023 update is out now (build 4409)! This update brings a lot of changes to the game, and we hope you enjoy them. Various folks from the community have been working on this update for a long time, and we are very excited to finally get it out to you all.

I'd like to start out by thanking everyone for their patience including those of contributors. As the game is fully developed by the community, it can be challenging to decide on what should be added, what meets the standards of a game enjoyed by many and the find the time to make it all happen. Everyone involved in KAG is a volunteer, so as always anyone passionate about the game is welcome to join development through participation on Discord & GitHub!

There's many changes, small and big, let's expand on them below (I'll spoil the first one: it's no longer Christmas!):

General & Community
- Winter/Christmas has been disabled - the game is now relevant to players on the northern hemisphere again!
- Added missing accolades
- Modified account age in scoreboard to go above 10 (X), and a minor refresh to omse scoreboard icons
- Updated German and Russian translations & Fixed some text in the game not getting translated
- Being AFK will now move you to spectator instead of kick you if the server is less than half-full
- TTH game start sound is now the same as CTF
- Resupply information moved to builder HUD
- Ballista bolt/shell naming consistency
- ... And many other minor fixes or tweaks to things like GUI/HUD, visuals or sounds



Maps
- SmallCTF sees 16 new maps added and 3 removed
- CTF sees 22 new maps added, 19 maps removed and 17 maps tweaked
- TDM sees 31 maps newly added or modified and 19 removed
- Map loading & refreshing is now faster
- Servers can now easily change the default red barrier settings
- ... Enjoy over 100 unique changes and refreshed mapcycles

Gameplay
- Boat changes: custom capture zones per-boat, warboats don't cost gold anymore, longboats don't decay when left alone, more change and various fixes
- Arrows break when attached to a door or platform when it's opened
- Items that are on fire can no longer be put in inventory
- Bombarrows flash when airborne
- You can no longer pop vehicle wheels while it is being captured
- And dozens of fixes like:
- Spikes no longer attached to stone wouldn't deal damage
- Seeds couldn't be placed as a builder when you were out of materials
- Drills set on fire by a fire arrow would not cool down
- Cursor appeared behind modded message boxes/website prompts
- ... And many more



Highlights
- Emote pack support
Support was added to add custom emote packs, similar to head packs! This is not yet being used, but please share your ideas or contribute to spriting new ones if you can!

- ChatCommands system
Chat commands just got a whole lot more organised! This is both handy for server owners/moderators and players alike. Commands no longer appear in chat, and have changed a little. Write "/help" instantly get all commands available to you in chat, including a description.



- Holiday event change
This one is fairly minor but also includes a call-to-spriters!



First of all, a new holiday even has been added. KAG's birthday! It's a pretty small one and additions are welcome, but enjoy balloons on various places like CTF tents and boats, and a festive party hat! That last point involves the another major (behind the scenes) change to holidays, custom holiday heads are now easier to add and can be added very quickly! Do you have any ideas for holidays that should have a custom head and are an experienced spriter? Submit one! For example: a bunny head for easter, a spooky hat for halloween or a something crazy for new year's!

- Cinematic camera
We've got a new fully automated cinematic camera! It smoothly follows everything in the game, zooming in on heated moments or runs with the flag in CTF, making sure you never had to manually go around again! You can toggle this uring right mouse button, should you wish to take control again.

- Wallclimb rework
Wallclimb was fundamentally overhauled. Non-deterministic behavior was removed, meaning you will be able to achieve good wallclimbs more consistently. If you're used to old wallclimbs, fear not: you will not need to relearn it. Wallclimbs are now limited to two per wall, but the boost they give was buffed. These changes combined, the maximum reachable height from a simple wallclimb is roughly the same as before.
The way wallclimbs are granted now depends on your velocity. When you jump from the ground while hugging a wall, your first wallclimb will only be granted when you're about to fall. Because wallclimbs override your velocity, this makes walljumps automatically closer to ideal. Further, wallclimbs and walljumps made when very close to the ceiling was made more consistent than before.
We also reduced the delay between jumping/falling off the ground and being able to walljump or wallclimb. Combined with the above, this means you can perform small jumps (e.g. by tapping W) to trigger a walljump earlier than what was possible.
Finally, arrow climbs now let you wallclimb again, effectively allowing you to reach higher heights.
We hope these changes make climbing feel much more consistent, snappier, and increase the value and depth they provide to gameplay.



PATCH NOTES:
[expand]

[modified] idle update check timeout increased from 2s to 5s to account for AUS servers (thanks jrgp)
[fixed] WAR base crash (unused in main game) (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] spikes no longer attached to stone wouldn't deal damage (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] crate auto-pickup (e.g. logs & mats) was broken (thanks bunnie)
[fixed] buying from TTH workbenches could crash clients (thanks mugg91)
[modified] you can now drive through neutral/team doors in all vehicles and boats (thanks gingerbeard)
[fixed] added some missing translations code-side (thanks epsilon)
[fixed] already grown grains wouldn't show properly when connecting to a server (thanks gingerbeard)
[fixed] minor visual issue in water bomb stun dazzle effect (thanks gingerbeard)
[fixed] quarter beds would survive in a glitched state if you got in right as it got destroyed (thanks gingerbeard & mugg91)
[fixed] tunnel menu order was inconsistent and depended on which tunnel you were at (thanks paralogia)
[fixed] seeds couldn't be placed as a builder when you were out of materials (thanks gingerbeard & hobey)
[fixed] inventory items are properly centered and team colored in the HUD (thanks gingerbeard & mugg91)
[fixed] builder materials sometimes dropping on map change, due to builders getting incorrectly respawned twice (thanks gingerbeard & mugg91)
[fixed] corpses made grunt sounds due to fall damage (thanks mugg91)
[added] emote pack support (thanks epsilon)
[fixed] warboat capture would not change the team of its mounted bow (thanks gingerbeard)
[fixed] attached vehicles (e.g. catapults on boats) shouldn't be captured independently from their parent boat (thanks gingerbeard)
[modified] each boat now uses custom capture zones (thanks gingerbeard)
[fixed] improved boat unpacking, require the necessary space for unpacking boats (thanks gingerbeard)
[fixed] warboats and longboats had incorrect shapes in certain circumstances (thanks gingerbeard)
[modified] warboats no longer cost gold (thanks gingerbeard)
[modified] longboats no longer decay when left alone (thanks gingerbeard)
[modified] reduced the wait time before you can move the camera after dying (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] that the "Following Player" text was overlapping with the Timer (thanks mugg91)
[modified] tunnels, storages, quarries and outposts won't get a window added to them (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] knights can no longer destroy wires/components by slashing/jabbing (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] drills set on fire by a fire arrow would not cool down (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] damaging an open team bridge should not give it a closed sprite (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] fireplace sounds would not start playing automatically (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] fireplaces would spin when above a ledge (thanks mugg91)
[modified] fireplaces can now be ignited and extinguished (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] ballista bolt/shell naming consistency (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] arrows stuck to blocks would survive after the block was destroyed or collapsed (thanks mugg91)
[modified] arrows break when stuck to a door or bridge as it gets opened (thanks mugg91)
[reverted] christmas cheer
[added] amogus
[fixed?] spurious admin gold warnings (thanks epsilon)
[fixed] teleporting to tunnels that were destroyed/switched teams (thanks epsilon)
[fixed] fireplaces now play sounds when cooking food on servers (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] seat arrows will not show on entities picked up/put in entities, such as dinghies or sharks (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] that you could pick up items exactly as you entered a crate, quarters (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] that you could pick up items from other people's hands due to lag (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] that you could pick up a dinghy someone has just entered into (thanks mugg91)
[added] KAG birthday balloons (thanks mazey)
[dev] holidays now load dynamically, which makes it easier to add custom holiday heads (thanks mazey)
[fixed] clicking through map voting elements before it was even shown (thanks epsilon)
[added] resupply indicator in the HUD, replacing the resupply text messages (thanks bunnie)
[fixed] allow slashing/jabbing team corpses and disallow hitting held corpses (thanks paralogia)
[fixed] seeds could not be loaded into catapults (thanks laws65)
[fixed] correct catapult loading icons for different food types (thanks laws65)
[fixed] health bars (e.g. vehicles') moved incorrectly when zooming in/out (thanks gingerbeard)
[added] new command manager with too many changes to list, try typing !help (thanks epsilon)
[modified] ease up psychological pain from the respawn counter showing "0s" for a full second (thanks paralogia)
[modified] items on fire may not be put in inventories anymore (thanks gingerbeard)
[fixed] wallclimb is now deterministic (thanks asu)
[modified] wallclimb rework, see patch notes (thanks asu)
[fixed] blob facing updates had a short random delay due to tick throttling (thanks bunnie)
[modified] adjusted archer timings for consistency: midshot 26->24 ticks; triple shot 101->100 ticks (thanks bunnie)
[modified] reworked archer cursor: color coding, smoother animation, fixed timing (thanks bunnie)
[fixed] holding a raft now properly blocks actions (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] loading a raft on a catapult now shows the proper [E] icon (thanks mugg91)
[modified] magazines can accept any 1x1 item now (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] incorrect icons when loading certain items into magazines (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] in certain gamemodes, picking up an enemy boulder and throwing it back at them wouldn't deal damage (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] selecting obstructor/mention sensor in inventory broke background tiles (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] explosives can now damage the entity they are contained in (thanks guthen)
[fixed] player will do their death cry and properly let go of a held food when getting killed by saw, instead of eating it (thanks mugg91)
[modified] account ages >=10 are now shown as the actual number instead of X (thanks goldenguy)
[removed] amogus
[fixed] blob shapes were not made inactive when placed in inventories, e.g. causing wooden things to incorrectly emit sounds and a potential performance bug (thanks asu)
[fixed] memory leak on dedicated servers (thanks alainx277)
[fixed] cursor appeared behind modded message boxes/website prompts (thanks goldenguy)
[dev][fixed] script loading bug (thanks goldenguy)
[dev][fixed] bad deltas should have a lesser effect when caused by improper .Sync (thanks goldenguy)
[fixed] in rare cases, the flag timer would never reset after being thrown (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] in rare cases, flags could be picked up, but would instantly be returned when thrown (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] maps could not add prebuilt backwalls behind flags or they would break instantly (thanks gingerbeard)
[fixed] disabled and bloody saws would not sync correctly when joining servers (thanks gingerbeard, mugg91)
[fixed] crushing enemy mines made saws bloody (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] quit synchronizing the match time property every tick, lowering debug log spam and bandwidth required (thanks gingerbeard)
[dev][fixed] plant grow checks applied one tile too deep (only relevant for mods?) (thanks gingerbeard)
[modified] being AFK in a server less than 50% full will only kick you into spectating (thanks gingerbeard)
[fixed] lanterns would often be desynced when joining servers (thanks gingerbeard)
[fixed] lanterns could shut off when thrown in water but still have the burning frame (thanks gingerbeard)
[fixed] sponge wet frames now show in inventories as they should (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] disabled lanterns now show in inventories as unlit (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] storage lantern sprites would sometimes still show even after withdrawing lit lanterns (thanks gingerbeard, mugg91)
[fixed] avoid frequently rereading costs configuration from disk (thanks gingerbeard)
[fixed] spikes and materials are now pushed by the red barrier (thanks vamist)
[fixed?] red barrier desync issues (thanks vamist)
[modified] servers can now configure custom red barrier defaults (thanks vamist)
[fixed] placing a block will destroy scenery in the whole block instead of only in the top left of the block (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] you can click on "change class" buttons from the right corners of class shops (thanks mugg91)
[modified] bombarrows flash when shot (thanks mazey)
[modified] better class icons in scoreboard, dimmed sprites when dead (thanks mazey)
[modified] show skull for dead players in scoreboard (thanks mazey)
[modified] TTH game start sound is now the same as CTF (thanks mazey)
[fixed] emitters/receivers incorrectly blocked water (thanks asu)
[modified] localhost debug editor requires holding build mod + lmb/rmb (thanks asu)
[added] cinematic camera when spectating/dead, toggled with rmb (thanks epsilon, asu)
[changed] player won't get hurt by their own damage sources when invincible (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] player won't get set on fire when invincible (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] player won't get knocked back when invincible (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] player doesn't make a hurt sound and have blood animation when bomb explodes in hand while invincible (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] player won't lose air or take drown damage when invincible (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] can't unpack crates from very far away crates anymore (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] initiating unpack of a crate without picking it up will correctly assign its team regardless (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] if the player was set on fire several times in rapid succession, they did not get damage (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] teleporting in tunnels placed you too high, sometimes causing saws to kill you when they should not (thanks mugg91)
[fixed?] shops occasionally ceased working in some conditions (thanks asu)
[modified] mounted bows now face the mid of the map when spawned (thanks noahthelegend)
[fixed] desync where vehicle firing sounds wouldn't play (thanks gingerbeard)
[fixed] certain vehicle sprites not showing their correct damage frame (thanks gingerbeard)
[modified] boats collide with platforms (thanks gingerbeard)
[modified] pop off wheels button doesn't appear when the vehicle is attached (thanks gingerbeard)
[fixed] map loading/minimap refresh is faster now (thanks asu)
[fixed] simplified script dictionary logic; fixed crashes with certain methods (thanks alainx277)
[updated] caught up to missing accolades, still missing certain UKC results (thanks bunnie)
[updated] noahthelegend misc. accolades
[updated] german translation (thanks mugg91)
[updated] russian translation (thanks kussaka)
[modified] smallCTF mapcycle: added 16 (noahthelegend), removed 3, see PR #1612
[modified] CTF mapcycle: added 22 (bunnie, biurza, fg, ferrezinhre, gix), removed 19, modified 17 (thanks bunnie), see PR #1601
[modified] TDM mapcycle: added/modified 31 (thanks noahthelegend for changes, maps from thd, biurza, ni, ferrezinhre, fg, bunnie, yeti5000, vans, pineapple, gurin, eluded, crocodile, sjd360, deynarde, mcrifel, asu, lorderplay), removed 19, see PR #1623

[/expand]

Hi folks,

As some of the people know who have been around for a longer time, you used to be able to submit maps on the THD forum, with a chance of them being added to the official mapcycle. As the majority of the community is active on Discord nowadays (as opposed to the forums) we have decided to open up a forum channel on Discord and close the THD sub-forum for submissions.

As always, everyone is invited to contribute to the future of KAG - whether it's mapping, modding, general development, or testing upcoming updates in the relevant Discord channels and on GitHub. Especially mapping is a great way to get involve with your community contribution, as maps are fairly easy to create and you may be able to play your creation on official servers if it gets accepted! Here are a few examples of popular maps in the mapcycle:

          
           Snatchmark

          
          Elantris

          
          Rioter

Yes, maps are indeed made by simply drawing a png image. If you wish the learn more, join the Discord, and view the pins in the #mapping channel and feel free to ask for help there. As mentioned before, you are of course also free to participate in the other topics too, such as testing the upcoming update and contributing to/discussing development!

Have fun!

This is a minor update for the holiday season bringing the usual Christmas cheer, featuring some great new in-game music by dome to fit the mood!

As a minor balance change, we once again made an adjustment to build time resupplies, scaling them up to 250 wood and 80 stone from 200 wood and 60 stone. The nerf we had previously done felt too impacting, so this should bring us back to a sweet spot.
Thanks to dome, bunnie and GoldenGuy for contributing to this update!

We have been busy this season, so we haven't had much time to present balance change survey results. We're still planning on it!

Happy holidays & stay tuned!

Hello everyone,


We have released a minor update with a bunch of fixes and nice QoL improvements.

First, a word on the build 4137 survey, which was closed just a couple of days ago. We have received over 90 responses: thanks for your feedback!
We have already started digging into the responses and we will be publishing and discussing the results as soon as we can.

The main balance change we made is to nerf the build time resupply rate and amount. While these were only slightly buffed in build 4137, not requiring players to resupply manually turned out to be much more of a buff in public games than we wanted, causing a flood of extra materials early on.
We believe the new state of things will restore the importance of materials while still ensuring that teams can build a good starting fortress.

We also have merged quite a few bugfixes and improvements, which are too varied to sum up and can be found in the full changelog:

Gameplay & Balance changes:
[modified] significantly nerfed build time resupplies to reduce early game extreme wood & stone overflow (thanks bunnie). from resupply alone (excluding mining and wood-farming), in a 24 players game, each team got 21k wood, 7.2k stone at build time. these figures are now nerfed to 12k wood, 3.6k stone. this will still amount to more resources than before the 2022 update.
[modified] bombs and special arrows pickup priorities were increased regardless of your class (thanks epsilon)
[modified] you can now crouch through crates like you can crouch through team platforms (thanks epsilon)
[changed] buildings now won't break hand-placed backwalls to leave a window (thanks epsilon)


Fixes:
[fixed] spectator queue sometimes did not work properly (thanks bunnie)
[fixed] forgotten debug message in survey code (thanks bunnie)
[fixed] CTF shops never refreshed when losing/gaining materials/coins (thanks asu)
[fixed] water arrow material sprite should have been a single arrow (thanks mugg91)
[fixed?] fast building speed sometimes still happened after build time (thanks bunnie)
[fixed] in-game votes gave no indication of what you had voted for (thanks bunnie)
[fixed] during the halloween event, gregs would glitch you out if you were attached to something (thanks mugg91)
[added] admins are now warned if a player drops gold or seeds into the void, which may be the result of griefing (thanks epsilon)
[fixed] warboat crates did not drop gold as they should have (thanks epsilon)
[fixed] blood should not show on spikes when kid-safe mode is enabled (thanks epsilon)
[fixed] princess Geti would not kiss you on online servers (thanks epsilon)
[fixed] the admin tab would not show on Windows servers until you reloaded seclevs (thanks epsilon)
[fixed] quarters will not let you buy a beer or food when you are already full health (thanks epsilon)
[fixed] kegs are now team colored in the knight shop, like other things are (thanks mugg91)
[fixed] the christmas event did not last long enough as it ended on January 1st (thanks epsilon)
[fixed] after being opened, bridges didn't show damage frames (thanks epsilon)


Misc changes:
[updated] Patreon heads for Wzzzzzzzzzzzzz, hyperkannon


Mapcycle changes:
[modified] FG_forelands: made symmetrical, increased sky height
[modified] Didgedy_TwinTowers: made wider, nerfed resource count
[modified] petgreendino_bisonbisoff: minor changes
[removed] Ej_Cataracts
[removed] Prototype_BestDefense
[added] Ferrezinhre_Totally_Transcendent
[added] Ferrezinhre_Multi_Level_Crossing
[fixed] incorrect tent placement in Brokenland (thanks epsilon)