War for the Overworld News

Darkest Greetings Underlord,

Today we bring tidings of a new minor patch, a new pact through which you can take home a little devil and new allies whose efforts to bring despair upon the goodly folks of the surface may excite you.

Read on Underlord!


[h2]Brightrock Games x Makeship[/h2]
We’re pleased to announce that a dark pact has been sealed with the fastidious creators over at Makeship to bring your loyal imps to life in a dastardly soft new form. Bear witness and tremble Underlord!



You can place your orders now for this devilish, yet delightfully squishy, Imp plush over at Makeship, make haste Underlord as it is made to order and shall be available only for a flicker of time before it is consigned to history. You have but 21 days to place your order!

Should you wish it you could also acquire the fabriced visage of Medi from our latest endeavour Galacticare. Perhaps, should the whimsy take you you may find a way to combine them into the horrifying Medi Imp?!



Don’t miss your chance Underlord, grab them now at Makeship!

• Blood Imp Plushie
• Medi Plushie

[h2]Free Worker Skin: Plushie Worker[/h2]
Woven magics seal the pact and allow our mana to form a new soft and squishy vessel. As of today all Underlords can now choose to summon Plushie Workers into their dungeons instead of their regular blood and bone workers.



This Worker Skin is unlocked automatically for everyone, for use in any non-campaign game mode.



[h2]Visual Updates[/h2]
As with our prior minor updates we’re continuing to adjust some of the visuals in the game. This is a minor side-project as WFTO is well and truly into its maintenance phase of life.

The Sanctuary has had its lighting & shadow overhaul, the room generally always had a moody tone and we were keen to preserve and enhance this. Outside of the major change with the Altar’s light the changes are subtle but hopefully give the room a signature sinister feeling.



The Hero Sanctuary meanwhile needed much more work, neglected because it doesn’t appear in any official levels and thus only appears if you’re playing non-campaign modes as an empire dungeon theme it didn’t really get much love. We've looked to rectify this historic oversight, giving the room it's own identity other than "Blue".



The rituals that are cast also had a lighting & shadow overhaul so they should now light up more of the room when being cast.

Another area of interest was the default worker skin which now benefits from a more modern shader which was implemented for the Plushie Worker. The underlying art is still the same but the way it appears is updated, more consistent and respectful of in-scene lighting and aligned with the intended appearance even when team coloured.



This change should make the worker fit into the environment a bit better while still standing out enough that they can be seen.


[h2]Units[/h2]

• New Unit: Unbound Disciple - By community request we’ve added a Unbound version of the Disciple similar to the Ghoul, this is a Disciple that does not require a master, good for map making!
  
• New Worker Skin: Plushie Worker - Sinister, Soft & Squishy this new worker skin is sure to brighten your dungeon corridors and is free for everyone!
  

[h2]Visuals & Art[/h2]

• The Default Worker utilises a new shader, this should allow the underlying detail to pop more.
  
• Room Visual Updates
  
  • Sanctuary - Lighting & Shadows pass, New Underfloor
    
  • Hero Sanctuary - New Water Material, New Colour Palette, Lighting & Shadows Pass, New Underfloor
• Spirit and Soulbound workers now appear as dwarves in hero based themes.
  
• Updated the VFX of several ritual cast animations.
  

[h2]Performance[/h2]

• Disabled shadow casting on a large number of VFX planes, this should yield some performance increases when shadows are enabled in certain conditions.
  

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]
[h3]Visual Bugs[/h3]

• Corrected a normal map error on the default worker skin
  
• Fixed the dwarven dungeon theme incorrectly using the standard sanctuary props
  

A few weeks ago some of our development imps were at a mighty meeting of malevolent minds known only to the underworld as Gamescom. It was there that we spied our evil brothers in arms Myron Games and their unique VR twist upon the quintessential evil-em-up. Underworld Overseer!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2909910/Underworld_Overseer/



If you're the kind of Underlord who's longed to take the slapping of minions and building of dungeons into your own evil hands then perhaps this is the experience for you, as at long last you can god game with your own hands!



As you no-doubt know we love this most evil of genre's dearly so it's always a pleasure to share fellow developers embarking on their own crusades for the good of all evil. We hope you'll give them a wishlist!



Until next time Underlord,

- Brightrock Games

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Darkest Greetings Underlord,

Today we release both a new creation, Galacticare and a small but mighty patch for War for the Overworld. Read on Underlord!



[h2]Patch Highlights[/h2]

[h3]Medi Worker Skin[/h3]
To celebrate the release of our new game, Galacticare, we have added a new worker skin to the game, the Medi Worker Skin! Your faithful blood imp workers have slain invaders from beyond an aethereal rift and salvaged their unusual armour as their own.



This fantastic new skin can by deployed into the dungeon by owners of Galacticare which released today!



In return, owners of War for the Overworld will be able to bring the essence of the Blood Imp to Galacticare with the Blood Imp Medi Skin.



We hope that you'll check out our new game Underlord, and we humbly thank you for all the support you've given us over the years. We would not have made it this far without you!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/494730/Galacticare/



[h3]Further Visual Developments[/h3]
We didn't want this patch to just be about the new worker skin however, so some of our development chunders have devoted their personal time to delivering something a little more substantial for your dark tastes.

Continuing on the developments brought in Patch 2.1, where we looked at all of the existing cores and shrines in the game we've started to dedicate some eyes onto the other rooms. Specifically in this case the Barracks, Archive, Garrison, Lair and Slaughterpen and the Empire equivalents of these rooms.



As part of this we've enabled dynamic shadows in all of these rooms, provided your graphics settings are set to the appropriate level. We've also added a new level of shadow setting which will enable extra shadow casters on certain lights in these rooms (primarily to provide more options in balancing fidelity with performance)



Additionally the Barracks and Garrison have also had new (old) wall decor added to their tilesets, which greatly increases the detail of the room.



As we detailed when we first added dynamic shadows, please remember that they are a super expensive graphical feature and will cost a lot of FPS due to the number of dynamic light sources that WFTO uses.

For best performance we recommend using Low Shadow Distance when using "All" Shadows and Medium Shadow Distance when using "Important & Optional" Shadows. Not all of the visual improvements require shadows to be enabled and the visuals may be different with shadows off (as the lights will no longer be blocked by objects.

[h2]Improvements & Changes[/h2]

[h3]Units[/h3]

• Permanent spirit workers (spawned by the Artefact of Workers) have been renamed to Soulbound workers and have a new appearence to differentiate them from temporary spirit workers

[h3]Visuals & Art[/h3]

• The following rooms have had dynamic shadows enabled on their light sources:
  
  • Barracks & Empire Barracks
    
  • Archive & Empire Archive
    
  • Garrison & Empire Garrison
    
  • Lair & Empire Lair
    
  • Slaughterpen & Empire Slaughterpen
    
  • Beast Den
    
  • Severral Stone Bridges
• New Wall Decor has been added to the following rooms:
  
  • Barracks & Empire Barracks
    
  • Garrison & Empire Garrison
• Additional wall meshses have been added to the empire version of the Slaughterpen.
  
• An additional option has been added to the shadows option to enable more shadow casters on room and other lights
  
• Spirit Workers & Soulbound Workers will no longer cast shadows (because they're ghosts)
  
• Spirit Workers & Soulbound Workers now also feature worker lights with their team colour

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• Gregor Valench should now be placeable again in the map editor and god mode
  
• Fixed incorrect shaders used on Slaughterpen Floor
  

That's about everything we have for you, for now. We hope that you'll appreciate these changes, and though WFTO is deep into maintenance mode we hope there will be time in the future to continue delivering some of these simple improvements.

Please let us know if there are any problems with the latest patch as there's always room for some hotfixes to the above features.

Until Next Time Underlord,

- Brightrock Games


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Darkest Greetings Underlord,

Beyond the walls of the dungeon the aether continues to churn and new discoveries are stumbled upon by your most loyal cultists. Read on to discover the latest developments from across the Aether.


Recently, incursions from a previously undiscovered realm have been occurring all over Kairos — metal clad invaders, no larger than a Skarg, have breached the defenses of the dungeon.

Fortunately they proved to be unbelievably inept fighters, waving their arms as if to greet our defenders with cheer. When the dust settled, the ones which weren’t rendered to scrap metal retreated to the breach from whence they came. The remains of those left behind are now donned by your loyal workers.



This new skin will be available for free to all Underlords who acquire a copy of the video game Galacticare for themselves. So rest not on your laurels Underlord, the time is nearly upon us.



Our Cultists have scried this realm through the Aether and, to our shock, have discovered an advanced civilisation that seems obsessed with, of all things, helping others. Sickening stuff really. See for yourself Underlord.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

What’s more, it seems their metal spies returned knowledge of our activities to their world, and have seemingly adopted the aspect of the ignoble blood imp. To what purpose we are unsure, perhaps a fetishistic tribute to their new foe?



In any case, a new adventure awaits beyond the Aether; you need only take the leap.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/494730/Galacticare/

Galacticare is releasing on May 23rd at 07:00 PDT / 10:00 EDT / 14:00 UTC / 15:00 BST / 16:00 CEST / 23:00 JST.


But perhaps your attentions remain somewhat closer to home, and an invasion of some far-off realm does not yet excite you. While our foundries lie quietened, and the attentions of the development chunders are focused on the void, other Underlords have been busy crafting devious realms with which to test your mettle.

Here’s a selection of such creations from the workshop. As always, featured authors will receive the coveted Golden Imp.

• Keepers Comeback - Campaign by Padelboot
  
• Oberon Reforged - Campaign by 123
  
• Seven Sins. Trials of Inquisitor. Church of Light Chronicles. - Campaign By Green.Sliche
  
• Binding of Mendechaus - Randomised Map by Dismellion
  
• The Number of the Beast - Scenario by 123
  
• My Pet Dungeon 2021 - My Pet Dungeon by Ripps
  

That’s just a small selection of the new content that continues to be realised by dedicated Underlords like yourself – but the workshop is host to all manner of creations, with new ones emerging every week. Be sure to check it out, Underlord.

War for the Overworld Workshop


Some time ago, news of an ancient evil completing its most momentous task yet reached our ears. After many, many years of hard labour, our fellows in evil at Keeper Klan released version 1.0 of Keeper FX – an open-source remake and expansion to Dungeon Keeper, which served as a great inspiration to War for the Overworld.

Visit the KeeperFX Website for details.

KeeperFX uses all new, original code to create a much improved experience on modern computers, with UX Improvements, Higher resolutions, Bug Fixes, Multiplayer Support, New Campaigns and even modding support!

Be sure to check it out, there’s no better time to discover our inspiration.

Until Next Time Underlord,

- Brightrock Games


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Darkest Greetings Underlord,

We have a couple of short, almost businessy, announcements for you today, first a long requested service becoming available at last and second some updates regarding War for the Overworld’s regional pricing which may see the price of the game increase to parity with Steam’s recommendations in some regions.


As of this week and by popular request, War for the Overworld is finally available on Geforce Now!

Geforce now is a cloud gaming platform that allows players to connect to their accounts with various PC storefronts (including Steam) and stream games that they own straight from Nvidia's servers to any compatible device!

With WFTO being added to the lineup of games available on the service you can now build your dungeons practically anywhere you can think of without needing to carry your PC with you.

We’ve heard from the people who’ve been playing this week that it handles very well and that it works great. So if you’re a Geforce Now member then be sure to check it out!

Way, way back in 2017 we posted an update on War for the Overworld’s regional pricing in the name of transparency, we even accidentally leaked news of the upcoming addition of the Australian dollar! Whoops!

Today we’re returning to the topic and updating our regional prices once more and we wanted to be as transparent as possible of what this process is and how it affects you.

[h2]What is happening?[/h2]
For those uninitiated, pricing on Steam is based on the USD price for any game, set by the developer and advised by Valve. The myriad of other currencies that Steam also supports are also set on the developer side and again are advised by Valve on the basis of the purchasing power of said regions vs USD.

Back in 2017 we opted to align all regions to the advised pricing given to us by Valve with a critical exception, we chose to forego any changes that would increase the price of the game in any given region.

Today we have reached a point where we must again revisit our regional pricing, this time to align it fully with Valve’s recommendations, which means many currencies will see the price of the base game and expansions increase (along with a small handful of decreases for DLC pricing in some regions). For full clarity: The base USD price is not changing, only pricing in other currencies.

Affected Currencies:

• GB Pounds (£) - 22.99 -> 24.99
  
• Euros (€) - 27.99 -> 28.99
  
• Russian Rubles (pуб) - 499 -> 1,100
  
• Brazillian Reals (R$) - 55.99 -> 88.99
  
• Japanese Yen (¥) - 2,980 -> 3,400
  
• Indonesian Rupiah (Rp) - 139,999 -> 245,999
  
• Malaysian Ringgit (RM) - 51.00 -> 72.00
  
• Philippine Peso (P) - 649.95 -> 910.00
  
• Thai Baht (฿) - 379 -> 590
  
• Vietnamese Dong (₫) - 249,998 -> 385,000
  
• Korean Won (₩) - 31,000 -> 32,000
  
• Turkish Lira (TL) - 49 -> 280
  
• Ukranian Hryvnia (₴) - 379 -> 600
  
• Mexican Peso (Mex$) - 269.99 -> 334.99
  
• Canadian Dollar (CDN$) - 32.99 -> 38.99
  
• Australian Dollar (A$) - 42.95 -> 43.95
  
• New Zealand Dollar (NZ$) - $35.99 -> 43.59
  
• Norwegian Krone (kr) - 200 -> 335
  
• Polish Zloty (zł) - 107.99 -> 138.99
  
• Swiss Francs (CHF) - 29 -> 33.50
  
• Chinese Yuan (¥) - 88 -> 108
  
• Indian Rupee (₹) - 699 -> 1300
  
• Chilean Peso (CLP$) - 11,500 -> 15,500
  
• Peruvian Sol (S/.) - 53 -> 63
  
• Colombian Peso (COL$) - 39,500 -> 70,000
  
• South Afriacan Rand (R) - 175 -> 270
  
• Hong Kong Dollar (HK$) - 129 -> 187
  
• Taiwanese Dollar (NT$) - 438 -> 488
  
• Saudi Arabian Riyal (SR) - 46.95 -> 61.49
  
• Argentine Peso (ARS$) - 329.99 -> 2,100.00
  
• Kazakhstani Tenge (₸) - 3,900 -> 7,600
  
• Qatari Rial (QR) - 59.99 - 64.99
  
• Uruguayan Peso ($U) - 619 -> 885
  

[h2]Why is this happening?[/h2]
The root of this is changes to Steam’s minimum price thresholds that Valve put into place last month, and the recommended pricing changes published in October 2022.

War for the Overworld’s pricing in several regions has now become so divergent from Steam’s recommendations that in some cases, where markets have shifted substantially, there’s quite a substantial gap between the recommendation and the prices we have listed.

While this isn’t necessarily a big issue on the face of it, the price has dropped so low in some regions (vs USD pricing) that we can no longer discount certain products without locking some regions out of being able to buy that content at all.

It also goes without saying that WFTO is still our only released product (at least until Galacticare releases next year!) and it represents the only income stream we have, and we believe that both the game and expansions are priced very fairly - especially as we regularly run fairly deep discounts.

But in many regions this fair price is not accurately reflected, accounting for changes in markets, inflation, and purchasing power since the prices were originally set in 2015. This means that the price is “fair” in some regions and “more fair” in others.

Therefore in respect to wanting to be fair to both ourselves and our customers and to resolve the issue with not being able to offer discounts on some products we have decided the best course of action is to apply Steam’s recommendations across the board.

Of course we know that some of these swings may look quite extreme, but this is because we have maintained the price at parity with 2015 levels for so long (and refused to increase any pricing in 2017).

Edit (15/09/2023) - We wanted to confirm that we will be reviewing these prices more regularly going forwards following these increases, we'll be looking to Valve's recommendations for decreases to help allay some of these as the global market settles.

Edit (17/09/2023) - We're continuing to engage in the discussions for this topic to provide additional explanation and context on the why and how of this. If you'd like to know more be sure to check out some of our posts.

We hope that clarifies why we’ve taken this decision and we apologize for any disruption caused to those of you who shop in the affected currencies.

[h2]Final Words[/h2]
If there’s anything you still want to buy and these pricing changes affect you then rest assured that the game and its DLC will be on sale again in the near future. Steam’s policy wisely prevents games going on sale for 30 days after a price adjustment, but we will be placing it on sale as soon as possible.

Finally, as we’re sure this question will be asked, for the time being we are not planning adjustments to the base game price, as mentioned above we still feel the game is fairly priced as our only revenue stream and this is especially so when it is on sale!

Hopefully that clarifies everything there is to know about the regional pricing update! If you have any questions please feel free to comment!


Finally as we’re here and given recent events some of you may be wondering about our relationship with Unity and how their announced changes may impact us, WFTO and Galacticare.

Our official statement went out on our socials a few hours before this post:



The impact of these changes from Unity’s side cannot be overstated, this is going to severely impact many developers who rely upon the engine for their work. It is unlikely that we will be working with Unity for the future after the release of Galacticare even if this requires significant retooling and retraining on our part.

It is not that we are opposed to paying a fair fee for the tools we use, we have been paying significant sums for Unity for the majority of our 12 years in partnership with them. But the way this is being leveraged and the failure to consider the potential risks and edge-cases in their chosen model while ignoring the concerns of the partners means we can no longer see a future with them.

We hope that our customers will continue to support the developers of games you love that have brought great experiences to you via the Unity Engine for the last decade. Many studios will be in a similar position to us and will be carefully considering their options on the road ahead.

Update 15/09/2023 - Just a small clarification that this new policy from Unity does not currently directly impact War for the Overworld in its current state, because it would fall below Unity's yearly revenue requirements. So there's no impact here for WFTO. WFTO is not going anywhere.

We are simply stating our displeasure and our intentions to move away from Unity for future projects, as stated it's not a matter of not being willing to pay a fair price, it's the principle that Unity would foist this massive change in fees upon developers and apply it retroactively to old projects, running massively deprecated versions of Unity, despite assurances this kind of thing would never happen.

It's not the idea, though the exact implementation is poorly thought out and full of holes, it's the principle that Unity is not a trust worthy partner anymore, which is deeply, deeply upsetting.

Until Next Time Underlord,

- Brightrock Games


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Darkest Greetings Underlord,

Cast through the aether news of a grand festival has reached the ears of our eager cultists. Simfest 2023 is on and our friends at Auroch Digital have extended us an invitation. Naturally we would be remiss not to involve ourselves and spread the evil word of the dozens of fine sim games which you can find one Steam!


Click to discover more games in the Simfest!

Speaking of simulation games don't forget to check out our latest game, Galacticare which will be releasing soon!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/494730/Galacticare/

Until next time Underlord,

Brightrock Games

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