DEV LOG 100 — ONSLAUGHT PARRRRRTY!

Ahoy there, DefendARRRRs!

In this Dev Log, we be talking about some changes to Onslaught and Party Controls that ye’ve been requestin, and we’re here to deliver. These changes are meant to improve the game mode, allowing many of you to set sail on adventure without having to sink a ton of time into each play session if ye’re not able to. Also greater control over who’s in ye’r ranks and leadin’ ye’r crew, alongside making it easier to interact between one another. Let’s dive in!



First off, Dev Log 100, wuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut! There’s a lot still to talk about, but being our 100th Dev Log, I thought it would be best that we talk about and confirm changes to a system many of you have requested. Onslaught is getting a round of polish with extra elbow grease to become more accessible for players and also bring some additional difficulty. The party improvements are also something that many of you gave a ton of great feedback on, so these changes should make being in a party not only feel a lot better, but also be easier to get into.

There’s a ton more coming that we cannot wait to share with you! We’ve been hard at work creating new maps for you to defend, new enemies to take on, new weapons to strengthen your arsenal, and so much more. To quote a Jose you may or may not know, it’s “coming sooner than you think”. Unless you think it’s tomorrow and a little bit of time after tomorrow, then that quote doesn’t apply here.

X Marks The Heart,
Lawlta



Ahoy Defenders!

I’m here to talk improvements to the party system and a few things that are to come.

1. Seamless Invite System - Party invites in the live game are jarring. When you receive one, it stops you dead, it removes all movement control from your character, and the popup covers the majority of your screen. The only way to make the popup go away is to accept or decline the invitation to the party. With the new party system, these gameplay intrusions will be eliminated. Receiving an invite to a party will no longer stop you dead. Instead, you will receive an unobtrusive notification at the bottom of your screen informing you who invited you to the party with the option to accept or decline the offer. You will fully retain control of movement while this invite is pending, and your view of Etheria will not be occluded.
   
   
2. Vicinity Targeting - The way you initiate any social interaction in DD2 is by opening the player list, selecting the name of the person you wish to interact with, and then selecting how you’d like to interact with them. This is a good system if you already know the name of the person you wish to interact with, but it is not the best facilitator of organic interactions with people you serendipitously meet. For instance, let’s say you see someone run by with a sweet sweet costume, and decide that you want to make that person a part of your stylish crew. You’re standing right next to this player, but you can’t invite them to a party directly; you’ll to figure out their name, open the player list menu, find them, and then send them an invite. To make it easier and more organic to interact with others, we will be introducing vicinity targeting. What does it mean? It means that you can walk right up to someone and interact with them directly. You won’t have to open full-screen menus to invite people a party, kick people from a party, promote them to party leader (more on that), or view their shops. You will remain fully engrossed in the world of Etheria while you perform these interactions via vicinity targeting; you will retain full degree of movement control.
   
   
3. Player List User Experience - If you prefer the classic way of interacting with others then you’re still in luck! The player list has been refined to give a far smoother experience when interacting with others.
   
   
4. A Party Structure That Makes Sense - As I’m sure you all have noticed, some funkiness can happen with parties in the live game which really upsets expectations. One of my biggest annoyances with the current system is having the party leader change randomly when you load into a new map. Frustrating! It's time to bring some order to the party chaos that can happen in the live game, and we plan to do this by implementing the following:
   
   
   • The person who sends the first invitation to party up becomes the party leader.
     
   • The party leader REMAINS the leader until they either leave the party or they choose to promote someone.
     
   • The party leader will be able to promote other members to their position if they no longer wish to lead.
     
   • All party members can invite someone to join a party, but only the party leader can kick from a party.
     
   • Only the party leader can choose where players matchmake to.

There are more changes coming too. Stay tuned!

Thinking of you,
Mark



Hey everyone,

We have heard your voice loud and clear, and we are making several improvements to Onslaught. Sit tight and get ready.

1. Floors will have only 1 map each. This was by far the largest concern that you had with the game mode. It took too long to complete a map, and a single failure led to having to play the entire floor again. Worry no longer, in the update a single victory is required to move forward.
   
2. Moar maps. Currently, the selection of maps in late game Onslaught is quite large, but not complete. With the newest changes we are introducing, all the maps will be available at all points in the Onslaught progression, late and early ;).
   
3. Faster progression. The difficulty increases were happening only little by little in each floor, which made the process of playing through Onslaught much slower than in Expeditions. Not anymore; now the jumps in difficulty (and rewards) happen much faster, and the number of floors that will take you to Chaos 7 strength have been reduced. This increased in difficulty per floor has also been carried to beyond the Chaos 7 floors, so reaching floor 999 will be an greater challenge than before.
   
4. More and better Prestigious weapons. Lawlta told me I can’t talk about AP yet, but I will try to spill this small bean here, as it’s related to the Onslaught climb. In addition to receiving a Prestigious Weapon when you trigger Ancient Power, now you will receive one every 10 floors when playing Onslaught (every 20 after floor 100). In addition, all new Prestigious Weapons will come at least at quality 5/10, and will have an increased chance of spawning at higher quality as well. These awards will also reset when you go through Ancient Power, giving you a chance of more weapons.
   
5. New post C7 difficulty schedules. Starting around the end of the chaos 7 floors, we will now start introducing new schedules of enemies at increased difficulty. To note, these schedules will not contain new enemies, but the same ones you are familiar at an increased difficulty and numbers.
   
6. Omega Waves. Last stream I promised Omega Waves in Onslaught, and people did not believe my words. Now, I can actually confirm Omega Waves may or may not, in fact, be coming to Onslaught.

You are probably wondering: what’s going to happen with my progression? Well the answer is very simple. When making the transition between the old to the new, we will check what floor you were playing previously, and set you at a floor with the closest difficulty to it under the new system.

For example, if Gobu was playing at Floor 80, now they will be placed around floor 35, since both are comparable in difficulty. This will also be true to the rewards tied to specific floor numbers, like 114, so while the climb to get there will be shortened, the difficulty of those maps will remain consistent.

One final feature that I’m happy to introduce is a new Replay system. Currently, when failing a map you have to start all over again, regardless of game mode or difficulty. Now, if you fail a map the game will allow you to go back to the wave where you failed, and retry from there with the defenses you had already placed in the map.

Having to build the whole map again after failing was something we always wanted to address, and now you can just simply adjust whatever defense cause you to lose and keep moving forward =).

That’s not all! The Replay feature will also be supported by a new Performance Optimization System. When loading the map again after trigger the replay, we will place several indicators on the towers that caused you to lose. All towers destroyed will have a handy Danger Indicator (!) to show that they fell. For towers that didn’t do much in combat, a Warning Indicator (?)will get your attention to reevaluate their placement, or equip better relics on them.

That’s it for now. Next time I will tell you more details about the changes to AP, which there are many. But let me tell you about these new Pirate MODS, they are great, they are awesome, and they are also great. The first one, currently named Set Sail, which turns you into a █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ , and then you can █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ , which allows you to █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ . The second one █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ .

Oof… I'm excited for these new Mods. Be sure to tune in for next Friday’s stream, where I may or may not answer your questions in the most ambiguous fashion possible.

Love you,
Jose



Hi.

Cordially Yours,
Ice


We're also looking to expand our tester pool once again. Our testers get the chance to try out our still-in development work, in exchange for some cool stuff as a thanks. They help us with balance, feedback and bugs and their contributions to our releases are very valuable.

We have two teams, RQA - our daily bug hunters (for folks with lots of free time each day), and RPG - our larger team for balance and feedback (for folks with limited free time).

If you are interested, drop me an email at dani.moore trendyent (dot) com and ask. I'm happy to provide more information on both teams to see what best suits. A big thanks to everyone involved in the Update and the heaps of work and sweat that went into it all.


Nothing, that’s it, no more news. No need to keep reading. Except wait, there’s a ton more coming that we’ll be talking about in our next Dev Log! This update is crazy big, bringing in some salty content for you landlubbers. Here’s what you can expect to see:

• AP improvements
  
• New Maps!
  
• New Enemies!
  
• New Weapons!
  
• New Mods!
  
• New Incursion!
  
• New Flair!
  
• More New Stuff!

We’re always listening to your feedback, and a lot of you do a great job of making sure it’s constructive and provide plenty of great ideas. Keep it up, we love reading it and it helps us mold Dungeon Defenders II into a better game.

To get reliable updates on what’s to come, be sure to check out our social platforms for the latest juiciest beans to be spilled:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Discord
• Twitch

The entire team has had a blast making this content, we cannot wait for all of you to get your hands on our next update. Stay tuned for more info soon!

For Etheria!

The Dungeon Defenders II Team