Airships: Conquer the Skies News

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

A few days ago, I challenged Stuff+ to fight a new monster I created: The Shellwalker, a biomechanical monstrosity with a nearly impenetrable bone shield. I set him the challenge to defeat it using a fleet worth no more than $2000, because that's the amount I needed. Yesterday, he posted a video of him defeating it, and so today, you all get the Shellwalker to play with - as a monster in conquest mode, or by trying the same challenge mission Stuff+ got. Notably, his method is very different from what I used. So enjoy this creepy new enemy, and happy Hallowe'en!

Have you ever wanted to worship the monstrous Worm Eye? Penetrate the mysteries of life and death? Summon your own undead Kraken? Well, now’s your chance. Select the Worm Eye as your heraldic symbol and get access to a whole new part of the tech tree that lets you recruit cultists and shape your cult.

To try it out, start a new conquest game and make a coat of arms that uses the Worm Eye.



Unlike other heraldic symbols, the Worm Eye doesn’t give you any immediate advantages, but it unlocks a new strand of the tech tree. There, you can develop your cult and delve into unhallowed mysteries.



At the first level - unlocked if you’re playing on at the default starting tech level - you gain the ability to crew your ships and buildings with cultists. They’re not quite as fast and effective as real sailors, but their fanatic devotion means that they can endure even worse living conditions, so you get more of them, and they’re cheaper, too.



At the second level, you can choose the form of your cult. Does it try to spread its beliefs, or is it a secret cult? In the former case, sympathizers in other cities make your spy actions more likely to succeed. In the latter, your cult’s closed nature makes enemy espionage harder. (Oh, by the way, I fixed up and rebalanced spy actions for this update.)



At the third level, another choice: Does your cult appeal to the masses, or does it court the already wealthy and powerful? Do you want even cheaper crew, or increased industrial production?



At the fourth level, your cult starts investigating deeper mysteries, blurring the line between life and death. Your sickbays can now bring dead crew back to life.



Finally, at the fifth level, you use your necromantic knowledge to resurrect and control the carcass of a giant aerial kraken. The resulting beast is rather ponderous, but very hard to kill, and its partially decayed tentacles do massive damage especially to buildings.



All this is now available in the newest Airships: Conquer the Skies update. Currently 30% off. Merry spookmas.

In honour of the season, I have supplied YouTuber Stuff+, who introduced many of you to Airships, with a new monster.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

The Shellwalker, a biomechanical abomination. Once he is able to defeat it, I will add it to the game for everyone to, uh, enjoy.

The newest update introduces the first beam weapon to the game - a Suspendium Ray, firing charged particles. It's accurate, flexible, and fairly powerful, but also bulky.



There's also a new set of AI ship designs that specialize in those ray guns.

For modders, this means you can finally make beam-type weapons, including various options for beam dynamics, custom beam textures, and so on. As always, feel free to ask me for details on how to set this up.

Work on the big diplomacy/conquest/multiplayer update is ongoing.

The newest update to macOS, Catalina, introduces a number of new requirements for applications. It's taken a little while, but I've now released an update for Airships that should be compatible with Catalina.

If you encounter any issues, please do get in touch.

Addendum: Steam mods should work once again now. Also, if you want to read a long blog post about the Catalina stuff and how to make your own game run on Macs now, here you go.