Beta 14.9.14 Test - Combat and Skills
This is a big update with a lot of screenshots and gifs, so buckle up! :)
Today's update includes the big update to combat and skills. It also includes the Trading System
The controls for basic combat remain the same, but there are some updates and changes of note.
The hit particle is now larger and higher up on the monster to be more noticeable.
There is also a slight camera shake and some new sound effects for when you hit monsters.
Speaking of getting hit, I've made it more obvious when you get hit as well. A more noticeable camera shake, a bigger particle, and a better sound.
A Goblin Mage casts an attack buff. Note the Goblin Grunt's healthbar now has an indicator to let me know he's got the buff.
Hit by a Goblin with an attack buff. Note that the hit particle matches the buff effect that the Goblin had. And of course the damage is higher! A good reminder to be more careful with this one. The Goblin mage is powering up his lighting attack, which you'll notice is now much larger than the current effect. The camera shake is a bit bigger as well.
These next two shots show the defense buff spell. In the second shot, the defensive buff effect appears on the Goblin to remind me that, while he did take some damage, his protection lowered it.
So now that monsters can do more, it's only fair that you can too! The new attacks, Lightning, Confuse, and Shield Break are in this update as well!
The four active attacks (Power Attack plus the three mentioned above) are now activated using a menu. When you press the Special Attack key (default R on keyboard, middle mouse button, and B on XBOX controller) you get presented with the UI. When this UI is open, time is slowed down a lot, giving you opportunity to make your choice.
In the above shot all four skills are available since I have learned all of them. However this won't normally be the case as the skill also has to be valid to appear. So for example, if you open the Special Attack UI and a monster is not actively blocking, then the Shield Break icon wouldn't appear. Likewise if your target doesn't have a buff, then Confuse Attack Icon wouldn't appear.
You make your special attack choice with either WASD, the arrow keys, or D-pad on controller.
So what do you do when a Goblin is blocking your attacks with his shield? Take it away from him with the Shield Break attack of course!
Here, this monster has a buff. So when I open my special attack UI, the confuse skill is available.
Hit with the confuse attack, the Goblin loses his buff and is stunned.
And the lightning attack with special guest appearance from one of the new monsters - the Deep Dweller Grunts.
Every special attack has it's own effect and sound to go with it. If you don't have enough stamina to perform a special attack, the menu will not open, and the area around the stamina bar will blink red.
With this update, I wanted combat to be more interesting and give you some more choices, without building something super hardcore or punishing. I'm still balancing some things, especially stamina use, so expect another update or two as I test more.
But there's more! Many other skills have been improved with effects and sounds - replacing the current, flat flying text that I never really liked anyway. These effects also use the same icon as the skill to help reinforce what's happening.
Killing a Goblin and the Killing Blow skill activates, regens my stamina and special attack cooldown!
A goblin reduces me to zero hitpoints, but Second Wind activates and I'm back with 30% of my health!
Opening a treasure chest and the Luck skill activates!
And opening another chest, this time Riches activates!
My goal is to make more of these effects for the other skills, such as Lumberjack, Nimble, and any others that have a chance to activate.
This update also includes the activation of the Trading System. After completing the Stronghold quest you'll get a new quest to build a Trading Post. Once built, one of your friends from the Stronghold will join your town and automatically take on the job as Trader.
New goods arrive for trade every day in the morning when the lanterns in the town turn off. I'll also be adding an alert to let you know when they have arrived.
If you made it this far, I hope this update seems exciting to you. I had a blast developing all of this stuff! If you want to check out the new combat, skills, and more - grab the test build!
1. In the Steam Client Library where it lists all of your games, right click on HammerHelm
2. Click Preferences
3. In the window that opens, select the "Betas" Tab
4. Enter the password to download this build - StoryTest2021 - and click Check Code
5. You should get a message that the code is correct
6. Click the drop-down box and select BigUpdateTest
Steam should immediately start a new download with the test client. The new game should be called "HammerHelm [bigupdatetest]". Once the download is complete you can launch the game and you should see "14.9.14" in the title screen.
VERY IMPORTANT - make a new character so you can get skill points in the new system - don't use an existing save with this update.
To get back to the main build:
1. In the Steam Client Library where it lists all of your games, right click on HammerHelm
2. Click Preferences
3. In the window that opens, select the "Betas" Tab
4. Choose “None” from the drop down
5. Steam should then revert back to the main client
With this build, the loin's share of the big gameplay updates I wanted to make before the 1.0 release is done. Still have some minor tweaks and other updates that aren't tied to gameplay directly that I want to get in as well as some more optimizations. More news to follow as things progress!
-Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna
[email protected]
Today's update includes the big update to combat and skills. It also includes the Trading System
Basic Combat
The controls for basic combat remain the same, but there are some updates and changes of note.
The hit particle is now larger and higher up on the monster to be more noticeable.
There is also a slight camera shake and some new sound effects for when you hit monsters.
Speaking of getting hit, I've made it more obvious when you get hit as well. A more noticeable camera shake, a bigger particle, and a better sound.
Monster Attacks
Monsters have also learned some new tricks. Including spellcasters giving buffs to their allies and monsters blocking attack with shields. Some enemies can even buff themselves, without the need for a mage. There are ways to counter these abilities that I'll talk about in the Special Attacks section. When a monster gets a buff you will see an effect play on them and an icon is added to their healthbar.A Goblin Mage casts an attack buff. Note the Goblin Grunt's healthbar now has an indicator to let me know he's got the buff.
Hit by a Goblin with an attack buff. Note that the hit particle matches the buff effect that the Goblin had. And of course the damage is higher! A good reminder to be more careful with this one. The Goblin mage is powering up his lighting attack, which you'll notice is now much larger than the current effect. The camera shake is a bit bigger as well.
These next two shots show the defense buff spell. In the second shot, the defensive buff effect appears on the Goblin to remind me that, while he did take some damage, his protection lowered it.
Special Attacks
So now that monsters can do more, it's only fair that you can too! The new attacks, Lightning, Confuse, and Shield Break are in this update as well!
The four active attacks (Power Attack plus the three mentioned above) are now activated using a menu. When you press the Special Attack key (default R on keyboard, middle mouse button, and B on XBOX controller) you get presented with the UI. When this UI is open, time is slowed down a lot, giving you opportunity to make your choice.
In the above shot all four skills are available since I have learned all of them. However this won't normally be the case as the skill also has to be valid to appear. So for example, if you open the Special Attack UI and a monster is not actively blocking, then the Shield Break icon wouldn't appear. Likewise if your target doesn't have a buff, then Confuse Attack Icon wouldn't appear.
You make your special attack choice with either WASD, the arrow keys, or D-pad on controller.
So what do you do when a Goblin is blocking your attacks with his shield? Take it away from him with the Shield Break attack of course!
Here, this monster has a buff. So when I open my special attack UI, the confuse skill is available.
Hit with the confuse attack, the Goblin loses his buff and is stunned.
And the lightning attack with special guest appearance from one of the new monsters - the Deep Dweller Grunts.
Every special attack has it's own effect and sound to go with it. If you don't have enough stamina to perform a special attack, the menu will not open, and the area around the stamina bar will blink red.
With this update, I wanted combat to be more interesting and give you some more choices, without building something super hardcore or punishing. I'm still balancing some things, especially stamina use, so expect another update or two as I test more.
Other Skills
But there's more! Many other skills have been improved with effects and sounds - replacing the current, flat flying text that I never really liked anyway. These effects also use the same icon as the skill to help reinforce what's happening.
Killing a Goblin and the Killing Blow skill activates, regens my stamina and special attack cooldown!
A goblin reduces me to zero hitpoints, but Second Wind activates and I'm back with 30% of my health!
Opening a treasure chest and the Luck skill activates!
And opening another chest, this time Riches activates!
My goal is to make more of these effects for the other skills, such as Lumberjack, Nimble, and any others that have a chance to activate.
Trading
This update also includes the activation of the Trading System. After completing the Stronghold quest you'll get a new quest to build a Trading Post. Once built, one of your friends from the Stronghold will join your town and automatically take on the job as Trader.
New goods arrive for trade every day in the morning when the lanterns in the town turn off. I'll also be adding an alert to let you know when they have arrived.
If you made it this far, I hope this update seems exciting to you. I had a blast developing all of this stuff! If you want to check out the new combat, skills, and more - grab the test build!
1. In the Steam Client Library where it lists all of your games, right click on HammerHelm
2. Click Preferences
3. In the window that opens, select the "Betas" Tab
4. Enter the password to download this build - StoryTest2021 - and click Check Code
5. You should get a message that the code is correct
6. Click the drop-down box and select BigUpdateTest
Steam should immediately start a new download with the test client. The new game should be called "HammerHelm [bigupdatetest]". Once the download is complete you can launch the game and you should see "14.9.14" in the title screen.
VERY IMPORTANT - make a new character so you can get skill points in the new system - don't use an existing save with this update.
To get back to the main build:
1. In the Steam Client Library where it lists all of your games, right click on HammerHelm
2. Click Preferences
3. In the window that opens, select the "Betas" Tab
4. Choose “None” from the drop down
5. Steam should then revert back to the main client
With this build, the loin's share of the big gameplay updates I wanted to make before the 1.0 release is done. Still have some minor tweaks and other updates that aren't tied to gameplay directly that I want to get in as well as some more optimizations. More news to follow as things progress!
-Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna
[email protected]
- My Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuperSixStudios
- Discord Channel: discord.gg/soedesco