Dungeon Deathball News

Welcome to the first update of 2021! Apologies for the lack of updates. Before the Christmas break I worked on a little retro FPS for a game jam. Check it out!

This Dungeon Deathball update features 2 significant new perks which let you tackle your opponents in new ways. It also introduces the Slam Lad (a tougher version of the basic Mad Lad enemy, who can charge over short distances) and some big improvements to general interface clarity.



Above: The Needle perk lets you attack a row of enemies at the same time. 💪

[h3]🆕 Added[/h3]

• Slam Lad enemy.
  
• Bulldozer perk (charge attack).
  
• Needle perk (piercing attack).
  
• Energise perk (stamina auto-recovery).
  
• Stamina/AP cost tooltips appear when you highlight commands.
  
• Detailed Attack stats when you preview attacks against enemies.
  
• Hovering over the Rest button now shows how much Stamina you will recover.
  
• 'Fast Mode'. Enable this in the Options menu to skip animations for enemies and traps when their intended target has moved out of the way.
  
• 'Pixel Filter' option. Disable this in the Options menu to turn off the low-resolution 'retro' effect.
  
• You can now move the cursor around the entire field using only the keyboard/controller directional buttons.

[h3]🔁 Changed[/h3]

• Revamped enemy info popups to be more clear, with icons and colour-coding.
  
• Spike traps now deal 7 damage (raised from 5).
  
• Ball command buttons (Pass/Shoot) remain visible but with red text, even when unavailable, so you can preview their stamina costs and see why they're not available.
  
• Enemy health bars are slimmer to use less screen space.
  
• Enemy act order no longer appears when you're hovering the cursor over them.
  
• Enemy attacks are no longer previewed until you hover the cursor over them.
  
• Camera is zoomed out slightly further during stages.
  
• Attack cameras now cut straight to their target instead of zooming in.
  
• Command prompt ("Confirm/Cancel") now appears instantly.
  
• "Knockback" is referred to as "Push".
  
• Floor tile interaction markers are now more visible and they pulse.
  
• Currently-selected tile has a 3D 'floating squares' cursor instead of 1 flat white square.
  
• "Shoot" icon changed to an arrow pointing right instead of up.
  
• 'Damage/Kill' icons now animate briefly when they first appear.
  
• Perks now use a single yellow icon for all tiers, with an additional 3-bar icon to indicate the tier.

[h3]🐛 Fixed[/h3]

• Snaptors no longer try to move across tiles that other enemies intend to occupy.
  
• Snaptors no longer move behind the goal line (they now have the same behaviour as other enemies).
  
• All actions now correctly calculate their Stamina/AP costs with certain perk/ball setups.
  
• "Pass" button is no longer hidden while the "Ball" head remains active.

Enjoy!

Matt

[h3]⚠ Warning: Your save data will be reset in this update.[/h3]

Have you been wondering what to do with all that gold you've been accumulating in each run?

Well wonder no more!



The new team management screen allows you to put it to good use.

This screen appears at the end of every stage and gives you an opportunity to spend gold to upgrade your players' stats. If any of your players were killed in action, you can now replace them here too.

🏋️‍♀️ Stamina: increases a player's maximum number of stamina points.
💪 Strength: increases the damage dealt by their attacks.
⭐ Perks: Upgrading Perks gives the same bonuses as before, but now you have the option to spend that gold in other places instead, focus your gold on one particular player, or find new strategies.

You can't unlock all the upgrades in a single run, so choose carefully!

[h3]🆕 Changes[/h3]

• Added Team Management screen to the end of every stage. Here you can upgrade players and recruit new ones if you lost any.
  
• You can now spend gold to upgrade your players' Max. Stamina and Attack Strength.
  
• New recruits' perks are now always Level 0, but can be upgraded instantly if you have gold.
  
• Updated 'How to Play' screens with new info.
  
• Wandering (green) enemies no longer spawn in Trial 4.
  
• Savage enemies now have 8 HP (previously 7).
  
• Hunter enemies now have 10 HP (previously 7).
  
• Brutoliths now have 20 HP (previously 10).
  
• "Strength" perk is now called "Haymaker".
  
• "Stamina" perk is now called "Vitality".
  
• Removed level 4 KO perk. Too powerful!
  
• Stage results screen now shows sub-headers giving some context to the score breakdown.

[h3]🐛 Bug Fixes[/h3]

• Vitality (Stamina) perk is no longer cancelled out by the cost of carrying the ball.
  
• Help popups now show the correct damage values when previewing Attack.
  
• Help popups now show the correct stun values for when previewing Shoot command.
  
• You can now skip the title sequence and trial intros using keyboards or gamepads.

Enjoy!

Matt

[h2]🆕 Changes[/h2]

• Enemy intention markers no longer animate between actions (they now animate only at the start of player turn).
  
• Final results screen now displays the current game mode and, if you're playing Daily Challenge, it also displays the date.
  
• Player info panels (top-left) are now more visually distinct to make it more clear which player is selected. Also added some animation when you switch players.
  

[h2]🐛 Bug Fixes[/h2]

• Snaptors no longer step on to spikes. 🙃
  
• 'Knockback preview ghosts' now face the same direction as the actual character.
  
• Enemy intention markers now update between each action during enemy turn.
  
• Hovering mouse over an unselected player's tile now shows the correct Perk information in the help popup.
  
• Hovering mosue over player info panels during the enemy's turn no longer shows the confirmation prompt.
  
• Fixed double-space in final screen "[NAME] SURVIVED" text.
  
• Fixed Redhorn's dust particles failing to appear part-way through a charge attack.
  

[h2]New Score & Ranking System[/h2]

This update features an all-new scoring system. When you complete a stage you will now receive:

1. Score
   
2. Rank
   
3. Gold

These are all based on your performance, which is measured by the same 3 metrics as before (reach the goal, score a touchdown and finish within par).

You'll also get some score bonuses for additional actions, such as finishing even more quickly or collecting...

[h2]Gems[/h2]


You find these dotted across every stage. Collect them for score bonuses.

[h2]Final Results[/h2]

The ending screen now shows a full breakdown of your scores and ranks, stage-by-stage. Be sure to share screenshots of your best runs in the Steam Community. 😉

[h2]New Leaderboard[/h2]
This update involved some big changes to the way scoring works, and it's now harder to get the kinds of scores players were achieving in older versions of the game.

Therefore, I decided to create a new leaderboard for all scores going forward.

However, I didn't want to simply wipe all the old scores (you worked hard for them!) so I've preserved them in the Steam Leaderboards. You can find them here.



Well done, WanderingHero, you'll have your high score forever preserved in the archive!

Everyone else: now's your chance to claim that new number 1 spot!

Here's the full list of changes in update 0.19...

[h3]🆕 Changes[/h3]

• 3-Star rating system replaced with numeric Score system.
  
• Created new Steam leaderboard to account for drastically different final scores (the old one is still visible in the Steam Community).
  
• Added Gold system - earn gold based on your performance. Use it to recruit new players. (More things to buy with gold coming soon!)
  
• Added Rank system - you'll get a rank (S/A/B/C/F) based on your performance, for bragging rights.
  
• Added Gems to each stage. Collect them for score bonuses.
  
• Stage Results screen now shows a breakdown of your score, gold and rank.
  
• Ending screen now shows a breakdown of your score and rank on each stage.
  
• Your lifetime High Score is now recorded.
  
• You no longer have points deducted for deaths or taking too long on a stage.
  
• Perk upgrades and player recruitment uses temporary new prices so they work with the new systems. These will be replaced with another new upgrade system soon.
  
• The finish line now has a checkerboard pattern.

[h3]🐛 Bug Fixes[/h3]

• Fixed issue where the Ball would move from the wrong position if you used Shoot after moving in the same turn.

Enjoy!

Matt

Hey hey Deathballers!

I hope you've been enjoying the new Daily Challenge mode. I'm back this week with some more new deadly dangers to populate the dungeon, and a significant change to the way the Rest ability works.



[h2]👹 4 New Monsters[/h2]
[h3]Potted Gob[/h3]
A man-eating pot plant. It can't move, but its bite packs a real punch. Keep it at arm's reach or simply push their pot away in a condescending manner.
[h3]Rooted Gob[/h3]
Like its potted counterpart, but rooted into the ground so it can't be pushed. This Gob is free to grow larger in the soil, which means it can reach further with its bite. Best avoided.



[h3]Hunter Mad Lad[/h3]
The Hunter variety is a new 'movement behaviour' for your opponents. Monsters with this behaviour will chase after the nearest player. You can identify them by their teal colour instead of the usual green or orange.
[h3]Brutolith[/h3]
A terrifying new super-enemy that shows up in Trial 4. It hunts down players and lunges at them when it gets close. What does the Brutolith look like? You'll have to make it to Trial 4 to find out... but you might not live to tell the tale. 💀

[h2]😴 Resting no longer uses up all your AP[/h2]
NOTE: This change is somewhat experimental, so I welcome your feedback.

When you use the Rest ability you will now only consume 1 AP (instead of all your AP). Several players rightly pointed out that it really sucks to run out of Stamina and be forced to rest on a turn that results in death.

Now, you can Rest using your first action point, then move out of harm's way with your second.

To balance this out, Resting now only replenishes 6 Stamina instead of the full 9, and the Powernap perk has been changed to boost that number instead of granting a free rest as it used to do.

[h2]🔪 Spikes[/h2]
Wuh-oh!

These deadly daggers marks the introduction of traps, something I've wanted to add for a long time. I intend to add several more types of trap, which may eventually be unique to each different Trial. But for now, you'll see spikey death tiles randomly appear in most stages.

Traps do their thing after your player turn, before monsters take their turn. Anything standing on a spike trap in this time will be skewered.



Here's the full list of changes in update 0.18...

[h3]🆕 Changes[/h3]

• Added Potted Gob monster.
  
• Added Rooted Gob monster.
  
• Added Brutolith monster.
  
• Added player-chasing monster behaviour for new Hunter Mad Lads.
  
• Resting only uses 1 AP instead of all remaining AP.
  
• Resting only restores 6 stamina instead of fully replenishing it.
  
• Power Nap perk now boosts how much stamina is restored when you rest instead of causing resting to use 1 AP.
  
• Added Floor Spikes traps which can randomly appear in all stages.
  
• Goalies now track the Ball and try to block it from entering the goal.
  
• Goalies health reduced to 3 from 5.
  
• Non-goalie monsters no longer move behind the goal line.
  
• Player help popup now appears instantly instead of animating from left.
  
• Improved dust particles when characters move.
  
• Improved star particles when characters die.

[h3]🐛 Bug Fixes[/h3]

• Fixed AI quirk where Savage monsters would sometimes step away from the Ball if a direct path was blocked.
  
• Fixed issues with Redhorn's charging animation.

In the next update I intend to introduce new systems that will give you more control over how you upgrade your team.

Until then, give me a follow and try out the new version of Dungeon Deathball!



Enjoy!

Matt