Update 6 Status Report 3
Hello everyone! The update is taking longer than we originally anticipated. To give us some more time to tweak the progressions for all three archetypes for fun and balance, we are moving the release date to the last week of April. The extra time will also allow us to introduce tutorials for some of the new mechanics as well as rework the scenarios to fit the new systems.
In the meantime, let me describe some more features that you may expect for the update.
Like Spells (Meteor, Lightning, etc) and Abilities (Zap, Ignite, etc), Afflictions can also be upgraded using the new Spire structure. The upgrades, especially the last one, introduces some significant improvements to the Afflictions. For example, Music Haters may eventually attempt to knockout or even kill characters that sing or play guitar, while Unfaithfulness may cause the character to actively search for multiple partners (including monsters and family members!).
The current Spells and Abilities do not have as drastic improvements when you upgrade them but we will also go through them in a future update.
Imp Huts are new structures typically available to the Puppetmaster. This allows the Puppetmaster to spawn Imps for defense. Puppetmasters will not have easy access to Kennels so this structure is its primary source of creatures.
Crypts are new structures typically available to the Lich. It provides Skeletons for the Lich in the same manner that the Imp Huts provide Imps for the Puppetmaster.
We've previously mentioned that players must now spawn Parties composed of a Lesser Demon party leader and monsters to raid Villages and snatch Villagers. To recap, a Maraud must be built to spawn raid parties while Kennels and Prisons must be built to snatch Monsters and Villagers. We initially planned to just have monsters behave depending on the party job. However, it didn't feel satisfactory enough after losing the variety of monster behaviors we used to have.
We felt its still necessary to include some variations in minion behavior based on monster type - even if it's just combat related. To this end, we introduced a few minion combat behaviors. There are now Tanks that have high HP that can taunt hostiles into attacking them instead of their squishier party mates. There are also Healers that can occassionally recover HP of their partymates. There are monsters that gain bonus stats if they are used for defense. And more!
As you can see on our Roadmap, another future update is related to Monsters. Let us know if you have some ideas of other combat behaviors you would like for us to include later on. There will also be more ways for the player to utilize wild monsters later, so the interesting wild behaviors like snatcher Spiders and trapper Kobolds would still be usable to some extent.
This is one major point of rebalancing tweak we had to do to reduce chaotic randomness in the player's progression. Initially, we wanted all Spells, Afflictions and Abilities to be unlocked one at a time (choosing from 3 different random options). As we are testing it, it felt likely that there may be instances when the player may not have access to enough things to progress properly.
To solve this, we moved the more important Powers to the Portal Upgrade system as well. So as you upgrade the Portal, you learn Spells, Afflictions, Abilities and Demonic Structures that are relevant to your Archetype.
Meanwhile, the unlock system will still provide you with 3 random Powers that you may spend Chaotic Energy on. These choices will include Powers from the other Archetypes but you will only obtain a consumable number of charges of it. To summarize, the Portal Upgrade system unlocks Powers relevant to the player's Archetype while the Unlock System provides partial and limited access to Powers from the other Archetypes.
Each tick now represents 3 in game minutes instead of 5. This means that it takes 20 ticks per hour. We're extending the duration so that Villagers can have more things to do within a day and also to lessen the proportion of time the Villagers have to spend on daily Needs Recovery. This should make Villagers more survivable as they are able to do more and move more before they starve or get exhausted. This is also a preparation for the next milestone where Villagers are expected to have more things to do each day.
The Necromancer will eventually be a more integral part of the Lich archetype so we are giving it a new spell that allows it to create a Necromancer at will!
Villager and Faction Info will no longer be readily available to the player. You would need to spend some resources to reveal these! Turning someone into a Cultist will reveal their Info freely, though.
We have read concerns regarding the game ending abruptly with our initial proposed changes to the Win Condition and we agree. So in order to resolve that issue, we are also now linking the Win Condition to the Portal Upgrade system. Unlocking the final upgrade to the Portal will now be the Win Condition. At the same time, we will still give the player the option to continue playing the same map even after winning.
In the meantime, let me describe some more features that you may expect for the update.
Affliction Upgrades
Like Spells (Meteor, Lightning, etc) and Abilities (Zap, Ignite, etc), Afflictions can also be upgraded using the new Spire structure. The upgrades, especially the last one, introduces some significant improvements to the Afflictions. For example, Music Haters may eventually attempt to knockout or even kill characters that sing or play guitar, while Unfaithfulness may cause the character to actively search for multiple partners (including monsters and family members!).
The current Spells and Abilities do not have as drastic improvements when you upgrade them but we will also go through them in a future update.
Other New Structures - Imp Huts and Crypt
Imp Huts are new structures typically available to the Puppetmaster. This allows the Puppetmaster to spawn Imps for defense. Puppetmasters will not have easy access to Kennels so this structure is its primary source of creatures.
Crypts are new structures typically available to the Lich. It provides Skeletons for the Lich in the same manner that the Imp Huts provide Imps for the Puppetmaster.
Minion Behaviors
We've previously mentioned that players must now spawn Parties composed of a Lesser Demon party leader and monsters to raid Villages and snatch Villagers. To recap, a Maraud must be built to spawn raid parties while Kennels and Prisons must be built to snatch Monsters and Villagers. We initially planned to just have monsters behave depending on the party job. However, it didn't feel satisfactory enough after losing the variety of monster behaviors we used to have.
We felt its still necessary to include some variations in minion behavior based on monster type - even if it's just combat related. To this end, we introduced a few minion combat behaviors. There are now Tanks that have high HP that can taunt hostiles into attacking them instead of their squishier party mates. There are also Healers that can occassionally recover HP of their partymates. There are monsters that gain bonus stats if they are used for defense. And more!
As you can see on our Roadmap, another future update is related to Monsters. Let us know if you have some ideas of other combat behaviors you would like for us to include later on. There will also be more ways for the player to utilize wild monsters later, so the interesting wild behaviors like snatcher Spiders and trapper Kobolds would still be usable to some extent.
Upgrade Portal to unlock Archetype related powers
This is one major point of rebalancing tweak we had to do to reduce chaotic randomness in the player's progression. Initially, we wanted all Spells, Afflictions and Abilities to be unlocked one at a time (choosing from 3 different random options). As we are testing it, it felt likely that there may be instances when the player may not have access to enough things to progress properly.
To solve this, we moved the more important Powers to the Portal Upgrade system as well. So as you upgrade the Portal, you learn Spells, Afflictions, Abilities and Demonic Structures that are relevant to your Archetype.
Unlock bonus charges for various powers including those from other Archetypes
Meanwhile, the unlock system will still provide you with 3 random Powers that you may spend Chaotic Energy on. These choices will include Powers from the other Archetypes but you will only obtain a consumable number of charges of it. To summarize, the Portal Upgrade system unlocks Powers relevant to the player's Archetype while the Unlock System provides partial and limited access to Powers from the other Archetypes.
Longer days and nights
Each tick now represents 3 in game minutes instead of 5. This means that it takes 20 ticks per hour. We're extending the duration so that Villagers can have more things to do within a day and also to lessen the proportion of time the Villagers have to spend on daily Needs Recovery. This should make Villagers more survivable as they are able to do more and move more before they starve or get exhausted. This is also a preparation for the next milestone where Villagers are expected to have more things to do each day.
New Spell - Spawn Necronomicon
The Necromancer will eventually be a more integral part of the Lich archetype so we are giving it a new spell that allows it to create a Necromancer at will!
Unlock Villager and Faction info
Villager and Faction Info will no longer be readily available to the player. You would need to spend some resources to reveal these! Turning someone into a Cultist will reveal their Info freely, though.
Win Condition linked to Portal Upgrade
We have read concerns regarding the game ending abruptly with our initial proposed changes to the Win Condition and we agree. So in order to resolve that issue, we are also now linking the Win Condition to the Portal Upgrade system. Unlocking the final upgrade to the Portal will now be the Win Condition. At the same time, we will still give the player the option to continue playing the same map even after winning.