FROM THE BLOG

‘Workshops Build’ released!

This is the largest update we’ve ever done. So much new cool things to do! Please read this whole post so you’re not confused by the changes.

First watch this video for a really brief run through the new features:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6svGnBdylKE?hl=en&fs=1]

Of course that is not all. One of the main gamemode improvements is the addition of UNIT COUNTERS. On the top of the screen you’ll see a team unit counter. Everytime you die, this counter decreases. Once the counter is depleted nobody on your team can spawn any longer. The team that kills all enemies on the counter and all remaining ones wins.

All the main combat mechanics have been changed and improved. Until you jump to conclusions please spend some time playing the game and actually seeing why this happened. The majority of time spent on this build was actually play testing. For every nerf there is actually a buff for each class. The addition of arrow workshops disrupted the games balance leading to many changes. For example:

• Archer has now 3 types of shots (slow, normal and charged) and can jump on trees!
• Knight can’t destroy stone but can use shields for gliding!
• Builders have 3 hearts and can kill knights (they are needed now more in offense)

The catapult arc and firepower has significantly changed. You’ll need to get a lot closer to the walls to destroy them. However you can pick up the catapult and bring it closer!

As you’ve probably seen on the test videos, you can now put anything into the catapult and launch it (not corpses but that is planned as a feature).

NEW CONTROLS

As a reminder. The controls are very much changed. All things to a degree, are controlled with pie menus. Pretty much like the blockmenu. So press the menu button and hold it. Hover over the pie slice (button) and release.

….

COIN ECONOMY

We have now coins. You get coins for doing useful things for your team.

CASTLE ROOMS / WORKSHOPS

You spend the coins to buy bombs, arrows and heal in the quarters.

PICKING / DROPPING / MOUNTING

Pickup items with [C] or by holding [C] and selecting from menu if there is more than 1 thing to pickup in that spot.

Some items (like stone/wood for builders) are picked up automatically, others are not.

Be a good team player and drop items by holding [C] (if there is nothing to pickup there)

You can mount objects (like bombs or other catapults) in a catapult by holding [E] on the catapult and selecting the Mount Item option.

I probably forgot about something, this a really big list of changes. Read the change log for details:

Changes build 157-190:

NEW CONTROLS AND PIE MENUS:
  [E] USE ITEM
  [F] BLOCK MENU
  [C] PICKUP /DROP
  [BACKSPACE] MISC MENU (CHANGE TEAM, SUICIDE)
  [V] CHATS
  [Q] EMOTICONS 
 
– added castle room: bomb workshop – for making bombs (press [E], costs coins)
– added castle room: arrows workshop
– added castle room: quarters – gradually heals you for coins
– added droppable coins
– added HUD resources blink when added/removed
– generated maps are mirrored by default (can be switched off in Rules/gamemode.cfg)
– CTF and Swordfight gamemode now have a default unit count limit
– map editor mode from menu uses Sandbox game rules
– mount bomb on catapult (light bomb with [F] and then put on catapult with menu [E])
– added shield down attack animation
– added “Quit Editor” main menu option
– added recent added/decreased resources display on HUD
– changed chat fonts to support european characters
– admin kick/swap menu is team sorted

Bugs:
– fixed knight shield not shielding teammates
– fixed not being able to connect to server after some time of server running
– fixed time limit game rules setting
– fixed unit count game rules setting
– fixed doors not closing near tent and other objects
– fixed bomb bounce sounds
– fixed bots not respawning after map change
– fixed timed out rcon/mod players not disconnecting
– fixed help texts smooth rendered
– chat with 1 letter can be sent now

Gameplay/Balancing:
– bottom of map is a hole in which you die
– when team becomes unbalanced players with lowest score get switched
– each hit at dirt stone gives 2 stone; thick stone 5; gold 2
– archer doesn’t draw arrow if no arrows
– bombs are stronger and have larger kill radius
– tents and outposts don’t heal
– wood, stone, gold is automatically picked up only by builder; arrows by archer; bombs by knight
– fixed class selection on custom class rules
– removed arrow added to player resources when arrow hit player
– fast arrow knockback is smaller
– bomb isn’t dropped on knock back
– only 50% of arrows drop drom dead archer
– bomb can destroy dropped arrows
– bombs can launch knight from ground (with shield; greater velocity achieved from air)
– added 5s immunity on tent after respawn
– increased stomp damage velocity

Archer:
– archers can climb trees
– archer has 3 firing options (indicated by cursor color): slow, normal and charged
– arrows are generally faster but have a lot more drag
– arrows damage is based on velocity (dragged/out of screen arrows are weaker)
– archer can cancel shot with [right mouse] click
– fixed arrows losing effectiveness when lobbying them
– archer stomp doesn’t do damage
– archer charge cursor appears only after arrow is drawn
– fixed killed archer arrow not firing
– moved arrow origin 2 pixel higher

Knight:
– knight double slash only works when actually hit somebody
– knight shield up works more like a ladder
– knights can glide on shield up (shield parachute)
– fixes to shield collision
– less knockback on sword hits

Catapult:
– catapult fires more sideways
– catapult uses 5 stone per shot
– catapult loads much longer
– catapult against catapult is more powerful
– catapults don’t regenerate
– catapult rocks have more gravity
– destroyed catapult drops half loaded stone
– the more vertical the catapult rocks the less damage they do

Builder:
– builder has 3 hearts
– builder can hurt knights

Tweaks:
– changed scoreboard colors
– object/workshop usage help texts are always shown
– blocks without required resources are not drawn in block menu
– outpost shows health on mouse hover
– items fall out with greater velocity on death
– bubbles on minimap show only for own team
– stance animation changed when carrying something
– knight shield is unlagged
– ladders can’t be placed far horizontally (they don’t drop now)
– all player names show when waiting for respawn
– changed player label colors
– menu and prompt bubbles don’t show on minimap
– added spawn immunity blink indicator
– trees regrow slower
– added smoke on catapult rocks hit stone

Above head chat:
– above head chat messages background is transparent
– chat longer than 200 chars doesn’t appear above head
– above head chat breaks into lines if long
– default above head chat color is white; team chat is team colored

Commands:
– added addBotX command    – addBotX( team, class, name ); eg. addBotX( 1, 0, “St. John” );
– added disable compression option sv_compression=0
– fixed unban; unbanhost; unbanhid commands