Build 77

[rob]

Hello all! We just pushed build 77! Changes include:

* Add level 16 tank: Dragon
* Add level 18 tank: Guardian
* Add new region map

This week we pushed a preview version of a new region map. One in ten regions uses the new map, which has impenetrable walls made of Isolator-class Barrier Units, except for a few pathways which contain normal forts. Bashing in to the center gives you access to the Electrocutor-class Power Unit. Kill that, and the walls become mortal again, killable for loot. We didn't have time this week to make new forts for the pathways, but we decided to launch the new map anyway. We hope to build new forts for this purpose later. We are interested to know whether this concept is fun -- should we invest more work into the idea, or try something else?

Thanks for playing! Please leave your feedback below.

Rob & Tim
Jetbolt Games

[Ood]

Maze at a glance:
It's certainly a bold step forward, the walls are quite powerful even once killable and nerfed. I'm not sure it's quite what I would personally have done to alleviate base game boredom, but as it is now it does give the game some new possibilites and playstyles. I'm interested in seeing what else is going to be added to these.

You say 1 in 10 regions are mazes, are these random, or preset like the region bonus 'map'?

I haven't met the power unit yet, but I hope its sufficiently difficult to warrant it's position. Though I haven't done one yet, perhaps instead of just one of these per region, there could be multiple embedded throughout the walls and they could power a certain number of nearby walls. Killing one lets walls near it (but not near other power units) be killable. This would extend the experience of what seems to be a somewhat rare region type.

Lastly, I know this one isn't finished yet, but can we expect to see other region 'types' in the future?

[gingerbear]

Luckily I had an unlock and got the guardian. The attack speed is mind-boggingly slow, but the damage dealt is high, so it's a fair compromise. I like the ability kit, the heal pod is useful at sieging static objects and combined with the outer shield recharge, the tank has a nice, continous sustain. I doubt this tank would be any good at convoys or moving targets, though.

Edit:
The maze gives a nice "landscape", And the turrets put up a decent fight, so far I'm liking it.

[rob]

The new region map consists of three-fort-thick walls (the Isolator-class Barrier Units) and two-fort-wide hallways (currently small circle forts). There are three concentric hallways, which are connected by 3x3 doorways. The 4x4 central room is full of medium square forts, one of which is the Electrocutor-class Power Unit.

Based on play yesterday, Tim and I identified a few things to change in the new region map:

* Walls need to heal faster to be truly unkillable while powered up
* Lasers are somewhat old hat; replace some of them with missiles & bombs
* "Hallway" forts need to block movement
* Intermediate bosses should occupy the doorways
* Electrocutor should have loot and weapons
* Towns should appear in halls, not just anywhere (perhaps in the doorways?)

We'll have no build next week due to the US Thanksgiving holiday. Hopefully we can get at least some of these changes into the Dec 4-ish build.

[tarbomb]

Quick first thoughts: Guardian is a really fun tank to use. The power of the gun is amazing and makes it an interesting change from the standard low-damage high-RoF weapons we have now.

Also, walls and scouts don't mix. A phase cloak that allowed you to pass through enemies would be a pretty fun ability.

[renenutet]

Dragon is really fun!

[Square]

tank ideas and design are pretty cool.

[tribow]

Why cant I get on the game..

[Hock Space]

I think the sever is down

[BeastlyBro]

Nov 24, 2013 15:29:03 GMT -5 Hock Space said:

I think the sever is down

Yes it is

[BeastlyBro]

Is their going to be a new build this week?

[Hock Space]

Nov 22, 2013 14:44:00 GMT -5 rob said:

We'll have no build next week due to the US Thanksgiving holiday. Hopefully we can get at least some of these changes into the Dec 4-ish build.

Nope

[Ood]

Seems that the town connect but not level bug is still around:



I've left it there until someone levels a town, if you want to see the area for yourself Rob. I think the town is on a spot that is equidistant from the closest 4 towers (where previously we had this problem when there were 2). I connected the town after killing 3 towers, after killing the fourth it did not level.

[Duco]

When I died "sort by type" got deselected, but "automeld" didn't.

[tribow]

I just thought up of a small idea that really doesn't need a thread.

There should be a leaderboard for the amount of mods used.

Also I seam to always have 38 fps or somewhere around that point. It is still a bit laggy for me.