I just put out a large progression update. This is moving the game further in the rogue-like direction, which I’m very excited about. Once this framework is in a good place, I can focus my time on creating content. Please try to break the game and tell me about it in the forums!.
Progression
- Runs are now limited to 5 games
- The first 4 games work as they always have. However, the 5th – and final – game is endless and ramps up in difficulty very quickly. The team’s reward for beating the run is determined by how far you get in game 5.
- The first 4 games work as they always have. However, the 5th – and final – game is endless and ramps up in difficulty very quickly. The team’s reward for beating the run is determined by how far you get in game 5.
- End-of-game reward options
- Just like the reward options at the end of each round, there will be a vote after round 5. Instead of automatically receiving 300 supplies, you’ll get 2 choices of powerful rewards that last for the rest of the run.
- Final Game rewards
- On the final game: Game 5, each round will offer the same 2 reward options:
- +30% to all xp gains for the rest of the game
- +60 power now
- On the final game: Game 5, each round will offer the same 2 reward options:
- Removed Badges, added Crates
- Instead of unlocking badges, the team will now have a chance to unlock a better “bonus crate” upon beating a game. The bonus crate’s level determines all honor/essence rewards earned.
- Each round rewards 1 bonus crate
- Each victory rewards 1 bonus crate for each tier (4 on the 4th game of the run) + 1 for each bar you filled with points on the round score screen
- The daily reward is equal to 10 bonus crates
- The faction-specific bonus honor is equal to the honor of 10 bonus crates
- The reward from bonus waves are directly tied to the bonus crate level as well
- Instead of unlocking badges, the team will now have a chance to unlock a better “bonus crate” upon beating a game. The bonus crate’s level determines all honor/essence rewards earned.
Future plans: I want to add another reward option before each game – before map selection – for a total of 9 big rewards.
Future plans: I want to add dozens of new reward options, so each game feels unique.
Factions
- Factions have replaced Gems
- The change is mostly semantic, with some slight differences
- Factions do what gems used to do
- Honor does what shards used to do
- Medals do what gem rank used to do
- Instead of socketing 1 of 4 gems, players will now join 1 of 4 factions
- Type !join<factionname> to change faction
- Each of the 4 factions provides a similar buff as the respective gem
- Instead of getting a tiny increase in power with each gem rank, you’ll now get a significant increase in power at 10 – 20 medal intervals.
- Each increase in power comes with a new “army rank”
- Factions do not need to be unlocked
- The change is mostly semantic, with some slight differences
- Medals are capped by your “Pack”
- Everyone starts with an 8-slot medal pack. However, a pack will drop at the end of each game. If the pack is bigger than your current pack, it’ll automatically replace it.
- Once your pack is full (ex: you have a 42-slot pack with 42 medals), you won’t be able to gain more medals until you get a larger pack. However, you’re still accumulate honor, and will automatically gain any earned medals as soon as you get a larger pack.
Future plans: I plan to increase the gold cost of changing faction. My current thought is that it should take about 20 games worth of gold to switch. I hope is this will give players a feeling of ownership over their faction choice.
Visit the new Factions page for more information (it a work in progress)
Maps
- Map highscores are now based on points earned (instead of highest tier beaten)
- Reworked the map-select screen
- Players now have only 2 map options for each game. I did this primarily for 2 reasons:It simplifies the process for new players
It allows me to restrict maps until a specific game of the run. This gives me new options for progression that wouldn’t be possible without this level of control.
- Players now have only 2 map options for each game. I did this primarily for 2 reasons:It simplifies the process for new players
- Added a new map
- I had to bring the total map count up to 10 in order to give players 2 options per game. However, I’ve also coded the map selection screen to allow me to easily add more map options in the future.
- Added a Faction to each map
- For now the faction merely determines which players will get bonus honor at the end of the game
Future plans: I want to add additional perks to each map, based on which faction “controls” it.
Future plans: I want to add another 10 maps to the game (2 for each tier).
Other Changes
- Removed gold from end-game score screen
- Instead, each victory rewards 1,000 gold to all players
- Ammo now resets at the beginning of each Map
- Instead of supplies, players can choose to increase the “ammo reload” before each round.
- Prestige has been removed
- Class ranks now go up to 60, with a sharp increase in required essence after rank 50
- Each rank after 50 grants +25 mastery
- Anyone who previously prestiged has been given +2,048,500 essence for each prestige to the respective class. Your rank will be set to 50 until you earn more essence.