Big bada boom

What does every movie or video game need to be really good? Well explosions of course! This week Heldric got a new tool in his arsenal… black powder kegs. Just place these wonderful little devices of terror down in an enemy’s path and watch the fireworks. They can be either dropped in the heat of battle to take out a large group, or strategically placed as a backup plan in case they breach your front lines.

 

Why are you moving so slow?

Explosions are great but what if you missed the action? Fear not, with a new slow-motion/bullet camera you won’t miss a second. The new “keg kill camera” (optional) will help you finish off that wave with a big bada boom.

Hey, what’s that button do?

Heldric also received a long list of improvements to the heads-up-display and user interface. Better structure descriptions, additional HUD icons, better UI feedback and more. Here you can see the plot system now shows the size of plots and some of the additional HUD icons.

A new way to learn the game.

The previous tutorial system was a bulky wall of text. This has been completely replaced with a new dynamic contextual hint system that is integrated into the first level. This can be disabled at the start of the map if you already know how to play.

 

What is that villager doing?

The AI has also received its share of love. A new “call for help” system has been added for both the player and villagers. (Default key H) A large red circle will appear and anyone in range will come running to aid the caller. Enemy AI will charge deep into the center of your village causing havoc.

 

Was that your kill or mine?

Heldric just lost some HP and his foes just got a big boost to theirs. Can you still survive the onslaught? Make it to the end and you’ll get to see a full statistical breakdown of kills by weapon, monster type and more.

Want to try out the latest demo?  Be sure you are downloading version 5087.

Windows

Linux

 

Full Change Log for 5087

Additions

• Added new powder keg mechanic.
• Added new keg kill camera.
• Added new statistics to victory window.
• Added new call for help system.
• Added new HUD icons: arrow count, health, population, keg count, etc.
• Added current wave number to HUD.
• Added new indication on build button when in build mode.
• Added new notification of coin income/costs that appear above coin area.
• Added cooldown display when shrine/obelisk is recharging.
• Added plot size text to clearly see plot sizes.
• Added new multicolor building hi-light system to tell if structures can be upgraded at a glance.
• Added notification of damage resistance, damage text will say “Resist”, letting the player know to change weapons

Improvements

• Improved build/upgrade window structure preview.
• Improvements to player animation controller.
• Improvements to NPC AI.  Enemies now charge into town center, villagers will not kite outside as much.
• Improvement to descriptions of structures included some tips.
• Improved wall plot hit box to make them easier to select.
• Improved building attribute display on build and upgrade windows.

Changes

• Changed goblins, they are now very quick and harder to chase down.
• Changed wolves, they are more deadly now and have smoother animations.
• Changed player health from 250 to 200 and reduced regeneration rate.  Be sure and use those healing shrines.

Fixes

• Fixed bug where music would change after wave but before all enemies were killed.
• Fixed bug where player would get stuck inside enemies.
• Fixed bug where player/AI could say more than one thing at the same time.
• Fixed bug with damage on obelisk of smite.
• Fixed bug where player would warp across screen when using rebirth shrine.