A little under a week ago, we updated Battle Realms to version 1.60. We want to thank you for the feedback and notes, we truly take them to heart. If you missed the beta announcement, this version brings a bunch of under-the-hood updates that modernizes Battle Realms, expanding support for hardware, improve graphical experiences, and allowed us to implement some creative solutions to squash some edge case bugs.
The v1.60 update also brings a new feature for multiplayer games enabling custom tuning of units and sharing those gameplay mods automatically with others. And… a much needed update to Achievements. If you don’t want to be spoiled, you might want to skip the “Specific Achievement Fixes” section! With all of that out of the way, let’s get into the details of what v1.60 brings to Battle Realms.
Multiplayer & Mods
Custom maps have always been one of the things that have brought us joy to see the community rally around and be creative with. It’s always been easy to join matches with custom maps. With this patch, we’re expanding that capability to gameplay mods (the BattleRealms.xlsx file) so you can tweak the balance of units to your specific preference and style!
Added automatic sharing of gameplay mods for multiplayer matches.
Players joining a modded lobby can download the host’s gameplay mod when prompted.
Downloaded mods are cached to avoid unnecessary repeat downloads.
The host’s gameplay mod is only used for that match. On exiting the match, the local player’s original data is restored.
Failed or cancelled mod downloads will return the player safely to the main menu.
Disabled the lobby Start button immediately after starting a match to prevent repeated Start commands leading to issues in certain situations.
Campaigns
Prevented a duplicate version of Budo or Vetkin from appearing in the Serpernt Campaign Mission 12 when the hero had already been recruited.
Translations & Interface
Fixed text being truncated on the Goals screen and some dialogues across all languages.
Improved text wrapping for affected localized versions, including Spanish and Portuguese.
Graphics & Audio Fixes
Improved overall compatibility by completing the transition to DirectX 9.
Improved display-mode handling across a wider range of graphic cards.
The game now respects the monitor’s current refresh rate instead of being locked to 60Hz.
Added VSync support. You can enable Vsync by going to Game Options.
Fixed the brightness handling. The slider now controls brightness properly, including after changing resolution or returning to the game.
Fixed rare cases where looping sound effects could be stuck indefinitely.
Miscellaneous
Fixed a crash that could occur when AI defenders were unable to find a suitable region near a building.
Fixed a bug that caused erratic unit movement when guarding buildings.
Introduced improvements so units are less likely to appear with black or missing textures.
Fixed the mini-map from turning black after Alt-tabbing, including while the game was paused.
Achievements
Corrected achievement attribution in multiplayer so achievements are awarded only for the local player’s actions, rather than the actions performed by allies, opponents, or AI players.
Corralled certain story-related achievements to only complete during campaign play.
Corrected ownership and progress tracking for several combat, healing, fire, resource, monument, Harakiri, unit collection, and skirmish achievements.
Implemented fixes for several challenges so that only the player’s own qualifying units are counted (no more tricking others to do the deeds for you!)
Improved campaign achievement tracking across mission victories, defeats, transitions, and completed journeys.
Fixed rare cases where campaign completion progress could be lost while Steam statistics were still loading.
If you are Achievement hunting, this next section is full of spoilers. If you don’t want any spoilers, this is the time to download the update and jump into the game. You have been warned. For those who want to see specific fixes, please read on!
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Turn back now, if you want to be spoiler free!
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Specific Achievement Fixes
Fixed the explosive attack-ground challenge so that only the player’s own qualifying units are counted.
Fixed the rapid peasant-eating challenge so that only the player’s own Lotus units contribute (no more tricking others to do the deed for you!)
Implemented a fix to the Channeler raven-kill achievement.
Our Home now unlocks after successfully defending Serpentholm.
My Home now unlocks after capturing Serpentholm.
For Otomo now unlocks when Shinja is defeated at the intended point in the Dragon campaign.
The Purge now correctly registers Otomo’s death.
Undead Army now unlocks during the intended Necromancer sequence.
I Come Only with Business now correctly tracks the challenge of destroying the Wolf mines without destroying other buildings in both campaign routes.
Darkness Consumes now correctly tracks enemy buildings that must be destroyed by Nightvol and the Hordelings.
Rough Shield now unlocks when Grayback finds the Shalery and forges his armor, rather than simply after completing the previous mission.
An Ally in Need now recognizes Wildeye’s recruitment reliably, even for those of you skipping the cinematics.
A Defenseless Prince now correctly registers all three of Tao’s guards.
Wrong Focus now accurately checks that the Shale Lord has been freed and the Lotus settlement has been cleared before the Spire is destroyed.
Overheal now requires a Geisha to perform the actual healing that takes the target above 95% health.
Last Chance now correctly checks that the healed unity was exactly at 1 HP.
I Am Enough now properly tracks combat unit training and peasants produced from huts.
Complete Knowledge no longer requires unavailable or non-researchable techniques.
I Don’t Want This is now evaluated after a confirmed mission victory.
The Story is Over now registers genuine campaign defeats reliably.
Speedrunner is now evaluated at the appropriate late campaign completion point.
Hard Grind now tracks an entire journey without saving across mission transitions and works even if that journey was completed previously.
Loremaster now retains journey completion progress while Steam statistics are loading.
As always…. For the Dragon!