This update brings our most meaningful AI improvement yet, with the introduction of our awareness and strategic systems. A lot of work remains before it is working perfectly, but we have taken a big step forward.
We have also added more sounds, replaced most music tracks and added a ton of new content to Godking.
We hope you are enjoying the game!
General
- AI is now fully aware of enemy armies it encounters in the world, and will flee from strong enemies or perform attacks of opportunity on any scouts or weaker armies it finds. Spy cats and doom bats are sad about this, as it makes the world a lot more dangerous to explore.
- AI is now able to build and operate multiple armies, synchronizing goals and using these armies in unison. This is a significant milestone for the AI, and has made them much stronger players.
- AI has gotten a lot better at defending their territories. They will now increase their defenses based on how threatened they feel, and will intercept invaders with their armies or pull armies into their HQ if things look dire. They are able to use teleport rituals and scrolls to get home in time, if these are available options.
- Unit icons are now pre-generated outside the game, making UI elements such as faction select screens load smoother.
- Added overhead text and sound effect for when combat is initiated, to make it clearer for new players that combat is resolved when you end your turn, instead of instantly.
- Replaced most temporary music tracks with their longer and more finalized versions from our composer Fernando.
- Added many new game and UI sounds to the game, such as when a new game turn starts, when speeding up battles to x4 and beyond, when picking up a treasure chest, and more.
- Added a notification for when trying to move an army that is out of movement points.
Content
- The Imperatus economy has been adjusted slightly, with some stronger units now costing less gold and mana, but more food. This has helped, and Imperatus now feels more balanced and intuitive to play as a result.
- Most Imperatus units got a huge visual overhaul, making them stand out more from each other and fitting the scavenger theme better.
- Added minor NPC faction Kovenant. A sect of necromancers willing to work for any faction that can pay them in gold and food. They can be found lurking around many unholy sites and holdings.
- Added minor NPC faction Dark Hand to the game. These mercenary undead wraiths are willing to work with The Returned and Imperatus. They can be recruited at Unholy Grounds, Old Graveyards and Mausoleums.
- Added minor NPC faction Medawi Tribe to the game. This is a small faction of camel riding desert nomads, willing to sell their services at Oasis and Desert Temples to all factions except Khaoset and the Returned.
- Blackbogs can now recruit some faction units in captured goblin holdings.
- Imperatus can now recruit some faction units in captured goblin holdings.
- Khaoset can now recruit some faction units in captured Chaos Stone holdings.
- Scaleborne now has access to human recruits in human holdings such as villages, towns and cities, same as Mercia and United Tribes.
- Minor NPC faction Blood Barons had several units missing their Block traits.
- Reduced amount of resources gained from treasure chests. They remain rewarding, but had more direct strategic impact than intended.
- Added 12 new random encounters to the world. Many of these will join player and AI factions.
- With our newest playable faction Imperatus added last week, our content effort has been focused on adding more general content to the game, such as more random encounter variety and more recruitment options on holdings out in the world.
- Adding more and more interesting world recruitment options is a direction we like a lot for the game, and we will be expanding greatly on this moving forward.
Fixes
- Fixed an issue causing the “click button” sound to play twice, when starting a new game.
- Fixed an issue causing recruiting a new commander to not correctly update the number of commanders left in the command cycle.
- Fixed an issue causing enemy units to be displayed in the Manage Army UI, when combat was initiated. This had no gameplay impact, but it felt a bit out of place.