As those who have subscribed to the newsletter have seen, the 2.2 patch is on the closed beta branch, in it's 2.2 pre D version!
For those of you who do not have access and do not want to join the newsletter to get it, this version should go live on June 6th!
Here's a list of changes :
FEATURES
Special weeks - each week will have a name and a lot of them will have a special effect
Settings for random/standard maps, random/standard town layouts and to allow special weeks
Several new unit abilities added, meant for future units. These can already now be used for mods
New Undead unit ability for undead units
15 new artifacts
A new artifact set bonus: Extracter
Skill tooltips and Unit tooltips now by default shows an abbreviated tooltip text, which can be expanded by pressing ShiftNODEMAP AND TILEMAP EDITORS
Improvements to switching between playing and editing Nodemaps and Tilemaps
Nodemaps and Tilemaps now show their description the same way that normal maps do
Node map editor now works in resolutions from 720p to 1080p
Several improvements to the Tilemap interface
Enabling selecting modded faction towns and Delirium and Pillar towns in the tilemap editor
Enabling placing Neutral heroes incl. modded neutral heroes in tilemaps
Node map editor now has access to Obelisks, Palaces, Monuments, Portals, Shrines and Redwood
Node map editor now has toggle-able generation of sea resources etc
Node maps and custom maps can now be removed from the map selection screen by using a Delete button. The map file will be renamed so it can still be restored later
Tilemaps now can place user-made graphics on the maps
New invisible obstacle for tilemapsNEW MODDING CAPABILITIES
Town screens for modded factions
Default town screen background (14 new backgrounds) or user-made
Automatic building sprites, selected building sprites or user-made
2 slots for unique buildings per faction
Custom scripting system for implementing new mechanics
Unit abilities
Artifact sets
Custom artifact effects
Hero skills
Spells
Unit skinsCHANGES
Town structure grids are now static by default, meaning that each time you play as e.g. Order, buildings will have the same requirements. There's an option in advanced map settings to randomise town grids
Camping now increases mana regeneration by 50%
Fleeing now makes the hero lose their first aid tent and ballista
Reworked town generation system to be more flexible. Some building placements have been altered
Positive morale now gives a chance to resist terror, while negative morale gives a chance for units to flee. The chance scales the higher / lower morale is
Inert unit ability renamed to Mechanical
The power threshold for the unit ability Swallow can now be set more exactly using new modding abilities Swallow1 and Swallow+
Hexed units (units turned into frogs) will now retain the damage taken while being a frog
The resource panel in the top left now resizes when you have extra special resources, such as Pearls or Gems
Caravans now avoid going to camped heroes
The post-battle summary screen now shows how much gold was gained via Plunder / Midas Touch
While playing Hotseat, a new Surrender option appears in the main menu
Picking up gold created from plunder / midas touch no longer costs movement
The buttons to open various town menus now show tooltips
Updated town tooltip to graphically show what units can be created
The stat bar in the hero screen has been updated to make the stats clearer to read
Spellpower tooltip now displays info on various spellpower boosts
Portals are now coloured on the minimap
Aro Nei's mastery now applies to DragonwormsBUG FIXES
Fixed a memory leak in the main menu map selection screen
Fixed a small memory leak related to loading mods
Changed distance to the centre for maps with 4+ players, decreasing the chance of map gen glitch with concentric rings of lands
Transformed units that are turned into frogs turn into the original unit after being defrogged
Faction mods will no longer crash when describing a hero's unit with the name of the upgraded unit instead of the basic unit
Fixed a crash relating to a missing MOD SETTINGS.txt file
Swallow ability will not affect heroes
Fixed a bug relating to generating heroes when MANY faction mods were installed at once
Fixed a bug causing Vaults to generate with upgraded neutral units
Fixed a bug causing a crash when you have 9+ faction mods installed
Fixed a bug that made number of hidden beasts rise exponentially the more hidden beasts were killed