Salutations, Colonisers!
The new patch is ready for playtesters. Servers are reset and progress is wiped after fixing major issues and introducing some new features. Please check it out:
Upgraded Oath system
We've mentioned before how we introduced the Objective (Oath) system that will give you options to claim and complete quests based on your playstyle. We've reworked it and expanded it with:
- New Oath Board model (Now called Altar of Guidance)
- Refactoring the system for improved stability and future expansion
- Added different categories of Oaths to accommodate different play styles.
- Added cancellation condition for Oaths. Abandoning the Oath will give you half of the resources you invested for triggering it. The same logic is applied to failing the oath.
Here is the current types of available Oaths:
Protection Oaths (focused on protection, endurance and stability)
Kinship Oaths (focused on cooperation, trade and support)
Sabotage Oaths (focused on pressure, disruption and undermining)
Dominion Oaths (focused on conquest, ruling and overwhelming)
Discovery Oaths (focused on exploration, journey and uncovering)
It is worth noting that the type of oaths that appear for each player may be different as they are influenced by the number of players on the map, position on the high table, current player’s Era and other things. The oath categories are the same on each server, but some of the oaths themselves are unique to each and every server!
New Buildings’ Visuals
Many existing buildings received new visuals. They will look even better once we improve and implement the lighting and scale changes we have planned for this late Summer. For now, enjoy improved designs of these buildings:
- Capitol, Homestead, Shelter, Barracks, Lumber Mill, Quarry, Stableyard, Palisade, Stockade, Stone Walls, Wooden Gate, Stone Gate, Towers.
New Maps & Level Content
We are working on the Map editor tool and new map designs. It’s a work in progress but, River Crossing is playable now. There are some visual elements still missing (certain ground textures for example) that will arrive soon.
To make the gameplay a bit more immersive, we've implemented:
- new construction scaffolding
- new destruction remains graphics
- new decals under buildings
Combat
With each build we are getting closer to more responsive combat.
- Reworked attack prediction logic for better gameplay feeling.
- Improved attack handling for more snappy combat.
- Buildings now fire arrows from proper firing points.
Rebalancing Changes
The game received balancing adjustments in several areas. Here are the most important changes you should know:
Economy:
- Technology cost
- Material requirements
- Valor cost
Economy changes were made to facilitate the new Oaths system, and put greater emphasis on that as the primary way to earn Valor.
Units:
- Cleric
- Longbowman
- Siege units (Wall breakers & Stone Throwers)
- Defensive buildings
Changes to siege units and defensive buildings were made to make sieging offline players more challenging, and changes to the Cleric to resolve imbalances and potential for infinite healing.
Reduced excessive attack speed.
Raiding parties behavior adjusted:
- They have a smaller search radius
- Longer recruitment timer
- Can attack Exchange stations now
UI Improvements
We’ve done a large UI refactor based on Player feedback. It affected several elements such as:
- New information/unit command panel.
- High table
- Resource bar
- Chat
- Updated objective interface.
- Improved panel management.
- Improved defeat screen.
Fog of War
- Improved Soft FOW opacity to more clearly define viewable areas.
- Fixed movement arrows displaying over Fog of War.
- Correct projectile visibility when coming out of the FoW.
Units & Animations
War Hound unit introduced. Using the chicken model as we are still working on the original design. And chicken faint animation for the attack. Don’t ask. But here is what you need to know about it:
They're an era 1 unit you can recruit immediately from the Garrison.
They are currently the fastest unit in the game (0.1 faster than the swift rider).
Their primary function is as an era 1 counter to mounted units. and to harass players and get away quickly.
They are cheap to produce, but very squishy so it's best to send them as a pack.
They have terrible eyesight, so even though they are fast they're not a replacement for Rangers because they have such a low field of view.
There are currently no techs for them implemented, but we aim to have some in the future.
We will have the completed unit models and animations in the next patch, but for now:
New animations for:
Scout, Sentinel, Blade Guard, Stone Thrower, Cleric, Longbowman, and Archer
Various Improvements
Improved unit movement around structures.
Updated resource pin icons.
Improved building selection and collision.
Added destruction fire effects.
Improved building state synchronization between players.
Attuned farm activation queue logic so when a lot of farms are in the building queue 1 colonist enters a build farm whilst the rest move on to build the next one.
Population counter flashes red when you try to queue a unit but your max population is reached
Resource costs of units and buildings are displayed in red text if the player doesn’t have enough resources
Audio
We’ve integrated the complete new audio implementation, including:
New sound assets
Audio systems
Gameplay audio support
Tooltips & Localization
We’ve updated English localization and adjusted some tooltip behavior and fixed issues related to it. Other languages will be implemented once the English localization foundation is established.
Bug fixes
Fixed various connectivity and stability issues.
Fixed the issue that prevented you from getting Defeat screen after losing the game.
Fixed the issue that caused you to end up stuck on a loading screen, if you’ve been defeated during the away time and wanted to rejoin the game.
Fixed the issue that prevented you in some cases to build, repair and attack buildings in some cases.
Fixed the issue that prevented building placement in some areas.
Fixed the issue where meat piles were missing white progress bars.
Fixed the issue where a build panel would be visible on a defeat screen and the game would display the wrong amount of valor resources.
Fixed the issue where your units were unable to pass through gates in some cases.
Fixed the issue that allowed players to see ruins through Fog of war.
Fixed the issue where garrisoned units would be transported at the bottom part of the map.
Fixed the issues where calling hotkeyed units that have been garrisoned did not work as expected.
Fixed the issue where the colonist would go idle in some cases since he couldn’t reach a place to deposit his resources, even when it was clearly reachable.
Fixed the issue that allowed you to build multiple Altars/Oath stations.
Fixed the issue where, if you canceled unit recruitment progress, the next unit in line would inherit the same progress.
Fixed the issue where camera jumping to invalid locations.
Fixed the issue where building collisions and selection didn’t work as intended.
Fixed the issue where fire effects on destroyed buildings would disappear.
Fixed the issue where navigation through gates didn’t work.
Fixed the issue where mushroom models would appear with purplish textures in game.
And that would be all for this round of updates and improvements! Let us know how it goes and share your impressions in the comments and join our Discord server for the additional feedback, opportunity to talk other players, and a chance to talk to the devs.
Stay tuned!
Cantos Games
Discord Youtube Reddit X/Twitter Bluesky Instagram Facebook