We want to thank everyone for being so patient. This is one of the biggest, if not the biggest update to the game yet and it took a long time to get it right. In fact, it almost didn't fit in this announcement...
As with all content updates, it's free for all. There were so many goodies we wanted to pack into the Content Update that we had to leave a few things out for now, but you sure wouldn't know it from the size of this change list! As always, talk to us if you find bugs or balance issues. Without further adieu...
Update 1.2a
- The Content Update is here!
- There is now Steam Cloud support for your save file.
- All new music throughout the entire game thanks to musician Chris Sinnott! If you'd like to own the new tracks outside the game, the entire soundtrack is also available as DLC. You do not need to own the DLC to enjoy the new music in-game.
- The map editor has been upgraded greatly. Maps must pass validation before they can be saved, and this validation system will also act as a guide to help you make better maps that play more like official maps. While editing, you may also flip between foreground and background editing.
- New siege objectives are available! Maps have objectives based on the type of "objective blocks" they contain. Previously, the only objective was to destroy resource crates. More objective blocks will be on the way later.
- New block: Treasure Block. When included as a part of a map instead of Resource Crates, the objective will be to break all the treasure blocks instead. Treasure blocks will burst into a puff of magic instantly upon touching the ground but are otherwise indestructible.
- New block: Penalty Block. If this block touches the ground, it will cut 10 seconds off the timer. This is useful for making levels that funnel the player into using a specific tactic.
- New blocks: Background blocks. The background of a level is now fully editable. Any block in front of a background block is affixed and won't fall from structural failings alone.
- Maximum building size has been drastically increased. (Your old custom maps are incompatible because of the data structure changing.)
- Engine version updated to Unity 5.0.1f.
- Audio system uses the new Unity 5 audio system.
- Sound effects are pooled in memory rather than created on demand, drastically reducing the CPU load when many sounds are requested to play at once.
- Music now uses the in-house system we created for playing sound effects, which supports crossfading.
- Added sound effects to the vault.
- Rebuilt certain visuals of the day/night system.
- Lightning strikes are more visually impressive.
- Added an interface element showing your total vaulted gold inside the vault itself.
- Blasted Fortress is now pixel perfect in 16:9 widescreen! Now we support 2 fixed resolutions, 800x450 and 1600x900. This has greatly helped in achieving a more old-school look. Windowed and full screen modes are still available. The game will automatically set your resolution to the highest of the two that your monitor supports.
- The cannon is now much farther away from the castle during a siege to enhance the sense of scale.
- Throwers now cower in fear and briefly interrupt their attack pattern when the player casts a voodoo spell.
- Added helper icons over everything in the home base that can be clicked on.
- The credits window has been altered to note Chris Sinnott's contribution.
- Further refining has been done to the GUI to maintain pixel perfection.
- Many UI elements have been minimized, rearranged, and redesigned.
- The way a siege is selected is completely new. The Siege Map is here! A number of sieges of various sizes and difficulties will appear on this map. 1 gold can be spent to quickly rescout the map and generate different sieges. If valid custom maps are present, the siege map will also be guaranteed to pop up with one.
- New swamp biome for sieges. Sieges originating from the "scar" on the map will take place in the swamp. This is the first time we've ever added new landscapes to the game; let us know what you think of this!
- You can now plan out every shot during a siege by using the new trajectory arc! This line shows you exactly where your shot will travel (provided nothing happens to bump it off course along the way). This changes the game a lot, and we'll be monitoring the forums to see what everyone thinks of how this change affects difficulty.
- Using the mouse wheel, you can select between 3 different firing strengths. Observe the arc to see how these levels will affect your shot.
- Firing the cannon no longer requires charging. Projectiles of all weights and sizes will be automatically fired at a power level appropriate for them to follow the shown trajectory.
- Stego Slots is now timed and can be failed. It's unlikely you will be able to get a jackpot every time.
- Added a speech bubble system, used to upgrade the tutorial sequence's production value as well as add flavor speech to parts of the game.
- Explosions blow out back walls.
- Magnet Shot now also pulls Treasure Blocks. Oh... and Penalty Blocks. Bummer.
- Fixed a bug where not all explosions behaved equally.
- Fixed a bug where a particular script was needlessly running on multiple objects. Fixing this behavior resulted in a big FPS boost (about 20% on average).
- Fixed particle sorting issues on many particle effects that were making them effectively invisible.
- Performed an optimization by killing off excess polygons generated when creating sprites.
- Some lore of Blasted Fortress is now available at the Bossman's throne. There you can read his journal of events as he witnessed them before the events of the game and during, however each page must be unlocked.
- Campaign Mode is here! Playing Campaign Mode initiates a string of 4 sieges that must be played sequentially without taking breaks, with sieges that gradually ramp up in size and difficulty. Campaigns are randomly cobbled together from built-in levels, and completing one will reward you with a final bonus to experience and resources gained as well as a page of lore.
- Beasts have a brand new look and their fights have been totally remade. Hit them when they're vulnerable to open up a window of opportunity!
- Beasts are now deadly accurate with their boulders, and throw them harder. Do anything you have to in order to stop them before they hit you.
- As the cannon no longer has a charge-up, Nemmel's acid cloud works differently. Now it will temporarily blind and choke the cannon operator, disabling your trajectory arc. The witch doctor will also choke and cannot raise the shield.
- Lumamon's fiery boulders can now ignite your cannon, causing you to take damage each second until the fire goes out. The fire can be blown out by putting up your shield while burning.
- Szalec's magnetic boulders now suction themselves towards the cannon.
- Genix's bomb can now explode on impact if it hits the cannon, but will otherwise be indestructible until the bomb detonates as usual.
- Bomb Shot now explodes after 4.75 seconds, up from 3. This is to prevent bombs from exploding before touching ground.
- The Steam achievement "I Fight For Perfection" is now achieved differently because beasts no longer block.
- New Steam achievement: Traitor.
- New Steam achievement: Shaman.
- New Steam achievement: Warrior.
- New Steam achievement: Seer.
- New Steam achievement: Campaigner.
- Fixed a bug preventing ammo firing statistics from being logged. It was also preventing ammo firing achievements from being unlocked.
- So many little bug fixes, balance tweaks, and art adjustments that we truly could not keep track!
This announcement was made prior to the patch being released. The patch should arrive around noon on June 8th, 2015 to coincide with the release of the soundtrack.