Salvēte Esteemed Roman Citizens!
I had initially planned to wait and release a much bigger update, but some of the new features I’m currently working on are rather extensive and need a bit more time. So I figured I would instead release a smaller, but still significant, update with everything that is already ready for you all.
Patch 0.94.3 Patch Notes
Added Twitch Integration! Gladiators in the Ludus Exchange can now automatically be renamed based on your selected Twitch settings, while spectators in the Arenas can be named after viewers and display their Twitch messages as chat bubbles directly in the game.
Armour and shields with colours will now be coloured based on your Ludus banner background colour.
Improved the overall economy management of AI-controlled Ludi.
Improved the logic behind how the AI buys, equips and sells equipment.
Fixed a Multiplayer bug that could cause the AI to not select its strongest available Gladiators when facing clients.
Reworked Heavy Training so that traits gained from it are now based entirely on the traits of the Doctore. This means no more automatically gaining traits such as Athletic, Strong or Weapon Master unless the Doctore actually has them.
In return, Gladiators can now continue to gain traits from their Doctore even after reaching their maximum trainable STR, END, AGI and VIT.
Added new workout animations for Gladiators currently undergoing Heavy Training.
Fixed a visual bug that showed Heavy Training as a teachable trait when selecting a Gladiator as Doctore. This was only visual and did not actually work.
Fixed an edge-case bug that could result in an incorrect number of Ludi in a league, with some leagues ending up with more or fewer than 16.
Furthermore, I’m all for transparency, so here is a list of what I’m currently working on and what you can expect to see in the upcoming Patch 0.95:
New World View – View other Ludi, Gladiators, Lanistas, historical records and seasonal statistics.
New Ludus Upgrade: Spy.
Pregame information about the opposing team, tied to the new Spy upgrade.
Tactics improvements to make your tactical choices have a larger impact, alongside further Combat AI improvements.
The ability to simulate Training Matches.
Rival Ludi, which will double Renown gained or lost when fighting against them.
A new Blendshape system that allows Gladiators to visually change depending on their traits. For example, a Gladiator with the Unathletic trait will actually look unathletic instead of being completely ripped.
Further improvements to custom Ludus PNG synchronization in Multiplayer. I’m still receiving reports that uploaded banners do not always synchronize correctly.
Introduce an age requirement for retiring Gladiators as Doctores.
For that last one, I’ve been getting feedback both for and against the idea. My initial thought was to set the minimum age at 30, meaning only Gladiators aged 30 or above could retire as Doctores.
I feel this would add a little more depth to the system while also preventing the early-game Retired Doctore spam. And while I will always believe that gameplay should take priority over realism, it also makes sense that you probably shouldn’t be able to retire a 19-year-old Gladiator as an experienced Doctore. :)
Regardless, please do let me know your thoughts on this! I’m really interested to hear whether this is a change you would like to see or not.
All the best!
Mathias