Maps & Adventure - Hero's Hour v.05

A full week of work and a fully evolved game! This update brings a couple of major features and a lot of smaller ones, giving you more options of how to play the game.

MAP GENERATION AND SELECTION

Until now, whenever you played the game, it would generate a new map, but basically the same one each type. There were four players, eight areas, and objects were always placed in the same quantities if not the same places. This changes now. I have implemented 9 generation algorithms, from the classic "Ring" to the new tree-like "Bracket" or chaotic "FFA" type. For each algorithm, I have made a selection of sizes and player numbers. That's right - you can now play on a tiny 1v1 map or a sprawling 6 player mega campaign.

In total, the map selection screen will allow you to choose from 25 preset, each of them varied from each-other, and each of them with plenty of variation in themselves.

Additionally, there's a lot of new options in the map generation menu, like matching starting terrain and dwellings to your faction, and also seven new terrain types to spice up the original seven - though those are still WIP and have to be toggled on.

TREASURE HUNTING

One of the more exciting parts of the Heroes games was the idea of the obelisk system. Collecting puzzle pieces to find the ultimate reward... However, I like the idea more than the execution for Hero's Hour, since I don't want treasure hunting to feel like a chore. I've implemented a more accessible system. Just a single obelisk in your starting area is enough to get started on your treasure hunting adventure - but this does not mean the task is any easier.

Visiting the obelisk will you start you on the first step of your journey, giving you some procedurally generated clues to find the next spot on the map. There you will find a small reward, perhaps you'll have to fight some guards, and then clues pointing you to the next part of your scavenger hunt. Around the 2nd-4th spot, you'll finally find the ultimate artifact and riches you were hoping for. This is also the best way to collect artifacts belonging in a single set together.

Finding the treasure will take some curiosity, critical thinking and probably also an extra hero to help you cover the distances.

To go along with your new adventuring ways are a couple of new music tracks for the adventure screen. There is also a new music track for combat, playing only when you are fighting an AI player. Finally, the Castle theme (which currently also plays in the Rampart town) has been updated and expanded.

Full Changelog

FEATURES in v05:

• 25 map types to select from
  • All include thousands of possible variations
• Obelisk and treasure hunting system
  • Random clues
  • Random events
  • Random rewards
• Maps with neutral castles
• Three new music tracks - two for adventure, one for battle

POLISH/CHANGES in v05:

• Gryphons have been moved to Castle tier 7
• Hunter’s Outpost has been nerfed slightly and now gives 2 creatures instead of 3
• Fewer groups in battle
• Adventure buildings like the crucible and Hunters Outpost that earlier drew hero’s army plus some units to be bought no longer draws hero’s army
• Random factions now avoid duplicates
• Big optimization to large-scale battles
• Castle music has been improved and expanded
• Combat victory sound effect
• Hiring units sound effect
• Enemy AI and neutral castles may now
• Starting terrain now matches your faction
• Starting dwellings now match your faction
• Option for extra varied terrain (experimental)
• A lot of updates to the animations of units in battle
• Heroes in battle now have attack and take damage animations
• Larger units in battle now push smaller units aside, meaning they are able to arrive at the front of the battlefield
• Damage has been made more random (from 80%-120% to 50%-150%). This is a buff to tier 1 units since they now have a chance to survive a single attack from a tier 7 unit

BUGS FIXED IN v05:

• Units in battle are less likely to stack together too tightly
• Mellee units in battle are less likely to select a target outside of range when there is one in range
• Crash bug when equipping an artifact that improves a skill and the hero already has 8 skills
• Hunter’s Outpost didn’t give the creatures that it shows
• Fixed bugs where maps generated with unprotected paths just next to path-guarding mobs
• Fixed bug that made hero want to path to resource next to the desired resource sometimes
• Fixed bug where riddles would write out box characters instead of writing ‘
• Potentially fixed a crash bug relating to clicking armies on the combat results screen

That's it for now. Expect a version 051 out before the end of the weekend squeezing out whatever leftover bugs exist and perhaps adding a few more features, who knows?

For now, please continue sharing your feedback and bug reports - together, we'll make an amazing game! As always, you can follow the development on twitter.

Have a good one!

- ThingOnItsOwn

UPDATED TO VERSION 051

FEATURES in v051:

• Attack and Defend stance in combat
• New UI for giving orders in combat
• Fleeing from combat
• A couple of new music tracks for adventure
• Higher tier units now cost advanced resources

POLISH/CHANGES in v051:

• Every single unit has been rebalanced
• Slightly changed unit AI in combat
• Elemental armies may generate with three units instead of two, and elementals may spawn as part of other neutral armies. Additionally, a unit from another faction may occassionally be part of a neutral army
• Plunder now spawns gold around the hero instead of giving it to him - of roughly the same value

BUGS FIXED IN v051:

• Fixed a crash bug relating to neutral towns generating elementals to protect them
• Units die earlier after being thrown back so that ranged units do not have time to fire a shot before dying (though it did look hilarious)
• Casualty list now draws correctly with minimized army units
• Music that should only play during battles with enemy heroes had a chance to also play in normal combat - this has been fixed
• Fixed an error that would make high-tier units wiggle too much in combat
• Fixed a bug that would have the game take screenshots of the map generation process
  

UPDATED TO VERSION 052

FEATURES in v052:

• Improved minimap
• 11 new artifacts and two new artifact sets

POLISH/CHANGES in v052:

• Adventure music now no longer changes each day, but instead when the track runs out
• Foundation terrain has a more appropriate colour on the minimap

BUGS FIXED IN v052:

• Fixed a crash bug relating to pathfinding
• If heroes somehow get stuck, they'll automatically become unstuck once more
• Fixed neutral armies being drawn wrong
• Fixed a bug that might crash the game when mousing over an enemy hero without an army