Lately, I've been mostly busy with the phalanx combat. It's not something you'll find in this update, as you will meet the Macedonian phalanx in the third and last campaign which has not been released yet, but I had to make sure it would work properly before moving on to other things.
It was a bit tricky to design and balance this new kind of combat, because there is going to be at least one or possibly two mandatory fights against the phalanx. Players with very different Skill levels could reach that stage of the game and even legionaries on the lower end of the spectrum should have a fair chance to survive with a very careful approach. Characters with superb Skills might attempt something more "heroic" if they feel like it, like trying to cut their way through the spear wall and engage the phalangites in close quarters.
As for today's update, let's see what's new in version 0.11.5:
- The weight of Attitude in combat has been increased by 60%. A very defensive Attitude won't make you 100% safe, but it should improve your survival rate. Remember that Attitude is a double-edged weapon: if you are aggressive, you will see your chance to hit go up, but you will be more exposed than before, so be careful.
- The probability to improve your mental Attributes after leading a successful foraging mission or after a display of good leadership has been increased. The chance of *not* improving any Attribute is now about 20%; it was 35% before this change. As always, the odds of improving will gradually go down as your current values grow more distant from the initial ones; this process is so slow that you probably won't notice any difference for a while.
- Attributes that are suffering penalties due to equipment are highlighted in red.
- One of the branches of the battle at the end of Part V, specifically the one that involves staying in the ranks, lacked an appropriate reduction of Fatigue at the end. Now you should get a little rest before the next onslaught.
- There are two new random events. One of them only triggers if you have the rank of optio.
- The sound effect for shield blocks has been changed.
- I have made some changes to the engine regarding the way the Hall of Fame and saved games are handled.
I would appreciate any feedback, especially on the balance related changes. Once again, thanks for your support and encouragement.