Block Fortress 2 Major Demo Update!

Hello everyone!

We've been hard at work improving the Block Fortress 2 demo and would love for you to update to the latest version! Also if you played the demo early on or have been waiting for better Steam Deck controls, now would be a great time to jump back in as well.

This update include a ton of new fixes, features, controls, and quality of life additions.

CHANGELOG

Redesigned controls

• Added a radial menu (mouse wheel or Q) with your current loadout and build actions
• Added a radial menu (Tab) with all the actions for the current game-mode (start, view map, view equipment, scenario settings, sandbox fly, sandbox invulnerability, terraform, etc)
• When building, click-and-hold to open a special build menu to quickly build a wall, floor, half block, or full block.
• Right click now opens a menu for the selected block
• Added functionality to auto-equip a block that you've selected, which can be activated from the selected block menu (right-click).
• Space and shift are now fly up/jump and fly down

Changes and Fixes

• You can now design and build standalone creations that can be re-built in sandbox modes (e.g. guard towers, bunkers, buildings, etc.)
• You no longer lose the game when a banner is destroyed
• Removed the requirement to get air while underwater
• All gold and other currency items are automatically collected at the end of a survival attack
• You can now see through the water's surface while in third-person view if your character is underwater, but the camera isn't
• You now have more control over your jump height (press space longer to jump higher)
• Building natural blocks next to blocks of the same type will now match their color (e.g. building a ruins block next to the same type of ruins block will match the built block color to the existing one's color)
• Added an option for hold-to-aim
• Added an option to hide the in-game controls for screenshots
• Added a new editor block that shows a "Move Here" indicator, which is activated when a player moves nearby
• Added a third song for a Blockoids attack
• Improved auto-jumping while moving up hills
• Added new Armored Shield equipment, which blocks damage from the front when not attacking with a weapon
• Added an option to set up a mission with no build phase before the attack
• You no longer get credit for some achievements when testing missions you created
• Fixed a bug where the costs of mining blocks wouldn't scale correctly (sometimes refunding more gold than the block's cost)
• Fixed a bug where using a commander action to activate camouflage blocks and doors wouldn't active them (when building a sandbox level or a mission)
• Fixed a bug where weapons and equipment would stop working when picking up more than one of the same type
• Fixed a bug where some blocks built on the enemy team wouldn't get powered
• Fixed a bug where troop dialogue would play for bots
• Fixed a bug where ranged NPCs would sometimes get stuck walking or climbing in place, not attacking
• Fixed a bug where NPCs would sometimes walk downward through blocks
• Fixed a bug where NPCs would climb up and fall down some block formations endlessly
• Fixed a bug where some weapons wouldn't play the "empty clip" sound when trying to shoot while reloading
• Fixed a bug where ore deposits wouldn't get marked if starting the build phase with a mining block already selected
• Fixed a bug where the effect for security towers would lag when playing with high FPS rates
• Fixed a bug where banner reward levels wouldn't reset when restarting a survival planet
• Fixed a bug where the game would run faster if you started on 30 fps and changed it to a higher fps while playing
• Fixed a bug where you could open the exit game confirm window repeatedly
• Fixed a bug where the in-game controls would show “Rotate Camera” at the wrong time
• Fixed a bug where the game would show a "Lose Time" countdown instead of a "Win Time" countdown
• Fixed a bug where commander messages set to show at the same time would be displayed out of order (from last to first, instead of first to last)
• Fixed a bug where you couldn't select an item or event block to activate a commander build block action
• Fixed some bugs when using commander build block actions
• Increased event trigger time maximums to 20 minutes (from 5 minutes)

UPDATE FROM Oct 29, 2024

• Removed block build limits in sandbox mode and on your command ship in the demo
• One of the mission sandbox planets is now unlocked in the demo version
• Banner locations are now placed closer to the center of the map (if you've already started a survival game, you'll need to reset that game to reposition the locations)
• Banners now automatically give you additional gold and ore at the end of some attacks in Survival mode
• Equipped weapons can now hit enemies that are past their max range, but with a damage drop-off (weapons with projectiles will veer off course when moving past their max range)
• Increased range of Machine Gun turrets slightly
• Adjusted environmental lighting at night, making it darker overall
• Turrets can now attack enemies that aren't in a lighted area at night, but they get a drastic accuracy reduction when doing so
• The Pitch Black level hazard is now darker than the normal night time. When this hazard is active, turrets and troops can't attack enemies that aren't in lighted areas
• You can now place weapon and equipment pick-ups in the world using item blocks when building in sandbox modes
• Players and NPCs no longer move inside desert sand blocks
• You can now set the music, time of day, and weather in sandbox mode
• Added options to turn off camera shake and UI screen flashes
• Enemies will no longer attack Required Move Area and Required Build Area sign blocks
• Heavy Machine Gun has been renamed to Autocannon
• Reduced Plasma Rifle projectile and hit effect sizes
• Improved NPC pathing overall, including NPCs getting stuck in trees
• Smoothed out player movement throughout the world at higher frame rates
• Improved drop downs so you can see all their list items, even if they are near the bottom of the screen
• Added death sounds for Blockmen troops
• Added more in-battle dialogue for Blockmen troops
• When cycling through build actions (build -> info -> delete -> revert), the last selected equipment will now be reselected when cycling back to the build action
• Discord and quit buttons are now only shown when the game is paused or you are looking at the main menu
• Fixed a bug that allowed you to build blocks on top of Banners. Banners now are destroyed when blocks fall on top of them
• Fixed a bug where power icons for blocks (and other icons) could stay in the world after the block was destroyed or powered
• Fixed a bug where Blockmen Sky Rangers wouldn't use their jump packs when on the enemy team
• Fixed a bug where items could move upwards through blocks
• Fixed a bug where you couldn't equip a Bot in survival mode
• Fixed a bug where Spotlights wouldn't actually light the area they were aiming at after loading a game
• Fixed a bug where NPCs placed in sandbox mode couldn't be set back to attacking AI after being set to waiting AI
• Fixed a bug when firing Heavy Machine Gun (now Autocannon) that would cause the game to freeze
• Fixed a bug where Zomblock Leapers would only jump straight up and improved the overall accuracy when NPCs jump
• Fixed a bug a that allowed you to spend colored minerals to get gold and ore in missions
• Fixed mouse acceleration so it is properly disabled while looking around with the camera, and enabled while using the cursor (windows)
• Fixed a bug where hotkeys and controls in the corner would not show up while switching between controller and keyboard/mouse
• Fixed mac builds, for both intel and apple silicon
• Fixed a bug where controls where showing up when playing “The Last Stand” mission