Hello there!
It has been a while - I hope you're all doing great and having a fantastic (too much?) start of the week!
I don't have a new version of Barrage for you today, but since I'll be taking 4 days off this week for a little bit of summer vacation, and since it has been a while since the last post, I wanted to keep you updated on what's going on.
Medium AI
As promised I am working on a new medium AI. It's going..okay.
It's not 100% complete but it's good enough to be released.
What's still missing is some optimisation and some code specifically designed to take advantage of more complex XOs—namely Mahiri (from the base game) and the promo XOs—which are currently being disregarded by the AI.
This is a bit of a compromise I had to make to stay on schedule, since I really want to release the first DLC by the end of summer (aka mid-September). As a result, the time I can dedicate to the AI is limited. I also have a list of bugs to fix and quality-of-life improvements to implement.
That said, I didn't want to release the AI and then ghost you all for a week, so it'll be released at some point between the 18th and 29th.
Regarding the in-game performance of the new AI, I was aiming for an average of 130 points in a 2-player game and 100 in a 4-player game.
Unfortunately, at the moment it's more like 100/110 ± 30 points in 2-player games and 70/80 ± 20 points in 4-player games.
There are still some situations that I'm trying to address, where it can get stuck and underperform but, all in all, it plays better and more consistently than the current Easy AI.
I know it's a bit of mixed bag situation but I wanted to be honest about it, especially because it's not a done deal yet. I will continue to work on it, every chance I get, alongside other tasks.
The Leeghwater Project + 5-player map and gameplay
As stated before, the new DLC is on it's way and we are aiming for a mid September release.
We still have a few concerns about certain gameplay elements, especially considering all the feedback you awesome folks have shared with us, but we'll do our best to meet the deadline we’ve set—fingers crossed.
That's all for now, folks!
Wish you all a dam-tastic week—and happy summer vacations to the lucky ones!
Cheers,
Cody