Summary
This patch doesn’t add much visible content, as most of the work focused on updating the game engine and tools.
A new ability — Meteor — has been added.
Due to a critical security issue in Unity, I had to upgrade the project’s Unity version right away. While necessary, the update caused several compatibility issues with existing tools — but after some fixes and updates, the Pathfinding is now running smoother than before!
Game mechanics
New Pathfinding AI – The Unity upgrade broke the old pathfinding system, and fixing it turned out to be trickier than expected (on top of Unity changing or removing previously working features). It seems however the new AI are much better at finding their way.
Load times have also improved significantly — about 50% faster when starting a new match.
Unity Update Side Effects – Updating Unity introduced bugs. And I’ve fixed a bunch and tried to catch them all, but I could easily have missed some, so I’m sorry you have to experience them in that case. Hopefully, I won’t be “highly encouraged” to update Unity again anytime soon — each upgrade tends to break existing systems and eats up valuable time I’d rather spend making new content.
And would take days to read through all their patch-logs to determine what I need to update in my game to work properly, for example:
it’s no longer possible to directly set a Sprite Renderer’s material color in code when using the Lit shader (which I use so sprites can receive world light and cast shadows).
I had to bake in a _Color variable into the shader and update it via a MaterialPropertyBlock, like this:
_Renderer.GetPropertyBlockmbp);
mbp.SetColor("_Color", _CombinedColour);
_Renderer.SetPropertyBlock(mbp
Weird approach, in my opinion — but at least it works again! :).
Content
New ability - Meteor
This one sure extended the time to finish the patch as it is more like three new abilities with new mechanics that the code had to be modified to support. But, with the new ability system, so can any other ability use those features right from the bat, without having to write any code, things like:
CastTime
Abilities with secondary effects (sub-abilities) - This was more complex to add then one might think.
Telegraphing (red circle indicating where things will go ouch)
Abilities can now have “FieldSize” attribute - So:
Size = Actual abilities size (e.g. Firebolt projectile size)
AreaSize = The actual area an effect is affecting, e.g. fireball’s “explosion area”
FieldSize = The field stuff can happen in, e.g. Meteor's possible field they can land in, when using MeteorShower.
Quality of Life
Vibrant colors is now off by default - After the latest Unity version, so did it make it look much worse, even when I’ve tried to lessen the effect, so I would recommend turning it off (or at least try it off, as it is not as visually appealing anymore).
Balancing
Reduced Beam - Blast talent damage modifier from -75% -> -80% (Balance-wise, so should it be -90%, but it felt really boring)
Increased Beam - Devastation, from +50% -> +60%
Other
Fixed a few talent value-formatting typos.
Added the value (100%) to Friendly Fire to be more descriptive.
Made the “level up window” taller, to easier fit larger talent-descriptions.
Beam ability with “Piercing”, will now continue its maximum length, if it can pierce more then it hit (before, it always stopped at max-hitted targets, even if that was 20 units, which was something I’ve missed).
MagicMissile - Accretion, no longer has an attribute saying “Quantity affects Stack growth amount”, but instead baked it into the talent-description text.
Bugs
Fixed bugs
I have found and fixed at least one place where one of these bugs enters. But in the worst case, there were even more places the bug sneaks in that I have missed, so maybe a bit misleading with "Bug fixes".
A crash with localization issue, the issue was parsing a float in string form is an issue with 1.40 not equal 1,40 (written differently in different countries). And I forgot to call my existing method that fixes it / gets passed it (I saw I can use “Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.DiagnosticAnalyzer, but it isn’t available in Unity.” - I also added this to my checklist when pushing up new patches, to hopefully never experience it again.
Known Reproducible Bugs
MagicCircle Aegis - the new AI sometimes sneaks inside, even if they shouldn’t be able to.
Elusive Bugs
These are reported issues that I haven’t been able to reproduce. I’m sorry if you’re still encountering them. Since I believe these bugs aren’t critical, I have set them aside for now but I am keeping an eye open for them to identify the conditions under which they occur.
I really appreciate any help in tracking them down! If you experience one of these issues, please share the details of when it occurs, especially the steps you took and any patterns you noticed (for example, it happens when doing A after B). Your feedback helps me work toward a bug-free game.
Chain Lightning: Doesn't always jump to the next target in the vicinity.
If you're slowed by a chill effect, the blue visual effect sometimes doesn't disappear.
Upgrades in progress don't always cancel when the building is destroyed.