Playtest Update v0.3.4 — Breach Warden

OVERHEAT PROTOCOL — PLAYTEST UPDATE v0.3.4

BREACH WARDEN

OVERHEAT PROTOCOL Playtest v0.3.4 introduces the Breach Warden, a new two-phase final encounter waiting at the end of the fifth wave.

NEW FINAL ENCOUNTER

• Face the Breach Warden in a dedicated solo boss fight.
• The Warden drops into the arena from above with a large landing impact.
• Regular enemy reinforcements are disabled during the encounter.
• A dedicated localized boss health display tracks both combat phases.
• The encounter must be completed before the run can reach Victory.

TWO-PHASE BOSS CORE

• Depleting the first health bar tears the Warden’s backpack from its body.
• The detached backpack becomes physics-driven debris and visibly falls into the arena.
• The Warden enters a distinct core-reboot sequence instead of immediately dying.
• Its health visibly refills before the more dangerous second phase begins.
• The final blow triggers a separate Beacon-powered execution sequence.
• The Beacon visibly charges before releasing targeted Lightning strikes into the Warden.
• Each Lightning contact produces dedicated impact feedback before the final destruction effect.

SEVEN ATTACK PATTERNS

• Cannon Fan — A wide projectile spread with a clear pre-fire energy arc.
• Orbital Bombardment — Predicted ground strikes with persistent floor warnings and descending energy columns.
• Cannon Beam Sweep — A charged beam that sweeps across the arena.
• Hunter Burst — A sequence of targeted shots with individual lock indicators.
• Cone Blast — A close-range sector attack with a grounded danger wedge.
• Crossfire Grid — Two intersecting energy lanes that preserve diagonal escape routes.
• Ground Pulse — An expanding floor shockwave that can be avoided with a correctly timed jump.

BOSS PRESENTATION

• Added dedicated falling smoke, landing dust, debris and impact effects.
• Added armor-hit sparks, emissive hit flashes and physical hit reactions.
• Added a layered destruction sequence with core overload, armor rupture, hot debris, smoke and a secondary energy burst.
• Added dedicated spatial audio for the Warden’s arrival, attacks, warnings, impacts, phase break, core reboot, Beacon execution and destruction.
• Improved projectiles, muzzle flashes, attack telegraphs and floor alignment.
• Increased the Warden’s health, movement pressure and attack density while keeping every major attack readable and avoidable.

FIXES AND POLISH

• Fixed interrupted beam effects occasionally remaining suspended in the arena.
• Fixed the Beacon replaying an unnecessary second Lightning attack after the Warden’s death.
• Fixed Cone Blast and orbital warnings becoming hidden inside the arena floor.
• Fixed invisible or unreadable incoming boss attacks dealing damage before their presentation appeared.
• Fixed Warden projectiles spawning away from the animated cannon muzzle.
• Fixed the Warden name and health display overlapping the run timer.
• Improved boss impact placement when projectiles reported an invalid contact position.

BUILD SIZE OPTIMIZATION

• Reduced the clean Windows Playtest package from approximately 290 MB to 176 MB.
• Switched release builds to high-compression packaging.
• Removed development-only output from the distributable package.

Thank you to everyone participating in the Playtest. Your feedback continues to directly shape OVERHEAT PROTOCOL as we move toward the public demo.