Fixed issue with the new enemy logic breaking garrison fights
Fixed issue with enemy units being unstoppable when charging through your lines
The enemy AI was pretty mid so I ripped out most of the old logic and rewrote it to behave more like a skilled player. They now have a “General” that plans out their battles instead of just running at the nearest squad. Little worried that this makes the game considerably harder so will be monitoring the analytics all week and will make adjustments asap if needed.
If you are interested to see how it works, turn on Debug Mode in Settings! It will show their battle plan and what each of its squads is doing. Kinda cheaty and looks like dog water but very cool
Enemy Armies now have:
One main battle line of infantry, with one squad held in reserve to counter flanks or be sent into a gap
If they have more squads then you they will go wide and try to wrap around
Enemy cav goes around your army to hit your archers and the backs of squads that are already fighting
Enemy cav now cycle charge after being in combat for a bit
Sending player cav on a flank will cause the enemy to send one squad to intercept
Enemy archers now all focus fire on a target to try to make a hole in your line
Enemy outriders wait behind your army and strike once the fighting starts.
Every difficulty gets the full AI. I did this cause new players want to know that the game will have intelligent AI, the enemy armies will just be smaller and the AI will react slower.
A squad that pulls out of a melee takes a couple of seconds of hits on the way out, and cavalry that catches a marching squad can cut it down. Squads that break and run still get away. This works both ways, so the enemy pays for it too.
Auto-resolve now plays the enemy the way the new AI fights: its cavalry hunts your archers, its archers focus fire and its outriders start behind your army. Expect auto-resolve to be a bit harder, most of all in the first battles of a run on Medium and Hard. Again, will be watching the stats closely to make sure the game is still fair
I was experimenting a lot with the ui over the past few weeks to make it more aestetically appeasing so the game doesn't look like a Synty asset flip, however I feel like the game lost some of its charm. Thank you guys for the feedback, I feel like the UI is now at a happy middle ground where it looks a lot better but less like AI. Will keep iterating until its perfect or I die.
Cleaned up the Town, Engagement, Campfire, Tavern Games and Victory screens. Stats sit in plain rows like the ones on unit cards, and a lot of small dividers, extra subtitles and hints are gone.
The Collection got pretty seriously overhauled. Units sit on tall cards with their faction's backdrop, like the cards in your army, and the model stands in its faction's colors with a pool of light under it.
Boxes, slots and highlight rings on the Town, Engagement, Campfire, Tavern Games, Victory, hero and warband screens now use hand-drawn frames instead of flat straight outlines.
Hovering a battle on the map now shows its biome under the weather and what it means for the fight. On a River map the enemy always advances.
A Town now closes on its own once you've taken everything it has to offer.
In the shop, an item you can't afford now shakes its whole model
The trees of the Silken Reaches are cherry-blossom pink instead of orange.
Hovering a hero no longer swaps the hero panel. It only changes when you pick one.
Clicking something you can't do right now, like a locked hero, a full army or a blocked Start Campaign, shakes and tells you no instead of doing nothing.
Gear tiles in the Armory glow gold when you hover them.
New Banner tab on the warband screen: pick your army's flag colors. Choose a main color, a second color and a trim from 24 colors, or take any faction's colors.
Your banner flies over your squads in custom battles and in every campaign battle led by a commander you've won a campaign with. Other commanders keep their faction's flag until you win with them.
The weather, biome and Twist pop-ups no longer appear while the camera sweeps over the map at the start of an act.
Fixed a ton of buttons that werent making aclick sound, Build Army, Start Campaign, the difficulty arrows and the language picker.
Fixed buttons playing their hover sound twice when clicked.
Fixed a short freeze the first time you hovered a unit on the army screen.
Fixed little ghost faces showing up in sparkle effects, like opening a treasure chest
Fixed weapons and gear that came out the wrong size on some units. Bogmaw Trolls' clubs and collars, the Leviathans' sword, Wraith Lords' swords, Valkyrie shields and Varangian Guard swords were too big. Glyphstone Phalanx spears, Ashwood Militia shields, Star Striders' spears, Orc Impalers' spears, Imperial Templar shields and Goblin Scrap Shooter bows were too small. Venomtail Archers' swords and skull helms and the Stegoplate Guard's skull helm were missing and are back.
Fixed kobold tails going wide and flat at the tip when they walk, run or fight.
The Dungeon Master on the campaign map plays his talking gestures again, and male heroes wave again. A male hero on the losing side of a Tavern Games round no longer gets stuck in one emote.
Fixed the map's weather box hiding behind the legend at larger UI Scale settings.
Bjorn's figure on the campaign map no longer wears Santa hats outside of winter.
Fixed repeated attack orders on the enemy a squad is already fighting pulling it out of the fight. Spamming them made units reset their animations and slide across the ground, and let ranged squads in melee fire projectiles at point blank.
Fixed the enemy general across the tavern table staying the same when a new act starts. It used to change only after a trip to the main menu.
Pressing Esc while a battle loads no longer keeps the loading screen closed until you press Esc again.
Battle alerts, like the enemy outriders warning, now show below the minimap instead of covering it. (sorry)
Campaign Traits now always show in the Collection. Before, they disappeared after you played a custom battle or during a March.
Hovering a unit to compare it no longer shows its battle traits in the Campaign Trait color.
The Renown upgrade that adds 2 gold to ransoming enemies after battle now works. It did nothing before.
Fixed the camera sometimes drifting on its own after you used a controller's left stick or triggers.
Clicking a potion you can't drink now tells you why, for example when your army is full.
The hero story text on the hero screen now scrolls about one line per mouse wheel notch, so no lines are skipped.
Gear tooltips on the map and in the Shop Armory now show how many of your squads the item affects.
Fixed a stutter every time you hovered one of your own squads in battle and its stat panel opened.
New treasure chest icon on the map, in towns, at the campfire and in the Renown tree.
Rebaked the lighting in the event room.
Blood Frenzy is no longer offered to archers as a Prestige III trait. Melee and hybrid units can still roll it.
Ashigaru Spearmen: Leadership 50 to 40, Melee Defense 34 to 32.