Here we go, the biggest patch in Battle Squares history. And now we prepare as the game moves into its beta stages. There’s a ton of context below, but if you’ve played any version of Battle Squares prior to this patch, you are considered an “Alpha Tester” and are entitled to quite a few in-game goodies, as a way of saying thank you. (More on this later!)

TONS of changes across the board. Here we continue our trek to improve the new player experience, further tweak cosmetic factors, add in cool new items, and revisit some of the core design decisions behind Battle Squares.

I want to emphasize feedback for this patch. Changes to a lot of core mechanics makes for a very different game feel , and going forward these changes will further define the game to be something truly unique. At the same time, some of these changes are more on the experimental side and will require dedicated testing and iteration to get perfect, like anything else!

Because of the size of this patch, it will probably be rolled out over the course of a few days to make sure everything runs smoothly.

 

GENERAL:

CREDITS – Credits have been introduced this patch as an in-game currency.

• Credits are earned from playing games, but donators also get a one-time 5,000 credit bonus.
• Credits are used to unlock cosmetic items such as avatar skins (see below), titles, and portraits in the Marketplace. The Marketplace will be disabled this patch but will be fully active in a later patch. Stay tuned!
• All Alpha testers get 500 credits for free.

 

PLAYER AVATARS – Players can now choose an avatar in the brand-new ‘Profile’ section.

• Player avatars are in-game models that will represent the player as they move across the board! (Say goodbye to the old wizards, they are no longer enabled by default).
• Players can choose their avatar from a preset collection, however in the future further customization will be an option! Look for this to be a donor feature.
• Avatars can be unlocked, in general, by playing more games (See level system) .
• All Alpha testers get 2 exclusive free skins — Gramps, and Mista P.

 

LEVEL ME UP-  A leveling system has been added to keep track of player progress across games.

• Players will gain XP for playing games. XP will be used to track levels and as a player levels up they will get access  to more features in-game such as powers, starting items, and more!
• Certain Powers can only be unlocked for use in games when a player has reached a certain level.
• Some starting items can only be unlocked for use in games when a player has reached a certain level.

 

HALFTIME – At halftime in each game, a random global event is activated for all players.

• Halftime events affect all players no matter what, and change depending on the state of the game.
• Most events are geared toward challenging players to stay ahead, and giving players that are behind a way to catch up.
• The game must be at least 30 rounds long for halftime events to activate.
• Halftime events can be disabled in the lobby setup.
• Current Halftime Events include:
  • VILLAINY – A player is marked as a villain. This player receives the Villain’s Cape item, which grants +5 Attack and +5 Defense. When this player is defeated in battle however, they pay 20% of their net worth to the winner (in addition to standard battle costs) and the cape is consumed. The Villain’s cape can be stolen.
  • LET THERE BE JUSTICE – For the next 4 rounds, Battle and Omni squares become Court squares.
  • MASS RECALL – All players’ items are sold and players are refunded 100% of the cost. For the next 5 rounds, the item shop will be closed to all players.
  • NEWSOME’S CURSE – All players become haunted for 3 turns. One player becomes immune to this effect.
• Expect more halftime events to come in the near future.

 

MUCH, MUCH PURDIER-  Numerous UI revamps have occurred.

• The Main Menu now provides direct links to the website and has a new “How to Play” button.
• Lobby PIN Entry UI has been reformatted.
• In-Lobby UI has been reworked to display more information about the players; layout has changed to accomodate player profile information and host settings have been tweaked.
• The Power select UI has been reworked to be less wordy and more cohesive.
• The in-game player boxes (On the left-hand side) have been reformatted to display the player’s portrait, and can be moused over to see the player’s profile information.
• The starting item selection UI has been expanded to allow for more than 3 starting items, and has had the explanatory text moved to the item tooltips.
• The End-Of-Game UI has been reformatted to display player portraits. Additionally, UI animation improvements have been made to hide irrelevant UI frames during the end-phase sequence. This UI will also take the player back to the main menu instead of the login screen as it did in previous versions.
• The Local Play Setup UI has been consolidated into smaller and more concise UI frames. Additionally, these textures have been updated.
• The Profile UI has been added, and is accessible from the main menu.

 

MOAR OPTIONS-  The options menu can now be toggled in-game.

HOUSEKEEPING-  During the game setup phase (when players are choosing powers etc.) Most UI frames are no longer visible.

CHAT IT UP-  The chat window can now be viewed in the lobby again. (A partial revert of the change made in 0.1.6).

HEY, NO PEEKING – A player’s starting item selection is no longer shown until the game officially starts. Additionally, a player’s chosen power is not shown until the game officially starts.

TILT – The default in-game camera has had its yaw slightly adjusted to view more of the board at a time.

MOST IMPORTANTLY – The game now has a custom cursor.

 

BATTLE:

 

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When it comes to battle, a player has limited information to ponder: health, attack, and defense. (And occasionally crit chance). However to make battle more strategic and dynamic, integrating new items directly into the system was crucial. By allowing for new abilities in combat that are tied into items, the goal here is to allow for new strategies; fleeting are the days of the stat war, and what we have in its wake are a new generation of items creating for more strategic battles. Have at it!

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ITEMS IN COMBAT- Items that have previously had damaging active effects (IE: AG Pistol or Precision Bow) can now be used while in combat. Items used in combat will go on cool-down as normal but do not replace the player’s standard attack for their combat turn. Additionally, new items have been added that carry additional effects in combat. (See items section for details!)

 

 

THE BOARD:

 

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The number one issue with the Court Square since release: few people understood exactly what it did. Landing on a Court Square meant doing some mental guesswork on who to sue and if you were in the lead, landing on a Court Square essentially meant pay 30 AP. With these changes, players can be more informed and make educated decisions and risks, all while not being punished if they choose to play it safe. Court squares allow for big payoffs, so creating a risk/reward dynamic was really the goal here.

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LEGAL CONSULTATION –  The Court Square now displays a custom UI when choosing to sue another player. This UI will display the chance of success for suing each player, and give the player an option not to sue anyone.

DOUBLE JEOPARDY – Once a player successfully sues another player they may not sue another player with a Court Square again for 6 turns. This restriction does not apply to Court Papers.

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Court Squares are supposed to serve as a means to catch up in much-needed net-worth, but Haunt and similar effects were undermining this ability. There are already numerous ways for players who are ahead to play around Court Squares, Haunt just shouldn’t be one, as it’s oppressive enough as-is.

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HAUNT ME NOT – Players can now earn AP from suing another player even when haunted.

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BOARD BIAS- When rolling the die, you’re about 60% less likely to get a die roll that would put you on the same square as another player.

GET OFF MY FACE- When you land on the same square as another player, your pawn is now slightly offset to prevent your avatars from stacking on top of each other.

NEW – Emperor’s Blessing:

Cost: N/A

:: A possible starting item. Every time you roll, you have a 10% chance to get the adjustment option, allowing you to change your dice roll to be one higher or one lower.

 

POWERS:

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Without going into too much detail, these changes are aimed at removing the more uninteractive elements of powers and giving players interesting abilities that can be played around by opponents. (+1 for counter-play). Check out the new powers:

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NEW – Pickpocket (Replaces Greed)

• When activated, you may steal 10 AP from a player. This effect also has a 10% chance to steal an item (worth 70 AP or less) from the player.

NEW – Earthen Might (Replaces Earthquake)

• Causes an earthquake which deals 8 damage to all players and changes several squares on the field into “Earthen Traps” for 1 turn. If a player lands on an Earthen trap, they miss a turn. You are passively immune to Earthen traps. You may choose not to create an Earthquake and gain +1 Defense permanently instead.

NEW – Celestial Favor

• When this power is activated, you gain a random “Celestial” item that lasts for 3 turns. Celestial items are unique and cannot be stolen or obtained through any other means, while carrying a variety of different effects. Celestial items also cannot be sold however.

NEW – Banish

• When this power is activated, you may banish another player for 1 turn. While banished, a player cannot shop, declare battle, or use their chosen power, but they also cannot be targeted by other players. This power can be used on yourself to become untargetable for 1 turn.

 

 

 

 

 

Bug Fixes:

Squattin’ bugs since 1337.

• Fixed a bug where the camera would pan at different speeds depending on your framerate. If you have a high-end PC and are getting 120+ frames, panning with the arrow keys will no longer cause your camera to appear off the game board.