Devlog #2: Version 0.1.3 is done

Two days ago we wrote about version 0.1.3 while it was still in progress. It’s finished now. This post covers what landed in the final stretch, then wraps up the whole build in one list, so you don’t have to read two posts to know what’s in it.

What landed at the end

The Arcane Mage charges up

The Arcane Mage was the tower that felt the least alive. Not anymore.

It charges its shot. Between attacks a small violet orb gathers at the tip of the staff, with sparks circling it and drawing in as it fills. When it fires, the orb discharges into the beam.
The beam has a body. It used to be a thin line. Now it has a bright core, a spiral of energy twisting around it and sparks breaking away. When it hits, a jet of sparks bursts out of the enemy’s back, so you can see it go right through.
It fires from the crystal. The beam starts exactly at the tip of the staff and follows it for the whole attack.
Empowered shots, your call. With the Overload card, the mage panel gets a Fire mode switch: Normal (free) or Empowered (more damage, costs mana per shot). You set it per mage, and Apply to all copies it to the rest. The orb turns orange when the next shot will be empowered.
The Detonator has its own seal: the eye of the Mark, crossed out, because its job is to consume marks.

A storm with a beginning and an end

Rain across the whole map. The drops are long, thin streaks now (no more square pixels), they fall wherever you’re looking instead of only over Farpost, they stop at the ground and leave ripples where they land.
The storm darkens the sky. While it rains on the Meadow the light drops and the land turns grey, so the torches mark the road the way they should.
And then it breaks. When the steppe arrives the rain doesn’t just switch off. Over a couple of waves it thins to the last drops, the thunder fades into the distance, the clouds open, and the sun finally breaks through with a moment of golden light. In the demo this happens at wave 10.

Barrels that feel alive

Barrels no longer drip little squares. The fire barrel gives off heat and embers, the acid barrel bubbles, the poison barrel lets out a thin smoke. The ice barrel stays still, as ice does.

A lighter mode for modest PCs

New option: Ambient effects (Settings → Video). It turns off the rain, its splashes and the falling leaves so the game runs lighter on older computers. It doesn’t change anything about the game itself.

Smaller things

Commander powers now compete for a spot. A power no longer shows up as a guaranteed fourth card in the armorer’s offer: it enters the draw with everything else, for the same three places.
Mission notices are smaller and sit at the top, under the wave emblem, instead of covering the map.

Fixed

The Start Wave button could vanish forever if you closed the game during the tutorial and came back with Only what’s new.
Switching profiles from the menu kept showing (and spending) the previous profile’s Workshop. Every profile has its own Workshop now.
The Torchbearer no longer walks inside raised terrain on his way to a torch or a vein: he approaches from a flat side and stays on the ground.
Signs on the map measure their text properly (the No torches button spilled out of its plate).

Everything in 0.1.3

Choose your watch: First Light, The Long Watch or Dead of Night, with a painted scene that changes with the choice. Your score depends on the watch you pick, and the demo picks too.
A world ranking with Local and World tabs, a podium, your own row always visible, and offline watches that post themselves when you’re back online.
A longer demo: it now runs to wave 20, with Sir Roderic waiting at the end. Beating it earns the Dawn Flame cursor and the title of the First Watch, and both carry over to the full game.
The Trapper works with you: you place his traps, his cabin is half the size and his drying rack finally reads at a glance.
The road to Lowgate: the door to Act II is on the hill map, and the Torchbearer builds the road to it block by block.
Mission reports that explain what each event is about, enemy ranks on their cards, clearer status icons and a Stillwater that looks like a village.
The studio logo before the menu, and a menu that rises out of the fog piece by piece.
The Arcane Mage charge, the storm cycle, living barrels and Ambient effects, from this post.

Next up is 0.1.4, and it’s a big one: a new way to score your watch, the fall of Farpost, a 3D campaign map and the game in thirteen languages. That’s the next devlog. If you want to follow along, add The Long Watch to your Steam wishlist and join us on Discord. See you at the palisade.