Devlog #5: the final soundtrack, a forest and a Steam-linked ranking (demo v0.1.7)

The demo moves to version 0.1.7. It’s the biggest update since the first demo came out: the ranking now belongs to your Steam account, two of the three biomes changed from top to bottom, the music is final and there are new siege engines.

A ranking linked to Steam

To keep the Demo Season fair, every watch you post is tied to your Steam account. All your profiles count as one: the board shows your best score, with the name of the profile that earned it. If you play without Steam running, the watch isn’t lost: it’s saved and gets posted on its own the next time you open the game with Steam.

A forest, and a steppe with wind

The meadow is now a forest. Trees grow in small groves that leave room to build by the road, and between them there are ferns, tall weeds, daisies, lilac spikes, mushroom rings, berry bushes, fallen leaves, mossy logs and stumps. After the storm the road stays wet, with puddles that reflect the sky, and once it clears fireflies drift over the grass.
The steppe changed completely: golden grass with patches of cracked earth, a muddy road with cart ruts, lone twisted trees, tall grasses, an overturned cart, fallen fences and bones in the sun. And it brings its own weather: a dry, gusty wind that kicks up dust, closes the mist a little and sends tumbleweeds rolling across the map.
In both biomes plants sway in the wind and bend with every gust.
The landscape has new rocks: river boulders, a menhir with faded runes, split crags, slabs and cairns.

The final soundtrack

All of the game’s music is now final, composed, mixed and mastered by Agustín Colom:

The menu, the calm between waves, the wave and the wave-cleared report.
Champions have their own theme: when one appears its music starts, and when it falls the wave music picks up where it left off. Sir Roderic has his own boss theme.
The arrival at Farpost has its own score: it starts with the title hit and carries the whole scene, with the creaking gate and the cart rolling in.
Victory has a theme: it starts as wave 20 ends and keeps playing under “THE WATCH HELD”.
So does defeat: it comes in as the red mist starts to fall, holds the tension for as long as the base takes to fall, bursts when everything blows up and fades out under the voice.

And new sounds everywhere: human soldiers attack with the whistle of their spear, Farpost’s gate creaks open and slams shut when an enemy gets in, the Archer has a new shot, and selling, forging a blueprint, placing the Obelisk, raising and breaking walls, the Anathema and the Demolisher’s hammer now have sound. The armorer sends you off at the end of every watch, and Sir Aldric and Zhira speak when they appear, at half health and when they fall.

New siege engines

The Catapult and the Ballista have new models: a torsion mangonel and a steel bow on a cart, each with a crimson-robed operator who loads the stone into the bucket or turns the crank. The Ballista fires its own bolt.
The Siege Ram was rebuilt from scratch: a wheeled shed with a striped roof, painted shields and a ram’s head with golden horns. When it breaks it falls apart on the spot and the soldiers inside pour out.

Cards worth the wait

The boss’s loot has new, animated illustrations with the game’s own characters and engines: the armorer by his forge, the Ballista’s bolt piercing Roderic’s shield, the Fire Mage charring a knight, enemies frozen in ice.
Rare and epic cards arrive face down, tied with string and sealed with the armorer’s wax. The mist gathers around them and they flip over with a crackle of lightning (rare) or a thunderclap that soaks them in blood (epic).

Improvements and fixes

Better performance and lower memory use in long runs: the game no longer gets heavier as torches go out.
The mist at the edge of the map shows more clearly where the explored land ends, and the Torchbearer’s callouts are easier to read, even at ×2.
The range shown before placing a defense now includes Workshop upgrades.
The run can no longer get stuck if the Torchbearer burns a body right as the cards appear, and if a wave doesn’t start on its own, START WAVE shows up.
Defenses can no longer be placed on Farpost’s palisade or gate.
Gone: the white flash from Fire Mage explosions, the Catapult’s giant dome and explosion bits floating over the mist.
Sir Roderic no longer runs in place if his armor breaks while he’s winding up a charge.

That’s 0.1.7. If something breaks or you have an idea, use Report a problem in the pause menu: it comes straight to us. And if you haven’t tried it yet, the demo is free on Steam. See you on the palisade.