This is the end....

...of an era and another one is following...

(I am sure I got ya all a little bit worried..right? )

A lot of changes are coming and a lot of new features for you to enjoy!

We have been silent for some days,in regards to the current development, but this is what we are working on:

1. Battle mechanics

i) Units will now have a volume and it will not be possible to walk through other units. This will enhance the tactical/strategical element in the battle as objects (forests, hills, houses etc.) in the battlefield can now be used more efficiently (Eg. creating bottle necks). It will also prevent the ball effect which was used in a way that tactics meant nothing.

ii) Attacks of opportunity will be more painful. While units won't be able to move through others, fleeing units will continue passing through enemy units, only this time the AOO will be more severe.

iii) Fog of War will be implemented. One of the things we don't like in the current battle system is the fact that players can see the whole battlefield, including the enemy's army composition right away. With FOG the units will have a LOS and armies will have no idea what the enemy army is comprised of, OR where it comes from. Artillery units will be given an Attack Ground button.

2. Changes in crafting/repairing

i) All items shall receive an increase to their durability values. That increase will be 1.5.

ii) All items will receive a 45% decrease in gold repairing costs.

iii) All items will now require an additional resource type when being repaired, except from Artifacts which will require all 4 of them. The dependencies are:

a) Armor: Iron and Gold
b) Weapons: Stone and Gold
c) Banners: Wood and Gold
d) Artifacts: All

iv) We are adding 6 more repair slots.

3. Gear Sets

Players will be able to "save" items to specific sets for each unit, so they can change from a COOP set to a PVP set very easily. Each unit/hero will have 4 gear sets.

4. Consumable items in battle

We are introducing a new feature to the game. Heroes can be equipped with potions, scrolls, rings and wands which can be consumed in battle and cause various effects. Some examples are: Protection, Fireball, Lightning, Strength Increase, Endurance Increase, Protection from Missile, etc. These consumable items can be found in battles as drop and can also be obtained in the in-game shop with Gems. In a later stage, they will also be craftable by gathering ingredients from battles and having the relevant tech.

5. Prestige system - AI PvP - Guild Tournaments

i) AI controlled player armies will be introduced. The armies will be consisted of real current units with heroes and items that a player has. Whenever a player enters the PvP queue, the system will first try to match him with an online player. If that is not possible, then it will generate an AI controlled player army of the same Tier to play against. Players will be able to play against a higher Tiered player, by receiving a higher Tiered AI ally in a 2 Vs 2 PvP battle, in order to increase the chance of playing against a human player.

ii) Every time a player wins a PvP, he will earn Prestige Points and if he loses, he will lose Prestige Points. Players advance in PvP Halls depending on the amount of Prestige Points they have. The bigger the Hall, the bigger the bonuses in PvP battles. At the time of a PvP season (3 weeks), players are rewarded with Prestige Coins, depending on the PvP Hall they are in. The first 3 players in each Hall receive additional Prestige Coins. These Prestige Coins can be used to unlock unique banners, units and titles from the Prestige Shop.

iii) Additionally, Guilds compete against each other with the same way as above and at the end of a season, the first 3 Guilds receive an amount of Gems which is distributed among the active Guild members with the amount of Gems depending on their Prestige contribution.

iv) We are preparing a total of 4-6 new unique units, called Golems. You may have already seen the first 3. They will all have unique special abilities which can be triggered by the player.

v) A spectator mode will allow players to enter any PvP battle and watch its progression.

You should start seeing the above features slowly starting from today when we will probably upload the durability change/gold repairing cost and mmmaybe the additional resource types repairing cost.

What is next..? Capital Upgrades, Regional upgrades and Guild armies, Transmutation, Runes and new Battle Modes...

Good stuff. In what order will it get implemented, so we have a rough estimate what to expect when or is all this coming next patch   

Tibr wrote:

Good stuff. In what order will it get implemented, so we have a rough estimate what to expect when or is all this coming next patch   

I'd say that in the next 2 weeks, 90% should be implemented.

Sounds like a lot of interesting changes.

A couple of questions:

1) Will AI be affected by fog?

2) Will it be possible to have a zoom out option?

clambam wrote:

1) Will AI be affected by fog?

Of course...no cheating by the AI.

clambam wrote:

2) Will it be possible to have a zoom out option?

Not at this point.

OK...who broke Rune?!

FOG - OK, this could make for some interesting tactics then

Zoom - noted, guess it is not that easy to program. What should be easy to program...imo, would be that when you click on the mini map it takes you to that part of the map....which would be very useful

RuneSlayer wrote:

iv) We are adding 6 more repair slots.

Will these new repair slots be "free" or will they require gems to unlock?

so much spam

ysosad wrote:

OK...who broke Rune?!

I apologize for the spamming. I deleted the "extra" posts. (Silly BC Forum....*mutters*)

clambam wrote:

What should be easy to program...imo, would be that when you click on the mini map it takes you to that part of the map....which would be very useful

Already implemented.

Oingoboingo wrote:

Will these new repair slots be "free" or will they require gems to unlock?

They can be unlocked with Gems.

Great news rune.
Some might miss the nerf for UD though. When is this scheduled to happen?

Claudandus wrote:

Great news rune.
Some might miss the nerf for UD though. When is this scheduled to happen?

Definitely before the Prestige System/AI PvP.

RuneSlayer wrote:

clambam wrote:

1) Will AI be affected by fog?

Of course...no cheating by the AI.

I'm actually quite worried about this one.

You obviously have some limitations when it comes to AI.
I mean, if we were to go and hide in a corner, I'm assuming the AI is still going to know we are there and move towards us??

or are you promising that the AI won't be able to target (as in an AI melee unit moving towards the nearest human melee unit) that it cant see? Will the AI actually have to search for us?

As for Fog of War: I love the idea. (Tactical depth and all that), however I am quite worried about how it will affect artillery. (Light Arty even more so). There's already a problem with terrain and the usefulness of Light artillery even when you know exactly where the enemy is coming from. I imagine with FoW Light players will stop using artillery all together.

Also will units immediately stop firing or following targeted units when they disappear from sight into Fog of War?

Will unit vision be a 360 thing? or more of a frontal arc?

RuneSlayer wrote:

iii) Fog of War will be implemented. One of the things we don't like in the current battle system is the fact that players can see the whole battlefield, including the enemy's army composition right away. With FOG the units will have a LOS and armies will have no idea what the enemy army is comprised of, OR where it comes from. ;)Artillery units will be given an Attack Ground button.

 
Tbh, i dont like the idea of it.
In PVP it is useful i think, but in Solos & Coops, hmm...
 
Everyone will hide behind the first object he'll find and wait till enemy find him -> battles will be slower as they are already.
 
Ah, wait:
 

RuneSlayer wrote:

i) Units will now have a volume and it will not be possible to walk through other units. This will enhance the tactical/strategical element in the battle as objects (forests, hills, houses etc.) in the battlefield can now be used more efficiently (Eg. creating bottle necks). It will also prevent the ball effect which was used in a way that tactics meant nothing.

 
You cant even hide behind one object as you need many, many space for the units...
 
Hmm, have you tested this upcoming system in coop mode with two players (2x 10 units) vs. AI ??

XViper wrote:

You obviously have some limitations when it comes to AI.
I mean, if we were to go and hide in a corner, I'm assuming the AI is still going to know we are there and move towards us??

or are you promising that the AI won't be able to target (as in an AI melee unit moving towards the nearest human melee unit) that it cant see? Will the AI actually have to search for us?

The AI will have to search for the player's army in order to attack. It won't matter that much though, as the map is not that huge that it will be possible to hide for the remainder of the battle.

XViper wrote:

As for Fog of War: I love the idea. (Tactical depth and all that), however I am quite worried about how it will affect artillery. (Light Arty even more so). There's already a problem with terrain and the usefulness of Light artillery even when you know exactly where the enemy is coming from. I imagine with FoW Light players will stop using artillery all together.

Not necessarily. The thing is that now you will need spotters. It is a good thing that cavalry units can be unlocked earlier than artillery units. Also, don't forget that all artillery units will have the "Attack Ground" function.

XViper wrote:

Also will units immediately stop firing or following targeted units when they disappear from sight into Fog of War?

Good question. They will try to follow, exactly as they do right now when the targeted unit is leaving the range of the ranged unit.

XViper wrote:

Will unit vision be a 360 thing? or more of a frontal arc?

We are working on implementing a frontal arc.

9999 wrote:

RuneSlayer wrote:

iii) Fog of War will be implemented. One of the things we don't like in the current battle system is the fact that players can see the whole battlefield, including the enemy's army composition right away. With FOG the units will have a LOS and armies will have no idea what the enemy army is comprised of, OR where it comes from. ;)Artillery units will be given an Attack Ground button.

 
Tbh, i dont like the idea of it.
In PVP it is useful i think, but in Solos & Coops, hmm...
 
Everyone will hide behind the first object he'll find and wait till enemy find him -> battles will be slower as they are already.
 
Ah, wait:
 

RuneSlayer wrote:

i) Units will now have a volume and it will not be possible to walk through other units. This will enhance the tactical/strategical element in the battle as objects (forests, hills, houses etc.) in the battlefield can now be used more efficiently (Eg. creating bottle necks). It will also prevent the ball effect which was used in a way that tactics meant nothing.

 
You cant even hide behind one object as you need many, many space for the units...
 
Hmm, have you tested this upcoming system in coop mode with two players (2x 10 units) vs. AI ??

9999,

You say that you don't like it because players will hide waiting for the AI enemy army. Well...then don't hide... The system is providing the tools...it is up to the players how they are going to use them.

1. Hide behind objects waiting for the AI to find you and waste time? Your choice.

2. Go after the AI with your whole army, risking being outmaneuvered? Your choice.

3. Use scouts to scout the battlefield and find the AI army, while you are positioning your army in another area? (Who said that the AI units will be in one place? ) Your choice.

4. ....

5. .....

It is up to the players...

RuneSlayer wrote:

clambam wrote:

What should be easy to program...imo, would be that when you click on the mini map it takes you to that part of the map....which would be very useful

Already implemented.

Ah OK, guess it just doesn't work for me then...or is that something coming in updates?

clambam wrote:

RuneSlayer wrote:

clambam wrote:

What should be easy to program...imo, would be that when you click on the mini map it takes you to that part of the map....which would be very useful

Already implemented.

Ah OK, guess it just doesn't work for me then...or is that something coming in updates?

It's coming today.

Noted...thanks

RuneSlayer wrote:

9999,

You say that you don't like it because players will hide waiting for the AI enemy army. Well...then don't hide... The system is providing the tools...it is up to the players how they are going to use them.

1. Hide behind objects waiting for the AI to find you and waste time? Your choice.

2. Go after the AI with your whole army, risking being outmaneuvered? Your choice.

3. Use scouts to scout the battlefield and find the AI army, while you are positioning your army in another area? (Who said that the AI units will be in one place? ) Your choice.

4. ....

5. .....

It is up to the players...

 
Rune,
the players hide behind objects to prevent casualties.
This will be history with FoW, i think.
 
It is like running into an open knife; just as hurtful; just as unnecessary!
 
 
@ Bottlenecks (from your first post)
When units have volume, there will be one unit against another and the others are waiting till there are enough casualties for going to frontline or how do i have to understand it? (= Armys with ranged units will have an huge advantage)

Are ranged units gonna do an automatic hit if possible, and if they it they reveal the location of the units for a period of time?

9999 wrote:

the players hide behind objects to prevent casualties.
This will be history with FoW, i think.

Why is this history? You can still use objects to be protected from enemy ranged units. What is history....is knowing EXACTLY what the enemy army is consisted of and EXACTLY where they are coming from.

9999 wrote:

When units have volume, there will be one unit against another and the others are waiting till there are enough casualties for going to frontline or how do i have to understand it? (= Armys with ranged units will have an huge advantage)

I don't understand your concern. It is not like there is no space to maneuver your units. Why do you have to wait to maneuver your units?

Bblazer wrote:

Are ranged units gonna do an automatic hit if possible, and if they it they reveal the location of the units for a period of time?

If a unit cannot see at a specific spot, then even if it hits, it won't know if it hit or not. If we did that, then artillery units could be used as spotters...

Artillery units will need scouts to be used efficiently, or they can strategically "bombard" a specific area.

A side note: With FOW, artillery units may receive some extra love....

RuneSlayer wrote:

9999 wrote:

the players hide behind objects to prevent casualties.
This will be history with FoW, i think.

Why is this history? You can still use objects to be protected from enemy ranged units. What is history....is knowing EXACTLY what the enemy army is consisted of and EXACTLY where they are coming from.

9999 wrote:

When units have volume, there will be one unit against another and the others are waiting till there are enough casualties for going to frontline or how do i have to understand it? (= Armys with ranged units will have an huge advantage)

I don't understand your concern. It is not like there is no space to maneuver your units. Why do you have to wait to maneuver your units?

 
As i wrote, i maybe understand it wrong, but how can they hide all behind an object, when they cannot ball, because they have volume?
They can only stand side by side and when there is only room for one unit, how can a second fight there?
To make my thoughts visible, for the bottleneck scenario [yes, i'm bad at it ]:

I know that the ball tactic can also be used with other race's LIA I feel that it wasn't as effective as the skelly LI ball. With the Undead nerf I think the problems with the ball tactic would be over. Also I do have a question about Fog of War. Will AI archers and artillery be able to shoot us without even seeing us? This makes archers and artillery even more useless in pvp. Even with artillery being able too shoot at the ground somewhere. If done right I think it could be interesting and fun

9999 wrote:

As i wrote, i maybe understand it wrong, but how can they hide all behind an object, when they cannot ball, because they have volume?
They can only stand side by side and when there is only room for one unit, how can a second fight there?
To make my thoughts visible, for the bottleneck scenario [yes, i'm bad at it Wink]:

It was actually good...

Yes, you are correct. Units cannot stop at a point where one is inside the other. It makes sense, right?