[Devlog] More GOBLINS (0.0.8)

Hi all, Ben here 👋

We're excited to share a new build with you but before we get into that, the Fool King has been dethroned a total of 16 times since the last update. I have bad news though because Sylas Shadowblade has recently regained the throne! We must work together and defeat this villain.  His reign of terror cannot go unchecked.

Onwards, to the update!

Version 0.0.8 Update 

Shield Goblin - Born to take hits!

These lil buddies are tank-y, slow and when they get hit, they hunker down for a moment before continuing towards their targets.  While they can't attack, they have a built-in thorns effect based on the their damage. So whenever they get hit, they will deal damage back to the attacker (as long as they are in range of the shield goblin).

Use them to soak up ranged attacks, clog up choke points and help buy time so you can get your other melee units up close and personal with the enemy's ranged units.

New Level - The Market

Welcome to the market, it doesn't have much but it does have a large choke point in the center and a sneaky entrance to the south. A perfect spot to put your ranged units to work but just make sure your catapult doesn't hit the wall!

Unit Pathfinding & Behaviour Improvements

Since we launched the first version of the game, there have been some glaring issues with the pathfinding and targeting. Common issues were units running the wrong way, targeting far away units over closer ones and occasionally playing games of Ring around the Rosie with the enemy.

We've streamlined and improved the systems to be more consistent and to be more reactive when it comes to targeting. We've also added a target indicator before the fight starts to better communicate how units will act. Hover over a banner to activate the target indicator.

Some of the more complex systems have been disabled and for now the targeting will be based on direct distances instead of path distance. This is an ongoing process and we will continue to make improvements as we develop the game.

We hope this has moved the needle to make things work better. Feel free to yell at me more if you run into issues!

General Gameplay Changes

Gold

The old reward system was quite swing-y depending on which opponent you faced, so we've made some adjustments to smooth it out.

The new system works as follows:

• Win : Gain 10 gold
• Lose : Gain up to 6 gold depending on the percent of units killed (e.g. if you kill 50% of the enemy units then you will get 3 gold)

Rerolls

In the last update, we made all the rerolls temporary but now feel like its a bit too punishing. We've changed it so that you will have a base of 1 reroll each fight, but can purchase extra temporary rerolls in the shop.

Tooltips

We've added some new tool tips to better explain some hidden mechanics and help avoid some common pitfalls. This includes:

• Catapults have limited ammo based on the dice value,
• Reminding the player to select the correct dice before buying upgrades
• The rerolls being temporary
• Visual tooltips for manipulating formations

WIP Art

We've started adding some (very early) art in to the game both in the form of animatics and some world building in the progression screen. You're going to have to dethrone the Fool King to see the coolest one!

We want to hear your thoughts!

We're really excited to interact with the growing community, so if you have ideas, suggestions or feedback please let us know! 

• Join our discord for early updates, WIP's and a nice place to hang out
• Contact us at info[at]lootdonkey.com

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Thanks for reading and please help us dethrone Sylas!