Posted September 27, 2019 by summitfever
#beta #update
Commanderfaces!
There is a new update available for There Will Be Ink. It involves some neat things like a new “Hardcore” game mode, land mines, cover adjustments, a new campaign mission, and a general rebalance. This update seemed significant enough to bump the version up to beta 2.0. Here we go!
Many aspects of the game are adjusted in Hardcore mode. It’s probably easiest to write them out in a list:
The gif above shows the HMG in action in Hardcore mode (the grey sight cursor is jumping all about due to recoil). In testing things out, I found Hardcore mode to be a pretty good challenge. It’s generally easier to get kills, but also easier to die. There are also a lot more enemies to face with the doubled spawn rate. Further adjustments will likely be made once more testing has been done.
While playing around with Hardcore mode, I discovered that the game was actually more fun when units had less health. Who knew! As a result, I’ve reduced all unit health from between 25-30 down to between 8 and 12. Most weapons do between 8-12 damage, and now there is a modifier of +/- 2 points each hit, to add some variability. The result is that many more hits than before are lethal, making cover even more important. On the topic of cover, units now gain a cover bonus when next to cover (sandbag, rock, etc). The bonus is 5% when standing and 10% when prone. As a result of the hit point reduction, body armour (30% damage reduction for Assault Infantry) and the Longevity ability (+1 hp every 10 seconds for player-controlled units) become more significant. In order to make Medics and Engineers more effective and worthwhile to play as, each now heals/repairs/constructs 50% more hp when player-controlled. All player-controlled units now also get an evasion bonus of 10%. I’ve also added a new Medic ability, “Fortify”, which gives Medics the ability to grant allies a 10% armour bonus.
Engineers can now lay mines once the “Mine Deployer” ability is unlocked. Once a unit comes within a close proximity to a mine, there is a brief delay and then the mine goes off (there is a ticking sound during the delay, during which time it is advisable to roll to safety!). Friendly mines are visible, while enemy mines are not. During a vs. multiplayer match all mines are visible. Additional abilities unlocked once “Mine Deployer” has been enabled include “Mine Sweeping” (enemy mines become permanently visible once an engineer gets near to them), “Mine Defusion” (Engineers will remove hostile mines), and “Mine Recapture” (defused mines are added to the Engineer’s mines). To deploy mines, simply swap weapons with the engineer. Non-player controlled Engineers will lay minefields on their own behind battle fronts.
For the sake of thematic consistency, player highlights are now, well, highlights instead of circles. That’s to say they look like a little scribble done with a highlighter instead of just a circle. I’ve also replaced smoke (from fires, explosions, RPG trails, etc) with little clouds that look drawn instead of the more realistic looking dark clouds of yore. They do indeed seem to fit better, despite being less fancy, though I have some scaling issues yet to work out.
Those are the main changes for this update. I’ve also added a new campaign mission, “Hold Steady”, which features the HMG and is more of a continuation of the previous mission, “The Retreat”, though it plays quite differently. For more info on smaller items, check out the complete list below. As for what’s next, there are many things in the queue, including more campaign missions, additional rebalancing, more unit types and abilities, additional graphic variations, new music, a “Tips” page, a random map generator (for quick battles), a campaign editor, possibly some Halloween themed content, and who knows what else! Please let me know if you have any questions or comments. I’m curious to hear how people find the rebalance and the new Hardcore mode.