I know that the time for the current update is unusually long. It's so long that I got asked about the next update on pretty much any page the game is on, and had a drop in patron numbers for the first time. It wasn't planned to take this long, but the battle system is rather complex and I encountered a bunch of problems while making it. But the complex part is done, and I hope to finish the update soon now.
I made some posts about the development progress of the update on discord, which is usually the best place to stay up-to-date and hear about the release date of the next update first.
Renryuu discord server: https://discord.gg/A79WrBq
The last devlog post I made is from yesterday and explains all I have left to do:
(Previous devlogs and posts explained in detail what changes I made for the new battle system, which aren't all explained here.)
"- The battle system seems to be finished. I made the changes for all 4 normal battles and found no issue so far.
- Previously the battles on the overview map appeared after a short dialog with the general at the sleeping chambers (the guy who lets you enter the overview map and is later killed and replaced by Lind). This was changed now. After repairing the old barracks (where you meet Mira), you can meet the first squad leader there. She'll start a quest to gather the other 5 squad leaders and introduce them all to the player. After you've talked with all of them and return to the barracks, the battle system will unlock on the overview map.
- Enemy cavalry units now move 1 tile every turn, until they reach a certain location. This simulates patrols a bit, and also gives enemy cav units an additional tile in their attack range. Normal melee units only have 2 tiles reach, while ranged units will attack within a 3 tile range.
- Moral now affects the crit chance instead of the damage:
Moral 130+ = +4% crit
Moral 100-129 = +2% crit
Moral 71-99 = no effect
Moral 51-70 = 50% crit chance reduction
Moral 0-50 = 75% crit chance reduction
- Moral will also affect the chance of bonus battles to appear. Contrary to before, bonus battles will appear with a certain chance every turn on the overview map, but disappear after a battle. I haven't added them yet, but that's the current plan for them. Bonus battles will have more valuable drops, for example the horses that will allow 5 tile movement for your troops.
- There is no healer yet for your forces. I plan to add one in the following update, but not in the next one. - The balancing is partly just guesswork and will probably have to be twerk based on feedback and testing.
What I still want to do before releasing the update:
- Change buildings like arena, academy, command center, and so on, which were related to the previous battle system and need to be adjusted to the new system.
- Change the overview map research tree, where you previously had research option to "unlock" certain classes for the old battle system. The new research will probably unlock stuff for the new battle system, like better items or equipment for purchase in the armory or shops.
- Random chance of a caravan to appear every turn on the overview map. The caravan will sell items for the new battle system.
- New bonus battles as explained above.
- Revolt. Battles can appear when the happiness of your people is too low. Greatly increases upkeep per turn until you either ended the revolt by force or increased the happiness far enough. - Resources like recruits, silver, or runes need new usage now that you don't need them to refresh the troops of your units. (In the new system, all squads are automatically healed after a battle.)
- The tutorial needs to be corrected, to fit to the new battle system.
In theory, all those things don't take very long, so I might be able to finish the next test version within next week and make the upload for or during next weekend. But no promises. ;) "