Evolution Tag 2 Playtest News

Will be having a play test on Saturday March 15, 7pm PDT!

[h3]New Hero: Night Druid[/h3]
Spellcaster with potential to do lots of damage and heal allies. Can further evolve to specialize in summoning, damage, or healing
Evolves from Mage -> Druid (NEW) -> Greater Druid (NEW)

[h3]New Hero: Ent[/h3]
Tanky support hero with the ability to summon and heal allies.
Evolves from Mage -> Druid (NEW) -> Greater Druid (NEW)

https://youtu.be/TRKG_hCFXwc?si=Ia1QLDq1yBWZiMjS

[h3]General Changes:[/h3]
Attack Speed now increases attack animation speed at 75% effectiveness, and made it so animation speed / attack speed has no limit.
Made nearly all units easier to click by adding an additional bigger collision box for each unit purely for clicking and selecting
Updated the default and targeting cursors to new ones and made them slightly bigger
When hovering over a unit, the cursor now changes color. Red for enemy, yellow for ally and green for self.
Improved the look of certain projectiles when despawning by allowing the effects to deactivate properly
Updated starting units descriptions to show all possible final evolutions
Units can now drown, taking 100 + 5% max HP damage each second while under water
All units can now mini jump in target direction if they get stuck on unwalkable terrain by simply right clicking anywhere
Made the map lighting less bright
The cursor is now locked to window during gameplay and unlocked when in lobby

[h3]PvP Map Changes:[/h3]
Moved dragon boss to top right and expanded the map at bottom area.
Updated the map terrain, including addition of a river which flows through the center and eventually leads to the bottom right ocean area
Units can now escape the ocean area by walking up the river, but take damage while too deep in the ocean (as explained in general changes)
Added small human base with a lesser healing fountain at bottom
Updated the lighting to be less bright. Night time given a bluer tint.
Passive gold gained increased after 10 minutes by 1.5x, after 15 minutes by 2x
Day / Night cycles made shorter from 210 -> 175 seconds.
Human / Undead creeps made weaker
Lowered volume of neutral dragon death
Reduced waves on lake to make it less disorientating
Undead team minions no longer despawn when day starts
Spirits now get teleported away if try to move too close to undead base to prevent base rushing
After first nightfall, rabbits will periodically spawn around the map and wander to random areas. Rabbit spawn rate scales with number of players.
Increased XP gained from rabbits
Undead Base now gets +500 max HP per player in the game.
Ancient turtles and satyrs now have less change of spawning.

[h3]RPG Map Changes:[/h3]
This game mode is now a persistent world! Rather than hosting an RPG custom lobby, players can now join and leave freely on a single server
To support a persistent map, all units that previously didn't respawn now respawn after some time. (typically 45 minutes)
Added a new high level dungeon Graveyard as well as a little medium level training area with orcs.
Added 9 new items dropped by various monsters
Can no longer build near portals or spawn area
Castle Final Boss now has a small chance to resist stuns or freezes
A giant goat has been added somewhere in the mountains
Fixed bug where creeps may respawn early if leaving/entering that creep's spawn region

[h3]Client/Lobby Changes:[/h3]
Completely rewrote almost all lobby and login code as it was just placeholder code.
Logging in and going back to lobby now loads much faster
Lobby list refreshes and shows new lobbies faster
Lobby now properly terminates when the host leaves
Matchmaking gets cancelled if new player joins or leaves
You can now select which region you want to host a game. All players in the lobby will connect to the server on the chosen region.
Added a test mode which can be activated any time and require users to enter in a code in order to create a lobby
Player's account level is now displayed and visible to other players in lobby
The list of game server statuses now updates more frequently and remains visible at all times
Added error handling such as if matchmaking fails, showing error message popup
Improved security and logging
Many other bug fixes
Removed friends list feature
Removed latency feature
Removed ready button

[h3]Bug Fixes / Optimizations:[/h3]
Increased maximum bandwidth usage by 3x. If anyone notices any stuttering or lag may have to revert this.
Fixed bug where necromancer could get stuck after casting Raise Dead. Raise dead no longer has 1 second cooldown.
Fixed issue where creeps would spawn on unwalkable areas or underneath big units such as dragon
Units can no longer get stuck on unwalkable areas such as cliff sides due to the jump mechanic described in general changes.
Optimized stop order to not repeatedly check navigation every tick
Fixed issue where stop order didn't work for passive units such as turnip or builder
Fixed bug where on rare occasions neutral bosses could stop moving on pvp map
Slightly optimized creep camp spawns on rpg mode
Optimized perks, rpg item drops, and upgrades stacking. Fixed a potential crash if stacking too many upgrades.
Optimized spells that can infinitely buff a target unit
Fixed bug where you can't buy wood or teleported if 6 items
Fixed bug where couldn't cast sprint while other abilities active
Fixed issue where shop menu blocks seeing how much gold you have on some resolutions
Fixed bug where you could go past level 30
(v0.30) fixed crash caused by deflecting certain projectiles

[h3]Balance / Unit Changes:[/h3]
Fountain heal 4% -> 3%
Increased attack range of various human ranged units
Added ability for all walls to self destruct if need to clear space
Wind archer projectiles now fire from the bow rather than the archer's feet
Wind archer evade now gives 90% damage reduction and stun immunity while in the air. CD and manacost reduced slightly.
Slightly increased cost of some late game builder upgrades
Undead Tower range decreased
Adjusted some RPG creeps xp and gold bounties

[h3]Other Minor Changes:[/h3]
Improved wolf and goat idle animations
Mage and Ice Mage now shoot attack projectiles from the staff instead of body
Wind archer wind arrows impact SFX can now properly stack on same target
Undead Tower and Citadel projectiles made less bright
Lich can no longer evolve to undead berserker
Removed unnecessary collision on fountain
Increased creep damage scaling based on number of players for survival mode

[h3]NEW UNITS:[/h3]
Dwarf Warrior - https://youtu.be/JVi5bY_5lLU?si=g731Gbo135V_XyZr
Corrupted Dragon - https://youtu.be/W3SyCsUfJ64?si=xgQtVtK3sgQIem6s
Added a new evolution path including 2 new units for undead berserker - Speedy Skeleton and Elite Skeleton Warrior

[h3]New Items:[/h3]
Added new tier 4 item Bloodthirster which heals user every 7 attacks and deals % of target's max HP.
Added new tier 4 item Dragon Shield which gives 35% chance to resist stuns/freezes, and bonus AD/AP based on magic resist.
Added new tier 2 item for passive healing

[h3]General Changes:[/h3]
Added localization for Korean and a dropdown menu to switch between English and Korean.
Increased passive gold per second for all players

[h3]Unit Changes:[/h3]
Paladin Tank Upgrade Max HP Increased by 250
Wind archer wind arrows (Q) now properly gives armor pen and boosted range bonus from 125 -> 500
Wind archer Gust knockback slightly increased
All dragons now deal less damage to minions and buildings when breathing fire
Undead Berserker spin attack now has sounds and special effects when hitting units
For Builders, replaced annoying voice line with a different one whenever a basic building is complete.
Adjusted stats of several undead units

[h3]Bug Fixes / Technical Stuff:[/h3]
Skillshot projectile abilities final location now vertically travels to height of cursor location
Optimized mastersmith bolster ability when used multiple times on same unit
Fixed bug in Survival Mode where the skeletons in level 23 had a summon duration of 60 seconds.
The fountain in RPG mode can no longer be destroyed
Raised max concurrent sounds from 32 to 128 to fix issue where sounds not playing.
Improved flexibility of ability system and support for more advanced on hit effects.
Fixed squished in game UI for resolutions where vertical height is higher than normal
Potentially fixed issue where in rare cases game fails to start
Added loading UI after starting a new game with some debug info
Fixed bug where skillshot projectiles with special handling such as knockbacks could cause error
Fixed bugs relating to high ping in lobby and possibly fixed bug where sometimes player name shows up blank when joining new lobby
Fixed bug where ice wizard snow minions spell could damage allies when exploding
Several other minor bug fixes

[h3]Possible Issues:[/h3]
When player leaves while their unit is about to die, the game may perma freeze for all other players.
UI bug where quitting RPG map may briefly show stats failed to load error.

[h3]NEW RPG GAME MODE:[/h3]

• Each game, you start out as a turnip and evolve you character as usual.
  
• Explore the map and try to raid the castle!
  
• Whenever you leave the game, your monster drops, tokens and XP are saved to your account.
  
• Spend attribute points to permanently make your character stronger.
  
• Unlike other game modes, you can adjust your camera with arrows keys + mouse wheel.
  
• More areas and dungeons coming in the future.
  

[h3]General:[/h3]

• Added new stats and tokens system
  
• Playing any game mode now rewards xp/tokens
  
• Updated UI to be smaller and various other UI updates
  
• Game wins are now tracked although not displayed in UI yet
  
• Added button to completely show/hide the stat window bar at the bottom
  
• Disabled motion blur
  
• Removed Monster Tag game mode
  

[h3]Lobby:[/h3]

• Added Guest login button so people can play without signing up
  
• Added RPG shop where you can spend attribute points
  
• Added RPG drops tab where you can view drops obtained from RPG mode
  
• Users can no longer login to multiple game instances with same account
  
• Login screen now displays total players online and if server is offline
  
• Added quit game button to login/lobby screen
  

[h3]Bug Fixes / Optimizations:[/h3]

• Fixed bug where issuing an order to a location might be off by a bit
  
• Fixed bug where casting certain abilities would send the use ability order over the network twice.
  
• Reworked perks system to be much more efficient and perks now have max level of 100.
  
• Removed production progress bars when unselected to improve performance
  
• Removed and optimized other UI related code which should help performance alot in cases when there's lots of objects in game.
  
• Made various other minor optimizations
  
• Zooming in and out now properly handles camera movement in the x-axis
  
• Made gold bounty text more visible
  
• Slightly increased sound travel distance
  

[h3]Skill Changes / Balance:[/h3]

• Wind Archer Gust damage increased 30 -> 70
  
• Wind Archer Rapid Fire now applies on-hit effects (per arrow) at 50% effectiveness and tornado shot at 200% effectiveness
  
• Cyromancer Ice Defense damage to minions increased 80% -> 100% and chance to freeze per tick 12.5% -> 15%
  
• Survival Mode - made level 23 alot easier and can claim victory 15 seconds after boss defeated instead of 30
  
• Deflected projectiles max range increased from 1200 to 1500
  

[h3]Known Issues:[/h3]

• When player leaves while their unit is about to die, the game may perma freeze for all other players.
  
• UI bug where quitting RPG map may briefly show stats failed to load error.
  

[h3]New Hero for the Undead Team![/h3]

• Hydra - can be built as AP or tank. Can push enemies around with it's massive size and water spells.
  
• Evolution Path: Evil Turnip -> Lizion -> Lizel -> Liziant -> Warrior of the Deep -> Hydra -> Hydra UU
  

[h3]UI Changes:[/h3]

• You can now still control your main character while selecting an enemy or ally. The other unit's stats/inventory will be displayed while the main character's abilities and evolution options will remain shown.
  
• Main character will now automatically be selected in addition to any enemy or ally selection.
  
• Shop menu can now be toggled with "P" hotkey
  
• Esc hotkey now also closes the shop if it is currently open.
  
• Updated default camera zoom to max
  

[h3]Survival Mode:[/h3]

• Lowered giant bear armor and HP
  
• Goat Damage reduced 2->1 and attack speed increased sightly
  
• Turtle thorns armor damage reduced 3->2 and armor reduced by 10
  
• Wraith (Level 20) can now cast black hole and CDR changed from 40% -> 50%. Cast frequency increased by approx 25%
  
• Added slight HP regeneration to human base towards the later levels
  
• Added 3 additional levels. These should be much more challenging and require 2+ people.
  
• Starting from levels 20+, levels award much more lumber for perks and next level only starts when the boss is defeated.
  

[h3]Monster Tag:[/h3]

• Note: this map currently seems to have fps issues :(
  
• EXPERIMENTAL: Navigation tile size reduced from 19->5 so it might have a pretty bad impact on performance
  
• The reason for above change is at higher tile sizes, the building grid doesn't quite match up
  
• Completely reworked the custom monster tag AI.
  
• When monsters can't reach you, they will now attack whatever is closest instead of trying to get closer to you first
  
• While above isn't ideal, monsters no longer get stuck/jitter and pathing is much smoother
  
• Removed cage at beginning of game
  
• First monsters now spawn after 30 seconds
  
• Scaled down dwarf warrior, walls, and grumb slightly. Scaled up basic tower slightly.
  
• Added a stone block base under each building to look better on ramps
  
• Rotated tower to show door
  
• Hero's attacks now deal damage instantly instead of waiting for animation to finish
  
• Added 2 new monsters: Zilzork, Cyclope
  
• Added 3 new buildings: stone block, poison tower, lightning tower, base
  
• Adjusted spawn times for each monster and removed periodic creep level up
  
• Added 3 new abilities for dwarf warrior. Can get R ability at level 3
  
• Fixed bug if monster has very slightly more movement speed than builder it can't attack
  
• Further increased movement speed of all units
  
• Disabled periodic gold income for monster tag
  
• Fixed bug where navigating to edge of map may not have circle of vision centered over the unit properly
  

[h3]Bug Fixes / Optimizations:[/h3]

• Reworked and optimized AI for creeps that actively hunt enemies. Affects both classic and survival mode.
  
• Fixed bug where enemies with slow animations would occasionally cancel their attacks/spells midcast when hunting.
  
• Fixed bug where ghosting could walk through buildings/trees
  
• Fixed a bug where unit could get stuck if ability cancelled manually
  
• Fixed bug where projectiles and dying units were preventing building
  
• Improved accuracy of building placement (which tiles you can build on)
  
• 2x2 buildings collision now 7% smaller
  
• Lowered volume of level up
  
• Increased damage text size
  
• Made a few optimizations especially in edge case scenarios but building may feel a bit more buggy. May revert this later.
  
• Fixed bug where wind archer rapid fire ability would fire from the wrong location when knocked back
  
• Fixed bug for "on next attack" spells where evolving or dying while spell is active would cause SFX to not appear again
  
• Fixed bug where damage number text would not show properly if too many attacks hit the target at same time.
  
• Fixed bug where using hold position could allow units to attack over cliffs
  
• Fixed bug where ranged auto attacks and homing projectiles would target underneath buildings
  
• Fixed bug where deflecting certain projectiles would make the projectiles invisible
  
• Fixed bug where projectiles were affecting navigation
  
• Various minor optimization
  
• Fixed navigation issues around ring of trees/rocks at beginning for classic mode
  

[h3]Stat changes:[/h3]

• Disabled movement acceleration for most units so changing direction will not slow you down
  
• Wraith now has permanent ghosting (can move through units)
  
• Buffed black hole spell slightly and reduced cooldown
  
• Slightly buffed Gust ability