Horde Hunters News

Hello. It's been a while, right about 3 months since the last update. I took a month off from the game in December but have since worked hard on a major update. As previously mentioned I'm gearing towards launching the game from Early Access and this update brings it really close. For this one I had 2 main objectives on top of everything else; a final map and polish everything as best as I could.

[h2]Volcano map[/h2]

Introducing volcano and volcano endless maps. I had a lot of fun with this one, hope you do too. Go dance with the devil!


[h2]Polish[/h2]

The polishing phase is time consuming to say the least. There's plenty of new and updated sound effects, particle effects as well as animated sprites like grass and trees to liven up the experience. There's tweaking of UI elements, colors and text. But it's not all about improving what's there. I've also had to take a hard look at whether some elements or features were required at all and so some went to the trash bin.

[h2]Misc[/h2]

One thing is certain. The more you play a game the more you get ideas on how to improve it. I tried to keep new features to a minimum but sometimes I just can't help myself. So yes, there's a bunch of various content additions as well as potentially a divisive new feature. Take a look at the changelog to find out what...

[h2]Launch date[/h2]

Still undecided but possibly early April. I want to reserve some time for marketing and fixing any last remaining issues this update may have brought along. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime I appreciate your feedback on the game as usual!

[h3]Full changelog:[/h3]

General

• New maps: Volcano and Volcano Endless
  
• New item: Heatseeker - Destroys an incoming enemy projectile then goes to cooldown
  
• New elite type: "Blocker" - Creates a barrier around you that you can't pass
  
• New enemy flyby formation: "Circle" attack
  
• New power-up: Back Pain Ointment - Increased consumable carry limit
  
• New barracks feature: Call to Arms - Double your party members for 20s
  
• New altar feature: Sacrifice health for +40% level up
  
• New local event: Assembly - Triple your party members with Call to Arms
  
• New local event: Fountain of Youth - Increase max health at the Pond
  
• New local event: Target Practice - Up to 100% longer time at the Tower
  
• New local event: Farmer's Market - Extra animal(s) at the Market
  
• New local event: Investment Seminar - Better tier interest rates
  
• New pub feature: Now sells ham as well
  
• New achievements: 4 specialty win conditions plus Volcano map achievements
  
• New and adjusted options for 50% and 100% character attribute bonuses
  
• New 100% weapon bonus options for primary weapons
  
• New rune bonus
  
• Added ability to reroll rune options with gold
  
• Added sounds for all special enemy powers
  
• Added sound for stunning an enemy
  
• Added sounds for flyby enemies
  
• Added new music for map entrance phase
  
• Added a small story beat to tutorial
  
• Updated pause menu music
  
• Updated sounds for all primary weapons
  
• Updated sounds for weather events
  
• Updated death animation effect
  
• Updated projectile particles
  
• Removed Village Hardcore endless mode
  
• Removed clock icon and map target time from the GUI as redundant
  
• Removed many text shadows for a cleaner look
  
• Removed option to toggle off Sky (clouds and mist)
  
• Removed option to reorder weapons and consumables
  
• Ongoing missions are capped to max 2 before 15min and 3 afterwards. Black obelisks are excluded from this count
  
• Weapon slot cost reduced from 35 to 25
  
• Weapon upgrades beyond maxed out level are not offered before all weapons are maxed out. Once offered, 2 slots are offered instead of 1
  
• Pub prices are adjusted based on how many you have on inventory
  
• Church service (local event) applies discount to all services not just healing
  
• Some extra enemies are spawned at start of most missions
  
• Increased fetch mission timer a little bit
  
• Protect mission target can also be hit by enemy projectiles
  
• Player can start the run at any day time they want (unless map is fixed to certain time)
  
• Player health and energy bars show only when not full
  
• Player hitbox is a bit smaller
  
• Player status effects like cursed or infected will show visibly on the character info panel
  
• Player will get pushed and drop a random consumable when hit hard by an enemy (e.g. elite)
  
• Player will get encumbered if having too many consumables (base limit is 20). Each consumable over the carry limit will reduce player speed by 1%. Strength increases carry weight limit as well as some bonuses and a power-up
  
• Enemies will no longer fire projectiles when stunned
  
• Enemy movement speed is slowed down briefly after knockback depending on knockback force
  
• Suicider (bomb) enemies will always explode on death and hurt enemies too
  
• Sandworms can be killed
  
• Library and Bandit Camp radius is bigger but cooldown increased from 30 to 45s and max time lowered from 30 to 20s
  
• Bandit Camp gives 100% gold drop on the first minute
  
• Apple, berry or agave cooldowns increased from 30 to 60s
  
• Tower cooldown increased from 30 to 45s
  
• Thief's Poison Bomb will have poison damage as standard
  
• Thief can only steal gold once per enemy
  
• Mine starting gold is slightly higher on average
  
• Auras will spawn intersecting each other
  
• Blizzard will affect elites too
  
• Vortex will be placed anywhere in view instead of where the player is located
  
• Bear will last for 10s and attack flying enemies as well
  
• Party members and other friendly AI won't target scared (running away) enemies anymore
  
• Fetch mission main arrow will disappear when crate arrows are present to avoid confusion
  
• Bandit Camp has been renamed to Bandits
  
• Sacrifice has been renamed to Altar
  
• Healing (Pond) has been renamed to Fountain
  
• Forest maps have a farm
  
• Mountain maps are more snowy for better contrast
  
• Weekly leaderboard names the winners of past 3 weeks
  
• Very Easy difficulty starts with +200 gold and Easy with +100 gold (for non-endless maps)
  
• Very Easy and Easy difficulty enemy spawn interval is even slower
  
• Added Colombia and Latvia flags to leaderboard
  
• Some GUI text and colour adjustments
  
• Some performance improvements
  

Bugs

• Potential fire mission game crash with "Unable to find instance for object"
  
• Weighted Dice item was adding free rerolls on other events in addition to level up
  
• The game ran briefly in the background between level ups (when pressing "next level up")
  
• Bank rates information wasn't adjusted to different game speeds
  
• Chickens could attack enemy portals that couldn't be destroyed
  

Hello. Here's a minor patch that I wanted to get out before the Bullet Heaven Festival starts tomorrow.

Bugs

• Player sprite wasn't changing its direction (from left to right) when using gamepad. Visual bug only
  
• The customize character panel sprite was too big and got behind the stats
  

Hello. This update brings balance and bugfixes. It also brings 3 new power-ups and changes the normal map target times to 20 minutes which I feel is the sweet spot.

[h2]The road to 1.0[/h2]

A big chunk of last week was spent on creating a new trailer since the existing one was from around the time Early Access started. I went with a pretty straightforward but action-packed gameplay video which you can find below or on the store page.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Speaking of Early Access, I initially estimated that to last for anything between 3-12 months. It's been now roughly 22 months so I really need to start looking for the finish line. The game has come a long way in this time and I'm quite happy where it currently stands so I feel confident wrapping things up.

I'll mostly be fine-tuning things from now on except for a final bigger content update. I'd be willing to work on updates beyond the final release but it depends a lot on how well it does. Your support in spreading the word during this time is much welcomed and appreciated.

FYI the game is now on sale for -25% so it's a good time to grab it. I will no longer be updating the demo version and have removed it as a download option.

[h3]Full changelog:[/h3]

General

• New power-up: Hail Mary - Upon death teleport to a random map location with 1 health and 10s invincibility
  
• New power-up: Penny - Free rerolls to start with
  
• New power-up: Piggy Bank: Extra gold for the first 5 levels
  
• Normal map extended plays aka "super wins" removed. Normal maps are now 20min long instead of 15min
  
• Level up rerolls and weapon upgrade rerolls have been merged into one global reroll amount and cost
  
• All characters start with 15 gold
  
• Dwarf's super smash has an additional +1s Stun and slightly better damage
  
• Adjusted Bard's ability note amounts
  
• Chickens will no longer attack targets off screen
  
• Each fetch mission create found gives you 5 coins
  
• Bank initial collect time lowered from 2min to 1.5min
  
• Enemy curse amount on player will increase each time hit
  
• Enemy projectiles don't hurt you when inside the mine anymore
  
• Added sound effect for hitting an enemy with shield
  

Bugs

• Necromancer undead did not attack obstacles on most maps
  
• If you go to mine with any invulnerability the effect stays on during the whole stay. Abilities now stop immediately after entering mine and consumable timers run while inside
  
• Graveyard enemies could appear on other maps too
  
• Gold Rush local event could happen to an unactive mine
  
• Bard's additional stun damage for super ability wasn't working
  
• Fetch mission rewards weren't doubled on all areas
  

Hello. This update brings many balance and QOL improvements. I did some longer play sessions and ended up with quite a list of things to tweak on! If you ever feel like something could be improved on while doing runs don't hesitate to get in touch.

[h2]Map additions[/h2]



You can now place a custom marker on the map. This will add a unique arrow to that location similar to any mission. Useful for e.g. navigating to that healing pond or specific rune number you're after. You can only place one at a time and it is destroyed once you get near it.

Furthermore, under the cursor there is a new time indicator which tells you the estimated time it takes to walk to a destination. Note that this doesn't take into account terrain differences and typically your path isn't as straight as the calculation. Still, it gives you some idea whether you'll make it in time to that one mission running out on a big map for example.

Lastly, the highlight feature also includes gems, gold and rune locations.

[h2]Tweaks[/h2]

There's a lot so read the full changelog below if you're keen to know everything but here's a few highlights.

• Player ability has a base damage (0.5) that will scale over time
  
• Dogs can fetch any object that the player can. This now includes water, crates and treasure chests
  
• All characters have the same base speed which is slightly faster than before
  

[h3]Full changelog:[/h3]

General

• New local event: Gold Rush - Up to +90% gold found at the Mine
  
• New map marker: Place a custom marker anywhere on the map that you can use as a guide on screen
  
• New map walk estimation: The map will show an estimated time in seconds to walk to a map destination
  
• New setting: Vertical synchronization (VSync) (Default: Off)
  
• Player ability has a base damage (0.5) that will scale over time
  
• Energy recharge cooldown after being hit fastened from 1s to 0.5s
  
• Disabling super ability bonus from 10% to 20% and removing altogether from 30% to 50%
  
• Forge and Sun Stone bonuses are a bit better on average
  
• Spring item modified: Gives +1 bounce to all weapons that support it
  
• Poison Extract item modified: Gives +1s poison to all weapons that support it
  
• A lot more weapon synergies can now have bounce or poison
  
• Projectile outline/glow whenever synergy happens (for most anyway)
  
• Diploma item will list all the currently affected weapons
  
• Piercing and bounce no longer go through objects, only enemies
  
• Chickens will always prioritize portals and black obelisks over enemy
  
• Multi-Fire will give +2 projectiles if only having 1, otherwise +1
  
• Dogs can fetch any object that the player can. This now includes water, crates and treasure chests
  
• Scared enemies will no longer hurt player
  
• Scared enemies will receive +20% damage
  
• All characters have the same base speed which is slightly faster than before
  
• Elites will get scared of all the same things as normal enemies do
  
• Enemies have 2x longer cooldown for doing consecutive damage (0.5s to 1s)
  
• Jester's damage reduction with enemy increased from -50% to -75% when ability is in use
  
• Mines will display the amount of gold currently available
  
• Marotte weapon damage upgrade increased by ~20%
  
• Initial church healing cost lower by ~30%
  
• Overall weapon upgrade costs lowered a bit
  
• The currently selected consumable will always show quantity number at the bottom of screen
  
• Highlighting map loot will also show gems, gold and runes
  
• If having available power-up slots, buying a power-up will also immediately equip it
  
• Level up reminder text is now displayed under character whenever one is available
  
• Removed setting: Confirm inventory weapon and item sells
  

Bugs

• Primary and Secondary weapon could still have synergies between them
  
• Jester's stun wasn't working in the non-super ability mode
  
• Player movement was slightly faster diagonally
  
• Map power-up did not set buildings as "found" despite opening the map causing local events to not fire unless actually finding them
  
• Tower could get stuck shooting in the same direction for a while sometimes
  

Hello. This update brings attack animations for all characters, new synergy possibilities, smoother gameplay with a controller and plenty of other general changes.

[h2]New character attack animations[/h2]

Another update already brought attack animations to the Warrior character but now all the characters have them. It doesn't sound like a big addition but it does add a certain new feel to the monster mashing.

[h2]New synergy possibilities[/h2]

The weapon and item synergies have been opened up to include a lot more combinations. In addition the synergy powers are stronger on average and the UI has some additions to highlight them better.

[h2]Smoother controller movement[/h2]

Thanks to player feedback the character movement is now more precise with a gamepad, allowing full 360 degree movement instead of only in 8 directions.

[h2]Other notable changes[/h2]

The Watch Tower no longer fires automatically when in its radius. You have to activate it manually and it has a cooldown once used like many other buildings. It is now also more powerful and scales over time (not tied to character stats anymore).

Library and Bandit Camp have extra multipliers based on their use.

Fetch mission rewards are higher than on normal missions.

[h3]Full changelog:[/h3]

General

• New attack animations for all characters (except Warrior which got it in the previous update)
  
• New synergy possibilities for weapons (bounce, critical, duration, stun, poison, range, knockback)
  
• Gamepad has full 360 directional movement with analogue stick instead of only in 8 directions
  
• Watch Tower has a cooldown and needs to be manually activated. Its damage scales over time and is not based on player stats anymore. Tower Guard power-up modified to adjust new tower better
  
• Forge and Sun Stone bonuses are displayed in a popup when activated
  
• Synergies are on average more powerful than before
  
• Common weapon stats and synergy links are displayed with a new icon
  
• Synergy items are highlighted better in level up rewards
  
• Reduced the health of Black Obelisk a bit
  
• Enemies have slight speed variations
  
• Lullaby golden notes no longer fire to random directions but closest enemy
  
• Every time you use Library or Bandit Camp the return is 10% better
  
• Fetch mission rewards are higher than normal missions
  
• Building radiuses are no longer displayed when inactive
  
• Gamepad default run button changed from left stick to right stick button press
  
• Some minor GUI enhancements here and there
  

Bugs

• Forge buttons were greyed out (but not inactive) despite having enough skulls for purchase
  
• Synergy could happen between default primary and secondary weapons
  
• Party member melee damage synergies were not applied
  
• Forge and Sun Stone stun bonuses were not applied
  
• Training dummy damage was inconsistent