Saighdearan fàilte! It's been a fair bit, ya? Well, work on Update 1.5 - the HORDE Update - is well underway. I currently think I'm ~halfway done! This update will dramatically update Wave Mode, bringing it more in line with what I expect the "fully finished" experience to be like - more enemies, more stages, bosses, etc, and an overall revamped experience! Here's a trailer showing some of the current progress, and the general shape of what to expect! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD55KJ1jE2s This particular update primarily focuses on the "Metropolis" region (the one with the zombies) - I go into the reasoning for that at the end of this post. So don't expect any changes that are toooo crazy in the other stages - for now, the undead are getting all the love. With that said, the main changes I'm working on are: [h1][b]1 - New Enemies[/b][/h1] One of the biggest things I want to do is flesh out a bunch more enemies! I've got a bunch of cool designs, it's time to actually get them in the game! For example, this is the current set of zombie enemies players can fight: [img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/25888831/02aa14dca58381ac01e1dc36257401b3dc560584.png[/img] Assuming I get them all done, this will be the zombie squad after the update: [img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/25888831/674f14cc1e4d4f461e3e250aa987e37a860f051b.png[/img] They look pretty good, eh? All... pointy and shit. ([url=https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/25888831/674f14cc1e4d4f461e3e250aa987e37a860f051b.png]View the full-res image if you want to see the details more easily[/url]) [b]Not all these zombies die in one hit.[/b] You may have noticed that two of the zombies in the current Wave Mode take 3 hits to kill - well, that number is going to expand. This is because I'm trying to establish rough enemy "tiers." [list] [*][b]Grunts[/b] - If you land one hit, these guys die. These are the main "meat" of the enemies you face, and will be by far the most numerous. [*][b]Elites[/b] - Take a few (2-3) hits to kill. These guys are also generally much more dangerous than the Grunts, so if they're in a crowd [*][b]Mini-Bosses[/b] - The name kind of says it all, right? These will be a [i]major[/i] challenge and generally take more than 5 hits to kill, and when combined with a pack of enemies can ruin your day. [/list] All things considered, you're going to have a much more... interesting... time of things! [h1][b]2 - Multiple Stages Per Region[/b][/h1] With all these new enemies, it's a little overwhelming to fight ALL of them at once! Plus, they each have different strengths and strategies, so one map is hard-pressed to really suit them all. So, there are now multiple different arenas per region! Each has a different environment, layout, and different palette of enemies to throw at you. They're arranged in increasing order of difficulty, and yes, you'll have to defeat one stage entirely to unlock the next one. You can see some of the different new arenas in the linked trailer! [h1][b]3 - Bosses To Finish Each Stage![/b][/h1] "Wait," I hear you say. "Defeat one stage entirely?" Why, [i]yes![/i] I [i]did.[/i] These new stages now have a max round (generally 10.) In this final round, you'll face one of Blast Brawl's terrifying bosses, using the lives you've gained in the preceding waves. Defeating this boss is all that's required to complete that stage. [img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/25888831/793a32eb604b78d033bacfea5001a3ea4e5785d0.png[/img] Good luck. Oh, and for the truly hard-core out there, once all these "standard" stages are defeated, there will be an "endless" version for that region, with ALL enemies in the mix, and ANY of the bosses periodically appearing. [h1][b]4 - Character Rebalancing[/b][/h1] Additionally, with all these new challenges, it's become more and more apparent to me that certain characters aren't as good as others. I want to try and change that more comprehensively this update. [b]Planned Nerfs[/b] [img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/25888831/7bff09e9592ceb718938dce581ac62dc43e3e42a.png[/img] The Gunslinger is a bit broken. Not because he's super elegant and flexible, but because his bullets can annihilate pretty much anything before it can touch him. So, I'm going to slightly nerf his bullets (for example, he'll have 3 shots before reloading rather than 4) and buff him in other ways (for example, his Pistol Whip move can use some work) to make him more nuanced and interesting to play. [b]Planned Buffs[/b] Of non-broken characters, it's my opinion that the Ninja is the best/ideal character in terms of balance. He's simple but flexible, and it's relatively easy to do extremely well with him. So, I gotta buff all the other chumps who are having a hard time keeping up! This is going to vary on a character-by-character basis, but most of the changes aren't going to be simple flat buffs - I'm trying to increase character flexibility, not make them better at what they already do. [img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/25888831/790df938e127cd2cd3429b7edba019fc3e149e06.png[/img] [i]For example:[/i] The Warrior is a pretty strong character in my opinion! But certain scenarios can expect too much forward planning from the player. So, I'm making her Parry "priority-trump" her offensive moves (meaning she can deflect attacks/bullets while in the middle of a sword swing or bouncing off of the terrain) and making her Dash priority-trump even that. (This has pretty huge implications in play, I expect you'll see what I mean when the update comes out.) I'm also making her Parry take 0.6 seconds instead of 0.75, which makes it a bit less dangerous to whiff with (though it requires slightly more precise timing). [h1][b]...The Future?[/b][/h1] So, why only focus on the Metropolis? Don't the other stages need work too? Aren't there tons of non-zombie enemies and bosses you should be adding to the game? They do! There are! I should! But all that will need to wait a bit. As I've said many times, my end goal is a proper Adventure mode! And not the tiny little preview I have in the game right now, a full sprawling experience that you can get lost in. And though that's going to take a loooong time, I haven't given up yet. And the next update is going to be part of that. After the Horde update is launched, why, next is Adventure Mode 0.1 - an update that launches the intro and first few areas that can be found. My goal with this update is to get all the enemies and their AI and their mechanics figured out for the first region, so that the next update can focus exclusively on the level design, coding (open world exploration! woo! Save slots! woo!), character unlock mechanics, etc etc. Then, once this first update is in place, I can hopefully slap more and more content onto the game world until it's a big ol' sprawling bunch of awesomeness. Then once the Metropolis is done it'll FINALLY be time to add in the demons... ːsteamhappyː