Countless Army — Update 1.6.0

New update! This version is packed with improvements for the touch and controller experience, a good number of bug fixes, and some new gameplay features. Here's the breakdown.

New Features

• Challenge system for rebel provinces. Rebellions now operate on a pressure system instead of being random. More information about rebellions on this devblog and challenges can be found on this devblog.

• Troops have their maximum stats reduced upon entering a rebellion, adjusting to the maximum level allowed in that kingdom.

• Reset button on the battle exit screen, allowing you to restart the map without having to exit completely. (Suggested by Dave Osborne)

• Visual guide to touch shortcuts in the shortcuts menu, with an image showing all the touchscreen controls.

• Contextual help text in combat: if you haven't done anything for 5 seconds, prompts with the most useful buttons appear. (Suggested by Laggimus Prime)

• Credits button on the title screen.

Changes and Improvements

• Stars are now displayed even if you lose the map, so you can see how you've done.

• Font size and Skill Tree elements increased when "Scale UI" is enabled. (Anonymous feedback)

• Spell colors updated (heal, speed, and disable) to be more intuitive and easier to identify. (Suggested by Dave Osborne)

• White borders appear on cards, routes, and buttons when hovering over or interacting with them (pause, speed, waves, leave combat). (Suggested by Dave Osborne and Laggimus Prime)

• Cards are now rotated when choosing building upgrades, so you can see troop icons, divisions, and descriptions before making your decision. (Suggested by Dave Osborne)

• Card display time increased from 3 to 5 seconds with the controller.

• Exclamation marks on the troop selector removed when using the controller and replaced with explanatory text at the bottom. (Suggested by Laggimus Prime)

• Improved joystick camera. (Suggested by Laggimus Prime)

• Improved joystick spellcasting.

• Redesigned touch-based spellcasting system: Select the spell, move your finger to aim, and release to cast. No more accidental casts.

• AdjustedOptimized touch responseThe touch slop value has been adjusted to eliminate ambiguity between taps and swipes. (Anonymous feedback)

• Building conquest upgrades now require a double tap on touch, allowing you to review cards before confirming.

• More information about several of these changes can be found in this devblog.

Bugs fixed

• Ghost troop indicators in the selector (showed troops you couldn't select).

• Waves could get stuck.

• The Army Setup button sometimes didn't place the correct troops.

• The Go to Battle button occasionally got stuck. (Reported by Dave Osborne)

• Cards would abruptly return to their original position on touch.

• When deleting a save file and starting a new one in the same slot, the new save file inherited data from the previous one (causing defenses to do more damage than intended).

Performance Improvements

The game has been reviewed and rewritten internally from the ground up, with a special focus on the wind and shadow systems. The result: fewer strange bugs and noticeably better performance. In my tests, I saw an improvement of between 5 and 15 FPS on less powerful systems.

Thanks to everyone who reported bugs and suggested improvements!