Repeated intro
Hello, everyone! It’s been a few weeks since we released our last minor patch and we’ve been hard at work on our next major update, version 0.7, and we wanted to fill you in on what we’ve been doing.
What changed
0 fixes0 additions4 changes0 removals
changedCooperative SurvivalThe primary major feature we’ve been working on is Cooperative Survival. In this gamemode, you play Survival with 2, 3, or 4 teammates. Multiple enemy Shepherds (bosses) spawn based on how many players you’re teamed-up with. Hold out as long as you can and see which teams can survive the most waves. The design and engineering required to make cooperative survival enjoyable or even possible will also pave the way for us to launch 2v2, 3v3, and 4v4 multiplayer modes. Those should be available in a future patch.
changedShepherds on DefenseWe decided that we needed to improve the enjoyment of defense, and what better way to do that than to make your unlocked Shepherd play a vital role in defending your base?. Each Shepherd will come with the ability to take over a tower’s position and auto-attack nearby units, as well as cast a couple of unique spells to control, debuff, or damage units passing through your maze. This change also means that Shepherds are available in every mode and play a vital role regardless of what type of match you’re in.
changedEconomy ChangesBecause we’re unifying all game modes to include Shepherds on defense as well as offense (where applicable), we’ve also made some changes to the economic resources that are awarded and how they are spent. We’re still playtesting these changes so they are subject to change, and thus why we won’t outline the changes in detail just yet, but we did want to announce that we’re focused on improving this area of the game.
changedSingle-Shepherd GameplayAnd lastly, after building Shepherds of the Abyss for a couple of years now, we decided that having players unlock two or three Shepherds was actually a detriment to the overall fun of the game. While it made for some interesting combinations, the changing hotkeys and micro-management required didn’t live up to our vision of what this style of Tower Defense should play like. Therefore, players will now only get to unlock 1 Shepherd per match. The synergies between Shepherds will still be present in modes with 2 or more players on a team (where multiple Shepherds can then interact with each other) but won’t be a part of 1v1 or single player modes. We intend to make up for the lowered flexibility by adding more on-use items to the Item Shop so you can still unlock, in a sense, some of the abilities that paired well with your favorite Shepherd.
Shepherds of the Abyss changes
changedThe primary major feature we’ve been working on is Cooperative Survival. In this gamemode, you play Survival with 2, 3, or 4 teammates. Multiple enemy Shepherds (bosses) spawn based on how many players you’re teamed-up with. Hold out as long as you can and see which teams can survive the most waves. The design and engineering required to make cooperative survival enjoyable or even possible will also pave the way for us to launch 2v2, 3v3, and 4v4 multiplayer modes. Those should be available in a future patch.
changedWe decided that we needed to improve the enjoyment of defense, and what better way to do that than to make your unlocked Shepherd play a vital role in defending your base?. Each Shepherd will come with the ability to take over a tower’s position and auto-attack nearby units, as well as cast a couple of unique spells to control, debuff, or damage units passing through your maze. This change also means that Shepherds are available in every mode and play a vital role regardless of what type of match you’re in.
changedBecause we’re unifying all game modes to include Shepherds on defense as well as offense (where applicable), we’ve also made some changes to the economic resources that are awarded and how they are spent. We’re still playtesting these changes so they are subject to change, and thus why we won’t outline the changes in detail just yet, but we did want to announce that we’re focused on improving this area of the game.
changedAnd lastly, after building Shepherds of the Abyss for a couple of years now, we decided that having players unlock two or three Shepherds was actually a detriment to the overall fun of the game. While it made for some interesting combinations, the changing hotkeys and micro-management required didn’t live up to our vision of what this style of Tower Defense should play like. Therefore, players will now only get to unlock 1 Shepherd per match. The synergies between Shepherds will still be present in modes with 2 or more players on a team (where multiple Shepherds can then interact with each other) but won’t be a part of 1v1 or single player modes. We intend to make up for the lowered flexibility by adding more on-use items to the Item Shop so you can still unlock, in a sense, some of the abilities that paired well with your favorite Shepherd.
Cooperative Survival
The primary major feature we’ve been working on is Cooperative Survival. In this gamemode, you play Survival with 2, 3, or 4 teammates. Multiple enemy Shepherds (bosses) spawn based on how many players you’re teamed-up with. Hold out as long as you can and see which teams can survive the most waves. The design and engineering required to make cooperative survival enjoyable or even possible will also pave the way for us to launch 2v2, 3v3, and 4v4 multiplayer modes. Those should be available in a future patch.
Shepherds on Defense
We decided that we needed to improve the enjoyment of defense, and what better way to do that than to make your unlocked Shepherd play a vital role in defending your base?. Each Shepherd will come with the ability to take over a tower’s position and auto-attack nearby units, as well as cast a couple of unique spells to control, debuff, or damage units passing through your maze. This change also means that Shepherds are available in every mode and play a vital role regardless of what type of match you’re in.
Economy Changes
Because we’re unifying all game modes to include Shepherds on defense as well as offense (where applicable), we’ve also made some changes to the economic resources that are awarded and how they are spent. We’re still playtesting these changes so they are subject to change, and thus why we won’t outline the changes in detail just yet, but we did want to announce that we’re focused on improving this area of the game.
Single-Shepherd Gameplay
And lastly, after building Shepherds of the Abyss for a couple of years now, we decided that having players unlock two or three Shepherds was actually a detriment to the overall fun of the game. While it made for some interesting combinations, the changing hotkeys and micro-management required didn’t live up to our vision of what this style of Tower Defense should play like. Therefore, players will now only get to unlock 1 Shepherd per match. The synergies between Shepherds will still be present in modes with 2 or more players on a team (where multiple Shepherds can then interact with each other) but won’t be a part of 1v1 or single player modes. We intend to make up for the lowered flexibility by adding more on-use items to the Item Shop so you can still unlock, in a sense, some of the abilities that paired well with your favorite Shepherd.
On the Horizon
As the number of this patch (0.7) suggests, we’ve got more features in the works or planned for the near future. Some of these include the multiplayer versus modes mentioned earlier in this post but also leaderboards, ranked mode, and more. We’ll do our best to keep you up-to-date on our current objectives and development progress. Thanks for taking the time to catch-up on our progress. If you have any questions, comments, etc., feel free to drop them on our Steam Community Hub or contact us on Twitter @TheImpulseGames
