New Superstar Strategy Demo

Superstar Strategy Demo v0.28.0 now available!

Hey folks! Talberon here to share a new update to the Superstar Strategy Demo. It’s been a while, but development is back in full swing, and to celebrate, we’re releasing a new version of the demo with the latest and greatest enhancements! I hope that you enjoy the new content and share your feedback on your experiences! Now, with the preamble out of the way, here’s the detailed list of changes!

New Features

• New multi-map tutorial series replaces the Academy to introduce a group of mechanics at a time in digestible chunks. Reward for unlocking the Vampire unit now is attached to the last tutorial in this series.

• Added ability to inspect AI routines in the AI Unit Codex when selecting one of the options

• Added indicators during combat showing what bonuses are applied to units during combat from which sources.

• Added toast that displays when player should select a target after picking a skill.

• Added ability for some map traps (such as fire) to apply damage over time status effect.

• Added new lava tileset

• Added new pirate ship tileset

• Added new AI Personality that can fetch and use items

• Adjusted control scheme to always allow using thumbstick to control the cursor in addition to the normal controls

• Added new failure conditions for future scenarios

• Added shader effects to various tiles and units, such as when they are affected by positive or negative status effects

• Many new terrain tiles

• Added unique barks to various Terran units

• Added unique damage SFX for all units in combat

• Added support for purple text in custom markup

• Show unlocked content that was earned during a match on the game over screen

New NPC Units

Terra

• Reaper

• Ghost

• Witch

Nova

• Vigilante

• Thief

• Barbarian

• Soldier

• Bowman

• Knight

• Witch

Available Map Adjustments

Adjusted available maps in the demo (removed maps may still appear in the final game).

Solo

• Added

  • Bandit Camp (Seize)

• Removed

  • Crypt of the Sun King (Rout AI)

  • Mountain Pass (Escape)

  • King of the Jungle (Rout AI)

Co-Operative

• Added

  • The Great Hunt (Rout AI)

• Removed

  • The Sacking of Beaverton (Evacuate)

VS Scenario

• Removed

  • A Game of Crowns (Relics)

  • Vital Intelligence (Escape)

VS Competitive

• Added

  • Volcano

• Removed

  • Castle

  • Desert

  • Forest

Balance Changes

• Added weighted loot table for chests to adjust how often some items are given

• Added -1 MV to Tree/Woods entities.

Rework + Polish

• Reworked the logic for AI unit pathing under the hood.

• Redrew Necromancer, Skeleton and Piker sprites.

• Redrew villager NPC portraits used when visiting residences.

• Added new animation for Necromancer when summoning skeletons

• Replaced scrolling background with solid border around each map

• Replaced Spiked Helmet item and sprite with Spiked Gauntlet to better match the RET bonus it gives.

• Redrew Key sprites.

• Polished and updated unit item trading behaviour

• Adjusted colour and vibrancy of range tiles.

• Adjusted order of unit stats in the unit hover pane.

• Reworked deployment phase to alllow adjusting all unit positions at once instead of one at a time

• Adjusted objective cutscenes to be better timed and more consistent

• Adjusted unit render order during player turn

• Adjusted rotary menus to remove text outline and fade colour slightly when an option is unfocused

• Added colour coding for various main menu sections

• Redrew Cleric Portrait

• Redrew Champion Portrait

• Adjusted various map layouts

• Added visual effect to show obscured unit silhouettes under Overlay layers

• Updated Game Over banner visuals and game over sequence

• Adjusted Champion sprite and idle and active animations

Quality of Life Changes

• When hovering over Launchpads and boosters (only specific-distance ones), shows a preview of the travel distance rather than the interact range.

• Adjusted ordering of some unit context actions to prioritize more meaningful skills like Recruit over Trade.

• Removed the tile select confirmation step when selecting Wait during the action menu.

• Added range window to unit skill descriptions everywhere instead of just the preview menu and codex.

• Adjusted contents and font of the Manual to make it easier to read and block less of the main menu UI

• Pushable tiles no longer show context action if they can’t be pushed from their current position

Bugfixes

• Adjusted various actions that would count as a free action but would end the game to instead end the unit’s turn to end the match gracefully.

• Fixed entity preview window for antidote item to have a background

• Fixed unit health pips from jiggling whenever a new hover windows is generated while moving the cursor

• Adjusted colour of dust particle when units are walking onto stage in combat

• Fixed a bug where maps would not load on first game launch after accepting EULA.

• Many many other minor bugfixes.

• Fixed soft lock when winning a match during the AI’s turn

• Disabled earning non-tutorial achievements when completing tutorial maps

• Fixed NPC Pursue routine still making a unit move after it should be stunned (0 MV)

• Fixed bug allowing ranged NPCs (Witch) to open chests from a distance

• Moved Play Next BGM to In-game Option menu and disabled option when match is over

• Fixed issue where on first launch, opening the New Game menu, backing out, and opening it again would not show the tutorial suggestion description window along with the menu

Misc

• Reworked Unit Generation logic under the hood. Won’t affect anything visible, but makes it much easier to introduce new units in the future if needed.

• Removed EULA from in-game and moved to Steam client

• Added Wishlist option to game over menu while in Demo Mode.

For updates on game development progress and to join the community, consider following me on Twitter and joining the Talberon Games Discord Server. Don’t forget to Wishlist the game on Steam if you haven’t already!