Beta Branch

[Eran.Yaacobi]

Hi,

We’d like to introduce you to Fort Triumph's beta branch. Now you can test out potential new changes and features!

In order to switch to the beta branch, right-click on the game in your Steam client, select 'Properties', go to the 'Betas' branch, and select ‘closedbeta - Beta branch build for community feedback’. It is recommended afterwards to also go to 'Local Files' and press 'Verify integrity of game files' in order to force Steam to update to the new files.

The new beta significantly impacts gameplay, particularly for veteran players who have learned to rely on Physics, but we're interested in feedback from everyone.

The main change in the beta branch is the addition of stun protection to stunned enemies once they recover from the stun effect, making consecutive stuns much harder to pull off.

While a big part of what makes Fort Triumph fun is the physics system, it also causes the game to be somewhat repetitive due to Physics almost always being the best course of action. Over the years we've tried restricting the use of Physics via cooldowns, limited use, etc. But all these solutions either didn't work or seemed to take the fun out of the game.

With the new beta branch, we took a different approach that makes other options such as debuffing or killing enemies more viable. We also changed the grading system accordingly so Physics would not be mandatory for getting high grades.

We also balanced the cooldowns of the physics abilities of melee and ranged units so the balance wouldn't be lopsided towards melee units.

List of changes:

• When a unit is stunned, it gets Stun Protection on the next turn (making consecutive stunning or stun-locking harder). Units with Passive Stun Protection are unaffected by this change.
  
• Reduced cooldown of Whirlwind, Grapple Hook, Knockback Arrow, Repelling Shot, Shockwave, and Charge to 2 turns. The cooldown for the Whirlwind Wall upgrade is unaffected by this.
  
• Increased the cooldown of Kick to 1 turn (so it can still be used every turn but only once per turn).
  
• Increased the cooldown of Nudge to two turns.
  
• Increased the level requirement of the Whirlwind cooldown upgrade to level 7 (from level 3).
  
• Perpetuity Shrine no longer increases the duration of Stun Protection.
  
• Significantly reduced the benefit of physics over regular attacks regarding mission grade.

Veteran players will have to adjust their tactics accordingly, as they might find the game much more challenging should they use their old strategies.

The beta branch supports existing save files (and save files created in it will work on the main branch). It works in both Campaign and Skirmish mode.

What do you think of these changes? Do you think they improve the game? Do you feel that they affect how you approach battles? Share your thoughts with us either here or on our Discord to help us determine the direction of the game’s updates.

[Aeletzio]

these are cool changes, and i'm always up for harder games.
But if you are looking for suggestions, may i offer some that everyone has been thinking about.

New races: Elves, dwarfs or whatever you can come up with.
Campaigns for the already existing races: the game is cool, add story and it will be cooler.
More map styles: speaks for itself.
and for goodness sake... NEW CLASSES. think of a rogue who gains skills with a stealth or backstab mechanic (or both). Druid? who gets skill trees where he can transform in different animals. Maybe a summoner who works with nature or elementals or whatev.

I really enjoyed playing your game, i just want MORE.
this is all written in love...(and hope for more content like this)

greetz.

[Farahzoid]

Originally posted by Aeletzio:

these are cool changes, and i'm always up for harder games.
But if you are looking for suggestions, may i offer some that everyone has been thinking about.

New races: Elves, dwarfs or whatever you can come up with.
Campaigns for the already existing races: the game is cool, add story and it will be cooler.
More map styles: speaks for itself.
and for goodness sake... NEW CLASSES. think of a rogue who gains skills with a stealth or backstab mechanic (or both). Druid? who gets skill trees where he can transform in different animals. Maybe a summoner who works with nature or elementals or whatev.

I really enjoyed playing your game, i just want MORE.
this is all written in love...(and hope for more content like this)

greetz.

I second this. The game is amazing, give us more!

[Eran.Yaacobi]

Hi everyone,

We agree with all of these suggestions, and would love to add them. Hopefully we'll have the budget to add some of these in the future, but for the moment our resources are too limited to allow adding things of that scope. As such, we've been looking into ways to improve the game that are impactful without being costly, such as the change mentioned above with the stun mechanic.

Have you tried the beta branch? We did get some feedback on our Discord, but more of it would be welcome.

Thanks