Hello, my dear modmates!
At this point cRPG is on the crossroads: death (which is imminent since nothing is eternal) or still a short run.
I know this happened quite a few times already in the past but this time it seems like there will be no other chance, cRPG was never as close to death. Not much left from a dev team, it's basically just San and me joining the sinking boat. We had a Strategus Council which was successful IMO and we didn't only come to certain decisions but also implemented them, but then we couldn't patch them in because we didn't have enough access, Professor went missing for ages (can't blame him) and everyone lost motivation. Above from that Strat got entirely broken with the a dozen of changes that were waiting to be patched from previous dev team and it took quite an effort to at least fix it back.
It's up to us, just a bunch of people who truly love this mod: what we need to make its last months (and who knows, maybe more) a better experience for everyone. I know that the original dev team with chadz on top (my personal thanks to original dev team!) did the same threads and I'm aware that mostly nothing got implemented, I do remember how long it took for decisions. I assure you, this is not going to happen again, if we do stuff - we do it blazing fast, no more months between patches, we don't have this much time.
One thing that we need to do: what do players want the most to get at least minimal population back? We don't get paid and can't afford us development with 1 player online
(reference to OKAM devs after Donkey Crew)
. Doing something that grows population back is what can inspire and motivate us.
I took this incentive and responsibility to make this post and truly hope we can save cRPG from inglorious death. Please share your suggestions from in-game rules to item balance, from new mechanics to strat changes (trolls with suggestions like I love you, let mod die etc will get punished, remember Rando
).
So it's up to you what we see in the upcoming changelog.
Patch notes (updating):
1. Restored Rando's account with all the posts, topics, votes etc.
2. Fixed hall of fame in tavern to be based on XP rather than broken levels (since XP requirements per level were changed quite a lot throughout years).
3. San: Changes in WPF formulas:
-Every point in WM updates the minimum melee wpf.
-Shared melee wpf has been improved.
-wpf penalty adjustments
4. Website now shows all correct bonuses/penalties to wpf showing real effective wpf that you'll have in game.
5. Connected Chinese servers back to the database and made them official. Welcome back, China!
6. Toned down the amount of bad weather making it much rarer (also removed dark night, only evening and early morning left)
7. Weapon length added to ranged weapons that didn't have it (bows and crossbows), results in movement penalty with weapon unsheathed (so the bigger bow/crossbow you carry - the slower you move, sheathing it nullifies the effect)
8. Ranged ammo got reduced.
9. Masterwork reforge is back to 2 loompoints for MW item. If you need to to change your +3 item for another +3 item buy Heirloom Exchange.
10. Website is finally showing the amount of slots for shields
11. Increased strength requirements for all crossbows, slightly nerfed heavy crossbow and high pierce output is also reduced due to changed armor soak/reduce values.
12. Ranged received a significant rework, read 5.4.0.0 patch notes.
13. Ladders are back to battle servers.
14. MOTF (Master of the Field aka flag that spawns in the end of the round) is changed to spawn much rarer (It spawned if any of teams had 5 or less players, changed to 2 or less, also it had a breach in formula that would spawn MOTF prematurely on lower than ~50 pop servers which was fixed)
15. WPF penalties made unique for each WPF type.
16. Website now shows correct WPF PD and PT penalties to archery and throwing wpf accordingly.
17. Char stats page is recoded and now provides raw damage for items saved in gear panel. Very useful for checking how much your damage is affected by changes in your build real time.
18. Fixed reward system. In the past everyone was seeing wrong numbers in game. You actually received 150 gold x multiplier (750 gold on x5 compared to 200 gold shown in game) instead of 50 x (multiplier-1). Right now you get 50 x multiplier gold (250 gold on x5), also fixed to correctly represent in game. Gold inflation should drop down a bit.
19. Added low population bonuses. If server has 10 or less players, everyone gets double XP and gold gain (base 30k XP and 500 gold per tick).
20. Unlocked lvl 35+ bonuses. So now you don't only get +2 HP for levelling up but get regular attribute and skill points infinitely (if you have time to grind it up to extreme lvl38+).
21. Changed retirement titles to lvl33: Veteran, lvl34: master, lvl35: grandmaster, lvl36: legendary, lvl37: demigod, lvl38 and beyond : immortal.
22. Now minimal multiplier is back to x1 instead of x2. Added a random chance to keep multiplier after lost round (separate calculation for every player, only lucky ones get it).
23. Added dehorse damage mechanic. Players now deal additional damage to rider by dehorsing him. Damage highly depends on horse's movement speed at the moment of dehorsing (dehorsing a standing cavalry doesn't deal any damage). Right now it deals a raw damage that gets absorbed by the armor (more armor less damage), body armor weight (and/or other factors) will be taken into account to later (so that lighter armored receive less damage).
24. New players now start with lvl30 instead of 20, starter kit gold increased to 100k from 30k, added +3 horse (Palfrey) and +3 shield (Brown Kite Shield) to starter kit.
25.Major rework on loom bonuses (especially armors), too much to paste because several hundreds items affected.
26. WPF requirements of crossbows reworked to become 8 x strength requirement. Will be probably adjusted later
27. Website now shows WPF requirement of crossbows
28. Website now shows what ammo can penetrate shields (Siege Bolts became the only bolts that can't penetrate shields while Bodkin Arrows are now the only arrows that can). Bodkin Arrows can only penetrate the lowest unloomed shields like Old Round Shield and only in very limited almost never happening situations (when shielder charges against a max strength +3 top tier archer, while shielder is standing still - it's impossible to penetrate even when he has a shield like that). It is impossible to penetrate any medium tier shield in any circumstances.
29. Website ow shows correct requirements for shields. 3 shields that used Strength attribute as requirement now explicitly show that in the shop.
30. Further decrease of arrows that didn't go in the last patch with bolts being decreased recently.
31. If player won the round and survived it - he has a much lower chance to pay upkeep
32. All ranged ammo now has an extra chance to get broken (pay upkeep), not just arrows
33. WPF no longer affects upkeep rate
34. Loomed items now have higher upkeep depending on item type and item loom lvl.
35. Using construction stuff during Strategus battles now generates extra XP
36. Website now shows increased/decreased prices for loom levels in item description (shop or inventory)
37. Website now also shows correct max possible upkeep value in inventory page
38. Clan banner stackers now count as a bigger power during autobalance
39. New mechanic: you can only damage left hand, forehand and shoulder if you successfully penetrate a shield, also damage output after reduction will be additionally halved to compensate upcoming armor nerf of wooden shields. Expected game impact: no more crossbow wtf-headshots while holding your shield up, more weapons will be able to penetrate shields (more Crossbows, not just Arbalest, some bows with Bodkin arrows) but performing a shield penetration would require extremely good aim and would deal a highly reduced damaged depending on shield armor. High armor shields (metal) will be still impossible to penetrate
40. New feature added: all ranged ammo (arrows, bolts, throwing weapons) can now have "Can't use on horseback" property that makes them possible or impossible to use on horse. Only 0 slot arrows/bolts are possible to use on horseback so far.
41. Fixed bug allowing to pick up ammo on horseback that was supposed to be impossible.
42. Fixed mechanic that sadly never worked: ammo stacks (quivers, throwing containers etc) with 0 ammo now can't be picked up, they disappear instead of messing with your slots.
43. New mechanic added: horses can now perform a so called "oppa jump" on siege shields. If horse jumps over siege shield from behind it will instantly destroy it with some special effects. If horse bumps siege shield from behind it will damage both siege shield and itself depending on speed in the moment of impact. If horse bumps siege shield from in front, it will only hurt itself. Also if horse dies after a bump - rider will get damaged on falling down.
Item changelogs:
5.3.7.05.3.7.15.3.7.55.4.0.05.4.0.25.4.2.95.4.2.11