Darkest Greetings Underlord,

Reception to Heart of Gold and patch 1.4 has been absolutely fantastic, we’re pleased to see so many of you enjoying the latest iteration of War for the Overworld. As we promised yesterday we have a new minor but not insubstantial patch for you today, chocked full of features and fixes based off community feedback.

It’s also a good day to be a DRM-Free player as we’re finally updating the build from v1.2.3 to this very patch. That means you can finally put the map editor to use and experience all the improvements we delivered in Patch 1.4.

We’re sure you’re eager to see what’s changed so without further ado read on Underlord!

Major Changes

DRM Free Version Updated

The DRM-Free build of War for the Overworld has been updated to v1.4.1, if you own the DRM-Free version you can download it via Humble

Achievements & Unlockables have been added to the DRM-Free version

Be aware Heart of Gold, Steam Workshop, and several other features are not present in the DRM-Free build as they rely on the Steamworks API (see the DRM-Free FAQ

Cosmetic Fog of War Improvements

Revealed areas that are not actively part of current gameplay (such as the top of neutral terrain) are now darkened

Important gameplay elements such as gold and claimed territory remain lit

This causes these elements of the game pop more compared to the background and helps to reinforce a darker atmosphere while allowing lighting to shine

Before and After Comparison video

Normalized Unit Spawning

We’ve normalized the unit spawning values so you can more reliably figure out how large a room needs to be to attract a certain number of units.

1 Prop per unit: Sanctuary – Cultist or Priestess Archive – Cultist or Priestess Foundry – Chunder or Warden Barracks – Gnarling or Templar

1.5 Props per unit: Spirit Chamber – Witch Doctor Alchemy Lab – Crackpot or Firebreather Torture Chamber – Succubus or Inquisitor Crypt – Necromancer or Matriarch

2 Props per unit Garrison – Augre or Juggernaut

4 Props per unit Arena – Beastmaster or Huntress (Every flat edge tile counts as a ‘prop’)

Room tooltips have been updated to display this information.

UI Changes

In-Game UI

Added a glow effect to active rally flags, making it clear which flags are currently active

Warbands are now automatically expanded when active, displaying the cancel button

Improved look of the ability selection in possession UI and added a little number above each ability to show their associated hotkey

Room tooltips now show how many units the room has attracted versus how many units it can possibly attract at its current size

It is now possible to switch abilities in Possession with the scrollwheel

Improved accuracy of the “Zoom To” function eg. when a unit portrait or any other button is right clicked.

Menus

The “Heart of Gold Now Available” and “Access Heart of Gold” arrows can now be dismissed permanently by clicking a small X button

Updated the descriptions of several Skirmish maps

Tooltips

Construction Ritual will now explain that it cannot construct Outposts on certain maps

Upgraded Barracks Tooltip now correctly accounts for training support slots which can be used by Gnarlings to support other minions

Map Editor Changes

Unidentified artefacts are now random by default, if no weight is set for any effect (previously these would always identify as gold artefacts)

Neutral defences can no longer be placed (they were not fully supported and resulted in various issues)

Existing Neutral defences on custom maps will self-destruct upon map start

Campaign Changes

Level 11

Removed a sequence in Level 11 where the player was forced to view the introduction of a summoning stone

Level 12

Delayed the initial rush by Underlord Draven by an additional 4 minutes. Allowing the player more time to prepare

Heart of Gold Level 3

Resolved an issue that prevented roaming parties of heroes from attacking your dungeon and providing a steady source of bodies to turn to gold…

Heart of Gold Level 4

Reduced the level and number of units that attack the player as they defeat enemy bosses

Other Changes

Gameplay

Sentinels and Stone Knights can now be dismissed by throwing them into a Gateway

It is now possible to transform critters (micropiglets and rats) into golden statues with the Blood Money spell

Performance Improvements

Improved the memory and processor footprint of critters (micropiglets and rats)

Audio Improvements

Added sounds to Lava, Lava Falls and Water

Bug Fixes

“You have found a neutral minion” alert now correctly plays only when a unit joints your side rather than when it is just visible to any player

Fixed Taverns in Seastead II and Flood

Fixed HoG outro narrator line could play too fast if user was had game speed set to 150%

HoG2 – Empire forces no longer scream when leaving the combat zone peacefully… how disappointing…

Disabled one of the Matriarch’s abilities in the Arena to prevent incorrect behaviour

Sappers no longer require sleep, enhancing their performance in several campaign levels. The same cannot be said for coders.

Fixed a repeating voice line on level 2

Fixed level 13 waves being blocked by the main siege door

Fixed an issue with the Glacial door which could occur upon loading a saved game

While chatting in multiplayer games the spacebar won’t skip our beloved narrator’s lines

Beds are once again correctly removed in multiplayer games

Clients in multiplayer games will now see units XP correctly

Clients in multiplayer games will now correctly see units training in Barracks

Titan Stone spawning VFX will now disappear if the stone is destroyed early

All clients in multiplayer are now correctly informed if a titan has been slain

Fixed the Spirit Chamber flooring issue under the prop

Fixed an issue which caused barracks to produce noise even when concealed by fog of war

Fixed an issue where Stone Knights would not use the full range of available attack animations

Beds are now correctly only shown if their tile is visible

Fixed an odd case where a spirit could survive when dropped onto a Spirit Chamber prop

Fixed a visual glitch that occured when viewing allied Sanctuaries

Fixed a deserialization process in MightyQuest (Which impacted quite a small portion of campaign players)

Fixed Survival not finishing on Core death

Fixed a rare case where a Unit could still damage another while in Hand or outside Arena

Adjusted win condition on C9 to prevent occurrences where it was not possible to win, despite achieving objectives

Fixed and issue where the Bonechiller VFX could remain after the bonechiller is destroyed

Fixed an issue where unit shields could get left behind if the unit was teleported away and then revived

“Unit lost” alerts no longer play when Blood Money is cast on a minion

Fixed an issue where Rituals were greyed out, when new Rituals were started and canceled, while a current Ritual was active

Fixed an issue where doors would close automatically while a worker is fortifying an adjacent wall from inside the door, which pushed the worker, causing them to restart the task and thereby trapping them in a never ending circle of fortifying hell

Fixed an issue where Constructs placed on higher terrain than ground zero (eg. Volcanic bridge) could never be sold

Fixed an issue where the barracks in older saved games only had one training slot and only attracted half the correct amount of Gnarlings

Fixed an issue where flying units fruitlessly tried to fly on the top of walls, causing no visible issues but a few background errors which in turn lead to lag

The Sin Orb will now correctly flash when Mendechaus reminds the player they have a sin available

Clients in multiplayer can now correctly see the units current activity in tooltip, unit panel and warband detail panels

Fixed an issue where clients in multiplayer were unable to add units to the peace band/group

Fixed an issue which didn’t inform the UI for clients in multiplayer about an active rally flag, preventing the rally flag cancel button from being correctly highlighted

Fixed several issues found in user logs which may resolve some unreported bugs or lag issues

Fixed an issue where loading an original campaign level while playing heart of gold or vice versa would cause the player to load with an incorrect Underlord colour

Fixed an issue where enemies killed in the arena would take an extended period of time (to rot and disappear) before their fight slot was once again made available. Enemies slain in the arena now disappear after 3 seconds (down from 120)

Fixed an issue on Heart of Gold level 4 where the work slot of a prop could be moved outside of map bounds, making minions unable to find them

Fixed an issue where minions that are immune to lava damage were still taking damage from lava if dropped directly onto it from the Underlord’s hand.

That covers this patch for now. Rest assured we’ll be keeping our eyes on your feedback and there’s plenty more to come in the oncoming weeks and months.

Cheers!

– Brightrock Games Team

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