Patch 1.6 Preview – Possessive Progression

Darkest greetings Underlord,

Imagine you could dive into the mind of anyone you know – what would you see through their eyes? Would the world be different? Could you walk a mile in their shoes? Now you can answer these questions and more via the vastly-improved Possession spell! Assume the identity of one of your minions and see the world in a whole new way. Literally.

Possession Update

Possession is a really cool feature very much unique to this genre, and one that we’ve always wanted to do much more with. The scope for the feature is incredible, and there are many ways we could explore the mechanics behind it.

Sadly for the longest time this feature has gone neglected, barely seeing changes since release except some minor improvements all the way back in Patch 1.1. But in Patch 1.6 we’re revisiting it, and breathing some new immersive life into this unique first-person view.

Angry Augres see the world in red.

Unfortunately we’re not going to be able to take it all the way into a huge game changer, but we’re definitely making some significant improvements.

Unbelievable Sights, Indescribable Feelings

One of the Possession features most heavily requested by our valued community is a much more immersive experience – they want to truly feel like they’re seeing the world through the eyes of their minions, and what unique twists that would put on their perceptions.

Well we’re not one to duck away from a challenge! We’ve spent weeks meticulously reviewing and redesigning each creature’s vision – you can see the results for yourself:

 

Crackpot vision is quite the experience – comparable only to ingesting Whaleshrooms

 

This has been a really fun experience for us. We love the way these new effects breathe much more personality into the creatures; whether that be the frosted-over vision of the Frost Weaver, the insectoid perceptions of the Skarg, the scent-enhanced Bafu, or just the helmeted Juggernaut, these simple tricks have really brought Possession to life! (And you thought VR was nauseating.)

 

Insect-o-vision courtesy of your friendly neighbourhood Skarg

 

Beyond the Eyes – User Experience Improvements

There’s more than just fancy new vision though – we’ve also made improvements to the Possession experience, mostly focussed on providing better feedback in response to your actions.

For example, upon making an attack you’ll see additional feedback on the action, as well as witnessing a satisfying flash upon landing a blow on your adversary. Similarly, performing a heal on an ally will also deliver a flash to show that your spell has hit home.

 

Flashing has never been so much fun

 

We’ve also overhauled the balance of the spell itself, so if you’ve ever wanted to be the general leading from the front then look no further! Possession now provides a buff to the creature you’re controlling, increasing damage dealt and reducing damage taken, whilst also granting bonus experience.

 

Choose your Door

We’re also giving the much overlooked Possession Door a quick makeover with some swanky new textures as well as a couple of new features.

You shall not pass! Unless you’re an ethereal consciousness possessing a lesser being.

For those of you who don’t know the Possession Door is a special door placeable in the Map Editor which only allows possessed units to pass. This lets the map creator develop special Possession-only areas.

In addition to that function the Possession Door can now lock a player into Possession until they die or pass through another Possession Door, further enhancing the door’s use as a special gameplay modifier.

Even more exciting is the ability for these doors to now denote an area that cannot be seen from RTS Mode, meaning the only way to see what lies beyond is to jump down the rabbit hole yourself. We’re going to be using these new features to great effect in My Pet Dungeon and we expect map makers to find some creative uses for them as well.

What’ve they got in there, the Chunder King?

That about covers our second preview, but there’s still more to come! Drop by on Tuesday to get your next whiff of appetising content, coming as part of Patch 1.6 and the My Pet Dungeon DLC!

 

Cheers,

– Brightrock Games Team

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