This big update includes bug fixes in the client app and on the server to improve online game stability. These changes together should alleviate most online game issues. Current games should be unaffected after updating. If you're in a game that was previously broken it will unlikely be recoverable. Cancel/Conceded it and try a new one after updating.

[ 2015-08-26 16:32:01 CET ] [ Original post ]

This big update includes bug fixes in the client app and on the server to improve online game stability. These changes together should alleviate most online game issues. Current games should be unaffected after updating. If you're in a game that was previously broken it will unlikely be recoverable. Cancel/Conceded it and try a new one after updating.

[ 2015-08-26 16:32:01 CET ] [ Original post ]

We've completed the move to a new server and updated the game to match. Changes in the game include: The Leaderboard is now visible within the Play Online screen. It shows the top 10 players. The Player Portal will show you 20. 3 new 2 Player maps have been added to both local and Online multiplayer. As always, playing them in Tournament Mode will be the most balanced play. A number of bugs with Steam Achievements have been addressed. Thank you for playing! Kris

[ 2015-07-26 18:45:21 CET ] [ Original post ]

We've completed the move to a new server and updated the game to match. Changes in the game include: The Leaderboard is now visible within the Play Online screen. It shows the top 10 players. The Player Portal will show you 20. 3 new 2 Player maps have been added to both local and Online multiplayer. As always, playing them in Tournament Mode will be the most balanced play. A number of bugs with Steam Achievements have been addressed. Thank you for playing! Kris

[ 2015-07-26 18:45:21 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey all, Heads up that the server will be down for a short time sometime in the next few days. This is due to a major server move in order to offer better performance and monitoring of games. An update to the game will also be released which will include a bunch of bug fixes and several new 2 player maps. I'll post again here when the changeover is in progress and again when finished. Thanks! Kris

[ 2015-07-20 15:41:48 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey all, Heads up that the server will be down for a short time sometime in the next few days. This is due to a major server move in order to offer better performance and monitoring of games. An update to the game will also be released which will include a bunch of bug fixes and several new 2 player maps. I'll post again here when the changeover is in progress and again when finished. Thanks! Kris

[ 2015-07-20 15:41:48 CET ] [ Original post ]

Today I released a small bug fix release for all platforms (v1.0.5.3). This update addresses various issues with the Campaign mode and fixes several Steam Achievements. Campaign Fixes

• End game screen now directs to Main Menu and is 16:9
• End game screen now shows on replays of that level
• Replaying Season end levels will now replay the Season Stone Award
• Fixed bug that would show an empty announcement box after completing a level
• Campaign difficulty now correctly saves the new setting

Achievements Fixed

• End game/Lord of the Realms Achievement
• Shell-shocker
• Welcome Back
• Way of the Wolf
• 20k Mana Achievement (entire Mana-counter stat is fixed)
• Overconfident Achievement has been removed

Other Things

• Changed the open/close Chat Window keyboard shortcut to Cmd/Ctrl + G
• Adjusted MP map Vaulted Wood to de-escalate turn 2

As always, let me know if you run into anything unexpected. Thanks! Kris

[ 2015-05-27 14:07:51 CET ] [ Original post ]

Today I released a small bug fix release for all platforms (v1.0.5.3). This update addresses various issues with the Campaign mode and fixes several Steam Achievements. Campaign Fixes

• End game screen now directs to Main Menu and is 16:9
• End game screen now shows on replays of that level
• Replaying Season end levels will now replay the Season Stone Award
• Fixed bug that would show an empty announcement box after completing a level
• Campaign difficulty now correctly saves the new setting

Achievements Fixed

• End game/Lord of the Realms Achievement
• Shell-shocker
• Welcome Back
• Way of the Wolf
• 20k Mana Achievement (entire Mana-counter stat is fixed)
• Overconfident Achievement has been removed

Other Things

• Changed the open/close Chat Window keyboard shortcut to Cmd/Ctrl + G
• Adjusted MP map Vaulted Wood to de-escalate turn 2

As always, let me know if you run into anything unexpected. Thanks! Kris

[ 2015-05-27 14:07:51 CET ] [ Original post ]

I made a small adjustment to 2 player matches to change the first turn Mana bonus to work as below. It's more complicated and is based on how much land P1 owns. This is being discussed here. 2nd Player gets a bonus based on 1st Player's end-turn mana strength, not counting Relic or Fairy bonuses. The Mana Strength box shows this change live so you don't have to worry about the math, but here is how it works: P2 Mana = P1 Mana / 2, with 10 as a minimum. If P1 Mana is 10+, P2 gets the above +5. So on Little Islands, commonly P1 ends with 18. 18/2 = 9, so P2 gets a bonus of 10 as the minimum. If P1 were to somehow gain more land to end with 20, 20/2 = 10. P2 would get 15. On A Druid's Duel, P2 will likely get much more if P1 gathers a lot of land, which is what usually happens. This adds an extra dimension in that if you are P1, you can, to some degree, control how much P2 gets as a bonus based on the land you grab. More 2 Player maps are in the works and as I design them, this may be refined more. This provides me a lot of flexibility to adjust and gives a sliding scale based on actual player action instead of trying to plan for all possible scenarios on all maps.

[ 2015-05-04 19:18:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

I made a small adjustment to 2 player matches to change the first turn Mana bonus to work as below. It's more complicated and is based on how much land P1 owns. This is being discussed here. 2nd Player gets a bonus based on 1st Player's end-turn mana strength, not counting Relic or Fairy bonuses. The Mana Strength box shows this change live so you don't have to worry about the math, but here is how it works: P2 Mana = P1 Mana / 2, with 10 as a minimum. If P1 Mana is 10+, P2 gets the above +5. So on Little Islands, commonly P1 ends with 18. 18/2 = 9, so P2 gets a bonus of 10 as the minimum. If P1 were to somehow gain more land to end with 20, 20/2 = 10. P2 would get 15. On A Druid's Duel, P2 will likely get much more if P1 gathers a lot of land, which is what usually happens. This adds an extra dimension in that if you are P1, you can, to some degree, control how much P2 gets as a bonus based on the land you grab. More 2 Player maps are in the works and as I design them, this may be refined more. This provides me a lot of flexibility to adjust and gives a sliding scale based on actual player action instead of trying to plan for all possible scenarios on all maps.

[ 2015-05-04 19:18:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

[img=http://druidsduel.com/images/update105.png] It's finally here! The major updated you've been asking for and helping shape is complete and ready for you :) This is a huge undertaking and there are a lot of things added and addressed across the entire app so bear with me (heh) as I break them all down for you. You can also join me tomorrow to try out the changes and line up some games! Now, on to the changes...

Game Options

• Widescreen (16:9 and 16:10) are now the supported formats. 4:3 is gone.
• Added Audio options for setting music and sfx volume. This setting is retained between sessions and across any game modes.

Campaign Changes

• Campaigns can now be individually cleared and the AI difficulty setting can be changed before a session. Simply go to the Campaign screen from the Main Menu and select a new difficulty. Up is harder, Down is easier.
• Back-tracking in Campaigns has been removed. You now always have the option to play any board discovered at the "edges" of your progress.
• Some Boss Battles got re-vamped maps to make them beatable.

Online Multiplayer Changes

Your requests have been heard! I've incorporated a number of big changes into Update 105 for improving online play. I've incorporated more help text and explanations throughout the Play Online screens to help you out. Your current Aura and Trisk scores are now shown on the My Profile screen. Leaderboard will be moved in-game as well, but is not in quite yet.

Dash Duels

Dash Duels provides a way to complete a 2 player game in one sitting. This is enforced by disallowing a player to leave the game once started. Leaving will forfeit the game, which is an expectation not set by normal games. Dash Duels have a 2-minute turn limit set automatically to help keep it moving. Starting a Dash Duel does not count against your game limit as it can only exist during one play session. Once started, the other player has three minutes to join the game for it to begin, otherwise it is canceled (or can be canceled by the starting player).

Tournament Mode

Any online game (including Dash Duels) can now be optionally played in Tournament Mode. This mode eliminates the automatically spawned set of three Fairies found in standard mode and in the Campaign. Fairies are still spawned when an Obstacle is destroyed. Tournament Mode also changes how the turn time limit works. If you are playing with a turn time limit, restarting your turn will NOT reset the clock, so think hard before using all your time in trying different options out!

Live Chat

• Added a main lobby chat available in the Main Menu if you are logged in to the game server.
• Added in-game chat for all online games. This chat will show you when a player restarts their turn and if they leave the game. For normal games this can be pretty helpful so you don't wait for them to move.
• Chat is not available in Campaign games, though that may change, based on your feedback.
• Chat uses your Player Portal username, not your SteamID (for now).

There of course are also a number of bugs fixed and small things added here and there. Credits is now two distinct pages to make it easier to actually read and the help text font has been changed to be more readable. A visual tour of these things is available on Facebook as well. Thank you for your continued support and encouragement. I feel this update brings A Druid's Duel up to where it ought to be in terms of features and polish. There is more to come, of course, so if your request didn't make it in, please keep asking! Kris

[ 2015-05-01 21:56:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

[img=http://druidsduel.com/images/update105.png] It's finally here! The major updated you've been asking for and helping shape is complete and ready for you :) This is a huge undertaking and there are a lot of things added and addressed across the entire app so bear with me (heh) as I break them all down for you. You can also join me tomorrow to try out the changes and line up some games! Now, on to the changes...

Game Options

• Widescreen (16:9 and 16:10) are now the supported formats. 4:3 is gone.
• Added Audio options for setting music and sfx volume. This setting is retained between sessions and across any game modes.

Campaign Changes

• Campaigns can now be individually cleared and the AI difficulty setting can be changed before a session. Simply go to the Campaign screen from the Main Menu and select a new difficulty. Up is harder, Down is easier.
• Back-tracking in Campaigns has been removed. You now always have the option to play any board discovered at the "edges" of your progress.
• Some Boss Battles got re-vamped maps to make them beatable.

Online Multiplayer Changes

Your requests have been heard! I've incorporated a number of big changes into Update 105 for improving online play. I've incorporated more help text and explanations throughout the Play Online screens to help you out. Your current Aura and Trisk scores are now shown on the My Profile screen. Leaderboard will be moved in-game as well, but is not in quite yet.

Dash Duels

Dash Duels provides a way to complete a 2 player game in one sitting. This is enforced by disallowing a player to leave the game once started. Leaving will forfeit the game, which is an expectation not set by normal games. Dash Duels have a 2-minute turn limit set automatically to help keep it moving. Starting a Dash Duel does not count against your game limit as it can only exist during one play session. Once started, the other player has three minutes to join the game for it to begin, otherwise it is canceled (or can be canceled by the starting player).

Tournament Mode

Any online game (including Dash Duels) can now be optionally played in Tournament Mode. This mode eliminates the automatically spawned set of three Fairies found in standard mode and in the Campaign. Fairies are still spawned when an Obstacle is destroyed. Tournament Mode also changes how the turn time limit works. If you are playing with a turn time limit, restarting your turn will NOT reset the clock, so think hard before using all your time in trying different options out!

Live Chat

• Added a main lobby chat available in the Main Menu if you are logged in to the game server.
• Added in-game chat for all online games. This chat will show you when a player restarts their turn and if they leave the game. For normal games this can be pretty helpful so you don't wait for them to move.
• Chat is not available in Campaign games, though that may change, based on your feedback.
• Chat uses your Player Portal username, not your SteamID (for now).

There of course are also a number of bugs fixed and small things added here and there. Credits is now two distinct pages to make it easier to actually read and the help text font has been changed to be more readable. A visual tour of these things is available on Facebook as well. Thank you for your continued support and encouragement. I feel this update brings A Druid's Duel up to where it ought to be in terms of features and polish. There is more to come, of course, so if your request didn't make it in, please keep asking! Kris

[ 2015-05-01 21:56:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

Tomorrow is the big day! The major update (105) will hit Steam tomorrow afternoon. There will be some time when the online game server will be offline as I update and confirm everything is working correctly. All current single player campaigns and online games should come out the other side intact :) I would love to get some live games played over the weekend to knock out any lingering bugs and gather any feedback. I'll post again after the update and schedule an event for some live games! Meanwhile, See the features of tomorrow's major update to A Druid's Duel told through pictures. (Facebook)

[ 2015-04-30 21:00:46 CET ] [ Original post ]

Tomorrow is the big day! The major update (105) will hit Steam tomorrow afternoon. There will be some time when the online game server will be offline as I update and confirm everything is working correctly. All current single player campaigns and online games should come out the other side intact :) I would love to get some live games played over the weekend to knock out any lingering bugs and gather any feedback. I'll post again after the update and schedule an event for some live games! Meanwhile, See the features of tomorrow's major update to A Druid's Duel told through pictures. (Facebook)

[ 2015-04-30 21:00:46 CET ] [ Original post ]

I have pushed a critical hotfix to the server. This does not require any update to the client application. This fixes issues related to online games only. Namely, it fixed a bug where the next player was incorrectly determined in some cases, which breaks the auto-concession clean up script. It would also show the wrong next player stars in your game list. This in turn resulted in games behaving oddly, such as prematurely ending upon a player retiring from a game or trying to retire a previously retired player. Please comment if you run into anything you think may be related. It should not affect active games unless they were already broken.

[ 2015-04-15 22:39:11 CET ] [ Original post ]

I have pushed a critical hotfix to the server. This does not require any update to the client application. This fixes issues related to online games only. Namely, it fixed a bug where the next player was incorrectly determined in some cases, which breaks the auto-concession clean up script. It would also show the wrong next player stars in your game list. This in turn resulted in games behaving oddly, such as prematurely ending upon a player retiring from a game or trying to retire a previously retired player. Please comment if you run into anything you think may be related. It should not affect active games unless they were already broken.

[ 2015-04-15 22:39:11 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey all, First up, The Battle for Beltaine tournament has been rescheduled. There were not enough participants and I am rethinking the format. There are a number of things coming up in the next major update that will affect competitive play anyway so I would prefer to hold a tourney with these features. Tentative new date is May 17.

April Update

The big update coming down the pike is starting to come together. While generally sticking to the previous description, I am packing a ton of things into it. Updates 2 and 3 have been combined into a single major update. Already completed are:

• Ability to clear and change the difficulty of each Campaign in progress.
• Tournament Mode added to Multiplayer games. This mode removes the automatic 3 fairy spawn for 2 player games. It also changes the turn time limit to not reset if you restart your turn in this mode. This mode is not final, but something like these options will make it in. See the excellent discussion about it here.
• Widescreen mode (16:9 ratio) fullscreen and windowed.
• Volume settings for music and sound effects.
• Back-tracking in Campaigns has been removed.
• Some Campaign maps have been updated, specifically Boss battles that were largely impossible to beat on Elder (hardest) difficulty).
• Turn notices are now dismissible with a click of the mouse.
• Keybindings have been added for spawning units.
• Fairies now have a shadow when over land, making it easier to see what space they are on.
• Mana Strength info simplified for 2 player games.

The features specifically for online play are not finalized yet as I experiment with various solutions to facilitating "live" play. More details to come in the next couple weeks. That's it for now :) Thanks! Kris

[ 2015-04-10 15:07:33 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey all, First up, The Battle for Beltaine tournament has been rescheduled. There were not enough participants and I am rethinking the format. There are a number of things coming up in the next major update that will affect competitive play anyway so I would prefer to hold a tourney with these features. Tentative new date is May 17.

April Update

The big update coming down the pike is starting to come together. While generally sticking to the previous description, I am packing a ton of things into it. Updates 2 and 3 have been combined into a single major update. Already completed are:

• Ability to clear and change the difficulty of each Campaign in progress.
• Tournament Mode added to Multiplayer games. This mode removes the automatic 3 fairy spawn for 2 player games. It also changes the turn time limit to not reset if you restart your turn in this mode. This mode is not final, but something like these options will make it in. See the excellent discussion about it here.
• Widescreen mode (16:9 ratio) fullscreen and windowed.
• Volume settings for music and sound effects.
• Back-tracking in Campaigns has been removed.
• Some Campaign maps have been updated, specifically Boss battles that were largely impossible to beat on Elder (hardest) difficulty).
• Turn notices are now dismissible with a click of the mouse.
• Keybindings have been added for spawning units.
• Fairies now have a shadow when over land, making it easier to see what space they are on.
• Mana Strength info simplified for 2 player games.

The features specifically for online play are not finalized yet as I experiment with various solutions to facilitating "live" play. More details to come in the next couple weeks. That's it for now :) Thanks! Kris

[ 2015-04-10 15:07:33 CET ] [ Original post ]

[img=http://www.druidsduel.com/images/battle_for_beltaine.png][/img] Celebrate the end of Winter by dominating the soggy bog-lands of Beltaine! Show other Druids you're the master by taking part in this free and open tournament! Battle for Beltaine Registration and Information

Prizes

• The 4 finalists will receive 100 Aura points and 20 additional Trisks on their account. This is in addition to any they earn during tournament gameplay.
• The Champion will also receive A Druid's Duel T-shirt, shipped free in the US!

[ 2015-03-23 15:42:50 CET ] [ Original post ]

[img=http://www.druidsduel.com/images/battle_for_beltaine.png][/img] Celebrate the end of Winter by dominating the soggy bog-lands of Beltaine! Show other Druids you're the master by taking part in this free and open tournament! Battle for Beltaine Registration and Information

Prizes

• The 4 finalists will receive 100 Aura points and 20 additional Trisks on their account. This is in addition to any they earn during tournament gameplay.
• The Champion will also receive A Druid's Duel T-shirt, shipped free in the US!

[ 2015-03-23 15:42:50 CET ] [ Original post ]

Today we released the first of several major updates for A Druid's Duel. Version 104 addresses a few issues with online gameplay and also includes a couple bug fixes. Updating to v1.0.4 is required to play online games. You may notice you have a bunch of games where it is now your turn. This is a Good Thing! Your opponent has automatically conceded, so just Resume the game and claim your Aura and Trisks! Here's the gist:

• Any game down to 2 players can now be Conceded. This is the "I give up" option. If you Concede the game, you retain any Trisks or Aura you earned. Any game with 3 or 4 active players still allows the current player to Retire. This means you leave the game and forego any Trisks or Aura from it.
• The server is now doing automatic clean up of games. Any game where the current player has not taken their turn for 36 hours will do one of two things:
  • If it's down to 2 players, the current (inactive) player will concede the game.
  • If it has 3+ players, the current (inactive) player will Retire from the game.
  • In either case, the next player either wins or takes over as the current player.
• The multiplayer maps "Four Corners" and "The Vaulted Wood" have been adjusted to allow for better balance.
• The game limit has been increased to 10 active games and a bug has been fixed that counted some game states against your total. With automatic game clean up, this hopefully is an adequate number for now.

I will be posting a Guide on how to play Online Games that will cover how it all works in-depth. If you run into issues or have things to say specifically about this update, please use this dedicated thread.

[ 2015-03-19 16:48:14 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi Everyone! Update 1 described in the previous announcement will be installed and released on March 19, 2015 (US CST), about 24 hours from now. The servers will be down for a while as I test through the updates. Following the update, you will need to have version 1.0.4 of the game in order to play online games. There are significant changes where earlier versions will not be compatible. Again, this is for Online Games only. Campaign and Local Multiplayer will be untouched in this update. On the Good News front, most in-progress games should be fine once updated on the server side. A large number of games will be auto-conceded due to inactivity and disappear from the inactive player's list. If these games remain in your list, it means it is your turn, and all you need to do is Resume the game and claim your Aura and Trisks! I will post more details on how the concessions and automatic game cleanup works following the update. Thank you! Kris

[ 2015-03-18 17:49:15 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey Everyone! A Druid's Duel has been out for 2 weeks and the common theme is that the game itself rocks, but there are a few places the overall experience falls pretty short. I am encouraged that you really like thrashing Druids and will do what I can to improve the areas you don't like as much. I've planned out a series of updates to help address the major issues. Read on to find out what's in store. I plan to get through all of these in the next 5-7 weeks.

Update 1

This will focus on short-term fixes to keep online games moving:

• Players can concede in 2 Player games (or games down to 2 players left) at any point.
• 3 or 4 Player games will remain the same, meaning you can Retire on your turn only. This is not meant to make things hard for you, but the server will do its best to clean up inactive players.
• Balance tweaks to some 2 Player maps.

A server component will accompany this update that will clean up games when they are not moving. If you don't take your turn within 36 hours, you will automatically concede or retire from the game. This is a fair balance between urgency and flexibility. If it turns out this is too long or too short, it will be easy to adjust. This update is expected in the next week and will require the servers be down for a little while for updates. It will likely mean any in-progress games will be canceled. I'll give you more details before it happens.

Update 2

This update will provide better overall game options, such as widescreen support, audio/sound options, and some improved interface items. Campaigns will get some updates that allow you to clear one at a time, or to change the difficulty setting in a current campaign. I am also looking at removing the back-track/replay requirements as everyone seems to hate them :)

Update 3

This will focus almost entirely on improved online play. The idea is to integrate heavily with Steam and provide a much easier way to find and play games immediately and to their conclusion. Lobbies, in-game Chat, Friend List integration are all planned.

And Beyond...

Provided the other updates go smoothly enough, the focus will turn to improving the Campaign overall as well as new game modes such as Skirmish or randomly generated maps. Thank you for reading and don't be afraid to hit me up with any questions or ideas. Kris (designer/developer)

[ 2015-03-12 21:58:10 CET ] [ Original post ]

Today we released a small update to address a few of the bugs that have been reported, namely with the Campaign mode and a couple of the Achievements weren't working. Version 1034 also allows the game to run in the background, so if you are waiting to take your turn, you can do something else and the game will continue to listen for your opponent's moves. Note that opponent turns will play automatically (with sounds and all) when they are received.

[ 2015-03-03 15:18:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

A small update went out to the server and Player Portal today. This exposes options for controlling when and how often you are emailed a notification when it is your turn. Log in to the portal website and find it under: My Profile > Notification Settings. The options are once a day (default), always, or never. The next small update will focus on bugs that have cropped up. Following that is running the client in the background and widescreen support. Then the big daddy... A major update around improving the multiplayer experience. You can let us know your ideas on the discussion thread. The main focus will be on making it far easier to organize games and supporting your steam friends list. Thanks for your continued ideas and feedback! Kris

[ 2015-03-02 21:06:22 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Everyone! We've been launched a few days on here so far and are getting some very positive feedback. But of course, no game is perfect! So thank you very much for the suggestions and encouragement.

First Update In The Works

The first order of business for us is to do some clean-up on how Online Games are managed. Namely, we're looking at simplifying your ability to Retire/leave games. It's a tricky dilemma and we want to make the right changes. Keep in mind that right now you can leave any game that has more than 2 players. On your turn, just go into the game and choose to Retire. If there are 2 players, you're kind of stuck finishing it. It's no fun when the people you're playing with suddenly drop out, but neither is it fun to wait for them for days and days to take their turn. If you want to leave a game, you should be able to -- we get it. With those two sides in mind, we're working on both a notification update as well as a fair way to leave games you don't want to finish. Be sure to drop into the Discussions if you have something to say about the game. We'd love to hear anything you have to say! Thanks, Kris (the designer, developer, etc)

[ 2015-02-27 19:15:31 CET ] [ Original post ]