What's New?: Release Candidate (RC) v1.02 from Beta v0.135

Major Game/Gameplay Changes

• Season one ("Phoenix") has officially started, moving forward from the Beta. This effectively resets any ranks earned through the Beta and paves the way for the first season available during Early Access and the game's launch.
• Resetting your game data will now only reset your player's stats, but not affect leaderboard scores or Steam Achievements.
• We've transitioned game data saves away from a registry based system (which is native to the Unity engine) to a file based system. This is to allow for steam cloud saves and synchronization across computers.
• Users now have the ability to join and leave the global chat channel using commands (type /help into the chat channel to see the commands, or go to the support forum). Also, chat moderation tools have been added to GM accounts, allowing GMs to ban, warn, and unban players from the chat channel.
• The final boss Lord Pain has been added to the game, who will spawn on inferno difficulty if you survive long enough.
• EXP earned from enemies now scales with difficulty (i.e. more EXP is gained per kill on inferno difficulty than on hard).

GUI Changes

• Some art assets have been updated to support the 4k (3840x2160) resolution.
• Chat GUI has had its positioning slightly modified so that text in the chat is no longer cropped.

Achievement Changes

• The hidden "Beta" achievement is no longer attainable, since we are moving forward towards the first release candidate. It has been replaced with the hidden achievement "Vanguard", which will be given to players that play Bowmen during the first season and Early Access.
• The "Untouchable" achievement has been added, which unlocks for surviving 400 seconds on hell difficulty or higher without taking any damage.
• The "Masfury" achievement has been added, which unlocks once you forge Masfury.
• The "Epitaph" achievement has been added, which unlocks after you die 100 times (and thus, unlocking the Undead skin).
• The "So it Begins" achievement has been added, which unlocks after completing the tutorial.
• The "Overkill" achievement has been added, which unlocks after killing 15 enemies at once.
• The "Bowmaster" achievement has been added, which unlocks after fully upgrading the Multishot skill.
• The "Infernal Balrog Slayer" achievement icon has been modified to fit with the art style of the other achievements.
• The "Lord Pain Slayer" achievement has been added, which unlocks after defeating Lord Pain on Inferno difficulty.

Item Changes

• The legendary item Rico's Chet has been added to the game, which gives your single shot arrows a chance to cleave and hit nearby enemies in addition to the initial target. This item has no drop restrictions and can be found off any mob in the game.
• The item previously known as Shed, the Golden Savior and Prot's Golden Buckler has been renamed to Heavy Golden Buckler. The flavor text has been modified to match the change.

Bug Fixes

• How high angle critical hits are calculated has been modified. This should fix an issue whereby some arrows, even if not high angle shots, would deal crit damage.
• You can now exit the "Options" and "Credits" menus by hitting the escape key in addition to clicking the exit button.
• Fixed an issue where old background music would play when returning from onslaught.
• Spawn locations and positioning of the Barbarian and Graybeard have been changed so that they no longer appear to "overlap" if spawned at the same time.
• How enemy health bars are ordered has been slightly changed so that the Infernal Balrog or Lord Pain health bars always appear above the others.

[ 2020-09-23 06:42:52 CET ] [ Original post ]

HOW LONG CAN YOU SURVIVE? Lord Pain has summoned his infernal minions once again to wreak havoc on the realms of men... As one of the last of the Bowmen, a long forgotten but elite Elven race that once guarded the living against this malevolent evil, you must conjure up your courage and venture forth toward the portal of doom to save mankind once again. With a bit of skill, a dash of luck, and the help of unusual accomplices, you may hold these demons off just long enough for the living to be saved and mankind to emerge victorious once again!

SURVIVE THE ONSLAUGHT OF A CARTOON HELL

Fight against Lord Pain's relentless armies in a single game mode called "onslaught", whereby enemies spawn in progressively more and more difficult waves the longer you stay alive. To succeed, you'll need to call upon allies for aid, equip unique items, use health potions, and decimate your foes by detonating powerful explosives.

Leveling up your character after each encounter will allow you to invest in player attributes that will improve your character's damage throughput and survivability, slowly allowing you to progress into more daunting and brow-sweating difficulties.

EQUIP UNIQUE ITEMS

Bowmen comes "equipped" (heh, see what I did there?) with a plethora of items that drop from enemies that have succumbed to your inescapable wrath. These items can improve your player's stats, grant you extra experience per kill, heal your character, or empower you with unique skills and abilities. Will you stick with a scroll that gives you some additional health regen, or will you drop it in favor of that sick legendary sword that will allow you to do maximum damage? The choice is yours!

EARLY ACCESS EXCLUSIVES

Completing specific objectives, performing feats of strength, or reaching high global ranks in Bowmen will unlock unique skins that will allow you to customize your character for a more personalized gaming experience. Starting with RC v1.04, as a token of our gratitude for supporting Bowmen during its early stages, players that purchase the game before its full release will be given the Panda skin, a unique skin that makes a menacing face whenever you get a double kill or greater during onslaught. Early Access backers will also unlock the Vanguard achievement, forever solidifying your Steam account as an Early Access supporter.

Early Access backers will also be providing key feedback to the developers that will shape how the game plays and feels. Those that provide us feedback during development will be given specific recognition in the game's credits once it launches.

FIGHT YOUR WAY TO THE TOP

Lastly, you can fight your way to the top of our leaderboards to earn exclusive bragging rights among your fellow archers! After each session of onslaught on Inferno difficulty, your score will automatically be submitted to Steam along with your character's name and your current level. If your score is higher than any of the scores within the top 1000 for that season, your score and rank will be shown in-game so that everyone will know their place relative to YOU in the Bowmen hierarchy!

Disclaimer: Bowmen is currently available through Steam Early Access, but is considered a work in progress and not representative of the final product. If you wish to play Bowmen in its current state and provide us with feedback, you may do so by purchasing a copy of the game and providing feedback on the Steam forums. For more information about Early Access, please see the Early Access Q&A above.