What's New?: Release Candidate (RC) v1.06.04 from v1.05.40

Major Game/Gameplay Changes

• The Unity Engine has been updated and the game library rebuilt. As a whole, this has led to a huge increase in game performance. We also made several changes to game art assets, which should further improve game performance and reduce hard disk size.
• The character creation screen has been removed from the game. This was for the most part a relic from when the game did not use Steam IDs or Steamworks. New characters will automatically be assigned your Steam ID as their name, and you will only be prompted to view and accept the EULA via the Steam client in the future.
• In the options menu, a checkbox has been added for voices, rather than it being mixed with the SFX slider. In game voices will now be togglable.
• The player level cap has been raised from 40 to 50.
• Ranged enemy health and projectile damage have been buffed on every difficulty, while other minion healths and damage have remained the same. This is to make gameplay a little more challenging without making every enemy more difficult.
• Critical hit damage text now has additional effects associated with it (both visually and acoustically), to give it a bit more flair.
• The camera now has a rain effect on the lens. Rain effects in the onslaught scene have also been increased.
• A slight depth of field effect has been added to the camera.
• Hell and Inferno difficulties are now no longer locked by default. At the start of the game, you may select any difficulty you like.
• The chat client no longer reports when players join/leave the channel, or scores when returning. The chat client will, however, still report high scores achieved to the chat channel.
• A few of the game's audio tracks have changed.
• The "orb" that allows you to adjust and angle your shots has slightly changed. It is now a little more transparent.
• The arrow placeholder and arrows fired by the player now match the skin chosen, rather than the default "red steel" arrow.

Item Changes

Stonehammer

• The damage of the Spirit Golem that this item summons has been increased to 102-145.

GUI Changes

• The GUI system has been restructured, using Unity 2021's latest system. This has led to massive improvements to performance.
• The wind arrow now has a little rotation animation associated with it.
• The chat window is now scrollable on the difficulty selection screen.

Achievement Changes

• The Hell achievement is now unlocked after receiving a high score on hell difficulty, rather than a high score on hard.
• The Inferno achievement is now unlocked after receiving a high score on inferno difficulty, rather than a high score on hard.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where players could deal damage to themselves twice if they hit themselves with an arrow.
• Fixed an issue where the reported "angle" of the player's shot was rounding incorrectly. It now should properly report 0 to 90, or 0 to -90 (depending upon the direction).
• Fixed a display issue with word bubbles from the summonable wizard and barbarian. They should now spawn with the word bubbles the correct size.
• Fixed a lighting issue that would occur on low graphics settings in certain scenes.
• Fixed an issue where vsync would automatically disable on lower graphical settings, even if it was enabled in the game options.
• Fixed a fading issue between scenes.

[ 2022-03-28 22:57:16 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.