After releasing the last Alpha 29 fixes I've been very busy with adding new, shiny features to your favorite game! In order to keep you excited for KeeperRL Alpha 30, here is a quick rundown of what's coming.

Playable Gnomes faction

Almost all mods add new playable factions to the game, so it's obvious that this is something that players crave. At the same time I want to make sure that new factions offer significant new gameplay experience, and aren't just reskins of existing mechanics. The new Gnomes faction will do exactly this! Being expert craftsmen by nature, gnomes dominate by constructing automatons, advanced traps, and other machinery. Automatons are assembled from basic parts, and every configuration offers different capabilities. You can create your own custom builds! Another thing that's unique about this faction is that there is no unique Keeper creature. The success of you base will depend on keeping any of the gnomes alive.

Minion titles and kill lists

I've set out to make minions feel more personal, and less like expendable cannon fodder. The game will track their kills, and give them titles for killing tribe leaders, along with significant bonuses. The Keeper will also write poems about your minions' triumphs and failures.

Group activity disabling

One of the oldest feature request was to allow disabling chosen activities for larger groups of minions. This is now possible!

White Knight faction additions

Thanks to the generosity of Archdiggle, the author of the Dig Realm mod, who kindly agreed for some of their sprites to be used in vanilla, the White Knight faction receives new minions and structures. The main addition is a group of angelic minions.

Mod merging

I've implemented further improvements to the modding system, and now one or more mods can be merged together. This means two things:

• Modders no longer need to copy the entire vanilla content to add their changes. Every mod consist of only what it changes or adds, even if it's a single line.
• Multiple mods can be used at the same time!

Custom map layouts

Modders can now circumvent the built-in procedural town generator and use their pre-made map layouts. The towns 'skins' (wall, floor, furniture types, etc) and defined separately, which lets you easily generate a lot of different-looking towns.

New spells and traps

New types of effects will arrive in Alpha 30: a spell that animates weapons, a trap (or spell) that sets off other traps in its vicinity, an effect which covers you in oil (and makes you flammable), and others.

Multi-weapon combat

Creatures will be able to attack with multiple weapons and body parts in a single turn. This includes multi-wielding weapons if one possesses the appropriate skill and number of limbs, and using extra intrinsic attacks, like poisonous bites, kicks, etc. This feature makes certain creatures, like werewolves and vampires, much more interesting and powerful.

Secrets

I'm not going to spoil you with details, but in the future KeeperRL will have an 'ultra' ending, which will requires finding secrets and beating special areas and bosses.. Alpha 30 will include some new, hidden levels that are part of this. I'm curious to see how quickly you can find them!

Making Zombies Great Again!

Last but not least, zombies will receive their long due power-up! They will possess a 'swarmer' trait, which makes them more powerful when more zombies are around. Therefore a large horde of zombies will be extremely dangerous!