Disclaimer: Features discussed in this post reflect what is currently under development and not necessarily what will be shipping with the next test. Anything mentioned below may change at any time due to the experimental nature of Pre-Alpha development. Nothing mentioned here should be taken as a promised feature or addition to the eventual game.
KEEPS
The Keep will replace the Town Center as the core structure at the center of Towns moving forward. This change was made for two reasons. First, during playtests it was observed that players would surround their Town Center with Fort walls and structures which looked incredibly unnatural. Having the center structure be a Keep thematically and visually fits more organically.
Second, with the new Fort building system, there was an opportunity to integrate Forts with the core structure of the Town. To that end, Keeps can be attached to expanded upon using Fort modules. This means players can effectively design a larger custom Keep or heavily integrate them into their surrounding fortress layout.
There will be three tiers of Keeps as seen in the concept art above. In addition, Keeps have full interiors with several floors, making it implicitly useful for making a last stand during a siege.
WORLD EXPANSION
The world is finally being expanded to the scale that Anvil Empires is intended to be played at. The previous main island has been broken up and several other land masses have been added. This scale paves the way for not only longer term, persistent world gameplay but for systems like trade and naval to exist in the future.
While the size of current tests are not entirely appropriate for this scale, the foundation of the world needs to be built and tested as early as possible which is why this expansion is happening. In the initial rollout, the expanded parts of the world will be basic in terms of environmental features but detail will be added in over time.
NEW WEAPON FEATURES
As part of the current phase of development, many aspects of combat are being heavily worked on. In addition to the combat updates from the last Devblog, a new set of weapons and weapon features are being explored. Keep in mind that many of these features are designed to work within a larger framework of changes coming in future development.
First of all, every weapon now has a movement modifier and a chance to penetrate guard. For example, the Sword now has a Thrust as its secondary attack mode, which has a higher chance to penetrate guard when compared to the primary Slash attack.
The Javelin is being introduced, as a lightweight version of the Spear. The Javelin can be throw in quick succession, can be carried with other primary weapons like Swords, and can also be thrown from horseback.
The Spear has also received several upgrades to make it more distinct from the Javelin. The Spear can now be used in tandem with a Shield and has distinct melee and throw modes of attack that can be toggled with the F key.
DEPLOYMENT FOOD
Some important changes are being made to deployment. Food items instead of Reinforcement Supplies are now required to deploy to a location. This will be required to deploy at all locations, including Homesteads and pledged Towns. If no food is available, then deployment won't be possible. This removes the ability to infinitely spawn at a location and enables future scenarios for "starving out" towns under siege.
When a specific type of food is selected to use for deployment, the player will spawn with the benefits of that food automatically applied. This includes health, stamina, and hunger replenishment.
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