Hello all! The biggest change this patch that players who downloaded previous demo builds of the game will notice, is that the demo scope has been reduced from the first 4 levels of Act 1, down to just the first two levels. This was decided to keep things consistent for all platforms that the free demo is available on. I would also like to look at it as a reward for players that tried the game early on, that they got to experience the first 4 levels of the game for free before the demo was rescoped. 

For new players, although the game's demo now only includes the first two levels, it still provides a solid preview of what the completed game experience will feel like. Hopefully it resonates with you and is a strong enough gaming experience to earn your support through the game's development.

With that being said, the work to be ready for Early Access continues, and below is the game's latest patch notes for today's update:

Patch Notes v0.25.18 - Major Content & Polish Update

OVERVIEW

Comprehensive tutorial system overhaul, Level 1-3 difficulty tuning/balancing, enemy AI improvements, visual enhancements, and extensive polish for the 2-Level Demo release.

NEW CONTENT

Tutorial System Overhaul

Scene-Specific Tutorials: Replaced overwhelming info panels with guided step-by-step tutorials (info panels are still available for players that want the reference)

  - Supply Depot tutorial sequence
  - Workshop tutorial sequence
  - Staging Area tutorial sequence
  - Crafting tutorial sequence

Level 1 Tutorial Enhancement: 

Streamlined opening experience

  - Removed initial controls menu dump
  - Tutorial now flows through in-game popups
  - Controls accessible via pause menu when needed

New UI System

Radial Build Menu: Redesigned turret selection interface in preparation for more turrets to be added to the game
  - Visual preview slots for upcoming turrets (Flamethrower, Sniper)

GAMEPLAY CHANGES

Level 1 - Difficulty Tuning

Wave Composition changes - Better credit economy to improve player’s ability to test turret upgrades

Increased credit acquisition in the earlier waves to enable more turret placements/upgrades during the later waves. The wave compositions and enemy counts have been buffed overall to allow the player to experience more turret upgrades. Since Level 1 is primarily a tutorial level, it’s best to give players more opportunity for better familiarity with turret capabilities during this level while not making it too difficult, since they’ll need this in Level 2, which focuses more on integrating turret management with hero control. 

Level 2 - Difficulty Tuning

Starting credits increased: 400 → 500

Wave Composition Changes - Increased difficulty but increased/improved credit acquisition for more player build options during the level.

Similar to Level 1 tuning, increased credit acquisition in the earlier waves to enable more turret upgrades during the later waves. The wave compositions and enemy counts have been buffed overall to make the level more interesting/challenging, but build credits have also been made available earlier to enable the player to assign more turrets/make upgrades without adding an excessive difficulty spike overall.

Level 3 - Difficulty Tuning

Based on internal testing, Level 3’s current wave compositions feel underwhelming due to the upgrade cost reduction performed during the last patch. Wave composition changes were done to offset this, without introducing too much of a difficulty spike. 

Boss HP increased: 10,500 → 11,500 (+9.5%)

Enemy Balance Adjustments

Nullseeker Swarmer Damage Buffs 

This enemy is introduced after the player has become familiar with hero controls and more acclimated to the general difficulty level of the game. As a later enemy in Act 1, it feels less of a real threat and more of a low-impact nuisance to the hero. Its ranged attacks are slow moving and can be avoided by active play, so actually getting hit by them should be more significant instead of negligible, until such time that the player is able to upgrade his/her hero’s defenses. 

- Anti-Hero Swarmers:
  - Base damage: 10 → 15 (+50%)
  - Range: 20 → 25 (+25%)

- Elite Anti-Hero Swarmers:
  - Base damage: 20 → 40 (+100%)
  - Range remains 40
- Applied to all anti-hero variants and companion types

ENEMY AI AND MOVEMENT ENHANCEMENTS

Overall Enemy Movement Enhancement

- More Organic Movement System: Enemies no longer follow paths robotically (even if they’re robots???), have a slight speed variance, and they have a chance to wandering slightly from their paths

- Separation/Avoidance System added to prevent enemy position overlap and introduce a more natural feeling of the enemies avoiding bumping into each other.

Boss AI Fixes

- Enemy_Boss_Spectre Retargeting: Fixed movement bug. Boss now returns to its target structure after being lured away by a hero

- Ultimate Attack Hit Detection Bug Fixed: Corrected false-positive damage. Added secondary range check using actual distance calculation to prevents unavoidable damage when boss attacks structure while hero is nearby

VISUAL ENHANCEMENTS

 Health Bar Improvements

- Enhanced Visibility: Redesigned health bars for critical units
- Player Defended Structure health bars: Thicker, more prominent
- Enemy Boss (Spectre) health bar: Enlarged and repositioned
- Hero health bar: Similar Visual enhancement

 Environmental Improvements

- Level 1 Props Overhaul: New environmental prop models for rocks, vehicles, containers, structures

- Level 2 Visual Polish: Enhanced smoke/haze effects

- Staging Area Enhancement: Added more environmental props to build atmosphere

VFX and Material Updates

Multiple effects have been added or tuned: 

• Smoke/haze/atmospheric fog
• Flame effects
• Tower construction effect
• Boss Leap Attack: Added dust particle effects on jump initiation

AUDIO IMPROVEMENTS

New Audio Cues

Battle Alerts:

  - New audio for starting new wave manually, initial enemy detection 

 UI/UX IMPROVEMENTS

 Crafting Interface

- Visual Upgrade: Crafting results panel now matches other result panels

 Workshop Enhancement

- Fixed Lighting Bug: Re-enabled three point lighting

 Node Emission Enhancement

- Increased visibility of buildable nodes during battle

BUG FIXES

- Item Cache Bug: Fixed visual error when using a single item cache from multi-item selection UI. 

- Act 1 Boss Animation: Fixed Spectre jump attack animation so that its landing matches the moment of actual damage application.

- Keybindings panel (in the Main menu) scroll sensitivity fixed. 

NARRATIVE/DIALOGUE: 

Various story/dialogue text has been streamlined to be more clear, concise and support better read-pacing. 

DEMO SPECIFIC FEATURES:

Demo Boundaries

- Level 3 and 4 locked

Overall Design Considerations

Difficulty Tuning: The goal is to create an exhilarating experience for TD newcomers while still engaging veterans. For the early levels, front-loading build credits enables players to experiment with the turret upgrade system without being punished, building towards more epic later waves that rewards preparation.

Enemy Movement: The new organic movement system prevents robotic path-following while maintaining strategic predictability. Enemies should now feel more like individual units rather than scripted trains.

Tutorial Redesign: Instead of overwhelming info dump panels, tutorials now guide players naturally through mechanics at the moment they need them. 

Version: 0.25.18-demo  

Build Focus: Steam Demo Release & Polish