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EpicDuel PVP Game Design Notes

Behind the scenes information about EpicDuel's development and releases, a real-time PVP MMO that you can play online in your web browser.
Nightwraith

January 28, 2022

The Spider's Lab

The Spider's Lab

Our powerhouse programmer Spider has been very busy spinning a web of new features in his Exile lab! These features are so big, that we're giving them another week of testing to make sure they are rock solid. We apologize for the delay, but we're sure they'll be well worth the wait! There are few things more annoying than late night hotfixes and weekend reboots to interrupt your duels!

 

2v2 Partner Link

One of the most frequently requested features going all the way back to the beginning, EpicDuel will finally allow you to link with an ally on your buddy list (similar to initiating a 2v1 Boss fight) to fight as partners in 2v2 PvP battles! 

 

PvP Drops

Another requested feature is ready make PvP battles more rewarding than ever: PvP drops! Each PvP battle mode will feature a unique pool of prizes with different drop rates. These loot tables can be updated on an ongoing basis so we can keep the rewards fresh and PvP exciting in the months ahead.

Another nice feature that's been added as a bonus companion to PvP drops is the ability to receive more than one drop item at a time. Previously, this was limited to only 1 item at a time. Now, that limit has been removed!

This feature has many variables and will need an extra week of testing to make sure it's ready for prime time.

 

More Performance Options

Flash is not kind to the CPUs of it's users and ornate armors and weapons with many looping animations can turn the game into a slideshow for some. To help easy the pain, we're introducing a new option in settings to stop animations some equipment and hairstyle animations. 

 

War Resumes

Next Friday the Legion vs. Exile war finally resumes in The Wasteland! I'm pretty sure. It's been awhile!


Last Chance Seasonals!

For the last few months, nearly every seasonal rare has been available in game. Monday January, 31st they will be leaving the shops, and set to their regular schedules! This will happen after a brief afternoon update.

 

Farewell, Epic Supporter

Monday January, 31st, the Epic Supporter Package and achievements will be removed from the Varium shop! It's your last chance to take advantage of the best value of the year! This will happen after a brief afternoon update.

 

Ongoing Prize Progress

This year's top 15 Gifter prizes are still well underway. This year's batch will features some of the most complex designs yet but hopefully they won't take too much longer. We know you're all eager to see them in-game and admire them up close! Luckily, we have a solid team of artists and an awesome programmer to keep the content flowing as work on these custom requests continues!

Tags: Nightwraith


Nightwraith

January 25, 2022

Secret and Silver Package Update

EpicDuel has been updated with some bonus prizes inspired by community suggestions, with a design suggested by Machaon and translated to an in-game reality by Lodrian.

Additions, Changes, and Fixes

  • New Secret Package Prizes
    • Frost Warlord Archdemon
    • Frost Warlord Archdemon CC
    • Burning Frost Archdemon
    • Burning Frost Archdemon CC
  • New Secret/Silver Secret Prizes
    • Ascended Frost Archdemon
    • Ascended Frost Archdemon CC
  • New Achievements/Adjustments
    • Daily Gift Supreme Epic Legend - Placed top 15 in 2022 and won top Daily Gifter in 4 Gifting seasons.
    • Daily Gift Epic Legend - Won top Daily Gifter in 4 Gifting seasons between 2018-2022.
    • Daily Gift Legend - Won top Daily Gifter in 3 Gifting seasons between 2018-2022.
    • Australia Day 2022 - Now available for sale
  • Bug Fix
    • Using regular sidearm attack did not put Permafrost into cooldown.

Tags: Nightwraith


Nightwraith

January 21, 2022

The Frost Warlord Rises!

Frost Warlord Rises!

Today the Secret and Silver Secret packages open to shower their owners with an avalanche of icy treasures!

 

Epic Storage!

Even with the stacking of mission items to clean up your inventories, the aftermath of gifting leaves everyone with piles of extra gear taking up space in your inventories and banks.

Bank max size increased to 2020!

If you already qualify for a new achievement tier, please allow some time to receive your achievement update.

  • Extreme Legendary Banker Collect everything! Awarded for buying 1200 bank slots. Rating: 12,000
  • Supreme Legendary Banker Collect everything! Awarded for buying 1400 bank slots. Rating: 13,500
  • Ultimate Legendary Banker Collect everything! Awarded for buying 1600 bank slots. Rating: 15,000
  • Cosmic Legendary Banker Collect everything! Awarded for buying 1800 bank slots. Rating: 16,500
  • Divine Legendary Banker Collect everything! Awarded for buying 2000 bank slots. Rating: 18,000

Inventory max size increased to 1220!

  • Extreme Legendary Hoarder Collect everything! Awarded for having 820+ inventory slots. Rating: 9,500
  • Supreme Legendary Hoarder Collect everything! Awarded for having 920+ inventory slots. Rating: 10,500
  • Ultimate Legendary Hoarder Collect everything! Awarded for having 1020+ inventory slots. Rating: 11,500
  • Cosmic Legendary Hoarder Collect everything! Awarded for having 1120+ inventory slots. Rating: 12,500
  • Divine Legendary Hoarder Collect everything! Awarded for having 1220 inventory slots. Rating: 13,500

 

New War Commander

To prepare for the next war event, x100 and permanent War Commander cores will be available at Vendbots across Delta V.

 

Silver Secret Package Opens

This update, Silver Secret Packages will open to reveal this year's latest batch of holiday gear! Awarding these is a manual process, so please allow some time to receive your prizes.

  • Frost Warlord Repeater P
  • Frost Warlord Repeater E
  • Frost Warlord Scimitar P
  • Frost Warlord Scimitar E
  • Frost Warlord's Rage
  • Frost Warlord's Wrath
  • Frost Warlord Bike
  • Frost Warlord Bike CC

 

Secret Package Opens

This update, Secret Packages will also open to reveal this year's latest batch of holiday gear! Awarding these is a manual process, so please allow some time to receive your prizes.

  • Frost Warlord Cryo Pistol P
  • Frost Warlord Cryo Pistol E
  • Frost Warlord Cannon P
  • Frost Warlord Cannon E
  • Frost Warlord Slayer P 
  • Frost Warlord Slayer E
  • Frost Warlord
  • Frost Warlord CC
  • Frost Warlord Cavalier
  • Frost Warlord Cavalier CC
  • Frost Warlord Archangel
  • Frost Warlord Archangel CC
  • Morphing Archangel -- click the gem on the chest for a surprise!
  • Morphing Archangel CC -- click the gem on the chest for a surprise!

For the morphing armors, the animation states do not broadcast to all players, but all players are able to click the armor to see the new forms.

 

New Package Cores

When these packages open, new cores will be attached to the various included weapons! Thanks to our improved core functionality, you can swap out these cores without fear of them being destroyed.

  • Frozen Bonebreaker (Armor): Deal 105% Primary damage, increasing by 5% per round (140% max), 25% Crit chance.
  • Shattering Star (Primary): Summon a frozen comet barrage, dealing 120% Primary weapon damage.
  • Permafrost (Sidearm): Lock a target in ice, disabling melee attacks for 2 turns.
  • Cold Ignition (Aux): Fire a blast of cold fire, reducing target's energy by 50 points each turn for 3 turns.

 

New Achievement

This update we're introducing a new achievement, Daily Gift Legend, for players who have won the top Daily Gifter achievement in 3 gifting seasons between 2018-2022. The previous Daily Gift Legend achievement (being a top Daily Gifter for 4 gifting seasons in a row) has been changed to the Daily Gift Epic Legend. These achievements are only for those who have the Daily Gifter achievements -- having the Secret Package prizes is not enough to qualify.

 

Item Finder Upgraded

Core search has now been added to the item finder. There are some outstanding issues with the item finder like the clear button not working and the alphabetical search alternative between ascending and descending, but these will be fixed in a subsequent update. There are also some items that may show up, but are either orphaned database entries, testing items, or items not intended for sale. To eliminate confusion, items are being hidden from the interface on a rolling basis.

 

Hidden Exile

If you've logged into EpicDuel in the last few days you've probably noticed Exile is missing from the server list. We haven't needed it in awhile (each server has a cap of over 1000) so Spider and I decided to use it as an additional environment to test new features. That should allow more thorough testing and prevent the need for late-night weekend hotfixes.

 

Bug Fix:

NPC battle limit: Server updated to new limit of 300. 

Tags: Nightwraith


Nightwraith

January 16, 2022

EpicDuel 1.8.50 Hotfix

EpicDuel has been updated with a hotfix addressing some bugs introduced into the latest update.

Fixes and Changes

  • Fixed PvP battles stalling after victory because of a drop error
  • Fixed banked items reverted to inventory after login

Tags: Nightwraith


Nightwraith

January 16, 2022

EpicDuel 1.8.49 Hotfix

EpicDuel has been updated with a hotfix addressing some bugs introduced into the latest update.

Fixes and Changes

  • Fixed character creation causing an error due to the new color pickers
  • Fixed "redeem code" for arcade tokens not stacking when claimed 
  • Fixed picking up map items not stacking
  • Fixed PvP drop items not stacking
  • Some missions not being able to be complete despite having the required mission items

Tags: Nightwraith


Nightwraith

January 14, 2022

EpicDuel Gifting 2021 Aftermath

EpicDuel Gifting 2021 Aftermath

The 2021 Gifting season ended late last week, and we're proud to celebrate the top-15 winners of this monumental event! I never expected ALL of the winners to score at or above one million gifts, but, as usual, EpicDuel's hardcore players blew away those conservative expectations in spite of a year that produced many hardships for people all over the world. We're glad that Delta V could be a post-apocalyptic refuge for people to escape the real disasters big and small occurring on a daily basis, and we hope to continue to serve you all for years to come.

BEHOLD! EpicDuel's 2021 Gifting Season Winners!

  1. Enchant
  2. I Am Mr. Nice Guy
  3. JoshTheCW
  4. Taiso
  5. Lycan
  6. Caddeus
  7. .SwatFighter.
  8. D Fense
  9. UrMenace
  10. Romulus
  11. CactusChan
  12. Gwuapo
  13. Xx.Dark Azrael.xX
  14. Machaon
  15. Santa

Thus far I have corresponded with every winner on this list and have started several of the requests. I understand everyone is equally excited to receive their prizes, but these are all unique customizations of varying difficulty, and they will go out as quickly as they can. I thank you all in advance for your patience.

This year's Silver and Secret Packages will open next week, revealing new weapons, vehicles, and armors created by Acatriel!

 

Inventory Improvements

This week we built on top of previous improvements to inventory management by making sure the search bar clears when going between interfaces (vendor, bank, inventory, etc...). To further clean your messy post-gifting inventory, Mission items and Arcade Tokens will now stack for easier scrolling. Stacking for additional items is being investigated, but there are some greater challenges with items that can be upgraded and equipped. 

If you have a stack of items in your bank, like Arcade Tokens, purchasing more will send them to your bank automatically. This can be confusing as it may appear that the purchase failed because the item won't appear in your inventory.

***Please be advised that if you sell stacked items, the whole stack will be sold at once! A proper warning message is in the works to prevent accidental sales!***

 

Super Stylin'

The color picker in EpicDuel's style change interface just got a major upgrade with an Advanced Color Picker. Everyone will now have access to a broader color spectrum to achieve the color palette of your dreams.

Another improvement to the style change interface is the addition of Gender Change for 15,000 Credits or 250 Varium. Using this feature once will award the Gender Changer Achievement

 

Seasonal Savings

To accommodate players who may have had limited access to a reliable internet connection over the last few months, we're leaving the seasonal rares and Epic Supporter package in until the end of the month and will be removed from the game in an update on January 31st! 

 

Additional Changes

The following changes don't fit into any other category but have been itemized here for quick viewing.

  • The Spreadfire cores for sidearm and auxiliary weapons are now unlocked and available for swapping to other items.
  • NPC Battle Cap increased to 300 from 100.
  • Permanent Health Reserve core added to Vendbots.
  • AFK timer increased to an hour.
  • New screen added to Titan's Peak to show off the latest Gifting winners.
  • Skeptical Study removed since mission items no longer take up inventory space.

 

2022 Thoughts

This is definitely not the only blog on the whole wide web to point this out, but the past two years have been hard for many people for a variety of reasons, and we're proud that EpicDuel could be a place for old and new players to chill out, duel, and forget about the outside world, if only for brief respite. Despite these challenges, we've emerged from another hectic year in a strong position: The additional of Spider and Acatriel to the team have been game-changers in terms of broadening the scope of possibilities for the future direction of the game. Features that were deemed impossible by Titan himself have been implemented in a matter of days, and there are still pages of suggestions that are suitable candidates for implementation. Despite the crushing responsibility of Gifter prize obligations that January brings, I'm more optimistic in EpicDuel's future than I have been in years. Is 2022 the year EpicDuel finally gets new classes? I'm not one to overpromise, but if it were to happen any year, this would be it!

Let's all raise a canister of Health Booster to an incredible year of duels! Duel on!

Tags: Nightwraith


Nightwraith

January 06, 2022

The End of Gifting!

Gifting Ends 2021

The time for Gifting is nearing it's end, but there's still some more action left in EpicDuel's ultimate seasonal event! For those a bit confused at exactly when Gifting ends, it will end at the reset between January 7th and January 8th. This can be confusing based on your time zone, but when it ends, you will see the leaderboard change to a final, fixed display showing the final top 15 winners.

Seasonal rares and Omega Void Trial missions will remain in game for awhile longer to give dedicated collectors ample time to fill their inventories.

 

What's Next?

After gifting ends, the winners will be contacted via email (based on the email tied to the account) to congratulate them and sort out the details of their wishes. Please allow a few hours for these emails to arrive. Those who score over 1 or 2 million will also receive their achievements and bonus Secret/Silver Secret Packages to distribute as they please! The packages will "open" in a few weeks after they've all been distributed.

 

Alpha Boost

Early last year one of EpicDuel's goals was to reward long-time players with weapons to complement their legacy gear. True, there aren't many Alpha supporters still logging in for daily duels, but we're still offering a small boost in the form of a more complete set of rares:

Alpha players will receive the following new weapons to complement the existing set.

  • Alpha Blade E
  • Alpha Blaster P

The class-specific Alpha weapons have been consolidated into a mutating weapon, complete with a corresponding damage type.

  • Alpha Annihilator P
  • Alpha Annihilator E

It was tempting to update and remaster the artwork, but since the style of the time represents a great deal of nostalgia for veteran players, the artwork is mostly unchanged.

 

Beta Boost

You're not forgotten Beta players! Very soon, we're also boosting the inventories of players who have the Beta weapons of old! Holders of these weapons will receive the following weapons:

Beta Cleaver P
Beta Blaster E
Beta Bazooka P
Beta Brutalizer E

The original Beta Brutalizer has been adjusted to do physical damage for all weapon types including the staff. Like the new Alpha weapons, the artwork was mainly unchanged for the inactive states. These changes will not affect the Beta weapons that were originally low-level prior to Omega.

 

Restocks!

Some popular gifter items from previous winners will be restocked over the next few days! I won't say which or where, but if you know, you know.

 

Coming Soon

Gifting is winding down but Spider is just warming up! Next week we should be ready to introduce new features including gender change, an improved color picker, and inventory stacks for mission items!

Tags: Nightwraith

 

 EpicDuel Game Design Notes Archive