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Update 0.20 & State Of The Beta

Development

Alex

Saccardo

2019-12-19

Operation: extermination. That’s what this update should’ve been called. We tracked, hunted and eliminated more bugs than you can poke a stick at.

The end result is the smoothest game experience we’ve ever released. It also represents the most cards we’ve ever lived in the game at one time - including the meta altering Umber Arrow. Bless.

While stability has been the order of the day, the game team has also been hard at work preparing an array of new features to get excited about.

But before we jump into things, it’s worth noting that today we also published a State of The Beta report, which includes an end of year synopsis from our Game Director on the evolution of the game and where our focus lies. It answers some looming questions, and provides clarity around the direction of the game. You can read the announcement here.

So without further adieu, let’s take a look at what’s changed with 0.20!

New Features

Trinkets

Hazaah! For the first time in GU history, trinkets are being unleashed on the game board.

For this update, the 5 trinkets announced during the Genesis raffle promotion will become available for winners to place on their boards.

These will be loaded into the game client and show up in player loadouts over the next 48 hrs. It’s important to note these trinkets aren’t yet tokenized and will not show up in your wallet. We’re working on setting up a way to produce and distribute these types of assets at scale to prevent delays like this in the future, but it’s not ready just yet. If you’ve won multiple versions of a trinket, you will only see one in your loadout screen for now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK6NO0rS9S4

The best bits from our live stream for Update 0.20

Trinket Setup

With the introduction of Trinkets to the game, the Loadout selection now has the ability to add two trinkets to a board. You'll see a new list on the right side.

You can mix and match boards and trinkets at your leisure, then pick them quickly before hopping into battle.

Of course, you don’t have to select trinkets either. You can simply toggle Trinkets on and off your board, or remove Trinkets via the small 'x' to the top right of the Trinket position on the board preview.

But let’s face it, you want trinkets in your life :)

Mulligan 2.0

The Mulligan phase during match prep has been reworked to give players more control over their starting hand. Here’s a rundown of the new selection process:

Players are now shown 3 cards each when they Mulligan
Each player starts with a number of charges (3 for the player going first, 4 for the player going second)
You now Mulligan one card at a time instead of all at once
When you mulligan a card, a charge is consumed. You see the card you receive before deciding to mulligan again

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28m5_8aYS9o

Once you Mulligan away a card, you cannot get that card or any copies of that card back at any stage during the Mulligan
At any stage a player may choose not to use their Mulligan charges and keep the 3 cards they have been shown
At the end of the Mulligan, before a player draws a card for their first turn, their deck is shuffled

User Interface

Feedback form: players can now report a bug, a cheater or submit an idea with a simple screenshot.

New In Game Settings

The in-game setting screen has been re-implemented as a tab on the side of the screen, which allows you to see the action while you are making changes.

Card set icons: there is a unique identifying symbol to differentiate Core and Genesis cards

Note: These icons will be visible in game (but not in client for the interim).

Opponent’s hand: The cards you’re facing will now be far more visible.

Improved Fonts: Slimmer, sharper card text + bold keywords for important triggers like Roar and Afterlife.

Look for this feature to be refined in a future release.

New In Game Settings: The in-game setting screen has been re-implemented as a tab on the side of the screen, which allows you to see the action while you’re making changes.

Boards

Genesis board optimisation: we've made several optimisations to the Genesis boards and also reduced their overall size. As a result they will now download quicker if not already cached.

Bug Fixes

A total of 65 bugs were fixed in version 0.20! Some of the biggest culprits are listed below.

General Issues

Fixed an issue with using Ability cards after reconnecting to a game.
Fixed an issue where clicking rapidly on a twin-strike weapon could cause the game to stall.
Fixed an issue where returning a creature to the opponent's hand then stealing it out of their hand could cause the game to stall.
Fixed an issue where getting too many actions queued up could cause the game to stall.
Fixed an issue where performing an attack on or with a dying creature could cause the game to stall.
Fixed an issue that could cause the game to stall when double-clicking on an equipped weapon while an enemy creature is dying.
Fixed an issue that could cause the game to stall when dragging an attack chain from a creature that then gets transformed.
Fixed creatures that were just transformed on the previous turn not showing an attack highlight on the next turn.
Fixed creatures that were summoned by end of turn effects not showing an attack highlight on the next turn.
Fixed an issue where the results of an Afterlife effect triggered from the void may not appear until the end of turn.

Card Issues

Umber Arrow - Fixed an issue where using Umber Arrow to steal an enemy creature then immediately getting that creature killed could cause graphical issues.
Ocular Fiend - Fixed an issue where Ocular Fiend's Roar effect would not appear to trigger from several other cards effects. (Unruly Shredder, Bearstrider, Tamed Mammoth, Nether Nanny, Dragon Tooth Warrior, Nullmaw, Archimedes Mirror, Mountain Greatwyrm, Tyr The Just)
Cleave, Flash, Carnage Sweep - These cards can no longer "skip" Ward on their non-primary targets.
Auric Rush, Tracking Bolt - Fixed an issue where immediately attacking while waiting for the effect of these cards to resolve could stall the game.
Inquisitor's Summons - Fixed an issue where killing a creature with a relic while the effect of this card is being resolved could cause the game to stall.
Merchant Prince - Fixed an issue where spending all your mana when this card is in play could cause the game to stall.
End Times - Fixed an issue where cards summoned by Afterlife effects of creatures destroyed by End Times were factoring into Demonic Skull's stats.
Broken Harvester - Fixed an issue where this card may not attack at start of turn if it has Sleep.
Dread Queen Persephone - Fixed an issue where the results of this card's effects may not be visible to the opponent until the end of turn.
Atlas' Burden - Fixed an issue where this card's effect may not summon a random legendary creature. =)