1.2 Update Released

Prepare to face the Skeleton King!

This update includes new single player content and also provides another way to acquire rare items. There is now a 5% chance to get a rare item from the common chest if you are at the level cap. Enjoy!

Patch Notes:

- 50 new single player dungeons
- New monsters to fight!
- Raised level cap to 25
- Improved Treasure Chest algorithm

- Facebook special offer

Skills Update Preview

Hello everyone!

Here is a link to our in-house skills sheet. It contains changes that we are currently testing out. This includes 2 new skills for each class. Thanks to Samuel CL for contributing his ideas.

https://docs.google.com/a/clapfootgames.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqRRpz_fLwh3dEJPMXpCX1BGc3BaRWw5a0tJN1FHb0E#gid=0

Here is a summary of the play style for each class. We use this as a guideline when coming up with new skills:

Berserker:

• Hard hitting
• Always a threat
• Fast
• Offensive prioritized over defence

Paladin:

• Spell based, melee fighter
• Defence used to augment damage

Mage:

• Mana dependant
• Hard hitting
• Utility heavy skills
• "Glass cannon"

Feel free to comment and make suggestions. As always we're open to suggestions.

1.1.4 Update Released

Patch Notes:

- Fixed icon resolution for high DPI devices
- Added item bonus summary
- Added Social links
- Minor UI tweaks

New Patch - Art Update

Hey Guys long time no post!

We've been crazy busy over here at Clapfoot, and have been working on other projects. We're going to be doing a decently large art push to the game by the end of the year.

Here is some of the work:

1.1.3 Update Released

Item bonuses return to single player in today's patch. We will also be experimenting with item bonuses in multiplayer over the next while. We are also working on UI improvements to the item system, such as a summary screen for bonuses.

Patch Notes:

- New item bonus system

- More improvements to items are coming soon

1.1.2 Update

Celebrate Halloween with this new update to Hero Forge!

Patch Notes:
- Halloween Easter Eggs!
- New graveyard environment
- Active skills shown on battle UI
- Changes for new players

1.1.1 Update Released

We've brought back the category specific inventory screens and improved a few other things.

Patch Notes:
- Inventory categories are back
- Reduced chance of getting repeat items from chests
- New boost: Attack
- Improved matchmaking
- Bug fixes

1.1 Update Released

This is a HUGE update. We're already working on the next update which will introduce new skills. Stay tuned for even more changes to the game!

Patch Notes:
- Over 100 new items to collect
- Split up game into multiplayer and singleplayer modes
- Replaced crafting with treasure chests
- All skills and talents unlocked
- New boost system
- Items only affect visuals now
- Bug fixes


Download it here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.clapfootgames.heroforge

Hero Forge 1.1 Preview

Major changes are coming in the next update and here are the details.

Overall goals for 1.1:

• Make the PvP game more fair and balanced
• Make PvE more accessible
• Make the item system more accessible and flexible

Arena and Dungeon modes

We are officially splitting the game into two modes: Arena for PvP and Dungeon for PvE. Right now there are problems for players who want to focus on PvP, such as win streaks being ruined by monster battles. At the same time, there are players who want to enjoy PvE without the stress of facing other human players. We feel the best way to satisfy most players is to simply break up the two modes.

All skills & talents unlocked

To make PvP more fair, we've decided to unlock all skills and talents from the start of the game. All PvP players will now be on equal grounds with each other. Initially, we wanted skills to be unlocked gradually because we wanted the game to have a sense of progression. However, this has always made the PvP game slightly unfair because some players would have access skills that others didn't.

No more item bonuses

All item bonuses will be removed from the game. This was a VERY tough decision to make for us. We initially wanted items to have bonuses because we wanted the player to feel a sense of progression and we also wanted players to be able to make item "builds" for their characters. However, we came to the conclusion that Hero Forge is ultimately about strategy and skill and not about grinding and stats. We also feel that this change will bring about the following benefits:

• Players will be free to equip the items that make them look good, instead of being forced to use the items with the best stats. Right now, all the "end game" players look the same.
• The game will be less confusing for new players since the behaviour of your character won't change between PvE and PvP matches. You will always deal same amount of damage, collect the same amount of mana, etc.
• Players can jump between PvP and PvE modes with the same character without any balance issues. For example, if you developed your PvP character for awhile and then decided to jump into PvE, you won't be overpowered.

Consumables Revamp

Consumables will no longer be purchased through the equipment screen. Instead, consumables will be purchasable right before a PvE battle. This will make it more clear that consumables are only usable in PvE and will also encourage players to use them more often.

Treasure Chests

We are getting rid of crafting, which was a confusing system for many players. Furthermore, the process of obtaining new items was very linear and boring.

In place of crafting, we are introducing treasure chests, which will be the only way to obtain new items. You will use your in-game currency to open treasure chests and the item you get will be random. This will make the process less linear and will also provide more avenues for end game players to obtain items. We will also be adding a ton of new items to collect. Also, all items will now be categorized into three groups of rarity: common, rare, and legendary.

In addition, players will be able to salvage existing items for currency so they don't have to keep items that they don't want anymore.

1.0.3 Update Released

Patch Notes:
- New Hero Share feature
- Added sound that plays before puzzle begins

- Option to show Elo score in UI
- Bug fixes

 

Feature Concept: Raids

We often dream about big ideas that we hope to implement for Hero Forge one day.
One such idea is dungeon raids.

Here's a rough idea of how we think this could work:

You team up with 2-3 other players and fight through a series of monsters. Your health bar remains persistent between each monster battle so its up to you to heal yourself with potions or skills. Some skills would affect the entire party, such as Berserker Rage. After fighting through several waves of monsters you would fight a raid boss, which would require an enormous amount of damage to take down. The idea is that it would take a coordinated party to make it through an entire raid. Special rewards would be given to those that make it all the way through.

Whether or not an idea like this ever gets implemented depends on many factors including how well the game sustains/grows itself. With your ongoing support we hope we get the chance work on this one day.

Let us know what you think!

NOTE: The screenshot below is a mockup and does not represent a completed feature.

How the Leaderboards Work

The 1.0.2 Update brought with it a new leaderboard called Global Weekly which is based on a different ranking system than the older leaderboards (Global, Regional, G+ Friends, Live Event). I thought it would be a good time to explain how these things work.

Feedback and ideas are always welcome - Hero Forge is very much under active development and we want to nurture fun and competitive PvP!

The Older Leaderboards

The goal of the older leaderboards was to show the players who have won the most battles, with an emphasis on recent PvP. 

The winner of a PvP match is awarded a base score change of 1000 points, and the loser gets zero points.  Then up to 5000 bonus points will be given to the winner based on the difference between the global ranks - with the end result that winning against a much higher ranked player will give you up to 6000 points, and likewise losing against a much lower ranked player will lose you up to 5000 points.

The winner of a PvE match is always given 300 points.

In addition, every night the server will erase up to 10,000 points from days which are older than 2 weeks from each player.

The Global Weekly Leaderboard

The goal of the newest leaderboard is to provide an Elo-based ranking where skilled players can fight for position over a relatively short period of time.

Basically the difference between the older system and Elo is that Elo is designed to converge on a ranking without much 'inflation' of scores - so it doesn't matter as much how many matches are played in total.  In effect the winner of a match 'steals' points from the loser.

As the name implies - the weekly leaderboard will be reset once a week - so if you aren't doing so well now - there's always next week =)

Elo is the system used by chess and many other ranked games.  For those who like math - we use the normal Elo algorithm, with a K-factor of 131, and a starting value of 1500.

1.0.2 Update Released

This update contains a few new features and some skill balancing as well. Have a great weekend!

Patch Notes:
- Skill & Talent loadouts
- Weekly Elo leaderboards
- Revamped Focus and Amplify
- Tweaked Zeal damage
- Live Event improvements
- UI tweaks
- Bug fixes

Skill Changes:
- Zeal
    - Damage increased to 50 + 8% of your defence points.
- Focus
    - Now spawns 8 element cubes of the same type, where the type is randomly determined.
- Amplify
    - Changed to: Adds 30% extra damage to the next spell attack. The effect is stackable.

Leaderboard Improvements

As mentioned several times on the community, we plan to improve the leaderboard system over time. As the first step, we will be making a couple of changes in the next update.

1. Score Display

We will be changing the global leaderboard to show the actual score we use to calculate ranks. We figure it doesn't make much sense to show win ratios since the leaderboard is only partially based on it.

2. Weekly Leaderboard

A new leaderboard will be added and it will use an Elo rating system. In addition, rankings will be reset every week so everyone will have an equal chance at top rankings. This leaderboard will be ideal for players that wish to play more competitively since it doesn't give any direct advantage to players who play frequently.

Skill Loadouts are coming

The ability to customize your skill loadout before a battle is probably one of the most requested features on the community since the beta. We're finally implementing this feature and it'll be available in the next update. You will be be able to select which loadout to use right after you see your opponent's intro sequeunce, so you'll be able to design strategies against specific classes.

1.0.1 Update Released

This was largely a maintenance release. The only feature added was an inbox for friend match invites.

Patch Notes:
- Added inbox for Play Games matches
- Fixed auto-picking for Play Games matches
- Fixed UI streching bug when device unlocked in landscape orientation
- Fixed clipping of player names on health bars
- Fixed bug causing gold to be out of sync with server
- Additional bug fixes

Upcoming PvE monster

Weekly Battle Stats

We're going to start posting battle statistics on the G+ community on a weekly basis (or as frequently as we can). To start, we have some win ratios for classes. These statistics are collected from players that we categorize as "Skilled".

Hero Forge 1.0 IS HERE

Its finally here! Keep in mind that we're rolling the game out slowly to users so it may be hard to find live matches for a day or so.

Download on Google Play now!

Watch the official trailer

Minor Beta Update

Hey guys, we've just pushed out the 0.8.3b update. This just contains a bit of logic to help transition from the beta to 1.0.

We're Almost There!

We will be taking an additional week or two to polish the game as much as we can, so we're currently aiming to launch at the end of July. Thanks for your patience guys! In the meantime, check out this cool item set from the game:

New Monster types

Heres a sneakpeak at some new monster types

Beta Server fixes + Rematch Feature

The Hero Forge Beta Server was patched today with a few improvements:

• The long standing bug where your rank appears to drop following a win has been fixed.
• Players are no longer penalized with a loss for bailing on bot matches.  (Disconnecting from a live match will still be penalized)

As well, we've implemented the much requested Rematch feature - after an epic live match you can request a rematch by pressing a button on the end screen:

Hero Forge Wallpaper

Some wallpaper for desktops and mobile. Enjoy!

Introducing Activity Stream

In Hero Forge 1.0, the friend card bar at the top of the main Forge screen will be replaced with a new feature called Activity Stream. Activity Stream is a log of your G+ friends' recent activity in the game. For example, if your friend crafts a new item or achieves a new winning streak, it will be visible to you. The Activity Stream is displayed as a minimal rolling feed at the top of the Forge screen, but with the click of a button you can expand it into a full screen, scrollable view.

Items - Work In Progress

A decent sized sample of the gear we're working on.

Heres a free tiled texture of some chainmail we've been using. Feel free to use it yourselves fellow artists!

1.0 Launch Plans

We will be wrapping up the beta and launching the full 1.0 version of Hero Forge sometime mid-July. Here's what to expect:

Server Reset

Due to the many differences between the beta and the full version of the game,  the server will be reset for the 1.0 release. This means that all of your characters will be wiped and everyone will have a fresh start.

Key Differences

Here are the key differences between the beta and the 1.0 version of the game:

• Monsters & Bosses
• In the beta, most battles were PvP and there was the occasional Werewolf fight. In 1.0, on top of the PvP battles, there will also be a series of monsters and bosses to defeat.
• Items & Crafting
• In the beta, every item was available for crafting from the start. In 1.0, you will have a crafting level associated with your character and this level will determine which items you can craft. You can gain crafting levels by crafting more items. We added this feature because we wanted players to feel a sense of progression through the game with respect to items. There will also be a lot more items available in 1.0, including full body armor.
• Item Abilities, Enchants, and Potions
• In 1.0, monsters will be a lot tougher than a regular opponent. In order to defeat monsters, you will need to craft better items, enchant your items, and use potions during battle. Note that none of these three things will affect PvP battles and we did this on purpose to keep things fair and balanced for multiplayer.
• Levels & Skills
• In the beta, every skill and talent was available to you from the start. In 1.0, you will have to unlock your skills by levelling up your character. We did this to give players a sense of progression through the game. It should take several hours of gameplay to regain all your skills so it shouldn't be a big deal for veterans of the game that want to get everything back quickly.

Beta Reward

All players that participated in the beta that are signed into G+ will receive a small reward in the 1.0 version. We haven't decided what this will be yet, but it may be something like an achievement, some extra starting resources, or perhaps a custom item. It won't be huge, but we offer it as a token of our appreciation to you guys for helping us make the game better.

Feature Requests

Since we will be working hard to wrap up 1.0, we most likely won't be implementing any feature requests between now and then. However, we will certainly still be taking suggestions and writing them down for future updates. So keep the ideas coming!

0.8.2b Update Released

Patch Notes:
- Class Talents
- Achievements
- Live Event Trophies
- Updated Mage Artwork
- Bug fixes

Note:  There was a discussion a few days ago about whether or to make all talents available to all classes. We decided to keep talents as class specific because we want the classes to feel as unique as possible. Also, by making the talents available to all classes, it limits the kind of talents we can make because we'd have to consider every class for every talent.

Shield Items

Hi guys! Here's an update on some of the shield items we've been working on.  Still some possible texture adjustments to be made, but were happy how they turned out so far. 

Introducing Talents

In our next patch we are also introducing a new features called Talents. Talents are passive abilities that give you persistent bonuses during battles. Here are a preview of the initial talents going into the game:

EDIT: These talents are meant to be class specific, but we are currently discussing the idea of making them all available to any class.

Art of War

+20% damage on all attacks against your opponent's defence. (Paladin)

Zealot

+5% of your current defence points is added as damage to all attacks. (Paladin)

Ruthlessness

+5% chance of landing a critical hit on all attacks. (Berserker)

Weapon Master

+10% damage dealt on all attacks. (Berserker)

 Elementalist

 +10% mana received when matching a mana cube. (Mage)

Glass Cannon

+15% damage on all attacks and on all damage received. (Mage)