After a brief break, we’re back with a Hash Rush progress update, letting you all know exactly what we have been working on. You’ll also be happy to know that after this week, we’ll be back to our bi-weekly schedule for these news blasts!
So, without further ado, let’s begin!
Hash Rush Art Team
For this first segment, we’re going to be looking at what the Hash Rush art team have been doing — and they have been busy!
As you know, the Ernacks are just the first playable race in the game, with the Highborn Elves of Eldaria and the Marauders coming up soon, and lately, the Marauders have been getting a lot of attention.
Here are some samples of what the art team have been creating for the Marauders so far.
Just like you, we can’t wait to see how our developers over at Tractor Set Go implement these designs into the game!
Tales from Development
Now to the really juicy news, what have the developers been doing?
In our last update, we finally added in the second phase of resistance. This phase sees the Crystal Scourge finally get an AI and begin to launch attacks against your base. Unfortunately, as Rob documented in our last Dev Blog there were some unforeseen hiccups that forced us to drop some key features — however, you’ll be pleased to know that these features, and a lot more, are being worked on.
Polishing the Phases of Resistance
One of the biggest features that we had to drop from the last update was just how the phases of resistance triggered. By now, you might have noticed that the second phase of resistance starts when you build your second hut, and yes that was a very quick and temporary solution. What we always intended was for the game to quantify your progress (based on buildings built and units trained) and then give you a dynamic score. Once your score reaches a certain threshold, the phases of resistance starts, or if you dip below the threshold, it would stop again.
The good news here? Our developers have been working hard to get this system and we’ve been testing it in our internal dev version — and it is looking good!
Phases of Resistance 3 and 4
With the second phase of resistance added to the game, and our score based progression system ready, we began to work on phases 3 and 4.
Phase three was simple, instead of a single attacks, the player now faces waves of attackers. We’ve recorded it in action, and as you can see, it will provide the player with a good challenge. Strategically placed Guard Towers are hugely recommended for this phase!
Phase four is much more complicated, but a lot more fun! With it comes new dungeons, new mechanics to defend yourself with, and new enemies.
What are these new defensive mechanics? Well, as they say, a good offense is a good defense. With the start of phase 4, the player will be able to neutralize the Crystal Outposts that trigger the waves of enemy units that attack you. This is a tactic that we highly recommend that you use.
The player will need to explore their planet and find the various (there are more than one) Crystal Outposts. Once they have found them, they will then have to defeat the monsters that defend it, construct some light poles to disable the Outpost, and then gather an army and enter it.
The Crystal Outpost is a deep underground maze, firmly under the control of the Crystal Scourge. You will have to explore this labyrinth and make your way to, and defeat, the dungeon boss — the Crystal Fiend.
Check out this tour of the Crystal Outpost, it will give you an idea of what sort of a maze you will need to fight your way through.
A few words about the final boss. We call it the Crystal Fiend, and they are the game’s mini-bosses. They will be tough to beat, however even they will be eclipsed by the final boss, the Crystal Titan.
Once you defeat this monster, the Crystal Outpost will be neutralized, and will no longer spawn monsters to attack your base. However, the base will remain neutralized only as long as it is lit up. Should your light poles ever get destroyed, the Crystal Scourge will reclaim the outpost and reactivate it. You’ll then have to clear it out all over again!
