This week we have but a small collection of things to announce in case you've missed them, and also a few vague hints about future content. Though most of that knowledge will have to come some other time, particularly what we're gonna pack into Bloons Monkey City web "soon" (though it should be pretty soon even by non-game development standards).
SAS4 Web received an updated to introduce the arena versions of the maps Ice Station and Meltdown, revive tokens for NK players (previously only the Kongregate version used these) and the ability for you to rebind the keys used for different actions. There's also a bunch of bug fixes and changes so load up the game and check the full change-log and then try out the new features.
We've got a lot of new experiences coming along the tracks for SAS4 (mobile too!) and we're excited to see what you think of the new thingy things and thingys and even new whatsamacallits. What did you think I'd put the real words there?
Update 2.3 has rolled out with Everyplay recording! Everyplay lets you re-watch your games at the end of battles and then share them with your friends, us or even the entire known universe. You can change commentary options and others in the settings menu. On top of that we've put out some medieval decals with which you can decorate your bloons.
Grouped rainbow bloons have also had their price increased by 50%. This is to weaken the round 13 rainbow rushes that were causing battles to play out too similarly from game to game.
No update for BTD5 mobile just yet but both BTD mobile games have some pretty exciting stuff on the way. No news on whether these awesome new things will make their way to the web versions.
BTD5 web got a new track! MOAB Desert is a new Intermediate track set around a old, shredded MOAB-class bloon. We've also put the Daily Challenge vaults for December through February in there so there's a good handful of achievements slash AP waiting for you to collect.
Questions from the Comments:
spool dropped into the comments last week to answer a few questions so make sure you check that out here if your question isn't answered below: clicky
Will SAS4 Mobile be an exact replica of SAS4 Web?
Nope, definitely not. While they'll generally be pretty similar, different development pipe-lines, player base, controls etc. mean there will be differences.
What can be done about players leaving Nightmare matches?
At the moment the best thing (from the player's end) is to use Private Matches as much as possible. This post here outlines a good way to search for matches if you're having trouble putting private matches together and though it's possible for it not to work perfectly, it's the best option for now.
We're talking about changes to how matches are set up internally but with GDC on at the moment there isn't anything to announce either way.
Aaron, what are your jobs at Ninja Kiwi?
I design and code all the games as well as draw everything except for the Sentry thumbnail.
Aaron, when did you first think about joining NK?
When I saw the ad on a job ad site. It's not a very romantic story but at least I played the BTD games before I knew about the job.
How solid does an idea have to be to get implemented from the forums?
It's very rare for a whole idea to be used simply because we have our own stuff we want to do. Forum suggestions are very good at influencing our ideas though, and they don't really have to be that good. There isn't really any requirement as it all comes down to what we feel fits, what we're doing at the time etc.
Do any of you take work home?
Yes! Everyone except those lazy programmers and artists do a fair amount of work from home, both during the week and the weekend. We make sure to manage it so it's only a few hours a week overall though.
VIP stands for Very Important Person. What makes the VIP in the VIP mission so important?
That remains to be seen.
Any new games you doing that are coming out soon?
Nope.
Thanks guys. Ask questions below and I'll see you all next week.
Aaron
Aaron needs some serious balancing. He is ridiculously overpowered. Balance patch pls?
I got a question I CANT LOAD BTD5 here! pls help I rlly RLLY love the game and after the update it wont load for me now!!
Are weapons in SAS4 going to be released in large packs from now on, or will a few still get released individually from time to time?
How many bloons could a Dart Monkey pop if the darts had infinite bloon pierce?
Is there an ETA when the BMC MvM/Honor rework will be released? (see the blog post from 15 january)
Maybe losing 2 Black Boxes is a good thing because NK still won't buff Key drop chances.
Hey Aaron, Ya misspelled whatchamacallit. :p
How soon is soon? (FOR BMC)
@jkl best: Check the store. :) You can buy tokens in bulk for a lower cost there. Spool has mentioned that they may be offered as rewards later too. http://archive.ninjakiwi.com/Forum/showthread.php/23951
Please can you fix Bloonsworld soon? It redirects to the Ninja Kiwi page... Please?