Monthly Archives: June 2016

Following on from ‘The Baths‘ the next new smaller survival map heading to Orcs Must Die! Unchained is the ‘Throne Room’. As revealed on last weeks Insider Access the Throne Room is home to one famous Orc in particular.. closed beta OMDU players may remember a playable hero Orc ‘Ball and Chain‘ who looks set to make a return next patch with her own survival map. It will be interesting to see what new things lay in wait  following her hero re-work. Fans should be sure to tune into this weeks Insider Access where details could well be revealed!

Ball and Chain is set to make a return to OMDU soon.

Her map not only features a throne room but also features a rather large swinging mace that can be triggered by both ranged and melee heroes by hitting a switch. When pressed the huge ball comes flying across the bridge, decimating any minions in its path.

You can see more of the map including insider details from Paul Slusser about the art and its design speaking alongside Justin “SixOkay” Korthof on last weeks Insider Access shown below.

In case you missed out on last weeks Insider Access, it has recently been revealed that the next survival map destined for OMDU will be a welcome return of an old favourite – “The Baths” from the original Orcs Must Die! This was an early level from act 1 and the level is split in two. It was the level where the famous Wind Belt was introduced.

The level is now making a return in Orcs Must Die! Unchained as a smaller survival map aiming to bring back the feel of some of those smaller OMD maps from previous titles. The Baths has been given a visual overhaul for Unchained. Nananea has produced a 360 degree video so that you can explore how the level now looks in the spruced up new engine. Check it out below:

And for more details on the the level including the reasons for bringing it back, check out the Insider Access with artist Paul Slusser below for the inside info. The Baths is one of a number of new Survival maps coming to Unchained which will pay homage to the smaller style maps from earlier games. There are plenty of survival maps in the works to fill up the survival level list from levels 0-100. The goal is to have as many diverse levels in their as possible, both big and small.

What about Siege maps?

Players who are craving more Siege maps should not fear, there are siege maps in the works. In order to accommodate the 5v5 players these maps have to be larger and take closely into account game balance and neutral objectives, understandbly these maps take longer to create as a result. Rest assured there are bots in the studio working on Siege maps and content to be on the lookout for news on these soon.

Ian Fischer, Design Director at Robot, or as you may better know him as “Mother” has taken part in another Reddit AMA to answer fans burning questions! From Orcs Must Die! to the gaming industry there were plenty of questions asked and some very detailed answers in response. A couple of highlights:

dkah41 asked:

Love the franchise, having a ton of fun. Survival seems a ways behind Siege in terms of development, and the ‘account level’ focus for maps seems flawed as players end up passing over a lot of early content with no reason to go back (rewards/challenge aren’t there). Any plans for the following?

• “achievement system” a la OMD2 (5-skull rating on a map)
• “scaling down” so a L300 account can play a L30 map without blowing everything away

Ian responds:

MikeLemmer on the Steam Forums has put together an outstandingly detailed guide on how to play defensively with Smolder. If you play with Smolder alot on either Survival or PvP or are thinking about playing some more with Smolder, this is THE guide you need to read.

The guide goes into considerable details about Smolder, her abilities and weaver upgrades and when and what might be best to choose. The guide also discusses Smolder’s unique trap, the Naptha Sprayer and also some details about other fire traps like Brimstone – making note that Brimstone fire damage does NOT stack.

Playing Smolder

Smolder is “a melee character with a ranged attacker’s health”. Although she has ranged fireballs, her most damaging abilities all require her to get into the thick of things. To play her well, learn when to charge in and when to get out.

Read the full guide

You can read MikeLemmer’s full guide on how to play Smolder defensively over on the Steam forums via the link below. This really is a fantastic guide – be sure to check it out!

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=663286697

The artists at Robot Entertainment have done great work with Orcs Must Die! Unchained. Utilising the Unreal engine, OMDU is the best looking OMD game yet. With so much going on in fierce battles however you can sometimes miss out on some of the excellent environmental art in the game.

Vaelkryeen from the OMDU EU community has taken the time to take screenshots of the level environmental design in OMDU so that we can take time to marvel at all the excellent work the bots at Robot’s art department have been doing. The screenshots look fantastic. A testament to the skill and artistic flair at Robot and also the keen eye of Vaelkryeen!

A selection of his images can be found below. For full high-res and additional images check out Vaelkryeen’s post on the EU forums on the link below. They make for great background images too!

http://board.omd.gameforge.com/index.php/Thread/3905-Hi-Res-In-Game-Screencaptures-by-Vaelkryeen/?

Screenshots

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