Daily Dev Update: Co-op Starts, Smarter Bots, and Fairer Lanes - November 11, 2025

Period: November 11, 2025
Total Commits: 27

Hey — here’s what we’ve been working on. Short version: multiplayer map choice is now a proper first-class flow, co-op lobbies can start with one team like they should, bots got smarter with real config data and better pathing, towers won’t snipe minions in spawn zones, and a bunch of under-the-hood fixes make maps and assets more consistent.

What’s New

• Multiplayer map selection in lobbies

  • You can now choose a specific multiplayer map or go Random. The selection syncs across the lobby so everyone sees the same thing.
  • We’ve added multiplayer metadata (like max players and teams) to maps and updated samples to match.
  • Practical result: less confusion, faster starts, better control of the match you want.

• Co-op starts work like co-op

  • Matches on co-op maps can start with all players on one team. No more forcing an empty team just to pass validation.
  • The wave countdown also respects this: it starts once all players have picked units, regardless of team distribution.

• Fairer early game around spawns

  • Towers no longer target minions inside spawn areas. This closes a cheesy edge case where minions got clipped before entering the lanes.
  • Works across all tower targeting methods (nearest, AOE, directional).

• Laser-beam lane logic for bots

  • Bots now evaluate laser-beam towers in the four cardinal directions and score the best lane at each placement.
  • This reduces wasted beams and improves lane control decisions.

• Longer sessions when you want them

  • Max game duration increased from 60 to 120 minutes. Good for co-op or endurance-style matches.

• Faster impact on volcano lanes

  • Increased the travel speed of volcano fireballs and boulders to make them feel more responsive in live lanes.

What Got Fixed

• Bots pick units correctly on random/procedural maps

  • They now respect each map’s unlock list for towers and minions, and they select the intended number of picks.
  • Also fixed a spawn-area lookup bug that could block games with multiple spawns.

• Bots upgrade fully, not just to old hard caps

  • Upgrades now use the real max level from configs. Expect bots to push towers and spawns to level 5 when they can.

• Goldflow and pathing across multiple spawn areas

  • Fixed handling for maps with several spawn zones so the flow field accounts for all spawns at once.
  • This avoids “no path” failures and improves the accuracy of traffic-based scoring.
  • Goldflow now also counts minion upgrade costs (not just base cost), so path value reflects what’s actually invested.

• Co-op match start and countdown logic

  • Server and client both accept one-team starts on co-op maps.
  • The UI no longer hangs on “waiting for all players” once everyone has picked.

• Lobby bot controls

  • Team and playstyle changes update immediately via the client-side bot system. No dead calls to the old bot service.

• Ownership highlights stick around

  • Green ownership squares no longer vanish when the grid refreshes. They persist per board and render correctly.

• Maps load from the right place

  • Server and lobby both use consistent paths, so co-op detection works and map loading doesn’t fail silently.

Under the Hood

• Shared configs across client and server

  • Minion configs, types, and utilities moved to a shared location. This lets the server populate unlock menus properly and keeps gameplay data consistent.
  • Client imports were updated to re-export without breaking existing code.

• Map schema unified

  • All maps (custom and procedural) use the same schema. Procedural maps now include the full metadata the systems expect.

• Explicit map definitions

  • We removed hidden defaults for spawn areas. Maps must define spawn zones and dimensions explicitly. It’s clearer, and errors surface early instead of mid-match.

• Editor asset and build cleanup

  • The level editor now loads assets in dev without duplicating them in production builds. Imports were aligned with the shared config so editor builds succeed cleanly.

• Docs and diagnostics

  • Added documentation for the map selection system and GoldFlowManager. Also added targeted logging around map loading and co-op detection to help track edge cases.

Player Impact Summary

• PvP/Co-op flow: Faster, less brittle lobby setup; co-op matches start cleanly with one team.
• Fairness: No pre-lane sniping of minions; clearer spawn behavior.
• Bots: Smarter unit selection, better lane evaluation for laser-beam towers, full upgrade paths to level 5.
• Stability: Fewer pathing failures on multi-spawn maps; UI elements like ownership highlights behave.

Thanks to everyone sending bug reports and sharing odd edge cases. If you notice towers behaving weirdly around spawn lines or bots doing something obviously off in co-op lanes, keep the notes coming — it helps a lot.