Period: December 17, 2025 Total Commits: 6
Hey, here’s what we’ve been working on
Today we added a whole new onboarding flow that takes you through the tutorial + 3 levels before exploring the rest of the game. We added a local profile system, built the unlock selection flow (with a proper celebration screen), set up wave logic for a game mode, and dropped a new map into rotation. We also clarified sessions in the FAQ. It’s getting there—some rough edges, but it’s usable.
What’s New
Local player profiles
We now track your progression locally and keep it consistent across menus and modes in the client.
- Progress and unlocks persist locally with migration support if we adjust the schema later.
- Level badges now show a color tier from Novice to Master.
- Skip onboarding grants a starter kit: 5 towers, 5 minions, and level 3 so you can jump into matches quickly.
- The whole app reads from one profile source, so your unlocks and level appear where they should.
Unlock selection and celebration
We built the full set of UI to pick and celebrate new towers/minions.
- Unlock Selection Modal with stats, hover highlighting, and context-aware titles depending on where you earned it (tutorial, level-up, or post-game).
- Unlock Celebration overlay with canvas-based particle effects and a clean unit reveal so your new tool stands out.
- Onboarding Progress component that shows where you are in the 8-step flow, including a compact in-match version and a skip button.
[screenshot: unlock selection modal with stats and hover highlights at 3cde1a7]
[screenshot: full-screen unlock celebration with particle effects at 3cde1a7]
Game mode waves
We set up wave logic for a game mode so pacing is more consistent. The focus here was establishing reliable sequencing and timings so both sides know what they’re reacting to. This should reduce odd spikes and make counter-picks more meaningful.
[screenshot: waves spawning and lane pressure building at 6b2001c]
New map: Fair Hunters
There’s a new map in the pool called Fair Hunters. The layout aims for clean pathing and readable choke points to make tower placement tradeoffs obvious. Good for testing lane control strategies without weird geometry getting in the way.
[screenshot: Fair Hunters map overview with lane paths at a596063]
What Got Fixed
- No big bug sweeps today. While wiring up the new UI, we tightened a few things:
- Hover states in the unlock modal behave more reliably across resolutions
- Progress indicator updates correctly when skipping steps
- Minor layout polish to avoid text clipping on dense stats
If you spot UI jitter or odd state after unlocking, send details and a screenshot. We’re watching for those.
Under the Hood
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Profile plumbing
- Centralized ProfileManager with local storage and schema migration
- React context + hook for consistent state access throughout the app
- Unlock categorization helpers for starter vs standard pools
- Minion cost tiers (cheap/mid/expensive) to make roster scanning faster
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Visual systems
- The celebration overlay uses canvas-based particles and glow effects. It looks good without being too heavy, but we’re keeping an eye on frame times on lower-end hardware.
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Documentation
- We wrote up a streamlined onboarding plan and a task checklist. This keeps us honest about the flow we’re actually building and makes it easier to track progress.
Notes for competitive play
- The starter roster and cost tiers should make early PvP picks clearer and reduce “analysis paralysis.”
- Wave sequencing work aims to standardize pressure windows so counter-timing feels fair on both sides.
- The new map’s simpler lanes should help compare tower synergies without terrain noise.
Thanks for the reports and replays. If you test the new onboarding flow, we’d love feedback on the unlock screens (performance, clarity) and whether the wave pacing feels predictable in live matches.