Just the fight
A new way to play, Red against Blue with round after round and no empire to build first. Why we built it on the same battles as the rest of the game.
Most of Eras is slow on purpose. You found a home, grow it, claim land, and a war comes after hours of it. Monday's playtest said something we half knew already: sometimes you just want the fight. So there's now a third way to play, called Battle. It's Red against Blue, one round after another, with no settlements and nothing to lose.
One battle, not two
The obvious way to build a quick mode is to write a separate little game. We didn't. Every Battle round is an ordinary battle, the same one a Chronicle war or a Skirmish ends in, with the same lives, flag, and supplies. The new mode only keeps rounds coming, kits everyone out, and skips the spoils and the losses. So whatever we improve in one fight, every fight gets.
Four kinds of round
You pick a side once, and from then on you choose what to play.
Flag battle has lives, supplies, and a flag, and the sides take turns attacking.
Team survival is four on four, one life each, first to three rounds.
Free-for-all has no teams: first to ten kills wins.
Survival gives everyone one life, and the last one standing wins.
Weight in the hands
Fighting all day showed up how weightless our weapons felt, so the same pass reworked them. Spears are held in both hands and thrust. Clubs swing with a wind-up. In third person, archers now draw for real: an arrow from the quiver, nocked, pulled back to the cheek, with the body side-on to the mark. And you hear the draw and the release, from other players too. The bow came down to one scheme: hold attack to draw, and let go to loose.
Melee still pokes more than it hits. Wind-ups, recoveries you can't cancel, and blows that knock you back are next, and a new animation library gives us clips for all three.