Change Log
Changes since v5.0.5:

• Improved the sharpness of the canvas, which had gotten too blurry in 5.0.4 in some cases
  
• Added a “reset to default” button for Image->Resize’s Resampling option
  
• Fixed a rendering artifact on the canvas where sometimes the transparency checkerboard would be visible at the bottom pixel of an image when it shouldn’t be
  
• Fixed a glitch with the canvas zoom slider where it would draw the tracking thumb at the wrong position when the zoom level was at 10,000%
  
• Fixed a rare hang that could happen when opening an image

This update is a hotfix for 5.0.4 that fixes loading images that have multiple frames (GIF or TIFF).

These are the release notes for 5.0.4:

This update includes another revamp of Image->Resize’s resampling modes, gamma correction for key parts of the app, higher quality canvas rendering, and a host of other miscellaneous fixes and improvements. In addition, GPU-based effect plugins now default to rendering in linear gamma space (existing plugins are not affected, however!) and have better access to color management information.

Gamma correction is important for maintaining luminance (brightness, basically) when an image is being processed or rendered. Sometimes this effect is subtle, but in some cases it can be quite pronounced. 

First up, in Image->Resize the resampling mode has been moved to the bottom into an Options section, along with a new “Use gamma correction” checkbox that defaults to enabled:



The Move Selected Pixels tool has also been upgraded to support this for all resampling modes (although it’s not applicable to Nearest Neighbor), and there is a new Gamma mode choice in the toolbar if you’d rather not use it for whatever reason:



Speaking of which, there is a good test image for this over at https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/122409-feature-request-gamma-corrected-image-resizing/ . I’ll be using the “128 / 187” image for the next two screenshots.

Next up, all in-app thumbnails and the canvas itself are now using gamma correction. This ensures that luminance (aka brightness) is correctly maintained when you’re zooming out on the image (and thumbnails are basically little zoom-outs of the image). Previously, the reduced size image would get darker in ways that we’ve all just kind of gotten used to over the years (but which is wrong ).

Without gamma correction, it looks like this in v5.0.3:



With gamma correction in v5.0.4, it looks correct:



This required a bunch of changes to how the canvas renders itself, so while I was in that code I also bumped up the quality of its rendering. When zooming in to an image, a type of antialiasing is now applied so that the pixelation effect appears more uniform. And when zooming out, multisampling is used to make the image looking smoother. There are a lot less aliasing artifacts.

It’s hard to show these effects in your browser because things will likely get resized and distorted, but I’ll try. On the left is the original, a cloud bubble drawn into a 128×128 pixel space. Antialiasing was disabled and the brush size was set to 1. The next two images are zoomed at 267%, in v5.0.3 and then in v5.0.4. Notice how the pixelation effect is much more uniform in 5.0.4, eliminating the distortions you see in 5.0.3.



If you’d like to read more about gamma correction and rendering in linear gamma space, here are some resources:

• Gamma error in picture scaling, by Eric Brasseur http://www.ericbrasseur.org/gamma.html
  
• GPU Gems 3 Chapter 24, The Importance of Being Linear https://developer.nvidia.com/gpugems/gpugems3/part-iv-image-effects/chapter-24-importance-being-linear
  
• Understanding Gamma Correction, Cambridge in Colour https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/gamma-correction.htm
  
• Gamma correction, Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma_correction
  
• John Carmack (of id Software, DOOM, and Quake fame) recently tweeted about how incorrect gamma correction negatively affected the 4K UHD release of The Martian: https://twitter.com/ID_AA_Carmack/status/1654528504724062217

Get the Update
There are two releases of Paint.NET:

• Microsoft Store release (recommended)
  
  
  • You can purchase it here. This helps fund development and is an alternative or supplement to sending in a donation.
    
  • If you already have it installed, the update should happen automatically once Microsoft certifies the update, usually within the next day. To get the update immediately (once it’s certified), you can follow the instructions listed here.
  
  
• Classic Desktop release
  
  
  • Download the installer from the website. This is the recommended download if you don’t have Paint.NET installed. It can also be used to update the app.
    
  • If you already have it installed, you should be offered the update automatically within the next week or so, but you can also get it immediately by going to Settings -> Updates -> Check Now.
    
  • Offline Installers and Portable ZIPs are available over on GitHub.

Change Log
Changes since v5.0.4:

• Fixed a bug that prevented loading images that have multiple frames (GIF, TIFF) (only the first frame is loaded)

Changes since v5.0.3:

• Improved: Image->Resize has been updated
  
  
  • The default resampling mode is now Bicubic, which has been updated to use the Catmull-Rom (“Catrom”) cubic filter. This matches the Bicubic mode of the Move Selected Pixels tool (which uses Direct2D’s “HighQualityCubic” mode).
    
  • Added a new resampling mode, “Bicubic (Smooth)”, which has no sharpening. It produces subjectively blurrier results, but is important for scenarios where you need to completely avoid the (usually) subtle ringing artifacts that other modes (Bicubic, Lanczos, and Adaptive) can introduce due to their added sharpness.
    
  • “Adaptive (Best Quality)” has been renamed to “Adaptive (Sharp)” and is no longer the default resampling mode. It is still a very good choice when resizing photos, but whether you use Adaptive, Bicubic, or Lanczos is up to your own personal preference.
    
  • A new option has been added, “Use gamma correction”, which is enabled by default.
    
  • The text box for typing in a percentage now accepts two digits past the decimal point, e.g. 35.79%
  
  
• Improved: Move Selected Pixels (free transform) has been updated
  
  
  • New: Added a “Multisample Bilinear” sampling mode. This has a sharper look than Anisotropic and avoids the “ringing” artifacts that can be apparent when using Bicubic with high-contrast images (like screenshots). However, it doesn’t usually work as well when reducing a selected area to a much smaller size.
    
  • New: Added a “Gamma mode” button in the toolbar to toggle gamma correction on and off. The default is on, which improves the quality of rendering by preserving luminance (brightness).
    
  • Fixed a bug when using Bicubic sampling that would result in added sharpening when resizing the selected area to 1/8th its original size or smaller
  
  
• Improved: The rendering quality of the canvas area has been greatly improved
  
  
  • Gamma correction is now used for mipmap generation and compositing, ensuring consistent luminance (brightness) and higher quality antialiasing.
    
  • Multisampling is now used for antialiasing, which eliminates pixelation distortions when zooming in, and greatly reduces aliasing artifacts when zooming out.
  
  
• Improved: Thumbnails within the app now use gamma correction, which ensures consistent luminance (brightness)
  
• New: GPU effects and plugins now support gamma correction, with linear gamma being the default rendering mode for new plugins.
  
  
  • This can be changed by overriding OnInitializeRenderInfo() and setting the renderInfo.GpuEffectColorContext property to GpuEffectColorContext.WorkingSpace (the default is WorkingSpaceLinear)
    
  • GPU effect plugins have better access to color management information via the IGpuEffectImage interface and its ColorContext property. All input images (e.g. Environment.SourceImage) are now provided via this interface.
    
  • In addition to the built-in effects that already render with gamma correction, the following built-in effects now also render with gamma correction:
    
    
    • Adjustments -> Exposure
      
    • Blurs -> Fragment
      
    • Blurs -> Motion Blur
      
    • Blurs -> Radial Blur
      
    • Blurs -> Zoom Blur
      
    • Distort -> Bulge
      
    • Distort -> Crystalize
      
    • Distort -> Dents
      
    • Distort -> Frosted Glass
      
    • Distort -> Pixelate
      
    • Distort -> Polar Inversion
      
    • Distort -> Tile Reflection
      
    • Distort -> Twist
      
    • Layers -> Rotate/Zoom
      
    • Object -> Drop Shadow
      
    • Photo -> Straighten
      
    • Render -> Julia Fractal
      
    • Render -> Mandelbrot Fractal
  
  
• Fixed: Ctrl+G has been reinstated as the shortcut key for Image -> Rotate 90° Counter-Clockwise
  
• Fixed a rendering glitch in Effects -> Distort -> Dents that would sometimes result in rows or columns of incorrectly colored pixels
  
• Fixed: Some systems were having problems with Paint.NET not appearing in the “Open With” list in Windows File Explorer. This should now be fixed.
  
• Fixed: When installing an update, the desktop shortcut is no longer recreated. This means you can delete it without it reappearing after every update. This was a bug accidentally reintroduced back in Paint.NET v4.3.
  
• Increased the maximum zoom range from 1.5625% (1/64) -> 6,400% to 1% -> 10,000%
  
• Improved the reliability of the wrapper classes for Windows COM libraries (Direct2D, etc.)
  
• Improved the /ignoreCorruptPDNChunks command-line parameter to allow an additional type of corrupt PDN image to be partially recovered (thanks @null54!)
  
• Updated the bundled DDSFileTypePlus plugin to version 1.11.8.0, which adds gamma correction for mipmap generation (thanks @null54!)
  
• Updated the bundled AvifFileType plugin to version 1.1.25.0, which now uses a checkbox to enable lossless compression (thanks @null54!)
  
• Updated the bundled WebPFileType plugin to version 1.3.17.0, which reduces some confusion when using lossless compression (thanks @null54!)

?

Notepad++ v8.5.3 bug-fixes and new features:

• Fix session file data loss issue.
  
• Fix Explorer context menu “Edit with Notepad++” needs restarting os to appear issue under Win 8/10.
  
• Fix Explorer context menu “Edit with Notepad++” not installed for multiple users issue.
  
• Fix Explorer context menu “Edit with Notepad++” double entries in some applications (Winzip).
  
• Make Explorer context menu “Edit with Notepad++” translatable.
  
• Add the UTF8 character ability for Run & Macro menu.
  
• Add hide/show ability of Control Characters (C0 & C1) and Unicode EOL.
  
• Fix Change history margin in the black color issue.
  
• Improve “Remove consecutive duplicate lines” command performance.
  
• Project Workspace “Save a Copy As” confusion issue.
  
• Make “Remove consecutive duplicate lines” support more line breaks.
  
• Fix the UDL deletion issue.
  
• Fix RTL not working on FindInFiles progress window.
  
• Fix search results output alignment for large file searches.
  
• Several GUI Enhancements.

Note that your Macro and Run commands saved in Notepad++ v.8.5.2 (or older) may not be compatible with the current version of Notepad++. Please test those commands and, if needed, re-edit them.
Alternatively, you can downgrade to Notepad++ v8.5.2 and restore your previous data. Notepad++ will back up your old “shortcuts.xml” and save it as “shortcuts.xml.v8.5.2.backup”.
Renaming “shortcuts.xml.v8.5.2.backup" -> “shortcuts.xml”, your commands should be restored and work properly.

2023/05/14 ------------------ NOTES v2.19 ----------------------

--- Balance / Mechanics

• Fixed an issue with SPHERE "Magnetar" having to be very close to the target to trigger the blast.

--- UI / Visual / Sounds

• Comsat Stations now default to "Hold Fire" and the firing sound is no longer audible across the map

2023/05/14 ------------------ NOTES v2.18 ----------------------

--- Balance / Mechanics

• Increased cost of AVEN, CLAW, and SPHERE heavy bombers (the bomb was wrongly rated as having angle restriction despite not having it)
  
• AVEN "Talon" has better bombs with higher dmg/s and 360º firing ability but is slightly more expensive
  
• Set significant energy cost to fire GEAR "Tremor"'s weapon and slightly reduced cost (missed the last update)
  (it also gets a unique firing sound)
  
• AVEN "HEMG" Trooper is slightly slower but can now fortify itself to gain 50% damage resistance but become immobile
  
• CLAW energy ring launcher weapon type modified to cannon ("Gyro" in particular gets faster projectile and slightly higher cost)
  
• Turn rate for most relatively agile robots increased by up to about 50%
  (it's partly in base stats and partly on a post-processing script, but it still has a tiny effect on cost, <2%)
  
• Immobilized units no longer get pushed around by explosions

--- UI / Visual / Sounds

• Fly state defaults to "Fly" instead of "Land" for all air units

This build includes an update of Image->Resize’s resampling modes, gamma correction for key parts of the app, higher quality canvas rendering, and a host of other miscellaneous fixes and improvements. In addition, GPU-based effect plugins now default to rendering in linear gamma space (existing plugins are not affected, however!) and have better access to color management information.

Gamma correction is important for maintaining luminance (brightness, basically) when an image is being processed or rendered. Sometimes this effect is subtle, but in some cases it can be quite pronounced.

First up, in Image->Resize the resampling mode has been moved to the bottom into an Options section, along with a new “Use gamma correction” checkbox that defaults to enabled:



The Move Selected Pixels tool has also been upgraded to support this for all resampling modes (although it’s not applicable to Nearest Neighbor), and there is a new Gamma mode choice in the toolbar if you’d rather not use it for whatever reason:



Speaking of which, there is a good test image for this over at https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/122409-feature-request-gamma-corrected-image-resizing/ . I’ll be using the “128 / 187” image for the next two screenshots.

Next up, all in-app thumbnails and the canvas itself are now using gamma correction. This ensures that luminance (aka brightness) is correctly maintained when you’re zooming out on the image (and thumbnails are basically little zoom-outs of the image).

Without gamma correction, it looks like this in v5.0.3:



With gamma correction in v5.0.4, it looks correct:



Since this required a bunch of updates to how the canvas renders itself, I also bumped up the quality of its rendering. When zooming in to an image, a type of antialiasing is now applied so that the pixelation effect appears more uniform. And when zooming out, multisampling is used to make the image looking smoother. There are a lot less aliasing artifacts.

It’s hard to show these effects in your browser because things will likely get resized and distorted, but I’ll try. On the left is the original, a cloud bubble drawn into a 128×128 pixel space. Antialiasing was disabled and the brush size was set to 1. The next two images are zoomed at 267%, in v5.0.3 and then in v5.0.4. Notice how the pixelation effect is much more uniform in 5.0.4, eliminating the distortions you see in 5.0.3.





If you’d like to read more about gamma correction and rendering in linear gamma space, here are some resources:

• Gamma error in picture scaling, by Eric Brasseur http://www.ericbrasseur.org/gamma.html
  
• GPU Gems 3 Chapter 24, The Importance of Being Linear https://developer.nvidia.com/gpugems/gpugems3/part-iv-image-effects/chapter-24-importance-being-linear
  
• Understanding Gamma Correction, Cambridge in Colour https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/gamma-correction.htm
  
• Gamma correction, Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma_correction
  
• John Carmack (of id Software, DOOM, and Quake fame) recently tweeted about how incorrect gamma correction negatively affected the 4K UHD release of The Martian: https://twitter.com/ID_AA_Carmack/status/1654528504724062217

?????

This build is available via the built-in updater as long as you have opted-in to pre-release updates. From within Settings -> Updates, enable “Also check for pre-release (beta) versions of paint.net” and then click on the Check Now button. You can also use the links below to download an offline installer or portable ZIP.



You can also download the installer here (for any supported CPU and OS). Offline installers, portable ZIPs, and deployable MSIs are available over on GitHub.

Changes since v5.0.3:

• Improved: Image->Resize has been updated
  
  
  • The default resampling mode is now Bicubic, which has been updated to use the Catmull-Rom (“Catrom”) cubic filter. This matches the Bicubic mode of the Move Selected Pixels tool (which uses Direct2D’s “HighQualityCubic” mode).
    
  • Added a new resampling mode, “Bicubic (Smooth)”, which has no sharpening. It may produces blurrier results, but is important for some scenarios if you need to completely avoid ringing artifacts that other modes (Bicubic, Lanczos, and Adaptive) can introduce due to their added sharpness.
    
  • “Adaptive (Best Quality)” has been renamed to “Adaptive (Sharp)” and is no longer the default resampling mode. It is still a very good choice when resizing photos, but whether you use Adaptive, Bicubic, or Lanczos is up to your own personal preference.
    
  • A new option has been added, “Use gamma correction”, which is enabled by default.
    
  • The text box for typing in a percentage now accepts two digits past the decimal point, e.g. 35.79%
  
  
• Improved: Move Selected Pixels (free transform) has been updated
  
  
  • New: Added a “Multisample Bilinear” sampling mode. This has a sharper look than Anisotropic and avoids the “ringing” artifacts that can be apparent when using Bicubic with high-contrast images (like screenshots). However, it doesn’t usually work as well when reducing a selected area to a much smaller size.
    
  • New: Added a “Gamma mode” button in the toolbar to toggle gamma correction on and off. The default is on, which improves the quality of rendering by preserving luminance (brightness).
    
  • Fixed a bug when using Bicubic sampling that would result in added sharpening when resizing the selected area to 1/8th its original size or smaller
  
  
• Improved: The rendering quality of the canvas area has been greatly improved
  
  
  • Gamma correction is now used for mipmap generation and compositing, ensuring consistent luminance (brightness) and higher quality antialiasing.
    
  • Multisampling is now used for antialiasing, which eliminates pixelation distortions when zooming in, and greatly reduces aliasing artifacts when zooming out.
  
  
• Improved: Thumbnails within the app now use gamma correction, which ensures consistent luminance (brightness)
  
• New: GPU effects and plugins now support gamma correction, with linear gamma being the default rendering mode for new plugins.
  
  
  • This can be changed by overriding OnInitializeRenderInfo() and setting the renderInfo.GpuEffectColorContext property to GpuEffectColorContext.WorkingSpace (the default is WorkingSpaceLinear)
    
  • GPU effect plugins have better access to color management information via the IGpuEffectImage interface and its ColorContext property. All input images (e.g. Environment.SourceImage) are now provided via this interface.
    
  • In addition to the built-in effects that already render with gamma correction, the following built-in effects now also render with linear gamma and/or gamma correction:
    
    
    • Adjustments -> Exposure
      
    • Blurs -> Fragment
      
    • Blurs -> Motion Blur
      
    • Blurs -> Radial Blur
      
    • Blurs -> Zoom Blur
      
    • Distort -> Bulge
      
    • Distort -> Crystalize
      
    • Distort -> Dents
      
    • Distort -> Frosted Glass
      
    • Distort -> Pixelate
      
    • Distort -> Polar Inversion
      
    • Distort -> Tile Reflection
      
    • Distort -> Twist
      
    • Layers -> Rotate/Zoom
      
    • Object -> Drop Shadow
      
    • Photo -> Straighten
      
    • Render -> Julia Fractal
      
    • Render -> Mandelbrot Fractal
  
  
• Fixed: Ctrl+G has been reinstated as the shortcut key for Image -> Rotate 90° Counter-Clockwise
  
• Fixed a rendering glitch in Effects -> Distort -> Dents that would sometimes result in rows or columns of incorrectly colored pixels
  
• Fixed: Some systems were having problems with Paint.NET not appearing in the “Open With” list in Windows File Explorer. This should now be fixed.
  
• Fixed: When installing an update, the desktop shortcut is no longer recreated. This means you can delete it without it reappearing after every update. This was a bug accidentally reintroduced back in Paint.NET v4.3.
  
• Improved: Increased the maximum zoom range from 1.5625% (1/64) -> 6,400% to 1% -> 10,000%
  
• Improved the reliability of the wrapper classes for Windows COM libraries (Direct2D, etc.)
  
• Improved the /ignoreCorruptPDNChunks to allow an additional type of corrupt PDN image to be partially recovered (thanks @null54!)
  
• Updated the bundled DDSFileTypePlus plugin to v1.11.8.0, which adds gamma correction for mipmap generation (thanks @null54!)
  
• Updated the bundled WebPFileType to version v1.3.17.0, which reduces some confusion when using lossless compression (thanks @null54!)

2023/05/10 ------------------ NOTES v2.16 ----------------------

--- Balance / Mechanics

• GEAR "Tremor" now uses an energized plasma cannon with significantly higher AOE and slightly higher dmg/s and is 14% more expensive

--- UI / Visual / Sounds

• Compatibility fix for the 17xx and later builds of the game engine

2023/05/01 ------------------ NOTES v2.15 ----------------------

• Modified the message console widget to avoid crashing with AMD GPUs

2023/04/25 ------------------ NOTES v2.14 ----------------------

--- Balance / Mechanics

• Fixed issue with GEAR "Luminator" heatrays not targetting air units
  
• Fixed aiming conflicts which could cause AVEN "Tribune" to not fire at significantly higher or lower targets
  
• Increased CLAW "Fury" collision volume
  
• Reduced the blast radius and damage for covert ops centers

• Feature: [#18713] Block brakes have speed control and brakes slower than adjacent block brakes copy block brake speed when block brake open.
  
• Feature: [#19276] Add Powered Lifthill to Giga Coaster.
  
• Feature: [#19305] Add new Reversed Trains ride setting to run trains backwards, granting a bonus to ride ratings.
  
• Feature: [#19305] [Plugin] Add “Car.isReversed” to allow individual ride vehicles to run backwards.
  
• Feature: [#19446] Add new color options to color dropdown.
  
• Feature: [#19547] Add large sloped turns to hybrid coaster and single rail coaster.
  
• Feature: [#19930] Add plugin APIs for research.
  
• Feature: [OpenMusic#25] Added Prehistoric ride music style.
  
• Feature: [OpenMusic#26] Fairground Organ style 2 with new recordings from Herman's 35er Voigt (Previously known as Bressingham Voigt).
  
• Feature: [OpenMusic#28] Add Ragtime style 2 ride music.
  
• Improved: [#17739] Raise water and land height limits to 254 units/182m/600ft.
  
• Improved: [#18490] Reduce guests walking through trains on level crossing next to station.
  
• Improved: [#18996] When marketing campaigns are disabled, disable the Marketing tab in the Finances window.
  
• Improved: [#19764] Miscellaneous scenery tab now grouped next to the all-scenery tab.
  
• Improved: [#19830] “Highlight path issues” will now hide wall elements.
  
• Improved: [#19905] Add prompt before resetting shortcut keys.
  
• Improved: [#19952] Add colour preset to Spiral Slide using the new colour options.
  
• Improved: [#19953] Add keyboard shortcut to Keyboard Shortcuts window.
  
• Improved: [#20055] Performance improvement for the software renderer.
  
• Change: [OpenSFX#17] Update Hybrid RC lifthill loop.
  
• Fix: [#12598] Number of holes is not set correctly when saving track designs.
  
• Fix: [#13130] Android always defaulting to UK locale for language, currency and temperature.
  
• Fix: [#13397] Ride simulation causes strange station behaviour and makes the ride unusable in some cases.
  
• Fix: [#16791] Rotodrop top piece replicates when walls are placed around it and clearance checks are disabled (original bug).
  
• Fix: [#18583] Land dropdown is incorrect if there are surface entry index holes.
  
• Fix: [#18895] Responding mechanic blocked at level crossing.
  
• Fix: [#19231] Crash due to null pointer to previously deleted banner in tile copy/paste functionality.
  
• Fix: [#19296] Crash due to a race condition for parallel object loading.
  
• Fix: [#19733] Favorite ride of X guests integer overflow.
  
• Fix: [#19756] Crash with title sequences containing no commands.
  
• Fix: [#19767] No message when path is not connected to ride exit and is therefore unreachable for mechanics.
  
• Fix: [#19800] Crash when displaying station stats with more than 62 stations.
  
• Fix: [#19801] The in-game load/save window cannot be resized anymore.
  
• Fix: [#19854] Looping Coaster trains clipping through steep quarter turns down.
  
• Fix: [#19858] Issue drawing simulate flag icon on alternate colour palettes.
  
• Fix: [#19901] Random shop colours never assigning last colour.
  
• Fix: [#19911] Guests stuck at certain railway crossings.
  
• Fix: [#19924] Destructible cheat does not allow partial ride modification.
  
• Fix: [#19950] Mine train block brake supports drawn incorrectly.
  
• Fix: [#19955] Mine Train Roller Coaster has incorrect supports on the sloped left small turn (original bug).
  
• Fix: [#19987] [Plugin] ‘SetCheatAction’ has wrong ID in plugin API.
  
• Fix: [#20016] The group box for small scenery details in the Tile Inspector window has unused empty space.
  
• Fix: [#20018] Shops not calculating up-keep cost.
  
• Fix: [#20033] Asset packs cannot reference game data.
  
• Fix: [#20104] [Plugin] Some network APIs use player index and group index.
  
• Fix: [#20099] Some scrollbar is glitched or have incorrect size when open window for the first time
  
• Fix: [#20134] Grass length being updated for tiles in the void, causing unneccesary drawing operations.

Greetings everyone! It's been quite awhile since there's been any kind of big news for Hyrule Conquest. For those wondering or are a bit out of the loop, I have shifted gears in the last 8 months and have been working primarily on Star Fox Event Horizon. I am currently working with official VA's from the actual Star Fox games, as well as a dev or two who worked on them, so naturally my attention has been drawn to that project. That being said, there are a few things I really want to finish for Hyrule Conquest before I devote my full time to that project. One of those things is the next faction appearing in the game.


Wild Zora







While in the official Zelda games they are called just "Zora," the natural confusion this brought up has led to some calling them "River Zora" to distinguish them for their more civilized relatives. I have always felt this name was still misleading, seeing as those civilized Zora actually are more commonly found in rivers and the "River Zora" are found in a much larger variety of water bodies like lakes and oceans. As such I feel like the term "Wild Zora" is a much better descriptor of these creatures and at least for the time being is what they will be referred to as in Hyrule Conquest.



As a faction, the Wild Zora's roster will be roughly split in half between an assortment of Zora units and Octorok units, who serve as their beasts of burden. Several other non-Octorok creatures will appear in their roster as well. Overall the intention with the Wild Zora army is to make them very fast but fragile. They have many high damage units with negative status effect attacks such as reducing the values of enemy armor and bleed damage, however they themselves are severely lacking in any kind of armor and are vulnerable to every damage type in the game. Like their more civilized brethren all of their units can move into any body of water as well, giving them much more mobility on water heavy maps.

One of the Wild Zora's most notable features is tied to the mechanics of how their giant Octorok bases work. In simple terms, almost all of their buildings can walk.



And not just walk, but they can also swim, research, train, and do what buildings normally do while walking. This gives the Wild Zora a nomadic power that trumps even the Moblin's ability to pack up and move their bases. In theory the Wild Zora can move most of their infrastructure to the bottom of a lake and build up their armies underwater, or a more reckless player could park their giant Octorok buildings right outside the wall of an enemy base and start pumping out new units.



This is naturally a really powerful feature that gives the Wild Zora quite an edge, both for playing very aggressively and also more passively as well. There are drawbacks to this however. First of all, these giant Octoroks move extremely slowly. Even the slowest Darknut warriors can catch up with them, Cavalry will have no trouble running down and killing these giant walking bases. Secondly these giant Octoroks are completely defenseless. If you do not have any armies nearby to protect them, they are as good as dead. Lastly, the Wild Zora will still require the capture of nodes to build nests, nests which grow the eggs that hatch into brand new buildings. Sooner or later a Wild Zora player will have to commit to capturing and hanging around nodes, even if only for a little while to create a new Octorok carrying a Barracks or Farm before going on the move again.



And that is it with this faction for now. As I mentioned at the start of this news, I am very committed to working on Star Fox Event Horizon at the moment and Hyrule Conquest has taken more of a back seat, so the release schedule of this faction is less certain than my usual routine. Hopefully it will not be too long from now, so stay tuned.