They Are Billions Dev Tracker

Hello everyone!

We have been working for a while on improving and expanding the They Are Billions level editor. The first big update, available right now in the new version V1.1, allows to modify the rules of the game. You can now modify all the parameters of the units, buildings and enemies in your custom levels.
Every time we make this kind of modifications we have to be very careful because it can affect both the original game and the hundreds of levels that the community has created, any change must guarantee full compatibility with everything that already exists.

The modification of the rules is carried out by means of a function "ApplyRules ()" that can be used in any script of the game such as events, hordes, when activating objects or entering zones, at the beginning of the game,...
Some random examples:

• When you release a neutral soldier cornered by zombies, he reveals a technology that increases...

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: You can find the details for this event on the announcement page [url=https://steamcommunity.com/ogg/644930/announcements/detail/2939123552821183914]here[/url].

There is always time for a celebration amongst friends, even for those who keep us safe from the zombie apocalypse. Who would have thought that cooking was one of the Sniper's skills!
Happy Holidays and happy New Year from Numantian Games to all the They Are Billions community!

: You can find the details for this event on the announcement page [url=https://steamcommunity.com/ogg/644930/announcements/detail/1708485146987328286]here[/url].

Greetings!
Great news! The Campaign mode of They Are Billions is finally available for consoles for free. To play it just let the game update automatically.

It’s been almost six months of hard work. We know that some players were upset because this mode was not available for consoles at the same time as it did for PC, but it required all that time to port and adapt the game to consoles. Some games are developed at the same time for PCs and consoles because they basically work the same way, but for They Are Billions the interface and handling are drastically different. In addition, it’s been necessary to modify entire systems such as physics and text rendering, so it would work at proper speed on consoles.

We’re very happy with the final result. The game is handled in an agile way and we didn’t have to change any of the content (number of zombies, difficulty ...), so that the console version is 100% equal to the PC one. And above all, we are very happy to have co... Read more

: You can find the details for this event on the announcement page [url=https://steamcommunity.com/ogg/644930/announcements/detail/1723120578710466254]here[/url].

Greetings!
We are very happy to announce that They Are Billions is available for XBOX One (right now) and PS4 on 9th July. The time has come for console players to also enjoy this RTS. Although for the moment it’s only available in the Survival mode, we will also bring the Campaign mode to this console in the near future.

An RTS in consoles?
Indeed, there are not many RTS games in consoles. This genre is mostly exclusive to PC because its game mechanics make it essential to use a mouse and keyboard. But at Numantian Games we have accepted the challenge. First of all because we truly believe that console players can also enjoy this exceptional game genre that we like so much. Second, They Are Billions within the RTS has also created its own sub-genre, a new style that has managed to bring many players who had never before played this type of games, and have enjoyed it as much as the more veterans players.

In the porting we have tried to be 100% loyal to the... Read more

Spoiler: Developers are scared .... more in V. 1.0.10 ...

Greetings!
It's almost incredible that we didn’t think of this before...

TAB has always stored in a Steam variable the total number of zombies killed by each player, in order to unlock the Infected Killer achievements. So, now those values are added to another global Steam variable that contains the sum of all the zombies killed by the entire Steam community.

Since version 1.0.8 this information is being uploaded to the server. So only players who have opened TAB in that version or higher have been accounted for.

From now on all the zombies killed are counted regardless of whether you have won or lost, or whether it is a Survival, a Custom Level or a Campaign mission. Until now only Survival wins were accounted for, meaning that the actua... Read more

Greetings!
We continue working to improve the game and, our number one priority, to fix all the bugs and issues. Since the release They Are Billions has between 15,000 and 20,000 simultaneous players, and has been played for more than 2 million hours in the last week. Amazing! A billion thanks to all players!

Something pending to include for future versions is the counter for the total number of zombies killed by all TAB players, updated in real time on the game's menu screen. That could be very, very interesting :)

Now, let us run you through everything you can find in the new version, of course, we’ll continue listening to all your feedback:

Issues when saving or reloading Games
We have detected that Steam Cloud was interfering with the game recording and the user's progress, so we have disabled it. As the game state is huge, They Are Billions uses file compression and it seems that Steam Cloud can affect the recording process when it synchroniz... Read more

Greetings!
The launch week is becoming really intense. We never thought that version 1.0 would generate so much interest, opinions and feedback. That’s a sign that They Are Billions is becoming a very popular game and, as such, generates intense debate.

First of all, thank you very much to all the constructive feedback that helps us to improve the game and to correct mistakes. Thank you very much for taking the time. You know that our team is always open to everything you want to say to us.

During the development of the Campaign we had a few dozens very different testers playing the campaign from start to finish using very different strategies, and always in Challenging difficulty.

Although we’ve worked hard to achieve the best quality, making it as challenging and with the widest range of strategic possibilities, with hundreds of thousands of people, playing the game there are many aspects that may require adjustments and improvements. That’s what we a... Read more

At last, They Are Billions reaches version 1.0. We are leaving the Early Access and the great Campaign, The New Empire, will be available for all players.

The Campaign: The New Empire. Lead the campaign under the orders of Quintus Crane, ruler of the New Empire, and reconquer the lands devastated by the infected.

• 48 missions with more than 60 hours of gameplay.
  
• Build fortified colonies to survive in infected territories
  
• Destroy the swarms of infected with the Imperial Army.
  
• Make your colonies evolve with more than 90 available technologies.
  
• Explore the ancient human fortresses with your Hero.
  
• Discover the story behind the apocalypse... how did the pandemic start?

New Maps for the Survival Mode Don’t forget th... Read more

Greetings!
There is only one day left until the launch of the They Are Billions Campaign that finally, after a year and a half in Early Access, will become version 1.0!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKRTQGHL3mc

During this time, and thanks to all your support, we have improved TAB in many aspects while developing the Campaign mode almost in secret. It will finally be released tomorrow and, as promised, it will be included for free for all existing TAB players.

TAB will be a fully finished game so it will leave the Early Access st... Read more

At last! The highly anticipated They Are Billions Campaign will be available on June 18th. Here at Numantian, we recommend that you ask your boss for at least one month off. That’s because, and you are being warned, the campaign is addictive - really addictive. Check out the teaser trailer of The New Empire. We hope you enjoy it!

https://youtu.be/GKRTQGHL3mc

The campaign will, of course be included free with the current game, and also it will be available in the 12 languages currently supported by They Are Billions.


Two new map for the Sur... Read more

Greetings! Today we will talk about the heroes and tactic mission in They Are Billions.

The Campaign will finally have 48 missions, 23 of which are about building colonies, 15 about attacking swarms of infected and 10 will be tactical missions. As it happened to us with Lords of Xulima, the duration of the final game is much longer than we had anticipated as, according to our testers, it can take between 60 to 80 hours to complete it !?!

To finish the campaign it will only be necessary to build the 23 colonies. The rest of the missions are all optional, but surely you will need to play them to advance in the technology tree, and destroy the swarms that block the routes to new territories.

It is a long campaign but also very diverse, the tactical missions will specially bring a very different touch to the game. Testers... Read more

Greetings!
As you probably know, before launching They Are Billions on Steam we had a presale campaign with special limited editions in which one of the rewards for supporting the development was to appear in the game credits.

As appreciation to all our awesome backers, we have produced a theme song for the game credits as a tribute to the more than 3,000 people who, through their support and collaboration, have help us to make this project a reality.

The theme song was composed and directed by our great composer Nicolás Diteriks, who also played the piano. Alice Dixit has lent us her amazing voice, and they are both joined by a wonderful group of talented performers: Lucas d'Angelo on the guitar, Igor de Ferran on the bass and Pablo Ramirez on the drums.

We hope you like it. On behalf of the entire team... Read more

Greetings! As we mentioned in the previous update, we hope to launch the final game with the Campaign in June. We are working very hard on all fronts in parallel: Missions of the Campaign, new interface for the Campaign, testing and balancing, cinematics, voices and sound effects, new units, translations, and some other surprises we have planned.

The name of the Campaign will finally be The New Empire, which we believe summarizes the goal of the campaign very well: to build the new human civilization, after the zombie apocalypse, under the leadership of the Great Emperor, Quintus Crane. In addition, this New Empire mimics the ancient human empires, especially The Roman Empire, both in its aesthetic and in its imperialistic and conquering behavior. And all of this mixed with a rudimentary steam-powered technology and a world deva... Read more

Greetings!
Today we’ll talk about the World Map and some other elements about the upcoming Campaign Mode of They Are Billions.

The World Map
If you followed the development of our last game, the RPG Lords of Xulima, you should know that we love World Maps. They’re a great way to put the player directly into the context of the game w... Read more

Greetings!
Today we would like to tell you a bit more about some of the upcoming features of the Campaign: The Train and the Research System

The Train
During The Campaign you will mostly have to deal with reconquering a big territory currently occupied by the infected. In this future world there is just one city standing: Empire City, where most remaining humans live. At the beginning of the game, the Emperor commands you with the task to expand the empire throughout the infected territory. You’ll have to build colonies that will be connected by a railway network.

In the campaign, the train will always play a role in the colony-type missions. In these maps the Command Center will be located next to the railway tracks that will run across the map.

The train convoy will arrive at the colony once a day with... Read more

Greetings!

First of all, happy New Year! We hope your New Year is off to a good start. We’re very grateful for how exciting last year has been for our studio. There are big plans for this new year and we are sure that it will be too for the great community of They Are Billions. Now, let's talk about the development of TAB, What are we working on right now?

The Level Editor
We continue expanding and improving the game level editor as it has proved to be very successful amongst the community. There are already more than 500 levels published, some of them really complex and sophisticated. We're amazed of what you’ve achieved so far, thank you very much guys!

Step by step, we will include more and more features, assets, and interesting new elements to enhance your awesome designs. Some things we are working on a... Read more

Greetings!

After two weeks of testing the level editor and the workshop, we are glad to announce that it’s finally ready. Thank you very much to all the players that joined the editor testing group and shared their feedback with the developers. Right now there are more than 80 levels to enjoy, and we’re sure there are many more to come soon.

The editor and custom levels access is now available with the new version of They Are Billions: V.0.10

Playing Custom Levels

It’s very easy and straightforward. Just start the game and press New Game. There are now more options to play: Survival, Community Challenge and Custom Levels.

Select the Custom Levels option ... Read more