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01.07.2025 - The update is here

Today’s update introduces a wide range of exciting new features and deep changes to the game. Much has been reworked behind the scenes, and other parts are visibly altered – time for a detailed overview:


🎮 CTD – The Game

🧠 Skill-Based Attacks

The turret functionality has been fundamentally reworked.
Previously, most turret parameters were hard-coded and could only be modified to a limited degree via upgrades or power-ups – any changes required major effort.

With the new system, nearly every parameter – from the number of chain lightning targets to damage values or upgrade effects – is now defined in a central database.
The game itself only reacts to the bundled, externally calculated values.
Turrets are now "dumb" in-game and completely rely on external data, which gives us maximum flexibility for future expansions.


☠️ Damage Types

Each turret now uses one of six damage types:
Kinetic, Fire, Ice, Lightning, Poison, Plasma

  • All but Plasma are linked to a unique status effect.

  • Turrets can learn alternate damage types via the skill tree (and later, items) – for example, Fire Chain Lightningor Lightning Rocket Launcher.

  • Some effects are still placeholders, but already lead to diverse and exciting battles.

  • Plasma currently has no status effect but offers unique skill nodes and excels at pure damage output.


🛡️ Resistance Penetration

Enemy resistances from wave 10 onwards previously turned higher difficulties into war-of-attrition scenarios.
To counter this, Penetration has been introduced:

  • Starting at turret level 2, turrets automatically gain a small penetration value.

  • This value can be increased further through the skill tree or with items.

Example:

Enemy has 50% Fire Resistance, turret has 10% Penetration → effective resistance: 40%.
If penetration exceeds resistance, bonus damage is applied.


🧭 Pathfinding

In addition to classic pathfinding (where enemies choose their path dynamically), there is now a waypoint system that enforces a predefined path.
This allows:

  • Crossroads, loops, or repeated runs through the same area

  • Dynamic switching between both systems (useful for special maps)


⚖️ Balancing & Difficulty

Due to the complete overhaul of turret logic, many balance values had to be reconsidered.
The game is currently deliberately unbalanced – which makes it unpredictable and (hopefully) more exciting.


💣 Bomber & Nuke

These power-ups can now once again be used at any time during a wave.
Especially noticeable on small maps with short paths.


🗺️ New Map: Green1

To showcase the new waypoint system, a new map is available:
Green1 – featuring multiple direction changes and re-entry points.
Ideal for fresh tactical approaches!


🌲 Skill Tree – Bigger, Deeper, Smarter

  • Expanded from ~500 to over 1150 nodes

  • New damage types, many specialized effect nodes

  • Reworked existing values

  • New search field at the bottom right (e.g. search for “Cooldown”, “Team Cooldown”, “Turret Cooldown”, etc.)


⚡ Power-Ups – Reworked & Repriced

Changes:

  • GameSpeed is now called Enemy Speed – only affects enemy movement speed

  • Team Power-Ups are now tiered and repriced

    • Previous values were converted at a 5:1 ratio (rounded up)

  • Effect strength now varies:

    • Team Damage = +5%

    • Cooldown or Range = start at +1%


🤝 Team Bonuses – More Fair, More Controlled

Team Damage no longer doubles a turret’s total damage.
It now only affects the base damage (excluding item, boost, or skill modifiers).
This keeps total damage output in check and prevents runaway scaling.


🌐 CTD WebUI – New Features & Improvements

New:

  • Diamond shop with high-level items

  • Turrets with multiple damage types can now switch damage type in their inventory

  • The active damage type is displayed in the top-right corner of the turret inventory

  • Three new in-battlefield options:

    • Show animated paths – visualizes enemy movement

    • Show level bars – color-coded turret level indicators

    • Show names permanently – permanently show player names (use CTRL to toggle visibility temporarily)

Changes:

  • The term “Speed” has been replaced by “Cooldown” throughout the interface

  • Item upgrade prices have been reduced – in some cases by up to 90%

  • The turret overview now shows all parameters of all damage types, including status effects

  • Boost cards have been updated with correct English names

Temporary:

  • Status effect missions are currently disabled – they are not yet compatible with the new system

  • Statistics display in the battlefield is still a work in progress – will be updated in a future patch


🧑‍💻 Note on the Update

Although this update is not fully completed in every area,
we had to release it within a narrow time window.
The reason is the team’s vacation schedule – to ensure we could respond quickly and collaboratively in case of critical issues, this release timing was essential.


Thanks to all players and supporters!
This update is a huge leap forward – technically and in terms of gameplay.
Enjoy discovering all the new features and possibilities!