📜 Updates & Roadmap

See what has changed in H.O.L.D., revisit past milestones, and explore ideas for future updates.

LatestUpdate HistoryComing Soon

v2.4.6 — Concise Controls Menu

Only essential keybinds shown
  • Controls now lists only Move, Auto-Attack, Cycle Tools, Ability, Shop, Revive Player, Trading, Upgrade Tower, Upgrade Bulk and Sell.
  • Removed auxiliary mouse, skip-day, building placement, building selection and Escape instructions from the menu. Gameplay shortcuts themselves are unchanged.
  • Go to Home, Codex, Changelog and Show Performance remain available.

v2.4.5 — Nickname Input & Controls Menu

Fix nickname typing and simplify game navigation
  • Fixed the home page nickname input sanitizer incorrectly discarding letters for guests and signed-in players.
  • Added a Go to Home link to the in-game Controls menu, without removing Codex, Changelog or Show Performance.
  • Connection state now displays a simple 🟢 Connected or 🔴 Disconnected indicator; control labels are shorter and clearer.

v2.4.4 — Permanent Survivor Usernames

One-time username selection and a cleaner game title
  • The home-page logo now reads H.O.L.D without a trailing period.
  • New Survivor usernames become permanent when the account is created; they cannot be changed afterward.
  • Existing accounts without a username can set one once. Supabase enforces the lock server-side after the one-time SQL migration is applied.
  • Custom in-game nicknames remain freely editable and still override the permanent account username.

v2.4.3 — Survivor Usernames

Optional account display names
  • Account registration now asks for a username alongside email and password.
  • The home page shows your username instead of your email when signed in.
  • If your home-page nickname is blank, the game uses your signed-in account username automatically.
  • Existing players can add or change a username without creating another account. Usernames are display names, not reserved unique handles.

v2.4.2 — Direct World Joining

Choose your nickname at home, then select a class and play
  • The home page now provides a saved in-game nickname field beneath Survivor Account for both guests and members.
  • Joining a Multiplayer Room opens class selection directly, skipping the old introduction and nickname screen.
  • Choosing your class starts gameplay immediately; the class picker retains Back to Home for room resets and navigation.

v2.4.1 — Unified Multiplayer Hub

Changelog, rooms and Survivor Account together
  • The lobby is now a responsive three-column hub: recent Changelog on the left, Multiplayer Rooms in the center and Survivor Account on the right.
  • Sign in, create an account, view persistent zombie/boss kills and highest wave, refresh statistics, or sign out directly on the home page. Guest play remains unchanged.
  • The class selection page always offers a Back to Home link, including after the Gold Stash falls and the room resets.

v2.4.0 — Survivor Accounts (Optional)

Supabase-backed accounts and persistent personal statistics
  • Guest play stays available: no sign-up or login is needed to enter multiplayer rooms.
  • Optional email/password accounts add a Survivor Account page with personal zombie kills, boss kills, highest completed wave and games played.
  • Only the game server can submit progress after validating the Supabase login token; account users can read only their own statistics.
  • Cloud statistics begin after account sign-in; achievements are planned for a later update. Requires Supabase project setup and Render environment configuration before launch.

v2.3.3 — Endless Zombie Bounties

Kill rewards keep growing after Wave 100
  • Night zombie gold drops scale progressively faster after Wave 100 to keep kills rewarding alongside the Pearl and Obsidian economy.
  • At Waves 100 / 150 / 200 / 250, kill rewards are approximately 1× / 2.125× / 4× / 6.625× their original values.
  • Existing zombie types and bosses use the scaling; Golden Horde still doubles the final reward. Pre-base Red Zone zombies keep their original rewards.
  • Gold Mines, equipment prices, and the 30 Hz movement rate are unchanged by this update.

v2.3.2 — Late-game Gold Mine Economy

Pearl around wave 150 · Obsidian as a wave 200+ goal
  • Gold Mine output increased across Silver through Obsidian, especially Sapphire, Amethyst, Pearl and Obsidian, to support the expanded upgrade costs.
  • New production per mine: Bronze 1, Silver 6, Gold 15, Diamond 32, Emerald 60, Ruby 110, Sapphire 200, Amethyst 360, Pearl 650, Obsidian 1,100 gold per second.
  • Pearl and Obsidian are long-run economy targets, not fixed wave unlocks. Actual timing depends on how many mines survive, Gold Stash investment, player count, and other spending.

v2.3.1 — Pearl & Obsidian Endgame Ranks

Final-rank visuals and clearer purchase requirements
  • Rank 9 is now Pearl, a luminous white tier; the ultimate rank 10 is Obsidian, a dark near-black tier.
  • Upgrade menus clearly explain which gold, wood or stone is missing when an upgrade cannot yet be purchased, including late-game Gold Stash ranks.
  • All ten rank progression costs and gameplay stats remain available as before.

v2.3.0 — Original Ten-Rank Expansion

Two new endgame ranks and powerful class perks
  • Originally introduced rank 9 Obsidian and rank 10 Voidforged (renamed Pearl and Obsidian in v2.3.1) after Amethyst, including upgrade costs, health, damage, production and equipment progression.
  • Buffed the scaling effects of all unique My Class upgrades by approximately 2.5×, while keeping automatic progression tied to the Gold Stash.
  • All classes can reach Voidforged rank in shared equipment and unique class perks.

v2.1.4 — Clear Class Upgrade Comparisons & Contextual Building Panels

Improved upgrade readability and positioning
  • Automatically unlocked My Class upgrades show Current → Upgrade stat comparisons for the next Gold Stash rank, just like other Shop categories.
  • Class upgrades remain free and linked to the team Gold Stash, with a clear maximum-rank indication at Amethyst.
  • Building management appears beside the selected structure and follows it as the camera moves, switching sides or staying within the screen when near an edge.

v2.1.3 — Automatic Class Progression

Class-exclusive upgrades now follow the team Gold Stash
  • Placing a Bronze Gold Stash automatically unlocks every unique upgrade belonging to your selected class at Bronze rank.
  • Upgrading the Stash automatically advances class-exclusive upgrades to the same rank, up to Amethyst, with no separate gold cost or purchases.
  • Harvester’s Gatherer’s Pendant and Vanguard’s Ironhide Plating and Vampiric Charm follow the same rule.
  • The My Class shop shows the current automatically unlocked rank; shared equipment, weapons, player upgrades and buildings retain their usual purchase costs.

v2.1.1 — Smooth Zombie Movement

Gameplay feel takes priority
  • Restore 30 network snapshots per second by default to preserve responsive combat and motion; 15–30 Hz remains configurable for local experiments.
  • Interpolate zombie movement on every browser render frame between authoritative server snapshots, eliminating visible stepping at reduced packet rates.
  • Keep per-player nearby entity filtering, fixed camera, and efficient distant minimap markers to conserve bandwidth without sacrificing smooth gameplay.

v2.1.0 — Network Optimization Phase 2

Per-player world synchronization & stable camera
  • Fixed camera zoom at 1.0×: the mouse wheel no longer changes world scale.
  • Nearby zombies, projectiles, grenades and acid effects are synchronized per-player using screen-size-aware visibility plus a 420-unit safety margin.
  • Distant zombie dots and bosses remain visible on the minimap via lightweight markers twice per second. All world and base combat remains simulated server-side.
  • Snapshot updates default to 20 Hz (configurable between 15 and 30 Hz with HOLD_SNAPSHOT_HZ), while the physics simulation stays at 30 Hz.
  • Existing building delta networking and periodic full refreshes remain intact.

v2.0.3 — Longer Class Abilities

Class gameplay balance
  • Overdrive, Battle Fury, Overclock and Sanctuary now each last 30 seconds instead of 10–12 seconds.
  • Cooldowns remain unchanged: Harvester and Vanguard 90 seconds, Artificer 100 seconds, Warden 110 seconds.
  • Ability HUD and Codex use the shared class durations automatically.

v2.0.1 — Unique Class Shops & Shared Amethyst Equipment

Player-requested class economy redesign
  • All classes can advance Hammer, Sword, Grenades, Vitality, Strength, Agility, Armor and Vitality Core to Amethyst.
  • The My Class page holds exactly five class-exclusive upgrades per role; upgrades no longer repeat across categories.
  • Vanguard-exclusive Ironhide and Vampiric Charm and Harvester-exclusive Gatherer’s Pendant now appear only in My Class.
  • Class upgrades display the same Current → Upgrade stat comparisons as other Shop categories.
  • New distinctive research paths for harvesting, boss damage, Warden support and automated tower maintenance.

v2.0.0 — Roles of Survival: Character Classes

Major cooperative gameplay overhaul · first playable class build
  • Choose Harvester, Vanguard, Artificer or Warden before entering a world. A class can be claimed by only one teammate per run.
  • Every role retains essential equipment but unlocks its own high-rank progression and dedicated class research Shop.
  • Activate signature skills with C: Overdrive, Battle Fury, Overclock, or Sanctuary. Class-specific passive effects change harvesting, tower output, defense and revivals.
  • Secure 2-minute reconnection reservation when teammates remain online; class choices reset with the shared world.
  • Class-selection screen, teammate class indicators, ability HUD and class Codex field guide.

v1.5.1 — Infested Fortress & Relic Balance

Gameplay and quality-of-life update
  • Three infected spawn nests surround a tougher central Crusher, with more aggressive pink minions.
  • Twinbow arrows use distinct visible flight lanes; Bastion Ward scales to 4.5% of max Gold Stash HP.
  • Repair/Sell icon clicks work; Team Relics moved beside Shop.
  • Supply drops and skip-day gold/score keep scaling in late waves.

v1.5.2 — Relic UI & Field Guide

Interface and documentation polish
  • Team Relics opens beside its button and stays behind building management panels.
  • The Codex now documents the Infected Fortress, pink nestlings, central Crusher, retaliation, scaling supply drops and skip-day rewards.
  • Relic entries explain Twinbow targeting and Bastion Ward scaling.

v1.5.3 — Relics Every 15 Waves

Expedition pacing
  • Infested Fortress relic encounters now appear after surviving waves 15, 30, 45, 60 and so on, instead of every 5 waves.
  • Placing the first Gold Stash no longer immediately creates a relic encounter.
  • The Codex lists the new expedition milestones.

v1.6.0 — Multiplayer Bandwidth Optimization

Network efficiency and diagnostics
  • New players receive a complete building-state snapshot; subsequent updates transmit only buildings that changed or were removed.
  • Periodic full building-state refreshes and resync after reconnect protect against missing state.
  • Players, enemies and projectiles retain their existing responsive simulation and snapshot rates.
  • Room logs report application snapshot sizes, baseline comparisons and public WebSocket wire bytes after compression.

v1.6.1 — Consistent Multiplayer Building Costs

Economic balancing
  • All building construction and upgrades now scale by 1.6× for each additional connected player (up to four), including Gold Stash, Gold Mines, walls, doors, traps, and towers.
  • Construction tooltips and upgrade panels use the exact shared server pricing rules.
  • Codex updated to explain team-size scaling.

Latest Update

v1.5.1 — Relics of the Frontier Current proposal

Major exploration and team progression update
  • Infected Outposts now appear throughout the 8,320 × 8,320 wilderness, at least 2,700 units from the Gold Stash. Expedition days have extra daylight.
  • Defeat a Guardian to trigger a 25-second team vote among three random relic choices; collect powers for the rest of the run.
  • Five new relics: Twinbow Sigil, Forager’s Blessing, Bastion Ward, Prospector’s Charm, and Warrior’s Oath.
  • See team relics in Controls and browse all relics in the Codex. Mutant retaliation and existing expedition rewards remain.

Update History

v1.4.3 — Building Hotbar Resource Costs

UI polish
  • Building hover prices display the same wood and stone emoji chips as the upgrade panel.

v1.4.2 — Upgrade Price & Weapon Sync Fixes

Gameplay balance and UI
  • Restored upgrade price chips, added repair and sell emojis, reduced Wall/Door/Trap upgrade gold costs, and stabilized weapon selection.

v1.4.1 — Compact Upgrade Prices

Interface
  • Introduced compact resource-price chips and separate Shift + E totals in the upgrade panel.

v1.4.0 — The Infected Frontier

Major gameplay expansion
  • Added infected wilderness outposts, an Outpost Guardian and summoned minions, and a team gold/score reward.
  • Cleared outposts provoke mutant retaliation during the following night.

v1.3.4 — Cleaner In-Game HUD

UI polish
  • Moved the Trade and Performance HUD aside when Controls expands.

v1.3.3 — Multiplayer Performance

Performance improvements
  • Added optional Ping / FPS / server tick monitoring, spatial collision lookup, visible-area rendering, and heavy-wave network optimization.

v1.3.2 — Changelog & Roadmap

Interface
  • Added release history and planned-feature sections to the lobby and in-game Controls menu.

v1.3.1 — Multiplayer Balance & Night Events

Public beta
  • 10% supply-drop chance after each completed night.
  • Acid Spitter puddles also damage players.
  • Skip Day awards score as well as gold, with rewards decreasing over time.
  • Multiplayer tower-upgrade costs and zombie spawn speeds scale with party size.
  • Night events color the world; refined Agility Codex formatting and notifications.

v1.3.0 — Public Multiplayer Foundation

First cloud-hosted beta
  • Added browser-based multiplayer room selection and lobby.
  • Separated worlds into independent four-player game rooms.
  • Enabled online deployment through a public Node.js WebSocket gateway while preserving LAN mode.

v1.2.10 — World Generation

World variety
  • Set each world to 120 trees and rocks in total.
  • Limited connected resource overlap groups to four.
  • Randomized player spawns and spread Red Zones across the map.
  • Reset worlds automatically when their last player disconnects.

v1.2.9 — Expeditions & Strategy

Exploration
  • Doubled world width and height, quadrupling total map area.
  • Introduced tower targeting modes: Nearest, Strongest, Weakest, and Bosses First.
  • Added rare Golden Trees, Crystal Rocks, and wilderness supply drops.

v1.2.7–v1.2.8 — The Codex

Game guide and usability
  • Introduced the searchable Codex with enemy, building, weapon, equipment, and survival information.
  • Made the Codex available before character creation and in-game; fixed the Controls menu entry.

v1.2.4–v1.2.6 — Combat & Progression

Gameplay improvements
  • Reworked zombie navigation around trees, rocks, and structures to prevent diagonal-corner jitter.
  • Added melee-hit debris, flashes, and heavier Crusher / MEGA Crusher impacts.
  • Split the Shop into Tools, Player, and Equipment progression with new upgrades.

Coming Soon — Ideas Under Consideration

These are potential directions, not confirmed release commitments or promised delivery dates. Priorities will be based on playtesting and community feedback.

📊 Performance & Connection Diagnostics Idea

Optional ping, FPS, and server tick-time indicators to help investigate lag during larger waves.

🤝 Better Friends & Room Controls Idea

Private room invitations, easier regrouping with teammates, and clearer room management.

🏆 Personal Records & Achievements Idea

Track survival milestones and personal accomplishments beyond a single run.

🧟 More Zombie Variety Idea

Explore mutations and new enemy mechanics once the core online experience is stable.