Changelog

• NAT punch-through: STUN discovery, UDP hole-punching, relay fallback
• Standalone relay server binary for firewall-blocked players
• Tiers 4-6 unlocked (NUM_TIERS raised from 3 to 6)
• Unit abilities: Flying, SpawnOnDeath, Regeneration, SpeedBurst, ArmorShield
• 3 new maps: Spiral Path, Cross Roads, Island Bridge
• Protocol v3 with NAT traversal support

• Interactive 6-step tutorial system with highlight overlay
• Passive Tutorial AI difficulty for stress-free learning
• 7 custom game modifiers (Turbo Units, Double Income, Sudden Death, etc.)
• Tutorial button on main menu

• Account lockout after 5 failed login attempts (15-minute window)
• Chat sanitization: zero-width chars, bidi overrides, control chars stripped
• Chat rate limiting (5 messages per 10 seconds)
• Pathfinding cache with version-based invalidation
• Unit entity pooling for reduced allocation overhead
• Typed NetworkError hierarchy with thiserror
• Lane team grouping and filtering
• TLS deployment guide (nginx + Let's Encrypt)

Visual Overhaul

• Race Visual Identities - Unique procedural tower bases: Ironhold (Hexagonal) and Sylvari (Star)
• Dynamic UI Themes - Race-specific 9-slice borders (Steel for Ironhold, Moss for Sylvari)
• Enhanced Projectiles - New projectile shapes (Rocket, Thorn, Crystal) and explosion effects
• Terrain Improvements - Layered noise tile generation for richer ground textures

Cleanup & Refactoring

• 111 Clippy Lints Fixed - Significant reduction in technical debt and potential bugs
• System Maintenance - Refactored core gameplay (Placement, Upgrades) using SystemParam
• Memory Optimization - Boxed large enum variants in network client events

New Icons

• Resource Icons - Added heart (lives) and income (chart) icons to HUD and menus
• Shield Refresh - Improved shield icon with detailed trim and shading

New Features

• 9-Slice UI Borders - Generated atlas sprites for bordered panels across all UI screens and HUD
• Minimap Overhaul - Terrain texture from map data, lane waypoint paths, camera viewport indicator
• Tower Upgrade Affordability - Greyed-out buttons when player cannot afford upgrades

Refactoring

• God File Splits - Split 5 oversized files into 33 focused modules (tower, ai, sidebar, settings, setup)
• Tower Upgrade System - Unified tree-based upgrades with tier tracking and sprite changes

Bug Fixes

• Duplicate ZIndex Crash - Fixed NodeBundle duplicate component panic on startup
• Bordered Node Layout - Fixed position_type override and layout property misplacement

UI Improvements

• Color Consistency - Centralized all hardcoded colors into theme constants
• Theme Refactoring - UI functions now use centralized color constants

Economy Changes

• Uncapped Interest - Interest now scales with total gold for compound growth

Bug Fixes

• Unit Sending Fix - Units now correctly sent to opponent team's defense lanes
• ECS Query Crash Fix - Resolved Bevy query disjointness crash in sidebar

AI Improvements

• Smart Tower Selection - AI now analyzes enemy composition to choose counter towers
• Upgrade vs New Tower - AI evaluates upgrade efficiency compared to building new towers
• Tower Synergy Analysis - AI considers support/damage tower balance
• Counter System - AI chooses towers to counter armored, fast, swarm, and elite units

Testing

• 42 New AI Tests - Comprehensive evaluation and integration tests
• 174 Total Tests - Expanded coverage across grid, pathfinding, economy, combat, network, and AI

Documentation

• Balance Testing Notes - Race parity and tower balance documentation
• Updated README - v0.8.2 release notes and roadmap updates

Race Changes

• 2 Focused Races - Streamlined from 4 to 2 races (Ironhold & Sylvari)
• 10 Unique Towers - 5 per race with distinct mechanics
• Enhanced Tower System - Upgrade tree foundation with branching paths

Infrastructure

• Production Deployment - Live at assaultlanes.darkvision.dev
• Nginx Reverse Proxy - HTTPS with Let's Encrypt SSL
• Systemd Services - Master, web, and dedicated server management
• Integrated Build & Deploy - Menu-driven deployment scripts

Database

• Database Sync Fixes - Master and web servers share unified database

Grid System

• 32x32 Pixel Tiles - Upgraded from 64x64 for better precision
• 2x2 Tower Placement - Towers now occupy 4 tiles (64x64 pixels)
• A* Pathfinding - Dynamic pathfinding enables mazing strategies

Map System

• Custom Map Format - .almap JSON-based format
• Map Editor Tools - CLI and GUI editors with validation and preview
• Auto-Loading - Custom maps load from maps/custom/ directory

Testing

• 114 Unit Tests - Covering grid, pathfinding, economy, combat

Website

• Features Page - Detailed game features showcase
• Server Browser - Active game server listing
• Enhanced UI - Medieval-themed dark design

Networking

• State Checksums - Improved desync detection
• Chat System - In-game chat functionality
• Replay Recording - Match recording foundation

Servers

• Dedicated Server - Headless game server binary
• Master Server - Account management, ELO, profiles
• Web Portal - Player statistics and leaderboards

UI

• Medieval UI Theme - Gold-accented interface with ornate borders
• Settings System - Graphics, audio, gameplay, keybinds
• Accessibility - Colorblind mode, text scaling

Multiplayer

• Deterministic Lockstep - Fixed-point math for network synchronization
• LAN Discovery - Automatic server discovery via UDP broadcast
• Lobby System - Team selection and game configuration
• Reconnection - Automatic reconnection with exponential backoff

AI System

• 6 AI Personalities - Rusher, Turtle, Balanced, Greedy, Sniper, Chaotic
• 5 Difficulty Levels - Beginner to Expert
• JSON Configuration - Customizable AI behavior
• Threat Evaluation - Smart decision making