Two biggest bugs to be soon fixed are being hit even if moved outside of the circle right before red. Simple timing fix. Second is inventory management some drag and dropping doesn't work. New things to come are weapon drops from enemies (hammer weapon planned). Different bow arrow ammo (fire arrows with burning status effect). Stay tuned, and please let me know if you want to see any features added, I'm always happy to discuss.

Kothba v0.0.7 — Update Notes

Prior update: 6-update.md · What's next: roadmap.md

Update 7 is about fighting smarter — block with your buckler, read monster tells, swap loadouts, and run a bow with a quiver instead of bottomless bag ammo.

What's in this update

Shield guard

• Hold right mouse with your buckler equipped to block frontal melee.
• Blocked hits cost stamina, not health — you'll see a gray flash and stamina bar shake, not the red hurt flash.
• Guard and sprint share the same stamina pool. When you're exhausted, guard drops and stamina can recover normally again.

Monster tells

• Goblins wind up a visible scratch before they hit.
• Golems telegraph a ground slam ring before the impact — slower and easier to read than before.
• The combat log names attacks correctly: scratch, slam, sword, bow.

Weapon loadouts (keys 1 and 2)

• Loadout 1: sword + buckler
• Loadout 2: bow + quiver
• Swapping takes a short equip time — press Esc to cancel.
• The bottom bar now shows four slots (main + off for each loadout). Two-handed weapons will fill both slots in a pair when we add them.
• Gear assigned to a loadout is hidden from your bag grid until you swap it off the preset.

Bow, quiver, and arrows

• The bow is one-handed. You need a quiver in your off-hand to shoot.
• Pick up arrows as normal 1×1 bag stacks.
• Reload: drag arrows onto the quiver slot (equipped off-hand or bow loadout off slot).
• Unload: click the button on the quiver to return loaded arrows to your bag.
• The quiver holds up to 20 loaded arrows. Shots consume from the quiver, not directly from your bag.

Inventory

• Drag-and-drop bag grid with lift animation and smoother drops.
• Equipment panel, weight bar, and loadout assignment rows inside the inventory (I).

Quick reference

What we're working on next

This update sets up deeper combat and inventory. Our priorities right now:

1. Ranged feel — Arrows should hit moving targets reliably at range. We're fixing shot detection so arrows land where monsters actually are when they arrive, not where they were when you fired.

2. More combat depth — Abilities beyond basic swing and shoot, two-handed weapons (e.g. a hammer filling both hand slots), and smoother block/guard interactions.

3. Inventory and economy — Bigger bags, loot that matters, crafting and market hooks — all built on the grid, equip times, and loadout system you have now.

4. Polish — Quiver and loadout edge cases, item art, and keeping what you see matched to server rules.

We ship in small slices. If something still feels off — block stamina, bow reload, loadout swap, monster telegraphs — tell us; it helps us pick the next pass.

Thank you for testing. Live updates continue toward a stable v1.0.0.

Free to play without an account https://masland.tech/kothba/

Kothba v0.0.6 — Update Notes

Welcome back. This version is a foundation rebuild: movement, combat, and what you see on screen now follow one set of rules from the server — not several browser scripts that could disagree.

If you played v0.0.5, you may have seen hits that looked wrong, players or monsters that jumped, or sessions that felt “connected” but stopped updating. v0.0.6 fixes the root cause instead of patching symptoms.

What’s new for players

Feel & reliability

• Movement and melee sync — Your character, other players, and monsters should line up with combat much more consistently.
• Smoother monsters — Goblins and golems glide toward their real positions instead of snapping every network tick.
• Stay connected — Background keepalive and a clear disconnect message if the server stops sending updates (e.g. after being away too long).
• Combat input — Pointer and keyboard controls work together more reliably; hold Space to attack with the mouse or trackpad.

Combat & monsters

• Ranged aggro — Shooting a goblin from distance will provoke it; it will chase you even outside its normal “notice” radius.
• Soft crowds — Players and monsters gently push apart when overlapping, similar to horde-style games — no more perfect stack of circles on one tile.

Why v0.0.5 was replaced (short version)

The old client had too many places deciding where entities were. The screen, the hitbox, and effects could drift apart — especially for monsters and players on other machines. The server logic was mostly fine; presentation and sync were not.

v0.0.6 moves that work into one shared simulation used by the server and the game client, with automated tests that must pass before we ship. The browser mostly draws what it’s told; it no longer runs its own hidden physics.

What’s different under the hood (only what matters)

Thank you for testing. Please report anything that still feels off. Live direct updates will continue until a stable v1.0.0 is reached.

Play for free in your browser against other players, no account required: https://masland.tech/kothba/

Full music video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDf55p4COsQ

What's new

v0.0.5: player highlights, most important first.

Movement feels smoother

Characters glide across the arena instead of snapping every server tick. Your own movement should feel much less jittery, and other players and monsters move more naturally between updates.

Combat updates

• Bow range doubled: shoot much farther across the arena.
• Sword knockback: melee hits push enemies back.
• Sword timing: swings are slightly slower, so timing matters more.
• Goblins have shorter reach than golems; monsters react more naturally near the arena edge.

Visual feedback

• Monster hits flash red briefly so you know your attack connected.
• Monster deaths fade out with a violet dust burst instead of vanishing instantly.
• Arrows leave a twisting smoke trail as they fly.
• Sprinting kicks up brown dust behind you (under your character, not on top).
• Pickup text floats up when you grab health or arrows: red for HP, yellow for arrows.
• Player names show above everyone in the arena; yours is light blue.

Watch before you join

When you open the game, you can spectate a live match behind the join screen: see the arena, action, and leaderboard before picking a name and jumping in.

Leaderboard improvements

• Live standings and Hall of Fame sit side by side in a cleaner layout.
• Player kills are tracked properly for the leaderboard.
• Rank colors: gold, silver, bronze for the top three.

HUD & controls

• Ping displays top-left while you're in a match.
• Stamina bar refills smoothly.
• In-game cursor is a small white dot while playing: the normal mouse pointer is hidden for cleaner aiming.

Play today at https://masland.tech/kothba/