Mech Armada News & Patch Notes

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Mech Armada News & Patch Notes | SteamScope

Sergio Garcessteam_community_announcements

1330d ago

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/ec317a0b1a89434de27ae254c8e800f602643ca3.png Hi Everyone, After a few long months of work, Mech Armada is finally coming to console. The release date is December 8th. Here on Steam there is also a new update waiting for you.

The Problem

I want to talk a bit about the topic of difficulty, which is (pun intended) a difficult topic. There is an understanding among players that roguelikes/roguelites are going to be difficult, especially at first. The heart of these games is to learn to play and develop your skill through multiple retries (and deaths) until you master them, little by little. That means the "skill floor" (how skilled you have to be to beat the game, even if just barely) is pretty high. This is a problem for some players, as they may never be able to reach that skill floor and are forced to leave the game, frustrated. In Mech Armada I tried to approach this by having persistent upgrades that will make you more powerful over time, so as you're learning the game you're also getting additional support from extra energy and credits, as well as other bonuses that will add up to make your run more likely to succeed. The rate at which you unlock these is also delicate: too fast and the game becomes too easy too quickly, too slow and you can't really see the benefits for many runs. With all of this said, difficulty is still a problem in Mech Armada, as shown by reviews like this one: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/c484958937db3b9daace2a38feb94b847c9e49b3.png On the other hand, people are finding the game too easy. And yes, you can increase difficulty quite a bit, so that's not really a concern. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/ed83c7708c3a73084f393b8f02736bd934e01d0b.png I do believe that some amount of challenge is necessary for the game to be enjoyable, but I don't want to lock players out if they can't reach the skill floor, even after collecting persistent upgrades.

The Solution

Games like Slay the Spire don't provide an "easy" mode, and I can reach the skill floor just fine. This is not true for action games like Hades, where the first boss wrecks me easily on almost every run. Hades is a good example though, because they added an accessibility option to make the game easier for people like me. So I'm doing something similar with Mech Armada. In most cases players have trouble with their Mechs being destroyed too quickly. So I thought the easiest solution would be to provide an option to add extra health. This has been added in 1.01: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/daab7ae5064168545665de460ed1317f39981bfb.png Once you activate this, your parts will get between 1-3 extra health points. This applies to transports and torsos, so a typical Mech can gain as many as 6 health points. Outside of this change, 1.01 contains a few fixes and cosmetic improvements. I'm hoping with this setting you can make it further into the game if you're stuck. Please, let me know what you think in our Discord or in the Steam forums. /Sergio https://store.steampowered.com/app/1389360/Mech_Armada/

To Fog or Not To Fog

Sergio Garcessteam_community_announcements

1507d ago

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/d76bf4a6a377dcb3135cdb9e0b7d66e204397324.png Hi Everyone, With the full launch around the corner on June 16th, there is one topic I want to address, as there has been a lot of discussion about it over the months. Since releasing in Early Access Mech Armada has had a Wall of Fog that enters the battlefield one tile at a time. It's indestructible and it can kill any unit instantly. In his awesome video coverage last December, Splattercat said of the fog: "And with regards to the gaseous wall of fart death I'm not a big fan of it, and I'm not actually entirely sure that the game needs it" If you haven't seen the video, check it out here, it's pretty cool: You know what? He's right, but the story of the Fog is long and complicated, so it's worthwhile looking at the journey so we can better understand what will happen in 1.0.

In the Beginning

Since the super-early prototypes of Mech Armada (before it even had a name) it was clear the game was about managing energy to spawn new custom Mechs. And it was also clear there was an issue with players stalling and farming energy - it makes sense, energy is essential and you want every last drop of it. The problem is that this gameplay is boring. Waiting and farming is not fun, and one of my guiding principles making any game is to make the best strategies the most fun. This issue is not new. Many games need to put some kind of time pressure (turn pressure?) on the player, which moves everything forward and makes the game more exciting. A classic example is the ghost in Spelunky: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/5d051c71ce733e47adf0d662583aa7c7fd0bb5fb.png For a while the Fog solved the problem, and besides it added another pressure point on the player, influencing your strategy: you can't turtle so you need to figure out how to move forward. And something else happened, because of the animosity the player develops with the Fog over the course of a run, I wanted to incorporate it in the story. So the ending has the Fog becoming a main character after you beat the last boss. Everything was good and Mech Armada shipped in Early Access.

This Is What Early Access Is For

Over the next few months many things changed in the game. Despite the Fog putting pressure on players, many still felt compelled to try to farm energy, it was just harder (more frustrating) to do. Besides, there were situations where the fog legitimately complicated things too much, like in maps with many obstacles. So many people disliked it. The first thing that changed is the energy economy got redesigned to make it easier to understand and less susceptible to farming. Once this was in the game the role of the Fog was less important, and I started moving it back so it came into the field later and later, giving players more space. I still thought there was some value in pushing players forward and the Fog was now prominently featured in the story, so I didn't want to take it out altogether. But I didn't want to ignore the feedback, so I ran a poll in our Discord: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/89f3d0a306ac6658a702ca503b8bbe9184360e92.png Well, that complicated things...

Making Everyone Happy?

As a younger game designer I used to think that, with enough ingenuity, you could satisfy every player and address their concerns. I know better now, but that's still a lofty goal to aim towards. In this case I had the following realizations:

The Fog is less important for the energy economy now, so there's flexibility
Fighting the Fog can be fun and different from the rest of the monsters
I can use the story to add gameplay variety in how the Fog and the player interact

So this is how things are going to be in 1.0: during your initial runs you won't have the Wall of Fog chasing you anymore. Once you reach the final boss currently in the game, you'll unlock a new section that will allow you to get a weapon to fight the Fog. Afterwards, if you start a run with that weapon, the Wall of Fog will return, and it's up to you if you want to try to fight it or just run away from it. With this design I feel like there is less pressure on the novice players, while there is also an arc that makes new runs different as you progress through the story and it introduces new gameplay possibilities. I hope this addresses your concerns, but regardless I'd love to hear your thoughts. You can reach me on Discord or the Steam forums. /Sergio https://store.steampowered.com/app/1389360/Mech_Armada/

Update 0.13: Daily Part, Jetpacks and BIG rockets!

Sergio Garcessteam_community_announcements

1551d ago

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/bbacc6b2583dbb63c38f919f38384073f9b8771c.png Hi Everyone, This will be our latest 0.X update. The next one will be 1.0 and I couldn't be more excited about what's coming on that one. But for now, 0.13 is also looking pretty sweet.

Daily Part

One idea I've had for a while to encourage you to try new parts is to bonus a different part each day. So now, when you come to the game you'll see the Daily Part in the main menu and you can then start a new run with it (if you haven't unlocked it yet, you'll have to play some more battles first). {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/a0dd2be61d19808b26b35e70b352445a93c12a9a.png I tried to make the bonuses meaningful without being game breaking. Let me know how I did!

New Parts

I wanted to add a new batch of parts before full release. Most of the parts so far have centered around weapons and torsos, but there was one transport part that I knew would end up in the game.

Jetpack

It's finally here! While slow to walk around, the Jetpack provides a versatile jump that can clear obstacles and units, providing great maneuverability. While also looking stylish. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/cf97efa5d5188913bc5c1552572f41323f1990a8.gif

Smoke Grenade

Don't you hate that the Swarm have both high mobility and long range? Then you need to cloud their vision and strike them from where they can't reach you. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/3f159af1889812c5d39ee732673bd13a4733df09.gif

Big Rocket

You know what's better than a regular-size missile? A BIG ROCKET. These babies do the most damage out of any weapon in the game (without buffs) - but they're limited. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/e23ee6820af0bf41bcc081cbebd1497e2af0e1c2.gif This is it for now, because I've been saving the majority of the work I've done over the last few weeks for 1.0. I'll be announcing the date pretty soon. The more eagled-eye among you will notice I've removed the Feedback button from the main menu. That doesn't mean I don't want any more feedback, if you have any (and I'm sure you do) I'm always available on our Discord and I personally respond to every message. Next on Mech Armada: the full release announcement. It's going to happen before you know it. Stay tuned. /Sergio https://store.steampowered.com/app/1389360/Mech_Armada/

The road to 1.0

Sergio Garcessteam_community_announcements

1583d ago

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/889e78c82ef6def71b822fe64ed81dd74da0c877.png Hi Everyone, I wanted to give you an update and talk about some important news. Make sure you read until the end!

Daily Deal

First, good news! Mech Armada will be featured in Steam's Daily Deal on Tuesday, March 29th. The sale will start at 10:00am PT, and will last until March 31st at the same time.

1.0 plans

After 11 significant updates, we're closer than ever to full release. In fact, the game is still on track to reach 1.0 before this summer - that's coming up! The main area that I'll save until 1.0 is a proper ending for the campaign. Spoilers ahead if you haven't finished a run. but while currently you get reset by the fog, in 1.0 after beating the Demon you'll unlock another chapter in the campaign that will get you closer to the final goal of defeating the Swarm. I'm not going to say any more for now... But I can show a sneak peek of one of the two new environments that we've been working on. The downtown map is in fact looking so good that I'm going to use it for the first environment in the game. Here are some (work in progress) pictures: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/ee2986abb9ba14359850c4474191c22e88a98792.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/229dd499c748ee28a8569f8463e2141d8c1e25a2.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/9ad613c698d859dde9c1476c0d67999856f5e4cd.jpg

Price increase

I can't emphasize this enough, but you should get Mech Armada during the upcoming Daily Deal if you can, because after that I'm going to slightly increase the price of the game, so this is the cheaper Mech Armada is going to be for a while. The price will go up from $14.99 USD to $19.99 USD (local conversion will vary). I've been working full time on this game now for two and a half years and added a ton of stuff since the Early Access release last August. Increasing the price is necessary to keep the studio afloat.

Thank you

As the Early Access chapter nears completion, I can't help but marvel at the incredible amount of feedback and support I've received from you during this journey. There is no doubt in my mind that Mech Armada never would have reached the current quality level without all your help. A heartfelt thank you for supporting me. /Sergio https://store.steampowered.com/app/1389360/Mech_Armada/

Update 0.12: Gamepad support, Achievements and more!

Sergio Garcessteam_community_announcements

1586d ago

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/8e47af9d9f09e9869848da162a4554261670d257.png Hi Everyone, It's time for another big juicy update. There's so much new that this is going to be a long post.

Gamepad Support

I know many of you like to play with a gamepad controller. With 0.12 I've implemented full gamepad controls for Mech Armada. You can navigate menus, command your units, and generally do everything you can do with mouse and keyboard. The game will switch automatically between mouse+keyboard and gamepad controls as soon as you press either a key or a button, and refresh the screen showing you the correct prompts. Thanks to Steam you can use not only an Xbox controller but also a PS4 or PS5 one (see here for details). Mech Armada won't detect your gamepad type automatically right now, but you can change it in settings to get the correct buttom prompts everywhere. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/91470da2e042a7def8491afd738095cd8a3b56cf.png Furthermore, both gamepad buttons and keyboard mappings are configurable now in settings. I've done my best to make Mech Armada as intuitive to play with a controller as it's possible for a turn-based tactics game. I'd love to hear what you think! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/1e17a64ad3123ad45d0e96a83dca663932c94ae0.png {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/76b5bf6c33ea8b65c6caa1585a74c01f5cab18a4.png You may have noticed a common request has been added: there is now a hotkey to End Turn 👀👀👀

Steam Achievements

With the addition of Achievements I'm hoping to add new ways to play Mech Armada. Besides the typical achievements you get for beating the game, I've tried to have a varied mix of challenges that will make you approach each run differently, like beating the game using only 1 mech, or using only tutorial parts. And on top of that, there are a few "secret" achievements that are for you to figure out... You can see full list with the 30 achievements here. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/1ef203227486065b99c785d90472a5a6e2df6a8a.png

UI Refresh

As part of adding gamepad support I had to touch every screen in the game. So I used the opportunity to clean up the look a little bit. Here's an example of a screen that was also causing confusion as it wasn't clear that by pressing the button you were buying a random part (some people thought they were just seeing their options): {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/800cabde7ff3fa5154fce4fc2e5b6f6de2473e7d.png I've even updated the logo, to give it a more modern look. I hope you like it: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/d6b8daca91cb13cba861650a64b37b1c5aa843cc.png

Ultrawide and 4:3 Improvements

Even though Mech Armada is designed with a standard aspect ratio of 16:9 in mind, I wanted to provide the best possible experience for people running in all aspect ratios and resolution, ranging from 1024x768 all the way to 5120×2160 and more. For Ultrawide the main improvement is to adjust the camera so it shows as much of the battlefield as possible, while taking advantage of the extra width. In 4:3 the goal was to avoid assets clipping, as everything gets a little squished together. Note that I don't actually have the hardware to properly test all of this, so do let me know if you run into any issues.

Color Options

A lot of people have some kind of color blindness which can make it difficult to play games that rely on color. Whenever possible, I always use symbols on top of color, but certain areas like the area indicators on the map can't benefit from that. And so you run into issues like this: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/32447b8158b7a71d8fb819da26afacf17ffeb7d8.png You could always select the color of your mechs, but to fully solve this issue, the colors you need during gameplay are now also configurable: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/7c48f6fcf7d4cfdd9e3e1e50345a571ec031daa1.png

New Content

And of course, not everything is going to be technical stuff. In 0.12 I'm introducing a new enemy as well as both a new part and a changed one.

Gazer

You'll have to keep an eye on the Gazer. With a powerful laser that rivals your raygun it has incredible range. But get up close and personal and he'll deploy the sting - with armor piercing! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/59f593c864315781af7256db836e5db1852616c3.gif

New Zapper

The Zapper has been modified and turned into a chain-reaction weapon, that will spread from one monster to the next, so you can create awesome combos. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/3ada136bf0f15cd6655db48580547fc507019806.gif

Freezer

The Freezer replaces the stun functionality that was previously in the Zapper, literally freezing an enemy for a turn so they can't move or attack. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/60351c901c8cbb072c1460045e53c704a695d93a.gif

Balance

If you remember, I like to use data to balance the game. I had a feeling that with some of the changes in the last few updates the game had gotten a bit easier: there are more resources on the Campaign Map, monsters will not spawn in a big cluster anymore and, in general, you have more choice about which encounters to fight and how to do it. As a result, looking at the win rates for a run, they had gone up quite a bit in the last two updates. I feel it's important to keep a healthy amount of challenge in the game, so I've reduced the amount of energy you get after a battle by 1 (you can still use improvements to increase this) and I have added a few more enemies to the battles, so you'll have a bit of a tougher fight after the first environment.

And More...

Yes, there are even more improvements and fixes. Here's a list:

Picking a duplicate part will now increase your number of uses
You can edit your starting Mechs directly from the Science Lab
Campaign Map part tooltips will also show upgrades
Many other bug fixes

Phew! That was a lot of work, I hope you enjoy it. I will be posting my plans for full release pretty soon, it's going to be exciting, and I have some cool stuff to show. As usual, if you have any feedback about these changes, be sure to join our Discord or hit the forums. I'm always available to chat about the game. I hope you enjoy this update! /Sergio https://store.steampowered.com/app/1389360/Mech_Armada/

Support Our Friends! Black Geyser Launches Today!

clownst0ppersteam_community_announcements

1594d ago

Here at Lioncode Games we think it's incredibly important to support other small studios, so we thought we'd run our first cross promotion. If you’ve ever played Baldur’s Gate or Icewind Dale, you’ll feel right at home in the old school Black Geyser. Developed by a small indie studio in Budapest, Hungary, it’s a love letter to those titans of the genre, with plenty of its own twists. Developed since 2015, backed on KickStarter and having entered into Early Access in August 2021, its launch is today! Black Geyser is set in Yerengal, a world where dark gods have brought nothing but venality and greed. For centuries, the Devil-god Rothgor has spread fear and terror, waging war upon the mortal races. Eventually banished, the nation of Isilmerald has enjoyed a time of peace and prosperity. Yet discontent has begun to fester once more, and a bloody civil war is brewing between the capital Isilbright and the wealthy mining town of Deron-Guld. Like any classic isometric CRPG, life starts out at the character creator. There’s 5 playable races (Human, Dwarf, Elf, Feldegug and Rillow) and 13 unique classes, from 4 unique class groups (Priest, Outlaw, Warrior, and Wizard). Each plays completely different from the other and there’s enough here to suit all styles. After tinkering on the attribute screen (time to panic over those points!), you’re dropped into a world that’s plagued by pestilence and mysterious abductions. Without wishing to spoil the story, it’s your job to uncover the hidden legacy of your birth, across a world you’re free to explore. Since its Early Access and over the last seven months, Black Geyser has taken the time to improve almost all areas of its game. The entire purpose of getting the game into the hands of players as soon as possible was clearly to refine its vision, identify problem areas and put them right. Having delivered over 20 huge updates, including Mac and Linux support, Black Geyser has made sweeping changes. From vastly improved loading times, to clearer player tutorials, improved crafting, new zones, enemies and questlines, the small development team have ensured they've focused on addressing and reacting to key player feedback. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/18f38b5be5eb62789203a76ba8ab526260112495.png As a CRPG with a large open world with dozens of unique locations, exploring, interacting with NPC’s and managing Black Geyser’s tactical-combat-with pause is key. Just like most party-based titles of old, you’ll need to recruit key allies, discover their motivations, choose your formations and deck them out in any weapons and armor you can lay your hands on, whether that’s from taking on epic bosses, or stealing from a nearby inn (just don’t get caught by the guards). Black Geyser is undoubtedly a challenging experience, but first and foremost it puts its story and unique greed mechanic at the center. The choices you make will either advance the cause of the Goddess of Greed, or maintain the flame of hope to impact directly on the game world. Yerengal is brimming with content to discover, with varied grim biomes that have plenty of atmosphere that are filled with dangers. If you camp for the night, there’s every chance you’ll be ambushed. If you stray too far from the beaten track, don’t be surprised if you encounter enemies waiting to smash you to a pulp. With a branching narrative spanning more than 300,000 lines of text and multiple endings, there’s more than 60 hours of content available here, not including all the side quests and secrets to uncover. Scratching that old school itch is the name of Black Geyser’s game, and with future launch plans set to bring pets, strongholds and additional content, its launch this week is only the beginning. Available now on Steam at a discounted price before it launches into 1.0 today ($29.99). Are you ready to be corrupted by Black Geyser’s greed? https://store.steampowered.com/app/1374930/Black_Geyser_Couriers_of_Darkness/

Update 0.11: Campaign Map

Sergio Garcessteam_community_announcements

1614d ago

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/17b6bab18195d7b8da5ff202f4b9268ac1f7401d.png Hi Everyone, After the last update and having the game on sale we're not slowing down. 0.11 brings another massive change and one that many of you have been asking and waiting for since the beginning: a Campaign Map.

Campaign Map

Up until this point, runs were completely linear: you'd fight a battle after another with no choice in the matter. Now, after each battle you'll see the full map with all the interweaving paths to get to the boss - and you get to choose which boss you want to face! Besides different types of battles, the map features all kinds of rewards: energy, credits, meta-energy and even parts. So, if you see a part you like, you can make your way to it, by you may have to face those annoying Hoppers over there to get to it! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/737c0706edc6ff42d3cb902a6deedae48bf71149.gif The interface in the campaign map is basically the same as in a battle. You move on a grid, one square at a time, until you reach either of the bosses. But be careful, because you can't backtrack! After beating the boss you'll advance to the next environment, with new challenges. Something important to mention is that if you were in the middle of a run in 0.10, you can safely continue using the previous linear structure until the run ends. Your next run will then use the Campaign Map. This applies both to the regular campaign and the sandbox.

Interface Changes

Now that the Campaign Map is the landing screen in the Mech Armada Control Center, the screen with your list of Mech Blueprints is gone, and replaced with a view of your real Mechs. I know that some of you found it a bit difficult to see your Mechs in the pre-battle view, so now you have a much clearer camera and you can switch back and forth between that and the whole-battlefield one. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/80792ae58d45acf6737536595de6269fd1563ecc.jpg And of course you can still fully edit your Blueprints at any point (even during battle) using the Spawn panel on the left.

Other Changes

The other noticeable change you'll see is that the Credit Machine will only provide 5 credits (instead of 7) as a baseline. You can now find credits on the Campaign Map and you'll also need fewer as you can also collect parts there free of charge. Besides, you can use meta-energy to improve the Credit Machine and the ceiling has been raised so it can reach 10 (though at a high cost). The ceiling for the Power Generator and the Starting Energy improvements have also been increased slightly. Another change I want to discuss explicitly is nerfing the Shield and the Energy Shield. In 0.11 every time you get attacked they will lose 1 armor until the end of the battle. The reason for this change is that shields would provide perfect protection against most of the Swarm, especially at low challenge levels, making the run almost trivial and not very fun. Now you have to worry a bit more about receiving hits, even if you don't suffer damage. Lastly, a list of smaller fixes:

Updated Tutorial to teach both Blueprints and Transform
Tutorial will now correctly always use default parts (ignoring Starting Parts)
Settings button moved to the top-right corner in Main Menu for consistency
Fix Echo upgrade formatting error
Bosses now consume meta-energy when walking over it
Energy Pods no longer have a collection animation at the end of battle when empty
You no longer get 1 energy with Harvesting at the end of battle if the Pod is empty
Icon added to the Survive/Defeat text
Salvage no longer affects landmines or drones
Energy wasted removed from stats
Fix number of runs in stats (it wasn't including aborted runs)
Fix cooldown for the second weapon when transforming a dual-wielding mech

With every update I feel like Mech Armada is getting better. It's also getting closer to full release and we'll have some exciting announcements soon, so stay tuned. If you have any feedback about these changes, be sure to join our Discord or hit the forums. I'm always available to chat about the game. I hope you enjoy this update! /Sergio https://store.steampowered.com/app/1389360/Mech_Armada/

Update 0.10: Improved Economy

Sergio Garcessteam_community_announcements

1635d ago

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/a7df135e9f5917d5866a1ccc70dbd796d39bd06b.png Hi Everyone, We've had some pretty hefty updates, but 0.10 is indeed our biggest one yet. TL;DR:

Parts can only be spawned a limited number of times at the same time
Energy cost no longer goes up when you spawn parts
Energy cap removed
Added upgrade level 3.0 to all parts
Energy costs rebalanced across the board
Energy is auto-collected at the end of battle if a Mech stands on an Energy Pod
Dual wielding weapons is now supported
Many other fixes, additions and quality of life improvements

If you just want some details on what's new, skip to the New Energy Economy section below. For some backstory, read on...

Listening to the Community

It all started with a Discord message. Back in late September, user agmk mentioned that, after reading the Design Principles Post, he felt that the game was not flexible enough. It was causing him analysis paralysis, which goes against our fundamental ideas. By God, was he right. Back in those days, after you built a Mech you couldn't change anything and your only option was to scrap it at a heavy loss; needless to say, the decision to build any Mech was not to be taken lightly. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/de36678a208ee9a991aed9a46f04d3a873680f88.png Thus the original incarnation of Transform was born in 0.4, back in October. And it completely changed how the game is played. Transforming became the main way to build your Mech team over time, so much so that I had to make the interface more flexible in 0.8 in December so that you could do any transformation at any point. That's when I started hearing about how some players were beating the game at the highest challenge... Very early on, in my playtests during the prototyping phase, I quickly learned that the optimal strategy for the game was to slowly build up to a team where each and every Mech had the absolute best parts you had available. This was bad because it it created a single dominant strategy and it made many of the parts useless in most contexts. I solved the problem by having increasing energy costs to spawn parts - the more you spawn, the higher the cost, so you're incentivized to have a balanced team. And for a while, this worked as intended, as with a relatively low energy cap it was impossible for full teams to use the same parts over and over. And then, Transform happened. Now it was possible to build Mechs incrementally, so it was also possible to build very homogeneous teams even if the cost was high, if you had enough energy, as you could bypass the cap. Suddenly everyone had Triple-slot bodies with Gatlin and Damage guns, and not much more. Something had to change.

New Energy Economy and More Upgrades

The first change you'll notice in 0.10 is that now parts have a maximum number of uses. You can only have a limited number of them spawned in the field. Some parts are really limited and others less so, but you can't use the same part in every Mech anymore. Because of this, we no longer need to increase the spawn energy cost with every part you spawn, so energy costs are always the same. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/d98b2374ff6d876b1374bfb8e636785ed8c86b0c.jpg This introduced a problem in the energy economy, and the costs in general had to be rebalanced. But that wasn't all. Often, building a team with just the strongest parts (even if it was more costly) resulted in an overall stronger team. Without being able to do that anymore I worried that the game would become too hard. So, to compensate I added a second upgrade level to each and every part. You can now bring them up to level 3.0 and they are stronger than ever. I'll let you discover what they do for yourself - the easiest way is to look at them in the Part List in the MACC, as the tooltips now show the final upgrade. With these changes, the game feels better:

Increasing energy costs was confusing, especially for new players. Simple costs are easily understood.
Instead of the main strategy being pouring energy into a small set of parts, the game makes you think about which upgrades to invest in, as well as synergies between parts.
Progression is more tangible with the stronger 3.0 parts - you can literally see your team improving after every battle.
Transforming your mechs feels natural, with no hidden costs after using parts.

Playtesting revealed that players were ok with the maximum uses. But there was still a problem. In order to rebalance the economy, the basic costs for some parts had increased. In practice, this was offset by the cost not going up after spawning, but left the problem of certain Mech Blueprints being too expensive to build outright, because of the energy cap. Originally intended to limit how much upside there is in a mission (to prevent trivializing the rest of the run), it wasn't doing its job anymore as you can Transform anytime, so you can always sink your extra energy before you hit the cap. But extensively using Transform wasn't intuitive to new players, so they were at a disadvantage. Long story short, the energy cap is gone. If you had invested in the Energy Capacity Improvement, 0.10 will automatically refund your meta-energy. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/94fdfb5a1bf5c85ce3227c8b4322a52fe43ca18b.jpg

Quality of Life

The changes in these section came as a result of my playing the game and trying to smooth out some of the rough edges. I called them Quality of Life but in reality they add flexibility so you can play the game however you want.

Edit Blueprints

The first one actually falls out of Transform becoming integral to the game. The emphasis was no longer on building the best set of Blueprints to spawn, as you could change existing Mechs at any point. So people would create "seed" Blueprints, with just legs and a body, and flesh them out after spawning. To make this easier, now you can edit your Blueprints or add new ones at any point, even in the middle of a battle. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/8e879090156d3f11578bc7892ff57248c0c72df9.jpg

Undo Improvement Selection

Another area that required more flexibility is Improvements (meta-upgrades). In 0.10 you can undo your Improvement selection at any point if you change your mind, with no penalty. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/4dc7717c90f5edf304a512b5c3e259ff4d077987.jpg

Energy Auto-collect

Lastly, I hope to banish the ghost of energy farming once and for all. Up until now, if you wanted to drain an Energy Pod you had to stall the Swarm while you collected the energy. In 0.10 Mechs will auto-collect energy at the end of a battle if they're standing on an Energy Pod. How much energy is auto-collected is controlled by an Improvement - eventually you'll be able to drain the entire Pod this way. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/dd4a6d514e0f445fb15203d30f849298d4e069c6.jpg To make things interesting though, the Swarm will also drain Energy Pods when they stand on them. Make sure to not let them!

Part Adjustments

Besides the aforementioned upgrade level 3.0, there have been many other changes to parts. The first one is that you can now dual-wield weapons. A lot of people have asked for this feature and I was struggling to figure out the proper UI flow - and I finally solved it. It was actually quite straightforward in hindsight, and I hope you find it intuitive. Note that dual wielding still abides by the maximum usage limits - you spawn two Gatlin guns in one Mech, it counts as two. I still plan to add an Expansion that will allow you to clone a part and have two copies so you can spawn it even more. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/8c951dbe190d9f2279d7cc871e9ec988e46feedd.jpg A lot of balance tweaks have been applied, intended to strengthen 1-slot bodies. One change that's notable is that the Off-roader body has been removed and replaced with Echo, a body that will let you use a weapon twice in a turn. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/1deaaa22494c88fcedf4a1103e757080e72f10a9.jpg Other balance changes include:

Turbo acquires move capabilities (that used to be in Off-roader)
Ranger gains weapon slots when upgraded (up to 3 slots at 3.0)
Increased health on all the big transports
Adjusted Buggy and Trike buff at 2.0 so it triggers with basic parts
Impervious loses the -1 move penalty at 2.0
Lower Reflector's health
Missile Head gained health and lost armor
Remove armor from Trooper

And Some Fixes

Fix camera issues when a Survival mission ends with drones or by killing all Swarm
Smooth music transition entering and exiting the Transform screen
Tooltips added to Mission Complete screen rewards
AI prediction is now updated immediately when the Swarm receives damage-over-time
Fix Zapper visual element being in the wrong spot for the Sandworm Larva
Don't show End Turn warning if Mechs have actions with no consequences (e.g. attacking an armored enemy)
Updated icons to represent area-of-effect on tooltips
Minimum attack ranges are displayed using the correct number (it was off-by-one)

I'm very excited about these changes. They are a testament to the power of Early Access and how the community (that's you!) can influence the direction of a game in a very positive way. If you want to be a part of the next batch of changes join our Discord, where you also have the opportunity to try bleeding edge builds with all the updates before they get released to the public. /Sergio https://store.steampowered.com/app/1389360/Mech_Armada/

Update 0.9: New Bosses

Sergio Garcessteam_community_announcements

1651d ago

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/f04e87eac4ed960e1b0cf9ceb029280e149cc610.png Hi Everyone, It's been a while since the last update. I needed to take some time off and then I spent some time planning the new year, updating my set up and upgrading to the latest version of Unreal Engine (this should result in some performance improvements, especially around loading times). The funny thing about being a solo developer is that when you take a break nothing gets done! 😀 In this new update I thought having a big content push would be best, so I developed three new bosses. In the next update (which will be 0.10, not 1.0 - we'll get there eventually, but not quite yet) I plan to address some of the core gameplay issues I've identified over the last month, so you can expect some changes to the energy and part economy. Remember you can join the Discord to chat with me and get the latest builds before anyone else.

New bosses

The new bosses will show up with a 50% chance, and you'll get the old ones the rest of the time. For now you won't know what's coming, though I plan to change that pretty soon.

Behemoth

Ridiculously strong, even at a distance you won't be safe from his rock throwing. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/48515665577a8488eaf71700143ae4a8d0565860.gif

Scorpion

Their armored carapace makes Scorpions very difficult to deal with, you'll need to buy your time until they weaken before you strike. Did I mention they hunt in packs? {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/761976b1088727724a5edf52babdf39610b67b23.gif

Dragon

The king of the monsters, fire-breathing dragons of legend are as scary as they come. Approach it, if you dare, and if you can! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/39795548/c81b274610b376dd2fa1c95ea989fb2abcdeb01e.gif

Other fixes

A couple small fixes complete this update:

Scrolling direction fixed before entering battle
Applying upgrades energy cost increased
Transform will no longer restart music while in battle
Fixed UI issues after transforming in battle

Expect more goodness soon, I'm 100% back in the saddle. Remember to please leave a positive review if you haven't already, I really appreciate each and every one. And if you would like to chat with me, the best way to do it is to join our Discord - plus you can get all the upcoming changes before anyone else in the beta branch. /Sergio https://store.steampowered.com/app/1389360/Mech_Armada/

Mech Armada news & patch notes

Mech Armada news & patch notes

The Problem

The Solution

In the Beginning

This Is What Early Access Is For

Making Everyone Happy?

Daily Part

New Parts

Jetpack

Smoke Grenade

Big Rocket

Daily Deal

1.0 plans

Price increase

Thank you

Gamepad Support

Steam Achievements

UI Refresh

Ultrawide and 4:3 Improvements

Color Options

New Content

Gazer

New Zapper

Freezer

Balance

And More...

Campaign Map

Interface Changes

Other Changes

Listening to the Community

New Energy Economy and More Upgrades

Quality of Life

Edit Blueprints

Undo Improvement Selection

Energy Auto-collect

Part Adjustments

And Some Fixes

New bosses

Behemoth

Scorpion

Dragon

Other fixes

Steam news for Mech Armada