Project Landsword
A downloadable game for Windows
The once peaceful surface of Mars has decayed into a violent battleground between arms corporations and Earthly governments.
To join the fight would be crazy. To survive would be downright psychotic.
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Landsword is a top-down mecha shooter with a heavy emphasis on destruction and gameplay that combines elements from classic shoot em' ups with contemporary action-stealth games.
Featuring fully destructible environments, players must use their wits and surroundings to outsmart and defeat enemies in combat, while still retaining an arcade feeling to its gameplay.
This early prototype demo currently includes four different missions with five different weapons to choose from.
[ Landsword is a working title, final name subject to change. ]
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*DirectX shader / note for Linux users:
Upon starting a mission, you may encounter an error screen that says the D3D outline shader failed to compile. If this error occurs, please use Winetricks to install DirectX and then try again. This should fix any shader compile errors if you are having them.
- If you are having the same issue on a Windows PC, please see if your DirectX driver is up to date or installed, this will fix the issue.
- A dedicated Linux build will also come eventually, currently I do not have the ability to compile one.
Download
Install instructions
Download and unzip folder.
Development log
- 60 FPS hotfix for Windows 10/11 users27 days ago
- LS Update V.0.6.033 days ago
Comments
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Hi, i just got a suggestion! My english is not the best, so you could encounter typos or smt wrong, sorry.
Anyway, since the game is named "LandSword" thought of adding some kind true melle weapon, like a sword. It could be insanely powerful, 1-shoting everything or taking some swings, but being very fast, but it would have a VERY short range, like 2 legths of a player. Also it could have infinite ammo, or not? Idk.
Thank you for the game and for the update you done recently. I wish you luck in development. Goodbye!
Hello,
Thank you for your suggestion. I definitely plan on having a melee weapon for stealth takedowns, will be a 1-hit kill/disable weapon that requires you to get super close.
Much obliged again for playing and the idea!
I found a fun detail :). If you don't hold the railgun for long enough, the bullet will just pop out insted of being shot.
Yes!
Is it okay that always det A+ grade?
For now, it always says A+ no matter what. Next build should hopefully have different ranks working.
This demo got me feeling like I am an Eighty Six
feeling lucky being here for such an awesome game
Appreciate it, thanks for playing!
np i made my first editing project with this, hope this'll get more people in lol
Nice combat montage! Thanks for making it.
i'm really liking the game in the future could custom keybinding be added also i really like the idea of action-stealth with mechs i don't know how it would work but it'd be cool to see mission were you have to set up ambushes like in a forest for example,cameo/invisible enemies and night missions in the rain like that one scene in ghost in the shell but its really good keep it up and lmk what you think of the suggestions :)
Key rebinding is planned along with an overhaul of all menus, for now everything is a placeholder. I plan on having more stealth-focused missions and different conditions as well, thanks for the suggestions!
Do you have a roadmap for that?
That game is so awesome!
Thank you! No public roadmap at the moment, but a lot is planned. Hopefully the next update will flesh out the game's key systems more.
The quad-tank has eaten.
Holy shit the railgun is awesome. The sound, the camera shake, the destruction, it feels as powerful as it is, such an awesome addition.
Nice work with the new map, and the gunship in the first is a nice touch also. I did notice that the gunship soaked up like... 5-6 missles before I gave up and used the railgun lol, not sure if that's intended but I wondered if there was a bug preventing them from doing damage or something. Otherwise, seriously awesome update, especially the game starting fullscreen that's a wonderful QoL improvement :)
Thanks for playing again! Glad you liked the railgun weapon, it's a favorite.
The gunships have more health than tanks actually, but you can hit them from anywhere as long as your crosshairs are directly over them. I figured it was a fair tradeoff. I think using only missiles it takes around 6-7 to take one down. Also happy to hear the automatic fullscreen is working, a lot of people asked for that!
This post sponsored by SafeChem and the Martian Terraforming Corporation.
Great update.
Couple of qualms I have;
Its difficult to see where my crosshair is sometimes. The color of the crosshair blends too well with the background which make it hard to make out, so I tend to lose it, which becomes a bit annoying especially when I need to quickly snap to a different target. So in the, end, im using my tracers to figure out where my crosshair is (which is not really viable when i need to switch to missiles).
I suggest making the crosshair bigger or a different color that contrasts well against the background (like black or green with a color accent), or having a simple thin line extending from the player mech to the crosshair (maybe we could customize how we want the crosshair to look like in settings, with different crosshair styles).
The shotgun is also kinda busted. Its easy to intercept missiles with it (or maybe that could remain a feature?) and I feel like it shouldn't destroy/go through buildings as easily as any other gun.
There should also probably be a limit to how many buildings the railgun can go through, unless its supposed to be an OP endgame weapon (although it is so much fun to use).
But the new scenario is great. Its a nice break from the claustrophobic (in a good way) urban maps.
Thank you for playing.
I'll have an option to show an extra outline over the cursor and also draw a laser from the player to where it is, a few other people seem to be having similar issues.
It's supposed to be much more powerful than the other weapons at the cost of lower ammo. I think for the slower firing rate it also makes up for it by punching through buildings more.
Indeed, it'll probably be an endgame weapon since it's sort of broken with how OP it is. I might have a weaker gun that goes through buildings with a single shot, but does far less damage.
Glad to hear it, there'll be more variety to come!
Rumors that Val has an arson charge floating around.
Loved every second of this.
The only thing that annoyed me was hitting cars with rockets and hurting my mech. It's definitely a mistake on my end but it kind of feels weird that the mech can't shoot over them.
Other than that, I can't wait to see and play more. I more than trust your creative vision so I won't make any suggestions.
Thanks for playing!
I can understand that being frustrating. I'll update it so the missiles check a minimum distance before activating collisions like they do with the trees.
I'm still interested in hearing any and all feedback you have since it's in an early state. Any others reasons for the 4 out of 5 stars? Always happy to hear what needs to be improved!
I gave the game 4/5 because it's apparent the game is incomplete but has a fun core gameplay. I love the movement, visuals, sounds, main character quotes and so much more. However, due to its development stage, the game still lacks in worldbuilding (which is currently contained in mission briefings), soundtrack (which makes maps feel empty in a weird bad way that's hard for me to desrcibe), and leaves a lot to be desired outside of play (main menu ui, different gamemodes etc.) but those don't affect the core gameplay so they don't bother me as much right now. Another thing I noticed is how cluttered and/or unorganized maps can feel from time to time leading to weird and claustrophobic encounters (maps might be well designed gameplaywise but the bots pursuing the player might find themselves in tricky or unfun spots to fight). There is also so much space for various setpieces which are nowhere to be seen.
I don't want any of this criticism to come of as rude. I've played the game twice -once before and once after the last update. I've beaten all the levels using all the weapons. I loved the inclusion of flying enemies which interact with environment in a completely different way and it makes me wonder if there could be any water only enemies. I also loved the plasma gun (the one which charges up and shoots a straight line obliterating both buildings and mechs). All of the weapons are very satisfying to kill enemies with (which is always the main objective).
All in all I want to see more and I think you are steering the game in the right direction. I've shared the game to my friends and can't wait for the next update.
Appreciate the in depth explanation and each point of feedback, that's exactly what I'm looking for! I know some of the levels at the moment leave much to be desired — they're pretty much all placeholders for now since I haven't implemented the main overworld map which will eventually help coordinate locations and missions more. Soundtrack is also being thrown together slowly, but nothing good enough to include in the game yet.
I'll try to make sure there's more to see in each level. I can't promise a Valve level minute to minute gameplay maximization, but I understand some more variety would be nice, even for ~3 minute levels.
As for worldbuilding and a proper story — I've been putting most of my work into making the actual game fun before I spend months drawing cutscenes and developing a plot as I'd hate for it all to be wasted on something that ultimately turns out to be an annoyance to play. But I agree that without those elements the actual combat sort of feels pointless.
I had enemy gunboats planned for the fourth level, but I simply ran out of time to make them. Some water turrets that pop in and out are also planned.
Much appreciated, thank you once again for playing and the feedback! I always take note of critical comments and try to improve the game using what was said.
Just tried the latest update.
Fan-freaking-tastic! Little note though: Stage 3 is hands-down harder than stage 4. Easy fix might just be to swap them in mission order.
Very very happy, looking forward to seeing more! Do you want money? You deserve money for working on this.
Thank you for playing. Most of the stages for now are placeholders, but I'll consider that!
Eventually. I think it's unfair to charge for a prototype demo, but maybe in the future I'll put something up in if it needs funding to be finished.
I'm gonna be short: its a great game very nice sprites guns sounds are sastifying
but quick question: Why sometimes when i shot the helicopter while it was parked its propellor fell off why did that happen?
Helicopter blades don't tend to stay on when they strike solid objects.
So I checked the new demo at last. It seems like AI improved and became more challenging. I like minigun changes but there should probably be more start ammo for it or more ammo in pickups (or both). Railgun fun and OP but as you've said - if it will be a final weapon then it's fine. Probably you'll implement some point system where you should unlock new weapons and systems depending on your sum highscore on all levels (you can find an example of such system in Jets and Guns 2 and Bot Vice - although here it is a timer for all missions but idea is the same). In this case there will be a reason to play more accurate to decrease damage to property. I like new helicopter enemy very much since I'm a fan of Strike series (I was wondering how the game would look like if you had a helicopter instead of a mecha... probably an idea for some mission or couple of them?). Remarks from the heroine looks cool but I'd increase the time before they vanishes at least twice since it's not always possible to pay an attention to them immediately in battle. Also I'd change default grenade button to F, Q or E but I guess you'll implement key bindings at some point so it's fine for now. Funny thing BTW - the only mission that I couldn't complete is... the first one. Others feel a bit easier with grenades, especially the second one. New mission looks very nice BTW. It has that Duke Caribbean: Life's a Beach vibe in it. ^_^
Completed the first mission with auto-cannon today from the first try. Little sneaky bastard tactics also helped. I guess you should really take more appropriate weapons for each mission and change your tactics depending on the situation. Also helicopter felt near me and and damaged my armor. That is a really nice touch here. And I noticed at last that buildings are not just sprites - the perspective changes a little when the camera moves so you can see they have a volume. Really cool.
P.S. BTW - tested the game both on my pretty powerful gaming PC with Windows 10 and on my old laptop (ASUS N53TK). Runs fine on both of them.
Thank you for playing once again!
Indeed, I have updated them to be more responsive to things like explosions and getting stuck less on terrain.
I actually hadn't thought of using the score to give the player new weapons. That's an interesting idea and I'll consider trying to implement it.
Those are classic games, I used to play some spinoffs called Air Strike 3D way back in the day. I'm sure it'd be cool to play as an attack helicopter for a mission or two, but it would probably change the gameplay dynamics too much. Who knows though, maybe I'll try it.
I may put an adjustable timer in the settings menu for it. I don't want the quips and comments to be too distracting when tons of stuff is happening, so I try to keep them mostly infrequent and fast when they happen.
Indeed, a reworked settings menu with full key rebinding is planned, it may be a while though.
Interesting. The first mission has randomized enemy spawners and timers so it plays differently almost every time. Sometimes it can be really hard and everything comes at the player at once, so I understand. Glad you like the new level! I thought it was a nice change of pace too.
Nice job! Enemies do have directional armor now, so sneaking around is encouraged.
Got to watch where they fall! If you're low on health, those helicopters can kill you if they fall on top of you. Glad you noticed the buildings shift their perspective too, I'm thinking of adding additional perspective effects so it's more noticeable.
Glad to hear that. If you still have any of the old builds - when you play it, does the newest one seem noticeably faster now that it has the FPS fixing .dll?
Yay, A new demo! new mission, more guns & Enemies!
Thanks for the hard work you've done. I've enjoyed your game since version 0.5.1.
As a fan of Mech-shooting game, I'm very excited to see someone like you make this awesome stuff. (especially on your own, with no help!)
and I have a suggestions about Soft-kill APS(Like someone said it below). If I can choose the type of grenades like HE / Smoke / Napalm, Smoke grenade could be used as a Countermeasure against enemy missile and detection. I can't imagine how this can be tricky in game development, but I hope this idea might could help save your time and resources, as this is using a current weapon system.
Now I'm gonna test that Alternative V-sync part. I didn't realize Until I saw a comment below. Keep up the great work!
Thanks for playing again!
There will be different types of grenades as well as different APS systems to act as a shield.
I'm about to release a hotfix for the FPS. I've just identified the issue yesterday and sent it to two testers who've confirmed the fix. Really sorry that people on Windows 10/11 have been experiencing it at about 80% speed, it's an OS issue not a game/hardware one.
I tried the alternate V-Sync and holy shit the FPS skyrocketed? I'll record next time.
Nice! I knew something felt off in the recordings. I guess it's just an OS compatibility thing since on my end I don't see an FPS boost, instead the cursor movement just becomes smoothed out a lot.
Hope it's not playing at twice the speed it should be though, seen a few people early on have the game seemingly running at 2x speed on certain setups.
Excellent piloting, very skillful. From what I can tell it simply untethers an FPS limit with the engine and the game starts running at twice the speed. I've read on different forums the v-sync in Game Maker isn't "true" v-sync, and is just the engine slowing the game down by a few milliseconds to stitch together inbetween frames.
It's a shame since from what I can tell looking at different videos, the autocannon shoots much slower than it should. It should fire at just below the firing rate of the minigun. Not much I can do on my end to fix it sadly. I might end up porting the game to GMS2 if there's more compatibility options from there, but it'll be awhile until it's finished.
I'll record a round without V-Sync entirely and one with V-Sync for reference. Also thank you in regards to the skill.
I got this game for Christmas 1999.
Updating mine review since we got some updates! The first level enemy addition took me by surprise the first time.
Looks are still good, I don't know if it's the bigger window or design change but I think stuff is more visible. We can see our pilot now! Only need to receive some potshots beforehand, I'm sure the maintance team won't care much about some scratched paint.
New guns are chunky, railgun is fun but I keep shooting at point blank range and killing myself, scatter gun is okay same for the flamer but mine heart still belong to the ammo hog that is the BRRRRT minigun. Grenades seem superfluous until I noticed I can lob stuff over building without wasting rockets and it distracts the enemies like the AA tower.
Wonder why the team on level 3 went rogue.Boster speed could maybe be increased a bit more, same with it's costs
Thanks for playing again!
If you only played since V.0.1, I've since added a lot to help increase visibility by changing the sprites, adding outlines, and indicators to show the player where they are.
The minigun is definitely my favorite as well. The grenades can be quite useful too - I'm glad to see you noticed it distracts the CIWS turrets. You can also do the same with missiles as well.
Upgrades for the boost will come eventually. As for the unit on level 3 going rogue - hopefully I'll be able to add a proper plot eventually and have things make more sense.
Are you still running this game on a 32-bit machine by the way?
I just saw this demo posted elsewhere and think it looks good! The pixel are is crisp and the armored vehicles/tanks/mechs all look excellent. Weapons have good punch.
The EM Railgun feels quite a bit more powerful in both feel and gameplay than the rest of the arsenal in my honest opinion. You can be very far away for one and charging up a MAX Charge shot takes less time than consistent fire of other weapons (with the associated risk of missing obviously).
Movement felt a bit... slow(?) for the control scheme. I'm not sure what the exact adjective is but it felt a little off in some way. Maybe the boost wasn't doing enough for my taste?
Extremely promising and I hope to see more!
Thank you for playing. The railgun is indeed way more powerful than any of the other weapons, it's going to be most likely an end game weapon since I don't think there's many ways to balance it.
I've been somewhat torn on the normal movement speed. For more open levels I can understand it feeling slow, but for tighter maps like the third mission, the slower speed makes it easier to maneuver through buildings/terrain. The boost will be upgradeable eventually, so you'll have a longer and faster overdrive.
Thank you!
Ahh I see now. That makes a lot more sense. Are there plans to have upgrades for the early weapons so they eventually match the planned endgame weapons?
Indeed, that'll probably be how the upgrades will work.
Wow, discovered new update just by accident. I think you should post development logs so there would be a mentions about updates for users that following you.
Thanks for letting me know this. I had assumed the notification would go out automatically that it was updated, but it seems I was mistaken.
Yeah it doesn’t post a notification, file updates are subtle. I presume this is intentional in case hot patches need to be uploaded right after a big update and you don’t want a bunch of notifications.
A great update all in all. Seems like you took a lot of community suggestions to heart (You already had a lot of this planned earlier, I assume, but it's still nice that you added stuff we wanted to see).
Really love the EM Railgun, it just feels so powerful, like it should. The Scattergun is also nice but the Railgun just overshadows it in terms of pure joy. The new FX for the missiles also look really good, definitely an improvement over the last version.
The new mission is really fun to play. The new attack helicopter provides a fun challenge, and the WW1 looking tank thing is a really nice addition as well. To me it also feels like the AI of the old enemies has changed. Could just be me though.
I guess the only thing that annoys me about the new enemies is that you can't see the helicopter when you're running away from it while it's shooting at you.
Another thing is, I really love how OP the Railgun is, but currently it's just that, OP. It takes makes the game really easy, if I'm being honest, though maybe I'm just playing the game wrong. Maybe reducing the ammo further would help? I'm not sure. Using the Railgun also makes the viewport seem really small, since you'd want to use it from as far away as possible, but that's not very far. But increasing the viewport size for just the Railgun would make it OP again. I don't really know how to fix it, I'd just like to express what I thought while playing it.
Apart from that, I'd like to play the game in windowed mode even at 1080p (I mean, you can use Alt + Enter, but that looks really janky), but apart from that, this update seems really high quality. It makes me really excited for what the future holds for this game.
Thanks for playing again!
Happy to hear the new particles look good. I felt the missiles were pretty lacking last time. I'd like to rewrite the debris smoke particles in the next build, it'd be nice if they were more realistic and stuck around longer I think.
The AI has had an update. They should be smarter now and react to explosions near them, and I also put a system in place to level out their aggression in big groups so when you're fighting them 1 v 1 they're more aggressive. The WW1 looking tank is a hovercraft - depending on which weapon you have equipped they can be quite a challenge to fight.
That's a fair point. I could put a check in so it has to be on screen at least one time before it starts shooting, though it might make it a lot easier to survive.
You're not playing the game wrong - it really is just highly OP. I thought it was too much fun though, so I left it in as is. It'll probably be a late game weapon.
I don't think I'll be zooming the viewport out at any point since it'll probably look a bit noisy with all of the pixel art resizing even at twice the resolution. I think I'm just going to keep it as a stupidly OP end game weapon.
Sorry about that. Some people asked for automatic fullscreen and resizing a few times so I felt the need to implement it. I prefer playing in windowed mode myself, so next time I'll hopefully have a fully revamped settings menu implemented.
Thank you. It still has long ways to go and I have a lot more planned, so expect more in the future.
NEW DEMO!!!!! LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOO!
I stress tested it with V-SYNC on. Keep in mind there is some compression from YouTube and maybe OBS which is what I used to record it. I could email you the direct video files instead if you feel like it will make a difference. The game feels good and I think the biggest quality of life improvement is the new targeting reticle which has significantly improved my gameplay I feel.
I'm not colorblind myself, but my only suggestion is you might want to make the target reticle a colorblind-friendly color if it isn't already. Here's a useful website. You also might want to add a photo-sensitivity warning when the game is booted up since it features a number of flashy light-based visual effects. Useful website for colorblind-friendly colors below.
https://davidmathlogic.com/colorblind/#%23D81B60-%231E88E5-%23FFC107-%23004D40
Thanks for the video, looks pretty smooth. I guess the delays are probably a mix of the compression and OBS as you said. For example the reloading sound of the railgun stops before it fills up all the way and clicks, really small stuff like that, but again the game appears to be running fine. Glad the new targeting reticule also feels good to use, the old one really needed to be replaced.
When I eventually add a proper settings menu, I'll be sure to have a few options to tweak the colors of indicators and the reticules. I had hoped to have it in this build, but I ended up focusing my efforts on fixing bugs and adding extra details. Epilepsy warning may be needed as well, thanks.
Did you try using the alternate v-sync method by the way? Someone else tried this with the first build by changing the settings .ini and it moved the FPS cap to 144, though you may need to have another program to clamp it down 60 as it'll be running at twice the speed: https://itch.io/post/9847210
I haven't tried that. I might. Will record if I do.
"Fucking smoked."
No tank escapes.
i like this game, watch a youtube and send me straigh here hehe.
some 1st thought playing it: the game speed kinda bit too fast? on 1 & 2 mission. the gameplay speed on mission 3 is ok. more time for a bit stagegy. the hud ui is some how cover enemy arrow if playing on a big screen like 24". the menu ui totally fine. cool sound track n reference me of Front Mission series & 86 anime. cool flash game vibes. Would like to see this smol game on Nintendo Switch store. i know it just a demo, but it's got potential in future to bright
i new here, so most my experience is from playing console and old simulator game. I remember one old game from PS1 got this kinda similar gameplay. . . Future Cop LAPD.it's still soon to telling any future story. You are doin great. keep up.
i love this game and how it play.
the variety in the enemies, though the enemies tend to get stuck in buildings every now and then but that is expected considering how dense the map is personally i love the two city maps so much.
Though i feel that the unit we control is too skippy and fast with agility for stealthy gameplay imo, the enemies seem to have their units pretty realistic and feel heavy, like the artilery unit feel like a big threat but a lumbering slow movement and turn speed unit i would make it more deadly with the firepower.. or the small one with missiles.
However i think the game is too easy despite the low health pool, the ammunition we have is so high that i finished the mission before needing a resupply.
The enemies was too spread out and have no tactics of their own so it was a breeze to pick them out.
But i love the game so i would be waiting for it completion!
This game is just what I was looking for as a mecha fighting game, real awesome pixel art, I still have the old demo, looking foward to future updates.
As sugestions, would be interesting to see more technological stuff added, like hard-kill APS defense systems (literally a bulet like projectile that strike an incoming misile) and soft-kill defense (like an automatic smoke screen when target by a enemy laser rangefinder). Technologies found on current tanks and misile lauchers, as real world inspirations.
Also would be interesting some level of customization of the mecha, an option of a more tank like mecha, with caterpillars maybe (an interesting visuals are the Object 279 and IS-7 tanks). Regarding main weapons a cannon similar to the ones found on current main battle tanks, 120, 130 or 140 mm rounds, for example.
Features like the ability to give small bursts, increasing the velocity of the mecha for a short period of time, release flares to damage small targets, or detonate incoming fire (like in fighter jets). In addition of the main weapon and the possibility to launch missiles, would be nice to have an light weapon, like a small machine gun. Another think nice to have in the mecha, now thinking on a new kind of enemies, would be an automatic anti-air gun.
Great game! Hope that the project keep alive, looking forward to support it. Wish that my suggestions may helped, or have given good ideas for the game's development.
Keep the great work!
Thanks you for the kind words and ideas.
I'd like to have actual APS systems for shields that fire off visible rounds to intercept incoming missiles. Soft-kill system with smoke might also be cool, though I'd need a lot of new enemies for that.
Different chassis parts/customization I'm still a bit torn on, but we'll see. It's a pretty popular request and I'm sure it's straightforward to implement, but it's a lot of work on my end to do different artwork, sprites, balancing each part out, etc.
You can actually shoot down incoming missiles from enemies - they can also shoot your missiles down as well so it's fair. IR blinders and flares will probably be a countermeasure too.
Much appreciated, thanks again!
Are we allowed to commission slash draw art of protagonist girl?
And if sooo... Any big no nos?
Absolutely!
I don't want to police what people do with commissions/fan-art, so not really. I would love to see the drawing if you do commission someone though, fanart (even if explicit) is always appreciated.
It probably will be suggestive or lean explicit somehow. I'll likely commission her as art from someone more talented than I before I draw her. I don't wanna clog up your comment section, is there an email I can drop it?
I still have the latest demo version on my drive, so I might share it if the developer permits.
hi could i try out the demo? the project looks really cool
Please check back at another time, an updated demo will be available in the near future.
ok:)
This looks sick. Please make a Steam-page. I wanna wishlist.
Will definitely have a Steam page up when it's more developed!
Hi, where is the download option?
At the moment the download for the demo is unavailable as I'd like to focus on improving the game with the feedback provided for this current build. Please check back at another time, thank you.
Hi... Thanks 4 the answer.
NEW UPDATE LET'S FUCKING GO!!!!
Is there a way to pay a support fee?
It's much appreciated, but currently I'm not taking any donations. At another point in development I might put something up where people can, but right now the game is in such an early state that I feel like it's not worth it. Additionally there's no ETA on the next update either, so I feel taking donations would become a bit stressful.
please please open a patreon and let us support this masterpiece
10/10 girlboss simulator
<3
Thank you kindly for playing. Even though I'm working on it actively, I don't think I have enough content for people to donate to a patreon page, so right now I don't have any plans to open one.
Do you plan to keep most of the weapons kind of grounded to what we see on real life armored fighting vehicles and aircraft?
For the most part, but if it's something fun and really mixes the gameplay up I'll throw it in even if it's a little unrealistic. I'm thinking the player will gain access to some "experimental" weaponry from arms companies that are eager to see them tested out in the field.
What rank is Val? I imagined her as a Chief Warrant Officer.
Hard to say, probably something close to that.
I could see an achievements screen where you have a uniform portrait and gradually collect little ribbons and patches on it as you progress.
hello! I may be a little late, but I absolutely love this concept and the game. I know there are a lot of cool ideas already suggested, but I hope that these are worthwhile:
I’ve seen a few notes on the overdrive, I think that there’s room for a unique mechanic tied to it. What if you can select to shunt the extra power into a different system, slowing down your sprint but giving a different advantage. For example, a passive or active cloak; passive being a visual cloak that stops enemies from detecting you, but lets radar guided weapons still find you, Active cloaking being a jammer device that lets them know where you are, but makes missiles go haywire and reduces their general accuracy.
I also have some secondary weapon ideas. Different missile types, unguided rocket bursts, a fully guided missile that requires you to lock on, bunker busters that go through buildings and explode. I also have seen the mortar idea, but I think an orbital weapon that detaches your camera for a short range, and allows you to fire tungsten rods from space would be cool. Also maybe an emp?
Ammo types? Explosive, flechette, incendiary. That might negate some weapon types though, but it would give ballistic weapons like the auto cannon more flair.
I think the stealth mechanic could be greatly enhanced by giving certain enemies(like the tanks) directional armor, which is what I thought the third missions prompt of flanking meant. It would help some missions make you choose stealth over guns blazing.
I assume there will be different mission types, but I had the idea that you are given a picture of a car, and you have to blow up that one target. However, the car is driving towards a bunker, and there are multiple enemy units in the way. A kind of interception mission.
well, thank you for reading this. Again, I love everything about this project, cheers.
(P.S, I completely understand if this is a personal labor of love, but you did mention customization sprite work issues; I would love to help if I can, I have a background in game design and animation. I am not a professional. I am a pixel mech enthusiast. Regardless of whether you accept my offer, I wish you all the best of luck, this is literally one of my favorite games now, even though it’s not even done yet.)
Thank you for playing and the feedback!
Changing the power for different systems on the mech is an interesting way of managing it that I hadn't thought of. It might be a bit too much for some players to keep track of though, I feel like the game would have to pause to account for the player switching between separate functions. I like the concept though.
There will be different missile types, I'm working on them right now actually. Missiles that go through buildings to skewer enemies is also a very cool idea, thanks for that. As for EMP, I think that'll be mostly relegated to grenades since I feel it could get a bit OP if the player can disable any/most threats in their way with a primary weapon. Orbital strike also sounds cool.
I've thought hard about having changeable ammo types, but I think I'm going to relegate it to just specific weapons having their own specific ammo, otherwise as you said it could end up negating some of the weapons. A weapon with massive flechette rounds will definitely be added, I'd like to be able to nail flesh targets together.
Directional armor on enemies has been on my to-do-list for a long time, I regret not getting it done sooner. It'd really enhance ambushing enemies as you said.
Cool idea! I could see that being fun. Maybe for a mission with a train instead of a car as well.
That's very kind, thank you. At the moment I am focusing primarily on getting system work done, but at another time I may need a dedicated character artist or technical designer for some of the more miscellaneous things that need to be concepted and implemented.
Thank you for considering! That sounds right down my alley, technical art and mechanical design is my style. Character art and turnarounds are also something I have experience in.
I am in the process of figuring out where to go next with my own project, and getting to see something like this in its early stages helps me stay motivated to continue my work.
When you are looking for an artist, will there be a general announcement, or should I be on the lookout for a direct contact (I don’t want to miss it)
- btw, minor bug report, when I redeploy, any smoke or particles linger from the last mission, obscuring the map. Once, the particles carried over to the title screen.
Glad to hear that.
I will probably put out an announcement on the page at some point, but I can't give an ETA.
I'm aware of this issue and I've already got a fix for it ready, the next public build will have it patched.
I don't know about the overdrive. I really like this idea, but as the boost is currently basically useless you would just always relegate the power to that different system. If it would be implemented this way, that ought to be accompanied by changes to the enemies, etc, to make the boost more useful. Then it would be a real decision between running around guns blazing or carefully ambushing enemies.
While cool, the tungsten rods would be really uneconomical in-universe. They provide no more explosive power than regular bombs/missiles (delivered via plane or missile) and cost a metric ton of money (tungsten is hella expensive), so in-universe they'd probably just use regular air to surface missiles (unless, for some reason, tungsten costs like 5 dollars per ton or something). At least, that's my opinion, but Mezz is always open to do what he wants, it's his game, and after all, the rule of cool is the only one that matters.
I actually like the current boost speed. After really getting in tune with the movement mechanics, the overdrive does fill the role of a boost, without being immersion breakingly fast. However, it becomes useless if the player has no incentive to not get hit. If you are ok with taking five hits per mission, then the boost is useless. I beat mission 1 and 3 with zero direct hits, and the overdrive becomes a vital mechanic. I think adding a power diversion system would give players a more active way to change playstyle, and influence which weapon you choose. For example, if there is a sniper weapon, cloaking between cover might be better than sprinting. But if you want to get out of dodge, you would definitely miss the extra speed.
Set on mars, with giant mechanized infantry, I think rule of cool applies. My favorite thing is military tech that has obviously better solutions, but is created through bureaucracy to be a futuristic super weapon. If not the tungsten rods, then another form of orbital/suboribtal weapon would do. I suggested the rods because it’s one, different than every other spacelaser, and two, it won’t have the radius of an equivalent missile strike.
I don't really use the boost mechanic at all. Only at the beginning of the missions to get to the enemies quicker. I also completed level 1 without getting hit (once, it took a few tries, I'm not the best at video games), but I didn't really sue the boost to escape enemies or similar actions.
As I previously said, the rule of cool is a cornerstone of (nearly) every sci-fi story. But I think an interplanetary civilisation would be keen on being efficient (if it actually is is another conversation entirely).
Tungsten rods have been use in multiple sci-fi stories already, in my opinion they're no more unique than a space laser. I'm not really sure what other options there are, but I would definitely like at least some kind of bombardment ability, regardless of if it's an orbital bombardment or aerial bombardment. I'm sure Mezz can come up with an idea that satisfies him.
I've been reading the suggestions in the comments and thought I'd also throw in my two cents, as I've really come to like the game over the few hours I've played it. In general, this supposed to be a compendium of some ideas I like, taken from the comments along with some of my own ideas. I hope I'm not too overbearing, and that I don't come across as someone who demands you do what I want, I just like to put forth my ideas as food for thought.
I'll try to structure it a bit, but I'm the worst at writing, so forgive me for that.
1. Weapons:
I've read in the comments you plan to implement some new weapons, notably a railgun and laser weapons. I've given it some thought and I've come up with a few ideas.
The laser weaponry goes first:
The Sunbeam: A laser weapon with a continuous beam. My idea was to make you keep the beam on the enemy for a few seconds before they die, but that of course leaves you open to attacks. Maybe a way to balance the weapon, especially considering the ideas I have for the ammo, I don't know.
The Energy Repeater: A laser with a non-continuous beam, akin to "laser bolts". I imagine it as a slow firing (slower than the auto cannon but faster than the railgun) heavy machine gun of sorts, which does more damage than the auto cannon.
I see three ways of making an ammo system. One way would be to say they use batteries, which would make it compatible with the existing ammo system, but the second idea is a thermal management system. This will be something I expand on when I get to the engine overdrive. The last option would be to give them infinite ammo, though that'd be a bit OP without proper balancing.
Now the kinetic weaponry:
The Railgun: I imagine the Railgun shooting metal slugs that don't explode on impact. It would be able to shoot through buildings, just like you already hinted at in the comments, and I've thought about maybe making you able to see further than normal in a small cone of vision, though I think that coupled with the fact it can shoot through buildings would make it pretty OP. Maybe an option would be to balance it out with a low amount of ammo, long reload times and a max amount of buildings it can shoot through (maybe like 3 to 5?). Additionally, it would be pretty cool if you could shoot through multiple mechs when they're lined up.
The Tank/Artillery cannon: Another idea I've seen in the comments. I've thought about how to differentiate it from the Railgun and the missiles, and my idea was to make it have a firing arc. So instead of hitting whatever is in the way of the shells, it requires precise aiming so the shells hit. This could also encourage a stealth playstyle, considering the fact you can fire upon enemies from behind buildings and you can't just spray and pray once a huge horde of enemies comes your way (like I did more than I'd like to admit).
I also read some suggestions on a third weapon/gadget, and I had some ideas for that as well:
Mine layer: A simple device to lay mines. Detonate once a mech drives on top of them.
Bomb layer: Lays/shoots bombs which can be activated by the player.
EMP Grenade Launcher: Launches EMPs in an arc (like the artillery cannon) which can disable mechs so you can ambush them.
A laser designator: Obviously inspired by Tripsyy, calling in an orbital/aerial bombardment, NPC reinforcements, supply drops, etc. Could also function as a main weapon if the cooldown is short/if using the laser designator to give the NPC reinforcements commands.
2. The Mech
As some commentors have already suggested, being able to customise the mech (even if it's just for looks) would be really cool. An idea I've read somewhere is to make you able to make trade-offs, for example getting more armour for less speed. This may be implemented in a "space" mechanic, where each upgrade takes "space" on the mech. For example, thick armour would take up a lot more physical space than thinner armour, thus allowing you less ammunition storage and smaller engines. This would also not require any more art, so it's basically a win-win (I forgot about the coding required, ignore that.
My main issue is the engine overdrive system. I barely use it and, additionally, even when you completely empty the bar, nothing happens. When I tried it out I expected I would explode the mech or at least take some damage. But this didn't happen. I'd like to suggest adding such a system. This could then also tie into the laser weaponry. The laser weaponry heats up the engines, and once the engines are too hot, you are unable to fire for some time and take some damage (1 to 3, you'd need to test what feels most balanced). Not firing for a while will cool down the engines.
To make the overdrive more useful, I'd maybe also add faster enemies which would catch up to you if you don't use the overdrive. That's the only idea I could come up.
I'd love it if the player mech dropped in using a dropship (like you already hinted at in the comments) or like a drop from orbit à la Titanfall.
3. Enemies
I know you are thinking about attack helicopters, and I have some questions:
How will we be able to fight the helicopters? If using bullets, what about if the helicopter hovers above a building, which bullets cannot pass? Will we need to specifically lock onto the helicopter using missiles, or will we be just able to blind fire and take them out using the radius of the explosion?
The tanks do not seem to move at all. This may just be a problem with my version, but they remain stationary until I shoot at them. Then they start moving. This made Level 3 way too easy.
I'd also love to see more variety in biological enemies? Maybe some huge arachnoids, or even plants that have overtaken old decrepit mechs!
4. Missions
I'd love to see some more variety in levels:
- Megastructure (A huge building on Mars, not something in space) Construction site
- Industrial District
- Maybe even a finished Megastructure?
- Forest/Jungle
- Skyscraper? (Depending on the size of it)
- A Venice-inspired map using the assets from Mission 3
5. Name
This part is just my opinion, to be honest. But I really love the name "project Landsword". Now that it's engrained in my mind I can't imagine any other name. I'd definitely keep it.
I definitely forgot something, so I may expand this, but I'd be really interested what you think about some of these ideas. They're definitely not all original, but maybe you've made some progress since the last time you talked about them. I really do love this game, and I really want it to succeed. More people need to know this exists!
Thank you for playing and all of these suggestions, I appreciate that a lot!
Not at all!
That's how I intend the laser to work for the most part. A no-delay instant hit weapon that hits the first thing in its path and creates fires.
Interesting, but I'm worried it might be too similar to the railgun despite being faster. Ideally all the weapons should be pretty unique and not a "less good version of a better one".
Personally I'm not a fan of weapons in games that overheat and you have to wait for them to cool down, I feel it tends to kill the flow of gameplay. But I get that it's a common way to add balance to otherwise OP weapons.
Indeed. I don't see the player having infinite ammo outside of cheats since I'd like the ammo scavenging to be a part of the gameplay.
This is pretty much how I imagined it'd work, perhaps with a laser beam similar to the missiles that shows the player how many buildings it'll go through. I'd really like to emphasize shooting through buildings to hit enemies honestly. Part of the reason everything is destroyable is to encourage players to obliterate a city block to hit an enemy on the other side.
Absolutely, that's a must.
I thought about having a mortar weapon, but I ended up adding grenades which sort of limit the need for that now. Also they can be pretty OP for the reasons you've stated.
All three of those have been planned for awhile actually. Only a few weeks ago did I manage to actually write a working arc curve code, so the player now can have different grenade types to strike enemies from way afar.
To help balance it, I'm also working on C-RAM turrets and other enemies that can shoot them down before they actually hit.
I've been thinking a lot about this since I want to have an actual hangar for selecting weapons and parts, but I still have yet to fully decide on whether or not I want the handling to be modifiable. I admit I'm also a bit lazy and don't want to spend weeks designing different parts to swap out and change the player's sprite, so customization for now will be quite limited I'm afraid.
The acceleration should probably be increased at this point, I admit it feels a bit too slow. It's most useful I think on the second level when you're being closed in on and need to cruise between gaps of the enemy grubs, but otherwise it's not very handy unless you save it up all the way. Part of the reason for this is I didn't want the player to be able to escape enemies instantly. Making the boost too fast or too long will allow them to get away from combat/trouble pretty expediently, so the limited boost was to sort of prevent that. I'll need to tweak it more.
Interesting idea, but I also don't want to punish the player for holding down the boost. I just feel that's not a fun mechanic honestly, especially if they're already low on health and retreating from enemy fire.
Totally. I think there'll be some scout cars or fast attack vehicles that come really fast towards them.
I'd like to have different intros for different levels instead of just the fade in, would be more immersive.
My idea for now is if the player is mousing over flying enemies directly, they'll fire off "airborne" bullets that can't collide with anything on the ground (see the C-RAM gif for reference). Same with also missiles, if you lock a flying target they'll fly over buildings or maybe move in an arc instead.
They actually do move, but only if the player is not visible to them. Once they spot them they'll open fire, but if they can't see them they'll proceed to the last known position. Ideally I want every enemy to have a unique behavior/movement pattern so the player can memorize them.
Mechs overtaken by old fungus is a pretty cool idea honestly. I have plans to add an area with abandoned buildings covered from a sandstorm, I could see that fitting in.
I'll keep all of these in mind. Would definitely like to do a forest/jungle level, I'm already working on having water implemented. I'd like to also overhaul the city in some ways, some better buildings might be nice.
Glad you like the name. Honestly, I still haven't been able to come up with anything better. Some people love it, while others have told me pretty openly they hate it and think it's awful. But don't worry, I won't settle for something awful like "Mech Assaulters"
Thank you! I appreciate the feedback a lot.
Thank you for replying! I can (for the most part) totally understand why or why you did not decide to include something. I guess the only two things I'm "disappointed" (not really, I'm too happy that this game even exists to be truly disappointed) about is the artillery cannon, but I think the grenades are a neat replacement/stand-in, and the engine overdrive system. If there aren't going to be real consequences for emptying the boost, I would at least add a bit of screen shake or something like that, so it at least feels like that isn't too good for the mech. Though that of course could confuse players into thinking it actually damages their mech, because I definitely would think that if the screen shakes.
When I approached them from behind cover they seemed to not move at all. This becomes a problem because the tanks are never able to see you. I managed to ambush them and I didn't get hit by a tank once. It's probably something broken on my game though, I'll download it again and see if that fixes it.
Well, all in all I have to say (again) that this game is really awesome, and I wish there was more of it/like it. I can't wait to see what the future holds for this game. Thanks for reading.
If they haven't seen you, they should remain on guard indefinitely. If you blow up a building they'll also rotate to point in the general direction.
That's very strange, do they even react at all? They should turn to fire at you if you hit them or come between their 120 degree cone of vision/where the turret is facing.
Thanks again!
I downloaded the game again and that seems to magically have fixed it??? I don't know how, but they do now function as described. Now that they actually react they are fearsome opponents.
I do have one question: Will there ever be plans for modding? Like, in 3 years, when the game is on version V.4.2.7? Or do you plan to not make it modable at all? Or is that hard to say at the moment, because it could change in the future?
Thanks, hope you have a good day!
Glad to hear it's fixed now, perhaps something went wrong with unzipping.
As for mods - it's hard to say at the moment since the game is so early. I'm not too sure on what to do to actually prepare the game for modding honestly. That said, I'm open to the idea of it, and I'm sure people would have fun modding their own mechs and pilot portraits and what not.
Absolutely amazing game! I am so impressed by the gameplay and style. your audio is also really well suited, though the silence near the end of the missions is kind of off-putting.
I'm always impressed by the 2.5d, and I'm starting to notice why Gamemaker is popular. (how the hell did you do this?!?!) especially with the mech legs and the buildings collapsing!?!? Its absolutely fucking ridiculous. and also the bullet cases?!?
Its also interesting how the enemy's don't seem to head their shots, so strafing seems to be extra viable compared to peaking out of cover.
Also I LOVE that you can shoot through the buildings. it really adds to the covering and sneak attacks. GOD I love the design.
I will say I was kind of confused when I ran out of ammo, I didn't know there was ammo boxes at the time. I kind of assumed there was a melee with the boost for when you ran out of ammo? died I guess, the main level didn't introduce it as good as the second.
also, your destruction is amazing. did you seriously add in tire marks when a car gets pushed by an explosion!?
opening the game menu is a little silent, maybe some hum when it opens?
I will say I was kinda disappointed by the sprint, I didnt really notice what it did. maybe some extra tire marks + tire squeal?
Also, weird bug. if you die while your windows unfocused you get a abnormal death screen where you get repeating audio (pitched down white noise) and cant see your mechs corpse
I'm working on a VR mech game (all my itch stuff is ancient for it). and have unfortunately had little time to clean up my UI. your designs are a awesome inspiration and I love them so much <3. This game has definitely reminded me how far I have to go before its where I want it to be. (seriously those fucking buildings)
and your game design handles mech's so amazingly, those explosions had my jaw dropped at times. I'm definitely going to implement some of these mechanics when I can. I think mech games still have a lot of potential and this is a great example of filling it.
I would love to know what references + inspiration you had while designing this! I definitely see a lot of Metal gear, Signalis, maybe a little armored core hiding somewhere?
And also how this game was developed overtime, I can see tire marks, fire, smoke ect. getting used all over the place. those little visual cues repeating to add to the fun of destruction, its such a good study.
Thanks for playing!
Sorry about that, sometimes the ambient audio cuts out due to too many sounds happening at once. I need to have a proper audio controller that checks if it's not playing and restarts it.
A lot of coding tricks and pulling out all the smoke and mirrors I can lol.
Glad you like that aspect with the buildings, that was my goal from the start.
I'm thinking about implementing a close range melee or a semi-automatic sort of emergency-use gun that has an atrocious fire rate and poor damage so the player isn't entirely defenseless.
Yes!
Will do. Eventually I'll probably fade the level music down a bit when I have some.
Yeah, it's not very impressive. I'll be making it more exciting soon.
Seen that happen on someone's stream, I need to figure out how to patch that issue.
Nice! Glad to hear that.
A lot of different things honestly. My inspirations do include Metal Gear and Armored Core, but there's a lot of other things as well. I try not to pull from one specific inspiration when I can.
Cheers!
love it! the mech and the pilot both are really
sexyattractivepositively arousingunique and something i'd love to see more of. should we expect updates or roadmaps on a regular basis or is this simply intended to be an on and off project?Thanks for playing, and glad you like the pilot!
There's a lot of things I want to implement, but actual updates to the demo will probably be infrequent since I think it's better to receive feedback on major updates that modify the game dramatically instead of small incremental changes. If all goes well there may be a new demo out with a lot of new features in a month or two, hopefully.
This really great. The basic mechanics are solid. It just needs more levels and a bit of narrative. Keep it simple and finish it soon so we can buy it. :)
Thank you! I hope to implement more of that soon.