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.
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'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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
But the new scenario is great. Its a nice break from the claustrophobic (in a good way) urban maps.
Glad to hear it, there'll be more variety to come!
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.
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.
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 more than trust your creative vision so I won't make any suggestions.
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.
There is also so much space for various setpieces which are nowhere to be seen.
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'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 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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
It seems like AI improved and became more challenging
Indeed, I have updated them to be more responsive to things like explosions and getting stuck less on terrain.
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)
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.
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?).
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.
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.
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.
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.
Indeed, a reworked settings menu with full key rebinding is planned, it may be a while though.
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. ^_^
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.
Completed the first mission with auto-cannon today from the first try. Little sneaky bastard tactics also helped.
Nice job! Enemies do have directional armor now, so sneaking around is encouraged.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
There will be different types of grenades as well as different APS systems to act as a shield.
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!
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.
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.
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
I don't know if it's the bigger window or design change but I think stuff is more visible.
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.
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.
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.
Wonder why the team on level 3 went rogue.Boster speed could maybe be increased a bit more, same with it's costs
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?
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.
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?
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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),
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.
but apart from that, this update seems really high quality. It makes me really excited for what the future holds for this game.
Thank you. It still has long ways to go and I have a lot more planned, so expect more in the future.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
Are we allowed to commission slash draw art of protagonist girl?
Absolutely!
And if sooo... Any big no nos?
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.)
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.
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.
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?
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.
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'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.
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.
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.
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.
Cool idea! I could see that being fun. Maybe for a mission with a train instead of a car as well.
(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.)
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.
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.
Glad to hear that.
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)
I will probably put out an announcement on the page at some point, but I can't give an ETA.
- 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.
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.
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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.