It wouldn't be in the center, that's where the pilot compartment is. I was thinking that one of the gun stations for single fire weapons could be replaced with optics, a radar pod, or even an extra external ammo storage.
Hello there, i've got an amasing idea for a mission! You go in space, on asteroids, and you need to hop between them useng a jetpack, while also fighting enemys!
Also an enemy suggestion: some lil guy who is hard to hit with a melle attack.
Love your game, and waiting for a bosss, bye! <3
P.S. Btw the laser gun can destroy any walls on mission 7, very cool!
Im finding mission 7 completely impossible, is there any way to edit the data to have completed it? however blasphemous that may be! Great game, love the update, but mission 7 is just too finicky and memory-based for me.
oh, thought it has pretty easy, i would recommend a railgun ar a flamthrower, also you can trigger the sirens, drop the box, and clear everything out, and than deliver the box safely
Ranks for now are purely determined by hits taken and time. If you go over 4 minutes it starts to subtract from the final rank, if you manage to do a mission under 2 minutes it should bump your rank up by one point. It's still possible to get an S-rank if you took one or two hits that way.
The 7th mission is very difficult with the amount of enemies and the close corridors combat, but I think if you use smoke bombs and spiders you might be able to avoid taking damage.
I eventually managed to get an S with a 3:35 and 1 hit taken, but it did cause some serious damage to my brain. There are two glitches that I experienced, the part of your landsword that fires the grenades can clip into a wall if you're backed up against it and detonate instantly, making you take damage. The second being sometimes arrows and red targeting squares won't appear over them when they are hidden from sight behind a wall. The latter could probably be fixed with a toggle to just have either targeting squares, arrows or both of them on and displaying at all times.
I also want to say that I am really liking that you are experimenting and implementing these new elements like enclosed corridors, tall walls and skyscrapers into missions, and I'm looking forward to everything else you're working on.
Nice job S-ranking it! I haven't been able to do that yet, haha.
Sorry about the grenades clipping into walls if you're backed up, I'll make sure to patch that.
The second being sometimes arrows and red targeting squares won't appear over them when they are hidden from sight behind a wall. The latter could probably be fixed with a toggle to just have either targeting squares, arrows or both of them on and displaying at all times.
Technically the small red indicators are only supposed to show if you painted them by mousing over. As for the actual targeting squares, that might be a depth issue with the ceilings drawing over them, I apologize. I'll consider having a toggle as you said showing always the squares, and also playing without any indicators could be fun too.
I also want to say that I am really liking that you are experimenting and implementing these new elements like enclosed corridors, tall walls and skyscrapers into missions, and I'm looking forward to everything else you're working on.
Thank you! I plan on experimenting with much more too. I still need to make some levels with sandstorms and other low light settings, as well as some more exotic environments.
Also, I made two tier-lists with all weaponry in the game, first one measures how satisfying it is to use them, and the second one measures how effective they are
It seems the thermal projector is the least popular weapon from what I can tell. I'll have to think of some ways to make it more fun. I admit the landmines feel kind of lame compared to the spider bombs, but before I implemented the latter they were pretty handy as defensive weapons to use when retreating.
The multi-lock munitions are also kind of bad. I think I'll give them a bit more kick with damage to compensate for not being able to rapid fire like the unguided rockets.
From my expirience, flamethrower is more than okay in terms of stats, it just lacks satisfying VFX. It just feels not powerful enough when firing, if it makes sense, though I realize that in current version it does a good job of resembling real vehicle-mounted flamethrowers in terms of VFX. In my opinion, multi-lock munition should get a bit of maneuverability upgrade, since they often miss agile targets like hover tanks or helis.And one more final thing, I know that this is work-in progress and everything is a subject to change, but current firing-related SFX sound like star wars blasters.
Really enjoying your game, love the Ghost in the Shell vibes.
Hey, thanks so much for playing again and making a video! Really good job finishing all seven missions too.
It's nice to see the spider bombs in use, they've become a favorite of mine as well. I also enjoyed seeing how you approached the final mission by destroying all the enemies in the level before proceeding. I might add automatic wave spawning after a certain amount of time to keep players on their feet.
Thank you also for linking the game and its Steam page in the description, I greatly appreciate it.
No problem! Just making sure people know about it . :)
Also, reagarding the enemies in mission 7: you could possibly remove the radar functionality or limit it as well, actually, or just have a specific kind of enemy that doesn't show up on the radar widget and only is detected via the arrows surrounding the cursor? It stands to logic in such a setting there might be some development in terms of stealth for ground forces.
I actually tried removing the radar early on with jamming in areas (the interference and static shown when you get hit was reused from it) but I found that both playtesters and I myself relied on it heavily to the point that the difficulty seemed to spike quite a bit. I do like the idea of stealth enemies that don't show up at all on the radar, that's a cool concept that I'll definitely explore at some point.
I was doing an run on the lakes (MISSION 4) while in a position of the following image provided (did not took a screenshot so here's an illustration of the situqation)
Thanks for the image. Are you sure you didn't fix the camera by pressing the tab key on accident? The grenade objects don't have any code to modify camera behavior.
Yeah, I'm aware of this problem, thanks for the screenshot. I need to figure out a way to fix enemies clipping into walls when they're deactivated and off screen. It's a difficult problem to solve while keeping things optimized.
DUDE this update is so so awesome, the new UI and art especially are really wonderful. I'm genuinely invested in the worldbuilding you've got going here, it's just good sci-fi - everything I've seen and read in-game and in the intel tab is well thought out and interesting, really awesome job
Also thanks for the aiming laser :) helps a ton
I think the stacked munitions launcher might be the coolest addition btw in terms of weaponry, the way you've done it both makes sense and is both seriously fun and cool, making each round HE was a genius move haha, seeing the craters peppering the battlefield is amazing
Keep doing what you're doing, your vision for this project is really exciting to see materialise
Thank you for playing it again and the kind words!
Also thanks for the aiming laser :) helps a ton
You're welcome!
I think the stacked munitions launcher might be the coolest addition btw in terms of weaponry, the way you've done it both makes sense and is both seriously fun and cool, making each round HE was a genius move haha, seeing the craters peppering the battlefield is amazing
I worry sometimes the craters are almost too destructive with how much visual noise they can add, but it also adds to the fun of using the weapon so I'll probably keep it as it is, haha.
Keep doing what you're doing, your vision for this project is really exciting to see materialise
LET'S GOOOOO! İ LİTERALLY GASPED WHEN İ SAW THE UPDATE İ CANNOT WAİT TO PLAY İT (this was before i played trough the update)
MAN, what an update. you literally outdid yourself! the new guns are fun, the new missions bring a lot to the table (especially the 7th) and everything you've added to the game is just plain awesome but what i am most excited about is NEW ART!!!!!
having a chance to take a closer look at the mechanical designs is just such a pleasure and a privilege. the details and the sheer style is just perfectly balanced (it reminds me of the mecha design in ghost in the shell which is a double plus although i cannot help but wonder how you'd handle a tetra mech in armored core silhouette). i literally cannot wait to see how you will adorn that intel sections pages, you are my role model when it comes to design. thank you for carving the way, at least for me
(also a side note, val is literally built like a space marine lol, that's awesome. cannot wait for the new characters and the armor/clothing designs they'll support, also sorry if this is really unintelligible and stupid (i plan to write down thing when i am out of my high), i am just deeply excited. keep up the good work man)
having a chance to take a closer look at the mechanical designs is just such a pleasure and a privilege. the details and the sheer style is just perfectly balanced
Very happy to hear you like the intel section. It's the part of the game that I'm probably the most excited to work on and share with people since I spend a lot of time working on each of the enemy designs despite their relatively tiny size on the actual battlefield.
(it reminds me of the mecha design in ghost in the shell which is a double plus although i cannot help but wonder how you'd handle a tetra mech in armored core silhouette).
Inspiration from GITS and other classic anime was taken, though I'm trying my best to carve out my own unique aesthetic for the world of the game. I'd love to design something similar to the tetrapods in AC at some point.
i literally cannot wait to see how you will adorn that intel sections pages, you are my role model when it comes to design. thank you for carving the way,
You're very welcome!
(also a side note, val is literally built like a space marine lol, that's awesome. cannot wait for the new characters and the armor/clothing designs they'll support
I'm glad you noticed that, haha. There's a reason for it though - Mars's lower gravity means if you were born there you'd naturally grow taller (typical heights being between 6'2 to 6'8, the other pilot character will be in the latter range), but it also means your bone and muscle density would be a lot less developed than a person from Earth. To counter this, pretty much everyone born on Mars would have had gene modification in order for their bodies to develop muscle mass more effectively, coupled with a pretty strict exercise/nutrition regimen which would be mandatory for almost everyone who lives there, at least until they're 20 or so. Val probably had a particularly strong reaction to it, or she just works out constantly to kill time.
There's a lot more lore that I intend to include in the world section of the intel screen which will explain a bit more about some of these details. I also plan to work some of it into the story and cutscenes of course.
Oh, the lore stuff is really interesting, and I'd love to learn more, but before I get into that, I want to clear out something. When I said they give off a GITS, I meant it as in they are so purpose-specific that they look alien, and I thought GITS did that best until now. Your stuff surpassed GITS, if you ask me. Anyways, I've read the text on Intel entries, and man, I am already hooked on the lore (though I am also a bit sad because I had something slightly similar in mind, at least with East Germany, but oh well). The part about the people being tall because of Mars's nature and having their muscles enhanced is really cool; I thought she was enhanced like a Halo Spartan or an AC pilot. But may I throw out an idea? Since the government can change people's DNA before birth, why not make something really fucked up out of that? Let's say a region is more aggressive towards the government and is rebellious. The government could just trigger genes that make the person more docile. or wants to cause a small race war for political reasons so they can just trigger genes that make the person more aggressive. Long story short, the government can influence the population in the exact ways they desire, and that is a true nightmare and could be a cool subplot or lore bit if you want to.
And on an unrelated note, I am basically in love with how design is handled. I am glad that even though Val is ripped, her muscles and proportions are not bloated (I don't know how to explain it; all that comes to my mind is that exaggerated proportions reduce believability and just look grotesque). keep up the good work man, you are awesome (sorry if i am invasive, i am just super excited)
When I said they give off a GITS, I meant it as in they are so purpose-specific that they look alien, and I thought GITS did that best until now. Your stuff surpassed GITS, if you ask me.
That's very kind, thank you. I personally don't think I've surpassed Masamune Shirow's genius design work though, haha.
Anyways, I've read the text on Intel entries, and man, I am already hooked on the lore (though I am also a bit sad because I had something slightly similar in mind, at least with East Germany, but oh well).
There's actually going to be an East German crawler tank in the game eventually, it'll be six legged. Something you'll encounter near Soviet controlled regions later on.
The part about the people being tall because of Mars's nature and having their muscles enhanced is really cool; I thought she was enhanced like a Halo Spartan or an AC pilot. But may I throw out an idea? Since the government can change people's DNA before birth, why not make something really fucked up out of that?
I considered working that into the plot, at least being part of the motivation for rebellion being some Martians see themselves as separate from the people of Earth due to their enhanced genes. It might show up, or not.
Long story short, the government can influence the population in the exact ways they desire, and that is a true nightmare and could be a cool subplot or lore bit if you want to.
It's a fun idea, but I'm not sure if it works for the tone I'm going for. The chemical grubs on the other hand would fit well for a similar conspiracy, they could've been specifically engineered to eventually grow giant and dangerous in order to arm Mars and cause conflict.
And on an unrelated note, I am basically in love with how design is handled. I am glad that even though Val is ripped, her muscles and proportions are not bloated (I don't know how to explain it; all that comes to my mind is that exaggerated proportions reduce believability and just look grotesque).
There's definitely a sweet spot between athletic and too muscular. I tried to get it just in the middle. It also looks a bit more exaggerated due to the limited color palette, in full color I'll be able to make her physique more subtle.
erm, I don't know why the performance seems worse than 0.7, because there is way more decals or bloom effect (especially present in smoke grenades) or intentional? (ngl the slowmo looks cool, but it is just too slow sometimes) The MINOTAUR's LOSAT functions more like a budget railgun than a kinetic missile, and the manipulators does not make sense with how the vehicle (or the LOSAT) are supposed to be used (like c'mon, who figured out the idea of making long-range tank destroyer perform the task of Combat Engineer Vehicles :v) The Type 14's mobility, and survivability is questionable for a Main Battle Tank The Scattergun does not work like how it is advertised (pun intended) (sorry for the nerd moment)
There's just a lot more going on now - more particles, changes to the HUD, global checks for the key presses, AI now checking for player trails, and a few other things such as the overlay shader on certain levels. The smoke grenades in particular have always slowed things down when I'm playing, especially when launching multiple at once. Not much can be done there for optimization since it's always been intensive for GM to draw lots of large sprites. I've tried using smaller ones but visually they look far worse. I'll see if I can figure out some extra things that can be turned off for performance though.
If you're on legacy Windows (Windows 8.1, 7, XP) try removing the DBGHELP.dll from the folder, it might give a slight boost in performance since it's a patch for W10/11 compatibility. I always feel removing it gives a slight boost on my computer, but it might just be an illusion.
The MINOTAUR's LOSAT functions more like a budget railgun than a kinetic missile
It's true. I think it's quite funny and makes it far scarier to fight than if it was realistic.
the manipulators does not make sense with how the vehicle (or the LOSAT) are supposed to be used (like c'mon, who figured out the idea of making long-range tank destroyer perform the task of Combat Engineer Vehicles :v)
I'd like to imagine changes to the Bundeswehr's combat doctrine during WWIII called for it. It's not a CEV by any means, but since it's a biped-roller it might need to remove certain obstacles in its way since it can't quite maneuver like quadtanks. But the real reason it has manipulators is because it makes the silhouette look far more interesting.
The Type 14's mobility, and survivability is questionable for a Main Battle Tank
The ones used on Mars are all cheap monkey models made in South Korea, with far poorer armor...
The Scattergun does not work like how it is advertised (pun intended)
I'll have a proper air-burst weapon eventually, but for now it really is just a shotgun.
"The ones used on Mars are all cheap monkey models made in South Korea, with far poorer armor..." ah c'mon, at least make the hull front/turret front tougher (even an old arse T-72 's glacis can still handle autocannon-sized APFSDS at distance) Also I think there should be ammo types for in-game guns, since, for example, the 120mm is just shooting HESH
Pretty sure if you just unzip it and and choose the file location as the old file, once it starts to unzip you have the options to replace the files or I think skip. Anyway just press replace files and then kaboom it should be done.
Man this has been an awesome update!! I really can't wait to see more! The Minotaur really scared the crap outta me. I've also really been enjoying all the little bits of world building and such, in future updates I think it'd be really cool to see a world map for earth? Anyways I'd love to geek out more over the lore in future updates!
Also a few things to add on:
I think in terms of balancing some enemies or the MBT in particular should be able to see through the smoke, or just shoot wildly into it? And with the levels with water I was thinking that maybe the water can cool the rig more efficiently? I don't know how realistic that is though.
When I also first saw that weird bowling pin thing, I thought that maybe there could be a sort of Kamikaze drone enemy? Something inspired by maybe the Ohka?
And speaking of desperate governments trying to win conflicts, as the missions and war progresses it could intensify in scale and desperation? Turning from skirmishes to total war. We could see the arms corporations slowly run out of their MBTs, Minotaurs, Helicopters, until it's only footsoldiers with anti armour weapons, and shoddly put together mechs.
It could also add a moral aspect and as the conflict rages on, we're ordered not to do special missions where we're the one woman army, but instead going block by block clearing overzealous civilians, raiding food stores, and fresh water facilities. Or vice-versa, we could be the ones on the defense, defending key infastructure, even experimental facilities. Or is this getting a bit off track? Either way I can't wait to see where this where this game goes, I think you'll go really far!!
(Sorry if I nerded out a bunch, these kinda things are what I live for.)
Haha, I'm glad to hear that. I specifically tried to make it sound as threatening as possible with its missiles and the gyroscope firing up.
in future updates I think it'd be really cool to see a world map for earth?
It'll probably be kept vague, but I think I'll end up showing it briefly in a cutscene. World War III happened and is already over in this universe, so I'll need to think about how the map would have changed.
I think in terms of balancing some enemies or the MBT in particular should be able to see through the smoke, or just shoot wildly into it?
I agree, the smoke really needs work in general. I reduced the amount of time it sticks around in levels, but it's still a bit too OP with how defenseless it can make the enemies. I don't want to get rid of it entirely, but some things do need to be rewritten for it to work better.
And with the levels with water I was thinking that maybe the water can cool the rig more efficiently? I don't know how realistic that is though.
That's a fun idea! I'll make the overdrive recharge faster when in water.
When I also first saw that weird bowling pin thing, I thought that maybe there could be a sort of Kamikaze drone enemy? Something inspired by maybe the Ohka?
Totally. I'll have a few different kinds of suicide drones, and I also plan to have enemies that use spider drones the same way the player does.
And speaking of desperate governments trying to win conflicts, as the missions and war progresses it could intensify in scale and desperation? Turning from skirmishes to total war. We could see the arms corporations slowly run out of their MBTs, Minotaurs, Helicopters, until it's only footsoldiers with anti armour weapons, and shoddly put together mechs.
Cool concept. I thought about having an optional mission at some point in the game where you fight space pirates/scavengers that also are use mechs put together from different vehicle hulls like technicals in the middle east, but I'm not too sure if it'll make it in yet.
It could also add a moral aspect and as the conflict rages on, we're ordered not to do special missions where we're the one woman army, but instead going block by block clearing overzealous civilians, raiding food stores, and fresh water facilities. Or vice-versa, we could be the ones on the defense, defending key infastructure, even experimental facilities. Or is this getting a bit off track? Either way I can't wait to see where this where this game goes, I think you'll go really far!!
I plan on having two main pilot characters that you kind of switch between depending on the mission; I think it could be possible to have two story lines going at once, but I'm not fully decided on it yet since it may double the workload on an already (somewhat) overscoped game, haha. But there will be different missions where you have to be defending someone or something, as well as keep your collateral damage down. The final mission in the demo is sort of a test for that.
(Sorry if I nerded out a bunch, these kinda things are what I live for.)
Don't be sorry, I appreciate the thoughts and ideas greatly. Thanks again!
Mission 7 ended with Metal Gear Solid vibes. I looked at all the new content and used it on pretty all mission. Great job. Only 2 things for me need to change :
- 120mm cannons seams to have too much ammo -> 80 to 90 is more realistic for the turret we have and ammos need to be scarce if overused. I spend only 75 shells on mission 2. This is basicaly the only weapon that can kill all the bugs without reloading if i use my secondary weapon.
- In the last mission, RC mine is not going to the right directions somethimes and grenades from me and ennemies goes over impenetrable walls.
Does all units can be unlock on the new Intel pannel right now ? New ennemies are tought that's cool !
Mission 7 ended with Metal Gear Solid vibes. I looked at all the new content and used it on pretty all mission. Great job.
Nice job finishing all 7! MGS was an inspiration for sure, though also Ace Combat 3 with the underground sections.
- 120mm cannons seams to have too much ammo -> 80 to 90 is more realistic for the turret we have and ammos need to be scarce if overused. I spend only 75 shells on mission 2. This is basicaly the only weapon that can kill all the bugs without reloading if i use my secondary weapon.
Noted. In testing I tended to use a lot of ammo with it in the other levels, though admittedly I didn't play much of mission 2 with that weapon since I felt it was a bit slow for the fast pace. I may reduce the ammo count then.
- In the last mission, RC mine is not going to the right directions somethimes and grenades from me and ennemies goes over impenetrable walls.
Sorry about that! It has to do with the pathfinding, it struggles to find where to go with the completely enclosed walls versus on more open levels. I wanted to fix it but there just wasn't any time left. For now if you keep your cursor close to it and out of walls, it should follow it mostly correctly.
Also I'm aware of the enemies sometimes clipping into the walls. It's kind of a tough thing to correct since they wander around the level even when the walls are deactivated. If I activate the walls off screen, even without them drawing it can take a large hit to FPS to have so many objects running, so I'll need to think of a new solution.
Does all units can be unlock on the new Intel pannel right now ? New ennemies are tought that's cool !
At the moment, only four units can be unlocked in the vehicle section. I wanted to do lots more including the helicopter and turrets, but again due to the deadline to meet the testing jam on itch there wasn't a lot I could draw. In the future there will be every enemy in the game as well as full color illustrations like the hangar in addition to the monochrome line drawings. It's sort of a proof of concept currently.
Hello. To fix this error, please download the Microsoft DirectX patch that I linked in the description. This crash occurs only because your system does not have the DirectX9+ driver to compile the outline shader. The patch should work on any OS version.
Stumbled upon this project looking for mech art on Pinterest. So glad I did! Already in love with the game and I'm looking forward to seeing more from it!
I've been playing with the released levels occasionally over the past few months. The gunplay and the sound design are amazing. But what really attracted me was the sci-fi but somehow realistic art style and the weapon/hull designs that came with it. really looking forward to future updates and the full release!
Thank you! There will be new levels and some more fun things to play with soon. I'm always surprised to hear people are still replaying this short demo even months later haha.
But what really attracted me was the sci-fi but somehow realistic art style and the weapon/hull designs that came with it
I'm glad you enjoy that aspect, I plan on doubling down on it hard since I really enjoy designing said things.
Thanks for playing! Looking back on the version that's currently public, I feel like there's honestly not that much replayability, but people keep telling me they keep replaying it to my surprise.
mezzsoft if you abandon this masterpiece i won't forgive you in the afterlife
Haha, I don't intend to abandon it. There's still so much to do, hopefully fate lets me continue worki non it.
The menu system is really well done as well! I love the crisp lines of it. I'm just about done with my 2d engine and taking heavy inspiration from what you've done here with your menu system; it's really good
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How to use funds
Currently there's no way to spend them in the game. Eventually there will be hub points on the map you'll visit to purchase parts and weapons.
How do I spend funds
This upgrade is far beyond my imagination! New UI, new weapons, new mission and new soundtracks...All of these are very exciting!
In addition, this upgrade has built a more complete and vivid worldview. I have to say that these settings and designs are very cool.
I can't wait to see the next update!
Thanks for playing again.
Appreciate it, cheers! It'll probably be a while before the next update though.
I love the new update! The sound design for firing the 120MMM is awesome, and the new metal-storm esque weapon is very fun to use.
The last mission is also very nice, the lighting, the layout of the underground base itself feels like metal gear.
And i love the art for the dossiers as well, reminds me of some dude i used to watch on deviantart a long time ago.
Keep up the great work!
Glad to hear it. the sound design and targeting ring for the stackgun took some time to develop.
There was some definite Metal Gear influence with the color palette of the level, perhaps almost too much so.
Thank you! I'll try.
also rotatary cannon needs a buff because rn it is just a worse vulkan
and helicopters sometimes see through smoke
umm how about a single gun mount for specific weapons such as the Thermal Projector,GAU-32,Electronic Railgun,120mm smoothbore, High Energy Laser?
you mean the model of the mech to change to only have one gun?
yea
also the art looks sick
that is just a enlarged screenshot dude
It wouldn't be in the center, that's where the pilot compartment is. I was thinking that one of the gun stations for single fire weapons could be replaced with optics, a radar pod, or even an extra external ammo storage.
I think it needs to be close enough to the center to somewhat balance the recoil though
Hello there, i've got an amasing idea for a mission!
You go in space, on asteroids, and you need to hop between them useng a jetpack, while also fighting enemys!
Also an enemy suggestion: some lil guy who is hard to hit with a melle attack.
Love your game, and waiting for a bosss, bye! <3
P.S. Btw the laser gun can destroy any walls on mission 7, very cool!
Thank you for playing and the idea! I'll think about it.
I'm working on a few new cannon fodder enemies that'll function like that.
Forgot to patch that, oops. I'll fix it in the next build.
"Forgot to patch that, oops. I'll fix it in the next build."
oh, so it was a bug
btw how do you do theese cool sentence replys?
and i really want to hear your opinion on the mission, thank you
Im finding mission 7 completely impossible, is there any way to edit the data to have completed it? however blasphemous that may be! Great game, love the update, but mission 7 is just too finicky and memory-based for me.
oh, thought it has pretty easy, i would recommend a railgun ar a flamthrower, also you can trigger the sirens, drop the box, and clear everything out, and than deliver the box safely
Nicely done!
What determines an S-rank on mission 7?
Ranks for now are purely determined by hits taken and time. If you go over 4 minutes it starts to subtract from the final rank, if you manage to do a mission under 2 minutes it should bump your rank up by one point. It's still possible to get an S-rank if you took one or two hits that way.
The 7th mission is very difficult with the amount of enemies and the close corridors combat, but I think if you use smoke bombs and spiders you might be able to avoid taking damage.
I eventually managed to get an S with a 3:35 and 1 hit taken, but it did cause some serious damage to my brain. There are two glitches that I experienced, the part of your landsword that fires the grenades can clip into a wall if you're backed up against it and detonate instantly, making you take damage. The second being sometimes arrows and red targeting squares won't appear over them when they are hidden from sight behind a wall. The latter could probably be fixed with a toggle to just have either targeting squares, arrows or both of them on and displaying at all times.
I also want to say that I am really liking that you are experimenting and implementing these new elements like enclosed corridors, tall walls and skyscrapers into missions, and I'm looking forward to everything else you're working on.
Nice job S-ranking it! I haven't been able to do that yet, haha.
Sorry about the grenades clipping into walls if you're backed up, I'll make sure to patch that.
Technically the small red indicators are only supposed to show if you painted them by mousing over. As for the actual targeting squares, that might be a depth issue with the ceilings drawing over them, I apologize. I'll consider having a toggle as you said showing always the squares, and also playing without any indicators could be fun too.
Thank you! I plan on experimenting with much more too. I still need to make some levels with sandstorms and other low light settings, as well as some more exotic environments.
Loving the new update! Laser pointer is a top-tier QoL feature.
Also, I made two tier-lists with all weaponry in the game, first one measures how satisfying it is to use them, and the second one measures how effective they are
Thanks for playing again!
It seems the thermal projector is the least popular weapon from what I can tell. I'll have to think of some ways to make it more fun. I admit the landmines feel kind of lame compared to the spider bombs, but before I implemented the latter they were pretty handy as defensive weapons to use when retreating.
The multi-lock munitions are also kind of bad. I think I'll give them a bit more kick with damage to compensate for not being able to rapid fire like the unguided rockets.
From my expirience, flamethrower is more than okay in terms of stats, it just lacks satisfying VFX. It just feels not powerful enough when firing, if it makes sense, though I realize that in current version it does a good job of resembling real vehicle-mounted flamethrowers in terms of VFX. In my opinion, multi-lock munition should get a bit of maneuverability upgrade, since they often miss agile targets like hover tanks or helis.And one more final thing, I know that this is work-in progress and everything is a subject to change, but current firing-related SFX sound like star wars blasters.
Really enjoying your game, love the Ghost in the Shell vibes.
just noticed that I mixed up vulcan and rotary cannon in this tierlist
Do you have Discord?
No Discord server yet. One might be put up close to the game's release or afterward.
hope you do somedays, would to ask you for a few gamedev guidance (novice gamedev myself)
I LOVE THE SNAKE'S EASTER EGG, and i love your game
Nice job finding it!
Thank you!
thank you, I really liked the new weapons, especially the little spiders
How did you find it tho?
It's somewhere on the overworld screen, not in a mission.
I do not need "friends" or "family" anymore, bomb spiders are my true allies.
So true
Took the new demo for a spin, great stuff! Haven't found any bugs, excited to see this game be further developed just like last time. :)
Hey, thanks so much for playing again and making a video! Really good job finishing all seven missions too.
It's nice to see the spider bombs in use, they've become a favorite of mine as well. I also enjoyed seeing how you approached the final mission by destroying all the enemies in the level before proceeding. I might add automatic wave spawning after a certain amount of time to keep players on their feet.
Thank you also for linking the game and its Steam page in the description, I greatly appreciate it.
No problem! Just making sure people know about it . :)
Also, reagarding the enemies in mission 7: you could possibly remove the radar functionality or limit it as well, actually, or just have a specific kind of enemy that doesn't show up on the radar widget and only is detected via the arrows surrounding the cursor? It stands to logic in such a setting there might be some development in terms of stealth for ground forces.
Looking forward to whatever you make, of course!
I actually tried removing the radar early on with jamming in areas (the interference and static shown when you get hit was reused from it) but I found that both playtesters and I myself relied on it heavily to the point that the difficulty seemed to spike quite a bit. I do like the idea of stealth enemies that don't show up at all on the radar, that's a cool concept that I'll definitely explore at some point.
Thank you!
a BUG I encountered!!!
I was doing an run on the lakes (MISSION 4) while in a position of the following image provided (did not took a screenshot so here's an illustration of the situqation)
no error logs though
Thanks for the image. Are you sure you didn't fix the camera by pressing the tab key on accident? The grenade objects don't have any code to modify camera behavior.
oh i forgot that tab locks the camera! sorry!!!
it doesn't let me to upload an image, but some idiot on 7-th mission decided taht it would be funny to spawn inside an indestructuble wall
luckly he gliched out
Yeah, I'm aware of this problem, thanks for the screenshot. I need to figure out a way to fix enemies clipping into walls when they're deactivated and off screen. It's a difficult problem to solve while keeping things optimized.
Maybe make them, self destruct if inside a wall, although it is not very needed rn because the pop out if i go 1 screen away and come back.
i also love the new weapons, especially the boom spiders THEY ARE SO CUTE
hello again, this time with a bug!
if you equip the stacked munitions launcher and try to throw a granede, the SML aim circle won't dissapear
Not a bug surprisingly, I just felt there was no need to disable the circle. Thanks for playing again!
DUDE this update is so so awesome, the new UI and art especially are really wonderful. I'm genuinely invested in the worldbuilding you've got going here, it's just good sci-fi - everything I've seen and read in-game and in the intel tab is well thought out and interesting, really awesome job
Also thanks for the aiming laser :) helps a ton
I think the stacked munitions launcher might be the coolest addition btw in terms of weaponry, the way you've done it both makes sense and is both seriously fun and cool, making each round HE was a genius move haha, seeing the craters peppering the battlefield is amazing
Keep doing what you're doing, your vision for this project is really exciting to see materialise
Thank you for playing it again and the kind words!
You're welcome!
I worry sometimes the craters are almost too destructive with how much visual noise they can add, but it also adds to the fun of using the weapon so I'll probably keep it as it is, haha.
Thank you again!
wow, this game is amasing!
try adding a glass cannon armor kit and powerplant
keep it up mwah
Thank you!
LET'S GOOOOO! İ LİTERALLY GASPED WHEN İ SAW THE UPDATE İ CANNOT WAİT TO PLAY İT (this was before i played trough the update)
MAN, what an update. you literally outdid yourself! the new guns are fun, the new missions bring a lot to the table (especially the 7th) and everything you've added to the game is just plain awesome but what i am most excited about is NEW ART!!!!!
having a chance to take a closer look at the mechanical designs is just such a pleasure and a privilege. the details and the sheer style is just perfectly balanced (it reminds me of the mecha design in ghost in the shell which is a double plus although i cannot help but wonder how you'd handle a tetra mech in armored core silhouette). i literally cannot wait to see how you will adorn that intel sections pages, you are my role model when it comes to design. thank you for carving the way, at least for me
(also a side note, val is literally built like a space marine lol, that's awesome. cannot wait for the new characters and the armor/clothing designs they'll support, also sorry if this is really unintelligible and stupid (i plan to write down thing when i am out of my high), i am just deeply excited. keep up the good work man)
Thanks for playing it again!
Very happy to hear you like the intel section. It's the part of the game that I'm probably the most excited to work on and share with people since I spend a lot of time working on each of the enemy designs despite their relatively tiny size on the actual battlefield.
Inspiration from GITS and other classic anime was taken, though I'm trying my best to carve out my own unique aesthetic for the world of the game. I'd love to design something similar to the tetrapods in AC at some point.
You're very welcome!
I'm glad you noticed that, haha. There's a reason for it though - Mars's lower gravity means if you were born there you'd naturally grow taller (typical heights being between 6'2 to 6'8, the other pilot character will be in the latter range), but it also means your bone and muscle density would be a lot less developed than a person from Earth. To counter this, pretty much everyone born on Mars would have had gene modification in order for their bodies to develop muscle mass more effectively, coupled with a pretty strict exercise/nutrition regimen which would be mandatory for almost everyone who lives there, at least until they're 20 or so. Val probably had a particularly strong reaction to it, or she just works out constantly to kill time.
There's a lot more lore that I intend to include in the world section of the intel screen which will explain a bit more about some of these details. I also plan to work some of it into the story and cutscenes of course.
Thank you again!
Oh, the lore stuff is really interesting, and I'd love to learn more, but before I get into that, I want to clear out something. When I said they give off a GITS, I meant it as in they are so purpose-specific that they look alien, and I thought GITS did that best until now. Your stuff surpassed GITS, if you ask me. Anyways, I've read the text on Intel entries, and man, I am already hooked on the lore (though I am also a bit sad because I had something slightly similar in mind, at least with East Germany, but oh well). The part about the people being tall because of Mars's nature and having their muscles enhanced is really cool; I thought she was enhanced like a Halo Spartan or an AC pilot. But may I throw out an idea? Since the government can change people's DNA before birth, why not make something really fucked up out of that? Let's say a region is more aggressive towards the government and is rebellious. The government could just trigger genes that make the person more docile. or wants to cause a small race war for political reasons so they can just trigger genes that make the person more aggressive. Long story short, the government can influence the population in the exact ways they desire, and that is a true nightmare and could be a cool subplot or lore bit if you want to.
And on an unrelated note, I am basically in love with how design is handled. I am glad that even though Val is ripped, her muscles and proportions are not bloated (I don't know how to explain it; all that comes to my mind is that exaggerated proportions reduce believability and just look grotesque). keep up the good work man, you are awesome (sorry if i am invasive, i am just super excited)
That's very kind, thank you. I personally don't think I've surpassed Masamune Shirow's genius design work though, haha.
There's actually going to be an East German crawler tank in the game eventually, it'll be six legged. Something you'll encounter near Soviet controlled regions later on.
I considered working that into the plot, at least being part of the motivation for rebellion being some Martians see themselves as separate from the people of Earth due to their enhanced genes. It might show up, or not.
It's a fun idea, but I'm not sure if it works for the tone I'm going for. The chemical grubs on the other hand would fit well for a similar conspiracy, they could've been specifically engineered to eventually grow giant and dangerous in order to arm Mars and cause conflict.
There's definitely a sweet spot between athletic and too muscular. I tried to get it just in the middle. It also looks a bit more exaggerated due to the limited color palette, in full color I'll be able to make her physique more subtle.
im litterally making glee sounds just by taking a look in the log im WAY to excited for this!!!!
Glad you like it, more to come!
erm, I don't know why the performance seems worse than 0.7, because there is way more decals or bloom effect (especially present in smoke grenades) or intentional? (ngl the slowmo looks cool, but it is just too slow sometimes)
The MINOTAUR's LOSAT functions more like a budget railgun than a kinetic missile, and the manipulators does not make sense with how the vehicle (or the LOSAT) are supposed to be used (like c'mon, who figured out the idea of making long-range tank destroyer perform the task of Combat Engineer Vehicles :v)
The Type 14's mobility, and survivability is questionable for a Main Battle Tank
The Scattergun does not work like how it is advertised (pun intended)
(sorry for the nerd moment)
There's just a lot more going on now - more particles, changes to the HUD, global checks for the key presses, AI now checking for player trails, and a few other things such as the overlay shader on certain levels. The smoke grenades in particular have always slowed things down when I'm playing, especially when launching multiple at once. Not much can be done there for optimization since it's always been intensive for GM to draw lots of large sprites. I've tried using smaller ones but visually they look far worse. I'll see if I can figure out some extra things that can be turned off for performance though.
If you're on legacy Windows (Windows 8.1, 7, XP) try removing the DBGHELP.dll from the folder, it might give a slight boost in performance since it's a patch for W10/11 compatibility. I always feel removing it gives a slight boost on my computer, but it might just be an illusion.
It's true. I think it's quite funny and makes it far scarier to fight than if it was realistic.
I'd like to imagine changes to the Bundeswehr's combat doctrine during WWIII called for it. It's not a CEV by any means, but since it's a biped-roller it might need to remove certain obstacles in its way since it can't quite maneuver like quadtanks. But the real reason it has manipulators is because it makes the silhouette look far more interesting.
The ones used on Mars are all cheap monkey models made in South Korea, with far poorer armor...
I'll have a proper air-burst weapon eventually, but for now it really is just a shotgun.
No worries. Thanks for playing!
"The ones used on Mars are all cheap monkey models made in South Korea, with far poorer armor..."
ah c'mon, at least make the hull front/turret front tougher (even an old arse T-72 's glacis can still handle autocannon-sized APFSDS at distance)
Also I think there should be ammo types for in-game guns, since, for example, the 120mm is just shooting HESH
There actually is directional armor. If you sneak up on enemies and hit them from the rear, you do double damage.
OMAGYATT NEW UPDATE!!! Just a little question, do you need to delete the old file before downloading this.
Pretty sure if you just unzip it and and choose the file location as the old file, once it starts to unzip you have the options to replace the files or I think skip. Anyway just press replace files and then kaboom it should be done.
You can just replace them or keep them in the separate unzipped folder. I'd still recommend making a new save if you ever encountered a crash though.
Man this has been an awesome update!! I really can't wait to see more! The Minotaur really scared the crap outta me. I've also really been enjoying all the little bits of world building and such, in future updates I think it'd be really cool to see a world map for earth? Anyways I'd love to geek out more over the lore in future updates!
Also a few things to add on:
I think in terms of balancing some enemies or the MBT in particular should be able to see through the smoke, or just shoot wildly into it? And with the levels with water I was thinking that maybe the water can cool the rig more efficiently? I don't know how realistic that is though.
When I also first saw that weird bowling pin thing, I thought that maybe there could be a sort of Kamikaze drone enemy? Something inspired by maybe the Ohka?
And speaking of desperate governments trying to win conflicts, as the missions and war progresses it could intensify in scale and desperation? Turning from skirmishes to total war. We could see the arms corporations slowly run out of their MBTs, Minotaurs, Helicopters, until it's only footsoldiers with anti armour weapons, and shoddly put together mechs.
It could also add a moral aspect and as the conflict rages on, we're ordered not to do special missions where we're the one woman army, but instead going block by block clearing overzealous civilians, raiding food stores, and fresh water facilities. Or vice-versa, we could be the ones on the defense, defending key infastructure, even experimental facilities. Or is this getting a bit off track? Either way I can't wait to see where this where this game goes, I think you'll go really far!!
(Sorry if I nerded out a bunch, these kinda things are what I live for.)
Cheers for playing and the kind words!
Haha, I'm glad to hear that. I specifically tried to make it sound as threatening as possible with its missiles and the gyroscope firing up.
It'll probably be kept vague, but I think I'll end up showing it briefly in a cutscene. World War III happened and is already over in this universe, so I'll need to think about how the map would have changed.
I agree, the smoke really needs work in general. I reduced the amount of time it sticks around in levels, but it's still a bit too OP with how defenseless it can make the enemies. I don't want to get rid of it entirely, but some things do need to be rewritten for it to work better.
That's a fun idea! I'll make the overdrive recharge faster when in water.
Totally. I'll have a few different kinds of suicide drones, and I also plan to have enemies that use spider drones the same way the player does.
Cool concept. I thought about having an optional mission at some point in the game where you fight space pirates/scavengers that also are use mechs put together from different vehicle hulls like technicals in the middle east, but I'm not too sure if it'll make it in yet.
I plan on having two main pilot characters that you kind of switch between depending on the mission; I think it could be possible to have two story lines going at once, but I'm not fully decided on it yet since it may double the workload on an already (somewhat) overscoped game, haha. But there will be different missions where you have to be defending someone or something, as well as keep your collateral damage down. The final mission in the demo is sort of a test for that.
Don't be sorry, I appreciate the thoughts and ideas greatly. Thanks again!
LET'S GOOOOOOO!!! NEW UPDATE BABY!!!
Let's try this new update!
A few of your weapon requests made it in!
Mission 7 ended with Metal Gear Solid vibes. I looked at all the new content and used it on pretty all mission. Great job. Only 2 things for me need to change :
- 120mm cannons seams to have too much ammo -> 80 to 90 is more realistic for the turret we have and ammos need to be scarce if overused. I spend only 75 shells on mission 2. This is basicaly the only weapon that can kill all the bugs without reloading if i use my secondary weapon.
- In the last mission, RC mine is not going to the right directions somethimes and grenades from me and ennemies goes over impenetrable walls.
Does all units can be unlock on the new Intel pannel right now ? New ennemies are tought that's cool !
Nice job finishing all 7! MGS was an inspiration for sure, though also Ace Combat 3 with the underground sections.
Noted. In testing I tended to use a lot of ammo with it in the other levels, though admittedly I didn't play much of mission 2 with that weapon since I felt it was a bit slow for the fast pace. I may reduce the ammo count then.
Sorry about that! It has to do with the pathfinding, it struggles to find where to go with the completely enclosed walls versus on more open levels. I wanted to fix it but there just wasn't any time left. For now if you keep your cursor close to it and out of walls, it should follow it mostly correctly.
Also I'm aware of the enemies sometimes clipping into the walls. It's kind of a tough thing to correct since they wander around the level even when the walls are deactivated. If I activate the walls off screen, even without them drawing it can take a large hit to FPS to have so many objects running, so I'll need to think of a new solution.
At the moment, only four units can be unlocked in the vehicle section. I wanted to do lots more including the helicopter and turrets, but again due to the deadline to meet the testing jam on itch there wasn't a lot I could draw. In the future there will be every enemy in the game as well as full color illustrations like the hangar in addition to the monochrome line drawings. It's sort of a proof of concept currently.
repeatedly ran into this error when I end the first mission on the experimental build:
############################################################################################
FATAL ERROR in
action number 1
of Alarm Event for alarm 0
for object o_mission_end:
DoAdd :2: undefined value
at gml_Script_scr_test_save
############################################################################################
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
stack frame is
gml_Script_scr_test_save (line -1)
gml_Object_o_mission_end_Alarm_0
Please try the new build, V.0.8.1C. I've removed the extension and tested it on a separate Windows 10 computer, it should be working correctly now.Problem identified and patched, version 0.8.2 is now fully stable.
I use the new build, V.0.8.1c and got the same error when the first mission ended
___________________________________________
############################################################################################
FATAL ERROR in
action number 1
of Alarm Event for alarm 0
for object o_mission_end:
DoAdd :2: undefined value
at gml_Script_scr_test_save
############################################################################################
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
stack frame is
gml_Script_scr_test_save (line -1)
gml_Object_o_mission_end_Alarm_0
Very sorry about that, I'm still not sure what's causing it. Can you try starting a new game? For some reason that fixes the problem for some people.EDIT: The problem has been identified and a patch will go out today. Finally figured it out.
EDIT 2: Patched version now live, everything should be working correctly.
Please everytime I want to launch a mission it does this I don't know what to do
############################################################################################
FATAL ERROR in Vertex Shader compilation
ShaderName: shd_outline_old
D3DXCompile failed - result
at gml_Object_o_player_Draw_0
############################################################################################
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
stack frame is
gml_Object_o_player_Draw_0 (line -1)
Hello. To fix this error, please download the Microsoft DirectX patch that I linked in the description. This crash occurs only because your system does not have the DirectX9+ driver to compile the outline shader. The patch should work on any OS version.
Love your game but i can't play any missions it crashes directly can you please help me it look's like a really nice game I love the styl
Still fun even on my 2nd repla
Cheers! I've just put a new build up if you'd like to try it.
Still enjoy this even months later. Thanks for the work on this demo. Excited to see how this game develops!
Thanks for playing! A new build was put up today if you'd like to check it out.
Just played it, love that we have a big-bore boom-dart launcher in the game now!
Awesome!
love this demo
Thank you!
Works on the Steam Deck if anyone's curious. Runs pretty well there too, just add as non-steam game and use proton experimental.
Nice, glad to see it's working on the Steam Deck.
Stumbled upon this project looking for mech art on Pinterest. So glad I did! Already in love with the game and I'm looking forward to seeing more from it!
Thanks a lot for playing!
I've been playing with the released levels occasionally over the past few months. The gunplay and the sound design are amazing. But what really attracted me was the sci-fi but somehow realistic art style and the weapon/hull designs that came with it. really looking forward to future updates and the full release!
Thank you! There will be new levels and some more fun things to play with soon. I'm always surprised to hear people are still replaying this short demo even months later haha.
I'm glad you enjoy that aspect, I plan on doubling down on it hard since I really enjoy designing said things.
That's truly fantastic to hear, let's gooooo!
i have been playing this game since months ago and it never gets boring. i left a long comment too when i first played.
mezzsoft if you abandon this masterpiece i won't forgive you in the afterlife XD
Thanks for playing! Looking back on the version that's currently public, I feel like there's honestly not that much replayability, but people keep telling me they keep replaying it to my surprise.
Haha, I don't intend to abandon it. There's still so much to do, hopefully fate lets me continue worki non it.
simply beautiful
Thank you!
Really really love the art style of the game, never seen anything quite like it before. Is it like 3d renders with a pixel art textures or something?
Thanks! It's all 2D done via a method called sprite-stacking. Basically a bunch of layers that move together relative to their position on screen.
The menu system is really well done as well! I love the crisp lines of it. I'm just about done with my 2d engine and taking heavy inspiration from what you've done here with your menu system; it's really good
Thank you!
Mà tựa game này bạn tạo ra từ phần mềm gì thế tui muốn tạo riêng 1 bản đồ được không ?
Xin chào. Phần mềm được sử dụng là Game Maker: Studio. Trong tương lai, tôi sẽ thêm tính năng cho phép người dùng tự tạo bản đồ của riêng mình.