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 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.
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!
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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
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!
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.
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!
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!!!