[b]Commanders, a bunch of major updates is coming over the next months as we continue evolving the game throughout Early Access![/b] We are excited to bring you more features, improvements, changes, and new content, so read on for the details: [h2]Public Roadmap & Closed Playtests[/h2] In the future, you will find this roadmap on the Steam page for the game, pinned in the Steam forums, and on our Discord server to discuss the upcoming changes and improvements: [expand type=details expanded=false][img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43630847/73bd3cbf4dc6815844ac4a5c30bea9cc34e84f9b.jpg[/img][/expand] [b]We are taking the game to the next level! [/b] Survivor Mercs should become a truly unique [color=orange][i]"horde survival squad-builder"[/i][/color], so we're focusing even more on roguelike elements and squad-building mechanics. Join the community and let's make the game better, together! [url=https://discord.com/invite/nWQVgDNErd][img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43630847/e136bc5532bb623d4320f5dfe02cf22ff0dca79a.png[/img][/url] [quote]We are hand-picking community members who will soon get access to a [b]Playtest Version[/b] of Survivor Mercs to test and provide feedback on pre-release versions of the game. Apply now on our Discord server if you want to join! We aim to roll out this Playtest over the next weeks and expand it over time with more of Commanders as we learn and improve. [/quote] [h2]Upcoming Major Updates[/h2] With the last update and its subsequent patches for [url=https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2141520/view/4157463301952420114]"Bootcamp" (0.9.10)[/url] we introduced new operation types, new synergies, improved onboarding and progression systems, added a ton of Achievements, and introduced the groundwork for more narrative content. [color=orange][b]Now, Commanders, get ready for the updates 0.9.11 and beyond![/b][/color] [h3]Commander Weapons[/h3] Our topmost priority is the introduction of Commander Weapons to grant [b]more control over your squad[/b] of Mercs. You will be able to equip one of multiple default weapons for any Commander clone. These weapons go hand-in-hand with new procs and synergy effects based on damage types and status effects. The weapons are not replacing your Mercs as your primary damage source! Instead, you can [b]actively aim and shoot[/b] these weapons to apply certain status effects or set up powerful procs for your Mercs. Three examples to illustrate the idea: 1. "Mark" enemies with your sniper rifle: Mercs prioritize marked targets, so you can indirectly control your squad to focus fire to get out of tight situations or clear the area to capture an objective. 2. Throw poison grenades to apply a light poison DoT. If a Merc with a fire attack hits these targets, it will cancel the poison DoT but in turn double the fire damage or create an explosion. 3. Attack your enemies with a high-powered laser to melt their armor and apply a decay effect your Mercs can exploit to deal massive damage to armored targets. We are planning to roll out this feature in the next major update 0.9.11, codename "Arsenal", with a starting set of weapons. Once we have more data and insights - not only from the Playtest - we plan to expand this feature with more Commander Weapons, synergies, and additional systems & challenges to find and change weapons during a run. [h3]Map & Operation Overhaul[/h3] We started working on a massive overhaul and improvement to the Maps & Operations. Right now, the game feels too overwhelming at times, especially with lots of enemies and objectives, managing your extraction, watching out for the next miniboss, hoarding loot, all while deciding your next upgrade choices. Our goal is to break up the 20-minute runs into multiple shorter stages. With these stages, we introduce [b]more variety[/b] to the maps and objectives, focus on the [b]frantic combat action[/b], and improve the progression during your runs with [b]more tactical depth[/b] and [b]more meaningful choices[/b]. [b]It is important to us to keep the essential core of the game intact![/b] So, we will be sharing more details as we progress on this massive feature and make sure to test our design and assumptions before committing to any changes permanently. Based on this new map structure, we are planning to introduce new Operation Types and completely new Maps that look and play differently from the current ones. Of course, each Map will come with a new Boss and its custom music theme. And once we get closer to the v1.0 release, you can expect an official [b]Survivor Mercs OST[/b]. [h3]Story Missions[/h3] We all want to learn more about the Mercs and the war on M.E.G.A. Corp.! One of the next updates will introduce Missions and more narrative content. The goal is not just adding fluff & flavor, but tying more of the [b]progression to actual missions[/b] instead of having only the current "unlock conditions". This is partially dependent on the new map & operations structure, but we will try to already introduce more narrative elements with each update. The Missions will be wrapped in brief dialogues with various characters. For this, we are working on additional high-res illustrations of various characters like Conduit: [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43630847/83bc66077da0cf3e43044732637ad77ab0b92349.png[/img] But the Mercs and the Bosses will also get a chance to shine in high-res with individual Missions: [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43630847/2eccb82be7cf8b2ecf801e764528e6b7a9d67019.jpg[/img] [h3]Settings, Languages, Input Remapping[/h3] We want to make sure the game can be enjoyed by as many players as possible. Please post your wishes for settings and features you would like us to implement in this forum thread: https://steamcommunity.com/app/2141520/discussions/0/4299321616496946128/ With one of the next updates, we are offering the game in [b]more additional languages[/b], specifically Spanish, French, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Turkish, Japanese, Korean, and Ukrainian. We expect the translations to be imperfect at first. Therefore we want to involve you and the community to work with us on improving the translations by [b]offering direct access to the language files[/b]. If you would be interested in getting involved, maybe also with a language we don't have yet, we'd be happy to hear from you [url=https://discord.com/invite/nWQVgDNErd]on our Discord server[/url]. Once the Commander Weapons & new Map System are available, we aim to dedicate more time to settings and options like input remapping. [h3]Our Modding Plans[/h3] We can't share exact details - yet - but we have plans to open up the game to enable various degrees of moddability. [b]The first step will be Custom Skins.[/b] We want to enable you to replace the pixel sprites for characters, items, and weapons in the game to customize them to your liking and share your creations via Steam Workshop. We don't want to stop there and also allow changes to game data and potentially even ways to add new content. This is more of a long-term feature. If you are a modder, we already want to hear your thoughts, wishes, and ideas so we can try and build a system that is comfortable and fun to use. [h2]Other Improvements & Closing Thoughts[/h2] The "Battle Plan" shows many more improvements and features. In this news post, we wanted to focus on the updates in the near future. We're going to share more details about these additional items on the menu as we progress further in Early Access. In general, we're constantly working on[b] improving performance and audio-visual quality[/b] of the game. The upcoming updates require work on various subsystems and we aim to optimize these with each iteration to move closer towards a stable 60 fps. The current bottleneck is the CPU since a lot of our physics simulation can be heavily optimized. Now that the core of the game is more and more feature-complete, we know what impacts performance the most and can tackle these optimizations. Many improvements further down the road are expanding on these core systems, e.g. by introducing [b]more Mercs, items, enemies, challenges, or synergy effects.[/b] As we move forward, we plan to upgrade our [b]Twitch integration[/b] and look at integrating [b]CrowdControl[/b]. Enjoying a game with others is always great and we want to give back to the amazing community of streamers and creators by offering ways to engage with their audience while playing our game. And speaking of playing with others: we have plans to add a co-op mode to the game where a friend can pick up a controller and take control over any Merc on your squad at any time. This feature is currently still at a design stage. Once we get the basics to work for a[b] local couch-coop[/b], we will also look at Steam's Remote Play Together feature, but we don't want to promise anything at this stage as the game is not built for online multiplayer functionality. So, Commanders, expect more Major Early Access Updates for Survivor Mercs over the next months! And of course, many more news & information about these planned features and content expansions. Join the discussion [url=https://discord.com/invite/nWQVgDNErd]on our Discord server[/url] and let us know what you are most excited about. [url=https://discord.com/invite/nWQVgDNErd][img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43630847/e136bc5532bb623d4320f5dfe02cf22ff0dca79a.png[/img][/url] Lock, load, and loot, Commanders!