[b]Commanders, we want YOU![/b] We are releasing multiple major updates over the next months and are looking forward to getting you involved more & earlier in the development! [h2]Updated Roadmap[/h2] We published the newest roadmap, reflecting some adjustments in the upcoming updates. [expand type=details expanded=false]{[img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43630847/0442de0a9c03a4b4a8fd6001193198ea31fe126a.jpg[/img][/expand] We are currently working on 3 major feature blocks for the game: [olist] [*] Story Missions [*] Map & Ops Variety [*] Synergies 2.0 [/olist] These things will be rolled out over the course of the next 3 updates. As all three of these feature blocks introduce new content with major changes & additions to functionality, we are starting with a smaller update to introduce parts of the UI rework and basics for the story missions. Next, we aim to prepare a closed community playtest for the Map & Ops overhaul and the improved Synergy System to collect your feedback before officially shipping these in the following update(s). The updates after that are expanding on these systems and content. So let's explore these things in some more detail: [h2]Story Missions & Lore[/h2] [b]It's getting personal![/b] You will finally meet the bosses of M.E.G.A. Corp.'s subsidiaries and uncover their secrets to eternal life. And you'll learn more about the Mercs and why they chose to fight at your side against the evil M.E.G.A. corpos and their robot legions. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43630847/8331528225fa8a46047abee15702466c85c1dbba.jpg[/img] The Story Missions around the bosses unlock new maps and operations, and the missions around your Mercs will unlock new weapons, Gear, Mercs, and Rooms. The introduction of story missions will be integrated into a better, streamlined flow to start a battle: Instead of picking a clone and map/operation separately, you'll be guided through these steps from a single point-of-entry in the Bunker HQ menu: [olist] [*] clone & equip your next Commander - no specific changes here apart from UI improvements [*] pick one of M.E.G.A. Corp.'s subsidiaries on a global map to attack a specific boss - instead of a map, you'll choose a corporate target, but we will retain the different biomes, of course [*] select an area where the corporation operates to choose your Operation Difficulty - you'll unlock more areas progressively [*] meet the boss if you attack an area for the first time - a short dialogue introduces the boss and starts the next story mission or side mission [*] hitch a ride on Conduit's helicopter into battle [/olist] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43630847/32b39c1849b06c0f47fd3193e508ba0888a7b439.gif[/img] [i](current WIP shot)[/i] This new flow is intended to improve accessibility and expose more of the game's lore and characters. It will also allow you to gather additional information about enemies, special objectives, and mini-bosses - something that is even more helpful once you get to play the new map & ops stage structure. [h2]Map & Ops Stages[/h2] Right now, each Operation is a 20-minute run where you manage everything all at once. This is sometimes overwhelming, and also limits the gameplay variety. The new system breaks the Operations up into [b]multiple, branching stages[/b] to fight your way to the top where the boss awaits. Each stage offers a different challenge, focusing on the frantic action of fighting the robot horde and capturing objectives. Your primary goal is to survive, collect XP & loot, and extract. Instead of ending the Operation, each Extraction takes you back to your Choppa. Now you can focus on building and upgrading your squad by spending your level-ups, and managing your loot. Then pick your next stage from 1 or 2 choices, or extract for good. Each stage is progressively becoming more difficult and may reveal a persistent modifier like increasing enemies' HP, speed, damage, etc. The conditions for the extraction may also vary, ranging from a countdown to a lethal artillery barrage to capturing specific objectives or defeating a number of specific enemies. Overall, the new stage system offers [b]more variety, tactical depth, and meaningful choices.[/b] As this is a substantial change to the core of the game, we aim to playtest that with you, Commanders, to catch issues and collect your feedback before putting it live. We are really excited about this change and believe it will massively improve the overall experience by making every operation truly different from the last one. [b]Rest assured, though, that it is of utmost importance to us to keep the essential core of the game intact![/b] [quote]We are hand-picking community members for the [b]Playtest[/b] of Survivor Mercs. Apply now [url=https://discord.com/invite/nWQVgDNErd]on our Discord server[/url] if you want to join! We aim to start the Playtest small and expand it over time with more Commanders as we learn and improve. The first round will start in the upcoming weeks. [/quote] The new Map & Ops Stages will also come with more Operation Difficulties. Harder runs offer more Stages and take longer to complete, offering more challenges and random events, and tying into the Missions with stages specifically build around mission objectives. [h2]Weapons & Synergies 2.0[/h2] With the introduction of the Commander Weapons [url=https://steamcommunity.com/app/2141520/discussions/0/3951406499778165691/]in the last update "Arsenal" (0.9.11)[/url] and with the new Map & Ops Stages, you get more tactical choice and squad-build depth than ever before. The only thing that's missing, is a more versatile system to modify and combine Traits, Mercs, Gear, and Weapons. This is the focus of the Weapons & Synergies 2.0 feature! Currently, our underlying engine is limited to modifying & scaling stats and enabling certain special features like procs via skill trees. The new system enables more complex configurations of weapons and abilities. We want you to modify and change the behavior or type of weapons, attacks, and abilities to discover completely new synergies between the different elements of your squad build. We aim to add more interesting modifiers, e.g. "all bullets deal fire damage" or "rifles shoot bolts instead of bullets", and create more creative procs, e.g. "poisoned enemies explode when set on fire". These changes will roll out gradually with these upcoming updates, likely alongside new Gear, Weapons, Mercs, and Traits. We'll drop more details as we make progress. Some of these changes will also be available in the upcoming Playtest. [h2]Polishing UI & VFX[/h2] As we are nearing completion of the fundamental game systems, we are dedicating more time and resources to improving the audiovisual fidelity of the game. You will start seeing these changes gradually appear over the upcoming updates, supporting both the lore and storytelling, and improving accessibility and clarity of various menus and UI. Aside from the high-res illustrations for the various characters, we are improving the rendering tech & shaders for visual FX and re-creating various menus in our "pixelpunk" style. Maps and enemies receive additional polishing and all of these changes are made alongside performance improvements. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43630847/a63b7366c20dc6d642d744c1298bd94f29676741.gif[/img] [h2]Settings, Community Translations, Input Remapping[/h2] We strive to make the game enjoyable by any Commander. 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/ Once the new Map System is available, we aim to dedicate more time to settings and options like input remapping, and many more. With the last update we also introduced many new languages, offering the game in 14 languages now. But we know the translations are not the best. Therefore we want to invite you and the community to improving the translations with us by [b]offering direct access to the language files[/b]. If you would be interested in getting involved - maybe even 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]. [quote]We are currently evaluating two different ways to handle the Community Translation Project. Stay tuned for news about that soon.[/quote] [h2]Other Improvements & Closing Thoughts[/h2] The "Battle Plan" shows many more improvements and features. In this news post, we wanted to highlight the immediate features and content coming in the near future with the major updates "Storytime" & "Pathfinder". We'll share more detail about the other roadmap items as we continue our Early Access, we're already excited to talk about some of the other things we're working on. Join the discussion [url=https://discord.com/invite/nWQVgDNErd]on our Discord server[/url] and let us know what you are most excited about. We hope to find some of you to participate in our community events and contribution projects: [url=https://discord.com/invite/nWQVgDNErd][img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43630847/e136bc5532bb623d4320f5dfe02cf22ff0dca79a.png[/img][/url] Lock, load, and loot, Commanders!