Hey Pilots! The first Mecha Simultactics update just dropped! This update includes private lobbies, lobby kick, networking fixes, combat balance, a new self-destruct ability, and a new team battle mode! You can play this update for free in the Mecha Simultactics Alpha: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2898880/Mecha_Simultactics_Alpha Also... [h2]10,000 Pilots![/h2] Wow, over 10,000 people have played the alpha! Thank you so much for playing this weird game with me! You may have noticed a few bugs. But don’t worry, this is what alpha is for. You'd be surprised how many bugs go unreported though. Even though there are 10,000 of you, the community is small enough that I can read and respond to everyone. You're part of a very special phase of development, where you have power to make an impact on this game with your feedback. So, if you find a bug, please let me know. You can post bug reports on the Steam forum or in the Discord. Ok ok, let’s talk about the new stuff! [h2]Team Battles[/h2] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44852909/79deebed25e7e735f8fef9fd89a916b41d02e6f1.png[/img] Mecha Simultactics now has two game modes: The original Free For All, and the new Team Battle mode. You can select Team Battle after you create a multiplayer lobby. Team Battle mode really changes the dynamics of tactical combat as team formation, directional advantage, and team coordination come into play. Can you coordinate a crazy team combo? Let’s see those replays! [h2]Lobby Features[/h2] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44852909/e2c540a95028de6ba38198cce4b9354925a67e7d.png[/img] I implemented a few highly requested QOL features for lobbies. Sorry for not adding this sooner… haha. Now you can create private lobbies if you only want to play with your friends. Also, the host can now kick members from the lobby and set a custom lobby name. [h2]Combat[/h2] I made a lot of changes to combat, and more to come. The goal here is to balance fundamental combat, prevent cheesy unavoidable damage, and prevent infinite combos, a.k.a. Touch of death (TOD). There are a lot of moving parts, so this will probably take a few tries to get right. Please let me know if I made anything worse! Here are a few highlights of the combat changes. You can check the full changelog linked at the bottom of this article for more detailed information. [h3]Destructive Blast[/h3] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44852909/ccc85f4a9b440c42091d660f866522a909d9d3f8.gif[/img] New Ability: Destructive Blast, which damages everything in the surrounding area, including yourself. If someone activates this you can pick them up and throw them like a grenade. [h3]Stagger[/h3] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44852909/46bbe8b247f2a78535fca8bdca4093d524cdb353.png[/img] New Status effect: Stagger. Parry and Knockdown now cause Stagger which prevents the use of special abilities and reduces melee priority. [h3]Burst[/h3] Dodge and Teleport now evades Burst. Burst can now be parried or blocked with shield. [h3]Shield[/h3] Your shield can now break after taking significant melee damage. Burst breaks it instantly. [h3]Combos[/h3] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44852909/1e7985894d778bb1c10334b0de9a792292eb014a.gif[/img] I put some limits in place to prevent players from getting trapped in an infinite combo. For example, no more launching players off the floor with melee, and no more grabbing after a wall splat. Stagger plays a role in chaining combos - giving the defender an opportunity to break free. [h2]Networking Fixes[/h2] Two major networking fixes: 1. Region lock fix: Steam filters the lobbies by default based on region distance. This prevented players from joining their friends' games. I have fixed the configuration for this so you should be able to join rooms worldwide now. If it's still not working, please let me know. 2. "Waiting for players" freeze: There are issues with large lobbies. The more players in a lobby, the more likely the connection is to fail during battle start. This should be improved now, but not 100% fixed. If you get stuck at battle startup with the new version, please let me know. [h2]Changelog[/h2] Here’s a detailed breakdown of all the changes: [url=https://roadmap.simultactics.com/changelog]Changelog[/url] [h2]Wait, what about more content???????[/h2] Believe me, no one wants new mechs and abilities more than I do. I am so excited to add more content to this game. But first, we need to focus on fixing fundamental issues. This is what alpha is for! You will be hearing from me as soon as we add more content. Thank you for being patient while we work towards that!! [h2]Stay up to date[/h2] Click these links: [list] [*] [url=https://www.rjtn.ca/]Sign up for Newsletter[/url] [*] [url=https://www.discord.gg/rjtn]Join the Discord[/url] [/list] Good luck, Pilot! -RJ https://store.steampowered.com/app/2898880/Mecha_Simultactics_Alpha