[img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44064500/b505e5c5c4edd192327489593f9f64ef4d666bcd.png[/img] [i](Art is not final and is subject to change)[/i] [h2]Drop Pods[/h2] It's the little things sometimes that make the biggest differences. Our Drop Pods have become a defining feature of NIMRODS, unique and found nowhere else in the genre. It's very simple: Every time you level up, instead of your new power coming from the mysterious ether, it comes in the form of a five-ton chunk of metal that flattens almost anything it lands on for massive damage. It's simple, arguably elegant, and is a fantastic "holy crap, that was *awesome*!" moment that players see right in the early game. Not bad for in idea we came up with drinking soda late at night saying "dude, wouldn't it be awesome if...!" So, of course, seeing how iconic the Drop Pods have become, it's only natural that we would lean into them. This comes in the form of the Drop Pod Bay, another new area of the Home Ship in which you can take your basic pods and upgrade them to be something much cooler. [h2]Pod Assembly Hub[/h2] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44064500/4f72927575b5eebc54c5ae3f61eefccaa4b2c34f.png[/img] [i](Art is not final and is subject to change)[/i] The entire system is a little much to onboard new players to, so we're breaking it into three parts, so we can introduce it to players one step at a time. The first of these steps is the Pod Assembly Hub. It lets you build pods that are better than the ones you're currently getting. You pay some resources and/or credits, and you get an upgraded pod of some kind. Here are some examples: [list] [*] Rocket Pods hit the ground sideways instead of coming straight down, cutting a swath through enemies instead of only affecting a small circle. [*] Smart Pods fall down where your cursor is when you level up instead of coming down at a random part of the screen. When you notice you're about to level, keep your cursor near you to drop the pod nearby for an easy level-up, or keep your cursor over the enemies and smash them with a targeted strike. [*] Gambler pods contain some free re-rolls. Don't like your selection? Re-roll once or several times... but if you run out of re-rolls, you're stuck with the options, even if they're worse than they were before! [*] Blackout Pods are useful because before selecting an upgrade from them, you can select any number of other upgrades to permanently banish for the duration of the run. Have a thing against Containment Field? If it shows up on a Blackout Pod, that's the last you'll see of it that run! [/list] We've got a lot more planned, but this should be enough to give you an idea of how we plan to use the system. In case you were wondering, all Drop Pods are completely re-usable, so you don't need to worry about losing your investment on an Airdrop that completely whiffs; whenever you level up to a level that grants you an augment (not a tuning) your orbital Drop Pod Bay will pick a random Pod from a pool comprised of all the Drop Pods you've ever built. Once you run out of those Pods, it'll send the rest of your augments in normal Pods. [h2]Pod Refinement Bay[/h2] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44064500/0c28d9ce9d70eada94ed1580c7bc45458a375c7c.png[/img] [i](Art is not final and is subject to change)[/i] Are these drop pods not enough for you? Once you unlock this machine, you can upgrade your Drop Pods! Each pod's special power can be increased to be more powerful than it was before. Rocket Pods cut a wider swatch of destruction, Gambler Pods grant more re rolls, Blackout Pods have more capacity in them so you can banish more augments, and so forth. Upgraded Pods will drop before un-upgraded Pods. [h2]Drop Pod Scheduler[/h2] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44064500/0b82b2b5df68ef8029dc7acfecf8ff75b9200479.png[/img] [i](Art is not final and is subject to change)[/i] The final piece of the Drop Pod Bay puzzle, the Drop Pod Scheduler is the last thing that you unlock. Here, you can assign certain Drop Pods to certain levels, so you could, for instance, put all your Blackout Pods in your first few levels, then some Gambler Pods to finish off your initial build, then stack up Smart Pods to explode your enemies late game when they start to stack up on you. We're excited about this, because we think that the variety of Drop Pods we plan to give you access to, combined with the ability to choose when they appear, will give you all lots of opportunities to make interesting builds before your run even starts. We really hope this excites you all. Let us know your thoughts ❤️ [hr][/hr] [h1]Austin SXSW - ATX Game Makers[/h1] In other news, Fiveamp recently had the exciting opportunity to attend SXSW in Austin for the ATX Game Makers event, where we proudly showcased NIMRODS. Our main goal was to get the word out about our game with fellow gamers and gather valuable feedback. We're thrilled to report that the response was overwhelmingly positive! Possible publishing partners that hadn't given us a second thought paused at our booth and asked us to resubmit our applications. Experienced indie vets gave us feedback and advice on everything from game design to performance improvement ideas. We received a lot of valuable feedback from players and took a lot of notes from live play sessions. Going to events like these never fail to excite and energize us. I know we've said it before, but it bears repeating: we can't wait to get the full game ready and out to you all for early access! 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