But wait, didn’t I lead this post with a tantalizing headline in hopes you would click and immediately leave to join the Discord. Are you still here and actually want me to deliver on the headline now? Fine.
Some time in April of 2022 [this is how bad my memory has gotten] version 0.8.4 was released which included several items, but mostly contained a completely updated AI system. The AI are much better at teamwork, are more accurate, and generally put up a hell of a fight even for the most experienced players. Of course, in Skynet fashion, these AI are personalized to your play style and skill level, aimed to continually challenge you and help you develop your skillset.
One of the items that didn’t quite make in to the 0.8.4 release is a new game mode. This will be coming in the next update, which is under active development. The new game mode is one step closer to ‘Campaign Mode’ style matches, containing multiple areas of interest on a map, along with an increased number of AI. Unlike other game modes, this is a points based win condition, allowing for varying successful play styles that do not require direct MAV to MAV combat.
That’s all I have for this post! I do hope to see you in the Discord channel!
]]>So let’s get right to the point!
The resounding answer here is YES! Here are some great new pictures!
That, is going to be a bit more complicated.
We followed a very, VERY, iterative approach to building M.A.V.. We started with nearly weekly releases, which then moved to monthly releases, with many hotfixes built in. All with a TINY group of people doing the work.
This had some great benefits! We were able to test ideas very quickly, we had constant progress to show the community, and we could adapt to changes typically in a month. One thing it also causes, was a lot of code rot. M.A.V. was developed over a long time and as we developed it, we discovered much better ways to do things. We learned more about the engine and the engine got better as well! Eventually, we hit a certain peak level of optimization with the current implementations of things.
It also prevented us from working a long term, difficult to solve problems.
Working on those long, difficult to solve problems. This has means a ground up refactoring of a lot of the core systems. The way parts are defined in code is changing. The entire networking stack and architecture is changing. The way we implement servers is changing. Some gameplay rules are changing. The core engine is being updated.
And we are designing for the future.
Our next release, will be the full release. Not the last release, but the full 1.0 M.A.V. has hit it’s promises, release.
What does a 1.0 release mean?
It means:
And of course, the online campaign mode, which will operate more as an MMO extension to the game than a different game mode.
Wait what?
As much as I fought the notion that M.A.V. would be an MMO, it really is the best way I know how to describe the campaign mode. Only, it’s an Async MMO.
It’s Async, in the fact that you do not have to have a constant presence online to participate in the global war. Oh, yeah, there is a global battle for territory control, between ‘at least’ 3 factions.
You will chose an allegiance to a faction to help drive their war effort.
So how will you participate in the war?
There are many, many answers to this question. But first, you will need resources.
Players will earn in-game resources for completing various missions. You start with a base amount of resources and are awarded a stipend by your faction, depending on their territory control, resource availability, and your contributions to their efforts.
Be wary though, damaged parts, destroyed M.A.V.s and damages to your base all require resources to repair, replace, purchase, or upgrade.
If you are a sharp reader, you will notice you have your own base. In this base, you can upgrade various functions, expanding your garage space, adding additional defenses, adding some baseline resource extraction, adding AI squad mate slots, or providing manufacturing to help lower your replacement costs. You have a limited amount of space, but this base can never be destroyed by opposing factions.
You can, however, capture ‘open’ territories. These are actual places on the global map that are won and lost in battle. While it’s possible for a single player to own a territory, its much more likely that a group of players will coordinate to capture, defend, and upgrade territories, preliminary do to the resource costs.
To ensure this can all happen truly async and you don’t have to cancel date night because your territories are being attacked, you can hire the help of AI squad mates. These squad mates develop skills under your supervision and use equipment that you provide (and pay the resource costs on!). They are available continuously to protect your territories. You can even send them into attacker missions by your side, or even without you at all!
All of this is great, but what if you are not into the pure combat side of the war?
Well, you can take up the profession of a builder or a mechanic. Builders spend resources and influence to upgrade, expand, and control faction level territories. You place the defenses, you do the repairs, and you prevent the attackers from winning!
A mechanic, spends a lot of time in the garage. They perfect builds to be used by other players in their factions. They can earn resources by posting these builds to the faction build reserve. Every time a player pays resources to access a build in the build reserve, the creator retains a percentage of those resources for themselves. In addition to this, having manufacturing facilities in your home territory allow you to supply your faction with lower cost parts. Each time one of these parts is purchased, the manufacturer retains a portion of those resources. Knowing which parts to manufacture will be a critical part of this!
There are many other aspects to the war, but these cover the primary player stories.
My hope, is you can see the immense amount of work to bring you this vision in a high quality fashion. We are working very diligently and as we get closer to knowing the eact time frame of a release, you readers will be the first to know!
Until next time!
]]>
As you can see from the trailer above, New Amazon has received a visual update to bring it inline with the other levels. This includes a few gameplay changes that affect the ‘known’ paths around the level, so getting a new feel for it should be fun and interesting.
Overall the lighting was improved, performance was improved, and render distances were increased. There is a more realistic amount of ground vegetation as well.
Building upon Augusts command mode update, there are a few quality of life improvements.
Issuing an order directly to a target will attach the order to that target. This can be used to get AI to follow you with a defend order:
Or have the AI continue to pursue an enemy with an attack order:
Small additional improvements include switching the order type by clicking the order icons in the legend, a reduction in the glaring whiteness of the uplink area, and many overlapping UI issues have been resolved.
Also, Siege base information will be show on the map for teams that have a CommSys equipped.
With this update we can finally put this thread to rest!
There are some core balance changes in this update.
Wolf Legs:
Hit points reduced from 950 to 800
Armor reduced from 15 to 0
Energy Usage increased from 0 to 328
Through looking at the Wolf legs, they ran into an interesting situation in which they were very well balanced among the parts on paper, but held a continuing domination of many roles in practice. The Health reduction puts them much more in line with similar speed legs once the smaller hitbox is considered. The armor reduction also helps bring them in line by exposing them to splash damage as a greater weakness.
The energy usage increase is a bit more of a targeted change to increase the build diversity and secondary concerns when using these legs. They are much more vulnerable to generator damage, allowing them to be slowed down in a fight.
CHAGN-3:
Hitpoints reduced from 869 to 662
Armor reduced from 15 to 0
Energy Use increased from 328 to 398
Heat Gen increased from 35 to 45
Heat damage threshold decreased from 346 to 250
Impact force reduced from 25 to 0
Firing heat reduced from 5 to 1
Zoom level reduced from 2.25 to 1
These changes, while complicated, are more transitional than a buff or a nerf. The primary problem with the CHAGN-3 was that it again, was fairly balanced on paper but in practice had a few kinks that allowed it to become a dominating part. The CHAGN-3 falls very much into the ‘terror’ weapon category, along with flamers, saws, and spikes. The big difference was the distance allowed with the CHAGN-3. This was some what addressed by reducing the zoom level on the weapon, making long range shots slightly more difficult but without affecting the range.
The hitpoints and armor reductions allow players under fire from a CHAGN-3 (or more likely multiple of them) to have a chance to react and remove the weapon from the battle. At 662 hitpoints, it would require concentrated fire, or a fully connected alpha strike from cannons or snipers to take it out, but that option is now available. To help with this as an option, the impact force of the CHAGN rounds was reduced to 0, as to not affect the enemies aim.
The energy, heat, and heat damage threshold are minor changes that will not have a large impact on the day to day operation of the weapon. The Heat Threshold was artificially high before do to the firing heat. The new values will make the weapon react the same to heat damage if the weapon is firing or not. Before, the weapon had very high heat tolerance when not firing and very low when firing.
We have many other bug fixes and minor updates that have gone into the build to increase performance, stability, or quality of life.
The two most notable can be seen here:
The Garage (and by extension main menu and pre-game lobby) have received a small lighting update and performance pass. In general, we are experiencing a 100% increase in FPS in the garage, so from 60 FPS to 120 FPS. This should help a lot when building your MAV.
Also seen in the screen shot is our new MAV shader, which makes better use of the PBR lighting conditions and reflections. This should make the metal seem more like metal and the camo colors be a bit more vibrant.
Overall we hope you enjoy this months release, which will be Live Friday September 14th. See you on the battlefield!
]]>We are very excited about this update, as it includes many different items that have a large impact. Lets get right into it!
Engineers equipped with a Comm System can enter command mode by pulling up their map and holding the control key. In Command mode, they will be able to issue orders directly to teammates. There are 4 different order types, Defend, Attack, Search, and Move. if you are issuing an order to a human team mate, they will be able to see the order type and location on their map. It is still up to them to follow the order though!
An AI player will execute the order to the best of their ability, assuming there is nothing they find much more pressing (like getting blown up).
Defend: The AI will move to the location and patrol the area. They will attack any enemy they encounter, but will not stray to far from the location.
Attack: The AI will move to the location and attack any targets they see along the way. If they find a target close to the order location, they will attack and pursue that target until it dies.
Search: The AI will move to the location and start a search pattern in a broad area looking for targets. They will not attack unless provoked. Once provoked, they will attack and cancel the order.
Move: The AI will move directly to the order location, attacking along the route. They will not pursue enemies and will stay close to the order location until the order is canceled.
Well, to help power all those new found Engineers, FuseCorp has release a new line of light cockpits!
The Helike line of cockpits provide a great energy generating cockpit, in a compact size. With a varieity of modules, the cockpit can prove to be quite versatile in the Engineer role, even pushing into medium sized cockpit stats in some cases. However, the energy plants, and corresponding cooling systems, left little in the way for firing systems, limiting the available weapons you can equip.
Not to fall behind, Rox Kinetics has released an experimental part.
The Wolf legs are an experimental digi-grade style leg, created to try and maximize the performance of the bipeds speed and the reverse joints stability. These legs are fast, able to hit a top speed over 75 KPH, and carry a decent load while doing it. They did get great stability control, though the movement of the leg makes firing while moving difficult. All this technology comes at a price of durability. The complicated movement did not leave much room for protection, so armor and overall durability suffer quite a bit when compared to traditional bipeds.
All levels received an update to some degree, some getting a full overhaul. I will let images speak here:
Blind Alley
Crater Arena
Giant Leap
No Mans Pass
Outpost Alpha
Grassy Creek
AI has been significantly improved from a path finding and behavioral perspective. They tend to be more aggressive, less predictable, and more effective overall, but especially in a team setting.
Lighting and shaders have been improved through out the game to make MAV’s look as good as they can.
Per level environment settings have been updated.
In general, performance has gone up on all levels. Some levels, like Giant Leap, should see significance performance gains.
Dozens of small or minor bug fixes.
The update will be live on August 17th. See you on the battlefield!
]]>
From July 2nd, 2018 to July 6th, 2018, you have chances to win limited edition firework codes, just by playing the game!
For this year, we have 6 brand new, never before seen fireworks!
Common Tier
Patriot White dr: 25%
Patriot Red dr: 25%
Patriot Blue dr: 25%
Uncommon
Patriot Flower dr: 15%
Rare
Patriot Nova dr: 8%
Epic
Patriot Multi-Star dr: 2%
On average, you should get 1 firework drop per hour of playtime this week. The above listed drop rates are the overall likely-hood you will receive any one firework. Remember, these drop as keys sent to your email, so be sure to be checking your emails! Feel free to trade keys so you can get a full set!
These fireworks will be forever unavailable after July 6th 2018!
]]>To start things off, the UEC commissioned their favorite military manufacturer, DSMR to create some new parts to help in the fight against the mining revolt. UEC forces has been trying to adapt to the fighting techniques of the miners, who like to use mining charges and ambush tactics. They found it very difficult to place parts in a way that would be effective without creating a weak point for the mining charges to blast them apart. Enter the Armored Spacer solution. DSMR has created a line of spacers that are completely immune to the mining charge blasts, primarily by slapping tons of armor of a traditionally weak part, weight be damned.
Lucky for the miners, a orbit to surface rail delivery was redirected and these new armored spacers are available to everyone to use!
What good would this drop of new parts be without a better way to utilize them?
The Garage has received quite an overhaul, aimed at increasing its user friendliness, usability, and decreasing the learning curve.
Garage Tutorial
To decrease the learning curve, we have implemented a full, self guided, tutorial system for the garage. While we have only implemented a few steps to the tutorial in this build, we will continue to expand it out and utilize it to help introduce new changes and features in the garage from here on out.
You will see the new system in action the first time you load up the garage after the update. Each popup will give a small tidbit of information about the garage functions and will not be shown again once you close it out.
Part Name Plates
Hovering over a part in the garage will now display a small nameplate, identifying what part you are hovering over. This is great for when you are deep into the build process and lost track of which parts you were switching for what, or maybe you just forgot what legs you had equipped. This small bit of information will prove very valuable for the heavy garage users.
Part Stats Popup
Using the right click menu, it is now possible to enable a floating part stats dialog for any part in the garage. This allows for some on the fly comparisons between parts, again making the building process much more streamlined. The stats dialog will only show a subset of the part stats however, but it’s tuned to a per part category selection of which stats to show.
Garage Right Click Menu
Right clicking on a part in the garage will now bring up a dedicated right click menu, containing the options to delete the part, rotate it, duplicate the part, or open up the part stats dialog. This menu centers around the selected part, following it as you move it to the build. It makes for a much easier to use and access set of functions that help you make choices or streamline the building process.
Garage Camera Pan
A much asked for feature, you can now pan the camera using the middle mouse button. The camera will pan perpendicular to your current view, allowing you to better see your builds connection points and make those perfect part placements. If you want to reset you view, a reset button will be visible once you have panned the camera away from the starting location. There is also a location helper that will allow you to better visualize the new rotation point for the camera.
Garage Undo
The garage now has a fully featured undo system, allowing up to 20 undos, along with memory to redo actions as well. The undo system is capable of tracking events such as deleting a part (attached or floating), attaching parts, detaching parts, part rotations, and leg swaps. We know that the process of creating the perfect build takes lots of iteration, so the undo system will help you achieve those results without the fear of time consuming mistakes!
As with any patch, some balances changes were made:
We look forward to seeing you in-game on Friday. June 29th for the update!
]]>he tracked MAV reeled under the combined firepower of the six battle rifles, the armor-piercing rounds shattering armored plates into silvery chunks that fell all over the pavement. Smoldering from a dozen small fires, the large machine pivoted to the left and slammed into a building, which promptly collapsed, covering the MAV in rubble and dust.
Moving among the large warehouses, the large attacking unit twisted the vaguely humanoid torso in search of more targets. Brasswolf III was turning out to be an impressive machine.
Built using captured military parts, as well as some acquired in the thriving black market that spread across Europa since the start of the rebellion, the new Brasswolf was a marked improvement over the previous versions. Standing on a pair of humanoid legs, it was bigger than its predecessors. It mounted drills where its hands should be, and over its shoulders it sported six battle rifles. It was also well armored and mounted enough reactors to feed its massive bulk.
Although the reduced maneuverability when compared with the previous machine still concerned Claire, she had to admit that the improved endurance and firepower more than made up for it.
“We’ve reached the central area, Brasswolf,” Karan’s voice reached Claire through her headphones. The offensive was going well, but it was still too soon to declare victory. If there was something Claire had learned during the last half year or so was that the enemy was always much more resourceful than one could ever expect.
Brasswolf III moved past the warehouses and into the wider venue beyond. That outpost was actually quite larger than she had imagined, even though the briefing had laid out its composition and objective.
Apparently, the base was to be part of a large-scale offensive against the rebels of Belus. As a result, the different cells of the region came to the conclusion they would need to do something about it, and do it collectively.
However, Claire had learned first-hand how difficult it was to make disparate rebel groups work together.
Two more governmental MAVs moved in to intercept Claire, this time coming from the communications array in the furthermost corner of the outpost. High explosive shells detonated around Brasswolf III, devastating the pavement and the walls of the nearby warehouses. Gritting her teeth, Claire turned to use a small building as cover.
“Tristan, this is Brasswolf. You are lagging behind,” she yelled over them radio.
“Sorry, commander!” a male voice with a southern drawl replied. “I’m catching up.”
She would have to trust Tristan to make his way there. Meanwhile, she needed to keep the incoming units occupied.
Before doing so, Claire still gave a quick glance at her sensors to check on the rest of the attack. The control tower and small spaceport to the south were still besieged. The defenders were fighting fiercely, but the attack strategy forced them to divide their forces, and face the much more experienced rebel pilots in parity of numbers.
Another shell fell before Claire could clear the building she was using as cover. The detonation rocked her machine and destroyed one of the battle rifles.
Unwilling to give her enemies any respite, Claire moved into the open with the remaining guns blazing. The second enemy unit, a chicken-walker, was moving to the left, in the direction of the warehouses. It mounted an engineering apparatus, and Claire assumed it was a support MAV with minimal offensive capabilities. That meant the quad equipped with the howitzer was the more dangerous of the two.
She fired a long volley at the chicken-walker, blowing away chunks of armor and some of its equipment. Then she turned to the right and moved right into the larger MAV. Missiles came screaming at her, and although her reaction was swift, another of her weapons was shed away by the volley.
Small weapons fire hit her flank, coming from the support unit, but did little damage, so she kept charging.
“Tristan, where are you!”
“Getting there! Still dealing with some infantry.”
The battle rifles were roaring again, this time punching holes along the hull and legs of the quad MAV. Engaged in that fire exchange, the enemy pilot took a moment too long to realize what Claire intended to do. Brasswolf III’s drills found their way into the two front legs of the lumbering machine.
After the disaster of the assault against the Enuma Mines, the rebels of Belus were left with some hard decisions to make. With most of their command structure destroyed, Claire was temporarily made the leader. Truth be told, she never felt to be the right person for the task. Her calling was to be in the cockpit, not behind a desk organizing logistics.
Eventually Faizan slid into that role with the help of Xoán and others like them, who were better at managing the workings of their rebel army. That allowed Claire to concern herself only with commanding troops in the field. When the other rebel cells accepted to join in the assault, their main demand was for her to lead their pilots against the UEC.
The chassis of the quad machine was sturdier than she thought. As she pulled her drills away, the enemy fired the missiles at point blank range. At that distance the warheads failed to detonate, but still shattered armor plates and made red lights come alive in Claire’s control panel.
She lurched over the other machine, focusing the drills on one of the legs. This time she saw the metal bend and shatter. Pulling away a few steps, she fired the last rounds from her rifles into the damaged hull, punching holes all over the machine.
As the MAV collapsed onto itself, Claire turned around to check on the other enemy. She moved in time to see Tristan already engaging the chicken-walker. Both machines traded blows for a few seconds, and then the military unit simply halted.
“Enough!” a voice said through the open channels. “I’ll come out.”
The cockpit popped open and a young man got out with his arms raised.
Looking the other way across the outpost, Claire also saw the surviving rebel MAVs spreading out and forming a perimeter. All the defenders had been either destroyed or retreated, and the path was open to take over the place.
“Your plan worked, commander,” Tristan said. “There will no attacking Belus now.”
So, the main objective was achieved. Claire inhaled deeply while that reality settled in. She had fought her way through the ups and downs of the rebellion, and survived. She had lost family and friends, and yet she endured.
There was no way to know how for long that war would last. But she would keep taking care of her people. For good or for ill, that was now her life.
“This is Brasswolf to all units. The objective has been taken. Bring in the haulers and start preparing the demolition charges. Brasswolf, out.”
]]>Claire kept staring blankly at the table in front of her while the news kept coming. A young man who had served as a communications technician until now was laying them down to her. He had told her his name, but honestly Claire couldn’t remember it. She herself still had a lot to cope with.
Mister Zhou, and all the others…
The UEC offensive against the core of the rebellion in the Belus region had failed. But part of the rebel ambush force had betrayed their comrades and joined the governmental forces. As a result, what should have been a clear victory for the miners ended up with both sides incurring terrible losses, although the rebels still managed to stand their ground.
On the other front, inside the tunnels of the Enuma Mountains, some militia fighters had opened the doors to what was described as a commando team, who wreaked havoc inside the base. When they were done in causing enough confusion, the MAVs came in, and the few defenders found themselves in the fight of their lives.
Still, the rebels managed to resist, and as soon as the attackers were informed of the failure of the main offensive, they also pulled out to lick their wounds and assess the result of the operation.
In the end, the rebels won the day, but the cost had been terrible. While the enemy could take a few of those defeats, the rebels couldn’t possible survive if they kept winning in those terms.
“We did manage to capture a few salvageable enemy MAVs,” the tech said, apparently oblivious to the fact that Claire hadn’t truly heard half of his report. “We may have them repaired and ready for combat in a few days if we divert personnel from repairing-“
Claire raised a hand and the young man’s voice trailed off.
“It’s enough,” she told him.
“It’s quite the situation,” Xoán declared. He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed and expression grim.
“We’re screwed, that’s what it is.” Mayor Izzet was sitting across Claire. His expression was hopeless, and it was obvious that he was panicking.
“And what do you intend to do, then?”
“Do? There is no ‘do!’ We’ve lost! If they come back at us they will kill us. We need to surrender.”
Sitting beside him was Eva Gotha, the blonde Head of Logistics. Until that point she had been content with keeping the gears turning while the others made the important decisions. But with Faizan now trying to contain the desperation of the civilian population back in the colonies and everyone else dead, there was no one left to be there to discuss the next course of action.
“Maybe we can negotiate our terms,” she muttered.
“There will be no negotiations,” Xoán retorted. “If we surrender, they will have us killed and our people turned into little more than slaves, or worse. At this point, there is no way back.”
“You can’t be serious.”
Gotha seemed to be about to say something, but stood silent. Everyone did. At this point, Claire finally looked up from the table and across the small compartment, to the only other person who seemed to have a sliver of resolution left. As her eyes and Xoán’s locked, Claire knew he was thinking about the same thing she was.
Terra.
How long ago did it happened? Just a couple months? It felt like years. Sometimes it was as if she had never existed.
But when she was alone, she could feel it. The void inside her.
Terra had died, sold her life to oppose the encroaching subjugation. Just like the others who had fallen that day.
Slowly, Claire rose from her chair.
“Claire?” Xoán queried. “Anything in mind?”
“We cannot give up,” Claire said. “We have come too far, and lost too much.”
In the faces of those around her, Claire saw different emotions. Despair, fear, and some flickering hope. They needed to be pushed in the right direction, but lacked the initiative, or the energy, to do it themselves.
“We cannot win, Claire!” Izzet cried. “We were curb stomped out there!”
“Then we’ll need to take Mister Zhou’s advices more seriously. We need to choose our allies better. Kut and Siris have sacrificed as much as we did, so their people can be trusted for the most part, but we cannot say the same from others.”
“I’m sorry to be that guy,” Xoán intervened, “but we’ll also need to formalize our hierarchy if we want to go on. We cannot be an amateur outfit anymore.”
Gotha shook her head. “We are miners. I really doubt our people will want to become militarized. They’ll want to maintain their identity.”
“But we’ll have to make concessions.”
Claire agreed with Xoán on that. She tapped the tabletop while she organized her ideas. “We will make concessions. We must, so we can survive. But we won’t forget who we are, either.”
“Nice words,” Izzet said. “But if we are to keep fighting this war, we’ll need a direction.”
“What you mean is that we’ll need a leader.” Xoán’s eyes shifted back to Claire. “Do you want the job?”
Claire felt her heart skip a beat. She wasn’t qualified enough, not by a longshot. On the other hand, people seemed to listen to her.
Even so, she wanted to contest Xoán, tell him how wrong he was. But she didn’t want to hear the remaining rebel leaders squabbling and losing time when there was none to be lost.
The one real way was forward, that much was obvious. Thus, she said the only thing that seemed to make sense at the moment.
“For now. Until we find someone better.”
]]>
Buellt Colony is an older mining colony, once considered a hot bed of rebel activity. This large map is bisected be a flowing river, a man made construct from the original mining days. The buildings provide good cover for ambush attacks and there are a few fortified walls left over from the UEC sweep of the colony.
This new map supports both Arena and Siege game modes.
The play area is restricted to a smaller 4 sqkm area in the heart of the map, with multiple ammo stations placed through out. Great for a larger number of players or for players that want more of a ‘hide and seek’ challenge with their opponents.
The play area is expanded to encompass the full 25 sqkm size of the colony. There are two ammo stations, though they are quite a ways from the normal path of action. Direct lines to enemy HQs can be taken be following the river path. This path, while direct and fast, leaves you open to ambush fire from both of the river bank sides. The more populated flanks hold lots of larger buildings to dodge and weave between and a few elevated hills can provide excellent vantage points for sniping approaching enemies. Given the large size of the map, a large CommSys array and multiple scouts are highly recommended. You can’t kill what you can’t find.
Ammo stations have received an update. When entering an ammo pad, you will be locked in place during the reload. You will remain locked for as long as it takes to reload all your weapons. During a weapons reload, you will be unable to fire it. This can make you very open to incoming fire, so be careful when using them! Not all weapons reload at the same rate. Weapons that are done reloading, will be able to fire. This is even true if you are still waiting on other weapons to finish reloading. You can see an example below.
Garage: Clicking the paint color panel will now snap the paint selector to the clicked location.
Garage: The load MAV and save MAV menus can now be toggled by clicking the Load and Save buttons
Gameplay: Stuttering on the MAV cockpit when turning has been significantly reduced
Gameplay: A bug that caused the mouse cursor to be stuck in the middle of the screen during gameplay has been fixed
Audio: Chain guns and machine guns will now respect your audio settings
Options: Options will now save when leaving the options menu, even without clicking the close button.
Options: A bug that prevented options from being loaded correctly was fixed
Options: VOIP settings have been exposed in the options menu
Main Menu: Achievements can now be viewed in your player profile
Main Menu: A bug that allowed the tool tip display to stay permanently visible has been fixed.
Main Menu: A bug that would cause the login fields to rapidly cycle focus has been fixed
Balance: Increasing weight of Chaingun from 1348 to 1712 to bring it in line with other heavy weapons
Balance: Spike weapons have received an increase in heat damage threshold, from 100 to 250
This is our first update working as a team it was quite an experience putting it together for you! I know you are going to enjoy it and we can’t wait to see your comments and videos showcasing the changes. Be sure to share them down below in the comments section!
]]>A part of the assault group formed a spearhead that moved in the direction of Belus itself. Back in the command center, in the Enuma Mines, to the north of the colony, it was decided to intercept the column and hopefully damage it enough to force the military to scrap the whole offensive altogether.
Once more, Claire Campbell was in the forefront of the effort.
As she moved down the slope of a stubby hill, Claire contemplated the battlefield.
Three governmental MAVs were pushing back into the opposite side of the hollow beyond the slope. To the northwest, a dozen pillars of smoke rose from the destroyed remains of several modular vehicles, rebel and governmental alike.
A shell detonated a few meters away from the feet of Claire’s MAV, sending shrapnel flying in every direction. The massive war machine quivered, and a few red lights lit across the control panel.
Maybe she should start to listen to the advice of some of her comrades, but it was hard for her to separate from Brasswolf II. The machine, the one she’d captured in her very first battle, was a walking pile of disparate parts, equipped with a trio of high-powered battle rifles in the left side of the hull and a pair of mining drills in the right. That arrangement made for an asymmetric, but somewhat sinister, chicken-walker that Claire rode in those weeks of nearly constant fighting. Although the machine had been repaired after each fight, she was starting to think that maybe Brasswolf II was indeed becoming worn and obsolete.
Yet, she had earned that machine, and she got to know it from the inside out, all the vices and all the small quirks.
The battle rifles came alive as she depressed the trigger, lashing at the leftmost of the enemy machines with a volley of armor-piercing shells. Brasswolf II leaned slightly because of the kickback, but Claire accounted for that so she could spread the damage over the four-legged hull of the governmental MAV.
“Karan, go for the guy in the right,” Claire yelled over the radio. Karan Jhumki was her partner in that operation. A miner from the Kur colony, he piloted a large tracked mining vehicle covered in armor plates and armed with machineguns and rockets.
“Got it!” the young man replied, his voice distorted by static. He fired a full volley of rockets into the hexapod military machine on the other side of the small hollow, but all warheads failed to the hit the lumbering beast.
The third enemy MAV, mounted on a hover platform, simply dashed away. For a moment Claire thought it was retreating, but then she saw the other rebel MAVs on the top of a distant hill. Those were from a new addition to the rebel coalition, the Asag colony, and were responsible for the western flank of the assault.
“We’ve got ‘em!” Karan yelled.
Claire unleashed a screamer missile from the pod on the back of Brasswolf II, and then turned to move along the slope, keeping her distance from the enemies. The missile detonated into the quadruped MAV, tearing apart a leg and around half of the weapons systems.
Things seemed to be going rather well, but something didn’t felt right to Claire. Somehow, there seemed to be too few vehicles involved in the offensive. During the briefing both Mister Zhou and Miss Epstein spoke of around two dozen governmental MAVs. Even if the enemy had split its forces to cover the flanks and the supply lines, there should be far more units in the immediate field of battle.
As soon as the thought formed in her head the radio came alive again, this time with a message from the command center. A tense female voice was barely audible through thick layers of static. At first it was nigh impossible to understand what she was saying, especially in the middle of an ongoing battle. But then some words started to make sense.
“…Brasswolf…base…attack…infiltration…”
A cold shiver run down Claire’s spine as she connected the dots. Could the command center really be under attack? But how?
She was suddenly filled with an urge to forget about the battle and go back to check on Xoán and everyone else. If there were enemies at the base, then her friends could be injured, or worse.
“What are they doing?” Karan’s voice pulled her focus back to the battle.
The concerns with the main base and her friends was put aside as she checked on what was happening. The hover MAV was coming back. But it was not alone. One of the Asag units was walking beside it. The second one stood on the top of the opposing hill.
At that moment Claire recalled something else. A warning Mister Zhou had given her weeks ago.
Not all rebels could be trusted.
The traitor MAV on the hilltop opened fire with its shoulder-mounted railgun. A massive slug hit Karan’s machine, shattering armor and weapons. The vehicle actually reeled, almost toppling over, but the wide tracks managed to keep it on the ground.
Gritting her teeth, Claire trained the sights on the damaged governmental quadrupedal MAV. The barrage opened large holes across two of the remaining legs, and they promptly collapsed under the machine’s sheer weight.
With that enemy out of the fray, she moved down the slope, trying to get closer to the incoming threats. A few badly aimed rounds hit her machine, but without causing too much damage.
It was evident now. They were betrayed by those who should be their allies. Worse, the government was using that betrayal and their own offensive to keep the rebel MAVs away from their command center so they could destroy the war machines and the command structure in one single swoop. Claire would never be able to go back in time to saver her friends, the very people she had sworn to protect.
“Keep alive, Karan,” she said to her companion, hatred seeping into her usually calm voice. “This is just getting started.”
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