Hi I'm Yuji Nakamura, the creator and solo developer of Mars Tactics. In this dev log I want to introduce the main design principles of my game.
The ideas behind Mars Tactics have been kicking around in my head since I was kid, when I began jotting down favorite game mechanics in a Windows 97 spreadsheet. When I finally sat down a year ago to plan my "dream" tactics game and define its scope, all those ideas were distilled into 3 core design goals:
- Make each battle feel like its taking place in a big, interconnected world
- Set players loose in a destructible sandbox and remove the guard rails
- Celebrate the stories that emerge in the chaos
Connecting Worlds
I love tactics games, but sometimes battles can feel like they're happening in a vacuum. Sure, there's a story threading each mission to the next, but there can be a lack of continuity from one battlefield to another. That's why in Mars Tactics I want to tightly integrate the strategy and tactical layers and make each battle feel connected to the rest of the world.
Specifically, in this game both the strategy and tactical layers exist on the same grid - to begin a battle move your squad to the enemy's position on the world map, and once you arrive the camera zooms in on that grid tile and the battle begins. If the enemy squad escapes combat by fleeing east, then back in the world map they will appear one grid tile to the right. It's all fluid, realistic and interconnected.
What's more, positioning your squads before and after each fight will trigger important consequences during combat: friendly or enemy reinforcements and where they come from, available escape routes, as well as ambushes and various buffs and debuffs to troops on the battlefield. With this design, I want to add a deeper layer of strategy and variety to each battle, but also create more meaning and context for each engagement. I'll be sharing more about this in an upcoming dev log.
Yankee and Echo squads setting up an ambush in the strategy layer.
Tactical Creativity
Many tactics games already feel like you're playing in a sandbox -- enemies spawn randomly, the terrain is unpredictable, and you have many ways to win. But with Mars Tactics I want to take this to another level. Here are some examples:
- Shoot at anything, not just enemies. (And I really mean anything.)
- Throw equipment or unprimed grenades. Link throws to daisy-chain across the map.
- Change loadouts during battle if you find better loot.
- Reshape the battlefield by blowing up buildings, vehicles and cover.
- Blow a hole in the ceiling, then throw a grenade in that hole.
- Use NPCs for cover.
- Hijack civilian drones or cameras for recon.
- Immobilize an enemy then use them as bait.
- Drag immobilized troops to safety. Troops can keep shooting while being dragged.
- Send in cheap unarmed rookies and hope they can find a gun -- or at least be useful distractions.
- Enter a battle just to steal equipment, then run away.
To make all of this possible I'm untangling many common hand-holding systems. It's a risky move that will require balance and iteration, but I'm betting players will ultimately appreciate the freedom to be creative.
Shot took out the enemy and the fence behind them. And yes, you can grab that rifle to swap weapons.
Chronicle of Cool
Sandbox games can generate awesome stories and characters, but after a while it can be easy to forget what happened. So in Mars Tactics I'm doubling down on emergent gameplay while adding ways to capture and remember the cool moments.
For starters, your troops develop traits and skills based on what happens in battle -- a system I call "emergent personalities" that replaces traditional progression trees. For example, if you keep throwing grenades with a rookie, eventually they'll grow into a grenadier. And if that rookie pulls off something really cool like blow up 4 enemies in a single turn, they'll unlock a special powerful ability. There are 80 such abilities in the game right now and I'm working to create more.
Units can also be permanently injured, which creates both negative and positive perks. Overall, I'm designing these systems so on each playthrough you'll develop a group of scrappy misfits like no other.
And to help you remember all this, every soldier will have a detailed bio page so you can go back and look at what happened in each battle. In fact, I'm working on a system to let you save, replay and share your favorite battles. It's a huge technical challenge, but I hope to tell you more later this year or next.
Sorry ladies, still working on female portraits.
Well, that's it for this time. There are other features I haven't mentioned such as Grand Warfare – big battles involving dozens of units and support such as airstrikes and artillery – but I'll get to them in the future. Also excited to share more about the capital vs labor theme. I'll try to post at least one dev log a month going forward until release, but if you want more regular updates, check out my Twitter or Discord for WIP screenshots and videos.
Thanks for reading!