Hello everyone! I want to give everyone following the game here on Steam an overview of the development plan for Early Access.
During each month of Early Access, I'll be actively fixing bugs, fine-tuning the game's balance, generally polishing everything up, and addressing player feedback. But, each month, I'll be focused on one particular thing:
May - I'll be working on a totally new version of Operations/Sectors. I'll focus on improving the game's flow, pacing, and better meta-progression. Along with this, I'll be updating the UI in various places.
June - After Operations and Sectors have been overhauled, I'll introduce a new way to play the game. This new game mode will allow players to play the game in shorter sessions (30 mins to 1 hour) that link together into one longer "run." This new game mode will exist alongside the current "endless" style mode.
July - I'll introduce the concept of Card Mutations! This new mechanic will allow players to upgrade and/or modify cards to better suit their decks. Want to make a card more powerful? You can do that with mutations. Want to make a card something totally different? You can also do that with mutations! In addition to mutations, I'll also be adding new cards to the game, including more Legend cards!
August - I'll introduce a new type of enemy: BOSSES! These Mercs will be even more powerful than Merc Killers and will be encountered only after you have had a good chance to level up your deck. In addition, I'll add in more regular enemies and Merc Killers to fight along the way.
September - To compete against these new enemies, two new playable characters will be introduced. Their identities and unique abilities will be kept secret for now. I'm excited to see what players think of them!
October - During this month, I'll be working on making the game more available to a wider range of players (more languages) and making it more playable on more devices (Steam deck support!).
November - Finally, I'll add Leaderboards for the endless mode so players can compete to see who can get the highest score in the world! Along with this, I'll be doing a lot of final fine-tuning and general game polish.
December - DINO MERCS will exit Early Access with version 2.0.0!
Thank you to everyone who has joined me on this epic game dev journey called Early Access. I hope to see you more along the way!