COMMAND MECHS, CONQUER MARS!
Greetings from Team Space Gears,
During the playtest period, we received several suggestions about the game. We are currently compiling this information and creating an action plan to prioritize our development efforts.
The development team has reviewed your feedback and addressed several of your questions in a Q&A format.
Although we couldn't include answers to all questions in this Q&A, we are committed to making improvements based on those questions as well. We will incorporate the necessary changes into the game wherever possible.
With that said, please take a look at our Q&A below.
[Frequently Asked Question]
Q. What is the official release date and/or Early Access?
A. Your feedback and opinions gathered during this playtest are being worked into our next build and will be reflected in our new content for release in the future. Space Gears aims to offer Early Access within this year. The team will announce dates as soon as they're confirmed. Stay tuned for more updates!
Q. Are there any plans to add languages other than the ones currently supported?
A. In addition to Korean and English that's already supported, we plan to support Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, and Russian.
Q. Are there any plans to add more PvE content?
A. In addition to the base defense mode that was recently revealed, we're preparing exciting PvE content. Think boss raids and large mechs. We can't reveal the specifics just yet, but we'll have something to share with you soon!
Q. Are there any plans to introduce/add new races?
A. We do not plan to introduce different races in Space Gears. Instead, there will be various types of mechs with different weapons. In addition to large mechs that we haven't yet revealed, we plan to update the game with various types of mechs that'll make for diverse combat.
Q. The system requirements are currently too high. Any plans to address this?
A. Although we are working to optimize the game to lower the game's hardware specifications as much as possible, we also aim to make the game accessible by the widest audience possible. Continued efforts will be made to optimize the game to make this possible.
Q. It's difficult to get an idea of the game's plot/story/universe. Any plans to address this?
A. We plan to introduce the game's lore, including the game's world-building elements, along with the game's PvE content. The focus of this playtest was on the game's 1v1 PvP combat system. Players will have plenty of story content to look forward to in the future.
Q. I want to play with my friends. Are there plans to add modes for custom campaigning, observing, replays, and etc.?
A. Space Gears aims to become a game that you can enjoy with your friends and family. Although such features won't be updated all at once, all of them will be available at some point in the future.
Q. Are there any plans to add shift queuing in the game?
A. We consider shift queuing to be an essential feature, but weren't able to include it in this playtest due to time constraints. In addition to adding shift queuing in the future, we also plan to introduce a function to go to previous events by pressing the spacebar, as well as various tooltip additions.
Q. Is there a way to increase the font sizes of the UI?
A. We consider improving accessibility and convenience to be of utmost importance. Your suggestions will be reflected in the game at some point in the future.
[Opinions & Suggestions]
Q. At times, a squad is better off being destroyed rather than retreating. Any plans to address this?
A. We're aware of this issue and plan to work out a means of balancin-g squad retreat vs. respawning. You also might've noticed that completely wiped out squads retain their promotion buffs in the playtest build. This was not intended. Squads that are completely destroyed will lose their promotion buffs in the future.
Q. Dealing with backdoor base attacks is too challenging and feels off balance. Any plans to address this?
(Suggestion: Perhaps add base repairing as a commander skill?)
A. To balance the issue of powerful, onesided, early-game backdoors, we plan on placing basic defensive turrets near the base. We also think the suggested commander skill to repair the main base is a good idea and will consider featuring it.
Q. It's quite difficult to overturn early game snowballing. Any plans to address this?
(Suggestion: Perhaps introduce an upkeep feature?)
A. We're aware of the difficulty of making a comeback against early game snowballing. We are exploring ways to reduce this effect, including the suggested upkeep feature.
Q. Having to play against opponents with higher combat points or upgrades seems to be unfair for an RTS. Any plans to address this?
A. We aim to reduce differences in combat points and upgrades in our post-playtest builds. This will be done by tweaking our matchmaking system to ensure that players at similar levels face off against each other.
Q. Are there any plans to add modes where mech upgrades are not applied?
A. Before we add new modes, we plan to address differences in combat strength by tweaking our matchmaking system. Assembling new mechs and collecting units with unique passive abilities are both design features that were included to make the game more interesting to play. We plan to address this issue by paying close attention to your feedback and suggestions prior to making the necessary adjustments.
Q. Squad formations seem to bear little signficance during combat. Perhaps it would be better to only allow a squad's weapons to be changd or make it possible to control invidual units.
A. Considering the concept of deploying units prior to combat, formations are intended to provide greater strategic diversity and a means of overcoming weaknesses. We will consider enhancing formation advantages and reflect other suggestions to improve strategic positioning and versatility.
Q. Due to high skill reliance, TTK (Time-To-Kill) feels too short. Any plans to address this?
A. We will continue to tweak balance issues all the way up to Early Access. We're well aware of squads being wiped out in the early game due to certain skills and that triggering a snowballing effect. Our next playtest build will attempt to balance this issue accordingly.
Q. It's difficult to determine the cause of victory / defeat. Any plans to introduce a battle summary?
A. We will incorporate the provided suggestions into visual and UI improvements.
Q. The BGM feels a bit monotonous for an RTS game. Adding more metal music would be great.
A. We are preparing different background music that cater to varying preferences in our future updates. Stay tuned for more on this in the future.
Q. Understanding what each mech does is complex and unclear. Any plans to address this?
A. This question raises two issues: visual intuitiveness and a lack of information about the mechs. To address these issues, we will work on improving the effects and adding a practice mode where you can test mechs.
Q. It's difficult to distinguish the squad leader. It would also be nice to have a means of displaying the attack ranges of units.
A. We will explore UI improvements to address these concerns.
Q. Radar towers don't seem to have much use during battle. It would be nice to make them more useful.
A. We acknowledge the limited role of radar towers and will adjust their sight range and positioning to make them have more impact in-game.
Q. Having tier distinctions for units and high-tear tech units would be great.
A. We are considering ways to increase the game's strategic depth and diversity and will review the suggestions provided.
Q. The process of assembling, repairing, and upgrading each mech feels too burdensome, and the means of obtaining required mech blueprints and materials are unclear.
A. Improving convenience for assembly, repair, and enhancement is a high priority on our list. We will also provide more information about required blueprints and materials through tooltips and other means.
Q. It would be great to have unique names for each mech instead of A / B type.
(Suggestion: Perhaps hold a mech naming content or event?)
A. We are preparing unique names for mechs that align with the manufacturers and the game's lore. While there are currently no specific plans for a mech naming contest at the moment, we will consider it when we introduce special event mechs in the future.
Q. It would be great to have something to do during the matchmaking process.
A. Instead of adding more features during matchmaking, we're planning to have matchmaking run in the background and make it possible to play other parts of the game while matchmaking is in progress.
Q. Will the Camp feature be more focused on simulation-style management?
A. We aim to create a camp system that offers an engaging experience rather than a complex simulation. Improvements to the camp system are being prepared based on the feedback collected for future updates.
We hope that our Q&A has answered some of your questions concerning the direction of Space Gears' future development and our plans to improve the game.
Our next playtest will be held during Steam Next Fest, which means there won't be enough time to reflect all feedback collected during our first playtest. We will, however, do our best to improve any areas we're able to manage in the next two weeks.
We once again thank everyone for participating in our first playtest! Instructions on how to access the game again during Steam Next Fest will be provided at a later date, so stay tuned!