Welcome to our first real dev diary for MENACE.
This week we want to give you a first impression of the strategic part of the game.
So far we have shown only in-game footage of the tactical combat, which is still the core of the game, but nothing from the strategic part. One of the reasons is the UI, which is still very heavily work in progress for the whole game.
The tactical combat can easily be shown without any UI elements. As the strategic part mostly consists of menus, buttons, and lists, it is almost impossible to show anything without leaving a bad impression without proper UI elements.
Keep in mind that all images shown below are snapshots from active development or even mockups of how it is planned to look down the road. All functionalities and mechanics are, however, already in place and are currently tested and balanced by us.
This is just a first overview; we will dive deeper into each of these areas in a dedicated post.
The Starmap
While the tactical combat is the meat of the game, the strategic part adds context to each battle, gives the player medium - and long-term goals, and also features various permanent progression mechanics.
The Starmap is the central hub and visualization of the Wayback, the distant star system where MENACE takes place. Here, you can see the planetary bodies, which factions own them, and who is calling for the aid of the TCRN Impetus to help with their local squabbles like an out-of-control pirate raid or alien infestation.
Players can look at available “operations” and plan out their next move. Local factions will be grateful for the player helping them out but will also be disgruntled if left hanging for too long.
Additionally, the player can track the main resources that are available to them here: Promotion points, which are used to promote and “level up” squads. OCI components are used to upgrade the player's ship and acquire more squad leaders; finally, authority points are crucial for managing the morale and mood of the crew of the Impetus.
Maintaining authority on a ship filled with a motley crew of characters can be difficult. There might be a fight between crew members, an accident in the hangar, or a discovered hidden moonshine distillery on board. All of these events will challenge you as a commander and, depending on your decisions, will have an impact on the mood of the crew, your authority, or the resources available to you.
OCIs
The TCRN Impetus, the strike cruiser serving as your base of operations, is not well suited for the challenges ahead. Luckily, local factions do have the necessary space wharfs and the technical knowledge to improve the ship with what we call Operational Capability Improvements, or OCIs for short.
These OCIs are active and passive upgrades to the ship and have a wide variety of effects. Some give the ability to call in a dropship for a gun run in combat or to shoot a devastating rocket onto a particularly resilient bunker. Others allow squads to heal between missions or increase the “intelligence” rating, which grants better information on enemy units and positions during the mission preparation.
Armory
The armory is where players inspect, manage, equip, and promote their squad leaders and pilots. There are tons of weapons, armor, accessories, and vehicles to acquire through the game, all with their individual pros and cons.
We go to great lengths to make equipment choices as meaningful and varied as possible in MENACE. Players should have maximum freedom in equipping their units and will be encouraged to experiment and enable their very own playstyle.
Promotions
Each squad leader has their own unique perk tree that gets unlocked through so-called promotions. Promotion points are earned for each mission and can be spent on any character, while higher promotions cost more points.
Many of these perks will be shared between certain characters, but the combination of perks available will always be unique. On top of that, each squad leader starts with a trademark personal trait that is instantly unlocked.
But wait, there is more!
In order to keep the diariess to a reasonable length, we have to cut them here. There are plenty more elements to the strategic part of the game that we will talk about later.
There is a black market where players can barter for equipment to bolster their armory, new squad leaders and pilots can be hired and most importantly we will introduce “operations”, which are a series of connected missions.
Stay tuned and join us next Friday for the new Dev Diary!