Hey everyone, today's update is a very important one. Let's just jump straight into it.
NextFest & The Future
My main takeaway with the June NextFest Demo is that the game has a lot more problems than I thought it did, and I think it needs a bit more time in the oven.
My initial plan was to release it in September 2026 using the funds I received in March, but I've decided I'll be pushing the release date forward into 2027 instead. And with the plan changing, I'll need to find an alternate source of funding to continue development. So, here's my plan:
1. I will be creating an updated "DEMO 2.0" build, and I will release it in October.
2. The DEMO 2.0 build will release alongside a Kickstarter campaign.
3. If successfully funded, I'll finish and release the game by Q2 2027.
If I had to give a rough estimate, I'd say the game in its current state is about 80% complete. The Kickstarter, if successful, will help fund the final stretch of development and polish that the game needs.
Things are complicated but I am still extremely motivated to see this game to completion, and I want it to be the best it can be. With this out of the way, the rest of the devlog will be all about the updated demo and features I've been working on.
DEMO 2.0
Despite the forum bug nuking a lot of the posts from the Demo's release week, I actually have most of the posts archived! I've been using the posts from the demo period as a base for what to change for the game's updated demo.
Refining Mechanics
I originally planned to have expanded faction/star map features in the game, such as each faction having capital, workers, and public rep to manage. If you see the game described as having "political sim elements", this is the stuff I was talking about.
However, I have decided to scrap these features, as I think they over complicate the game.
Instead, for the time being, I will be focusing on improving and expanding the already-existing systems in the demo. Starting with NPC pilots and their behaviors...
Fear Mechanics & Sparing Enemy Pilots
A common request I received during the demo period was that "It would be nice if we also had the option to spare pilots." And I agree.
Enemy pilots now have a "FEAR" mechanic. If an enemy pilot detects they are losing a battle, their fear will increase. Past a certain point, they will stop all combat and begin an "Ejection Countdown." Once this happens, the player will have a limited amount of time to kill them, or they can choose to simply let the enemy go.
Pictured: An enemy pilot, intimidated by large guns, is preparing to flee the arena. I haven't implemented a visual indicator of this yet on the actual NPC so just pretend there is one okay
Mission Fail States
... And on the topic of sparing enemies, let's say you spare an enemy you were sent to assassinate. Well, the game will now account for this. You can now fail mission objectives while still progressing the day.
You literally had ONE JOB.
You might be wondering why would you ever intentionally spare an assassination target? Well, that brings me to the next point;
Mercenary Recruits & Assignments
The player can now recruit a team of up to five NPC pilots, and assign them to missions. This generates passive income and can help improve your reputation with factions you might not be actively working for. This is an optional system but it greatly expands the world-building and the personality of the freelancing NPC pilots, without being difficult to understand.
There are some stats to keep in mind when deploying a mercenary:
- Success Chance: How likely is this mercenary to complete the mission?
- Injury Chance: Will this mercenary be injured in the process of doing the mission?
- Payout: How much money will you get if they succeed?
Mercenaries will sometimes get injured from a mission. This is to be expected. One injury is fine; they'll recover after a couple days. But let's say you get greedy and send in your mercenaries when they're already hurt... Well, things might not go well for them.
Official Character Artwork
Emily Barraclough, who created the game's key art and union loader "work in progress" art has continued to work on the game. We have a couple more pieces of art to show off, this time for two of the game's major characters: Kienna and REAPER!
Pictured: Kienna on the left, REAPER on the right!
Artwork of the main cast will appear in some menus. I think this helps make their designs a bit clearer. It can be hard to interpret pixel art sometimes, so I'm going to make an effort to have at least one piece of art for all major characters and most enemies, too.
Expanded Customization
The player can now color individual parts of their mech. To showcase this, here's my VERY APPEALING BUILD: "CLOWN VOMIT."
While this build in particular might be a little hard to look at, it definitely helps show the coloring on different parts. This feature has a few bugs that I'm going to try and iron out by the end of August.
More Upgrades
Another feature that is being added for DEMO 2.0 to enhance the progression of a run is the COMPANY UPGRADES system! With all the new ways of making money, I'm giving the player a bit more to spend it on. Some rooms in Lavender Company will look a little bit unfinished, but with a bit of renovation, the player can have them looking pristine!
Pictured: This room is definitely a bit of a work in progress...
And these aren't just cosmetic changes either! Each upgrade tier comes with some perks that will enhance the player's run: boosting stats, providing support from orbit, and more.
Pictured: Much better.
THE ARENA
You probably already know what this is about. Fight your way up the ranks in 1v1 duels against enemy pilots.
The Arena is divided into three tiers: Lightweight, Mediumweight, and Heavyweight. With each tier, the fights become more and more difficult. At the top of each tier is a "Champion"--a unique pilot who will unlock new parts and gear for the player if defeated!
The Arena is very difficult and requires mastery over the game's base combat mechanics. Items cannot be used in arena duels, so you'll have to rely entirely on the build and equipment you bring in! You'll likely have to mix up your build from time to time to better counter the opponent you're trying to take out.
Improved UI & UX
Another thing I've been working on for Demo 2.0: Improved UI and UX! The workbench now features tooltips with brief descriptions of your item effects.
There's also some new artwork of REAPER present, with some animations and optional dialogue. She has a brief comment on every item in the game.
Another UX improvement I've made is a direct response to a common complaint in the demo:
I've added much better telegraphs for some attacks, although I still have a bit to do in terms of sound design and applying this philosophy across the game more evenly. I'm hoping this telegraph system will be completed by the time Demo 2.0 is live.
Improved Visuals
Pictured: The Slums of Bridge Station. Gloomy.
Pretend I wrote a detailed description of the visual improvements here or something; I'm running out of steam, man.
Pictured: Viper standing near the command station.
More Terrain Gen Variety
I'm making a bunch of new terrain chunks that can generate to help reduce repetition during missions. Yeah that's about it I don't know what else to say here.
Pictured: Terrain.
More New Weapons and Items
A few new items being added for 0.7.0 include:
- Choke: Increases the accuracy of your weapons. (Best used for shotguns and machine guns.)
- Gunpowder: Increases your bullet speed. (VERY good for plasma-based weapons!)
- MRE: Increases all of your stats at once.
- Parrying Dagger: Reflects damage when you dodge into an attack.
Pictured: The test dummy being blown to pieces by a grenade launcher shot.
And some new weapons:
- Grenade Launcher: A launcher that fires incendiary grenades.
- Obliterator: A plasma-based, shotgun-like weapon.
- Dual SMGs: A pair of submachine guns with extremely high rate of fire but low accuracy.
Complete Weapon Rebalance
All weapons in the game have been rebalanced. Mainly; weaker weapons have been significantly reworked.
One example of this is the complete rework the Light Machine Gun received. A community member once said that the LMG "feels like a wet paper towel". And I agree! So now the gun is much stronger and a bit cheaper to bring. It's now sort of a "lite" version of the Rotary Cannons.
Item Compendium
Another new feature for DEMO 2.0; the Item Compendium! Every single item you collect will be viewable here. You can review the lore entries for each item at any time.
Aaaaaand that's about it for this month's dev log! Yeah. This was a lot. And the craziest thing to me is that I didn't even mention everything that has been done since the demo yet. I'll save that for another time.
I'll be back making another dev log in September. Until then, you can follow the game on it's YouTube, X, or Bluesky pages for more frequent updates! Bye!!