The State of the State, or...Where We are Now!
The initial build includes the first act of the single player campaign and 4 multiplayer levels. It is playable on Vive, Oculus Touch, and PC.
Single Player
Act 1 consists of six levels. These missions act as a primer on gameplay and an introduction to the storyline of Betrayal at Calth. As we update the game and add acts, the story in the first act will change a little. We opted to provide something more self-contained, until the next acts are ready.
As with any turn-based game, the tutorial is very important. Please start your experience here before jumping into multiplayer!
Multiplayer
This initial release includes 1v1 multiplayer.
There are currently four maps. Each of these maps has an objective-based scenario as well as a deathmatch mode, with varying army sizes. By default most multiplayer matches take 20-25 minutes but larger matches may take up to an hour.
Unit types include Legionaries, Veteran Legionaries, and Sergeants, all with appropriate weapons of the time period: Bolters, Plasma Guns, Meltaguns, Chainswords and many others. More are planned for the future.
The four starting maps are:
- M-1 Triumph at Ullanor Plaza Race to tag four outlying goals before storming the central objective for control of the map.
- M-2 Mechanicum Antechamber Balance offense and defense in order to be the first player to tag all four of your objectives.
- M-3 Munitorum Complex Escort an Ultramarine Standard Bearer across Word Bearer controlled territory.
- M-4 Sanctum Chamber Claim your objectives while denying your opponent's ability to do the same across a line of battle.
The Lexicanum
The Lexicanum is a fun place to view the different unit types, especially in VR. Check out the life-sized Ultramarines and Word Bearers! Eventually we will populate the Lexicanum with all of the game's units, stats, a little lore, and other interesting tidbits.
As we move through Early Access we will use the Lexicanum to tease upcoming units as well.
The Next Update
We hope to have our first content update out late March or early April. This update will include:
- Game Balancing - A great thing about Early Access is that we can get feedback on game balance and features from you, the community. Send us your thoughts!
- New Multiplayer Maps - Several Act 1 maps will be added as multiplayer maps.
- New Abilities - Several new Legionary abilities.
- Terminators! - Terminators will become available in multiplayer. Both Ultramarine and Word Bearer players will get Terminator units to use in multiplayer. They will have several weapon loadout options and a few new Terminator specific abilities.
Future Updates
- New Single Player Campaign Acts - Our goal is to have every other content update include the next act of the campaign until it is complete.
- Visual Improvements - Assault currently only uses the ranged combat animations. This is actively being worked on! The animations are done and awaiting implementation. We're eager for you to see them.
- Legionary Model Customization - Legionaries have their armor randomized for the time being. We will implement the ability for the player to customize their armies in both single player and multiplayer.
- Additional Abilities - A lot of abilities are planned, some converted from the board game and some entirely new.
- Additional Multiplayer Maps and New Units - Terminators, Dreadnoughts and maybe some surprises. We also have some armor variants for both legions available to those who join us during Early Access. Stay tuned for images and the release of those!
We hope to have an update every month until final release.
Requirements
The requirements listed on the main steam page are for the PC version. The VR version has slightly different requirements to meet the demands of VR:
MINIMUM
OS: Windows 8
Processor: Intel i5-4590 or greater / AMD FX 8350 or greater
Memory: 9 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 / AMD R9 390
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 40 GB available space
RECOMMENDED
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 / AMD R9 390X
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 40 GB available space
Gameplay Basics
Armor
- Legionaries always have a chance to die from attacks, partially mitigated by their armor. If they survive an attack, their armor pays the price and is degraded. The lower a Legionary's armor, the more likely they are to die from an attack.
Attack Sequence
- Legionaries in a single unit face attacks in a set order, from lowest to highest importance. If an incoming attack kills the least important Legionary, it will have a chance to kill the next one in the unit, and so on. Each slain Legionary applies its remaining armor as a penalty to the incoming attack, protecting those of higher value.
Assault and Retreat
- Units initiating a close-combat Assault may move up to one hex to attack an opposing unit. Both sides attack in an Assault action. The assaulting unit attacks their enemy first, who then counterattacks with their remaining force. If the initiating unit kills more Legionaries than the defender in this exchange, the defender is forced to retreat. The attacker may then choose to advance.
Army Builder
- Players can select their forces and equip them to suit their playstyle. Standard Legionaries are low cost with their stock Bolters, while higher cost Veterans and Sergeants can be outfitted with an array of special weapons, heavy weapons, and abilities.
- Armies are limited by Deployment and Support points. Deployment points correspond to the unit strength of an army, while Support points correspond to the equipment of the army.
What we want from players
As with any game involving this many moving pieces, our in-house playtesting couldn't possibly account for everything. That's where you come in! We feel that things are in a good place, but maybe you feel differently. Explore the options available and see what you come up with. We will be watching and welcome feedback to make sure we have the best play experience possible. Let us know what you like and what could be improved!