Version 0.6.0 is out!
Remember when I said I was going to update this blog once a month? Ha ha ha, yeah that was funny. I suck. I'm sorry. Writing blog posts is really boring, ok?
So for those of you paying attention, you might wonder what happened to 0.5.0. Well...it was released! Like a month and a half ago. And there were several bugfix releases for it afterwards. And I posted about none of them! It's not like indie game marketing is important during this time of overwhelming indie game releases, right?
Yeah ok I'm terrible at marketing. I'm sorry. So let's just do a big recap of everything that's changed since the last time I actually wrote about the game, which was the 0.4.0 release.
Campaign:
The game now has 6 scripted campaign missions! The biggest request from the 0.4.0 release was more missions, and 0.6.0 delivers. There were a ton of improvements that had to be made to the scripting system for this, but I think I'm finally in a spot where missions should be easier to roll out (famous last words, I know).
In addition, all the systems for the "strategy" layer of the campaign have been finished and tutorialized. It should be quite playable, though probably not terribly well balanced.
Check out all that sweet placeholder artwork!
New mission types:
I felt like doing the same ol' "build up your forces and blow up the enemy base" every single mission was getting a bit dull, so there are now two new random mission types. The first one is base defense, where you must hold your base and 1-2 other key areas from waves of attackers. The second is convoy attack, where you must destroy groups of escorted supply trucks from reaching their destination.
New units:
Robo-dogs
Ok, ok, it's just the original doggos run through a gray filter and with some modified sounds from Adam. Also they glow. What can I say? Putting doggies in a warzone made me (and several other players) feel sad. So I figured I'd pull a C&C Generals and make them robots so no one would have to feel bad while playing the game.
Flamethrower
These guys have been in the game for a while now so I forgot that I haven't blogged about them. They're an early game infantry unit that's good against buildings and hordes of robo-dogs.
Gunship
Less powerful than a missile chopper but doesn't have to reload. These are pretty devastating in swarms.
Assault zeppelin
It's a flying battleship with a flamethrower on it. What's not to love?
Sea mine
Kind of self-explanatory. Subs poop them out. They track ships down like spider mines and make them go boom.
Transport ship
This one wins the award for "crappiest placeholder art". Definitely not one of my better attempts. I'm sorry Serge. They turned out to be surprisingly fun in game though since they can hold significantly more than transport choppers.
New tech buildings:
Camp - This lets you call in a trio of commandos from off the map.
Teleporter - Teleports a group of units to a given location. After a short period, they beam back. The terrain under them is teleported too, which lets you do some neat strategies like beaming a group of battleships into the middle of an enemy base. Definitely my new favorite tech building!
Shield Generator - Put shields on a group of units. Each shield can absorb a certain amount of damage before dissipating.
Better AI:
The AI now uses transports (this was really hard to program, like you have no idea), several tech buildings, and has adjustable difficulty levels.
New main menu:
Now there's a sweet AI battle happening in the background rather than the boring black screen from before.
Misc:
Squad veterancy! Saved game screenshots! City and naval deployment zone generation! More voice overs! New music! Balance tweaks! Pathfinding improvements (but still kind of sucky)! Infinity-bajillion bugfixes! Seriously there's a ton of stuff in here. If you have a chance, head on over to the builds page and check it out!