Turn based Space excitement!

[Jubal]

I don't think the commander in the HW suit makes so much sense, in that you need your commander able to bark commands not just focussing on firing a big gun accurately. I would definitely like to see a commander strolling around in a Flamingo though.

[Clockwork]

The squad setup looks great, couple of questions though. Does armour class affect how likely you are to be hit or does it reduce damage? Also with the upgrades system, doesn't that reduce the need for so many types of infantry? Like you could have a basic guy with a pistol as the cadet and then upgrade him with a needle gun and light armour and he's a medic, or give him a jetpack, a hammer and heavy armour and then he's an assault. Otherwise the upgrade system is mostly a set of stat boosts, other than the weapon choice. Also completely unrelated but....Any chance of a copyright dodging lasersword making its way into the game?

[PartyWithAliens]

I don't think the commander in the HW suit makes so much sense, in that you need your commander able to bark commands not just focussing on firing a big gun accurately. I would definitely like to see a commander strolling around in a Flamingo though.

Well in that case, i shall take note of this feedback and see if we cant make a 'commander variant' on the flamingo!

The squad setup looks great, couple of questions though. Does armour class affect how likely you are to be hit or does it reduce damage? Also with the upgrades system, doesn't that reduce the need for so many types of infantry? Like you could have a basic guy with a pistol as the cadet and then upgrade him with a needle gun and light armour and he's a medic, or give him a jetpack, a hammer and heavy armour and then he's an assault. Otherwise the upgrade system is mostly a set of stat boosts, other than the weapon choice. Also completely unrelated but....Any chance of a copyright dodging lasersword making its way into the game?

armour class actually effects damage (and in rare cases, accuracy). A gun has 3 damage values, which determine how much it deals against each armour class. We do like the idea of having things like rocket launchers being less accurate against lighter armoured, more nimble foe, so that will likely make its way in. But generally AC doesnt affect accuracy. Distance and cover do though

Nope, its more stat boosts, with selective weapons for each unit to give them a slightly different play style which is outside the units usual tactics, or enhance things that it already has; we dont want to give the 'usp' of each troop to all others because then balancing becomes a nightmare. Its more like being able to create a combat sniper or a glass cannon sniper; its still a sniper, but the play style is different but working of the same basic frame.

aha, i can certainly try!

We're actually currently revamping the combat so guns work on real world distance instead of tiles (diagonals make for a nightmare when aiming) so new video will be in a couple of days. But this has allowed us to make even better addition, especially to cover. Units behind cover will remain hidden, but can now peek out and shoot (as you would expect in real life, but its hard to tell a computer that!)

[Clockwork]

AC affecting damage is good. I don't know if you played Wasteland 2 but I get the impression the damage model is quite similar to that. They have an interesting mechanic whereby plasma/laser weapons actually do more damage the higher the opponents armour is up to a threshold. e.g. A laser gun is damage 3, if the opponent has 1 or 2 armour, the gun will do less damage at 3 regular damage and higher than that it'll do extra damage. Armour piercing rounds have the same effect I think. Can't remember tbh.

Fair enough on the upgrades, sounds like a great system as I've said, peeking out of cover sounds good, something a lot of tactical squad games sort of need but don't have. The indie game Frontline Tactics did this quite well and had a pretty good cover system overall actually. Yay for laserswords

[BrokenIronSights]

Will the game feature different armor and damage types with different effects on each?

For example, If someone's armor is a shield, as opposed to armor plating, it'll deflect types of laser weapons more effectively than solid projectiles such as bullets or AP shells from missile launchers. Or the other way around, how ever it works better.

[PartyWithAliens]

Fair enough on the upgrades, sounds like a great system as I've said, peeking out of cover sounds good, something a lot of tactical squad games sort of need but don't have. The indie game Frontline Tactics did this quite well and had a pretty good cover system overall actually. Yay for laserswords

I havent played wastelands 2, although i did give it a lookin'. I should probably try it out! I have played Frontline Tactics though, which had some minor influences on design  (although the lack of peeking in that game is massively damaging..) 

Will the game feature different armor and damage types with different effects on each?

For example, If someone's armor is a shield, as opposed to armor plating, it'll deflect types of laser weapons more effectively than solid projectiles such as bullets or AP shells from missile launchers. Or the other way around, how ever it works better.

so far no plan for different armour types, but weapons will have a pattern that ~kind of~ fits this. Guns in the 'Lazers' group are better against light armour, 'Tempest' weapons (which are special to the Tomorrowmen) are better against medium and heavy etc. So there is some consideration of weapon genre v armour, but no specific calculation.

The refactor is done for cover now, and working! Just need to get the fog of war matched up with it so it occludes units properly.. otherwise things look a little whack

[Clockwork]

Yeah Wasteland 2 does turn based combat very well imo. Also Blackguards for hex based turn based and blood bowl for clarity of mechanics could be all things to consider.

[Jubal]

Looking forward to more screens and stuff. 

[PartyWithAliens]

hey guys!

Sorry for the quite, every time i get footage i want to release, something cool gets added so i wait and get more. Its a terrible cycle! Ill work on the footage i have and get something out this week. Apologies!

So heres an update though:

- all the units (except the flamingo) are in and animated, next job is to get them some gear!
- the new peeking system works as planned
- elevated terrain!
- objective based games! Currently deathmatch and control. In control you score points for having units in a certain area
- AoE attacks. Rockets now do blast damage
- Weapons have a damage range. To make it more exciting, weapon have a x - y damage instead of a set value
- A radial menu to select weapon to attack with
- highlighting attackable enemies for quick threat recognition

we currently have an idea to change how rounds work. Instead of moving ALL your units, you move ~8 stamina points worth, then your opponent does, then you do etc until all units are out of stamina/declined a move and then the turn ends, and the stamina refreshes. The idea is, it makes less a wait between turns (which can be 3 - 5 minutes in the early game) and also makes a more pragmatic, response based play. You have a chance to retaliate an attack, instead of watching it unfold, helplessly 

[PartyWithAliens]

Yeah Wasteland 2 does turn based combat very well imo. Also Blackguards for hex based turn based and blood bowl for clarity of mechanics could be all things to consider.

i checked out both of these! Took some influence from wasteland, like the templates for certain weapons (was wondering how to do a flamer!) and the radial menu from black guard was really nice so decided that was a good way for our UI to go when dealing with weapon selection. So thank you!

[Clockwork]

You're welcome, I have a steam library made up of tons of these games

The update is appreciated, looks very promising.

[Jubal]

Definitely make that change to how rounds work - a lot of the best tabletop skirmish games have similar mechanics, it really helps gameplay. 

[PartyWithAliens]

you can see some screenies of a game unfolding here! http://breadthewholetime.tumblr.com/post/114670855858/a-back-and-forth-game-of-big-space-initially-on

[Clockwork]

Looking good, level design could do with some asymmetry but nice to see the elevation and cover

[PartyWithAliens]

Looking good, level design could do with some asymmetry but nice to see the elevation and cover

yes definitely! Theyre still very much test levels currently, theyre quite small too. Need to be a bit bigger to make use of the snipers