Messages

Just made the first more engaging, non-symmetrical map. Need to test it for balancing, but should be a big step in gameplay.
The game is a little buggy but were looking to split our servers and keep a stable build on the link supplied, and keep a private place for our testing of new features!

Need to make a new.. new video, and weve put in some of those big changes (including the more back and forth rounds.

thats in july, right? Might just have to do that!

Is (or will there/plans to/whatever) there a melee system?

melee weapons work the same as normal weapons except they ignore shields, there isnt a separate combat system for it currently ~

also guys if you go to www.partywithaliens.co.uk/bigspace you can play the game! Its a little unclear how to do so currently, and we'll be working on that in the near future once all squad modifiers are in. But you can set up and save your squad, and create a game. You'll need a buddy to play against however! (create a game, name it - they can join)

hey guys!

Sorry for the long silence, I was in good old Berlin.
but here!

you can see a little more of whats been going on.
I hear what youre saying about upgrades - as a rule im against play to win. I think its the problem with a lot of games. The living card game beats the collectible, for instance.

HOWEVER!

minor unlocks is the key, definitely. The plan in the long term is to have units stats tracked across games, kills, deaths etc etc. This could then mean units earn medals, which give them very slight boosts in certain areas - kill 100 units, maybe you get a +1 to all damage rolls. That sort of thing. Nothing game changing as weapons, but something to show your loyalty to your troops has been noted, and their xp on the battlefield is meaningful. No permadeath because.. well.. not so fun in multiplayer (many friendships will be broken) but we want units to feel alive and personal somehow.

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

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

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!

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 

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

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!)

The thing the heavy weapons guy has (which i think we might be calling a Heron or an Ibis). Flamingo might also be cool to take him in.. Tanks are next on the to do list! They take up 4 squares so need a little finessing to stop being an unpleasant contribution to the UX

Ah super! That makes a lot of sense.
Just writing some possible upgrades now. Would it be a cool thing if you could upgrade your commander to be in one of those heavy weapons suits? He is currently a massive badass with the sword and pistol, but fluff wise i feel some would want their fearless leader strolling around high above the rest

Aha well I'm glad you like them, it means a lot! And that phrase is pretty great, don't be surprised if it makes it in

Ace little story too! You'll be happy to know you'll soon be able to spread the stories of Major Tancred and his battles all over the world. The squad creator is ready! And boy are we pleased with it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X029EbdMWSY ( i couldn't seem to embed this, it told me the link was invalid )

So let us know what you think! And as ever, anyone you think will be interested, please send this their way. Tomorrow we should have a more in-depth look at game-play, and another full battle video

We're currently working on the initial round of balancing costs. Pretty sure we don't want any Rhinos costing the same as Curious George there! 

Cheers for all the feedback so far guys. I just finished up the last of the temporary models for the space pulp empire faction. We've decided to call them the Tomorrowmen, ironically, based on the fact they look like the workers at Disneys Tomorrowland during its early days.



from left to right we have: The assault troop - jetpack, hammer (optional shotgun or short range rocket). The Medic - big needle shaped healing gun and a pistol as standard. Heavy Troop - comes with an rapid fire lazer, but can switch out for a rocket launcher. The Commander - a unique lazer pistol called the 'Piecemaker', and a sword. Standard Infantry, as standard. Ranger - this ones set up as a sniper, but can take a closer range quicker firing weapon if desired, but stats of a glass cannon. Rocketeer - Hullbuster launcher as standard, but can switch out for a shrapnel cannon if you want a troop killing heavy, pistols cost extra. And at the back is the Flamingo..

More videos in a day or so!  8)

Oh dont you worry! In terms of the aesthetics, its not going to be as 'serious' as GW. I want a much soft, lightly humours and distinctive style. A bit Team Fortress 2! Lots more character in the characters. We were working on a fantasy card game/board game cross (and still are, but this has taken priority) and you can see the sort of style i go for (apologies, its quite large and the fact this was the human faction, so still bidepal )