Balance Changes

Mobula
-Outer top guns fanned out 5 degrees
-Inner bottom guns fanned out 10 degrees

Spire
-Reduced turn acceleration to 10d/s2 (from 15)
-Reduced top turn speed to 10d/s from 12

Squid
-Back gun turned inwards (towards right side of ship) 40 degrees (from 0)
-Increased forward/backward acceleration to 8m/s2 (from 6.66)

Heavy Flak
-Damage moved to direct hit for a 70/30% split between direct and AoE (from 45/55%)
-Higher clip capacity to 4 (from 2)
-Damage per shot reduced (115/50 explosive, from 150/180 explosive)
-Increased RoF of 2 shots/s (from 0.8 )
-Reduced reload time of 4.5s (from 5)
-Reduced camera shake

Lochnagar Shot
-Reduced clip size reduction to -50% (from reduction to 1 shot)
-Reduced rotation speed reduction to -80% (from -90%)
-Changed damage-to-gun model so that is deals proportional damage per shot until gun is destroyed (e.g. if gun has 2 shots then each shot deals 50% damage vs a gun that has 4 shots were each shot deals 25% damage)

Hwacha
-Reduced projectile speed to 250m/s from 400m/s
-Decreased camera shake

Harpoon
-Added right click and hold to reel in
-Increased harpoon force to 1,500,000 (from 230,000)

Pyramidon
-Hull health increased to 700 (from 550)
-Ship mass increased to 300000 (from 200000)
-Ship propulsion increased from 283500 to 675100

Balance Changes

Mobula
-Outer top guns fanned out 5 degrees
-Inner bottom guns fanned out 10 degrees

Spire
-Reduced turn acceleration to 10d/s2 (from 15)
-Reduced top turn speed to 10d/s from 12

Squid
-Back gun turned inwards (towards right side of ship) 40 degrees (from 0)
-Increased forward/backward acceleration to 8m/s2 (from 6.66)

Heavy Flak
-Damage moved to direct hit for a 70/30% split between direct and AoE (from 45/55%)
-Higher clip capacity to 4 (from 2)
-Damage per shot reduced (115/50 explosive, from 150/180 explosive)
-Increased RoF of 2 shots/s (from 0.8 )
-Reduced reload time of 4.5s (from 5)
-Reduced camera shake

Lochnagar Shot
-Reduced clip size reduction to -50% (from reduction to 1 shot)
-Reduced rotation speed reduction to -80% (from -90%)
-Changed damage-to-gun model so that is deals proportional damage per shot until gun is destroyed (e.g. if gun has 2 shots then each shot deals 50% damage vs a gun that has 4 shots were each shot deals 25% damage)

Hwacha
-Reduced projectile speed to 250m/s from 400m/s
-Decreased camera shake

Harpoon
-Added right click and hold to reel in
-Increased harpoon force to 1,500,000 (from 230,000)

Pyramidon
-Hull health increased to 700 (from 550)
-Ship mass increased to 300000 (from 200000)
-Ship propulsion increased from 283500 to 675100

Lights... Guns... ACTION!

Hello everyone,

Now that we're past our teenage texting title we can get into the nitty gritty of this weeks update. We'll have some finished balance notes coming out soon and into the game, but for now you can hear it and have all your questions answered first at 3 pm eastern at http://twitch.tv/gunsoficarus.

In massive news though. Guns of Icarus Alliance Pre-order is on Steam! This is a massive step and we're really excited to be moving closer to a full release. As salways if you send in your purchase information to feedback@musegames.com you can get early access to the prototype.

Keep reading for what the team has been working on and our player of the week!

Howard:
At GDC, and with the help of Steam and got Alliance pre-order up on Steam finally!

Eric
Cheating in World Progression, breaking events, ruining balance, and building walls.

Tom:
Working on the new Ambush game mode for Alliance.

Alex:
Wrangling engine versions and fixed a couple of odd networking glitches.

Tim:
Hooking up some lights (see above.)

Michael:
Has been prototyping new modes, including Capture the Flag for skirmish and a couple VIP modes. Also, created a new "Debug" tab in the world map that allows more control over cheats related to world progression and viewing more data about the world.

Matthew:
Buying the worst computer possible to test min spec for alliance mode along with community work and balance testing and feedback.

And our final part of Mayday Friday, our player of the week!
Air Admrial Sean
He will be receiving any muse-made item of his choice for getting the most applauds this week including:
"Great leader, would crew for again 11/10"
"Maintained a fun yet efficient attitude as captain, contributed to the overall humor of the crew, and led the charge with atypical ship types."
"He's nice man"

Lights... Guns... ACTION!

Hello everyone,

Now that we're past our teenage texting title we can get into the nitty gritty of this weeks update. We'll have some finished balance notes coming out soon and into the game, but for now you can hear it and have all your questions answered first at 3 pm eastern at http://twitch.tv/gunsoficarus.

In massive news though. Guns of Icarus Alliance Pre-order is on Steam! This is a massive step and we're really excited to be moving closer to a full release. As salways if you send in your purchase information to feedback@musegames.com you can get early access to the prototype.

Keep reading for what the team has been working on and our player of the week!

Howard:
At GDC, and with the help of Steam and got Alliance pre-order up on Steam finally!

Eric
Cheating in World Progression, breaking events, ruining balance, and building walls.

Tom:
Working on the new Ambush game mode for Alliance.

Alex:
Wrangling engine versions and fixed a couple of odd networking glitches.

Tim:
Hooking up some lights (see above.)

Michael:
Has been prototyping new modes, including Capture the Flag for skirmish and a couple VIP modes. Also, created a new "Debug" tab in the world map that allows more control over cheats related to world progression and viewing more data about the world.

Matthew:
Buying the worst computer possible to test min spec for alliance mode along with community work and balance testing and feedback.

And our final part of Mayday Friday, our player of the week!
Air Admrial Sean
He will be receiving any muse-made item of his choice for getting the most applauds this week including:
"Great leader, would crew for again 11/10"
"Maintained a fun yet efficient attitude as captain, contributed to the overall humor of the crew, and led the charge with atypical ship types."
"He's nice man"

Unity 4 lightmapping sat on a wall, Unity 5 made it have a great fall, and now all the Alex is putting it back together again.

Hello everyone,

We've been hard at work in the office with everyone's feedback on our massive changes for "When Ambush Comes to Shove." We've made a lot of progress and we think we have it right this time. To be a part of the (possibly) final balance testing follow this link.

As always we'll be live at https://www.twitch.tv/gunsoficarus talking about balance, alliance, and answering every question you bring up at 3 pm eastern.

Here's what the team has been working on:

Howard:
Planning for GDC!  We'll be at the Intel booth demoing Guns of Icarus Alliance!

Alex:
Reinventing the (lightmapping) wheel in a way that will actually work for us in Unity 5, in support of eventually upgrading the game engine and tweaking miscellaneous highlighting/damage display things for Alliance.

Tom:
Wrapping up Tutorials.

Warren:
Cleaned up World Progression screens and working on HUD improvements/clarity.

George:
Getting up to speed with everyone's tasks and solving the many sounds in Coop problem.

Jack:
Preparing for GDC as much as I can and moving forward with the Arashi player ship.

Eric:
Balancing (or possibly unbalancing,) Lore, Progression, and new Game modes.

Matt:
Choosing the next batch of CAs and developing press materials.

And last and possibly most: Our player of the week.
Congratulations to Psaltery he has earned a free muse-made item of his choice!
"One of the best players in the whole game, always ready to help other players."
"Great pilot and has great sportsmanship, Round of applause for him"

Unity 4 lightmapping sat on a wall, Unity 5 made it have a great fall, and now all the Alex is putting it back together again.

Hello everyone,

We've been hard at work in the office with everyone's feedback on our massive changes for "When Ambush Comes to Shove." We've made a lot of progress and we think we have it right this time. To be a part of the (possibly) final balance testing follow this link.

As always we'll be live at https://www.twitch.tv/gunsoficarus talking about balance, alliance, and answering every question you bring up at 3 pm eastern.

Here's what the team has been working on:

Howard:
Planning for GDC!  We'll be at the Intel booth demoing Guns of Icarus Alliance!

Alex:
Reinventing the (lightmapping) wheel in a way that will actually work for us in Unity 5, in support of eventually upgrading the game engine and tweaking miscellaneous highlighting/damage display things for Alliance.

Tom:
Wrapping up Tutorials.

Warren:
Cleaned up World Progression screens and working on HUD improvements/clarity.

George:
Getting up to speed with everyone's tasks and solving the many sounds in Coop problem.

Jack:
Preparing for GDC as much as I can and moving forward with the Arashi player ship.

Eric:
Balancing (or possibly unbalancing,) Lore, Progression, and new Game modes.

Matt:
Choosing the next batch of CAs and developing press materials.

And last and possibly most: Our player of the week.
Congratulations to Psaltery he has earned a free muse-made item of his choice!
"One of the best players in the whole game, always ready to help other players."
"Great pilot and has great sportsmanship, Round of applause for him"

Hi everyone!

In this new update, we’re excited to unveil another big batch of new and major things for your testing enjoyment! In addition to a new map in the retrieve mode family, we’ve also added a new faction ship and 2 more faction weapons. Another major system added is dynamic weather and time of day effects that vary across different map climates. Bases are now more threatening, with defenses and a more dynamic weak point design.

We're now hosting regular group test sessions every Saturday at 12pm EST, and we'll be collecting feedback afterwards. If you have questions or issues with the update, you can always email us at feedback@musegames.com.

If you haven’t pre-order Alliance yet, you can do that on the Humble Store, and we’re working on getting pre-order up on Steam as well. Thanks for supporting us!

Once you pre-order, just send us an email at feedback@musegames.com. We'll give you a code to join us in the prototype, and you can have an exclusive first look at everything yourself and give us feedback!




NEW FACTION SHIP:  Chaladonian Shrike

The Order of Chaladon have been known as peaceful and reclusive, but the pull of war and the planet’s dilapidated state are starting to change traditional Chaladonian values.  Being the mad scientists, the Shrike uses heavily modified balloon gas technology in order to support the ship’s heavy armaments on such a small frame.  If you look closely, you may see some of this gas leaking from various pipes on the ship—a common issue with this new substance.  The Shrike’s movement is and durability comparable to that of the Squid’s but with additional firepower.



NEW MAP:  Oblivion Approach

Similar areas like this one lay scattered across the world, but no route is more deadly than Oblivion Approach.  Its deep ravine cuts a narrow passage that’s too risky for most traders to fly in.  The low traffic and multitude of nooks makes it an ideal place for marauders to hide or even be used as an escape route.  There have been tales of robbers successfully making their getaway through the approach, using the jagged terrain to lose their pursuants.  Must feel terrible to get robbed and crash your ship in a single day.  Hope that doesn’t happen to you anytime soon.



NEW BARONITE WEAPON:  Heyoka Guided Missiles

The Fjord Baronies have always had a distinct flair to every aspect of their culture from their attitude, dress, and even weaponry.  Taking a cue from this tradition, the Heyoka Guided Missiles not only provide a spectacle to behold but also excellent support capabilities.  The missiles’ movement are known to trick enemies into thinking that shots have been missed, but with a guided aim the missiles will travel to its intended target despite taking a few detours along the way.

Use its unique aiming mechanic to dodge obstacles and hit enemy mechanical components to disable them.  If the enemy’s armor is down, the Heyoka Guided Missiles also do substantial damage to hulls.



NEW CHALADONIAN WEAPON:  Charybdis Gas Mortar

Even though Chaladonian researchers tend to not exclusively focus their work on war applications, many of their experiments have unintended side effects.  When trying to find new ways to disperse aerosols, and new environmentally safe pesticides, something went awry.  The dispersal method worked fine, but the pesticide didn’t work as intended.  Instead of killing deadly insects, it was better at corroding metals and gunking up intricate mechanical parts.

When the specially designed shells make impact, chemicals are released in the form of a deadly green cloud that will slow down any ship that gets caught.  The cloud will slowly eat away at metal armors, engines, and weapons.  There’s even a handy early detonation function on the shells too.



New Features

• Improved visuals and behavior for dynamic storms. Sky and lighting changes give a clue to coming weather, and storm behavior varies across different map climates - dust storms on desert maps, thunderstorms on wet ones, snowstorms on cold ones.
• Time-of-day lighting variants for some Alliance maps (Parous Glen and Devil’s Eye)
• Escape Pods now escape!  Catch them for bonuses before they disappear.
• Enemy outposts and bases now have weak points arranged around their structures.  Keep an eye out on which is active to deal damage to them.  Watch out for mines!
• Tip for how to pick up and drop off Barge
• Travel sound effects (wind noise) for bullets/projectiles/airplanes/destroyed airplane parts
• Oblivion Approach now features breakable walls.  Choose your shortcuts wisely!

Balance changes:

• Apollo Lens Array: Reduced range to 1500m (from a lot) and added damage falloff starting at 750m range at a rate of 1% damage reduction per additional 1000m.

Changes:

• Better AI plane maneuverability to handle narrow spaces
• Change flavor text to bulleted objective list on Loading Screen
• Faction switching at match startup

Issues Fixed:

• The brief version of debug overlay disables the "prototype" banner
• Debug text is under the gradient background on the match end screen
• Beam cannon fire sound effect doesn't have 3D positioning
• Match end UI is zoomed in way too much
• Hand positioning on the beam gun
• End match sequence failed on Parous Glen
• Directional hit edge indicators in the new ui get stuck center-screen
• Misplaced smoke on boss ship
• AI ships don't deal with mines well in clearing them
• Boss Ship Guns Particles missing for destruction
• Captain command UI looks too stretched on structures
• Deploy screen effect remains on screen
• Medium gun factory is missing Stand, and Launch Point for config
• Exit button on loading screen doesn't work properly
• Numerous performance improvements, particularly with regards to enemy aeroplanes

Hi everyone!

In this new update, we’re excited to unveil another big batch of new and major things for your testing enjoyment! In addition to a new map in the retrieve mode family, we’ve also added a new faction ship and 2 more faction weapons. Another major system added is dynamic weather and time of day effects that vary across different map climates. Bases are now more threatening, with defenses and a more dynamic weak point design.

We're now hosting regular group test sessions every Saturday at 12pm EST, and we'll be collecting feedback afterwards. If you have questions or issues with the update, you can always email us at feedback@musegames.com.

If you haven’t pre-order Alliance yet, you can do that on the Humble Store, and we’re working on getting pre-order up on Steam as well. Thanks for supporting us!

Once you pre-order, just send us an email at feedback@musegames.com. We'll give you a code to join us in the prototype, and you can have an exclusive first look at everything yourself and give us feedback!




NEW FACTION SHIP:  Chaladonian Shrike

The Order of Chaladon have been known as peaceful and reclusive, but the pull of war and the planet’s dilapidated state are starting to change traditional Chaladonian values.  Being the mad scientists, the Shrike uses heavily modified balloon gas technology in order to support the ship’s heavy armaments on such a small frame.  If you look closely, you may see some of this gas leaking from various pipes on the ship—a common issue with this new substance.  The Shrike’s movement is and durability comparable to that of the Squid’s but with additional firepower.



NEW MAP:  Oblivion Approach

Similar areas like this one lay scattered across the world, but no route is more deadly than Oblivion Approach.  Its deep ravine cuts a narrow passage that’s too risky for most traders to fly in.  The low traffic and multitude of nooks makes it an ideal place for marauders to hide or even be used as an escape route.  There have been tales of robbers successfully making their getaway through the approach, using the jagged terrain to lose their pursuants.  Must feel terrible to get robbed and crash your ship in a single day.  Hope that doesn’t happen to you anytime soon.



NEW BARONITE WEAPON:  Heyoka Guided Missiles

The Fjord Baronies have always had a distinct flair to every aspect of their culture from their attitude, dress, and even weaponry.  Taking a cue from this tradition, the Heyoka Guided Missiles not only provide a spectacle to behold but also excellent support capabilities.  The missiles’ movement are known to trick enemies into thinking that shots have been missed, but with a guided aim the missiles will travel to its intended target despite taking a few detours along the way.

Use its unique aiming mechanic to dodge obstacles and hit enemy mechanical components to disable them.  If the enemy’s armor is down, the Heyoka Guided Missiles also do substantial damage to hulls.



NEW CHALADONIAN WEAPON:  Charybdis Gas Mortar

Even though Chaladonian researchers tend to not exclusively focus their work on war applications, many of their experiments have unintended side effects.  When trying to find new ways to disperse aerosols, and new environmentally safe pesticides, something went awry.  The dispersal method worked fine, but the pesticide didn’t work as intended.  Instead of killing deadly insects, it was better at corroding metals and gunking up intricate mechanical parts.

When the specially designed shells make impact, chemicals are released in the form of a deadly green cloud that will slow down any ship that gets caught.  The cloud will slowly eat away at metal armors, engines, and weapons.  There’s even a handy early detonation function on the shells too.



New Features

• Improved visuals and behavior for dynamic storms. Sky and lighting changes give a clue to coming weather, and storm behavior varies across different map climates - dust storms on desert maps, thunderstorms on wet ones, snowstorms on cold ones.
• Time-of-day lighting variants for some Alliance maps (Parous Glen and Devil’s Eye)
• Escape Pods now escape!  Catch them for bonuses before they disappear.
• Enemy outposts and bases now have weak points arranged around their structures.  Keep an eye out on which is active to deal damage to them.  Watch out for mines!
• Tip for how to pick up and drop off Barge
• Travel sound effects (wind noise) for bullets/projectiles/airplanes/destroyed airplane parts
• Oblivion Approach now features breakable walls.  Choose your shortcuts wisely!

Balance changes:

• Apollo Lens Array: Reduced range to 1500m (from a lot) and added damage falloff starting at 750m range at a rate of 1% damage reduction per additional 1000m.

Changes:

• Better AI plane maneuverability to handle narrow spaces
• Change flavor text to bulleted objective list on Loading Screen
• Faction switching at match startup

Issues Fixed:

• The brief version of debug overlay disables the "prototype" banner
• Debug text is under the gradient background on the match end screen
• Beam cannon fire sound effect doesn't have 3D positioning
• Match end UI is zoomed in way too much
• Hand positioning on the beam gun
• End match sequence failed on Parous Glen
• Directional hit edge indicators in the new ui get stuck center-screen
• Misplaced smoke on boss ship
• AI ships don't deal with mines well in clearing them
• Boss Ship Guns Particles missing for destruction
• Captain command UI looks too stretched on structures
• Deploy screen effect remains on screen
• Medium gun factory is missing Stand, and Launch Point for config
• Exit button on loading screen doesn't work properly
• Numerous performance improvements, particularly with regards to enemy aeroplanes

Though I walk through the valley of forum comments...

Hello everyone,

It's been a busy week for us and we need to start it off with major thanks to every player that came out on Saturday and Sunday to help us test a crazy new balance patch that affected so many ships, guns, and physics itself.  The feedback was vicious, it was brutal, and it was unrelenting and we couldn't be happier to receive it. "When Ambush Comes to Shove" is one of the largest balance shifts in Guns of Icarus since we fixed the way mass was calculated in our game over 2 years again.

We aren't done testing and we'll be back in the Dev App skies: (Get your key here) (Compare rumors here!)
Saturday 11 AM eastern (blind test)
Sunday 12 PM eastern (Non-blind test)

As always we'll be talking balance, Icarus, and Alliance on twitch.tv/gunsoficarus at 3 pm eastern. We'd love for you guys to come hang out with us!


NeedNoLife is our player of the week and will receive any muse-made item of his choice.
Players had this to say about him:
"he taught me"
"explaining stuff"
"Helping out the newbies in global, cool dude."

Though I walk through the valley of forum comments...

Hello everyone,

It's been a busy week for us and we need to start it off with major thanks to every player that came out on Saturday and Sunday to help us test a crazy new balance patch that affected so many ships, guns, and physics itself.  The feedback was vicious, it was brutal, and it was unrelenting and we couldn't be happier to receive it. "When Ambush Comes to Shove" is one of the largest balance shifts in Guns of Icarus since we fixed the way mass was calculated in our game over 2 years again.

We aren't done testing and we'll be back in the Dev App skies: (Get your key here) (Compare rumors here!)
Saturday 11 AM eastern (blind test)
Sunday 12 PM eastern (Non-blind test)

As always we'll be talking balance, Icarus, and Alliance on twitch.tv/gunsoficarus at 3 pm eastern. We'd love for you guys to come hang out with us!


NeedNoLife is our player of the week and will receive any muse-made item of his choice.
Players had this to say about him:
"he taught me"
"explaining stuff"
"Helping out the newbies in global, cool dude."