Refueling Station Update

Hey Gearheads!

Time for another Weekly Update!


Refueling Stations are an exciting new addition to the Annexation game mode. Capturing a Generator now powers up a nearby Refueling Station.



Only the team currently controlling the associated Generator can use the Fueling Station. Capturing a Generator from an opposing team will also take control of the nearby Refueling Station.



To use a Refueling Station that your team controls, simply step onto the platform and press [F]. While refueling, your Gear shuts down and is vulnerable to enemy attack. To stop fueling, just let go of [F] and keep moving. Note: Gears can only refuel when they have less than 90% of their total fuel.

Here is some of the additional things we’ve been working on this week:

Updated destructible trees to use less resources and optimized the water shaders to greatly improve performance.

Enabled Jump Jet particle replication, you can now see the exhaust of other player’s Jump Jets!

Reload animations!



New, in development Dueling Arena map available for play testing.



That’s all for this week. Hope to see you all tomorrow for play with the devs!

Also join us in discord! https://discord.gg/KfQG2qb

Have a great day and keep fragging Gearheads!

Hey Gearheads!

Time for another weekly update!

One of the many things we’ve worked on this week is gears got a detail texture pass, as well as a couple high poly weapon models



It isn’t just the gears getting shiny new paint.
Some of the guns have been updated as well.

First we have the refined heavy pulse laser model.



Next on the list is the sniper laser! Now you can look clean picking off targets from a distance!



There are countless of additional tweaks and changes that are in works for this Friday patch. Weapons have been rebalanced, gears got an additional pass on locomotion stats. Additional SMS leg steering animations have been added and at last we are rolling out the first pass on Fueling Stations. Your fuel will now at a much higher rate, since gears are now consuming a lot more energy and hydraulics. Don’t forget to pump the gas!

Make sure to come by tomorrow at 4pm EST for Play with the Devs and check all these new things out!

Disclaimer: You have to have your pre-release branch setup for this early test.

Hope you enjoy the rest of your day. Join us on Discord https://discord.gg/KfQG2qb
Happy Fragging Gearheads!

Hey Gearheads! Happy Thursday.

First thing we want to say a big Thank you! You have flooded my channels with screenshots. Which means starting Monday, be sure to check facebook, twitter, and the steam discussion forums for Screenshot of the day!



Here we have BlackFang surveying Port Oasis. Thanks for the submission!

Also hopefully you have your calendars marked already. Because tomorrow is the first official play with the devs. It starts at 4pm EST and we hope to see you all there!



One thing worth mentioning is that our tomorrows Pre-release update will feature rebalanced gear locomotion stats. Light gears are now super fast and agile, while heavies like Grizzly and Spitting Cobra are much slower and clunkier. This is a first iteration of gear rebalancing, we haven’t had a chance to do any extensive playtests, so numbers are going to change, but the overall direction is there. Make sure to provide your feedback on the new gear handling in Discord.

As always, we hope you have a great day and come out tomorrow and join us!

Happy Fragging Gearheads!

Hey Gearheads! Happy Friday!

So a few things today.

First we’re starting a screenshot of the day over on facebook and twitter. I will make a stickied thread in the steam forums. Additionally I will be making a channel on our discord for submissions as well.



Thanks RaptorRage for this extra hot submission!


Also today at 4pm EST we’ll be having an impromptu Play with the Devs!
If you haven’t already go get the pre-release branch. (Instructions on how are in mondays update!)
Then hop on here in a couple hours and frag some devs!



We’re currently planning on having at least one of these a week! So, if you miss out on this one, mark your calendar for the next one!

We will be meeting up in the discord so if you haven’t joined yet, please do!
https://discord.gg/KfQG2qb

Hope all you Gearheads have a wonderful weekend!

Hey gearheads, News on a monday?! Who would have guessed?

We have the latest and greatest patch out on the Pre-release branch. What’s the pre-release branch you ask? Pre-release branch allows us to safely test new builds without breaking the game for everyone. You can choose to join the early testing by switching to pre-release branch.

Here is a simple step by step guide to get you all setup!

Start by Right clicking Heavy Gear Assault in your steam library.

Click on properties.

It will take you to this screen.



From there click on the Beta tab!

You’re almost there!



Now click on the drop down menu and select Pre-Release.



Your game will need to update.

Now you have the pre-release branch installed.

So what is going on in the pre-release patch?

Quite a few things actually. A full changelist will be posted upon the patch going to the official branch.

Some of these things we want your feedback on to help expedite the release of the official patch.

Things like: The destructible environment assets, the enemy position indicator, Jump jet performance tweaks, prone behaviors. Just to name a few.

But now that you know what you’re looking for, and how to get on to the pre-release branch. Why are you still reading this?! Go blow each other up!

More updates are coming up later this week.

Stay tuned and have a nice day Gearheads!

Hey gearheads, It's friday! So let's get this started we have a quick update today. Also some changes to the way we're handling updates. So hop on discord or comment here with some feedback about the changes!

Crouch Mode

We are currently working on implementing a crouch mechanic for playtesting and community feedback. Crouching is intended as an element of a broader cover system... but that’s something for another update.

VFX Sneak Peak

As part of our cosmetic updates, we are doing a pass on many of the visual effects seen in HGA. Like the flames seen above, weapons and damage effects are getting some fresh polish.

Changes to “Workshop Wednesday”

We’re changing “Workshop Wednesday” to “Weekly Workshop”
So much is being worked on right now, we’ve been behind by a day for a few weeks now and it is just a smarter idea to not have a set day. So every week you gearheads will have an update. It might not be a feature. But it will be something equally as awesome.

Play with the DEVS

Alright everyone. We’re starting up play with the Devs again! We want your feedback, what time is good for you? Post up what times are good for you and we’ll review them tomorrow and this weekend and get a play with the Devs set up for next week at a time that is best for everyone!

So as always head on over to our discord and have a chat with us. https://discord.gg/KfQG2qb



Have a great weekend Gearheads!

Hey Gearheads another week, we've been so busy our workshops keep getting bumped back a day.

But it's here now, so lets get into some sweet new Enviro updates!

Environment Updates

Over the last couple months we’ve been doing significant updates to the HGA environments. These updates have, so far, been primarily focused on Port Oasis and Pioneer though much of the work will be utilized on all of the environments eventually.

Optimization is always an ongoing effort. We’ve spent time reducing poly and drawcall counts in both environments. Additional LODs have been created for many objects to aid in this effort.



Nearly all structures have been replaced using our new modular kits.

Another focus has been to add additional interactive elements to the environments. These take the form mostly, though not only, as destructible assets that are placed throughout the levels.



Trees can now be knocked down if hit hard enough. Each tree type has its own durability rating based on its size. Larger trees are harder to knock down while small trees fall quite easily. If you run into a tree but not hard enough to knock it down, it will shake from the impact.



They also respond to weapons fire.



In addition to trees, many other human scale objects have been added to the level. Not only are they fun to destroy, but they also help give a better sense of scale while piloting your Gear. Some of these new destructibles include street lights, railing, ladders, bollards, and exploding barrels.

Some interactive elements are less about destruction and more about simply responding to the presence of your Gear.



Water now responds to your Gear. Water splashes and ripples depending on how hard your Gear lands in it and a wake forms based on how fast you are moving through it.



Holographic signs have been added and have interactive behaviour when a Gear passes through them.


Well that's it for today Gearheads! Stop by our discord! There are always people around to talk about HGA and any questions and suggestions are always welcome!

See you all next week!

Hey Gearheads! Welcome to another Workshop Wed...

*Ahem* "It's Thursday nZo.."

Oh so it is.

Hey Gearheads! Welcome to a Workshop Thursday!

Sorry about the delay everyone but our devs were working extra hard yesterday to get all this cool stuff out to you sooner!


We are on our last stretch before the upcoming massive new update. All recently revisited mechanics are receiving their last round of love and polish before going public.

While part of the team is focusing on improving small things, we are also investigating some big issues and introducing several major changes to controls and handling of the game.

Improved Login Process

We have received occasional but recurrent feedback on login and registration process for new players through Steam. In response, we are doing a pass on the UI to make the process for registering, logging-in, and recovering your password easier and more apparent.



If you are one of the few players that weren’t able to login into the game, we apologize for inconvenience and we can assure you that this issue is currently being looked at and we will be rolling out a fix with the latest patch. Once the patch is out, if you are still having trouble logging in, make sure you contact us on Discord and provide a detailed description of error messages you are receiving or any other relevant details to the problem. So far only a small amount of players have had login issues and we need as much data as possible to figure out the root cause.

Aiming Mechanic Update

In the past couple weeks, we’ve continued to increment on the new aiming and control mechanics for Gears. Our latest update brings in some exciting changes that we believe will make HGA even more approachable to new and existing players.

First, we removed the torso twist constraint to allow for a full 360 degrees of Torso twist. Previously, Gear torsos were locked to 180 degrees, with a hard stop at 90 degrees to either left or right. Dropping these limits allows for a greater freedom of motion. You can now continually twist your torso in one direction around and around. This will allow you to shoot at things while you run away, and change the direction of the gear without affecting your aim.



Second, we’ve completely unlocked the torso from the legs. This means you can rotate your legs without your torso or view changing at all. While your legs can continually rotate and move in any direction, you can continue to hold your aim steady where you want it.



Lastly, we’ve implemented a “legs-to-torso” feature that will automatically orient your Gear in any direction you face. This is a toggle that can be enabled with a press of a button that can greatly simplify controls for new players. The beauty of the new control scheme is that while it’s being easy to understand, it stays true to classic mech game controls. We streamlined complexity without sacrificing any of the existing core elements such as torso twist, which we believe is extremely important for a mech game to have.



We are super excited about it and can’t wait for you guys to try it out.
Tell us what you think about this change on Discord!

Cheers,

Hey Gearheads! We heard your questions, now we're answering them! Hope this sheds some light into the questions you had!

Could use some more details on the planned route for how melee will work. Last I heard the initial model was potentially similar to Mount and Blade, but there are many different directions it could go, like if it will have different preset attack animations that vary depending on the direction of attack, or if it will be more of a direct combat style as far as player inputs stringing together individual attacks. Or if the melee will offer different types of moves based on which weapons are equipped and the like.

- You are absolutely right, there are a lot of different approaches for implementing melee into HGA. While we do have a clear picture of how we want melee combat to fit into the game, the exact implementation will be based on what feels best for HGA. As such, melee will be developed and released through an iterative process. We will likely start with basic punch/swing and block mechanics. From there, we will be able to look into supporting a variety of weapons before moving onto combos or potentially gesture and directional based attacks.

When will we be able to crawl in the prone position again?

PRONE IS BACK! I’m happy to say that prone movement will return with the next update. In order to re-enable crawling, we had to seperate the prone code from the fallen code to allow for each state to behave independently.

"When will v1 be released?"

We really hope that 1.0 will be released some time in 10 years? *Cough* Looking at World of Tanks v 1.0 *cough*
The industry have shifted significantly since we started this project. So did the way we approach building our game. In the past, we planned to release the game in modules, piece by piece, until it’s ready. Currently we are using a rapid prototyping approach, adding mechanics and iterating on them within days and sometimes hours. In the upcoming month we are planning to get back to our weekly / bi-weekly patch schedule in order to allow our community to test these mechanics and watch them grow and improve right before their eyes. Parts of melee module might become available as early as next week (we are not joking), while certain elements we initially hoped to have sooner, like infrastructure for a single player campaign, could take months to accomplish. It’s hard to tell when a “final” or feature complete version of the game will be released, because our vision is too grand. One thing we can tell for sure is that things are about to get a lot more exciting around here and we need you: Community to help us with feedback, playtesting and support.

"I don't know how many people bought the game over the years and forgot about it, but what is their plan for attracting an audience when the time comes?"

Getting the word out there is one of our top priorities for HGA. We are currently in the process of tooling up our social media presence as well as developing a full marketing campaign. Recently we signed with the PR firm, Dead Good Media, who will be assisting us in the endeavor. Additionally, we are planning series of ESL Tournaments to bring back old players and attract a new bunch. To drive this ball farther, the upcoming Player Progression system will allow us to reward social media influencers / curators with in-game items and unique visual customization options to further encourage the word of mouth effect. (We will totally have a statue of your gear with your name embroidered on it.)

How will the Tokenplay integration work with HGA, assuming "tokens" become the ingame premium currency, can you provide more details around those planned functions?

The current plan is to allow players to buy, earn, and spend Tokens directly from within HGA. While they will function much like a premium currency, there will be some differences due to them actually being an external cryptocurrency. More details will be released about tokens as we get closer to token integration.

When will we see phase two gears enter the game? (Leopard?)

Phase two Gear production is currently on hold while we focus our attention toward gameplay refinements. Before we add more Gears to HGA, we feel it’s important that each Gear, in its base form, has its own unique performance and feel. Right now, our developers are working to expose the performance variables so that our designers can adjust each Gear’s base statistics and make them feel as unique as possible within the boundaries of the lore. In the meantime, our artstaff are focused on updating and enhancing the environments. The Leopard may make an early appearance however.

When will we see the esports integration and website update? (Old website up as placeholder?)

Great question. We’re actually in the process of recruiting a new web development team to take over the HGA website. We’ll have an update on that soon.

What are the new timelines for the previously mentioned modules (Market, Melee, A.I., Corporate, eSport, VR, Single Player, Sniper)? Are they hinging on the tokenplay integration?

As we mentioned before, most modules are being worked on simultaneously while we continue to refine the already released gameplay elements. You will start seeing features from some of the modules you mentioned in some of our upcoming updates. Currently the focus is directly on mechanics that improve the gameplay and make gear handling feel more fun, with customization and progression being the next huge milestone. TokenPlay and it’s integration is handled by a separate team.

When will we see the in-game shop go live?

The in-game shop will be re-enabled with the implementation of the progression system since they are integral to one another. Once our next set up updates go live, this will be one our primary focuses moving forward.

Has the scope of the project changed any since the tokenplay arrangement?

Nope.

Is Stompy Bot implementing Steam VR in the game and if not, can they at least bind a cockpit camera look to the headset tracking. Elite Dangerous does this and IMO works very well as no pilots need controller tracking, controls are still handled via HOTAS+pedals or KBM. HG would benefit greatly from this it seems and the lower resolution required for VR at this time would actually improve gameplay performance on older systems that can handle VR but can't do ridiculous resolution and framerate numbers that enthusiasts chase after these days. Steam VR also makes it so it will work on all VR offerings.

We will look into it. VR support was designated as a post initial release priority, but it is possible we could enable some functionality in the meantime. Stay tuned for updates on that one.

Is there any plans for a single player mode either vs Ai or a campaign? This game looks promising but I am worried about a low server population.

Yes, absolutely. We have a really exciting plan for an episodic single player campaign with some deep story driven elements. Single Player campaign would also be directly integrated into multiplayer as means of unlocking new gears and pilot characters. However, this might not be something we’ll be able to achieve right away. In the meantime, we are planning on scheduling extended “Play with the Devs” dates and times when you will be able to join our servers and play with us. Redesigning Ai bots and allowing players to make them less deadly will be our first step towards the single player experience and it is scheduled for early summer updates.

Had a question posted pertaining to the HUD UI in general as to what sort of updates might be expected coming down the pipeline?

Currently we are adding interactivity to static UI elements as a part of our latest HUD polish pass. As an example, reticle elements now reflect the status of arms and will gray out when the gear is reloading. There are a ton of little details like this that improve accessibility coming down the pipe. Once this layer of secondary interactivity is added, we will be looking in additional mini map modes (radar) and sensors.

Any idea of when the sniping module will become available and what abilities it will offer?

We don’t have any estimates for sniping weaponry at the moment, but we are planning a set of weapon updates in the upcoming months. The idea is to refine the guns we currently have, make sure they are balanced correctly and that all of them have proper art, sound effects, reload and recoil animations and support the upcoming guns customization functionality. Once that is out of the way, we will start looking into long range weapons. Also, we are bringing grenades back!

"Mech painter and decals"; I want armored core level paint jobs at least"
"It’d be nice to be able to adjust the level of shine as well. and of course paint every weapon, each arm and leg and everything separately. different camos, whole nine yards. its genuinely one of the most important things to me."

Gearbay 2.0 and Paintbay are two of the biggest priorities for upcoming updates. Currently the plan is to allow players to unlock and purchase customization elements like color palettes, paint patterns, decals and decal placement schemes, as well as some additional attachments: faction flags, goofy hats (if you’re into that kind of thing), and other fun elements that can be screwed, stapled or glued to your armor plates. Suggest your own attachments on Discord!

Hey Gearheads! We heard your questions, now we're answering them! Hope this sheds some light into the questions you had!

Could use some more details on the planned route for how melee will work. Last I heard the initial model was potentially similar to Mount and Blade, but there are many different directions it could go, like if it will have different preset attack animations that vary depending on the direction of attack, or if it will be more of a direct combat style as far as player inputs stringing together individual attacks. Or if the melee will offer different types of moves based on which weapons are equipped and the like.

- You are absolutely right, there are a lot of different approaches for implementing melee into HGA. While we do have a clear picture of how we want melee combat to fit into the game, the exact implementation will be based on what feels best for HGA. As such, melee will be developed and released through an iterative process. We will likely start with basic punch/swing and block mechanics. From there, we will be able to look into supporting a variety of weapons before moving onto combos or potentially gesture and directional based attacks.

When will we be able to crawl in the prone position again?

PRONE IS BACK! I’m happy to say that prone movement will return with the next update. In order to re-enable crawling, we had to seperate the prone code from the fallen code to allow for each state to behave independently.

"When will v1 be released?"

We really hope that 1.0 will be released some time in 10 years? *Cough* Looking at World of Tanks v 1.0 *cough*
The industry have shifted significantly since we started this project. So did the way we approach building our game. In the past, we planned to release the game in modules, piece by piece, until it’s ready. Currently we are using a rapid prototyping approach, adding mechanics and iterating on them within days and sometimes hours. In the upcoming month we are planning to get back to our weekly / bi-weekly patch schedule in order to allow our community to test these mechanics and watch them grow and improve right before their eyes. Parts of melee module might become available as early as next week (we are not joking), while certain elements we initially hoped to have sooner, like infrastructure for a single player campaign, could take months to accomplish. It’s hard to tell when a “final” or feature complete version of the game will be released, because our vision is too grand. One thing we can tell for sure is that things are about to get a lot more exciting around here and we need you: Community to help us with feedback, playtesting and support.

"I don't know how many people bought the game over the years and forgot about it, but what is their plan for attracting an audience when the time comes?"

Getting the word out there is one of our top priorities for HGA. We are currently in the process of tooling up our social media presence as well as developing a full marketing campaign. Recently we signed with the PR firm, Dead Good Media, who will be assisting us in the endeavor. Additionally, we are planning series of ESL Tournaments to bring back old players and attract a new bunch. To drive this ball farther, the upcoming Player Progression system will allow us to reward social media influencers / curators with in-game items and unique visual customization options to further encourage the word of mouth effect. (We will totally have a statue of your gear with your name embroidered on it.)

How will the Tokenplay integration work with HGA, assuming "tokens" become the ingame premium currency, can you provide more details around those planned functions?

The current plan is to allow players to buy, earn, and spend Tokens directly from within HGA. While they will function much like a premium currency, there will be some differences due to them actually being an external cryptocurrency. More details will be released about tokens as we get closer to token integration.

When will we see phase two gears enter the game? (Leopard?)

Phase two Gear production is currently on hold while we focus our attention toward gameplay refinements. Before we add more Gears to HGA, we feel it’s important that each Gear, in its base form, has its own unique performance and feel. Right now, our developers are working to expose the performance variables so that our designers can adjust each Gear’s base statistics and make them feel as unique as possible within the boundaries of the lore. In the meantime, our artstaff are focused on updating and enhancing the environments. The Leopard may make an early appearance however.

When will we see the esports integration and website update? (Old website up as placeholder?)

Great question. We’re actually in the process of recruiting a new web development team to take over the HGA website. We’ll have an update on that soon.

What are the new timelines for the previously mentioned modules (Market, Melee, A.I., Corporate, eSport, VR, Single Player, Sniper)? Are they hinging on the tokenplay integration?

As we mentioned before, most modules are being worked on simultaneously while we continue to refine the already released gameplay elements. You will start seeing features from some of the modules you mentioned in some of our upcoming updates. Currently the focus is directly on mechanics that improve the gameplay and make gear handling feel more fun, with customization and progression being the next huge milestone. TokenPlay and it’s integration is handled by a separate team.

When will we see the in-game shop go live?

The in-game shop will be re-enabled with the implementation of the progression system since they are integral to one another. Once our next set up updates go live, this will be one our primary focuses moving forward.

Has the scope of the project changed any since the tokenplay arrangement?

Nope.

Is Stompy Bot implementing Steam VR in the game and if not, can they at least bind a cockpit camera look to the headset tracking. Elite Dangerous does this and IMO works very well as no pilots need controller tracking, controls are still handled via HOTAS+pedals or KBM. HG would benefit greatly from this it seems and the lower resolution required for VR at this time would actually improve gameplay performance on older systems that can handle VR but can't do ridiculous resolution and framerate numbers that enthusiasts chase after these days. Steam VR also makes it so it will work on all VR offerings.

We will look into it. VR support was designated as a post initial release priority, but it is possible we could enable some functionality in the meantime. Stay tuned for updates on that one.

Is there any plans for a single player mode either vs Ai or a campaign? This game looks promising but I am worried about a low server population.

Yes, absolutely. We have a really exciting plan for an episodic single player campaign with some deep story driven elements. Single Player campaign would also be directly integrated into multiplayer as means of unlocking new gears and pilot characters. However, this might not be something we’ll be able to achieve right away. In the meantime, we are planning on scheduling extended “Play with the Devs” dates and times when you will be able to join our servers and play with us. Redesigning Ai bots and allowing players to make them less deadly will be our first step towards the single player experience and it is scheduled for early summer updates.

Had a question posted pertaining to the HUD UI in general as to what sort of updates might be expected coming down the pipeline?

Currently we are adding interactivity to static UI elements as a part of our latest HUD polish pass. As an example, reticle elements now reflect the status of arms and will gray out when the gear is reloading. There are a ton of little details like this that improve accessibility coming down the pipe. Once this layer of secondary interactivity is added, we will be looking in additional mini map modes (radar) and sensors.

Any idea of when the sniping module will become available and what abilities it will offer?

We don’t have any estimates for sniping weaponry at the moment, but we are planning a set of weapon updates in the upcoming months. The idea is to refine the guns we currently have, make sure they are balanced correctly and that all of them have proper art, sound effects, reload and recoil animations and support the upcoming guns customization functionality. Once that is out of the way, we will start looking into long range weapons. Also, we are bringing grenades back!

"Mech painter and decals"; I want armored core level paint jobs at least"
"It’d be nice to be able to adjust the level of shine as well. and of course paint every weapon, each arm and leg and everything separately. different camos, whole nine yards. its genuinely one of the most important things to me."

Gearbay 2.0 and Paintbay are two of the biggest priorities for upcoming updates. Currently the plan is to allow players to unlock and purchase customization elements like color palettes, paint patterns, decals and decal placement schemes, as well as some additional attachments: faction flags, goofy hats (if you’re into that kind of thing), and other fun elements that can be screwed, stapled or glued to your armor plates. Suggest your own attachments on Discord!