We've teamed up with ALIENWARE once again to bring a new bundle of goodies with things for both new and existing players! You can get a key from the Alienware Arena Giveaways site, short link for convenience:

http://airme.ch/AlienwareArrival <-- direct to AirMech Strike giveaway

https://na.alienwarearena.com/ucf/Giveaway

The highlight of this pack is the Exclusive new Alienware Head which is the first one to get some nice new material treatment. It's even animated, and has full teamcolor support.

There's a lot of other good things in the pack too that aren't exclsuive, but are very useful for everyone:

• Saucer and Neo AirMech classes unlocked
  
• 500 Diamonds - premium currency
  
• 2000 Kudos - earned game currency
  
• 10 Days of XP and Kudos Boosts (50% increase)

If you do get a code from them (supplies are limited) remember it is NOT a Steam Key, it's an AirMech key that you use inside the game. Click SHOP, then look in the lower left:



And yes, once you have this pack it is applied to your whole AirMech account, so the head and everything else is available to use in AirMech Wastelands if you also own that.

We've teamed up with ALIENWARE once again to bring a new bundle of goodies with things for both new and existing players! You can get a key from the Alienware Arena Giveaways site, short link for convenience:

http://airme.ch/AlienwareArrival <-- direct to AirMech Strike giveaway

https://na.alienwarearena.com/ucf/Giveaway

The highlight of this pack is the Exclusive new Alienware Head which is the first one to get some nice new material treatment. It's even animated, and has full teamcolor support.

There's a lot of other good things in the pack too that aren't exclsuive, but are very useful for everyone:

• Saucer and Neo AirMech classes unlocked
  
• 500 Diamonds - premium currency
  
• 2000 Kudos - earned game currency
  
• 10 Days of XP and Kudos Boosts (50% increase)

If you do get a code from them (supplies are limited) remember it is NOT a Steam Key, it's an AirMech key that you use inside the game. Click SHOP, then look in the lower left:



And yes, once you have this pack it is applied to your whole AirMech account, so the head and everything else is available to use in AirMech Wastelands if you also own that.

We've got a large list of changes to bring over from our work on AirMech Wastelands. Many of these changes directly affect gameplay. Some AirMech abilities have been changed to include a charge up mechanic. A charge bar will appear over your mech's HP bar while charging. All AirMechs can now jump up to higher terrain with Spacebar. Press it twice to boost forward for a quick escape!

Unit deployment has been improved with a 'Deploy to Target' mechanic. Set a rally point for newly built units by pressing E. Press once to set the flag on your AirMech, twice to set it on the ground at your AirMech's location, and once more to clear the deploy to target behavior. Units will also deploy from the nearest friendly structure automatically by default. You can hold Ctrl when giving a build order to keep the unit in queue for pickup later. Veterans probably won't like this behavior, so we've added an option in the Gameplay Settings to swap the Ctrl keybind. This will hold all units in queue unless Ctrl is held when issuing build orders.

The new Jump/Boost system is 95% in place, just needs a little more tuning and tweaking, and then we'll balance it for all the classes so each has its own feel. The Boost is activated by doing a double jump in a direction, and it uses some Energy. If you would rather always Boost on jump, there is a game option to make it default that way. We still have a few bugs related to getting up on things that don't make sense, but we're aware of those and will be fixing it. Already it changes combat a ton and has been fun to play around with.

We reworked Chat a couple patches ago and didn't explain in detail how it works. We probably need to add a Chat tutorial! The main thing we set out to solve was accidentally chatting while ingame, which sucked. So we started fixing that and ended up making a lot of small changes. The most important thing to learn about the new chat is the double-Enter action. Tapping Enter twice will minimize or maximize chat. When chat is maximized, you can type and pressing enter keeps your cursor in chat. If chat is minimized, then every time you press enter the chat will get de-focused.

The intended flow is that most of the time when you are playing, chat is minimized, and if you see something you need to respond to, or want to message your teammate, you press Enter, type your message, and press Enter again and you're back playing. When chat has focus, you can use Tab to switch between channels. And just in case you didn't know, you can right-click their name and it will @name them.

• improvements to Helix grenade targeting and effects
  
• Carbon color Void mechs are now purple because that's cooler than orange
  
• add game option for how Jump/Boost works
  
• press Spacebar to jump while in ground mode, press again to boost forward at the cost of some fuel
  
• press E to set a rally point on your mech, press again to set it on the terrain, and once more to clear it
  
• updates/rework on mouse aiming
  
• units now deploy automatically at nearest friendly structure, hold Ctrl to store in queue
  
• swap Ctrl key behavior in Settings > Gameplay
  
• max build queue reduced from 8 to 6
  
• replaced Angel's Glide ability with Stasis Shot, which temporarily disables enemies
  
• Helix's ground guns replaced with rockets, hold to charge for more rockets
  
• Helix's missiles replaced with grenades
  
• Bomber's bombs now have a charge, level 4 bombs have napalm!
  
• right
• click in ground mode for Warthog's melee
  
• units are highlighted when the mouse cursor is over them
  
• Striker shield absorbs damage at the cost of energy again
  
• Striker sword now drains energy per successful hit
  
• Saucer deathray no longer consumes energy while charging up
  
• updates to Medic Osprey ground mode
  
• updates to some Challenge maps
  
• tweaks to the new player tutorial
  
• pressing Enter now focuses chat, Tab will switch chat channels
  
• added a shortcut to the shop from the lobby
  
• removed unused piercing stat from Whopper

• various desync and crash fixes
  
• List PvP games in Watch tab again
  
• fixed zero Kudos reward on endgame screen
  
• potential long
• awaited fix for repeat Steam achievements
  
• fixed Blaster Guardian not firing while in air mode
  fix fully heal at outpost
  
• fixed a bug that prevented AirMechs from fully healing from an outpost
  
• fixes for main lobby
  
• fixed launching solo custom lobbies for players without server compatibility
  
• fixed missing icons on gamepad build menu
  
• fixed diamond purchases (for Steam users)
  
• fixed a crash when saving maps in the editor
  
• fixed launching published maps
  
• fixed AirMech button in main lobby
  
• fixed overlapping page buttons in AirMech customization UI
  
• fixed Helix's transformation when firing
  
• fixed Paladin AI using the Speed Aura
  
• fixed a desync when inviting players from the Friends window
  
• fixed market listings appearing in the shop after swapping menus
  
• fixed private listing symbol in market list view
  
• fixed Buy Now! button in market list view
  
• fixed spectator minimap sizing
  
• fixed some missing tiles on some Challenge maps
  
• fixed the scaffolding prop on Biohazard so players can walk over them
  
• minor prop fixes for Dust
  
• fixed missing background on password field for new account creation

We've got a large list of changes to bring over from our work on AirMech Wastelands. Many of these changes directly affect gameplay. Some AirMech abilities have been changed to include a charge up mechanic. A charge bar will appear over your mech's HP bar while charging. All AirMechs can now jump up to higher terrain with Spacebar. Press it twice to boost forward for a quick escape!

Unit deployment has been improved with a 'Deploy to Target' mechanic. Set a rally point for newly built units by pressing E. Press once to set the flag on your AirMech, twice to set it on the ground at your AirMech's location, and once more to clear the deploy to target behavior. Units will also deploy from the nearest friendly structure automatically by default. You can hold Ctrl when giving a build order to keep the unit in queue for pickup later. Veterans probably won't like this behavior, so we've added an option in the Gameplay Settings to swap the Ctrl keybind. This will hold all units in queue unless Ctrl is held when issuing build orders.

The new Jump/Boost system is 95% in place, just needs a little more tuning and tweaking, and then we'll balance it for all the classes so each has its own feel. The Boost is activated by doing a double jump in a direction, and it uses some Energy. If you would rather always Boost on jump, there is a game option to make it default that way. We still have a few bugs related to getting up on things that don't make sense, but we're aware of those and will be fixing it. Already it changes combat a ton and has been fun to play around with.

We reworked Chat a couple patches ago and didn't explain in detail how it works. We probably need to add a Chat tutorial! The main thing we set out to solve was accidentally chatting while ingame, which sucked. So we started fixing that and ended up making a lot of small changes. The most important thing to learn about the new chat is the double-Enter action. Tapping Enter twice will minimize or maximize chat. When chat is maximized, you can type and pressing enter keeps your cursor in chat. If chat is minimized, then every time you press enter the chat will get de-focused.

The intended flow is that most of the time when you are playing, chat is minimized, and if you see something you need to respond to, or want to message your teammate, you press Enter, type your message, and press Enter again and you're back playing. When chat has focus, you can use Tab to switch between channels. And just in case you didn't know, you can right-click their name and it will @name them.

• improvements to Helix grenade targeting and effects
  
• Carbon color Void mechs are now purple because that's cooler than orange
  
• add game option for how Jump/Boost works
  
• press Spacebar to jump while in ground mode, press again to boost forward at the cost of some fuel
  
• press E to set a rally point on your mech, press again to set it on the terrain, and once more to clear it
  
• updates/rework on mouse aiming
  
• units now deploy automatically at nearest friendly structure, hold Ctrl to store in queue
  
• swap Ctrl key behavior in Settings > Gameplay
  
• max build queue reduced from 8 to 6
  
• replaced Angel's Glide ability with Stasis Shot, which temporarily disables enemies
  
• Helix's ground guns replaced with rockets, hold to charge for more rockets
  
• Helix's missiles replaced with grenades
  
• Bomber's bombs now have a charge, level 4 bombs have napalm!
  
• right
• click in ground mode for Warthog's melee
  
• units are highlighted when the mouse cursor is over them
  
• Striker shield absorbs damage at the cost of energy again
  
• Striker sword now drains energy per successful hit
  
• Saucer deathray no longer consumes energy while charging up
  
• updates to Medic Osprey ground mode
  
• updates to some Challenge maps
  
• tweaks to the new player tutorial
  
• pressing Enter now focuses chat, Tab will switch chat channels
  
• added a shortcut to the shop from the lobby
  
• removed unused piercing stat from Whopper

• various desync and crash fixes
  
• List PvP games in Watch tab again
  
• fixed zero Kudos reward on endgame screen
  
• potential long
• awaited fix for repeat Steam achievements
  
• fixed Blaster Guardian not firing while in air mode
  fix fully heal at outpost
  
• fixed a bug that prevented AirMechs from fully healing from an outpost
  
• fixes for main lobby
  
• fixed launching solo custom lobbies for players without server compatibility
  
• fixed missing icons on gamepad build menu
  
• fixed diamond purchases (for Steam users)
  
• fixed a crash when saving maps in the editor
  
• fixed launching published maps
  
• fixed AirMech button in main lobby
  
• fixed overlapping page buttons in AirMech customization UI
  
• fixed Helix's transformation when firing
  
• fixed Paladin AI using the Speed Aura
  
• fixed a desync when inviting players from the Friends window
  
• fixed market listings appearing in the shop after swapping menus
  
• fixed private listing symbol in market list view
  
• fixed Buy Now! button in market list view
  
• fixed spectator minimap sizing
  
• fixed some missing tiles on some Challenge maps
  
• fixed the scaffolding prop on Biohazard so players can walk over them
  
• minor prop fixes for Dust
  
• fixed missing background on password field for new account creation

Today we have retired the September 2016 build of the original (non-Strike) AirMech. We had left that build up while we worked to get AirMech Wastelands ready for release, as there were some game modes and features only available pre-Strike.

Now that AirMech Wastelands is available for all VIPs, we need to disable that build so we can continue adding new features to AirMech Strike and AMW.

We were glad to offer support for it for so long, and though it was a pretty neat trick to be able to maintain compatibility between builds for almost a year and a half apart, considering the original intention was just to support a few versions so we would never have to have "downtime" while we patch the game.

The next couple weeks we will be working to stabilize AirMech Strike so it is compatible with AirMech Wastelands and everything plays nice together. When things are nice and solid, we will remove the Early Access state--finally!

Today we have retired the September 2016 build of the original (non-Strike) AirMech. We had left that build up while we worked to get AirMech Wastelands ready for release, as there were some game modes and features only available pre-Strike.

Now that AirMech Wastelands is available for all VIPs, we need to disable that build so we can continue adding new features to AirMech Strike and AMW.

We were glad to offer support for it for so long, and though it was a pretty neat trick to be able to maintain compatibility between builds for almost a year and a half apart, considering the original intention was just to support a few versions so we would never have to have "downtime" while we patch the game.

The next couple weeks we will be working to stabilize AirMech Strike so it is compatible with AirMech Wastelands and everything plays nice together. When things are nice and solid, we will remove the Early Access state--finally!

This is a notice for all Silver VIP players who became VIP before November 1st, and is related to AirMech Wastelands. If you are not VIP, or don't care about AirMech Wastelands, you can skip this update.



Still reading? Then I'm happy to let you know that initial testing is going well with AirMech Wastelands on the test server. You can claim your copy of AirMech Wastelands by going into AirMech Strike, typing "Wastelands" in chat, and click the link. Instructions will walk you through getting access, which will add it to your Steam Library.

Currently no one can buy AirMech Wastelands. It is exclusively for our previous paid supporters to get an early peek, and give us feedback to get AMW ready to connect to the main AirMech server, so all your AMS and AMW data/progress will be pulled from a single account. Earn things in one game, they are there in the other. I think even the hardcore PvP players will still find a few things they want to use AMW to get.

As of this post, AirMech Wastelands connects to a test server, so you do not have your "stuff" yet. Some progression things are wildly unbalanced, resulting in players being able to acquire massive amounts of Kudos and gear--which is fine if it's fun, and if those things won't break the Strike economy. Testing/tuning is going well, and we expect to switch to the "live" server soon.

We probably won't post too much more here on the Strike page about AirMech Wastelands, since most people just want their Strike news here. So make sure to head over to the AirMech Wastelands page for future updates:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/595770/AirMech_Wastelands/

This is a notice for all Silver VIP players who became VIP before November 1st, and is related to AirMech Wastelands. If you are not VIP, or don't care about AirMech Wastelands, you can skip this update.



Still reading? Then I'm happy to let you know that initial testing is going well with AirMech Wastelands on the test server. You can claim your copy of AirMech Wastelands by going into AirMech Strike, typing "Wastelands" in chat, and click the link. Instructions will walk you through getting access, which will add it to your Steam Library.

Currently no one can buy AirMech Wastelands. It is exclusively for our previous paid supporters to get an early peek, and give us feedback to get AMW ready to connect to the main AirMech server, so all your AMS and AMW data/progress will be pulled from a single account. Earn things in one game, they are there in the other. I think even the hardcore PvP players will still find a few things they want to use AMW to get.

As of this post, AirMech Wastelands connects to a test server, so you do not have your "stuff" yet. Some progression things are wildly unbalanced, resulting in players being able to acquire massive amounts of Kudos and gear--which is fine if it's fun, and if those things won't break the Strike economy. Testing/tuning is going well, and we expect to switch to the "live" server soon.

We probably won't post too much more here on the Strike page about AirMech Wastelands, since most people just want their Strike news here. So make sure to head over to the AirMech Wastelands page for future updates:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/595770/AirMech_Wastelands/

Wow, it's been a long time. I've been on a self imposed ban of the community side of things while focusing on Wastelands. Obviously we're way behind what I originally hoped, and that's mostly my fault. We were actually getting ready to start giving people access, but I look at what we had and I had to decide: patch things up and get it out there, or take things to the chopping block and gut/fix/improve things. I started to see so much potential and was excited. I was torn between wanting to share our work with the community and also not wanting to show it, because we needed to break things pretty badly to really take it to the next level.

Obviously, the latter path was chosen. Despite expanding the scope of AirMech Wastelands, we didn't want to give up the idea of having connected accounts. This would lead to more work as the games diverged, but I feel it's worth it. But some things I'm really not sure how they will work, or what could be exploited. Kudos is an actual currency in Wastelands--you use it to buy and sell things in the vendor shops (it's an RPG really), and effectively replaces credits for building things. Imagine you're playing Diablo, and you take your loot back to town and can sell it for Kudos. Diamonds have a use too, and can be earned (but not farmed like crazy). Things that are Diamond only in Strike can be found as drops or unlocked in other ways in Wastelands. As a paid game, this makes sense, but having the accounts connected is equal parts excitement and worry for me.

The way we are going to start testing Wastelands is with a new test server. It's much smaller than the normal AirMech server, but should be fine for this. At Carbon we've been playing on this new server for the past few months mostly. Sometimes we'll check things on the live server, but we default to the test server. We started calling it the PTR server (public test realm) like Blizzard does, though for now there is no choice--the non-dev version of Wastelands for now can only connect to it.

Why? Two reasons--the first one being so we can wipe it fairly often. How often? Between a week and a month, it depends what we are doing. Back to having the connected account with AirMech Strike, it just isn't possible to wipe "just' the Wastelands data. The account really is a single thing that holds all your inventory, stats, unlocks, etc. If someone finds a way to completely break the economy, we need to work that out on the test server. We actually want you to break and exploit things on the test server! The second reason is so we can test starting from scratch, which new future players will experience. Existing players will have tons of stuff, though only some of it can be used--more on the way we gate progress later. I think once you start playing it will also be pretty obvious.

We're reaching out to players based on their status. Starting with Carbon VIPs and working down from there. I don't mean this to play favorites, we just need to get people in one by one at first before we activate the auto-unlocking. Hopefully a week from now we can turn that system on. This also means that the end of the Silver VIP to Wastelands access is nearing. I expect that one week after all Silver VIPs have Wastelands access we will end that. (so 2 weeks from now?)

There is still a LOT to do on Wastelands. But we've tried to focus on the things that are core to the game. Get the core systems in, work on the rule changes. Balance is the "easy" part after that. Fixing graphical issues even comes past that. This is why we will not be selling Wastelands at first. We want to let the AirMech superfans in to help finalize the direction the game takes as it comes into focus. We may even skip Early Access all together--that is a good system if you are looking for a way to make the game "work" for something like F2P, but since Wastelands is a paid game it's completely different. We've invested our own (and your) money into AirMech Strike and Wastelands. Since Wastelands is not F2P, it is something that we are making and finishing according to our vision. We hope you like it, but if it's not the type of game for you then that's also ok. I'm pretty confident existing players will enjoy it, and very sure than between Strike and Wastelands that everyone should be happy.

I mean, as long as you like mechs. :) We'll be seeing more and more of you on the PTR server soon in Wastelands! Remember that any players who previously paid something (anything) in Steam or PC AirMech will get Wastelands for free. You just click the "Wastelands" link from chat inside Strike and it will be automagically added to your Steam account. (we'll post again when it is open to all VIPs)

Wow, it's been a long time. I've been on a self imposed ban of the community side of things while focusing on Wastelands. Obviously we're way behind what I originally hoped, and that's mostly my fault. We were actually getting ready to start giving people access, but I look at what we had and I had to decide: patch things up and get it out there, or take things to the chopping block and gut/fix/improve things. I started to see so much potential and was excited. I was torn between wanting to share our work with the community and also not wanting to show it, because we needed to break things pretty badly to really take it to the next level.

Obviously, the latter path was chosen. Despite expanding the scope of AirMech Wastelands, we didn't want to give up the idea of having connected accounts. This would lead to more work as the games diverged, but I feel it's worth it. But some things I'm really not sure how they will work, or what could be exploited. Kudos is an actual currency in Wastelands--you use it to buy and sell things in the vendor shops (it's an RPG really), and effectively replaces credits for building things. Imagine you're playing Diablo, and you take your loot back to town and can sell it for Kudos. Diamonds have a use too, and can be earned (but not farmed like crazy). Things that are Diamond only in Strike can be found as drops or unlocked in other ways in Wastelands. As a paid game, this makes sense, but having the accounts connected is equal parts excitement and worry for me.

The way we are going to start testing Wastelands is with a new test server. It's much smaller than the normal AirMech server, but should be fine for this. At Carbon we've been playing on this new server for the past few months mostly. Sometimes we'll check things on the live server, but we default to the test server. We started calling it the PTR server (public test realm) like Blizzard does, though for now there is no choice--the non-dev version of Wastelands for now can only connect to it.

Why? Two reasons--the first one being so we can wipe it fairly often. How often? Between a week and a month, it depends what we are doing. Back to having the connected account with AirMech Strike, it just isn't possible to wipe "just' the Wastelands data. The account really is a single thing that holds all your inventory, stats, unlocks, etc. If someone finds a way to completely break the economy, we need to work that out on the test server. We actually want you to break and exploit things on the test server! The second reason is so we can test starting from scratch, which new future players will experience. Existing players will have tons of stuff, though only some of it can be used--more on the way we gate progress later. I think once you start playing it will also be pretty obvious.

We're reaching out to players based on their status. Starting with Carbon VIPs and working down from there. I don't mean this to play favorites, we just need to get people in one by one at first before we activate the auto-unlocking. Hopefully a week from now we can turn that system on. This also means that the end of the Silver VIP to Wastelands access is nearing. I expect that one week after all Silver VIPs have Wastelands access we will end that. (so 2 weeks from now?)

There is still a LOT to do on Wastelands. But we've tried to focus on the things that are core to the game. Get the core systems in, work on the rule changes. Balance is the "easy" part after that. Fixing graphical issues even comes past that. This is why we will not be selling Wastelands at first. We want to let the AirMech superfans in to help finalize the direction the game takes as it comes into focus. We may even skip Early Access all together--that is a good system if you are looking for a way to make the game "work" for something like F2P, but since Wastelands is a paid game it's completely different. We've invested our own (and your) money into AirMech Strike and Wastelands. Since Wastelands is not F2P, it is something that we are making and finishing according to our vision. We hope you like it, but if it's not the type of game for you then that's also ok. I'm pretty confident existing players will enjoy it, and very sure than between Strike and Wastelands that everyone should be happy.

I mean, as long as you like mechs. :) We'll be seeing more and more of you on the PTR server soon in Wastelands! Remember that any players who previously paid something (anything) in Steam or PC AirMech will get Wastelands for free. You just click the "Wastelands" link from chat inside Strike and it will be automagically added to your Steam account. (we'll post again when it is open to all VIPs)