Fresh robot combatants.

A laser spear.

Gravity-defying space-boots.

Giant.

Transport.

Tubes.


Can't wait? Follow Doborog's dev streams for a sneak peek.

Prepare for mind transfer!

Just about two years ago when we first started on Early Access, we included these two puppies on our FAQ:



Turns out, eventually is NOW!


Clone Drone now supports a wide variety of game controllers! You may now lean back and bask in the glory of playing Clone Drone in the comfort of not-with-your-keyboard-and-mouse.



The game's UI buttons are fully navigable by your controller's left stick or D-pad, and they come with visual selection and sound effects to make it clearer which button is selected.



Pretty!

Controller hints throughout the game have also been updated to use icons for the specific controller you are using. It will even swap hints in real-time if you change controllers or move back to using mouse and keyboard:



Thanks to everyone who helped test the controller support while it was in its infancy (shout-outs to Myriad453, AwesomePants, GeekCrafter412, Stealth000, Arcylic, davy jones locker, JustASloth, Jelley, theyummyoyster, RedCreep, X606, Dat Alpha Waffle, Niek_Alexander, LagTeam Leader & everyone from the Discord #controller-testers channel!). This rag-tag crew of brave experimental branch testers was super helpful in tuning the default set of buttons to something that was not just usable, but some may even say preferred!

Let us know what you think! And if you try it out with an esoteric flight pedal or Guitar Hero controller, send us a clip, because that's just awesome.


Dvorak, Colemak, and AZERTY friends! No longer must you suffer the indignation of switching keyboard layouts or using external utilities prior to becoming a sword robot.



With the new Edit Controls menu, you may now remap in-game actions to whatever key (or controller button/axis) you would like. Let us know if there are any actions you would like to see made configurable in this menu!


While Brian was working on getting controller support and key remapping hooked up, Erik has continued adding mind-blowing new mechanics that will be featured in chapter 4, like low gravity combat:



We're anticipating launching Chapter 4 and some new bonus challenges towards the end of April, if all goes to plan.



Until next time!

We figured it's about time for another UPDATE POOOOST!

We've been hard at work constructing a mind-bending Story Mode Chapter 4 with completely new weapons, environment art, interactive story animations and characters. If you thought Chapter 3's journey outside of the arena was a step up from the first chapters, wait 'til you experience this next chapter :D

We are expecting Chapter 4 to release some time in April, and we will follow up with more details as we are closer to wrapping up its development.

Controller support (yes, controller support!) should come out some time in the next couple of weeks. See below for more details!


Check out these tubes! Erik has been taking the level editor's new in-editor animation system and using it to bring Chapter 4 to another level. Watch for even more immersive, surprising moments during this chapter.



One request we've gotten from players since we started in Early Access has been to tighten up the graphics a bit. With the incredible Gary Lucken now part of the Doborog crew, Chapter 4 is bringing the game's visuals to another level!



Another feature of the new level editor animation system added for chapter 4 is the ability to animate LIGHTS!



Pretty!


(Even before Chapter 4!)

One of the top requests we've gotten ever since we entered Early Access has been support for game controllers & key remapping.

As fans of playing games with controllers on the PC ourselves, we always suspected Clone Drone would be a great fit for controller support, but couldn't be sure until we tested it out to confirm. (That's why we were always careful not to promise controller support, in case it didn't fit with the gameplay!)

Turns out, it works, and it feels great! (Some may say it's even better than keyboard and mouse. But those people would be heretics.)

Here's VastLite slaying at the game while twiddling his thumbs:




No QWERTY? No problem! One of the things we're adding in the process of adding controller support is the ability to re-map in-game actions to whatever keys or mouse buttons you'd like.

Dvorak, AZERTY, and non-US keyboard users, rejoice!

(Now we haven't tried it with a Guitar Hero controller yet... but we can't say that it WOULDN'T work...)


We’re working with some early testers to whittle down a default control set that feels great across the gamut of controllers out there.

For those interested in trying the controller support + key remapping development pre-alpha early, join the #controller-testers room on the community-run Discord and we'll put instructions there on how to test the controller support branch out. We'd love to hear what controls you find the most intuitive / enjoyable as you play.

Note: the controller branch is still under heavy development and not quite feature-complete, so it may change / break your game data, so be sure to back your save data up before trying it out!


For long-requested, larger features like this, it's taken a bit longer between updates than we'd otherwise prefer. Turns out -- constructing a mind-blowing chapter with all-new enemies, environments, animation system, weapons, etc, takes a single developer while! & so does re-vamping the game's input system and UI navigation to support a variety of controllers. :)

Rest assured, we're well on the way to concluding the game's epic tale and rounding out the rest of our planned major features for the game!

To all of you who have been with us in Early Access, diligently trying updates as we've continued developing the game -- who continued streaming, sending in bugs, moderating community spaces, creating incredible workshop maps and blowing our minds with what's possible with the tools we manage to share -- thank you!!



Stay awesome, and watch for updates here soon!

Happy Friday!

After a fun morning of playing your workshop levels I'm happy to announce that we have 4 gems temporarily joining the official Last Bot Standing rotation!



This amazing looking level has an even more amazing Final Zone.
Survive until the end, and you may encounter... THE BEAST!



Why fight in buildings when you can fight ON them? Roof Top delivers a fun experience for all city loving humans.



A tight design delivering fun battles with a high tempo! The Maze Below impressed us with its gameplay.



Turn into garbage and experience Fireworks! The sloped design of this level felt simple and surprisingly fresh.

Thanks to everyone who submitted levels and participated in the playtest!

We're working hard on Chapter 4!
Here is another little preview of what we're doing.

Warning: Mild spoilers below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDS__k5Shv8
Do you enjoy DRAMA??? Prepare for a very dramatic story chapter, built on the foundations of our brand new Animation System.

When Chapter 4 launches you'll be able to create animations directly in the Level Editor.

A fun thing we're exploring is the ability to transfer your mind into whoever killed you.
This will be a thing both in Chapter 4, as well as in a brand new Endless Challenge.



Initial testing suggests this is really fun! :D

Do you love making levels? We're holding another playtest session for Last Bot Standing levels on Feb 15th, 10am PST.

No theme this time so make whatever you want!
The most awesome levels will be added to the main level pool.

Don't forget to peek at our awesome guide for making fun levels!

We're aiming to release it in March sometime. :)
More info when we know more!

This past weekend we held another Last Bot Standing playtest, it was a lot of fun! Thanks everyone who came to the stream to play test the levels.

In the spirit of the season, we've added FOUR new maps to the Last Bot Standing rotation today, and may add one more over the holidays pending a couple of small level tweaks.

We mentioned for last playtest that our level themes are just suggestions to inspire those who don't have an idea to start with, so you'll see non-METAL-CHRISTMAS-themed maps sprinkled in we think you will still enjoy! So if you have an idea for our next Last Bot Standing playtest, no need to wait for the next theme, you can start building now!





Ho-ho-ho-ly mother of Christmas decorations! Lots of nice Christmas touches throughout this map. Grab a gift from on top of one of the gifts. The combat area is cozier than most maps, so watch your back!





If you like lore, you're going to love this level's background story. This level's unique layout and stylish jump pads make for a fresh new environment to battle in. Watch your step and survive the harvest!




This level has so much character and hilarious elements, we really want to add it to the rotation, so we're circling back with a few tweaks needed to get it ready for prime time. There were many deaths during the playtest caused by gawking in awe of the hilarious level elements.

And in the corner, what is this?! A gift, for me, from Doborog?!?! Aww, you shouldn't have.






You really don't see enough laser-sword-robots hanging around castles these days. This blast from the past level sports a dangerous courtyard surrounded by places enemies could jump down from. This results in a very different feeling combat experience.





I mean, doesn't the name here say it all? (radio) GIFT HAS BEEN PLANTED.


There were a bunch of other fun METAL CHRISTMAS-themed levels we had fun playing on Saturday! These levels were very close to being included as well, and deserve to be mentioned:

• Santa's Lair by Sir Kotok - awesome Christmas decoration!
• DannyBot & Clones Salvaging Co. by fencing_vogel - featuring some mega compound-traps that are really fun to destroy your robot body with
• Long Live Metal Christmas by niekalexander - this level's layout elements call to mind pixel art and voxel games like Minecraft. Beautiful work!
• Christmas Fight: Day Version by Sir Kotok - includes a fun factory to battle on!

Thanks everyone for making such cool levels and participating in the event!


These playtest events have been a ton of fun, so we're gonna keep doing them! Some have asked that we give a bit more time between playtests, so we'll be doing the next one in about a month. We'll announce the next theme in an upcoming blog post, so watch for it!


If you missed our last update post, Erik has been building a brand new weapon and enemy for Story Mode Chapter 4. Watch for another post in the not too distant future on a neat level editing tool he's adding to make the chapter even more dynamic than the others.

Brian's been adding controller support to the game and UI, and some say it might feel even better than playing with a mouse + keyboard (sacrilege!). That will be shipped alongside a change to our multiplayer system to support more regions to hopefully improve pings for those of you in US-West and possibly other regions.

Watch for our next update, and have a very happy holidays & new year! <3

We're currently hard at work on Chapter 4!
Here's a little peek at where things are at. :)

The game gets its third melee weapon: The Spear!

Paired with a shield, it focuses on precise stabs with a solid defensive barrier.
Here is what happens if you put it in the hands of some high level enemy bots:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYwTMUqXEcc

Note: All spear, shield and enemy models are temporary placeholders.

Gary has been exploring what the hallways of the robot Battlecruiser might look like!

Below are some high definition mockups that will likely mutate and change as we figure out how to break them down into reusable level elements:









Chapter 4 is going to be pretty. :D

Most of the work still lies ahead of us. We're still in the planning and exploration stages, but we'll likely move on to level design in January and start putting the chapter together!

It's too early to tell exactly when this thing launches, but we're aiming for sometime around February / March.

In the mean time, join us tomorrow as we play test Metal Christmas levels from the workshop. And watch for a mini-update in the next couple of weeks related to controller support and server regions!

The second Last Bot Standing playtest is over, bringing us six fresh new levels!
Thanks to everyone who participated!

Next event is Saturday Dec 15th with the theme Metal Christmas!

Here is why these levels were a blast to play, and are now available:




Simple and fun! Everybody liked this level when we played it.
Jump around in a kitchen, like a little ant with a giant laser sword trying to kill the other ants instead of collaborating on whatever it is ants do!



Yay! What a fun level! With some beautiful toys and playful upgrade drop scenarios, the Kid Zone made us feel childlike joy. :)



The light shines brightly in space! Really cool level with a lot of vertical jump pad action.



Probably the level with the most innovative mechanics and theme of everything we played!
Experience the chaos of spawning in a prison full of murderous robots. If you survive the first few seconds the rest of the level is also really neat!



Don't smelt, little human! Running around this level is a ton of fun. The upgrade drops had some really unique configurations, giving this level a good balance between danger from hazards and your fellow contestants.



Epic and beautiful, this level lets you die inside a glorious cathedral. Inspiring use of light and shadow!

These levels were very close to being included, and deserve to be mentioned:

• Neon Baths (fencing_vogel) - Pretty and fun to play! We decided not to include it due to the lack of clarity around the neon blue things actually concealing lava.
• Beacon in the ocean (Sir Kotok) - This level was super cool, but also suffered from lava that did not look like lava. Perhaps we should add color variants to lava... :)
• Dragon Ball Super Tournament of Power Arena (Destroyed) (Silva 01) - This level was really good looking, but a really hard to get to Final Zone made us reluctant to add it.

Thanks everyone for making such cool levels and participating in the event!

These playtest events have been a ton of fun, so we're gonna keep doing them!

The next theme is: Metal Christmas!
We want to see levels that capture that holiday spirit of cutting up your festive friends, and letting their robot bodies rain down upon you like snow!

Join us on Saturday Dec 15th, at 10am PST!

And just so there is no confusion, we are currently working on Story Mode Chapter 4.
Keep your eyes out for some early weapon exploration footage in an upcoming blog post! :)

One of our game server instances in the EUWest region got stuck in a bad state this weekend, causing attempts to connect to it to FAIL! We have now obliterated the bad server instance, and things should be back to normal. Sorry to anyone who had trouble connecting to matches this weekend!

Let us know if anyone continues to have trouble connecting to games -- you can always reach out to us directly at support@doborog.com and we'll figure out what's going on.

In the next couple of weeks we'll be putting out an update that further improves our server regions, and we'll make sure to add some more protection against issues like this should they arise. If you're interested in testing this new system out before we launch it, email us!

More updates to come!

Thanks everyone who participated in our first Workshop Playtest event!
We played through a whooping 39 levels, and had a ton of fun!

Here are the 9 levels that will be added to the official Last Bot Standing rotation until the next playtest:



Hollowedcommander creates a visually striking experience in the darkness of the abyss!
Don't step across the red lines!



Calling all pirates!
Just kidding, pirates can't play multiplayer, or access this super fun level. :)
When the cannons fired I knew we needed to add it.



The atmosphere of Mother Tree is really cool!
You can practically feel the damp fog condensing on your metal face as you jump across its branches.



It may look simple, but as soon as we tried it everyone had a ton of fun!
Cleverly framed upgrade drops make this level really entertaining.



Like a hall of mirrors that suddenly appears in an action film, the hall of laser tag takes you on a trip! The view from the upgrade boxes is great!



A cozy valley full of trees and ramps!
Jumping among the foliage is a lot of fun.



Experience the intense blue of the Space Arena!
A great place to die!



Space Royale offers a cool take on the interior of a space ship!
A good warmup for Chapter 4. :)



There was something really cool about this level. The wheel feels solid and the fight for upgrade drops is fun!



There are of course a ton of other cool levels in the workshop that we didn't add this time around. You can find them under the Last Bot Standing tag in the workshop!


We're doing this again!!!
Next playtest takes place Fri Nov 30 at 10am PST

Theme: Glorious Light
We want to see glorious levels, that shine with light!
What exactly that means is up to you. :)

Participate simply by uploading your Last Bot Standing level to the workshop, and don't forget to check out our helpful guide if you haven't yet!



After our players quickly identified a number of issues with the new levels we've taken a pass at fixing some of them:

• Forrest in the Mountains / Space Royale: Widened the final zone!
  
• Mother tree: No longer makes you fall to your death on spawning.
  
• Green Plain Ruins / Molten Wheel: Added a tasteful skybox!
  
• All levels: Added author names to level previews!
  
• Added back official levels to the mix since people missed them.

Thanks everyone for your feedback! This is the first time we've tried something like this, so still figuring out the best way to do it. :)