Dec 12, 2024

Important News about the future of Mechabellum

Mechabellum - Krzysztof.B_PDX

Hello everyone,

Mechabellum’s publisher Paradox ARC and developer Game River have something important to announce.

Paradox ARC Statement:

It’s now been a few months since Mechabellum’s release, and we’re happy to see thousands of people enjoying the game every day. Now, we want to announce some changes regarding the future of Mechabellum. After a fruitful partnership, and bringing the game to the 1.0 release, the developer Game River, and publisher Paradox ARC, decided to part ways

Going forward, Game River will retain all ownership of Mechabellum, and will continue developing the game. For Paradox ARC, Mechabellum was a truly unique game to publish, that came with an unmatched community of competitive players. With our goal of bringing the game to 1.0 launch fulfilled, we’re excited to see Game River’s next steps with Mechabellum, and wish the team all the best!

For Mechabellum players, we want to say “thank you” for working with us to create one of the world’s best wargames. Be driven in your defeats and gracious in your triumphs!

Paradox ARC signing off!

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Game River Announcement:

Hello commanders,

I'm Wen Youge, the lead developer of Mechabellum—you may also know me as Bearlike.

As you know, we are parting ways with publishing partner Paradox ARC. We appreciate the support they provided in helping us get to 1.0, and now that we’re entering the next chapter of Mechabellum, we look forward to a very bright future filled with more of everything you love about the game.

We are going to expand the Mechabellum team so we’ll have more people working on the game, and that means tons of new content—a lot of which will surprise you. We also have broader promotional plans, which will give us even more opportunities to serve players and expand the community. And there is another exciting announcement coming for Mechabellum next year . . . I will let you all know the details as soon as I'm allowed to.

Meanwhile, I hope you will enjoy all the new content we prepared for you in Mechabellum Season 2, which starts on January 2.

See you on the battlefield,

-Youge and the Mechabellum team

Dec 12, 2024

Update #186: Death in the Core

Cyber Knights: Flashpoint - Trese Brothers

Early Access improvements across the board continue with today's Update #186. We have a new map and objective proc-gen combo (Decommissioned Core X Assassinate VIP), improved program/talent/item coloring in the HUD, big improvements to navigating the Matrix HUD with keyboard or controller, ability for Matrix Talents to exceed screen size and still scroll to them, some very important progression and balance updates, and another round of polishing for Blueprint crafting.

It is a heavy haul of an update with a lot going on! We've detailed it all below for you to read in detail.

Thanks for playing and posting and our small team especially thanks you if you choose to leave a review!

VIP Down in the Decommissioned Core

With Update #186, we're continuing to buff the mission map list available for the Assassinate VIP proc-gen objective. The Decommissioned Core is a larger interior structure with many paths through it, so you'll have to contend with distance and limited sight lines (Snipers are crying) to take out the VIP on the move. Try to stay stealthy as long as you can, or else the VIP will start moving quickly and then it's going to be a loud, explosive footrace to the end.

This update also includes a ton of other fixes for new maps, including some big rework in Flooded Tunnels about enemy starting positions, counts, and siege setup. We've also fixed a few places where Matrix Terminals had SCU that were not linked to any devices.

New HUD Colors: Talents, Programs, Items

To help increase the visual distinction between Talents, items, and Programs - we have added a slight color shift to these lists in the mission and matrix HUD. Talents retain the original blue coloration, while Items have taken on a gentle orange tint and Programs are now an oceanic green-blue.

We're moving toward automatically placing all items on your Talent bar all the time, so shifting color will help set them apart. It is nice to have them pop more in the Matrix and make a clear break between program (load / unload) and talent (use!).

Matrix HUD is Nav, Scroll for Too Many Programs/Talents

We've adjusted the Matrix HUD to allow you to scroll (with the D-pad, mouse wheel, etc.) to reach any additional Programs, Talents, or Items that go off the edge of your screen. Along with this, we've improved the navigation in the HUD so that it is more open and easier to move between the different button groups. And finally, we've made the navigation in the matrix tree directly linked to the connections between the nodes, so you can walk the three with a keyboard or controller without having to try to free scroll around.

Also, if your program list is sorted to have Sleaze 2 first and Sleaze 1 second, then your actions under the IC will follow the same sort - Sleaze 2 first and Sleaze 1 second. We were previously failing to honor your sorting decisions in these action buttons.

Thanks to @brian and all of our Steam Deck players sending in F10 input and helping us improve here!

Blueprint Crafting UX

We're hard at work improving the NanoFab UX to make the rules for Blueprint crafting clearer. A few updates ago, we started with some text updates and now we've moved on to some larger UI improvements.

With Update #186, we've split out the costs for crafting into the top right of the screen to plan a Blueprint craft. This gives us more space below to pick your Cube allocation and also lets us show discount and time reduction % directly inline.

It is a small but important step in the right direction that lets us reduce 2 to 3 lines of text from the old blueprint rules shown below the crafting recipe. This is in prep to help us focus that text solely on describing the type of recipe you're currently crafting and the Intrinsic bonus rules for that recipe.

Difficulty and Progression Adjustments

We are at a (good) point in the cycle where difficulty and progression are now more and more of the focus of the community and our team. The game has many hours of content, hundreds of pieces of equipment, and a growing list of maps and, not surprisingly, will benefit from an ongoing focus on balance, progression, and difficulty.

So, with this update, we've made a few changes to help in these areas!

Progression: We have adjusted the mission payment scale, "squeezing" it a bit. The lower-level missions are now better pay and the highest-level missions had 5-10% trimmed off their top-line pay (when the missions start hitting for $1.5m each).
Difficulty: We've adjusted the Casual and Easy Difficulties for all new games - they come with negative values to Power Level scaling for matrix and mission, meaning that these elements of the game will stay lower challenge longer before starting to ramp up. Casual has a -2 Power Level applied to Matrix and Missions while Easy is a -1 and then Normal is +0, bog standard.
Difficulty:We've widened the range of Power Level boosts you can do up to -5 to +5. This can help if there are parts of the game you're not loving, and you want to breeze them. You can hit Matrix with a -5 Power Level and keep it simple for the entire game.
Progression: We have adjusted the proc-gen map rules to cull the harder maps from appearing too early in the game. Maps like Rooftop Ziggurat and Flooded Tunnels are too big and hard for a Team Power Level 1 team to be riding into without care. These harder, larger maps now slowly appear over a scale from Power Level 1 to 4.

Other Fixes

We've also taken time during this release to hit a lot of small issues around key bindings, odd things with controllers, and other small bugs. Check the full release notes below!

v1.9.47 - Update #186: - 12/11/2024

- Added Decommissioned Core to Assassinate VIP objective for new proc-gen combo (now 89!)
- Many improvements to enemy start locations for the new Flooded Tunnels map, fixed terminal bugs, unliked SCUs in Matrix
- Improved proc-gen to prevent high-challenge maps from being selected early (before Team Power Level 1-3)
- Improved starting Casual and Easy Difficulties - with -2 or -1 Mission and Matrix Power Levels
- Widened difficulty options for Mission and Matrix Power Level adjustments from -5 to +5 from -4 to +4
- Squeezed mission payment scale - lower-level missions pay a little more, higher level pay a little less
- Improved Matrix / Talent HUD with new tints - talents are blue, items are orange, programs are green
- Improved Talent hover in HUD to be clearer about the number of Turns until the next recharge
- Improved Matrix Talent list in HUD to horizontally scroll is too many items to show on screen at once
- Improved Matrix HUD navigation - more easily move between sections, matrix node map navigation follows node paths cleanly
- Improved NanoFab blueprint recipe screen, giving cost its own space, making discounts more obvious, improved help text
- Improved Matrix action list under IC to match the sorting of your program list (if programs Sleaze 1, 2 then actions Sleaze 1, 2)
- Hovers over contacts in sale/purchase offers now over the entire row, not just contact face
- Improved timeline prompts for all proc-gen missions to highlight and identify their objective type (spike CPU, bodyguard, siege, etc.)
- One-time services (E-Rifle) are much more tolerant to low Trust issues - will still offer to sell
- Improved Cold Storage screen for Accounts, Blueprints, and Files where Sell is primary (A or spacebar) is now yellow button
- Fixed issues with multi-class screen and hard-to-find training button in the bottom right (removed)
- Fixed issues with Font Scaling and training screen display of implants overrunning
- Fixed issues with the controller (B) key in the load screen
- Fixed issues with controller/keyboard Mint hotkey (space/A) breaking after changing files
- Added enemy description for FSC mecha infantry Po-Bots

Dec 12, 2024

10 Year Anniversary Preview & Playstation Out Now!

Besiege - Von

Hey everyone!

Today we’re excited to announce that Besiege Console is now available on Playstation 4 & 5! Physical copies for the Japanese region are also available for purchase and they look awesome! It’s always been a dream of ours to see Besiege in physical form and now it’s finally happened. :)

We also wanted to take this opportunity to briefly talk about some of the things coming up in Besiege’s 10 year Anniversary update!

The main focus of the anniversary update for us, is on revitalizing parts of the original game, adding new challenges and implementing content we feel the Besiege’s longstanding community will enjoy.

Return of the Original Sandbox

Many of you old school Besiege players will remember the game’s original sandbox level, which was very popular among builders for testing their machines. When the new sandbox map was added, the original was retired due to it’s dated appearance and (we felt) wasn’t at all fit for purpose. We were surprised, however, to see so many fans of the game disappointed by this decision.

So, with that in mind, for Besiege’s 10th year anniversary, we’re bringing the old girl out of retirement! With completely new visuals, the sandbox has been rebuilt in a way that captures the level’s original feel but is better scaled to handle the kinds of machines players build these days, with an improved layout and a bit of an expansion as well.

We hope this remaster lives up to your nostalgia of the original!

Scoreboard System

Besiege has always had a basic readout that tells you how long it took you to complete a level, but we’ve gone way beyond that now and implemented a new Scoreboarding system that shows you how well you’ve performed relative to other players!

There are now 3 stats that your level completion is measured on:
- Damage Taken
- Time Taken
- Block Total

Damage & Time taken should be self-explanatory, the less damage or time you take in simulation, the better your scores are!
Block total is a more complicated metric, where each block in Besiege is assigned a point value (with more powerful blocks having a higher point value). The total value of all the blocks you use in simulation is added together, to give you your “Block Total” score. The lower your score is, the better you’ve done and the further up the leaderboards you’ll be placed.

Hovering over your score shows you how your best scores compare to other players and where you sit in the rankings. Next to each of your scores you’ll see a little visualization called a histogram, which displays where your scores have fallen compared with what all other players have achieved.

To add a little extra spice to the competition, we have submitted our own scores to the leaderboards as Spiderling Devs, can you beat us?

More to come..

We’re also cooking up some other surprises for this update, but we don’t want to give it all away just yet, so stay tuned! ;)

The Anniversary Update will release late January or early February.

That’s all for now, we hope you’re excited about what’s coming and we’re looking forward to seeing you get stuck into it!

Cheers,
Von

Dec 12, 2024

Patch 0.80

Cosmic Raze - FromLefcourt

Patch 0.80: Shiny!

Today's patch is all about smoothing down rough edges. While not the most exciting, this patch is comprehensive, covering everything from visuals to balance and bugs, and I'm pretty happy with how things have come together so far (for a tiny game on a shoestring budget).

A big part of that is because of the in-depth feedback I've gotten from players on the FromLefcourt Discord (the link can be found on the store page, if you'd like to join). So much of today's patch is a direct result of them, so I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you!

If you aren't interested in joining the Discord, I still try to look at feedback elsewhere. A couple of today's changes are the result of a recent review pointing out some typos I hadn't noticed, for instance.

Finally, this week also brings the game's price up to its full retail value of $3.49 USD (pending review). The game's price will not increase again.

Looking Forward: Those hoping for more content, the next 2 major patches (0.90, and 1.00) will add new powers, augments, difficulties, and achievements. I expect to reach 1.00 some time in January 2025. Until then, here's the patch notes for today:

Patch Notes for 0.80

Visual and Interface Updates

Weapons now each have unique idle animations
The Ker'Plau Boss missiles are now animated
Ker'Plau mines are now animated
Added credits to the main menu.
Added the FromLefcourt logo screen to the start.
The placement dots (when placing a weapon) now turn into red X's if the placement is invalid for any reason
When your active power is available the cursor will change visually when using mouse controls
Added an indicator to track the Scrap of Theseus augment progress labeled "Scrap"
Changed the Forger synergy tracker label to "Forge" to prevent confusion
When you're at the maximum tech tier, it will no longer show a gold cost to upgrade further
Gold bars begin flashing much sooner, but their duration is unchanged
Gold Bars now have a shiny animation, and some small sparkle effects when they first land
During combat the "Main Menu" button when paused will now say "Forfeit"
I've started implementing the Data Codex which will track unlocked content, achievements, and weapons equipped. This feature is currently disabled but a new button on the main menu is now present. Hoping to enable this in Patch 0.90.

Text Updates

Added flavor text for the remaining 13 augments that didn't have some
Corrected outdated text related to your bench that had lingered since a much earlier version of the game
Fixed Scrap of Theseus Typos in both the description and flavor texts
Fixed typo in the Starwhal descriptions
Fixed typo in the Long Wave descriptions

Sound Updates

Added a sound effect for shifting weapons in a column
When your active power is available a sound will play
Farlight's sound has been toned down to a softer, quieter effect. When multiple Farlights are active, the sound will not play as often.

Control Updates

You can now press escape to open and close the pause menu when using Mouse controls (does not currently work when confirming/cancelling a forfeit)
Added a power shortcut-key when using mouse/keyboard controls.
Note: I am hoping to add rebinds for the shortcut keys in the upcoming 0.90 patch. These keys weren't originally planned, so adding rebinds requires a considerable update to the options menu.

Optimization

Made optimizations to how enemy behaviors are handled.
Fixed issues with the Negascope that caused slowdown when attempting to find a target, especially when multiple were on screen at once

Balance Changes

Forfeiting a game during combat will now grant post-game experience
Reduced experience cap to 450 from 600, making later unlocks happen faster
Increased experience gain at higher difficulties from +10% to +20% each
Ker'Plau will no longer place as many mines, and mines can no longer stack on the same space
The Double Down augment will now affect the Recycle Doc power.
The Forger synergy no longer counts weapons that are destroyed as part of the wave ending
The Forger synergy will no longer create a gold bar after a wave has ended
Weapons above tier 1 now give less gold when fully upgraded. They now give back only the cost of 2 of the combined weapons instead of 3 (minus 1 gold).
Breakthroughs have been adjusted to give less value overall. The value given previously made managing your economy relatively trivial. Breakthrough can give variable amounts based on your current tech tier (1-3, 4-6, 7-9).
Value Share: Now grants 2/2/3 gold value, down from 2/3/4
Rebait: Now grants 1/1/2 gold bars instantly, down from 1/2/3
Guidance: Now grants 2/2/3 free rerolls, down from 2/3/4
Salvage: Now says "grants 4x its tech tier in gold" instead of "2x its sell value."

Bugs

Resolved some issues when tabbing out at specific moments during the end game phase that could soft-lock the game
If you open the pause menu during game over, clicking resume will no longer restart enemy movements
Fixed an issue that could cause some enemies to get stuck at the end of their attack animation
Fixed an issue that could allow some enemies to attack weapons that just shifted out of their targeting area for a single attack
Fixed a bug preventing Value Share from triggering properly
The Choosinator augment will now grant a free reroll immediately upon equipping it, and will no longer wait until the end of the next round
The Bullet Buddy will no longer create an infinite amount of visual fx when trying to place a drone on a weapon that already has one. The FX will now trigger on the targeted weapon and only when possible to create the drone.
Fixed a bug that was causing certain beam hitboxes to become visible
Scrap Drones should now spawn with the correct frequency chance.
Fixed an issue with the forfeit confirmation that would trigger the last highlighted menu option even if the player clicked elsewhere
When weapons have had their base value increased by a breakthrough, and they are upgraded, their bonus value should now be properly retained
When a weapon is optimized by a breakthrough, the icon will now properly appear on the weapon when you load a saved game