Jan 24

MENACE - Matt (Hooded Horse)

This week, it is time to delve deeper into MENACE's item and supply cost system.
We will explain more of the infantry squad’s equipment options and show some example items that could be equipped. Each piece of equipment also comes with supply costs, which we explain below.

Let’s jump into it!

Supplies and Equipment Costs

There are two basic limitations to what you can bring on a mission: The items and squad leaders you have collected as well as the supply limit of that particular mission. Each piece of equipment, be it armor, weapon, or accessory, has a supply point cost attached to it. The total of all equipment you bring on a mission must not exceed that mission's supply point limit.

Of course, there are ways to manipulate both the supply costs and the available supplies, so there is some room to find your personal play style. This system is very similar to what many well-known tabletop games use for army building.

Also, the enemy uses the same system to buy its troops from a list of available units. Please note that the amount of supplies for you and the enemy is not necessarily the same, and a difference in points will make missions easier or harder.

Why have a supply system?

When designing MENACE we were looking for a way to both have players' power and abilities increase throughout the game as well as enable as many equipment choices and army setups as possible.

The main issue when not having supply costs is that it is virtually never worthwhile not to use a best-in-slot item on all units unless you just don't own enough of them. There is no reason to use a low-tier armor or weapon later in the game, effectively reducing equipment choices by a lot.

With a supply system, more powerful weapons will cost more supplies while usually still having a better power/supply ratio than low-tier items. This makes equipping squads with cheap armor or weapons a viable choice in order to save points to put into other units.

For example, a mortar-equipped squad that fires from the backlines could just wear fatigues and sport basic rifles, saving points to invest in heavy breach armor for an assault unit. Players might also bring few well-equipped units, many poorly equipped units, or any mix thereof. Through this system, we enable a wide variety of playstyles while making actual army building a core system of the game.

Having a supply system also makes a lot of sense from a lore perspective. The limiting factor of fielding high-tech equipment on a modern battlefield is mostly supply and maintenance. A simple rifle may not be a powerful tool, but it also needs zero maintenance. At the same time, a futuristic combat mech with a multi-laser cannon will keep a whole team of mechanics busy while also gobbling up spare parts, ammo, and all kinds of resources (so-called “supplies”).

Armor

In a previous diary, we already talked about squad weapons and special weapons: Dev Diary #4 - Weapon Types and Stats. Of course, the most basic part of any soldier's equipment is their armor.

In MENACE, there is a wide variety of armor types that not only offer protection but might add additional skills and abilities.

Armor Value: The armor value determines the % chance to stop a projectile that hits this squad. It is matched against the attack's penetration value after considering dropoffs from distance to target.
Armor Durability: If a hit does not penetrate the armor, it reduces the armor's durability. A penetrating hit does not damage the armor. The lower the armor durability, the lower the effective armor value. This means most armors will be good at taking a few hits but might lose effectiveness quickly. There might also be weapons with very low penetration but high armor damage. These might be good to “shred armor” before finally punching through.
Accessory Slots: The armor determines how many accessories a squad can carry into battle. Usually, light armors will sport more accessory slots than heavier ones.
Equipment Costs: Of course, armor comes with its own supply costs that have to be paid per element of a squad. Bigger squads will cost more supplies than smaller ones as they have more elements to be equipped.
Special Skills, Modifiers, or Abilities: Some very heavy armors might reduce movement speed or view range, while others have gimmicks installed, like smoke launchers, laser designators, or thermal imaging devices.

Accessories

The term accessories spread over a very wide range of items, and in MENACE, the variety to pick from will be massive. Most squads will usually be able to equip two accessories, but depending on armor or perks, this might be up to 4.

These items usually bring additional utility, like an ammo pack that increases the ammunition for special weapons or a camouflage kit that makes the squad harder to detect enemies. However, many accessories grant additional skills.

Most notable in this category are grenades that come in all types and flavors. Other types of active accessories like combat drugs instantly reduce suppression or single-use rocket launchers that give ad-hoc AT capability to a squad.

Each accessory, of course, comes with its own supply costs as well, so choose carefully which to bring on a mission.

For active accessories, there is no limit to how many of a certain type you want to bring on a mission, as they come with a certain amount of uses. Want to cover the enemy with grenades? Pick the grenadier perk to increase throwing range and bring 3 Frag Grenades, each granting three skill uses.

Some accessories will be limited to one per squad as adding them to each other does not make sense within the game world, for example, target designators or night vision equipment.

Engage, Explore, and Stay Informed

That's it for now. Let us know what you think about Supplies and Equipment.

You can find us on Discord, BlueSky, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Reddit for discussions, updates, and feedback. You can also subscribe to our monthly MENACE newsletter on our website — just scroll to the bottom of the page to sign up.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2432860/MENACE/

And here are the recent prior Dev Diaries in case you've missed them:
https://steamcommunity.com/games/2432860/announcements/detail/512947503265480935
https://steamcommunity.com/games/2432860/announcements/detail/535464414104519508
https://steamcommunity.com/games/2432860/announcements/detail/515196931452961302

Jan 24

Critter Café serves up some Chill Beats for Serving Treats

Critter Café - SecretModeVicki

Take a moment to relax with cute Critters and some seriously chill beats! Cozy creature raising and café management game Critter Café has partnered with the team at Lofi Girl to produce a chill hip-hop remix and video based on the game.

You can join us for the premiere live on YouTube this Monday at 2pm GMT here:

Featuring a Critter Café-inspired environment brought to life in the Lofi Girl style, this official collaboration stars a remixed version of the overworld music from Critter Cafe's Emerald Bay location. Fans should keep an eye out for some of their favourite Critters in the video, from a sleeping Mogbert to a very energetic Luvhen, alongside a wealth of other Critter Café Easter eggs to spot among the furniture and decorations.

With its relaxed vibes and chill soundtrack, Critter Café was a perfect fit for a collaboration with Lofi Girl, a channel best known for its 24/7 chill-hop streams and remixes.

It’s been an absolute joy to work with the LoFi Girl team to bring you this special collaboration. We hope you’ll enjoy listening to it, whenever and wherever you are.

We'd love to welcome you into our cosy community over on Discord and look out for more announcements, surprises, and general cosy vibes on TikTok, Instagram, and X.

Jan 24

Devblog #4: A Tribute to the Inspirations

Radiolight - ben

Hey everyone,

Slightly different blog, this time! Krystof here, interrupting our regularly scheduled radio program to delve into some of the media that inspired me to work on Radiolight. As a huge fan of cinema, television and, of course, video games, I’m always looking for art that resonates with me.

Radiolight, at its core, is a deeply personal creation. It’s a game where you unravel mysteries, regrets, and fears, but it is also undeniably shaped by the many works that inspired me.

First and foremost, I want to mention the surreal, haunting work of David Lynch. His ability to combine the unsettling & the serene and find terror in the ordinary was undoubtedly extraordinary – the cornerstone of Radiolight’s atmosphere. I would like to thank him for what his art has brought to the world and pay tribute to his memory.

We can’t talk about inspirations, without mentioning the game that has become the figurehead of the Walking Sim genre. Firewatch, along with its gorgeous wilderness, captivated me by telling a story through a walkie-talkie. This direct connection between Henry & Delilah felt human and immediately struck me as a way to build characters even if they’re not currently present on screen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d02lhvvVSy8

True Detective stands tall as another influence. Rust and Marty’s on-screen presence and dialogue were otherworldly, bringing immense contrast to the ongoing investigation.

These are the most direct influences, but there are other echoes of inspiration. Some of them are subconscious:

Stephen King’s stories come to mind, with their small-town horror.
Stranger Things with its unforgettable recreation of the 80s atmosphere.
John Carpenter’s terrifying synth soundtracks.

Even the Pacific Northwest itself, the setting of Radiolight, with its misty forests and isolated towns could be mentioned as an influence, drawing comparisons to Twin Peaks and Alan Wake.

It’s also been fascinating to hear what Radiolight reminds others of! Some have mentioned Oxenfree, Silent Hill and even games by Chilla's Art.

Radiolight is a game shaped by my experiences and vision. It’s a chilling investigative experience, with all of these inspirations sprinkled throughout. I hope you’ll love it. I have something exciting to announce soon, so keep your eyes peeled!

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Radiolight

Iceberg Interactive

Jan 24

The Never-Ending Thrill of the Heist

Monaco 2 - raven

Hello Crew!

As we work towards launch later this year, we wanted to take some time today to talk about the procedural generation within Monaco 2. No two heists will ever be the same as you and your crew work to take on new jobs and pull off the perfect heist!

The same map as the first, but at a different seed

The Main Campaign

Monaco 1 was chock-full of environmental story-telling and easter eggs, often accessed with the Mole. And while the game was great for speed-running, it did have a mild form of procedural generation that kept you on your toes, asking players to improvise rather than memorize. We wanted to expand on this with Monaco 2, without losing what was so special about the level design of the first game.

In Monaco 2, a procedural director stitches hand-authored rooms together using scripts created by our level designer. Then it finds locations for objectives and high-value targets, such as safes, and then starts to fill out enemy positions, traps, security, and other pickups to create a sense of rise and fall in the drama of a level.

But you’d never know this was happening. One of my favorite pieces of feedback we’ve received is that most first time players don’t even realize the levels are procedurally generated. On top of that, for the main campaign, we’re scouring the levels to find our favorite seeds and locking those in for the main campaign. Everyone’s first time playing through the campaign will be on the same maps, and leaderboards will track scores for those seeds.

Unreliable Narrator and Daily Heists

So if the main campaign is locked, why use procedural generation at all? Every heist movie has a planning scene, where the thieves scour a blueprint, figuring out how to best tackle an environment. If you’ve played the same level a million times, this phase is meaningless. But after beating any mission in the campaign, you can go back and play it again in Unreliable Narrator mode: randomized seeds where you can collect diamonds, which you can use to unlock additional character abilities and looks.

A Daily Heist mode also challenges players to tackle the campaign levels with increased difficulty and randomization.

Our intent is to make the main campaign feel like the Monaco experience fans know and love, while making the game infinitely replayable. Add in an opportunity to explore the map and plan the heist with your team and you’ll feel like you are planning a high stakes heist on every play through.

Assemble your dream team and get ready for a taste of the life of crime with our upcoming co-op demo available on February 20th ahead of Steam Next Fest. We’ll see you on the job!