Hi everyone!
While last Alliance prototype update was focused on improving balance, performance, and enemy behavior based on your feedback, this update is more focused on contents. We’ve been working on a number of things, and we’re excited to finally share some of them with you! We have quite a few things for you to play around with and test, and you’ll also see a work in progress first version of the world map and progression. As you’ll see, it’s not fully functional yet, but it’s for you to get a first glimpse of the direction we’re taking.
We’ll be hosting another group test session this Saturday, 12.19.15, at 1pm EST, and we’ll send another survey your way after the test session to collect feedback. In the meantime, if you have questions or issues with the update, you can also email us at feedback@musegames.com.
And if you haven’t pre-order Alliance yet, you can do that on the Humble Store. Thanks for supporting us!
[NEW FACTION SHIP] The Anglean Corsair
Like its creators, the Corsair is extremely rugged and is not easily budged. Based on ancient war machine designs, the Corsair is ideal for inserting itself into a fray of enemies and simultaneously dispatching them from multiple angles. Gameplay wise, the Corsair takes cues from the Spire in its layout. The Corsair has multi-tiered decks and a massive interior. Given the ship’s toughness, scurrying up and down ladders can be kept to a minimum for a skilled engineer.
[NEW MAP] Voyager’s Cove
The Voyager’s Cove takes place off the coast of Chaladonian shores. Judging by the ruins, it was once a bustling coastal city that has since been reclaimed by the sea. Now, the cove is an important defensive location linking the Isle of Chaladon to the mainland. This new map follows the Defense mode ruleset and is designed for 3-4 player ships.
[NEW ANGLEAN WEAPON]
Zeus Weaponized Coil
Reverse engineering parts unearthed from the frozen tundra, the Anglean Republic has reconstructed methods to temporarily store an electrical charge. At first, they were disappointed by their inventions’ instability but soon realized that it could be weaponized to devastating effect.
The gun fires an electrical charge that arcs between multiple enemies. Hold the trigger to charge up to 6 seconds. The damage and the number of jumps increase with charge time. It has a minimum charge time of 3 seconds.
[NEW MERCHANT WEAPON]
Apollo Lens Array
Harnessing the power of the sun via a series of carefully crafted lenses, the Mercantile Guild is able to burn its enemies with a focused beam of light. Only the Guild is able to procure such valuable diamonds and crystals that make up the weapon’s intricate lens array. The armament’s devastating effectiveness easily justifies its costly construction.
To operate the Apollo, hold down mouse to start shooting. The longer you train the beam on an enemy ship, at the expense of less turning arc and movement, and the the more damage the gun would inflict.
[NEW ENGINEER TOOLS] Armor Kit and Fail-safe Kit
Both kits are buff tools, bringing the total buff tools to 3. Buffs can only be applied one at a time and cannot be stacked. Armor kit will apply armor to any component for a set duration of time, or until armor has depleted. Fail-safe Kit applies a rebuilder automaton for a set duration of time. When a component with the Fail-safe buff/automaton is downed, it will begin to rebuild itself. Normal assistive rebuilding still works. Once rebuilt, the buff/automaton is removed
[PROTOTYPE WORLD MAP & PROGRESSION]
This build marks the beginning of the world progression. The world map and features are very much work in progress, and this is a first look at the direction we are heading. While we are working on the full implementation, we’ve provided a cheat window to switch factions and add War Effort to locations in the meantime so you can get a glimpse of how it would all work eventually. War Efforts are the points that are earned when you finish a match. War Efforts will go to the location that you have selected in the World Map. World Map and contesting locations will play into a larger Resource meta-game that we are still working on and will be implemented in the future. For now, feel free to poke at how locations change hands between factions!
Features & Balance
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Additional barges for Retrieve and Defense on Hell mode with 3-4 player ships
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AI Enemies are now managed better to engage player ships that are speeding ahead or lagging behind.
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Reduced overall enemy numbers and increased overall toughness aimed at offering more weapon tactic choices.
Known Issues
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Selected enemy faction on the map is not yet reflected by the enemies in match (but this is planned.)
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LOD issue with damaged Refinery
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Rope clipping on damaged Magnate
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Some sound effects might go missing if too many channels are used
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Apollo Lens Array fire sound effect positioning
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Assault base displayed at wrong place in minimap
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Decoration of traveller theme blocks view on crusader in third person while on helm
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Misplaced main engine on boss ship
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Pistons clip through material on Magnate and Crusader
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Clipping into golden/brass decorations on Magnate
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Chandelier above helm doesn’t react to ship movement on Magnate
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Flickering textures on building (parous glen)
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Traction cable clipping
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Tube connecting the balloon and its repair point is missing on new ships
- Tooltip positioning issue for light guns in the 3rd row of customization screen