Dino Mercs
EA Release Day Patch Notes
While it's an exciting day, I'm not celebrating quite yet - still have a lot of work to do. I'm currently cleaning up bugs and rough patches. Also, I'll be starting on a patch to address some game balance issues.
Here's what I've fixed so far today:
v1.0.0
- Lower requirements for unlocking the other two characters
- Fix issue where transitioning between scenes with either music or SFX muted caused unmute button to not be interactable
- Overhaul tooltips ... again. Too many issues with previous implementation
- Fix issues with UI/SFX audio not being on the right mixer channel in some cases, causing SFX to trigger even when SFX was muted
- Reduce damage reduction from Smoked/Overheated/Suppressed (50/75% -> 25/50%)
- Fix Battery shield blocking the first status in status grid
v1.0.1
- Fix rewards store (missing new tooltips and had some issues with non-card challenges breaking the page)
v1.0.2
- Fix title track not persisting to achievements/unlocks/intro/character-selection screens
- Fix enemy statuses not having working info text tooltips
DINO MERCS, has officially launched on Steam Early Access!
We are thrilled to announce that DINO MERCS, has officially launched on Steam Early Access! As a small indie studio, we poured our hearts and souls into creating a game that we believe captures the thrill of battling fierce enemies with a squad of powerful dinosaurs.
With unique card-playing mechanics and infinite arcade-style gameplay, DINO MERCS offers an experience that is both challenging and rewarding.
And let's not forget about the dinosaurs themselves! We worked tirelessly to create characters that have own unique abilities and skills.
But don't just take our word for it. We invite you to join the ranks of the Dark Solar Defense, a shadowy private military corporation run by dinosaur mercenaries, and embark on an adventure unlike any other. Whether you're looking for a challenge or a more laid-back run, DINO MERCS has something for everyone.
Thank you for supporting our small indie studio and we can't wait to hear your thoughts on our game.
Best regards,
Tim
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1827640/DINO_MERCS/
V0.22.0 & V0.23.0 are live on Steam!
You'll continue to hear a lot more from me (Tim, the dev) on here, Discord, and Twitter. But for now, I've got to get back to work for the big release tomorrow!
0.22.0
- Add lots of card art
UI Improvements
- More refinements to attack card tooltips
- reduce delay on card hover by half
Cards
- Fix Machine Gun Nest & Flak Cannons
- Fix issues with "Look The Other Way" card, change card effect and fix description
Bug Squashing
- Fixed some issues with stat/status tooltips
- Fixed toxic gas is showing the smoked tooltip
0.23.0
- Wire up initial EA achievements to Steam
Game Balance
- Lower requirements for unlocking most of the cards in game
- Burning status reduces repairs by 50% instead of 100%
- Increase initial Base Repairs to 25
- Rework Utter Carnage card (too underpowered compared to Primal Instincts as game progresses)
Bug Squashing
- Revert change where Merc Killer rewards were granted after the fight, now they are granted at beginning of encounter again
- Fix some bugs regarding base repairs
- Fix some SFX issues with base attackers/defenders
V0.21.0 is live! [Patch Notes]
You'll probably see one more release on here before v1.0.0 (EA) releases. I need to finish some art, add more Steam achievements, and, as always, do a ton of playtesting to continue ironing out balance and more.
If you'd like to join in the discussions about the game and see some of the details of the playtesting taking place, join the DINO MERCS discord: https://discord.gg/sTKZgkjr , we'd love to have you there.
Here are the v0.21.0 patch notes:
- Add mastered soundtrack!
- Add lots of card art
Game Balance
- More variety between enemies - some have high shields/low armor and vice versa
- Switch Killing Machine to Operation duration
- Nerf some exceptionally high damage types (warhead: 200% -> 120%, explosive++: 100% -> 75%, Armor Piercing++/EMP++/Necrotic++: 200% -> 120%)
- Buff enemy sector bonuses (enemy base HP/Shield/Armored/Attack increase with each sector)
UI Improvements
- Clean up Attack card tooltips
- Add View Legends button to combat/base defense header
- General UI polish
- Add more information about current supplies/money to operation nodes
Bug Squashing
- Temporary fix for overlapping ultra-status pills
- Hide flashing "exfill" options when an enemy is defeated
- Fix Ravaged status was using Burning icon/info text
- Fix the wording of Scavenger operation node choices
- Ensure that Base Defense ends at the set number of rounds, and it's the enemy's turn
- Fixes for edge cases with completed sectors and challenges
- Fix logic determining whether Base Repair options are available for selection or not
- Ensure that if cards in discard pile + deck + "to drain" is less than or equal to 5, you don't end up with less than 5 cards after draining (discard instead as a temp solution)
- Fix some issues with sector progression
Wait is finally over soon! DINO MERCS is set to release on April 20th
We're happy to announce the wait is soon over: DINO MERCS is coming out on Thursday, the April 20th.
Roguelike card battles with dinosaurs in space, that's what's up! DINO MERCS is coming out as Early Access release in a week.
About the Early Access
The game has been in the making for over a year now, and the solo developer Tim from the studio Unusual Undertaking is ready for the world to see what the game is all about. Even if the game is releasing now in Early Access, the level of polish and quality is high. So what Early Access means to us, is that the game will see a lot more to come!
So Early Access provides the game an opportunity to tell you all about the exciting updates we have planned. In addition to some quite obvious ones like adding more languages, fine-tuning controller support and making the game run perfectly on Steam Deck, there will be a lot of visual enhancements and animations, more bosses, card mutations, rare cards, new enemies, and a whole lot more to come!
Along with the plan of Early Access the price of the game will increase to the full price at the full release. We will up the price with one major update during Early Access, and then at full release in about 8 to 10 months.
Feedback & Community
When you play DINO MERCS, we would be absolutely thrilled if you would share us your thoughts on the Steam forums where you can find pinned posts for bugs, general feedback, and ideas.
And in addition to that, join our official Discord server at https://discord.gg/gP5TGjWBS8
Wishlist now
We hope you're as excited as we are! Now, get ready and wishlist the game here on Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1827640/DINO_MERCS/
Huge update! v0.20.0 is Live!
0.20.0 update is now live.
Thank you for everyone who have tested the game and helped us to fix and polish game before release.
General Game Improvements
- Switch from a variable number of base attackers to a variable length of base defense instance (short: 5-9 rounds, long: 9-15 rounds)
Game Balance
- Buff HNG HEAVY TROOPER (Camarasaurus)
- Buff BSC TROOPER (Carnotaurus)
- Give some deadly/merc killer enemies more powerful/rare cards
- Redo logic that powers selection of Base Attacker cards, optimize for more variety (& overall will make base defense a little less challenging, too hard right now)
- For Sniper Enemy, swap out a Suppressive Fire enemy card for a Predator Implants enemy card
- Buff Base stats (anti-air/ground + fortifications)
- Buff defense cards (Combat Armor, Charge Shields, etc.)
- Reduce threshold for status bonuses (50 -> 25) and ultra statuses (100 -> 50)
- Buff Base Defenders
UI Improvements
- Make the achievements UI look like the Unlocks UI
- Make current player position on Operation map more clear
- Add "Your Turn" / "Enemy Turn" overlays at beginning of turns for clarity
Bug Squashing
- Fix a number of card tooltips
- Fix issue with card selection glow disappearing when mouse exits non-draggable card
- Improve the scroll speed of unlocks scroll grid
- Fix displayed bonuses at the end of a run
- Fix unclickable button on Game Over (Base) screen
- Fix "Dmg Type" text on some cards
- Fix how status decrement during base defense
- Fix issue where fractions were displayed on Rising Rage enemy card
- Fix description/effect mismatches on Smoke Grenade cards (player + enemy)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1827640/DINO_MERCS/
v0.19.0 is Live!
v0.19.0
General Game Improvements
- Add unique challenges for card unlocks
- Update all achievements with unique challenges (no more score X points in a single run!)
- Make some improvements to tutorial, more simple/clear
Game Balance
- Up card damage by 50% to help speed up combat encounters
- Standardize buff/debuff gains from buff/debuff cards (make more consistent across different cards)
- make average/deadly negative effects on buff/debuff cards less drastic
- Improve and simplify T-rex/Triceratops starting decks
- Nerf Expert Contractor card (less +Repairs, card drains in positive slots)
- Toxic Gas cards work like Smoke Grenade card now, Toxic Gas status is imparted to both player/enemy
- Decrease Snap Out Of It buffs/debuffs, way less dramatic now
- Mutilated/Ravaged can no longer bring Max HP below 1, even if greater than Max HP
- Remove status/stat debuffs from Anti-Matter Cannon. Remove drain. Add Ignores In Cover.
Cards
- Add Base status cards to enemy waves:
- Set Aflame (Burning status Enemy card)
- Severe Damage (Ravaged status Enemy card)
- Too Many Of Them! (Surrounded status Enemy card)
- Blindsided (increases dazed by %)
Enemies
- Add Average Carnotaurus (BSC TROOPER) variant
- Add Deadly Carnotaurus (BSC TROOPER) variant
- Add Average Corythosaurus (HNG TROOPER) variant
- Add Deadly Cryolophosaurus (RPL SHOCK TROOPER) variant
- Add Deadly Gallimimus (HNG SNIPER) variant
- Add Average Pachycephalosaurus (BSC BRAWLER) variant
- Add Average Protoceratops (RPL SCOUT) variant
- Add Deadly Styracosaurus (RPL HEAVY TROOPER) variant
- Add Average Velicoraptor (BSC RECON) variant
UI Improvements
- Enemy / Player drops down off the screen when dead, instead of to the side
- Add headers to damage dealt/modifiers sections on attack card tooltips
- Increase scroll speed on unlocks and achievement screens
- Show Achievements/challenges completed as a popup in the top left corner
- Scale cards up and down on hover in static views (stores, unlocks, etc.)
Bug Squashing
- SAM defender had wrong card identity
- Improve tooltips on Mission Overview
- Fix statuses on Mission Overview
- Fix some more lingering issues with loading the game with correct fullscreen mode
- Fix Achievements grid covering up Back button on very wide dimensions (referrence: 1200x600)
- Fix broken Enemy Armor Crush generic description
- Ensure that players can't make their deck smaller than 5 cards (at least 5 cards needed for the game to run)
- Fix issue with locked cards showing up in card reward stores
Feature Reveal 1 -S.I.R. (Standard Issue Rifle)
First off, a basic card you'll be playing the most right off the bat:
S.I.R. (Standard Issue Rifle)
Not a very strong attack against the toughest enemies, but more than enough to rip through the armor of weaker mercs.
For more news, updates, videos, and chats, follow us on Steam and join our Discord.
Pre-release v0.18.0
0.18.0
A new update that addresses a ton of playtesting feedback is live for playtesters! This one is a big one, so expect some instability and some bugs.
Most notable updates include a major change to how statuses work in the game, and base defense has been changed dramatically to make it more challenging.
General Game Improvements
- Major Statuses overhaul: most stack-based statuses have been converted back to percentage-based statuses (i.e. Dazed causes 25% less damage to be dealt)
- Statuses overhaul will *hopefully* help with issues like stacking 100+ dazed on enemies, making the game far too easy
- But: stacking statuses can still be done and once you reach 50 stacks of status, you get an increased percentage bonus
- Player HP is fully restored after Merc Killer encounters are completed successfully
- Remove Blockade as a possible node, it's boring
- Add "curated" sets of cards for enemy hands, instead of randomly selecting cards based on weighted random choices
- Overhaul smoked cards (smoke grenade), now affects both player/enemy
- Overhaul base defense:
- Add turns to base defense
- "Waves" of Base Attackers (each round)
- Cards that previously removed Base Attackers now prevent an additional attacker from showing up in the next wave
Game Balance
- Reduce VENOM WISP damage to 30 (from 100) points per round
- If WRATHFUL is active, it replaces Avenger
- Increase enemy power ramp up as player progresses through the sectors
- Buff basic Base Defense utility cards
Cards
- Cannon fodder (very weak base attacker)
- Recon drone (very weak base attacker)
UI Improvements
- Speed up card resolve even more
- Add more information to card tooltips in reward stores, unlocks screen, etc. (still in progress)
- Improve card descriptions
Bug Squashing
- Fix duration of Killing Machine
- Fix for Merc Killers appearing where standard enemies should be in later runs
- Fix Infinite Blood Flux bug where it deals you only enemy cards
- Remove base defenders/attackers from visual list if they are removed by a card resolving
- Revert dev changes to Base Defense deck (Allosaurus)
- Refactor tooltips to (hopefully) fix very rare performance issues on older?/underpowered? machines (still unable to reproduce this bug myself)
- Performance improvements to draggable cards to avoid any other rare bugs (one other card dragging bug I can't reproduce)
- Fix Frag Grenade card description
- Fix bug where card overlay (darkened) was enabled for unlocked cards
- Fix broken unlock count on start screen
Bug fixes, patches and new features
Attention all DINO MERCS players! We have some exciting news about recent updates to the game. Thanks to the feedback and bug reports from our amazing playtesters, we have been able to make significant improvements and bug fixes to the game.
The latest updates include:
- Alternating between player and enemy turns
- Defining one round as one player turn and one enemy turn
- Nerfing some weak enemy defense card options
- Reverting back to 3 positive slots and 2 negative slots for enemy turns
- Increasing Strykr regen from 7 to 10
- Removing Armored from Enemy Bull Rush card
- Decreasing initial repairs stat
- Adding more art assets
- Making Ambush a rare card and giving it Kinetic++ damage
- Adding Shallow Wounds card to make BLOODLESS more viable
- Improving descriptions on cards
- Decrementing round-duration statuses on player turn
- Scaling up cards in unlocks screen and showing only 4 per row
- Allowing you to view possible enemy cards during a combat encounter
- Having 50% of money/supplies carry over to the next run
- Making cards available for purchase on reward screens no longer restricted by current sector or by rarity
We're also excited to announce that we're working on a larger, high-level update that will take a few days. We're updating some core elements based on feedback from the playtesting and plan on releasing it later.
We want to thank everyone who participated in the playtest and helped us improve the game. Keep an eye out for more updates and improvements in the future!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1827640/DINO_MERCS/