Hi I'm Yuji Nakamura, the creator and solo developer of Mars Tactics. In this dev log I want to introduce the main design principles of my game.
The ideas behind Mars Tactics have been kicking around in my head since I was kid, when I began jotting down favorite game mechanics in a Windows 97 spreadsheet. When I finally sat down a year ago to plan my "dream" tactics game and define its scope, all those ideas were distilled into 3 core design goals:
Make each battle feel like its taking place in a big, interconnected world
Set players loose in a destructible sandbox and remove the guard rails
Celebrate the stories that emerge in the chaos
Connecting Worlds
I love tactics games, but sometimes battles can feel like they're happening in a vacuum. Sure, there's a story threading each mission to the next, but there can be a lack of continuity from one battlefield to another. That's why in Mars Tactics I want to tightly integrate the strategy and tactical layers and make each battle feel connected to the rest of the world.
Specifically, in this game both the strategy and tactical layers exist on the same grid - to begin a battle move your squad to the enemy's position on the world map, and once you arrive the camera zooms in on that grid tile and the battle begins. If the enemy squad escapes combat by fleeing east, then back in the world map they will appear one grid tile to the right. It's all fluid, realistic and interconnected.
What's more, positioning your squads before and after each fight will trigger important consequences during combat: friendly or enemy reinforcements and where they come from, available escape routes, as well as ambushes and various buffs and debuffs to troops on the battlefield. With this design, I want to add a deeper layer of strategy and variety to each battle, but also create more meaning and context for each engagement. I'll be sharing more about this in an upcoming dev log.
Yankee and Echo squads setting up an ambush in the strategy layer.
Tactical Creativity
Many tactics games already feel like you're playing in a sandbox -- enemies spawn randomly, the terrain is unpredictable, and you have many ways to win. But with Mars Tactics I want to take this to another level. Here are some examples:
Shoot at anything, not just enemies. (And I really mean anything.)
Throw equipment or unprimed grenades. Link throws to daisy-chain across the map.
Change loadouts during battle if you find better loot.
Reshape the battlefield by blowing up buildings, vehicles and cover.
Blow a hole in the ceiling, then throw a grenade in that hole.
Use NPCs for cover.
Hijack civilian drones or cameras for recon.
Immobilize an enemy then use them as bait.
Drag immobilized troops to safety. Troops can keep shooting while being dragged.
Send in cheap unarmed rookies and hope they can find a gun -- or at least be useful distractions.
Enter a battle just to steal equipment, then run away.
To make all of this possible I'm untangling many common hand-holding systems. It's a risky move that will require balance and iteration, but I'm betting players will ultimately appreciate the freedom to be creative.
Shot took out the enemy and the fence behind them. And yes, you can grab that rifle to swap weapons.
Chronicle of Cool
Sandbox games can generate awesome stories and characters, but after a while it can be easy to forget what happened. So in Mars Tactics I'm doubling down on emergent gameplay while adding ways to capture and remember the cool moments.
For starters, your troops develop traits and skills based on what happens in battle -- a system I call "emergent personalities" that replaces traditional progression trees. For example, if you keep throwing grenades with a rookie, eventually they'll grow into a grenadier. And if that rookie pulls off something really cool like blow up 4 enemies in a single turn, they'll unlock a special powerful ability. There are 80 such abilities in the game right now and I'm working to create more.
Units can also be permanently injured, which creates both negative and positive perks. Overall, I'm designing these systems so on each playthrough you'll develop a group of scrappy misfits like no other.
And to help you remember all this, every soldier will have a detailed bio page so you can go back and look at what happened in each battle. In fact, I'm working on a system to let you save, replay and share your favorite battles. It's a huge technical challenge, but I hope to tell you more later this year or next.
Sorry ladies, still working on female portraits.
Well, that's it for this time. There are other features I haven't mentioned such as Grand Warfare – big battles involving dozens of units and support such as airstrikes and artillery – but I'll get to them in the future. Also excited to share more about the capital vs labor theme. I'll try to post at least one dev log a month going forward until release, but if you want more regular updates, check out my Twitter or Discord for WIP screenshots and videos.
Thanks for reading!
Combat Mechanics Deep Dive
Hi everyone! Join me for a look at the combat mechanics in Mars Tactics, my turn-based tactical combat game. Development is still at an early stage but a lot of the systems are falling in to place. Looking forward to showing them off to you.
Tactical Mechanics Deep Dive
Hi everyone! Join me for a first look at the combat mechanics in Mars Tactics, a turn-based tactics game I'm making. The game is still at an early stage but a lot of the mechanics are falling in to place. Looking forward to showing it off to you.
Final patch for Steam Next Fest demo
Final patch for the demo is out. Thanks everyone for your feedback and patience. As before, giving credit to people who helped with the issues.
BUG FIXES 📺 Changing resolution now works consistently (Atomniy, feedback form) ✅ Correct stats now shown even when Sharpshooter trait active (Daybreak, Filip, Eggsley) 0️⃣ Shot accuracy now correctly displays 0% (Filip, feedback form) 🕺 Units now perform cover animation after exiting aim mode (Beaglerush, Daybreak) 🔫 No longer possible to shoot when magazine empty in some instances (Unkim, feedback form) ⬇️ Added scroll bar to Battle End unit list (Filip) 💬 Unit dialogue no longer cuts off some phrases (Eggsley)
QUALITY OF LIFE ❗ Trait abilities now displayed more prominently next to regular action icons (Gen Von Sassel, Unkim) 👨🏫 How to Play is no longer a giant wall of text! (Eggsley) ✨ Numerous UI improvements, including aiming and battle log (Beaglerush, Unkim, Jazzardous, James, feedback form)
KNOWN BUGS 👯 Enemy units sometime occupy same tile (Eggsley, James) 🏃 Enemy get stuck in endless animation on Overwatch (Eggsley, Filip) 😩 Units don't always step out of cover (Beaglerush, James) 📏 Tile selection is slightly inaccurate on tiles with slight elevation differences (Jazzardous) 💯 100% shots sometimes miss (James) 👓 Line of Sight indicator (dotted line) is hard to see (Unkim, feedback form) 📺 Wide monitor support
Thank you again for playing! The demo will be available until the end of Next Fest. Looking forward to sharing a bigger demo at a later stage in development! Please wishlist if you enjoyed.
Big Patch for the Demo
Thanks to your feedback I made a lot of improvements. Giving credit below to the person/people who helped me identify issues. Pushing this out now so you can enjoy more of the demo!
BUG FIXES: 🏃 Enemies got stuck in endless animations in some cases (Filip, Daybreak, TheNiTrex, yung triangle, feedback form) :bug: 'Too Close For Comfort' trait would cause game breaking bug (Eggsley) 🔫 Hovering over enemy indicator broke aiming UI (Corence) 🎯 Various aiming bugs (Corence, James) 💯 Rounded down hit accuracy %. So 100% should really be 100%! (Eggsley) ⌨️ Game controls now disabled while typing feedback (Corence, feedback form) 🧮 Correct accuracy when aiming at units without line of sight (James) 😴 Gained experience for doing nothing at battle outset (James) 🔙 Return to game button doesn't work when pausing the cut scene (Corence)
QUALITY OF LIFE: 📛 You can now rename soldiers by clicking their portrait in bottom-left (feedback form) 🧠 Added new trait 'Think Ahead' (carry over unused AP to next turn) 🖱️ Simplified controls: LMB to move/shoot with confirmation, RMB to perform without confirmation (TheNiTrex, many people via feedback form) 🗣️ Improved enemy speech variety (big thanks to Eggsley!) 👀 Black dotted line now displayed to line of sight obstacle. Should help you understand what is blocking your shot to a target (feedback form) ✅ Overwatch will now prompt confirmation like other actions (James) 🎥 Hovering over portrait centers camera on unit (feedback form) 🤏 Size of HP, AP, Ammo, Overwatch icons can now be adjusted from Settings (James) 👨🏫 Created a very basic How to Play screen in the main menu (Corence, feedback form) 🍒 Various UI improvements and more hotkey displays (for example, confirm button hotkey is SPACE)
KNOWN BUGS 📺 Changing resolution doesn't work consistently (fix is almost ready but requires another day of testing) 👯 Enemy units sometimes occupy same tile (Eggsley) 📺 Support for super-wide monitors
Thank you again for your patience. Aiming for one more patch before the weekend when I expect more users will try the demo. Ha, just kidding! We both know everyone will be playing Elden Ring!
Demo Hotfix Deployed
Thank you for all of your feedback! Pushed out a hotfix for the Next Fest demo.
FIXES: :beetle: Shoot icon not showing consistently :beetle: Ammo UI showing incorrectly after reload :beetle: Aim UI bugging out sometimes after shooting :beetle: UI bugs on loading screen :beetle: Units displayed twice on the battle end screen
BALANCE: :brick: Created more cover near the base entrance. Makes a push up the middle viable and allows your initial reinforcements to grab guns from dead enemies in that area.
KNOWN BUGS: :alert: Changing resolution doesn't work consistently. Still investigating, but for now added a RESET button if you have problems and want to reset back to 1920 x 1080.
Sorry for not catching these before release. Will continue tweaking and polishing throughout the event. Would love to hear more thoughts via Steam Community, Discord or the in-game feedback form.
