M.A.S.S. Builder
2nd Year Anniversary AMA Session is now out for viewing!
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If there are any more questions or if there's a follow-up you'd like, you can come and have a talk with us in our community discord, linked below!
Discord: discord.gg/quS7E46
Feedback: bit.ly/3wpWofe
WIP: New Energy Launcher SLASH
Hello everyone! We're back with another new Energy Launcher showcase, this time for the upcoming SLASH launcher. The SLASH Energy Launcher is a mid-ranged, low ammo, quick action launcher that instantly attacks at an arc in front of the M.A.S.S. unit on command.
Each press of the use button will command your drones to instantly slash once, and they can be repeatedly press in combination of every other attacks.
Of course, you can still use it with long range weapons, but as mid-range as they are, you will not be able to hit them if you're far from your target.
And as always, here's an extra image of when they're used in combat. Our test unit here has been spamming it non-stop, so it's a very unoptimized use here, but it's very fun to just spam it away in combination with your melee attacks.
That will be all for today. Remember, this is still a work-in-progress and things can still change! And as an announcement, the AMA clip will be released next Saturday with some more announcements! Expect hours and hours of questions and answers!
Discord: discord.gg/quS7E46
Feedback Hub: bit.ly/3wpWofe
WIP: New Quark Enemy Preview
Hello! This week's work-in-progress update is a short one, showcasing Quarks for the upcoming 0.8.0. Both of them and their primal versions will be quite a new touch of destruction in the way Quarks will attack you in missions. Expect a surprise when meeting them first hand!
Discord: discord.gg/quS7E46
Feedback Hub: bit.ly/3wpWofe
WIP: New Energy Launcher BEAM
Hey everyone, remember how the last Energy Launcher showcase was for the reworked Echo and it seems to not be that of a difference? This here today is something different, a new way to play with Energy Launchers that doesn't rely on toggling them on and off, the BEAM.
BEAM locks you in place the moment you activate them, and fire out a concentrated powerful stream of energy. You can still try and aim them with a delay, just like using the Ray weapon, but they are much larger and is much stronger at the cost of depleting your ammo at in the instant.
Here's a sideview of the firing. Also, did you notice something?
That's right, BEAM Energy Launcher will only consist of one big unit instead of two like ECHO. Here's an image for you to see the difference. This should open up more customization option for players who just want one big large drone by their side as well.
Here you can see it in action in a non-optimized usage, piercing through every Quarks within its radius. That is all to show for today! Remember, this is only a WIP and things might still change. See you again next week! On that note, the AMA clip will be out around our anniversary on the second week of September!
Discord: discord.gg/quS7E46
Feedback Hub: bit.ly/3wpWofe
WIP: Upcoming armor set preview "Axial Core"
Hello! We're giving you an early preview of the upcoming armor set today! It's called the Axial Core, which represents the concept of "frame fitting." We've designed this armor set with accessories in mind, trying to make it as a kind of base or core type of armor that can be attached with accessories easily with a lot of flat surfaces all around, smaller parts, and very thinly plated.
This is only one in a set of three, and it's still a WIP where we'll continue to work further on it. Stay tuned!
Discord: discord.gg/quS7E46
Feedback Hub: bit.ly/3wpWofe
WIP: New Bullet Launcher CLUSTER
Another short update week, this time presenting to you all the upcoming CLUSTER bullet launcher! CLUSTER is a bullet launcher that fully focus on area of effect, covering a large area around the M.A.S.S. unit itself.
Cluster missiles fires 2 pods, each carrying 20 smaller missiles within them that rains down around the M.A.S.S. Here's a zoomed in image of the pods themselves. Missiles accelerate after a short delay into the area below them.
Pods can break if they impact anything, including enemies, and they will still fire the smaller missiles so fear not even when using them against large enemies. Here's also an extra image of CLUSTER in combat. More to show in coming weeks!
Discord: discord.gg/quS7E46
Feedback Hub: bit.ly/3wpWofe
WIP: New Energy Launcher ECHO
Two weeks ago we've shown you the new and upcoming SALVO firing method for bullet launchers. We're shifting the spotlight into the reworked energy launcher this week. Here is ECHO, a reworked version of the old SNIPE energy launcher. They have a large amount of ammo stock and will fire alongside your attacks.
For close combat weapons, we wanted a feeling of a final burst of damage, so ECHO will fire a few shot bursts at each end of combo attacks. We wanted Melee to able to utilize energy launchers as well so we're making some tech nodes that will make players who did not opt for PLASMA damage or ACCURACY able to use them for effective damage.
Onto ranged weapons, you can see the drones alternate their fire on almost every shot of a weapon. Auto weapons might seem to be at the most advantage here, and realizing that, slower weapons such as the Detonator will have both drones fire at the same time instead.
And since this is a rework of the old SNIPE launcher, we wanted to stick with the old control methods yet, since there are some people that liked them to a point and we don't want to drastically change and remove the old style from the game. They will still use a toggle to set them online or offline, and we hope these changes doesn't make you lovers of SNIPE energy launchers worry too much about their functionalities.
Lastly, here's a bonus clip when used in real combat situation. As a reminder, we're still taking questions and screenshots for the AMA in September! Details below!
AMA Details: https://bit.ly/3x1VNiT
Discord: discord.gg/quS7E46
Feedback Hub: bit.ly/3wpWofe
Announcement: Taking AMA questions and screenshots for our 2nd Anniversary!
Once again it's going to be M.A.S.S. Builder's 2nd anniversary on the upcoming September 13th! We're following last year's event and hosting another AMA session with our game designer. This time, it's not a spontaneous event and we've prepared a more organized event than the last so we're making it better.
Here are the details:
Time: Accepting questions from today until August 14th
How: https://forms.gle/Dm4zBc4MzqmTaEeJA
What: Ask me anything, anything related to VD, to M.A.S.S. Builder, or just anything at all. We wanted to answer any questions you have, both related and non-related to the game, to us, or anything that you just wanted answers. A question that's asked last year was do we like Tea or Coffee, that kind of question can be asked as well! It's a special anniversary event that we wanted everyone to have a chance to participate!
With that said, we know a lot of you have been wanting to show your M.A.S.S. units to the world and here's an opportunity since we don't have resource to work on a system or space to show it yet. Send us a screenshot (or an edited image) of your M.A.S.S. unit and we'll feature it in the AMA video as well! Here are the details.
Time: Accepting screenshots from today until August 14th
How: https://forms.gle/ED367qgu6q6gY8BZA
What: Send us screenshots of your M.A.S.S. units! These screenshots will be shown in our 2nd Anniversary video alongside our AMA. Only your original creation that isn't a replication of some intellectual property please! We might also use them in the future when we remake our trailers.
Also, just a note. Any questions that have been answered in the previous AMA will most likely have the same answer to it. You may ask us again, maybe we'll have a new answer to them this year.
Discord: discord.gg/quS7E46
Feedback Hub: bit.ly/3wpWofe
WIP: New Bullet Launcher: SALVO
or a full focus aimed fire for taking out the "big" stuffs.
More to show in the coming weeks! Also here's a bonus image of SALVO being used in combat.
Discord: discord.gg/quS7E46
Feedback Hub: bit.ly/3wpWofe
What's Next 0.8.0
Recapping 0.7.0
Accessories was a very ambitious system that we knew would take a lot of work to perfect, thus we waited until this late to introduce the system, and by word it seems to spark much joy and creativity in you all even with all its imperfectness. We've seen something we never thought we would see in your creations and some of them things made us go "wait can the system even create something like that?"
With that said, we've finally reached the final hotfix of 0.7 at 0.7.6, higher than expected and yet there's still so many things we wanted to work more of it. Last week we've asked for your feedback on it and we're glad to receive so many. We'll continue working on more accessories and changes to the system in the future.
What's next for 0.8.0
With 0.7.0 being the "art" update, we'll now move on to focus the "gameplay" update in 0.8.0. There are quite a lot of things we would like to improve in the "game" part of M.A.S.S. Builder but we've always deferred them towards the future as we are certain we'll change it. This is the update we will put our full into working to get a lot of problems fixed, a lot of underused mechanics changed, and introduce new ones into the game to spice them up. Without further ado, here's the preview of everything we're working for 0.8.0 with tl;dr at the bottom
New Armor Set
0.8.0 will come with a new armor set, which means there are three variants making a complete set. How will it look? We're not revealing them or giving any information about it yet. Some might have already guessed the theme of it in our discord, but don't be sure as things can always change.
Missions
We will be starting Chapter 3 of M.A.S.S. Builder's stories in the coming update. With no updates at all the 0.7.0 in new missions, we think it's a good time to do so before we have another big update in 0.9.0 that might prevent us from continuing the storyline. In 0.8.0, we'll have
- A new challenge as well as a new tileset
- New Story missions
- Maybe a hunting grounds as well
We're also reworking NPC M.A.S.S. units with the help of accessories system as they will show up in a good part of the upcoming story missions. Here's a preview of their new appearances.
Quarks
With new missions, we're also adding in new Quarks to the fray. As we've mentioned in earlier patches, we're moving to create more Quarks with more interesting mechanics and designs and these ones coming in 0.8.0 will reflect that design choice more.
Bullet Launchers
While we mentioned in our Roadmap before that we'll be working on Energy Launchers rework here, we'd like to also add some new bullet launchers:
- SALVO
- CLUSTER
to accompany them. And with accessories system framework, we'll also be adding something to the bullet launchers' customization options. We'll also be working towards improving bullet launchers visual effects. The goal is to provide more visual clarity (and more smokes). Here's some preview of the upcoming changes.
Energy Launchers
Now, the big rework coming in 0.8.0, energy launchers. Energy Launchers have always been something looked over and they feel like they add very little to the experience. It's only just there without players knowing about them much, and their toggle usage has not deliver a noticeable increase in combat prowess. It's like they're just a supporting tool that does almost nothing with no visuals to show thus making them a negligible existence. We'd like to change that.
In 0.8.0, we'll be changing the current "SNIPE" type of energy launchers into something we call "ECHO" and introduce three new types:
- BEAM
- SLASH
- PHOTON
to match their numbers with Bullet Launchers. Our goal is to make these new types of Energy Launchers distinct and they must make an impact to every playstyle. It must feel extremely pleasing to use and see with visuals that awe players as much as explosions from Bullet Launchers. Before, it was a turn on and leave to its own device and we'll work to change that into something actively used in situations favorable for them. They'll still be drones flying alongside you though, since changing that means a total scrap and rework and it'll effect too much of everything. Also, players who liked the old "SNIPE" type fret not, we're sure to incorporate some elements of it into "ECHO."
For their in-depth functions, we think it's easier to show than tell, so we'd like to ask you to stay tuned until we're ready to release their visuals and effects. Hopefully that will be soon enough!
Combat Improvements
Now this is another "lots of work to do" that was not mentioned in our roadmap. M.A.S.S. Builder combat has desired a lot of improvements for a while now. Ranged players would infinitely kite back and be safe against enemies. Melee will always have that high-risk yet low-reward feeling attached to it. Even when we buffed their damage or defenses, it's still not up to par with how inconsistent in pumping out damage numbers they can be. Payers would suffer not being able to retaliate with how enemies hitting them for 1/3 of their shields even with tankiness specced into their builds.
With those factors blaring and a lot of suggestions circling in our feedback hub, we'd like to bring in more mechanics and changes to the game. The goals of these improvements are
- Make close combat playstyle up to par with what ranged playstyles can provide.
- Make combo attacks, including extended and heavy be more valuable to use through game rhythm refinement (tuning everything).
- Fulfill more niches and do a sweeping balance changes to either numbers or functionalities for uninteresting and underused ones.
- Make armor a more valuable status (do you know that armor helps reduce incoming damage by a flat amount as well?)
- Make boss fights become more than "anyways I started shooting" meme as of the current gameplay.
- Also make boss fights feel less frustrating (boss shields regenerating anyone?)
With those goals in mind, do not worry about us nerfing your favorite shooters, our game design philosophy will always be "if everything's OP then nothing's OP." And since these are something of a design choice, we are able to provide details on some of the mechanics at this point in time for you all.
First, we'll be introducing a new mechanic on enemies that will allow you to combo them further rather than applying a hit-and-run tactic. This mechanic will allow players to chain combo, if they preferred and are skillful enough, from start to finish without ever getting retaliated from the enemy they're facing. We've been presented a choice of whether a rhythmic attack and dodge playstyle or full on brawl playstyle would fit better with the game and looking at how fast pace it is, the latter was the choice we selected. This does not mean a rhythmic or dodge/block counter playstyle is gone, those are still able to be played with some nodes wink Saintess Bulwark wink but our design focus for "no node" close combat will be taking and retaliating attacks wildly.
On bosses, we know there's seething hatred against some of them that just don't provide enough window to attack or bring down their shields, and to see them regenerate to full after downing them is discouraging. We'll be introducing a new mechanic that reward players that are risking their lives using close combat, as well as providing a more dynamic approach to fight against bosses for both close and ranged combat. With the new mechanic in play, we will now be able to slow down bosses so they don't hop around the fight area all the time. We'll see if it makes bosses too hard or easy to deal with, and adjust their status values accordingly so expect a difference when 0.8.0 gets released.
The last thing we'd like to mention about is M.A.S.S. enemies that are extremely different in difficulty to Quarks. We're taking a look at them and how to apply the same changes that we're making to them, and we hope to tune them down a notch so all playstyles can have fun battling against them. While we are unsure of how things will be yet, if a mechanic is set in stone, we'll be sure to discuss them with you all in the discord for sure.
tl;dr
- More updates to accessories system and more accessories
- New Armor set
- New Story, Hunting Grounds, and Challenge Missions
- New Salvo and Cluster Bullet Launchers
- Reworked ECHO and new BEAM, SLASH, and PHOTON Energy Launchers
- Underused and underpowered nodes improvement or changes
- Overall combat experience improvement for both close combat and ranged
Discord: discord.gg/quS7E46
Feedback Hub: bit.ly/3wpWofe