Mech Marines: Steel March
It's over...
After almost 3 years of silence I wanted to be honest with you and let you know that Mech Marines has officially been abandoned and will be removed from the store soon...
There are multiple reasons for that. Some of them are personal but there has also been a lack of free time and motivation. Please keep in mind that we are just two guys who have made this in their free time after their full time jobs. And as life is, there are ups and downs. We have waited for so long because there was still hope that we could continue development one day.
Those who already own the game will still be able to play it and the multiplayer part will keep working because it's peer to peer and there are no dedicated servers involved. You may also request a refund via Steam.
Some have said that we just took the money and run. There was indeed a time where we were short on money and said that Mech Marines didn't make enough. That was because we were a little bit in despair. Apart from this, we have never really been after the money. But of course we also had that big dream of becoming an independent game studio..you need money to live, right? ;)
To give you some facts: We were working on it for almost 4 years, 3-4 evenings/nights a week (4-7 hours, after the full time job), of course with some breaks now and then. The price was 8€ for the EU but not for other countries because of the money rate and regional prices. Often, we only got 2$ per copy. The overall income is somewhere between 4000 and 6000$ I think (it's hard to tell because the ownership was transferred from one of us to the other and it was a different account with a counter starting from 0). Depending on the country this equals to 1-3 monthly wages. Divide it by 2 and this isn't really a fortune.
Having said that, we are really sorry that it had to end this way and we would like to thank you for your understanding and for your support (especially in the beginning)!
Best regards,
Michael
ByteTrail Software
Update #5: ICBM (Intercontinental ballistic missile)
After some holidays, we are back! And we proudly present the ICBM (Intercontinental ballistic missile):
The ICBM is the most powerful weapon in Mech Marines and is used to break the enemy lines when the defense of your opponent is too strong. However, the building is expensive and requires a huge amount of energy to launch an ICBM. Also the construction time is higher than usual.
Keep in mind that the bases are protected against nuclear strikes, so you can not defeat your opponent just with some ICBMs. They are great to clear out anti air missiles and weaken your enemy by destroying supportive buildings like the Supply HQ (money), Powerplant (energy) and Factory (construciton time).
Cost: 255
Construction time: 3 minutes
Energy required per launch: 1000
Size: 3x3
We hope you will enjoy it :)
Best regards,
the ByteTrail-Team
Update #4: Bug fixes, AI improvements, new island
In the latest update we have fixed several bugs, improved the AI a little bit and added a new island.
Bug fixes / changes:
- Singleplayer: Back to main menu is working now
- Singleplayer: MG turrets fire on mechs again
- Singleplayer: Mines will explode when mechs are dropped on them
- Singleplayer: AI with difficulty "Hard" or "Ultra" will now attack MG turrets when being targeted by them
- Singleplayer: When attacking with mechs, the AI mechs will now try to actively "hunt down" your mechs instead of just standing there
- Singleplayer: Removed the attack cost multiplier (it is still there in multiplayer)
- When attacking with your mechs/dropship, the enemy buildings should now reveal correctly on the 2D map
- Mechs will move closer to the buildings they are attacking
- Range of the MG turret was reduced slightly
- You can now remove ruins and clear dirt tiles by selecting a building from the menu and clicking multiple times on the same tile
- The classic scroll mode is scrolling faster now and it should be a little bit smoother
- In addition to the mouse scrolling modes you can now also scroll with the keyboard (W,A,S,D or arrow keys)
- Added a new island: "The Hill" ;)
We hope you will enjoy it :)
Best regards,
the ByteTrail-Team
Update #3: Singleplayer A.I. and Trading Cards
We are glad to announce the first bigger update that comes with a new A.I. opponent with multiple difficulty levels.
In addition, we have created 5 Trading Cards for Mech Marines. Those will be available very soon.
To play against the A.I. just click on "Singleplayer" in the main menu. You will be able to set the maps and common settings like in the multiplayer mode. We are going to add more A.I. specific settings in the near future.
Finally, we have increased the range of the MG turret a little bit and made some other small changes and fixes.
We hope you enjoy the new A.I. opponent and we are looking forward to your feedback.
Best regards,
the ByteTrail-Team
Update #2: Preidon Islands
While we are still working on the AI and singleplayer we have also tweaked some multiplayer things:
We have added a new map based on feedback from Preidon and decided to call it "Preidon Islands" ;) Additionally, we have optimized the maps "Desert Storm" and "Island 1".
The match screen (where players connect to each other) is now implemented as a tab. This makes it possible to switch between the lobby chat and the match screen anytime.
And finally, the following bugs have been fixed:
- Damage of mech weapons adjusted (MG, Cannon)
- Damage of MG Turret adjusted
- Increased AA (anti air) range against Dropships
- Improved colliders on "Island 2" (water holes)
- Fixed problems with the selection of the mech station
- When mechs are placed automatically, mines should no longer explode immediately. They will explode after all mechs have been placed.
- Weapon sounds should no longer loop endlessly.
- Added sound notifications in the lobby when the application window is out of focus or minimized.
- Temporary solution: Made the lobby optional because some players had problems connecting to the lobby server.
- And a few smaller bug fixes..
Best regards,
the ByteTrail-Team
A group to announce your games or your willingness to play Mech Marines :)
Maybe you've realized that the gamelobby is often empty.
A player had the idea that we could create a group where you can join and announce if you have opened a room or if you would like to play.
Let's try if it works. This is only a temporary solution until the singleplayer is there.
The link to the group is:
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/mm-gamealarm
Please read the rules. Everyone in this group can create announcements.
Best regards,
eiZo (ByteTrail- Team)
Update #1 - Version 0.9.0.1 - Lobby / Chat
In version 0.9.0.1 we have added a global chat / lobby where all players are able to chat with each other before they create any games. When a game is started, a link will be automatically posted to the chat. Other players will be able to click on the link and immediately join the game.
We have also fixed some other bugs:
- Fire effects on buildings should now be less GPU-consuming
- Added a join and chat notification sound to started games (when waiting for other players to join). We may change the sound in the future.
- When a game is starting, the UI is now displaying the correct number of bases you have to place.
- Mechs should no longer walk into deep water holes on the second island.
- The "Back to Main Menu" button after a game was replaced with a "Continue" button. After clicking on continue, the players are still connected and will be able to start a new game or leave the game.
- We have reduced the damage of the cannon against buildings and improved the damage against mechs a little bit.
- We have reduced the radius for AA defense when attacking with the mechs (dropship). This means that only AA towers in front of the dropship will fire.
We are going to focus on singleplayer in the next few days / weeks. However, multiplayer bugs will still be fixed.
Thanks for all the good ideas, suggestions and reviews so far!
Best regards,
the ByteTrail-Team