What needed to be done, has been done. The most fun update to drop for Unit Down is here:
The "Unlocked" Update!
The update features additions that will better aim new players, as well as remove features that did not hit the mark. It can be easy to forget to keep the game "fun", even if it might unbalance the game. It is more important the player is enjoying their playthrough, first and foremost. It's hard to spend months making a game mechanic, only to find out it's not worth keeping... but these are things that need to be changed or removed, and will greatly increase the fun factor for everyone!
Some of the main features in this update are:
You can now use the entire Upgrade Board at all times! You no longer have to defeat captains to unlock space to upgrade! This will allow players to play at a pace they want, rather than being tethered to a timeline.
Removed the random bombs on the main map, and instead increased spawn rates of missiles, ships, and carriers. The bombs were more of an annoyance, and not the "challenge" players were looking for.
Added beginner-friendly reminders and pointers to guide players on mechanics and objectives. These are little things like better ques/reminders for when a mechanic should be utilized, such as viewing the live map when a missile is launched, ect. (Some players didn't even know you could see the map while on a planet!)
Tutorial is no longer overloaded with information. It will only focus on key elements that are NEEDED in order to play the game, allowing the player to learn through playing rather than reading.
Harder difficulties will now give more credits at the end of a run, as incentive to try it out. Regular runs on Normal difficulty will give out more credits, too!
Slightly increased the each planet's Enemy Presence growth, to put more pressure on planet prioritizations. This creates more situations where the player will have to plan routes with more thought!
Fixed a few bugs that may or may not have been notable. Saturn TOTALLY didn't have double the spawn rate it was suppose to have.
Thank you to everyone that has supported the game! I'm excited to finally say that the game is at it's most finished state possible, and it's all thanks to feedback and support from ya'll!
Enjoy, and stay proper! -Randy
Oops, one more update.
So I said I wouldn't really update again but here I am. Saw some streamers run into some issues, so:
- Balanced the Harder gamemodes difficulty spike.
- Made the bosses have a more friendly healthpool.
- No longer crash the game if you hit 3 entities at once (idk how they did this, I'm convinced they just wanted to break my game)
- Bosses give you more credits upon defeat.
Is this the last patch? Idk probably, but it's still my baby and I'll do what I need to. Hope ya'll enjoy and thank you for everything.
Stay proper, -Randy
1 Year Anniversary Sale!
It's been a year already! Seriously, thank you to everyone who supported this game through it's development, and thank you to everyone who purchased the game! It means so much and I cannot express my gratitude enough.
If you haven't already got the game, I've set a small celebratory sale for 90% off for a limited time only! This realistically won't make any profit, sure, but it's really never been about that; My greatest joy is seeing people enjoy my passion project, and I want to make the game as available as possible.
Again, thank you everyone, I look forward to sharing future projects with you all!
Stay proper, -Randy
Some much needed changes.
Ok, ok. I see you. Some minor changes:
Difficulty settings have been completely overhauled.
All boss battles and enemy scaling has been rebalanced, again.
You now get more credits at the end of your un-successful runs.
Visual representations have been revamped to guide new players better.
Fixed a bug that randomly made the shield powerup pointless.
Made upgrade chips feel more impactful.
Thank you all for your support! This may be the last major change to the game, as I will be focusing my attention on the next installment of the game!
Ya'll stay proper!
Summer Sale!
Steam Summer Sale is here, and Unit Down is proud to be participating! Get it now if you haven't already, it's practically free. Or you can be the best peep ever and gift it to a friend, that'd be pretty rad of you.
Softlocks? Nah.
Some important fixes have come to Unit Down!
Overall Difficulty and enemy scaling have been overhauled, resulting in a much smoother time.
Your upgrade chips now have much more influence over your build.
Boss drones no longer randomly gain health when hit with a Crit. (Yeah what's up with that?)
Boss battles are now significantly more balanced, with lower health pools and scaling.
More upgrade space is unlocked by beating captains (bosses) rather than unlocking over time (difficulty meter)
Created a "return to base" reminder when starting for new players that don't like tutorials.
Bosses "damaged" state (half/quarter health explosions) now scale correctly with later bosses.
You can no longer softlock your game by missing Earth with your laser... the laser hits every time now, I promise.
Thanks for supporting Unit Down and if you have any further suggestions, please feel free to comment!
75% OFF - Lunar New Year SPECIAL PROMOTION!
Lookin' for a new game to try? Unit Down is now 75% off until October 3rd! Steam havin' a sale and whatnot and am glad to be a part of it!
Ya'll stay proper!
Major Update!
So much added and changed to the game! You ain't ready:
--- 50% OFF! --- To celebrate the recent update, Unit Down is now 50% off until December 1st, 2021! If you needed an excuse to try it out, this is the one!
Added "Player Drones"! You know how the enemy Captains have those little drones that everyone loves and never complains about? Well now you get one too! Have fun unlocking them all; they each behave and look different from each other and can be used as goal markers for your progress.
Created 3 difficulty modes! Normal, Casual, and UltraMegaStupidHard. Idk if that's the name of the last one but it's hard.
New feature: "Persistent Credits". You can now earn credits when you die; which then can be used in future runs. That means if you lose, you still get something to help you jumpstart your next run!
You can access the End Credits from the main menu!
An insane amount of balancing has been made; Enemies scale more proportionately to you (aka, it's easier), and enemy bullets are more telegraphed and slower(ish).
Enemy Captain Drones have significantly less health now. You can breath.
Captains now give you credits when you defeat them. They used to not, yikes.
Captains have 25% less health than before; This will reward players who learn how to beat them without it becoming a chore.
Balanced real-time map elements (damage outputs, speed, spawns, ect).
Standard enemies shoot a lot less often. However, I ain't makin' them scoot around less. You gonna have to deal with that.
Fixed an oddly specific glitch that allowed you to survive death. "Let's get you patched up buddy."
CTRL can pull up the menu as well, instead of just ESC. That might help somebody.
Special Chips are now even more powerful.
Special Chips, when destroyed, will return half their value of credits back to you.
Thank you all for your feedback and gameplay videos, it's been a tremendous help!
Stay proper, - Randy
Final Release Notes!
The game is out!
Some of the major changes are:
- Added an entire new mechanic to the game, "Unique Chips". These are chips that greatly alter your build or play style, and in combination can make for interesting playthroughs. Many systems were redesigned with this new mechanic, but I strongly believe it was worth it!
- Improved many visuals. Like, a lot. So many that I can't list them due to my poor memory and note taking skills. You'll see them if you know them.
- Balanced the game even further. Working on a difficulty choosing mode in the future, that should come with the next major build.
- A ton of player-suggested features and stuff. Yeah, that means you can see your health in the shop now.
- The public release of the game. Idk, that felt like a major change to the game, so it's here in my notes. The same notes I'm bad at taking.
