Vactics

1. If you are enjoying the game, please leave a Steam review. They are helpful for Steam to inform people about the game and for new players to see if this is the kind of game they might enjoy as well.
   
2. Tell a friend and tell some strangers. Word of mouth is the main way I have for Vactics to find people who might enjoy the game. If you do share the game, let me know as well. I'd love to be able to answer any questions folks might have about it.
   
3. If you have any things that aren't working for you, please make a post on the forum or use the in-game feedback button. People who get in touch in these ways have really helped me improve Vactics.

Client Versions

Changes

• Achievements: updated 7 achievements with new custom icons.
  
• Art: Cloner Enemy - added updated versions of the depleted art frames.
  
• Art: Magnet - added updated idle and activation frames to the in-game magnet.
  
• Art: updated the cooldown frames on all enemies to use more passive coloring.
  
• Audio: added custom spawning sounds when Buffer enemy changes into an aggressive enemy.
  
• Audio: added new audio for the magnet to match updated art.
  
• Audio: added some new audio to the control towers to match the updated animations.
  
• Control Towers - full change of their visuals and animations to make them more imposing and have custom animations when they are activated during gameplay.
  
• Control Towers - updated the names of all the towers to be more impressive to match their updated art.
  
• FX: added some polish to mech and enemy dash moves.
  
• Gameplay Balance: buffed all the cooldown mods increasing the number of turns restored when they activate.
  
• Gameplay Balance: the permanent hack skill now no longer affects magnets, laser walls and grenades.
  
• Gameplay: Added new Control Tower to the game - tower introduces special tiles to the level around the mech.
  
• Gameplay: added new tech mod First Kill Recharge that reduces the assigned tech cooldown after the first player kill each turn.
  
• UI: refreshed all tutorial and intro popups to use new enemy art.
  
• UI: updated close button and arrow UI elements with new custom sprites.

Bugfixes

• Fixed assorted color swapping issues in the game UI.
  
• Fixed issue where hover popups would show while animations were running on the campaign map.
  
• Fixed issue where you could open the City wide escalation menu while the loadout panel was still animating.
  
• Gameplay: fixed problem where scanning a special tile when a tech is active does not clear the map overlay elements.

1. If you are enjoying the game, please leave a review. These are really helpful for letting Steam inform other players that Vactics is cool as well.
   
2. Tell some friends and tell some strangers. Word of mouth is the main way I have for Vactics to find people who might enjoy the game. I'm really wanting to reach out to people who enjoy rogue-lite tactics games.
   
3. If you have any things that aren't working for you, please make a post on the forum or use the in-game feedback button. People who get in touch in these ways have really helped me improve Vactics.

Client Versions

Changes

• Credits: added artist credit for Athena Kipen.
  
• Gameplay Balance: updated enemy logic so that enemies affected by a System Lock Hack don't ever attack the player.
  
• Gameplay Balance: updated the timing of Defence Mode mod to occur after the attacking enemy has fully completed their attack action.
  
• Progression: players start the game with 3 color palettes unlocked.
  
• UI: added font swapping support to the whole UI system in preparation for future updates and localization
  
• UI: added option to enable a dyslexia friendly font in the UI - OpenDyslexia.
  
• UI: added pieces of description text when menu buttons are highlighted to better communicate what the button will do if pressed.
  
• UI: improve text sizing, alignment and layout across all game screens.
  
• UI: removed the re-centre button from the map screen to simplify the available interactions in that part of the game.
  
• Visuals: added a highlight effect to tiles when enemies are spawned at that location.
  
• Visuals: new sprites for all enemies that communicate when an enemy has been hacked and will not attack the player.
  
• Visuals: new sprites for all enemies that communicate when an enemy is on cooldown and cannot attack this turn.
  
• Visuals: updates across all the enemy sprites to improve their animations.

Bugfixes

• Gameplay: Fixed bug where Factory Vactics could be hacked by the player but not spawn any new enemies.
  
• UI: fixed bug where a hover popup would not disable if it's target button was turned off while the popup was active.
  
• UI: fixed issue where some hover popups would show on the map after the launch button has been pressed.
  
• UI: fixed the statistics screen not updating properly if opened via the main menu.
  
• Visuals: fixed issue where hit effect would not flip colours on the killing blow to the player.

Client Versions

Changes

1. If you are enjoying the game, please leave a review. These are really helpful for letting Steam inform other players that Vactics is cool as well.
   
2. Tell your friends and tell some strangers. Word of mouth is the main way I have for Vactics to find people who might enjoy the game.
   
3. If you have any things that aren't working for you, make a post on the forum or use the in-game feedback button. These features have helped me make big improvements and fix some bugs this release so I do keep an eye on them.

Client Versions

Changes

• Achievements: implemented 6 new achievements in the game.
  
• Gameplay: enemy attacks are now able to destroy Magnets placed by the player.
  
• Gameplay: removed the Skip Recharge mod from the game. It's use was very limited and was therefore was never a good choice as an upgrade.
  
• Grappling Hook: increased the animation speed of the grappling hook when activated.
  
• Logo: updated Lemur Conspiracy logo to use new art assets.
  
• New Tech Mod: Tech Use Recharge. This mod reduces the current cooldown of the assigned tech by 1 turn when any other tech is activated by the player.
  
• New Tech Mod: Teleport Trap. A new mod for the Decoy tech, the last enemy to hit a decoy is teleported to its position when the decoy is removed.
  
• Shield: shield visuals now move to targets faster during gameplay.
  
• UI: Added new hover popups to multiple add more information about game and button interactions.
  
• UI: cleaned up the size and layout of some text elements so that important information is more clearly displayed.
  
• UI: implemented first pass at a co-pilot popup feature which can show some flavour dialogue from your co-pilot during gameplay. This will be developed more in the future when the narrative and co-pilot features are fleshed out further.
  
• UI: Updated the gameplay flow when completing daily challenges to always show the leaderboard position.
  
• Visuals: updated some effects activation and timing when the player is using hacking and when the final battle is successful.
  
• Visuals: updated special tiles to animate in when created during a gameplay.

Bugfixes

• Arcane Cores: fixed incorrect name and description text being shown for the Push Out core introduced in the previous update.
  
• Gameplay: fixed behaviour on dash enemies where they would not attack players position when player would leave a special tile behind. This would happen consistently when the Danger Zone escalation was active.
  
• Gameplay: fixed bug where decoys would not get cleaned up correctly if they were in the playfield when completing the final battle.
  
• Gameplay: fixed bug where ranged enemies would still show active attack zones when scanned even after they had been hacked and would no longer be able to attack that turn.
  
• UI: fixed bug in the loadout panel that would allow for interactions to occur after the launch button had been confirmed.
  
• UI: fixed bug in the loadout panel that would break the salvage animation if the player would back out of the screen before it had run fully the first time.
  
• UI: fixed glitch in visuals when showing the loading animation on the daily leaderboards for the first time.
  
• UI: fixed sprite alignment issue on the mech in the loadout, upgrade and inventory screens.
  
• UI: updated the text reveal animation so that there isn't any layout updates / changes as the text is shown on-screen.

1. Tell your friends and also tell some strangers. Word of mouth is the main way that I have for Vactics to find people who might enjoy the game.
   
2. If you are enjoying the game, leave a review. These are really helpful for letting Steam inform other players that Vactics is cool as well.
   
3. If you have any things that aren't working for you, make a post on the forum or use the in-game feedback button. These pathways have helped me make big improvements and fix some bugs this release so I do keep an eye on them.
   

Client Versions

Changes

• Achievements: Added a new achievement.
  
• Gameplay Balance: updated the behaviour of dash and ranged enemies when targeted by the Hack tech. They now will only be valid hack targets if they are able to attack another enemy rather than previous behaviour that allowed random attack directions as well.
  
• Gameplay: added ability to view and modify the seed being used for generation in the campaign in the loadout screen
  
• Gameplay: added the ability to scan mainframe tiles in levels to learn more about how they work.
  
• Gameplay: added the ability to scan specials tiles in levels to learn more about how they work.
  
• Gameplay: changed the gameplay flow for the Victory condition for the game. Destroying all enemies in a level which has a mainframe / victory tile will no cause the level to be "completed" allowing the player the option to choose to enter the mainframe tile or destroy it to start endless mode.
  
• Score: if above zero, the mech power level is now added to the final score for campaign and daily runs.
  
• Tutorials: added a new tutorial popup for the mainframe tiles that explains how they work in the context of them actually showing up in a level.
  
• Tutorials: improved the wording of the tutorial popups that describe the end of the run and victory conditions.
  
• UI: added new achievement popup that shows when the player gains their achievements. This replaces the achievements shown on the game over sequence and hopefully gives better context to when they are gained by the player.
  
• UI: added research progress bar to the loadout screen for campaign runs.
  
• UI: refreshed a number of screens and moved some input shortcuts to positions that related better to the area of the UI they were related to.
  
• UI: removed mech animation that would run when backing out of the Daily District loadout screen.
  
• UI: updated cooldown message logic so that a different message will show for Control Towers that is less confusing.
  
• UI: updated the messages shown on the game over screen to increase their variety from run to run.
  
• Writing: re-wrote descriptions for some tech, tech mods and cores to better describe their behaviours.

Bugfixes

• Fixed issue on some special tiles that would flash them a solid colour during an explosion.
  
• Fixed issue where enemy behaviour was not consistent when a decoy was in their line of sight. Now they should always attack the decoy instead of the player if possible.
  
• Fixed issue where the ranged enemy bullets would not be cleaned up at the right time if a defence mode effect was being activated.
  
• Fixed issue where the ranged enemy would be showing the attack warning visuals when the player was in an adjacent tile and an attack was not going to happen.
  
• Fixed rare issue with grenades that would cause a small delay after they were thrown before the turn would progress.

Client Versions

Changes

1. Tell a friend and tell a stranger. Word of mouth is the main way that I have for Vactics to find people who might enjoy the game.
   
2. If you are enjoying the game, leave a review. These are really helpful for letting Steam inform other players that Vactics is cool as well.
   
3. If you have any things that aren't working for you, make a post on the forum or use the in-game feedback button. I'm keeping an eye on these and will try to help if you are having any difficulty.
   

Client Versions

Changes

• Gameplay Balance: increased the drop rates of Arcane Cores in levelled up districts in the campaign, once they are unlocked.
  
• Gameplay Balance: improved the logic that determines the city map layout to increase it's variability.
  
• Gameplay Balance [Escalation Protocols]: rebalanced some thresholds for when certain escalations will appear in levelled up districts during the campaign.
  
• Gameplay Balance: buffed the behaviour of the Push tech. It will now cause damage to enemies that collide as a result of it's movement.
  
• Gameplay Balance: buffed the Speed Reserves Arcane Core, it now reduces skill cooldowns by 3 instead of 2 when mech power is at warning levels.
  
• Gameplay Balance: changed how Death Decoys Arcane Core behaves. It now places a single decoy where each enemy is killed.
  
• Gameplay Balance: changed how the Travel Decoys Arcane Core behaves. It now places a single decoy at the starting position of a mech move.
  
• Gameplay Balance: Dasher Vactics have been moved up in the turn priority and will now take actions before Ranged, Grappler and Shielder Vactics.
  
• Gameplay Balance: decoys will no longer destroy a Vactics if they are placed on the same tile. This was previously possible if the Target Vactics tech mod was active with Decoy tech.
  
• Gameplay Balance: fire tiles placed by the Fire Aspect tech mod will now also destroy buildings.
  
• Gameplay Balance: magnets can no longer be targeted by the Freeze tech, as it wasn't doing anything anyway.
  
• Gameplay Balance: removed the Aggressive tech mod from the Push tech, as that behaviour is now always active for Push.
  
• Gameplay Balance: Shielder Vactics will no longer target other Shielder Vactics, prevents situation where a group of them would be shielding each other every turn and slowing down the game.
  
• Gameplay: when beginning a new campaign run the player is now automatically launched into the first district, removing the need to navigate the map to it every run.
  
• New Arcane Core: added Armored Core that reduces amount damage taken from enemy attacks.
  
• New Arcane Core: added Clear Landing, that pushes enemies away from player spawn position.
  
• New Arcane Core: added Rapid Deployment that prevents enemies from taking a turn after the player spawns in.
  
• Options: added new game option to toggle input shortcut elements on/off in the UI.
  
• Options: added new option to speed up the mech loadout and upgrade sections of the game.
  
• Options: full rework of the options / settings screens in the game to divide all the elements into their own categories and add additional tooltips explaining what some options do when modified.
  
• Options: reworked the fast transitions option to make it even more speedy.
  
• UI: added new codex entries for the districts in the game with flavour text.
  
• UI: added new element to the campaign map screen to show the current energy level of the mech.
  
• UI: improved some messaging clarity in the Daily District leaderboards.
  
• UI: reworked the layout of the gameplay screen and updated some elements so that the player can tell how much progress they have currently made through the active district.
  
• UI: tech cooldowns are now shown in their descriptions to help the player with selecting tech and tech mods to install.
  
• UI: updated some text around Escalation and Tech Mod descriptions to give more clarity to the player.
  
• UI: updated the description of the Push tech to include the number of tiles an enemy will be pushed when targeted by the tech.
  
• UI: updated the game over screen so that the player can view high scores via a statistics button instead of having a button be on the new high score element.

Bugfixes

• Fixed bug where enemies dragged into fires by a magnet effect were not counting towards the players combo.
  
• Gameplay: Fixed issues with Grapple Enemies where they might pull an invalid enemy target towards them when hacked by the player.
  
• Gameplay: Prevent cases where the Control Tower landing would trigger the explosion effect of the Volatile Structures arcane core
  
• UI: Fixed issue with Arcane Core UI element where it would not update it's visual state when no longer selected during gameplay.
  
• UI: Updated the statistics panel to be scrollable to prevent the text being shown from getting reduced to an unreadable size

1. Tell a friend and tell a stranger. Word of mouth is the main way that I have for Vactics to find people who might enjoy the game.
   
2. If you are enjoying the game, leave a review. I've been told these are really helpful for letting Steam inform other players that Vactics is cool as well.
   
3. If you have any things that aren't working for you, make a post on the forum or use the in-game feedback button. I'm keeping an eye on these and will try to help if you are having any difficulty.
   

Client Versions

Changes

• Gameplay [Control Towers]: Changed how Control Towers are spawned into levels to place them in the same time as the rest of the Vactics. This is to remove frustrating moments for the player when towers would appear in ways that could end a run.
  
• Balance: Updated some of the unlocking costs downwards for the meta progression levels.
  
• Balance: Updated the size of city districts in the campaign so they all default to 3 levels. This is to reduce times that campaign runs are slowed down / lose momentum as the player gets further in.
  
• Feedback: Updated logic so that enemies that cannot attack because they are caught in a magnet have the appropriate attack area shown when they are scanned.
  
• Gameplay [Grappler Vactics]: When the player activates Hack on the Grappler Vactics it will now preferentially target other Vactics with it's grappling hook. Before it could only be hacked if the player could be pulled.
  
• Gameplay [Laser Walls]: The Laser Walls now behave in a more consistent way allowing systems in the game to push things onto them for damage.
  
• Gameplay [New Escalation]: Added the Increased Cooldowns Escalation Protocol to the game to replace Recharge Limits. When active it will add +2 to all tech cooldowns.
  
• Gameplay [Recharge Limits Escalation]: This escalation protocol has been removed as it was messy to explain and understand as it was operating.
  
• Gameplay [Teleport Control Tower]: When the tower teleports an enemy they no longer get to take an action that turn. This is to remove cases where the player gets attacked / damaged by those enemies and could not have prevented it.
  
• Input: The skip turn system is only available when the player is cannot make any other action but this was not always clear. I've clarified how the skip input works by updating the description in the controls panel and providing feedback on what it is not being activated if the player attempts to skip a turn when it is not available.
  
• Map: Updated Vactics information tab for district to better show when a district has been completed.
  
• UI: Refined some tutorial text that introduces the combo system.
  
• UI: Tech cooldowns are now shown in the initial loadout and upgrade panels to help with player decision making.
  
• VFX: Added small feedback effect on tiles as an explosion triggers to better message what things are taking damage.
  

Bugfixes

• UI: fixed bug in settings where switching between Windowed and Full screen modes would revert the selected display resolution.
  
• UI: fixed instance in gameplay panel where text color was not being updated after player selected a new color palette.
  
• UI: fixed issue in Daily Leaderboard screen where gamepad shortcuts would be showing when the Mouse and Keyboard control scheme was active.
  
• UI: fixed issue on the game over panel where buttons could sometimes be interacted with when a tutorial popup was showing.
  
• UI: fixed issue with the district information tabs on the map where some input shortcuts would show at incorrect times.
  
• UI: fixed major issue with Daily Leaderboard screen where it would not load any scores properly.
  
• Visuals: fixed issue where grenade sprites were not being updated when the player targets them with the Hack tech.

What is Vactics today?

• A full campaign mode where the player must try and save Solitude City by fighting through a randomly generated city with 7 different district types.
  
• 12 unlockable Tech options when building the mech.
  
• 16 Arcane Cores that further modify the game rules and actions.
  
• 17 Escalation Protocols increase the gameplay challenge and add score multipliers.
  
• Dozens of Tech mods that can be applied to the tech to change how they function.
  
• A daily district challenge mode for a high score chase leaderboard every day.
  
• 18 color palettes to unlock.
  
• 50+ achievements to complete.
  
• A codex to complete with information about the Vactics, the mech and Solitude City.
  
• Full support and remapping for mouse, keyboard and gamepad input.
  

What next?

• To continue to add polish to all content in the game with new art and a custom soundtrack.
  
• Adjust the balance of the game based on player feedback.
  
• Add new tech, tech mods and arcane cores to further deepen the tactical experience.
  
• Localise the game into more languages.
  
• Add more narrative depth to further revealing the story of the fall of Solitude City.
  

Changes

• Audio: added sound for incorrect input if invalid tile is selected by player.
  
• Balance: tweaked reward values for different sized combos.
  
• Codex: Added section level descriptions.
  
• Codex: Update audio balance and sound fx when navigating the list.
  
• Credits: Updated screen with new information.
  
• Info: Updated description for Grappler enemies to clarify some of their behaviour.
  
• Info: Updated tutorial text to better explain power drain when mech is moved.
  
• Input: added new input command to cancel current scan / tech selection. Bound to Right mouse button by default.
  
• Input: update visual used by the input feedback indicator in levels.
  
• Map: added new tutorial popup when first navigating the campaign map.
  
• Map: updated order of tabs in the district information layout so that the enemies information tab is shown first.
  
• UI: added a new UI element in levels that describes the special tiles currently active in the level.
  
• Upgrades: bonus mods are now also shown in the information section when selecting where to install new tech in the loadout and upgrade screens.
  
• VFX: small improvement to the level teardown and build animations.
  
• VFX: small polish to the retro look effect.
  

Bugfixes

• Map: fix double input bug when using gamepad triggers to change district information tabs.
  
• Map: fixed color swapping logic not updating the district name text when palette is changed in the options.
  
• UI: fixed incorrect offset of element in the post game unlocking animations.
  
• UI: fixed issue where lots of active escalation protocols would not be shown properly in the level transition screen.
  
• VFX: fixed bug where player visuals were not flipped if they got hacked by enemies.
  

Known Issues

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• Settings: user reported issue with resolution settings not behaving as expected and not saving between sessions.