Hey there Engineers, Pilots, and Gunners!

This year we're celebrating our 10th birthday! 10 years of airships, rams, explosions, and friends.

A Note from Us Devs

To all the privateers, captains, and crew that have ever braved the skies over the wastelands, we want to thank you from the bottom of our souls for supporting us over the last decade. A decade! Before we set out, we had a dream of making something that people hadnt quite experienced before, but we certainly didnt imagine that 10 years later, people would still be playing and supporting the game. Thank you for making our dream come true. When we started, we had just been digging out a predatory publisher relationship, and we released Guns on the day of a category 3 hurricane. We honestly werent sure if we were going to make it or even be able to support the game. Many times I have had those life flashing before my eyes moments - servers blown up, DDoSed, hurricane, studio space burnt down, etc. Each time, we found strength and comfort in everyones support. All the interactions on forums and at conventions, all the late nights we spent with you in game, chit-chatting about life in the lobbies of Icarus, they mattered, and they kept us going. When matches did start, it was amazing to see how much creativity and teamwork were possible, way beyond our imaginations and machinations. The thousands of feedback we worked on with you turned into close to 6.5M matches played, 24M ships destroyed, and 8.8B shots fired in the skies. These stats still look surreal to us. In the last few years, weve had to shift our focus to create new game experiences such as Hamsterdam, Embr, and now Wildmender, in order to survive as a team and studio. Weve handed the reins of game management to our interns, moderators, CAs, and dedicated players. We wanted to take a moment to thank them for all their support - Richard LeMoon, Portable Grump, Lysanya, Kajros, Loosepolygon, Alpha Sierra, Infinity Omelette, Delorum, Josie. Nerdhector, -Genesis, D.Strought, Zetnus, MaddBoi, Abby, Mr Trickery, Nedsvart, Sandy Hawkins, Tindwunnel, Frostbound, Teaco, Psi Crow, Saldarim, Bookkeepper, Krybon, Captainjan, Sprinkler, Ortagon, Chickenrun, Ambiorix, Coldcurse, FrozenHotSauce, Guras, Huskyneer, Mr.Moonwalker, Zyem, and others. We would not have gotten this far without you. Thank you for everything! We made this game for you, and were so thankful that 10 years after release, we get to write this note. To more years in the skies!

Giveaway Event

To celebrate this improbably and special milestone, we're giving away a big pack of goodies, including:

• An exclusive new title
• A fancy dye + outfit bundle
• A crew loadout slot
• A ship loadout slot

Additionally, we are asking for your help to Wishlist our new project called Wildmender. For your support, we would like to offer an exclusive new themed outfit based on our new game, Wildmender. Youll also receive a code to unlock a pair of exclusive hats in Wildmender once theyre ready!
Wildmender is our new project in development. It is an open world survival experience set in an arid world. You get to explore the land, cultivate an oasis, and bring the world slowly back to life. On top of that, well also enter you into a giveaway for one of these wonderful faction banners! These are one of a kind, so please tell us which one youd like if you win. 4 banners, 4 lucky winners!

• Anglean Republic
• Mercantile Guild
• Fjord Baronies
• Order of Chaladon

Heres the Steam page to wishlist: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1599330/Wildmender/ If you email us a screenshot of your Wildmender wishlist to feedback@musegames.com, well send you a code for all of the items! This giveaway will end November 14th, 2022 at 12pm UTC Happy Anniversary and happy Halloween!

The 10th Birthday Tournament

The 10th Birthday Tournament is a semi-competitive tournament with single ship sign-ups. The matches will include Crazy King, King of the Hill, and Deathmatch. The matches will be streamed starting at 7pm UTC on Sunday, October 30th. The matches will be streamed by Fredrik Knudsen on our Twitch channel: https://www.twitch.tv/musegamesnyc - Team Muse

[ 2022-10-30 19:04:20 CET ] [ Original post ]

Game servers will be down from August 16th @10pm EDT until August 17th @10pm EDT. See you in the skies when the servers are back up!

[ 2021-08-16 21:29:22 CET ] [ Original post ]

Build 2.0.20 (695) is live, it fixes several sound and video assets accidentally broken by our new build environment, including:

• Music
• Voice commands
• Intro videos
• VFX for several skills that relied on video data (such as the Salvo Neutralizer)

Big thanks to everyone who reported these bugs, and thanks for your patience while we fixed them!

[ 2020-10-23 20:09:16 CET ] [ Original post ]

Welcome, Sky Captains and Crew!

Its time to celebrate our 8th Anniversary! Update 2.0.20 features new customizables such as, hats, goggles, profile pictures, titles, and decals. In celebration of this exciting milestone were holding an 8th Birthday Tournament! In preparation we have added lots of prizes for all the participants. Catch the action on Saturday, October 24th at 6pm UTC over on twitch.tv/MuseGamesNYC.

Birthday Tournament Items:

• 8th Birthday Tournament Hat
  
  Given to all party guests from the 8th Birthday Tournament.
• 8th Birthday Decal
  Given to all party guests from the 8th Birthday Tournament.
• Birthday Boy & Birthday Girl titles
  • Awarded to the winners of the 8th Birthday Tournament.
• Party Goer title
  • Awarded to all participants of the 8th Birthday Tournament.

Cosmetics:

• Sir and Lady Pumpkinhead goggles.
  • Will be available during spooky Halloween missions.
  • Coming to the store in the future.
  • Probably cursed.
  
  
  It is a pumpkin and you put it on your head. Put a snazzy hat on top and hit the town.
• Mechanical Frontier Hat
  • Available in the store
  
  
  Nobody is quite sure how it works, or what it even does -- only that it brings good luck to those who venture into the wastelands wearing it, and that it is the most fuel-efficient hat out there.
• Roman Centurion Helmet
  • Available in the store.
  
  
  A helmet worn by Roman Centurions -- Roman military officers who held command of 100 Roman Legionaries. Many, many years and a few apocalyptic events later, some airship captains and crew wear these as a tribute to those ancient warriors. Theyre also pretty practical as head protection in airship battles, too.

Decals

• SCS 300 1st place
  Awarded to the first place winners of SCS 300.
• SCS 300 2nd place
  Awarded to the second place winners of SCS 300.
• SCS 300 3rd place
  Awarded to the third place winners of SCS 300.
• SCS 300 Participant
  Awarded to the participants of SCS 300.
• SCS 300 Staff
  Awarded to the staff team behind SCS 300.
• The Fellowship of Steel
  Decal for The Steel Forge of Friendship
• The Overseers Eye
  Decal for The Steel Forge of Friendship

Anniversary Mission Decals:

• 8 Ball
  An ancient device said to predict the future, bringing both good and bad fortune. Also good for 8th anniversaries.
• Birthday Gears
  Is it gears or a cake? No one knows. Submitted by Zetnus.
• Eight Shot
  8 shots for 8 years!

Profile Pictures:

• Chaos D20
  From the Chaos Skirmish
• SCS 300 Gold
  Awarded to 1st place winners of SCS 300.
• SCS 300 Silver
  Awarded to 2nd place winners of SCS 300.
• SCS 300 Bronze
  Awarded to 3rd place winners of SCS 300.
• SCS 300 Ruby
  Awarded to Participants of SCS 300.
• SCS 300 Emerald
  Awarded to staff of SCS 300

Titles:

• The Undaunted Admiral
• Inspiring Starbolin

Balance

• Boss Cluster Hades
  • Reduced cluster shot count to 6 (from 8)
  • Reduced velocity to 300 (from 400)
• Seraph Tempest Missiles [Mk. S]
  • Corrected typo and added submissile count in the description.

[ 2020-10-22 18:11:35 CET ] [ Original post ]

With our 8th birthday just around the corner, now is a great time to upgrade to Guns of Icarus Alliance! https://store.steampowered.com/app/608800/Guns_of_Icarus_Alliance/ Whether you're looking for a place to play solo, or just looking to try out PvE, Guns of Icarus Alliance has you covered! Sale ends September 27th.

[ 2020-09-21 18:39:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

Welcome Airship Captains and Crew, to the Spring Update!

We have lot of new cosmetic options, balance changes, and more!

Cosmetics: Crusader armor is now paintable instead of its balloon. Paint responsibly.
Dyes Spring is in the air! And with it, some lovely Pastel colors that will be given out via events and quests.
Decals Many new workshop decals. 12 new decals from Broken Hammer Games, 6 of which are full color.
Badges New badges for Sunday Community Skirmish for their 300th event! Two badges for Chaos (distribution to be determined by Chaos staff)! One badge for Crewcible!

Figurehead New Iron Skull figurehead! Terrify your enemies or keep your crew in line.
Profile Pictures One new Profile Picture: Gem in the Rough. A lovely emerald Junker. Player submitted. Want to see more? Submit your own!
New Voicepack Kestrils over the top classic stereotype Pirate voice added! Be a scourge of the skies, matey! New Map Sunken Reach Rumpus is a new 4v4/Brawl map!. Tear up the pipes and landscape on this 2 and 4 team PvP adaptation of Sunken Reach. And More!

• Most costumes can now be used by any class. They must still be earned through class progression.
• The Workshop is now accepting colored decals.

Balance:

• Wall Rose An alternate armed version of Wall Maria that dislikes anyone being near it. Two large force guns will hammer any ship that gets too close. First use will be on the modified Scars of Lutessa map (see below). Image shows the new, more hefty wall model.
  
• Wall Maria - added end caps and more bracing, adjusted collision hitboxes, and added an internal device to discourage trying to ram through the wall. Damage taken reduced. Walls will be harder to kill now
• AI Emplacement tool adjusted. This is the tool used exclusively by AA turrets and walls. It will now put out fires and repair at a rate similar to the failsafe
• Boss Hades changed from chain to cluster Hades. Less dangerous mid to long range, more dangerous close range
• AI enemy extinguisher changed to prevent fire locking
• Adjusted Anglean Frigate mass and movement.
• Small adjustment to Anglean Corvette hitboxes.
• Duel at Dawn expanded 500 meters to a 4x4 grid from a 3x3 grid and new map image added. Wind removed and spawns moved further away from each other
• Crew AI have increased accuracy on guns
• Scars of Lutessa changed from Intercept to Assault with some trial changes. Players now start in the opposite corner and travel to the dam. This Assault will have AA turrets and Walls that block the path to the next base. This is a very challenging map. We will tune this map with live feedback.
• Shrike hitboxes changed to better fit the model
• PvE: Armor kit lasts until destroyed. Does not degrade noticeably over time

Fixes:

• Clarified Tempest missile description
• 3v3 added to Misty Mutiny
• 3v3 added to Misty Mutiny
• Adjusted Squid decal position, size, and rotation for better viewability
• Loading image and map for Batcave Returns cave map concept testbed
• Fixed misplaced flag on Valentine Crusader theme
• Fixed Embr theme axe misplacement on Spire and Pyramidion
• Fixed overlapping/misplaced lanterns/banners on Royal theme on several ships
• Adjusted ladders on all ships with reported consistent problems

Community:

Want to contribute? We have a few ways to make that happen!

• Submit images for profile pictures. This can be done via Discord, forum, or email.
• Try out the workshop. Submit decals, hats, goggles, and voicepacks for vetting.
• Check out Discord to contribute to two new community projects, a ship theme and a new map.

[ 2020-06-01 17:22:23 CET ] [ Original post ]

We're so excited to announce that frantic, frenetic, firefighting multiplayer Embr launches on Early Access for Steam today! [previewyoutube=2BjiEmVejdk;full][/previewyoutube] With Embr, we set out to shine a satirical light on the gig-economy - not in terms of the people making those deliveries and driving those taxis, but rather the companies at the top powering this particular brand of venture capitalism and deregulation. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1062830/Embr/ On a gameplay basis, we also wanted to see just what mayhem would occur if the untrained masses headed out with a hose and tried to put out fires in the same way people deliver take-out or drive people around in makeshift taxis. The end result is fun, frenetic, and just as barmy as we thought it would be. It just makes you appreciate what a difficult and almost impossible job real-life firefighters do.
Embr launches on Steam Early Access today for $19.99/19.99/17.99 with a 20% discount in launch week. You can expect multiple free major content drops in the months after launch significantly expanding the game. We'll also continue to diligently work with the community to further shape the Embr experience based on feedback and suggestions. Having trouble? Get in touch! It's amazing to finally get Embr into your hands during Early Access. Let us know what you think!

[ 2020-05-21 20:48:35 CET ] [ Original post ]

Attention all captains and crew!

Were happy to announce that Guns of Icarus Alliance is a part of the Indie MEGABOOTH Going Away (for now) sale! Guns of Icarus Alliance will be on sale for ONE WEEK from May 5th - May 12th at 85% We're also running a sale on in-game items for this week only! Get a new look for half the price! (Sale does not apply to Steam Workshop items) If youve been looking to upgrade your steampunk experience or add some friends to your crew, theres never been a better time! https://store.steampowered.com/app/608800/Guns_of_Icarus_Alliance/ And with bonus missions live this week only, theres never been a better time to grab your friends and sail the skies!
For a limited time you can get the FREE Embr Respondr Bundle in Guns of Icarus! This free bundle includes:

• Embr Flame Decal
• Embr Theme
• Embr Fire Helmet
• 5x Embr Red Dye

PLUS:

• Exclusive Flint profile picture
• Embr Respondr title

Heres how to get your Embr Respondr Bundle in Guns of Icarus: 1. Wishlist Embr on steam https://store.steampowered.com/app/1062830/Embr/ 2. Join the Embr Respondrs Group on Steam 3. Launch Guns of Icarus and Receive your FREE Embr Respondr Bundle 4. Go fight some fires! For more information, check the announcement on the Guns of Icarus Discord!
There are over 150 games participating in the Indie MEGABOOTH Going Away (for now) sale! You can find the full list of participating games here: https://indiemegabooth.com/imb-going-away-for-now-sale-game-list/ Stay inside, play great games, and stay safe, See you in the skies.

[ 2020-05-05 17:31:22 CET ] [ Original post ]

Dev Games is a twice-weekly event in Guns of Icarus! Play with or against the developers and complete the mission for free items. The mission is always available from 30 minutes before Dev Games until 30 minutes after. Win 2 matches and receive today's prize! Join the Devs in game and get free stuff! Dev Games Times: Thursday @ 2000 EDT / Fri 0000 UTC Friday @ 1400 EDT / 1800 UTC

[ 2020-04-17 16:31:16 CET ] [ Original post ]

Dev Games is a twice-weekly event in Guns of Icarus! Play with or against the developers and complete the 2-hour mission for free items. The mission is always available from 30 minutes before Dev Games until 30 minutes after. Win 2 matches and receive today's prize!

[ 2020-04-16 19:59:42 CET ] [ Original post ]

Dev Games is a twice-weekly event in Guns of Icarus! Play with or against the developers and complete the mission for free items. The mission is always available from 30 minutes before Dev Games until 30 minutes after. Win 2 matches and receive today's prize!

[ 2020-04-10 17:30:22 CET ] [ Original post ]

Have noticed our new Embr themed items?

Weve bundled them all and are now giving you the opportunity to own the entire bundle of them free!

This free bundle includes:

• Embr Flame Decal
• Embr Theme
• Embr Fire Helmet
• 5x Embr Red Dye

PLUS:

• Exclusive Flint profile picture
• Embr Respondr title

Heres how to get your Embr Respondr Bundle in Guns of Icarus:

1. Wishlist Embr on steam https://store.steampowered.com/app/1062830/Embr/ 2. Add Flint (Embr HQ) as a friend on Steam 3. Receive a key in your Steam DMs from Flint 4. Redeem this key in the in-game Market 5. Go fight some fires! For more information, check the announcement on the Guns of Icarus Discord!

[ 2020-03-18 19:02:15 CET ] [ Original post ]

We cant believe it has already been seven full years! Time does fly, doesnt it? In celebration, we are adding even more content! Faction colors, a new figurehead, Embr items from Muses upcoming new game Embr (Wishlist it on Steam now!), more profile pictures, and a new voicepack. That's not all! Are you a pilot and are tired of cosmetics? Want something new? Well, then, we have just the thing for you. Try out the new Drift Sail helm tool. Damages to ship and crew are not covered under any warranty. Use at your own risk.

New:

• 27 Colors + 6 more to be created by winners of events! 2 colors for each of the factions. One based on ship color, and the other based on map color. Can be used on ships or costumes.
  
• Leo Figurehead: Feel the power of a roaring lion as you crush your enemies!
  
• Embr theme, color, decal, and fire hats. Available in the store, but stay tuned on how you could get them for FREE instead. *Known issue with Embr theme texture. Working out the kinks.
• 5 Halloween Jack-o'-lantern decals (black!). Limited time holiday item ONLY! Will not be in the store. Goes great with Pumpkin color! 13 free pumpkin dyes come included, so you can dress up all of your ships in spoopy decor!
  
• More profile pictures added to the default granted list (check your profile!): 6 faction ships, 6 player created.
• More profile pictures created for events, tournaments, Embr, Hamsterdam, and one just for Muse.
• German voicepack added to the store (Workshop submission).
• Drift Sail helm tool: see details in balance below.
• Lore page. More to come.

Changed:

• Decal size/position/rotation on Mobula, Goldfish, Spire, Shrike, and Pyramidion for better display.
• Casanova mask adjusted to minimize clipping with hats.
• Removed barrier graphic between Cathedral, Sunder, Garrow, and surrounding territories.
• All maximum coin limits increased by 30,000. Welcome to the high rollers club.

Balance PvE:

PvE special abilities:

• Added duration and cooldown to all text where missing.

Oversurge Ram:

• Cooldown of 60s (from 200)

Concussive Blast:

• Cooldown of 30s (from 60)

Component Disruption:

• Cooldown of 45s (from 90)
• Damage of 300 (from 250)

Cataclysm Rounds:

• Cooldown of 160s (from 200)
• Duration of 8 s (from 18)

Lightning Draw:

• Cooldown of 60s (from 200)

Mine Ejection:

• Name changed to Mine Volley
• Range of 500m (from 400m)
• Cooldown of 160s (from 200)
• Mines detonate after 30s (from 120s)

Advanced DynaBuff:

• Vertical drag: - 20% (from -29%)
• Thrust: +20% (from +29)
• Damage: +10% (from +23%)
• Duration: 40s (from 60)
• Cooldown of 120s (from 200)

Gigaton Blast:

• Cooldown of 60s (from 200)

Air Horn:

• Corrected text to 800m (was 500)
• Cooldown of 40s (from 60)

Rushing Drift:

• Cooldown of 60s (from 200)
• Duration of 20s (from 30)

Mechanized Rebuild:

• Cooldown of 160s (from 200)

Balance: Guns and Ammo:

Autofire (hold to shoot) added to these guns:

• Artemis
• Echidna Light Flak
• Barking Dog Light Carronade
• Mercury Field Gun
• Scylla Double-Barrelled Mortar
• Banshee Light Rocket Carousel
• Hades Light Cannon
• Seraph Tempest Missiles [MKs] and [MKI]
• Kalakuta Gas Mortar [MKI] and [MKII]
• Typhon Heavy Flak MKI
• Lumberjack Heavy Mortar
• Nemesis Heavy Carronade

Manticore Heavy Hwacha:

• AOE: 5 (from 4.25)

Burst ammo:

• -20% direct damage (from 0)
• -25% rotational arcs (from 0)
• -50% range (from 0)
• Removed recoil modification (from +50%)
• Removed Rate of fire reduction (from -15%)
• [KNOWN BUG] Loading Burst causes practice guide cone to reduce in size. Does not actually reduce recoil.

Balance: Tools:

Dynabuff:

• Hull: Hits reduced to 7 (from 15)
• Gun: Hits to 8 (from 9), Duration 40 (from 20), damage +10% (from +20%), reload speed +10% (from +0)

Rangefinder:

• Rangefinder now spots automatically when zoomed in!

Drift Sail Helm tool:

• Q: How much faster do you need to go?
• A: Yes.
• Available in all modes.
• Reduces drag in all horizontal directions similar to the Rushing Drift PVE ability.
• Reduces engine power to 50%, but accelerates your ship faster than its maximum speed due to reduced drag.
• Danger! Doubles all Impact damage taken from any source. This includes other ships, terrain, and guns. It also makes your ship incredibly hard to control.
• Activated when selected.
• Effects last three seconds after tool is unselected.
• Best use is to activate after your ship has reached maximum velocity. The reduced engine force will slowly push your ship past its limits.
• Please give feedback on this tool after combat testing it (and likely exploding a lot)

Balance: Ships:

Pyramidion:

• Max Speed: 34 (from 32)
• Vertical acceleration: 3 (from 2.75)

Stormbreaker:

• Moved heavy gun to the right side at 73.7. Adjusted ship hitboxes around gun change.
• Moved light gun from right mid deck to left platform at -95
• [FIX]Moved right engine back slightly to resolve clipping rotors.
• Added secret ladder.
• [FIX] Fixed sticky ladder.
• Known issue: dye applies to entire ship. (feature or bug?)

Balance: Maps:

Misty Mutiny:

• Deleted all small clouds and several large clouds.
• Moved remaining large clouds to map center and pathways.
• Moved respawns.
• Added new respawn in the south for both teams.
• Increased ceiling height by 100m.
• Removed all clouds on the practice map.

Fixes:

• Removed extra water on Assault on Kinforth map.
• Backwards Shrike decal

[ 2019-10-29 20:29:39 CET ] [ Original post ]

Sales!

For a limited time, market items are 50% off! Now's the time to stock up on dyes and buy that outfit you've been eyeing.

Missions!

Our first Birthday mission is already live! You can check your progress via the missions tab on the main menu. Get exclusive Birthday-themed cosmetics, including the new Cake Profile Picture!

Flight of the Ancients Tournament!

As Guns of Icarus Online/Alliance approaches its seventh anniversary, we here at Muse Games have looked back at how far this game has come since its inception. We've seen many new additions, from ships, to guns, to new maps, and even the addition of PvE. This year, we honor the past by reliving it. On Saturday, November 2, Muse Games proudly presents the Flight of the Ancients tournament, a trip back through time and the different eras of Guns of Icarus: Alliance and Guns of Icarus Online. Click here to view the rules and sign up thread on the Guns of Icarus Forums. Don't miss the Tournament Stream on November 2nd!

[ 2019-10-18 17:03:38 CET ] [ Original post ]

We'll be hosting our weekly Dev Fireside Chat in just 30 minutes! Join us at twitch.tv/musegamesnyc or watch through Steam on the Guns of Icarus Alliance Store page! https://store.steampowered.com/app/608800/Guns_of_Icarus_Alliance/ Dev Games is also at a new time - immediately after Dev Fireside. Hope to see you there!

[ 2019-10-04 16:31:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

It's time for the Summer Update! We've just received a shipment of newly balloon-approved dyes and we're giving them to you. Make those balloons shine! Want to see your character in a profile picture? Send us a high-quality picture of your avatar - we'll be choosing a few to add to the game! You can send these to us at contests@musegames.com ! New:

• All costume and ship colors are now interchangeable! Can be purchased through the ship or costume menu.
• New Voice command pack from Steam user Ripsaw (free for everyone!).
• New profile pictures.

Changes:

• Yellow paint renamed Antique Bronze
• Jet Black paint renamed Weathered Black
• Ship paint icons replaced with costume colored dust icons.
• All dyes now renamed to paint.
• Activated fireworks.
• Magnate paint areas changed from balloons to sails.
• Gunner and Pilot tool order changed - Spyglass will be in last slot on right while off helm.

Balance PvE:

• Increased repair and rebuild ability of AI airship tool.

Normal Difficulty:

• Reduced fire chance from boss ships.
• Reduced number of enemies from 3 to 2 per player ship.

Enemy AA towers:

• Reduced force attacks by 50%
• Removed fire chance.
• Increased turn arcs from 80 to 130.
• Lowered down arc from 80 to 20
• Lowered turn speed from 100 to 20
• Reduced ammo count to 4 from 6
• Increased range.
• Reduced rate of fire.
• Will now repair armor.
• Repairs gun faster.

Boss ships:

• Modified Hades with higher rate of fire.
• Modified Flamethrower with lower ammo count, higher rate of fire, and more chance of causing fires.

Physics:

• Removed freefall from AI ships. They will now behave like player ships when balloons are destroyed.

Balance PvP:

Aten Lens Array [MK. S]:

• Passes through all targets in line, dealing damage to everything it passes through.
• Reduced charge time from 1.75 seconds to 1.
• Reduced speed modifier from -88% to -30% while firing.
• Reduced range to 800 from 1200

Roaring Tiger Heavy Detonator [Mk. S]:

• Arming delay reduced to 0.2 seconds from 1
• Jitter increase to 8 from 3
• Velocity increase to 125m/s from 80 (range remains 500)
• Fires a cluster of 8 detonators instead of 1
• Ammo reduced to 1 from 3
• Rate of fire increase to 2 from 1 to compensate for Extended Magazine.
• Reload time reduced to 4 from 10
• Side arcs reduced to 30 from 60
• Primary Damage: Flechette - 11 per projectile, from 60
• Secondary Damage: Explosive - 31 per projectile, from 80
• Secondary feature unchanged. Explodes twice when activated.
• Force removed.

Fixes:

• Adjusted material on Goldfish balloon for more consistent paint colour
• Fixed material error on Goldfish sails (paint and team colors)
• Fixed material error on Mobula square sails (paint and team colors)
• Optimized water on Scars of Lutessa (again).

Known bugs:

• Texture glitches on Goldfish, Galleon, Squid, and Magnate. We're working on it!

[ 2019-07-05 19:02:59 CET ] [ Original post ]

We've brought an array of new maps, gamemodes, bug fixes, and balance changes to you today. Hop in and check them out! We've reactivated boarding - Happy April 1st! New Map:

• Scars of Lutessa - new PvE Intercept map. Race against the enemy to capture their cargo in the shadow of an ancient dam

New Gamemodes:

• Race - Jesters' Parade. It's a race! Fight it out as you rush for the goal!
• Sunken base Defense - The return of Skyball?

Adapted to PvP:

• Oblivion South - PvP Deathmatch adaptation of the south section of the Oblivion map. 2v2, 3v3, 4v4
• Alleron Affray - PvP Deathmatch adaptation of Seas of Alleron. 2v2, 3v3, 4v4, Brawl

Expanded Map:

• Desert Scrap expanded to 2v2 and 4v4 with more spawns

Balance Changes:

• Shrike:
  • Acceleration: 8 (from 10)
  • Speed: 38 (from 40)
  • Turn Accel: 8 (from 7.5)
  • Turn Speed: 13 (from 15)
  • Mass: 82.5 (from 75)
  • Armor: 399 (from 425)
  • Hull: 585 (ffrom 650)
• Goldfish:
  • Hitboxes tightened up around the hull. Lower sails removed from hitbox
  • 4th gun added to the back-left of the balloon deck (130 port)
  
  
• Magnate:
  • Raised Hull repair point slightly to allow pilot to repair from top deck
• Flamethrower:
  • Range: 150m (from 200m)
  • Horizontal Arcs: 70 (from 60)
  • Rotation speed: 120 (from 40)
  • AOE: 7m (from 3)
  • Damage: 1.7 Fire (from 1.2)
• Balloons repair faster. Get back in the fight!
• Gunners now have 2 engineer tools. Fight Fires! Buff your gun! Fix faster! Remember to equip the second one.
  
• PvE balance tweaked - AI ships will repair their own balloons faster too

Fixes:

• Fixed Z-fighting issues on Paritan
• Improved performance on Crown Summit/Crown Gambit maps
• Fixed pumpjack normals on Anglean Raiders
• Fixed some floating buildings on Kinforth
• Fixed Flak MKII hovering when viewed from a distance
• Formatting in Retribution and Intrigue
• Moved Dunes practice spawns outside of dust clouds.
• Spotting on Anglean Raiders, Firnfeld, Fjords, Kinforth

[ 2019-04-01 18:32:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

BRAVE AVIATORS

Sky Hamsters have been the new plague of Guns of Icarus. You might have come across them with their eared orange hoods, and asked yourself: WHY?!
While polishing the mountains of Northern Fjords, repairing broken down Magnates, and improving the concept of fire, a small part of Muse Games has been busy teaching a little hamster how to fight like Bruce Lee. Hamsterdam is a beatem up bringing classic arcade brawling to modern gamers. Why Hamsterdam is a great fit for the GOI community:

• Beat down meanies
• Alternate damage between enemies
• Exactly like Guns of Icarus, except no Guns and no Icarus
• No Icarus just like in Guns of Icarus
• Very cute!

Convinced? We hoped so: DOWNLOAD THE DEMO FOR FREE ON STEAM
& MOBILE The Guns of Icarus community has always been our biggest supporters, and we are thrilled to embark on this new adventure, with your support. - Jennifer, Community Manager at Muse Games

[ 2019-03-08 22:43:18 CET ] [ Original post ]

~I just want to set the world on fire, and I'm gonna start by flaming your hull~ In honor of Valentine's Day, we're bringing back the Fiery Passion challenge! Equip your ship with the hottest weapons you can find and start some fires. The Goal: Set 250 parts on fire The Rewards:

• Crybaby Mask
• Broken Heart Decal
• 6 Cream Dye
• 6 Crimson Dye

This event ends on Feb 28th. Don't miss your chance to get these items!

[ 2019-02-14 19:16:50 CET ] [ Original post ]

Welcome to the 2.0.15 Release! (PS4 1.12)

First off, Happy Holidays everyone! In the spirit of the Holidays, we created a brand new Krampus Decal, perfectly befitting of the celebration, Guns of Icarus style. In addition, we have some old exclusive items were bringing back, along with more PvP adaptations of Crown Summit and bunch of new features! Get ready to fight across even more of Crown Summit in our newly-expanded 3v3, 4v4, and Brawl versions!
Content:

• Goggles of Good Cheer
• Jolly Old Salt
• Krampus Decal
• Crown Summit 3v3, 4v4, and Practice
• Broken Crown Brawl (2v2v2v2)
• Previous war monument.

New Features:

• AI stay active for 5 seconds after a player joins.
• Vote to rematch toggled on by default. You will now need to uncheck this box to end the rematch.
• Force Start enabled on all game modes, as long as this map has a smaller version (downsize the lobby if you want to!)
• Missions can now have new objectives, including making another faction lose resources
• Name your ship loadouts so you can easily remember what they are! Does not change ship name. (Be sure to select the loadout before trying to edit the name, and save after you are done with each edit.)
• Public custom matches will force shuffle after first rematch if online players count is lower. This is to prevent non-shuffling lobby keep going on and players arent able to change it. This does not apply to private matches.

Balance:

• Spire: Mass increased to 210t (from 150). Force adjusted to maintain mobility.
• Extended Magazine: Clip size to +50% (from +45)
• Modified Mine and Harpoon launcher rate of fire to compensate for the extra shot.

Fixes:

• AI will no longer force reload standard ammo.
• Conductors Pride dyes using correct UV maps.
• Sky Captain Valentine put in his place on Stormbreaker theme.

[ 2018-12-27 20:14:02 CET ] [ Original post ]

Maps:

• Thornholt in PvP
  • Adjusted maps bounds to a 6x6 grid
  • New cloud layout for PvP
  • 2v2 through 4v4 Deathmatch
  • Brawl!
  • Practice
• Ashen Brawl
  • New PvP map. Larger, hotter, more spawns than ever! The largest 2v2v2v2 so far.
• Crown Gambit
  • Adjusted spawns

Ships:

• Stormbreaker
  • Lateral drag increased, reducing side drift.
• Magnate
  • Hitboxes adjusted (mostly reduced) to fit ship profile.
  • Main engine lowered slightly.
• Spire
  • Hitboxes substantially reduced to fit ship profile.
• Corsair
  • Forward acceleration: 5 (from 8)
  • Forward speed: 35 (from 30)
  • Turn acceleration: 8 (from 10)
  • Turn speed: 12 (from 10)
  • Left light gun arc: 55 (from 75)
  • Heavy engines rotated 90 and moved out slightly. This gives 0.22 more turn acceleration, reduces engine hitbox vertical profile by 38%, and allows repairs from further in.
  • Reduced mass width (inertial bounds) to increase the effectiveness of turning engines. This allows the same amount of force to turn the ship faster without changing total mass. This will also make the ship more vulnerable to force attacks like Minotaur and getting bumped by other ships.
• Shrike
  • Adjusted engine force and inertial bounds.
  • Heavy turning engines (x2): 225000 (from 144500)
  • Light main engine: 300000 (from 461000)
  • 750000 total forward thrust (10m/s2)
  • These changes do not change total forward or turn acceleration. However, with more force in the heavy turning engines, the Shrike will no longer be able to turn while maintaining nearly full forward acceleration and speed.

PvE Balance

• AI type A ships (forward attack) The AI_A ships had widely varied stats, making some factions much easier or harder to fight against. Adjusted stats to unify the ships. There will still be some small variation in engine power and acceleration.
  • Approximate new stats:
    • Accel: 4
    • Speed: 47
    • Turn accel: 8
    • Turn speed: 14
    • Vert accel: currently 4
    • Vert speed: currently 11.34
    • Mass: 200t (varied between 75 and 330t)
    • Front gun: 1 - forward
    • Side guns: 2 - 45 (varied between 40 and 60)
  • AI Gatling:
    • Range: 450m (from 600)
    • Ammo: 50
    • Velocity: 700
    • All other stats are the same as the player Gatling. Damage changes based on difficulty.
  • AI Mortar
    • Range: 400m (from 800)
    • Velocity: 125m/s (from 250)
    • Side arcs: 60 (from 80) mortars need more arc on AI ships due to gun angles of 45deg. While facing forward, both mortars will be able to fire. Moving 15deg to one side or the other will now prevent one from tracking.
    • Up arc: 30 (from 60)
    • Down arc: 50 (from 60)
    • Ammo: 6
    • All other stats are the same as the player Mortar. Damage changes based on difficulty.
• Yeshan boss ship
  • Adjusted to have similar mass and mobility as the other boss ships.

Seasonal:

• Removed spooky AI skins
• Disabled fireworks

[ 2018-11-28 19:17:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

New content:

• Four Team Brawl: Test your skills in our new PvP game mode! This unique experience is a departure from our other game modes in that more than two teams can compete for dominance! Join in and master new engagement styles with Brawl Deathmatch mode!
  • Two new teams join the fray. Yellow and Purple!
  • Deathmatch: First team to 9 points wins.
  • Default lobby size is 2v2v2v2, but can be force started by Captains with 2v2, 2v2v2, or 1v1v1v1.
  • Note: All ships with any crew must have captains, and all captains must agree to Start Match via button vote. Empty ships will not spawn in. Point limit automatically reduced to 5 with 4 ship lobbies (2v2 and 1v1v1v1). Mismatched teams such 2v2v1 or less than 4 total ships are not permitted.
  • ‘Leader’ spotting system. Auto-spots teams that are ahead by ⅓ total score, and marks them as leaders while displaying a message to all players to indicate when a team takes the lead.
  • 2 corner home spawns for each team, plus 8 shared spawns.
  • Hazard spawns: Spawns that have an enemy within 500m will glow.
  • Three maps adapted for Brawl Deathmatch.
  • Brawl at Blackcliff
  • Battle Hazard
  • Brawl on the Dunes (no sandstorm)
  
  

• Alliance War: Sanguine March vs. The Halcyon Cartel - The world has tipped over the boiling point and alliances have been struck, new orders have come down and the match to demonstrate world supremacy has begun, which league of factions will you join in the fight?
• 4v4 Canyon Ambush: Long requested and awaited, Canyon Ambush has passed stress testing and joins our growing number of 4v4 maps! Enjoy the chaos of never knowing where your next enemy will appear amongst the cloud-shrouded bluffs.

Changes:

• Adjusted clouds on all Oblivion-based maps to use Downfall Departure clouds.
• Canyon Ambush
  • Red spawns adjusted for all map sizes
  • 3v3 and 4v4 map expanded North and East
  • New map image
• Spotted ship names now use team colors (all modes)
• Colorblind adjusted (spots only)
• Drop shadow added for contrast on light backgrounds
• Renamed ‘Chute Vent’ to ‘Balloon Vent’ to avoid confusion with ‘Drogue Chute’

Balance Changes from Experimental Crew:

• Stormbreaker: Feedback from the previous trial has been analyzed, and stats have been adjusted accordingly. 65% of survey takers felt that the trial version was more balanced and should be the direction taken with some modifications.
  • Lateral (side) Drag: 0.4 (from 0.75)
  • Armor: 420 (from 320)
  • Gun 2: 53° port (from 40)
  • Gun 3: 37° starboard (from 90 Port) Moved to right of ship.
  • Gun 4: 102° port (from 110)
  • Speed: 32 m/s (from 30)
• Galleon
  • Hull: 1500 (from 1400)
  • Armor: 820 (from 800)
  • Longitudinal Speed: 36 m/s (from 30.02)
  • Acceleration: 3.2 m/s^2 (from 2.10)
  • Turn Speed: 8 deg/s (from 8.02)
  • Turn Acceleration: 6 deg/s^2 (from 5.06)
• Junker
  • Vertical Speed: 14 m/s (from 13)
  • Vertical Acceleration: 5.5m/s^2 (from 3)
• Pilot Priority (Captain’s Spot) Target Duration 20s (from 10s)
• Mine Duration
  • 1200s (from 240s)
• Drogue Chute
  • +250% Vertical Drag (no change)
  • +250% Longitudinal Drag (from 0)
  • +500% Lateral Drag (from 0)
• Removed Engine Force Alteration (from -60%)
• Impact Bumpers
  • +350% Angular Drag
  • +500% Lateral Drag
  • Removed Engine Force Alteration (from -60%)
  • -30% Impact Damage (from -25%)
• Pipe Wrench
  • -1 fire per repair (from 0)
• Hwacha
  • Rate of fire decreased: 7 shots per second (from 8.33)
  • Direct (Explosive) Damage: 15 (from 24.66)
  • Reload: 13.5 (from 14)
• Nemesis
  • Jitter: 1° (from 2)
  • Velocity: 375m/s (from 400)
  • Zoom: 2x (from 1.75x)
  • Shell Drop: 9.8 (from 13)
  • Range: 1770m (from 800m)
  • Horizontal turn speed: 30deg/s (from 60)
  • Vertical turn speed: 40deg/s (from 60)
  • Rate of fire increased: 0.6 (from 0.5)
  • Reload: 6s (from 5)

Events:

Show your loyalty and prestige with 12 new unique faction costumes! Complete one of the 6 following missions for your respective faction:

• Keeper of Eden
  
  
• Serene Magnate
  
  
• Virtuous Autocrat
  
  
• Industrial Technocrat
  
  
• Majestic Sovereign
  
  
• Wayfaring Vagabond
  
  

Completing the mission for your faction by committing 10,000 coins unlocks a new male and female version of the faction costume.

Fixes:

• Fixed issue with multiple boss ships appearing
• Fixed a typo on a profile picture name
• Removed collision errors on Thornholt Crest.

[ 2018-07-23 17:24:52 CET ] [ Original post ]

Memorial Day Weekend Giveaway

During this Memorial Day weekend, in honor of everyone who served and sacrificed, we’ve partnered with Steam to offer a limited-time giveaway event. It starts today at 1pm US eastern time and lasts until Tuesday 5/29 1pm US eastern time. Get the game for free here!

New Content:

Corsair: Command the skies against other players in a new combat-ready skyship! Presenting the Anglean Corsair, the latest addition to available ships in the PvP!
New PvE Map: Crown Summit, the newest Blockade map in PvE available for teams of 2-4 ships. Navigate through new hostile environments as you battle to defend your refineries from the waves of enemy bomber fleets!

Changes:

[Steam] New costume bundles. PS4 bundles and deals coming soon. Balance Changes from Experimental Crew: Corsair -

• Forward speed: 30 (from 34.74)
• Forward accel: 8
• Turn speed: 10
• Turn accel: 9 (from 7.45)
• Mass: 250t (from 500t)
• Vertical speed: 15
• Vertical accel: 4
• Armor:650 (from 1200)
• Hull:1200 (from 1800)
• Light gun (4 and 5) angles: 75deg off center (from 60)
• Moved helm forward to railing to increase view.
• Added armor to front blade of balloon to avoid 'free' balloon rams.
• Moved light engines forward to match mounts.
• This is an attempt to get as wide a spread between turning and forward acceleration, with turning acceleration being higher, while keeping around 34% of the total engine force on the light engines. Previous Corsair had 0.5% thrust on light engines.

Mobula -

• Vertical accel: 7 (from 5.5)

King of the Hill -

• Capture Point radius increased from to 200m (from 150m)
• Capture time reduced to 15 seconds (from 30)
• Decapture time reduced to 15 seconds (from 30)
• These are the same changes previously made to Crazy King capture points.

Desert Scrap -

• Capture and Decap time to 15 seconds each.
• Capture point radius to 180 (from 150). Area has to be a little smaller than the other KotH maps to keep it inside the wreck.
• Points increased to 450 (from 400).
• Point moved slightly to compensate for increased point size and keep the capture area inside the wreck.

PvE Skills - Air Horn

• Cooldown: 40 seconds (from 200)
• Duration: 60 seconds (from 120)

Engine Stabilization

• Cooldown: 90 seconds (from 200)
• Duration: 20 seconds (from 15)

Combustion Dampener

• Cooldown: 90 seconds (from 200)

Component Disruption

• Cooldown: 90 seconds (from 200)
• Range 800m (from 600)
• Note: Damage has falloff from 100% at 0m to 0% at 800m, so will have 50% damage at 400m range.

Proximal Detonation

• Cooldown: 90 seconds (from 200)
• Duration: 20 seconds (from 15)
• AoE damage: +30% (from +0%)

Concussive Blast

• Cooldown: 60 seconds (from 200)

Event:

Stormbreaker: Trial of the Skies - Modifications have been made to our Arashi combat ship, the Stormbreaker. Let us know what you think about these changes and how they feel in both PvE and PvP. This trial period will last for two weeks to allow you, our community of aviators, to push the limits of these changes and judge for yourself! Let us know what you think by clicking on the survey link below. You can also find the link to this survey in our ‘Community’ section under the ‘Events’ banners with the name ‘Stormbreaker Trials’. Click ‘Sign up’ to be taken directly to the survey in your default web browser. This new design may be changed back and tested further, or they may stick around! Let us know what you think in the survey, email to feedback@musegames.com or Discord http://discord.gg/gunsoficarus in the #experimental-crew channel! Survey link found on the game's start screen and in-game event banners. Stormbreaker Trial Stats -

• Gun 2 angled 60° port (left) (from 40°)
• Gun 3 moved to starboard (right) and angled 45° to starboard (from 90° port) (reference image in survey)
• Added more armor hitboxes (reference image in survey).

Fixes:

• Fixed a bug which may cause game to crash when receiving voice chat.
• Fixed networking performance issues caused by accidentally shipping debug libraries

PS4 specific (version 1.06):

• Improved text chat: players may now long hold touchpad during matches to start text chat.
• Players with USB keyboard can use space to start chat, arrow keys to switch channel, space to start typing, and Esc to cancel.
• Fixed a bug where you may skip an item in header menu with L2/R2.

[ 2018-05-24 17:21:36 CET ] [ Original post ]

Guns of Icarus Alliance has Arrived on PS4!

Starting today, Steam and PS4 players would be able to play and TALK in the same match, for the first time ever. With it, we’re also adding more contents and special, exclusive items to celebrate the PS4 release and cross-platform play. Also, a special thanks to everyone who supported us during the Daily Deal sale and giveaway! For those still wait for keys, they’re coming! Thanks for being patient!

New content:

• Derelict Deception - PvP Deathmatch based on the northern third of the PvE Oblivion map. 2v2 through 4v4. Take part in epic battles in close quarters, under the shade of the skeletal remains of a gargantuan ship.
  
• Relic - PvP King of the Hill based on the northern third of the PvE Oblivion map. 2v2 through 4v4. Claim ownership over the ruins of this downed behemoth. Dive into its belly to hold the point from enemies.
  
• Raid in the Abyss - PvP Crazy King based on the PvE Sunken Reach map. 2v2 through 4v4. Weave in and out of the twisting pipes and fend off your opponents as you fly from one end of the map to the other, but try not to get stuck!
  

Special Additions:

• PS4 Launch Limited Special Item: To celebrate our launch we are offering a limited stock of the “Cult of the Abyss mask to the first 10K number of players who log in!
  

• PS4 Referral system: With the release of Guns of Icarus Alliance on PS4, players on this platform will now have a referral system to recommend exceptional players on their ships and teams. Each tier earns both players a unique costume!
  

Changes:

• Added Playstation 4 cross-play and voice support!
• 2v2 VIP removed
• New gun view background added to Library
• Removed transparency from chat panel

Fixes:

• Fixed issue of team commendations not working
• Fixed match option for matchmaker selections

[ 2018-04-30 18:33:37 CET ] [ Original post ]

The Daily Deal sale and giveaway has ended! Thanks everyone so much for the overwhelming support! It's been truly amazing, and we can't thank everyone enough. We still have a large pile of requests to respond to (over 7,000 has been responded to so far!), so thanks in advance for your patience. We're still waiting for the next batch of keys from Steam, and as soon as we get them, we'll resume sending them out to everyone.

[ 2018-04-29 17:00:32 CET ] [ Original post ]

Guns of Icarus Alliance is going live on PS4 on May 1st! It’s the first seamlessly cross-platform Steam and PS4 game. Not only can you play with PS4 players in the same match, but you can call out commands or chat about life via voice chat as well! In celebration, we are going ALL OUT! - Get the game now for -85% and grab 3 free copies for a full crew of friends! - Simply activate the game and send your Steam Receipt to feedback@musegames.com! It’s that easy* Tell your friends! This is for players and friends only, no key resellers please* Fly safely, Your Muse Games team! Pre-Order PS4 US link: https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP0456-CUSA09099_00-GUNSOFICARUSALNC PreOrder PS4 EU link: https://store.playstation.com/en-gb/product/EP0453-CUSA11511_00-GUNSOFICARUSPODR *Acquisition of the additional keys are, in whole or in part, not available for resale. Free game copies will be distributed when you email us a screenshot of your purchase receipt. Please allow up to seven days time for distribution of game keys.

[ 2018-04-27 17:18:19 CET ] [ Original post ]

New content:

• Wandering Ridge: Weave your way through threatening mountain scapes and harsh ambush choke points deep in Yeshan territory. Fight or flight, either way the journey will not be an easy one. Enjoy the challenge of this new infiltration map available to you and your friends in the PvE experience!
  
• The Crusader: Hail from the lands of the Fjord Baronies! A new ship now available for the exhilarating PvP experience! Learn new strategies and tactics in ambushing enemy vessels with this ship, all in the name of glory!
  
• Steam Workshop items developed by the community: - Harry's Hat - Bard Logo - Cat Skull - Ridden into the Ground - Clover - Gears and Roses - Traditional Snowflake - Anglean Iceflake - True Gentlemen - Birdy Engineer - Snakes Bite - Nautical Star

Playstation Release Date Announced:

The long-anticipated announcement for our definitive release of Guns of Icarus Alliance on the Playstation is now here! Click on the links below to find out more! US PlayStation Blog: https://blog.us.playstation.com/2018/03/29/take-to-the-skies-with-guns-of-icarus-alliance-out-may-1-for-ps4/ Pre-Order: https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP0456-CUSA09099_00-GUNSOFICARUSALNC

Changes:

• Crusader team flags moved further back to avoid blocking view in doorways
• Adjusted post-processing effects on night maps to improve visibility
• Drop down menus from player names should now disappear when clicking on other areas of the UI
• “Reload speed” metric changed to “Reload Time” in weapon books
• General UI revamps
• Players can now ‘opt-out’ of a leadership role for each leadership rotation period
• Ship scrambling is now added to queued Alliance lobbies that return from a completed match
• Removed duplicate AI control bindings
• Changed game font
• Added the ability to swap to a more traditionally first-person camera setup in spectator mode (default key is P)

Balance Changes:

Brought to you by the Experimental Crew, a diverse group of players from fresh faces to grizzled vets with a shared interest in the extreme sport of number crunching and spreadsheet tossing.

• Crusader - Moved armor repair point to area between mid guns. - Forward Speed: 32 m/s - Acceleration: 4 m/s² (from 4.64) - Max Turn Speed: 12.5 deg/s (from 14.15) - Turn Acceleration: 7 deg/s² (from 6.11) - Max Vertical Speed: 17.03 m/s - Vertical Acceleration: 2.75 m/s² (from 8) - Mass: 180t (from 280)
• Judgement - Acceleration: 3 m/s² (from 3)
• Magnate - It has been discovered that the Mercantile Guild shipyard dockmaster has been supplying priveteers with faulty heavy engines and pocketing the profits. The Guild has suitably punished the offender and has replaced the barely functioning main engine. - Forward Speed: 34 m/s (from 26.02) - Acceleration: 5 m/s² (from 4.3) - Max Turn Speed: 15 deg/s - Turn Acceleration: 4 deg/s² (from 4.5) - Max Vertical Speed: 16.01 m/s (from 17.03 m/s) - Vertical Acceleration: 3 m/s² (from 3.5) - Mass: 200t (from 125)
• Stormbreaker - Acceleration: 9.5 m/s² (from 15) - Turn Acceleration: 6.51 deg/s² (from 4.5)
• Balloon rebuild Spanner hits decreased to 9 (from 10)
• Seraph Tempest MK-S & Seraph Tempest MKI - Side arcs increased to 50deg (from 40) - Jitter reduced 90% (aesthetic change, minimal effect on balance)

Fixes:

• Removed invisible step lip on Crusader and other navmesh issues
• Fixed missing Crusader balloon when viewed at 155+ meters away
• Fixed unicode display text for player tags in lobbies
• Fixed overlapping victory screen text
• Fixed sound clipping (again) in soundtrack track 21, The New Manifest Destiny
• Fixed issues with hint bubbles for novice players

[ 2018-03-30 11:41:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

New content:

• Brand new PvE Defense map: Blistered Abyss! Deep within the desertified valleys lay the ruins of forgotten battles. Excavations, for both scavenge and archaeological purposes, have cut deep into the terrain. Narrow passages have been carved out like a focused Aten blast to iron. Precious resources still lie in the depths. Protect the excavation bases from enemy attack!
  
• Crybaby Mask - A Heart Breaker Update exclusive item just in time for Valentine’s Day, for limited time only. This is available when you complete the ‘Fiery Passion’ mission event!
  
  
• Broken Heart Decal - A Heart Breaker Update exclusive item just in time for Valentine’s Day, for limited time only. This is available when you complete the ‘Fiery Passion’ mission event!
  
• Year of the Dog Decal - Heart Breaker Update special item, a free decal to celebrate the Lunar New Year!
  
• 4v4 Clash at Blackcliff: Like battling it out amongst the refineries, in the rain, in the dark? Well you can do it with 31 other friends now!

Events:

• Fiery Passion: Show your friends and enemies your Valentine passion by bringing 250 ship components to flame! Completing this will earn you the Crybaby masks and Broken Heart decal! This mission will be available to complete in the first two weeks following Valentines day.

Changes:

• New EULA: In preparation for PS4 release and cross-platform support, we’ve updated the EULA. This would also help us work with content creators to make sure their items could be distributed on PS4.
• Wider lobbies to accommodate maximum width names
• 2v2 version of Crazy King maps resource limits lowered to 450

Experimental Crew balance changes:

• Shrike: - Armor: 425 (from 400) - Forward Speed: 40 m/s (from 36.38 m/s) - Forward acceleration: 10 m/s2 (from 8.04 m/s2) - Turn Speed: 15 deg/s (from 13.65 deg/s) - Turn Acceleration: 7.5 deg/s2 (from 8.01 deg/s2) - Mass: 75 tonnes (from 95) - Vertical Speed: 17m/s (from 9.43 m/s) - Vertical Accel: 2.5m/s2 (from 4.16 m/s2)
• Judgement: - 2 m/s2(from 4) - Turn Speed: 16 deg/s (from 12) - Turn Acceleration: 4.5 deg/s2 (from 7)
• Choppy (Static Turret Engineer ability): - Increased duration to 100 seconds (from 90s, equal to cooldown) - 100 second cooldown (from 200) - Damage: FIXED! Both Gats can shoot in unison. MOAR DAKKA! - Gun 1 Gatling: 7 piercing/7 shatter, 100 ammo, 4s reload, 8 shots per second - Gun 2 Gatling: 7 piercing/7 shatter, 100 ammo, 4s reload, 8 shots per second - Gun 3 Mortar, 60 explosive/60 explosive (from 30/30), 6 ammo, 5 second reload, 0.45 shots per second
• Salvo Neutralizer Engineer ability: - 2000 HP (from 500) Armor type - Duration 20 seconds - Lower cooldown to 30 seconds (from 200)
• Minotaur: - Force: 120,000n (from 150,000)
• Nemesis: - Added 1.75x zoom (from no zoom) - Force: 200,000N (from 100k) -Minotaur has 400k per buck, 5 bucks, and 5 shots - Velocity: 400m/s (from 350)
• Blackcliff start spawns and respawns reworked for 4v4. Grouped at start, with two additional respawns.

Fixes:

• Overhauled ship balloon dyes to ensure dye colors come through clearly on all ships
• Fixed several “A Perfect World” Infiltration achievements not completing due to checking the wrong health value
• Chat will appear above the end game screen instead of hidden behind it
• Reallocated several achievements so that they can be achieved in either Alliance or Skirmish (Neutral) as well as making sure they are sorted properly
• Static turret (Choppy) firing bug fixed. Guns now fire independently instead of in series.
• Fixed Stormbreaker ‘halo’ lights showing through clouds (removed the halos).
• Fixed ‘Go AFK’ text.

[ 2018-02-14 11:27:36 CET ] [ Original post ]

New content:

• The Arashi Stormbreaker is now available in PvP: Power through the skies against other players as the Arashi Stormbreaker saunters in from the western sunset. Packing guns a-plenty and sporting the highest acceleration of any other ship, it is a thing to be reckoned with. Watch your flanks if you face one in the air. However, with great power comes… poor construction. Keep your engineers handy, as the Stormbreaker practically shakes itself apart in hard maneuvers. Time for a little chaos.

• Crazy King renovated and activated for all lobby sizes (2v2 after event): To some, Crazy King is a legend, a myth spoken by grizzled veterans. They speak of long chases and countless ships filling the sky. Legend no more! Crazy King has been gone over with a fine tooth comb to address some wrinkles and bumps, and will be making its debut in 2v2 to join its King of the Hill brethren. This will be the first time the famed Flayed Hills will be seen by some players that have never ventured into a 4v4 match. With 7 Capture Points instead of 5, closer spawns, and fast capturing points, Flayed Hills will be a tour to remember. Get ready for a wild ride!

Events:

• Rise of the Monarchs: With the introduction of game changing content, we’ll now be introducing radical new designs with our Crazy King game mode formats! With cooperation from everyone in the community complete 500 matches in PvP game modes: King of the Hill & Crazy King and PvE game modes: Defense & Retrieve. Completing this mission will unlock the fabled Crazy King maps in all new 2v2 lobbies! Join the fight, seize the skies and reap the rewards!

Changes:

• Library and War Lore - New UI - New map organization into area groups - Viewable gun models - More information on ships and guns - Added Faction ship descriptions - Removed unlock system and achievements
• UI Aesthetics changes in menus and Match
• Moderated match functions (Moderator and referee use) - Visible timer (spectator only) - Spawn target (spectator only) - End match and declare winner (spectator only) - Change map in lobby - Added ‘referee’ user level New changes brought to you by the Experimental Crew, a dedicated group of players working closely with Muse to bring your feedback into reality! Vet to novice, all are welcome. Join the Crew!
• Water Hazard, Northern Fjords, and Fight over Firnfeld activated for 4v4 Deathmatch
• Crazy King - All CK maps are activated for 2v2 and 3v3 - Reduced capture and decap times to 15 seconds (from 30) - Reduced capture point active time to 170 seconds (from 198) - Point A is always first - All new start spawns surround Point A - Point radius is 200 (from 150). - Respawns completely redone on all CK maps - Respawns are shared on all CK maps
• Anglean Raiders - Point limit to 500 (from 450) - Reordered points to minimize long travel. - Moved B8 point to C2 and lowered - Moved I8 point to G9 - Raised flight ceiling 100 meters. Effects all Firnfeld maps (excluding Breach Occupation)
• Raid on the Refinery - Point limit to 500 (from 450) - Raised flight ceiling 100 meters. Effects all Blackcliff maps.
• King of the Flayed Hills - Point limit to 650 (from 550) - Removed point in A2 - Added points in D7, G4 and I4 - Reordered points
• Veteran Defense drills increased durability - This also affects ‘emplacements’ such as enemy walls and turrets in other modes
• Adjustments to Infiltrate - Lower rate of fire on turrets - Decreased range - Reduced fire stacks per hit to 5
• Mobula - Forward Speed: 28m/s (from 26) - Forward Acceleration: 4m/s2 (from 3.5) - Vertical Acceleration: 5.5m/s2 (from 4.75) - Vertical speed 15m/s (from 17.07) - Magnate - Armor: 620 (from 525, exactly 8 spanner hits) - Turn Speed: 15deg/s (from 11.5)
• Junker - Forward Speed: 30m/s (from 26.01) - Vertical Speed: 13m/s (from 17.06)
• Stormbreaker - Armor: 320 (from 700) - Speed: 30m/s (from 29.91) - Forward Acceleration: 15m/s2 (from 29.21) - Turn Speed: 16deg/s (from 18) - Turn Acceleration: 10deg/s2 (from 12.38) - Vertical Speed: 16m/s (from 12.99) - Vertical Acceleration: 3m/s2 (from 6.32) - Gun 2 moved left and angled 40° to port (from 15°) - Gun 4 angled 115° to port (from 90°) - Hull and Balloon fixpoint positions switched. Balloon fixpoint move more forward. - Fork in front of balloon is now Hull hitbox. - Two braces on right side of main balloon are now Hull hitbox. - Small increase in size of right side Balloon hitbox.
• Spire - All structure surrounding Balloon is now Balloon hitbox (was Hull)

Fixes:

• Goldfish sails color map texture
• Slots 3 & 4 in crew switched gunners to engineers when a ship swap occurs
• World map event buff duration longer than it should be
• Prompt to save character changes even there's nothing changed
• The team color boxes on ship loadout customization screen appeared white
• Faction rewards renamed
• Light mount screw showing on multiple ships. Removed lower geometry.
• Fixed launcher text/line spacing

[ 2018-01-16 18:44:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

Servers are going through the regular reboot. Due to windows update taking longer than expected, it may take another 15-20 minutes of down time. Sorry for the inconvience!

[ 2018-01-08 11:47:13 CET ] [ Original post ]

New content:

• Blackcliff Butchery added to PvP: With the many refineries and support facilities in the area, there has always been high explosive activity in the skies. However, when there’s only one point of interest remaining, you can surely expect a vicious grind between sides for dominance. Only the strongest will reign!

Events:

• The Black Pearl: Unlocking the premiere map of this update will require everyone’s effort in celebrating the very game mode it was designed for! Join in on any King of the Hill map or Crazy King map and complete matches to contribute to the public unlocking of this ‘black pearl’ of maps!

Changes:

• Nemesis Heavy Carronade: Increased direct dmg to 125 shatter dmg (from 70), increased push force to 100,000kNs (from 10,000)
• Incendiary Ammo: Removed clip size penalty, increased ignition chance to 25% (from 20%), added accelerate fires at 100 (for every 100 points of base damage the gun deals, an extra fire charge is applied on a successful ignition chance). This damage is calculated based on pre-hit modifiers (buff and ammo multipliers), while ignoring part type modifiers. 300 Shatter damage will cause the same amount of fires as 300 Flechette damage on any part it hits.
• Typhon Heavy Flak MK I: Decreased # of fire stacks caused by direct damage to 3 (from 5)
• Goldfish: Increased forward top speed to 42m/s (from 40.11), increase forward acceleration to 3.6m/s2 (from 3.5)
• Pyramidion: Decreased forward acceleration to 3.5m/s2 (from 4)
• Squid: Increased top turn speed to 22m/s2 (from 19.11), decreased lateral drag to 0.75 (from 1.36)

Fixes:

• Fixed prices for Test Subject and Research Thief to 5200 (from 7500) world items to accurately reflect improving returns.

[ 2017-11-20 16:11:03 CET ] [ Original post ]

New content:

• Failsafe added to PvP: Nothing like another gizmo for the arsenal of tools on an engineer's belt strap! Now you can enjoy the power of the failsafe tool in PvP warfare, use the careful automatic functions to maintain all the bolts and whistles of your components while you hold the ship together with glue and a healthy wad of spit shine!
  
  
  
• Added 1v1(AI) to Pirate Deathmatch in Novice and Practice
• War monument added: Victory for the Gilt Authority in their unwavering charge against the Vanguard Fleets has earned them a resounding victory in the war! Lands and riches stand changed by the events and the victors erecting the symbol of their might for all to see!

Changes:

• Judgement lateral drag increased to 2.5 from 1. This will reduce sideways drift.
• Novice Deathmatch and Practice Bot Deathmatch renamed to Pirate Deathmatch
• Improved novice menus to address the most commonly asked questions.

Fixes:

• Missing check/cancel on mask dye buttons.
• Decals are repeating and bleeding over
• Fixed some texture issues with the “Eli T. Pumpkins” mask
• PvE to PvP content fix

[ 2017-11-03 16:17:36 CET ] [ Original post ]

We put out a few fires earlier, and it looks like it's unlocked a special new item, free to anyone who logs in!

[ 2017-10-28 14:43:09 CET ] [ Original post ]

New content:

The Yeshan Judgement is now available in PvP! Have you ever considered that the world to be too chaotic? People not falling in line? No one listening to your orders? Now you can finally set things straight in true Yeshan fashion with the Yeshan Judgement ship. Use its double heavy gun layout to drop any enemy that tries to cross your path in PvP. Finally bring order to the skies with this deadly addition.

Events:

Dare Devil’s Run: Flying with the wind! Alliance players will need to beat the clock with fifty successful missions in any mission to earn your place among the clouds! Simply complete 50 matches in under 5 minutes with Hard difficulty or higher within two weeks to earn the 'Pale Accomplice' decal! Rise of the Machine: Cast shadows across the skies and intimidate your foes into submission with your obsidian black sails. Completing this requires able sky sailors to win 30 matches in 2 weeks using the Judgement ship in order to earn the exclusive 'Sky Dog' decal! Steam Upgrade Deal: Are you an owner of Guns of Icarus: Online? Now you can upgrade to Alliance at 50% off! Check out the store page for your eligibility!

Changes:

• Matchmaker is only enabled with 60 or more concurrent users. Players are sent to match list directly otherwise.
• Players in crew slot 3 and 4 are automatically switched to engineer. They can still change to gunner if they’re in pregame lobbies. Crew slot 2 remains the same (allows both engineer and gunner).
• UI adjustments: Buttons, match list menu, text chat box, clan menu layout
• Engineer special ability: attack drone, renamed ‘Choppy’

New balance changes brought to you buy the Player Council. Enjoy!

• Hwacha: Jitter 4.25 degrees (from 5), Direct dmg 24.66 (from 25), AoE dmg 50 (from 45)
• Light Flak: Arming time 0.375s (from 0.4285, same arming range of ~150m after all changes considered), Jitter 0.5 degrees (from 1.25), Muzzle speed 400m/s (from 350), maximum range 1200m (from 1000), Yaw rotation 130 degrees (from 100)
• Pyramidion: Mass 200 tonnes (from 300), Forward speed 32m/s (from 30.36), Forward acceleration 4m/s2 (from 2.25), Turn acceleration 8d/s2 (6.25)
• Squid: Fixed longstanding configuration error that affected armor and hull health. Returned to standard 330 armor and 450 hull health.

Fixes:

• Fixed altimeter upper limit being misleading on some maps (Blackcliff)
• Fixed some reload speed modifiers (notably Gunner stamina) not applying to animations/sounds properly
• Fixed incorrect lighting on avatar preview on low settings
• Fixed golden Fail-Safe Kit showing the wrong asset on affected parts
• Fixed a calculation error that caused ships’ top turning/forward speeds in practice to be slightly slower than intended.
• Fixed incorrect pathfinding data on a few maps where enemies could spawn or path into obstacles (Downfall Departure, Parous Glen, Voyager’s Cove, and Burning Wastes

[ 2017-10-16 21:45:03 CET ] [ Original post ]

New Content:

• Search & Destroy: Night map of Drowning Wastes. Night map expansion continues! This time to Search & Destroy. We wanted to add to the Search & Destroy contents, which are long overdue. This night map will bring a new dynamic to this game mode, enjoy!
  
• Oblivion converted to Infiltration! Play it now on Downfall Departure! Infiltration is another game mode that needs more! So we’re adding more, expanding the Oblivion map to support the game mode. It adds a different dynamic to the experience. Enjoy!
  
• VIP Deathmatch: Blackcliff Entourage. VIP Deathmatch gets expanded map support with Clash at Blackcliff!
  
• Old Dog Achievements extended! Play the next level of the Old Dog achievements for new goodies like the Jeweled Nautilus decal, Cowboy victory pose, and golden Fail-Safe Kit.

Events:

• Steam Sale: Guns of Icarus Alliance, with all the PvE goodness, will be included in this week’s Weeklong Deals at 66% off! You’ll now be able to buy a copy for yourself or friends for under $5. Thanks so much for your support! Guns of Icarus Online will be a part of it at 75% off as well. Enjoy!
• Closing the Gap: Following our successful Hell Pays 2 event, this new Community Event features a cooperation goal, seek out novices or veterans alike, play matches and win! (or lose) with the chance of learning the game mechanics and possibly make some new friends. Learn & teach with each other to accomplish better cooperation and gameplay! It just takes 50 matches with at least one novice on board to complete the achievement in three weeks time! Accomplishing this will earn you the ‘Scout's Occulus’ for both genders. Happy hunting and clear skies to all!
  
• Broken Hammer Indiegogo: The epic All Is Fair In Dust and Air Visual Novel’s Indiegogo campaign is going on! Support them here: All is Fair in Dust and Air
  

Changes:

• Minotaur: Jitter reduced to 2 (from 3), muzzle speed increased to 700m/s (from 550), reduced pitch arcs to 30 to -20 degrees (from 30 to -30), increased yaw arcs to -40 to 40 (from -30 to 30), turn speed increased to 40 d/s (from 20), increase ammo to 5 (from 4), reduced buckshot count to 4 (from 5), increased RoF to 0.67 bullets/s (from 0.33), reduced knockdown to 300,000 (from 400,000)
• Hwacha: Jitter increased to 5 (from 4), muzzle speed increased to 300m/s (from 250), burst size decreased to 5.5m (from 7)
• Judgement: Decreased forward speed to 28m/s (35.5), decreased forward acceleration to 4m/s2 (4.4), decreased turn speed to 12m/s (17.45), decreased turn acceleration to 8m/s2 (11), reduced vertical acceleration to 3m/s2 (5.5). Thrust from engines balanced more towards the front engines than the back. Hull health increase to 1000 (from 500). Balloon repair point moved down slightly to allow fixing from below without jumping.
• Junker: Hull repair point moved forward slightly to allow repairing from front without jumping.
• UI: Updated the Profile Page design which includes a bit more information.
• UI: Updated World map functionality to display every territory’s resources.
• Added Cowboy victory pose

Fixes:

• Altimeter adjusted for Height Ceiling on 2v2 Blackcliff
• Fixed controls locking up when a player's deadzone was set to 0
• Sharpened Mag Ammo icon
• Updated Wilson's Notes for the Kalakuta Gas Mortar description
• Fixed some collision issues with large rotating units (Alliance bosses most notably), including one that could cause player ships to be “vacuumed” into it.

[ 2017-09-13 15:32:02 CET ] [ Original post ]

To all Sky Captains and Crew

The Guns’n Graves Update is now upon us! As typical of every update, there’s something for everyone. Our weapons lab and MKII program have kicked into high gear for PvE combat, and the results are 6 new weapons, one for each faction. While in the spirit of their predecessors, these new guns are at the same time vastly different. So, use them with reckless abandon! At the same time, we have a new PvP deathmatch map for your enjoyment as well. Check out below for all the latest in this update!

New content:

Alliance Mk II weapons: Each faction has been hard at work, putting time into their R&D departments to create new weapons of destruction. All six factions will receive a MK II version of their specialized weapon. There will be something familiar about them, but the way in which they are used and where will be different. Ranking up to faction level 12 will unlock these weapons. The MK II weapons have also been retroactively added to the Grandmaster achievements so for those of you who have unlocked them already, you should see new rewards waiting for you to be redeemed!

Kalakuta Gas Mortar Mk II - New variations on the original Gas Mortar, the Mk II encompasses more shatter and piercing with rapid fire cloud bursts, superb for clearing the skies of enemy air patrols!

Aten Lens Array Mk II - The power of a thousand suns concentrated in recalibrated lenses for maximum area of effect! With this alternative design you can spread the area of damage in exchange for less concentrated fire and when used at the right time will scorch a squadron of ships in no time!

Immortal Gaze Heavy Accelerator Mk II - Crafty design and unearthed technologies can reward your gun mounts with devastating firepower. This heavy gun now boasts improved focus fire against components and rapid charge up times!

Roaring Tiger Heavy Detonator Mk II - Another prized weapon of the skies, this Mk II weapon offers a buckshot spread of explosive ordnance that can quickly dispatch enemy vessels within reach! Remote detonation by gunners can also trigger calculated shots for maximum damage effect!

Februus Weaponized Coil Mk II - Engineers with too much time on their hands have produced an even wilder design, by improving upon the original with piercing and shatter damage not to mention multiple component damage on individual ships. Chaotic and wild, perfect for an enterprising sky captain that’s crazy enough to use it.

Seraph Tempest Missiles Mk II - This alternative design offers a single shot but guidance controlled rocket to its target. Since the engineers managed to condense more ordinance into each beautifully packaged rocket, expect more damage and greater clip sizes to help in aiding your vessel through these crowded skies!

New PvP Map: Graveyard Rumble - Navigate wreckage at dusk as you vye for the upper hand in aerial combat! Inspired by the popular reception of the map in Skyball, Graveyard Rumble is our new 2v2, 3v3, and 4v4 Deathmatch map!

New Ammo Type: Extended Magazine - For those who just want to keep shooting into the sky. +45% clip size, -10% rate of fire, -15% damage. Brought to you by the Player Council.

Changes:

• Changed Reward image for clarity
• Improved controller support
• The helm now supports fully continuous steering and altitude controls
• Sensitivity curves for aiming have been improved to allow more precision without sacrificing turn speed
• Improved novice loadouts for Skirmish ships. Brought to you by the Player Council.

Fixes:

• Fixed achievement "No Mercy 4" (killing supply ships in the Defense mission on Hard difficulty) not registering any supply ship kills.
• Fixed errors on boss beam weapon.
• World map: fixed province screen description text overflowing its boxed.
• World map: fixed province city icons being displaced to borders or in other provinces.
• World map: the province of Cathedral has a “standard” dot instead of the larger dot used for faction capitals.
• Added missing Shrike graphic in the "Evadne's Reports" book.
• Commendations notification once again appears during the end match sequence.
• Fixed Aten Laser [Mk. S] to Aten Lens Array [Mk. S].
• Added additional terrain to southeast corner of Voyager base to prevent bosses spawning in southeast from attacking the base when it spawns. Unfortunately, it’s harder to fly over that ridge as a result.
• Fixed clouds rendering differently when zoomed in (using spyglass etc).
• Fixed cargo barges sometimes spawning underground on Voyager's Cove.
• Fixed AI crew having trouble aiming Tempest missile launcher after a player has used it.
• Added blocking terrain in Voyagers to block boss from attacking too far.
• Added missing icons in rewards page.

Balance:

• Lochnagar Shot: +200% base chance of catching on fire when shot at with fire chance dealing weapons (from none. This means a 10% chance will become 20%), deals 12 Fire damage to gun per shot (from none, not to be confused with its proportional damage per shot). Brought to you by the Player Council.
• Aten Lens Array [Mk. S]: Direct 1 Piercing dmg (from 0.8) and 5% fire chance (from 15%), 0.4 Fire dmg (from .8). Brought to you by the Player Council.

All Is Fair In Dust and Air Visual Novel:

Do you love the universe and want to experience more? Our friends at Broken Hammer Games have started an Indiegogo project for a visual novel based on the universe of Guns of Icarus. Follow the link below to support their project for a chance explore the world and its inhabitants! Click here to find out more!

[ 2017-08-08 20:36:51 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone, We have lowered the price on Guns of Icarus Alliance! This permanent price drop is intended to lower the gate of entry and to help us bring in more players and open more opportunities down the road. This isn’t just good news for people looking to buy Guns of Icarus Alliance though. To thank everyone who bought around release and supported us while you missed out on the $5 price drop, you will be receiving over $20 of free items. All you have to do is turn on your game and you’ll recieve items in the rewards section under special events and “full price celebration.”
Here’s a full list of the rewards.

• Traveler Theme
• Crimson dye x2
• White dye x2
• Eagle Figurehead
• Garrison Cap (Male)
• Garrison Cap (Female)
• Jewelers eye (Male)
• Jewelers eye (Female)
• Maddyson (Male)
• Corsair (Female)
• The Conductor (Male)
• The Conductor (Female)

These items are the least we can do for our players who have supported us. We get to follow our dream of making games because of all of you!

[ 2017-07-27 20:38:33 CET ] [ Original post ]

It's a special weekend. A whole new slew of PvE MK2 weapons are in the dev app after we tested them all weekend. Testing will be at 5 pm eastern today (July 14th) and 12 pm eastern tomorrow (July 15th.) To hear all the latest updates first, join our Discord Experimental Crew! Our notes are below, but we can't wait to hear your thoughts.

MK2 Light Weapons

Gas Mortar- New effects have made this weapon stand out with it's fading and dangerous clouds. Like WW2 flak it bursts in the sky in a brief moment of destruction. Lightning Gun- This one is definitely on the overpowered side, we're doing our best to relook at this weapon. Lens Array- A cone of death! We spent the week tweaking the effects, but enjoy the new wide spread laser. True area clear. Tempest Missiles- Guided single missiles fired more rapidly, this weapon has gone from under to over powered then reigned in. Test it out and try for yourself!

MK2 Heavy Weapons

Cavitation Gun- Amazing at stopping convoys, we used this to abuse ships that had a goal and control them. Can you? Remote Launcher- throwing out a storm of explosions and shrapnel. It looks cool, but are there any masters out there that will make the most of it?

[ 2017-07-14 18:39:11 CET ] [ Original post ]

Ammopocalypse

New content:

• Monuments on the map for the last winning faction during war. Also special events such as the Pirate Week winners will be shown here. The world will now be permanently marked with the wins of your faction so try your hardest to dominate the world!

• Ashen King—King of the hill version of Ashen Scuffle. More deadly than the leviathan the Ashen King tunnel is high value target, but also a deathtrap. Controlling the point guarantees victory, but also a bloody battle of attrition. Don’t let your claustrophobia get the best of you in this tight battleground

• Voyager’s Cove Night Maps. Night descends on Voyager’s Cove. Bright greens and flora find themselves plunged into darkness with only explosions to light the landscape. Defend your base from a daring night raid and punish the invaders.

• Misty Mutiny Night Maps. PvP also gets another night map. There’s danger around every corner as the darkness conceals your enemies. Do your best to hunt them down as you find yourself fighting shadows or light up the world with the false sun of flares.
• Magnate now available for PVP. Our testers have put it through the wringer and now the Merchants find themselves in PvP. Take this unique golden ship into the skies against powerful crews. Extremely deadly and durable, push your enemies from the field.

• Aten Lens Array Mk. S now available for PVP. Embrace laser life. Make the skies a deadly rave with the Aten Lens Array. Bringing piercing and fire damage there are few parts of the ship that can withstand a prolonged assault. Remember the gun can’t move while firing though, so as soon as you see that laser, DODGE!

• Conductor Pride. Show your support for LGBT with these tweaked items. Proceeds will be donated to LGBT charities. So look stylish, help a good cause, and show off your pride!

Changes:

• Character Customizer now acts as class changer
• World Map Territory Improvements: New UI to better inform players of progress, change, and movement in individual territories.  Periodic buffs can be unlocked for completing major ‘battles’ to increase sense of progression and achievement.  Buffs are activated when a Captain deploys at a territory where buffs have been unlocked for their entire ship.
• Magnate (Player Council): -10% armor, 15m/s2 turn acceleration (from 21), 15m/s max turns peed (from 12.5), 3.5 vertical acceleration (from 3)
• Burst Rounds (Player Council): +10% AoE damage (from none), -15% rate of fire (from none)
• Heatsink Clip  (Player Council): Vanilla clip size (from +30%), extinguishes all fire on reload (from 3)
• Charged Rounds  (Player Council): +20% projectile speed (from none), -20% jitter (from none)

Fixes:

• Include BLOCKADE in rematch vote option
• Fixed excessive hit lag on Aten Lens Array
• Fixed inconsistent warm up time calculations (most obvious on Aten Lens Array - correct behavior is that the trigger must be held for 1.75 seconds before any shots are fired, resetting whenever the trigger is released or the gun reloads)
• Fixed Aten Lens Array beam not appearing when fired more than 300 meters away
• Anglean Raiders/Fight over Firnfeld maps are the wrong scale
• "A Perfect World" achievement now correctly counts base health in Defense (base must be at 100% health when match ends, can have fallen below that and been repaired by cargo)
• Fixed missing map for Misty Mutiny (practice)
• Engine sound issue when turning
• Banshee keeps emitting smoke after reloading
• Windows: incorrect rendering API fallback order
• Strange behavior (disappearing, lagging) of beams

[ 2017-07-03 13:58:57 CET ] [ Original post ]

Internal testing is back and just in time for next weeks patch! Between cons, updates, broken test server and a rock climbing trip for the office, we've definitely had a break between Gazettes, but now's your chance to get a sneak peek at everything coming your way. If you want to hear about it first hand, follow us at twitch.tv/gunsoficarus where we show off every internal session and give away the password to the dev games early (and your chance for free items.)

New Night Map: Voyagers Cove

Night is no longer unique to Parous Glen. We've updated the solar cycle to also affect the normally bright and cheerful Voyagers Cove. Explore the darkened corners of this defense map and make your own light with flares, fire, and explosions. This definitely isn't the last map where darkness will become your greatest ally so keep an eye out!

New PvP Map: Ashen King

Desert Scrap may no longer be the most deadly map with the introduction of Ashen King. Fight for a single point in the middle of the cave structure. Forced together in some of the bloodiest close quarters maps. Fight the correct assault angle and work together to hold onto the point. Tar and Mines recommended!

[ 2017-06-30 17:12:16 CET ] [ Original post ]

We’re partnering with Steam on a one of a kind sale just for Guns of Icarus owners and friends. Owners of Guns of Icarus titles get 50% off for a limited time*, when you buy a copy for a friend on Steam! *Offer ends June 7th at 10AM PT

[ 2017-05-31 17:03:24 CET ] [ Original post ]

New content:

• New factions! The final factions have been added, the Arashi League and Yesha Empire. Each come with their own ship, gun, and cosmetics that are waiting to be unlocked.
  
• Ship: Arashi Stormbreaker. An extremely agile ship to weave in and out of combat with ease. It may not be the fastest or the toughest, but with the right pilot and crew it’ll be a hard target to chase down while packing a massive punch.
• Gun: Immortal Gaze Heavy Accelerator. Put together from the scraps buried beneath the sand, the Arashi have harnessed a mysterious and devastating power in the form of a new heavy gun. Hold down to charge its power and tear through armor and components.
  
• Ship: Yeshan Judgement. A powerful ship with a primary and secondary heavy gun ready for dishing out significant damage from afar. A skillful pilot will be able to train the majority of the ship’s guns on enemies, but beware a spread out component layout.
• Gun: Roaring Tiger Heavy Detonator. Exacting control are strong Yeshan characteristics that have even carried through to their weaponry. Launch powerful bombs into the air that can be detonated mid-flight with the alt fire button. Each bomb explodes 4 times!
  
• Game Mode: Blockade. Control the skies in this high-octane struggle between the defence of your faction's refineries against bomber ships & repelling skirmisher attacks from the enemy fleet!
  

Changes:

• War has changed the world… strong borders can been erected where battles wrought the most devastation. Seek new alliances, face new challanges for an unknown future...
• All daily login rewards now include coins.
• Adjusted faction colors for colorblindness
• Added vignette to World Map
• Tempest projectile performance improvements
• Boss particles on guns tweaks
• Better inflow for 'solo' players
• Matched map icons for blockade to loading screen and sidebar
• Enemy faction is now randomized when rematching in the same lobby

Fixes:

• Fixed binding of inverted joystick "look" axes
• Fixed missing click sound feedback in video options
• Resolutions lower than 1024x768 are no longer shown in video options (they were incompatible with some UI anyway)
• Fixed flickering decorations on birthday Magnate
• Magnate: Fixed the "hole" where you can walk off the ship
• Fixed some joystick/controller input being framerate dependant
• Binding settings: changing tabs doesn't go to the top
• Fix misleading adjacency lines on world map
• Fixed missing airplane sounds
• Munitions upgrade from killing supply ships no longer modifies reload time (previously was bugged and increased reload time by 25%)
• Fixed invisible hitbox suspended in mid-air on Northern Fjords
• Inconsistent fonts on icon display and map
• "Not Ready" in Match Lobby Lowercase
• Fixed boss potentially not spawning when multiple progress events trigger in very rapid succession
• Water collider and fan colliders

[ 2017-05-30 18:25:24 CET ] [ Original post ]

The first war of Icarus ends. Long live the North! The war ends with a begrudging surrender. The Northern Guard claims victory and an uneasy peace settles across the land. A peace that is more of a mask for the next insidious attacks from all the factions, piracy. Those that don't accept the fight as over are taking to raiding and pillaging. Some are loyalists looking to fight for honor others are opportunists looking to take the post-war chaos to make a quick buck. So hide in your safe territory and strike out and plunder the world. Do it for your faction, for your pocket, and for an exclusive title! The faction that has the most successful attacks by the end of the mission will all earn the exclusive Pirate title. No need to hold the territory, just capture, plunder, and move on! This will continue until the 30th when a new patch drops and new factions join in with even more content!

[ 2017-05-18 18:11:42 CET ] [ Original post ]

I’m confused. Why are there two Guns of Icarus games?

Guns of Icarus Online is our original game, released back in 2012. It is an online-only team-based PVP (player-vs-player) game in which players join the crews of multiplayer-controlled steampunk airships and have huge battles in the sky, from two-on-two skirmishes right up to epic four-a-side battles. Guns of Icarus Alliance is our new game that’s only been out for a month! It was originally intended to be an expansion for the base game, pitched initially as an “adventure mode” that would introduce PVE (player-vs-environment) missions for players who weren’t interested in PVP. Early in development it became clear that our vision was much bigger than a humble expansion pack, so Alliance eventually became a new stand-alone game.

So has Alliance completely replaced Online?

Yes and no. Online still exists as a stand-alone game of pure PVP, but it is closely tied to Alliance. Players in both games can talk to each other, and in-game assets purchases and all Steam achievements are shared across both games. Online is still available to buy on Steam at a greatly discounted price. However, anybody who buys Alliance gets Online free and can play all of the content from both games in a single package. Alliance offers the complete Guns of Icarus experience, including both PVP battles, PVE missions, and the dynamic online world that ties it all together. For those with no interest in PVE, Online will still be there to offer awesome PVP goodness.

Does this mean Online is a dead product?

Nope, Online is still a living game with a large install base and an active player population. We won’t lie to you: Alliance is our new baby and we’re definitely focusing most of our attention on it, but a huge amount of content for this new game will be fed back into the original. We are always coming up with new content, including mysterious new factions armed with their own unique airships, weapons, and upgrades. Many additions to Alliance will also expand Online, so even if you are only playing PVP and have no interest in new political powers invading the world, any ships and equipment brought into the game by these new factions will also be made available to you. Even better, you can join a faction and have an impact on the game world just by playing PVP, without spending a single cent upgrading to Alliance. Essentially, even if you don’t buy Alliance, its existence will keep making Online bigger and better for our loyal players.

Is this some kind of scam or ripoff to squeeze more money out of your players?

Not at all. Anyone who is enjoying the original PVP action of Guns of Icarus Online can carry on enjoying it as long as they want to without sending us a single cent. We aren’t forcing anyone to buy anything they don’t want to, so if you’re happy with Online as it is, please keep on enjoying it. Guns of Icarus Alliance was an enormous project that took us over three years to complete. This is not a map pack or a handful of new mission types: this is an entirely new way to play the game. We have added a dynamic and ever-changing online world that reacts to players’ victories and defeats, a living story that is being written week by week according to events in the game, an extremely complex AI system that makes the entire PVE experience possible, and so much more. It is a much bigger project than Online ever was. We feel like we are charging a fair price for Alliance, and we have also sweetened the deal for existing players by offering a discounted price to upgrade until May 30th. We also offered some heavily-discounted pre-order deals during the development process, and players who got on board during the Kickstarter in 2013 also got a very good deal. If you still think we’re ripping our players off then there probably isn’t anything else we could say to change your mind. Sorry we couldn’t convince you!

I backed Alliance during the Kickstarter or pre-ordered it. Where’s my copy?

If you one of the awesome people who supported the development of Alliance before release and registered your Steam ID with us, you should already have access to play Alliance. Visit the Alliance store page and you should see a notification saying “Guns of Icarus Alliance is already in your Steam library” and a “play now” button. If you don’t see this message, then something has gone wrong. We’re sorry! Please email feedback@musegames.com and we’ll get it fixed for you ASAP!

[ 2017-05-10 18:29:51 CET ] [ Original post ]

Greetings Fellow Sky captains and Crews! We created the Tower of Babel! A maddening structure made by an angry god of code for our attempts to break the sky. While last night our new buildings looked good for Ambush, check out the violent dealings of our newest test build! If you want to be the first to see all the content we’re working on. Follow us at twitch.tv/gunsoficarus where we show off every internal session and give away the password to the dev games early (and your chance for free items.)

NEW Bug: Towers of Babel

The new ambush building scaled up massively, but its collision box didn’t so the start of our test was in the middle of a massive structure that was impossible to find the top or end of. Do not test the jealous gods of code for they will smite you!

NEW Ship Naming: Yeshan

We were testing out the Yeshan ship with our latest fixes and something struck the team. We have not named the Yeshan craft (player and enemy) yet, but it’s something we’re working on right now. If there’s something that strikes you from what you’ve seen. Let us know!

[ 2017-05-03 21:34:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

Greetings Fellow Sky captains and Crews! We crashed our testing server! We were testing a bunch of MK2 weapons and broke the server! In Between crashing everything we got to try some truly exciting things that we can’t wait to share with everyone. If you want to be the first to see all the content we’re working on. Follow us at twitch.tv/gunsoficarus where we show off every internal session and give away the password to the dev games early (and your chance for free items.)

New Gun: Mk2 Project

We’re trying to expand on the success of the Heavy Flak Mk2 which has been amazing to see players use. Today we tried everything from shotgun lasers to the newest room clearing Mk2 Cavitation Gun. We’re not 100% sold on it yet, but it was a great test especially when combined with Mk2 Telsa! The Mk2 Tempest with a slow moving missile offered a unique take on the weapon, but we have quite a few more ideas for all the weapons before we settle.

New Gun: Fan Made Mk2

Eric hasn’t been the only one trying out crazy new weapons. We took the Mk2 Carronade into Search and Destroy to a solid victory. The cannonballs over grapeshot approach was intriguing. There’s a lot of potential there and it was great to see how guys from the art team and engineering team reacted to this new and exciting beast.

[ 2017-04-26 20:57:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

New content:

Night descends on Icarus!

• Parous Glen (Night)
• Ashen Scuffle (Night)
  • Enjoy a new visual experience as you navigate a dark and ominous lava-scape. These are the first of many night maps and have been testing for a while. This comes with a lighting change to lamps on ships to make sure even if you have a hard time seeing ahead of you, you’ll still know where you are on the ship!

PvP gains Alliance ship and gun!

• New PvP Ship: Shike
• New PvP Gun: Tempest Missile Launcher
  • Global community challenge. Since PvE players have to unlock new guns and ships, we wanted to attach the same idea to new PvP content. To make sure some players don’t have tools that others don’t, it’s a global challenge. Once 4700 matches of PvE are completed both the ship and gun will be available to everyone in PvP! We want to use this system for a bunch of rewards so let us know what you think!

• Leadership medals
  • The first leaders earned a special reward for taking the top spots on the leaderboard. This was something we did manually, but now every leader will automatically get a medal and title for the work they’ve put in.

War begins!

The merchants hit their war goal over the weekend and with that, the small squabbles between factions have blown up into a full blown war! Merchants join arms with the Chaladon as the Immortal Insurrection and find themselves squaring off against the Northern Guard the combined forces of the Republic and Baronies. Get into game to vote for your alliance’s goals. You decide your reasons for fighting and what you need to fight for next.

Changes:

• Added a message that appears when a running Steam client is not detected, and prompts the user to restart Steam and then the game (used to quit immediately)
• Changed display of Wall and Mission Reward to display approximated real efforts and % change instead of abstraction of curve that these are based on
• Crusader visual adjustments
• More accessible wanted leaderboard
• Reduced leadership time to 4 days (from 7)
• Updated opening cinematic
• See skills and guns and ships locked and show how to unlock them with rollover
• Added instructions for the world map
• Tutorial improvements
• Enemy AA Ordnance: Muzzle speed 500m/s (from 350)
• Infiltration: Increase enemy budget, increased VIP hunting task force 0.5 (from 0.4), fixed issue with walls and enemy spawning interaction
• Assault: Increased enemy budget, Mining Outpost (intermediate base) hull +30% and armor +25%, Manufacturing base (final base) hull +25%
• Hard difficulty: Enemy base and AA ordnance damage -13% (from -25&)
• Veteran difficulty: Drill & dases durability +35% (from 0), Enemy base and AA Ordnance damage +50% (from 0)
• Hell difficulty: Erill & dases durability +55% (from 25)
• New menu for books

Fixes:

• Achievement adjustments and fixes
• MAC: When displaying function keys to the player, macs now add 'fn +' in front of it
• Chat overlaps window
• Fixed a pathfinding issue that could cause matches to freeze up on certain maps (Thornholt Crest most notably)
• On the statistics screen, if one hadn't played a class yet, the most played ship is no longer shown as a white square
• Infiltration: fixed mismatch between in-game and match-end display of VIP health
• The CA list no longer continues off the UI when there are more than 7 CAs online
• Fixed glitched world map when a system language other than US English was in use
• Fixed typo in Lochnagar description
• Fixed broken storm sky transitions after exiting a match while a transition was active
• Fixed an error caused by people trying to activate special abilities in PvP
• Team tab now properly displays the teams when spectating to the end match screen of a PvP match
• Increased flare gun’s light brightness and fixed it overbrighting the helm
• Fixed lights not falling back to vertex path (should improve dark maps on low settings)
• Clan membership button disappears
• Inconsistent load-out preview when joining ongoing match
• Character customization lighting darkened
• Fixed resource display during war
• Fixed unlocked faction ships are not accessible in Evadne's Ship Reports
• Fixed missing loading screen images

[ 2017-04-25 13:53:01 CET ] [ Original post ]

Greetings Fellow Sky captains and Crews! Yeshan are being testing now! We got to fight chargers and strikers (not their final name) and their mighty boss, the Eviscerator. If you want to be the first to see all the content we’re working on. Follow us at twitch.tv/gunsoficarus where we show off every internal session and give away the password to the dev games early (and your chance for free items.) Internal testing happens every Wednesday and Friday at 11 am eastern. Though due to our schedule in the office, this can change. Be sure to follow to be the first to see everything!

New Ships: Yeshan

The new enemies are live! With a lot of work done on them they are powerful beasts that work to extend Yeshan’s mighty reach. We will definitely give them more immersive names than Charger and Striker, but for now that’s a good example of what they do. Striking powerful hits and terrifying devastating charges. Our early fights with them focused on attacking those bulbous balloons with massive success, but we can’t wait to see .

New Boss: Eviscerator

Truly a monster to behold, check out this sneak peak of the Eviscerator. Definitely want to make some changes to both its power and weapon layout, we’re really happy with this first fight against the beast. We’ll be tweaking it asap and getting it ready to be in player crosshairs! As always, thank you for flying with Guns of Icarus Alliance. -Keyvias

[ 2017-04-19 19:45:13 CET ] [ Original post ]

Greetings Fellow Sky captains and Crews! Things broke! But, that’s what should happen in testing and this one looked really interesting. While the team works hard on the fixes and changes to the world map (details incoming!) we continued our work on Ambush and night maps! Remember, if you want to see everything first and live, we are now streaming our internal testing sessions (no commentary) a at twitch.tv/gunsoficarus]make sure you follow to see when they appear! It’s normally Tuesday and Thursday at 11 am eastern, but times are subject to change depending on the team’s needs. The only way to stay up to date is to follow!

New Bug: From Night to Day

Internal testing doesn’t just mean cool new things. Sometimes it's seeing how different systems interact. The eclipse from last week bumped into a unique glitch with our boss spawns. Hopefully by now you’ve noticed that when a boss enters the map, the world reacts sometimes with storms, sometimes with different lighting, and other visual effects. Well one of those meteorological effects caused our eclipse to turn into full day. A wild and different effect, it was weirdly unexpected, but an interesting glitch for us to explore.

Continued Work: Ambush

The map has been signed off on! That means this will be the final time you see the blocky textureless terrain for Ambush testing. We took on the waves of convoys and even closed off passes with mine storms! We can’t wait to show off this finished map as the art team takes a pass over it. As always, thank you for flying with Guns of Icarus Alliance -Keyvias

[ 2017-04-13 20:00:22 CET ] [ Original post ]

Greetings Fellow Sky captains and Crews! Week 2 begins with an eclipse. We just released a hotfix to address a lot of the feedback we have received.  You can find all the notes here. While we squash bugs though production is not slowing down on new content and exciting features for the game! We are now streaming our internal testing sessions (no commentary) and you’ll be able to watch them at twitch.tv/gunsoficarus make sure you follow to see when they appear! It’s normally Tuesday and Thursday at 11 am eastern, but times are subject to change depending on the team’s needs. The only way to stay up to date is to follow! New Maps: Night Mode Previous glitch is now feature! Night maps are real! We found a way to keep enough light to identify enemies while still having a powerful darkness that makes explosions spectacular and combat riveting. This is just one of many drafts and look out for a bunch of night maps on their way.
Continued work: Voyager’s Cove and Stormbreaker We continued working with the new stormbreaker figuring out some bug locations (no longer teleport when you go to the new locations we added) and on voyagers cove testing out different difficulties and AI decisions in there. Thank you everyone for flying in our skies, the amazing feedback, and for being a great community! -Keyvias

[ 2017-04-12 17:11:40 CET ] [ Original post ]

Greetings Fellow Sky captains and Crews! Congrats to the first leaders of the Icarus Faction War! New titles have been granted to honor this historic event. The title of First Leader has been granted to all four factions’ leaders, and the title of First Grand Leader has been granted to all four faction's overall leaders. First lore entry commemorating the first week of war is coming shortly, and so is a new leadership emblem to be worn on costumes. Stay tuned! In addition to fixing bugs critical and small, brewing in our lab today are a number of exciting things. New Game Mode: Ambush We are set with the mechanics of Ambush, where ships work together to intercept and ambush enemy airships making bomb runs to bases. These bomb carriers would be supported by other enemy ships and even a boss. You need to race to intercept and kill them in time before they destroy your base. If you kill enough of them, you win. If your base gets bombed into oblivion, you lose. Mechanically, the mode is playing pretty well. It’s intense under fire and also a race against time. It takes coordination to see who chases down what.
But as typical in any testing, things break! Somehow, we managed to spawn into the matrix today… Next up in this mode, we’re starting to make the first map for it! Muse MKII Program: In our weapons lab (Eric’s desk), we’re prototyping new faction MK2 guns, and here’s a glimpse:

The goal of the MKIIs are to create vastly different versions in how they play and work, but still maintain that consistency with faction technology and theme. The Gas Mortar MKII is a rapid fire, multiple canister launcher, but the gas dissipate much more quickly. With the Lens Array MKII, think shotgun laser. Next week we’ll preview the Coil and the Missile MKIIs, so stay tuned! Updated Stormbreaker:
The Stormbreaker will be retrofitted with a heavy gun slot, so you can mount the Cavitation gun! In today’s testing, the retrofitting was deemed satisfactory by us, and you shall see it in Dev App to test drive soon! Also, we are testing quite a few client side fixes that we’ll deploy asap, and these are the things we made fixes for. - Fixed several memory leaks that eventually led to crashes on all platforms - Handled some previously unhandled NULLs that could cause crashes on Linux - Improved visibility and added distance counter to objective indicators on Assault - Fixed missing event leaderboard title text - Corrected some text referencing "Preorder Alliance" to "Buy Alliance" - Fixed a music playback error caused by attempting to seek to an invalid time Once we run through these fixes, we’ll deploy a new client build (no server restart required), and announcement will follow. What’s on the docket next week: Endless Seek & Destroy Single Ship Infiltration Missile Circus MKII Coil MKII Yeshan Ship Thanks everyone and stay safe in the treacherous skies! -Bubbles

[ 2017-04-06 17:50:38 CET ] [ Original post ]

We know you probably have questions about why Alliance is a different product from the original or are wondering what happens if you don’t upgrade, so this post’s goal is to answer the most common questions we’re seeing: Why isn’t Alliance just a free update to Guns of Icarus Online? Well, the short answer is because it’s too big for us to be a free update. It’s literally larger than the entire original game. Some people see that as a cash grab, but in reality, as I will try to explain in some of the other questions, it is quite the opposite. We felt this was the most fair way to fulfill our Kickstarter that funded this project nearly 3 years ago. Why isn’t Alliance a DLC for Guns of Icarus Online? We debated over this a lot and discussed this Steam, and the recommendation was to go with a full release and remove the old DLC upgrade. Content DLCs can be low on content and high on price, and it complicates purchase process for anyone new to the community. We believe in what we're offering, and we want to avoid the impression specifically that this is a cash grab. Alliance is more than a DLC, it is its own game. Sure it is built in the shoulders of Guns of Icarus Online, but there’s no denying the amount of new content in Alliance. Not just art, or ships, but entirely new mechanics, a new way of story telling, and just a completely different style of play from the original. Anyway, short version is if this were a cash grab Guns of Icarus Alliance could have been 10 DLCs costing 3-5 dollars each, as opposed to a full product with free updates just like Guns of Icarus Online is. What happens if I don’t want to upgrade to Alliance? We get that PvE isn’t a thing everyone wants to do, and that is fine. Alliance is also an update to Guns of Icarus Online and we will continue to support Guns of Icarus Online 100%, with the aim to bring more and more contents from PvE over to PvP. Not only will we continue to support PvP mode, but now you can join a faction, earn rewards, and still get involved in the meta story of Alliance without paying a dime. In essence we’re not making anyone pay for content they don’t want AND we’re providing a free update to our existing customers. Are you sure this isn’t a cash grab or your way of forcing people to pay more for something they already purchased? We talked at length about the ways to integrate Alliance and create sales. In the end we determined the most successful methods are also the ones we disagree with as an industry. I talked a bit about content DLCs, where you release content in drips and use that drip content to end up making people pay 2-3x the price a game “should” cost. That’s one method we simply could not do and still look ourselves in the mirror. The other would have been cutting off support or content for the original game earlier. This not only would have saved costs, since we wouldn’t be basically trying to build / support two games at once, but it would have created demand as we “starve” our fans of new stuff. On top of that, we could have then released Alliance as a totally new product that wasn’t integrated at all with the original and forced our players to upgrade or not play. Tactics like this, and I am sure you can think of at least one of both examples, are common in the games industry and we refuse to play by those rules. As a result we’re forging a different path where we give the players free updates and the option to upgrade. Unfortunately, also as a result, it confused a LOT of people about what our motives are. Believe me, we want to make money, but we want to do it in a way that makes us feel like we’re actually contributing value to our players and fans. So now I ask for everyone’s support. Please, ask questions, even question our motives, but if you agree with our methods and want to help, tell a friend. We need your help to make Alliance fly, just like we needed your help to make Guns take off nearly 5 years ago. We’re building a different kind of game company and we hope you’ll be along for the ride as we continue to try new ways of doing things. Lastly, if you’re reading this it means you are likely an owner of the original game. For that I personally thank you from the bottom of my heart. Even if you never spend another dime on a Muse Games product, your being part of our journey has shown us so much love and support that it has literally been life changing. Thank you, Howard, Team Lead

[ 2017-04-03 23:33:35 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hotfix Notes - Fixed missing wall destruction sounds - Fixed Weaponized Coil charge effect continuing to play after firing - Fixed latest round of Steam Workshop hats not being dyeable - Map colors slightly adjusted to help color-blind players - Fixed a bug that could cause first-time login issues on Mac and Linux - Playtime now accumulates in Steam for both Guns of Icarus Online and Guns of Icarus Alliance, if Alliance is installed. This means you can review Guns of Icarus Alliance in the Steam store now and let everyone know what you think of the game! http://store.steampowered.com/recommended/recommendgame/608800

[ 2017-04-02 17:19:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

Guns of Icarus Alliance is Now Available on Steam and is 10% off!* In addition, owners of Guns of Icarus Online will get an additional 15% off for a limited time.

Guns of Icarus Alliance is a new Co-Op/PvE airship combat experience brought to you by the makers of Guns of Icarus Online. Take on armadas of enemy ships, planes, and bosses in diverse game modes with wide selection of ships and weaponry. Claim the wasteland solo or with up to 16 friends in perilous and dynamic missions to advance your faction's goals, and unlock new gear.

*Offer ends April 7 at 10AM Pacific Time

[ 2017-03-31 18:10:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

Guns of Icarus Alliance and its glorious co-op is finally here with lots of contents and meaningful factional warfare!

• Buy now for a 25% loyalty discount for all Guns of Icarus Online owners!
• If you’ve preordered, help us write a review!  It helps a ton!

Inside, you’ll find 5 completely unique game modes, 7 maps covering numerous biomes, and 14 different enemies with specialised strengths and weaknesses for you to learn and overcome. This has been a long long road, and we thank you for your support from the bottom of our hearts. Through the hurricane, the fire, the ddos attack, the server malfunction, seeing our AI planes crash into mountains, rough balances in early testing, you’ve been with us through thick and thin, and it means the world to us. Also want to thank everyone who helped us, from translations, building websites and wikis, to traveling with us at shows, donating equipment, and giving us invaluable feedback, we could not have gotten anywhere without you. This ambitious project was all consuming for nearly the last 3 years, and we poured everything we had into it, building complex AI combat and director from scratch.  We’ve definitely made a bunch of mistakes and learned a lot along the way.  We’re really proud of the work, and we think you will be as well. Below is all the amazing contents you can play TODAY!

Factions with New Ships and New Guns!

Many new ways to experience the game, many new ways to take control of the skies. When you turn on Guns of Icarus Alliance, you’ll find your chance to earn new tools of destruction and new ships to put them on. You’ll unlock your factions ship and weapon first through your faction reputation. You can unlock ships and weaponry of all remaining factions by joining them or staying put with your own faction, which will take a bit longer. The Fjord Baronies bring the stalwart Crusader and Seraph Tempest Missile Launcher, capable of firing off a devastating swarm of missiles. The Order of Chaladon created the speedy, yet deadly Shrike and the Kalakuta Gas Mortar, able to disable multiple enemies in a suffocating cloud. The Mercantile Guild put their graceful sails to the sky with the Magnate and harness the sun’s wrath with the Aten Lens Array. The Anglean Republic offers a beast of a ship – the Corsair – and the Februus Weaponized Coil that turns multiple ships’ components to slag.

You’re Special and Now You Have the Abilities To Prove It!

Like specials, especially super violent ones? In the heat of combat and in the most dire of situations, every player, every crew member, would have the chance to be the hero and save the day.  In Guns of Icarus Alliance, you can unlock and equip special abilities as you gain personal progression. Once you earn them, you can unleash them in any mission.  To name of few of the awesome powers you get to unlock use via player progression: Oversurge Ram Ability Speed forward with a massive surge and demolish enemy ships with a powerful ram. Take reduced damage as you shred your foes! Air Horn Draw attention from all the enemies around, saving vital objectives and valued allies. Extremely valuable for clutch situations to change the enemy forces’ plan. Cataclysm Rounds Double your damage and blow apart your enemies in a concentrated volley. Now’s your chance to focus fire and cause extreme damage. Static Turret Deploy a weapons turret that demands enemy attentions and puts out damage. Nows your chance to even the odds with your own deployable weapons platform.

The Factions Fight!

Choose your side The battle is being waged right now! As soon as you turn on Guns of Icarus Alliance, you are taking your first step into a war that spans a million players. Take your time to choose your side from the scheming Merchants to the scientific Angleans, honorable Baronies, or ecological Chaladons. Each side has different objectives and provides a different challenge on the map. You’ll need to get your resources, take control of the map, and conquer the world! Complete Contents List:   Ships: Unlockable through faction progression/reputation.

• Baronite Crusader: It supports 2 heavy and 4 light weapons onboard and great for broadsides.
• Chaladonian Shrike: If features a streamlined layout capable of carrying 2 heavy and 2 light weapons. It is also maneuverable and versatile.
• Mercantile Magnate: It supports 2 heavy and 4 light weapons and can charge or broadside.
• Anglean Corsair:  It is a hulking beast of a ship carrying 3 heavy and 3 light weapons. It is highly durable and powerful but with a more complex layout.

Weapons: Unlockable through faction progression/reputation.

• Seraph Tempest Missile Launcher (Baronite):  Capable of firing off a devastating swarm of missiles. Once you fire the missiles, you can move your mouse to guide them.

• Kalakuta Gas Mortar (Chaladonian):  Capable to disable multiple enemies in a suffocating cloud.  Mouse to fire, then right mouse to detonate the cloud at anytime.
• Aten Lens Array (Mercantile):  Hold down mouse to fire it.  The longer you can train and sustain fire on a target, the more damage it does. Once you start firing though, the gun is locked into place, so you’ll need to communicate with your pilot in order to deal maximum damage.
• Februus Weaponized Coil (Anglean): It is capable of turning multiple ships’ components to slag.  If there’s a cluster of enemy ships or planes nearby, the lightning from the coil would strike a primary target and then scatter to hit multiple components and targets.

Game Modes:  

• Infiltration (2-4 ships): In this asymmetric game mode, one ship is designated as the VIP, and it CANNOT die! If the team can escort the VIP ship to infiltrate and destroy all the enemy outposts and then escape at the end, it wins.  If the VIP dies, the match is lost.
• Defense (1-4 ships): Go out into enemy territory to destroy 3 enemy advance drills while keeping your base alive against enemy assaults. After all 3 enemy drills are destroyed, then survival against the final onslaught for 5 minutes for victory.  If the your base is destroyed at any point?  Defeat.
• Assault (1-4 ships): Locate and destroy enemy outposts and a final base (3 objectives total) for victory.  The entire team shares a pool of lives, and if that runs out the match is lost.
• Search & Destroy (1-4 ships): There are 5 waves and an objective to complete for each wave. Complete them all to win.  The entire team shares a pool of lives, and if that runs out the match is lost.  Beware of the boss!
• Intercept  (2-4 ships): Chase down the enemy convoy ships that are carrying cargos before they destroy all your outposts.  Grab the cargo that you wrestled from them and deposit the cargo back at any of your outpost.  Deposit all the cargos to win. If the enemies destroy all your outposts, the match is lost.

Maps:  

• Defense: Devil's Eye, Voyager's Cove
• Search & Destroy: Drowning Wastes, Burning Valley
• Assault: Parous Glen, Seas of Alleron
• Intercept: Thornholt Crest, Oblivion Approach
• Infiltration: Blood Narrows

Special Abilities: These are unlocked through player personal progression:

• Piloting:
• Oversurge Ram: Remove engine safety mechanisms for an intense boost in forward speed causing your ship to slice through unarmored enemies like a hot knife through butter while taking less damage yourself.
• Engine Stabilization: Install temporary stabilizers on engines that repairs them over time for 15s.

• Tar Bomb: Unleash a plume of highly caustic gases behind you to damage enemies.
• Air Horn: Draw aggro from enemies, except for highly determined convoys, within 500m radius, for 2 min.
• Enhanced Envelope: Balloon will heal over time, resist flechette and fire damage, and have reduce vertical drag and increased vertical speed.
• Rushing Drift: Ship will gain increased movement abilities to help travers great distances and side drift around enemies at the cost of less fine control.

• Gunning:
• Concussive Blast: Unleash supercharged balloon gases in the direction you are looking to push enemies that are within 600m back with extreme force.
• Proximal Detonation: Reload all weapons with specially outfitted rounds that have 3x AoE burst size and will automatically detonate when near an enemy. Shoot into groups for maximal effect.
• Cataclysm Rounds: Engage auxiliary power to all guns and double their damage output for 18s.
• Lightning Draw: Activate rigged ship mechanics to quickly reload all guns with 75% increased clip size.
• Mine Ejection: Hoarded mines are hurled out from the ship in the direction you look at, 400m away. Mines will automatically detonate after 2m.
• Gigaton Blast: Deploy devastating fiery burst that will melt the armor of enemies that are in your line of sight and within 500m of your ship.

Engineering:

• Component Disruption: Unleash a massive energy burst in the direction you’re looking that will disable the components of enemies within 600m.
• Salvo Neutralizer: Generate a field in the direction that you are looking that will neutralize all incoming fire and prevent harm to the ship for 60s.
• Static Turret: Deploy an unmoving weapons platform in the direction you’re looking that will target enemies. Drone will last for 90s.
• Combustion Dampener: Release fire dousing chemicals from rigged valves to extinguish all fires, and apply fire immunity and 15% damage reduction to all components for 30s.
• Mechanized Rebuild: Engage special machinery to instantaneously rebuild all components and repair them for 375 health over 30s.
• Advanced Dynabuff: Special machinery automatically applies standard, but 15% more powerful, Dynabuff enhancement to all components for 2m.

Player Progression: Players will be able to unlock all new powerful Special Abilities to use in Alliance via the Old Dog achievement tracks.  We know that dealing with hordes of enemies is a new and exhilarating experience that will put you on the edge of your seat, so we created ways for you to deal with the increase in enemy targets. By playing winning matches as each class, you will begin to unlock the abilities for each class.  You will be able to activate a powerful ram with your ship, increase the power of your guns, and even create protective barriers around your ship. Play.  Experiment.  Find what works best for you and your crew! Faction Progression: Joining a faction means you will be fighting for what your faction believes in, whether it be scouring the lands for ancient technologies or reclaiming promised lands.  Your chosen faction will reward you with elaborate costumes, hats, weapons, and airships themselves for your undying loyalty. You can switch between factions whenever you choose, at the cost of losing 20% of your current reputation, in order to unlock each faction’s unique items.  Or, if you absolutely cannot betray your chosen faction then there are ways to unlock these items and still stay with your original choice. Prestige System: Our player level cap is 45, but that doesn’t mean it stops there any longer.  After surpassing level 45, you will be automatically entered into the Prestige system where you will be rolled back to level 1.  You will gain additional signifiers to let others know that you completed player progression once, twice, or even three times over so that your time spent in the game is not forgotten. Newly Added Steam Workshop Items:

• Raider Mask, Goggles M/F
• Whisker’s Beard, Goggles M
• Masque Mortuaire, Goggles M/F
• Boiler Hat for the Industrious Chap, Hat M
• Compass Rose, Decal   free to all players
• Stray Dagz, Decal
• Passionate Cake, Decal   free to all players
• Dapper Dame’s Top Hat, Hat F
• Boiler Hat for the Enterprising Lass, Hat F
• Mantis, Decal
• Mutton Chops, Goggles M
• Frostflake, Decal  free to all players
• Golden Earings, Goggles M/F
• Posh Penguin, Decal   free to all players
• Mark of the Reaper, Decal
• Gear Logo, Decal   free to all players
• Spiderpunk, Decal
• Crowned Tyrant, Decal   free to all players
• Skull and Crossbones, Decal   free to all players
• Top n’ Skull, Decal
• Internal Clockwork, Decal   free to all players
• Satanic Gears , Decal
• Steampunk Clock, Decal   free to all players
• Steampunk Pirate, Decal   free to all players
• Icarus Ex Machina, Decal   free to all players
• The Gentlemen, Decal   free to all players
• Steampunk Squirrel, Decal   free to all players
• Lily of the Valley, Decal   free to all players
• Sky Queen, Hat F   free to all players

Soundtrack: The Guns of Icarus Alliance soundtrack is now available here:   http://store.steampowered.com/app/616130/ And you can also access it through the Guns of Icarus Alliance store page. There are 24 new tracks and 1hr 40min of new music, including the Guns of Icarus Alliance main theme, all the faction themes, and all in-game battle tracks.  All the Guns of Icarus Online tracks are also included in the package.   Enjoy! Changes: Skirmish Balance

• Heavy Clip: -90% jitter (from -70%), -20% Rate of Fire (from -25% Clip Size)
• Heavy Carronade: Upward arc 30 degrees (from 20), yaw arcs 35 degrees (from 25)
• Light Harpoon: 250m/s muzzle speed (from 120), projectile drop 12m/s2 (from 6), vertical arcs 40 to -20 (from 25 to -45), reload speed 10s (from 16), range 600m (from 800), 135 flechette (from 70) and 80 piercing (from 60), 6s attachment time (from 8s)

Post February Guns of Icarus Alliance Test Session:

• Rename/finalize Alliance mode names from prototype names.
• Retrieve is now Intercept
• Survival is now Search & Destroy
• Lowered smoke stacks on mobile drill
• Objective icon consistency across loading, lobby, and in-match displays
• Particles repositioned on base weak points
• Faction Leader Buff Display on World Map
• Tweaked boss smoke from having sharp edges in particles
• Alliance menu music updated
• Added missing 4-ship map configurations to Search & Destroy
• Ashen Scuffle added to practice maps

Fixes: General

• Loading Screen fixes and adjustments
• MK 2 Flak particles
• Fixed Artemis reload animation when clip gets empty
• Heavy flak's barrel lids pop up without animation
• Fixed other characters not being animated while on helm
• Main screen logo and alliance prompt fixes
• Fixed repeating sound at helm when descending
• Spire: fixed rubberbanding in ladder well
• Junker: fixed rubberbanding between helm platform and engine catwalks
• Connection screen style fixed to be more consistent
• Fixed some memory leaks that could cause crashes on 32-bit systems or after long sessions
• Linux: Fixed several errors that would sometimes cause crashes
• Linux: Fixed draw order of practice arc indicator (no longer renders behind clouds)
• Linux: fixed browser links not working
• Linux: mouse cursor is no longer locked to the center of the screen when switching to other windows
• Fixed missing screen raindrops on some platforms (DX11 and some OpenGL)
• Fixed pipe wrench twitches after swing
• Fixed an issue that could cause two copies of a ship to appear at match end screen

Fixes Post February Guns of Icarus Alliance Test Session:

• Assault: Fixed the base you just killed sometimes remaining marked on the map, while the next active base did not show up on map or HUD
• Fixed Aten Lens Array “impact” sound ignoring SFX setting
• Fixed rebuilding with the Fail-safe Kit starting a repair cooldown
• Fixed match end not transitioning to "team" panel
• Fixed lights and halo misplacements on master bases
• Boss lightning gun muzzle flash sound fixed
• Fixed reflections not actually disabling on some maps
• Textures for the ooze cloud particles on the Shrike smoothed out
• Fixed weird collision FX occurring on the ground after boss dies
• Fixed generic particles that were rotated the wrong way the on Mobile Drill
• Fixed special ability projectiles remaining visible for too long
• Fixed bug in Alliance Training where restarting the barge carrier state would spawn another carrier
• Fixed Faction Leaders being mispositioned in the rankings
• Thornholt Crest: fixed flying through the train tracks on Intercept (formerly Retrieve)
• Tutorial fixes and adjustments
• Fixed missing spawn animation on Mobile Drills
• Fixed Infiltration end-match timer freeze
• Fixed rare case of AI crew not spawning
• Fixed victory banner incorrectly showing on match end in personal tab
• Fixed particles glitch with boss missile launcher
• Parous Glen - Fixed outposts showing transparent in some areas when viewed from beneath on low settings
• Defense - Fixed AI ships and planes not making lane progress under some circumstances
• Fixed dying after killing the boss in Search & Destroy (formerly Survival) counting as a loss
• A player's war chest does not have a deduction from the cost of using 'Marching Band' on the World map interface
• Fixed offset Baronite Carrier missile trails
• Fixed balloon paints not working on Crusader
• Match list shows correct match difficulty
• Fix Baronite Carrier main gun animations
• Attached equipment cleanup sound is cut off too early
• Fixed inconsistent numbering of gun slots’ in ship customizer/preview
• Fixed a bug that caused out-of-sight AI ships to not be recycled properly

PvP:

• Fixed a random-seeming crash in Skyball maps
• Fixed a social tab malfunction
• Fixed class 'covers' on the search for lobby menu opening and closing very briefly when moving the cursor over them

[ 2017-03-30 23:07:22 CET ] [ Original post ]

March 31st marks the release of Guns of Icarus Alliance! Expect a complete and staggering amount of content, explosive AI, and tactical choices. The battle starts day one so be prepared this Friday for the biggest thing to happen in Icarus.

What to expect:

At 12 pm Pacific the build goes live and if you pre-ordered, which you can do at a 25% loyalty discount here, you’ll see the Guns of Icarus Alliance app in your steam library. Act quick though, the loyalty and pre-order discount is a limited time offer!

Brand New Release

Guns of Icarus Alliance will be a completely new release, with a new store page!  We were working within Steam’s constraints earlier and had to go the DLC route, and we worked Steam to find a way to make this a brand new release. If you wish-listed the old DLC page, it’s been removed in place of the new Guns of Icarus Alliance page, so remember to wish-list the new page! In Guns of Icarus Alliance, you can play both PvE and PvP games, so do not worry about being split up from your friends. Simply turn on the game and enjoy all the steampunk airship combat!

Note to Guns of Icarus Online Owners

If you did not pre-purchase it, you’ll still use the Guns of Icarus Online app to play the game. You’ll be able to gain coins and faction progression from skirmish battles, and you are able to spend them and unlock faction rewards once you purchase Guns of Icarus Alliance. All Guns of Icarus Alliance costumes and cosmetics can be used in both PvE and PvP, so enjoy any rewards you get and flaunt them against your opponents! Learn more about what you’ll see in-game!
Four factions bring four weapons and four ships to start things off, with two more factions being added shortly post-release.

Baronies

Bring the stalwart Crusader and Tempest Missile Launcher, capable of firing off a devastating swarm of missiles.

Chaladon

Created the speedy, yet deadly Shrike and the Gas Mortar, able to disable multiple enemies in a suffocating cloud.

Merchants

Put their graceful sails to the sky with the Magnate and harness the sun’s wrath with the Aten Lens Array.

Anglean Republic

Offers a beast of a ship - the Corsair - and the Weaponized Coil that turns multiple ships’ components to slag.

Special Abilities

In the heat of combat and in the most dire of situations, every player, every crew member, would have the chance to be the hero and save the day.  In Guns of Icarus Alliance, you can unlock and equip special abilities as you gain personal progression. Once you earn them, you can unleash them in any mission.  To name of few of the awesome powers you get to use: Oversurge Ram Ability- Speed forward with a massive surge and demolish enemy ships with a powerful ram. Take reduced damage as you shred your foes! Air Horn- Draw aggro from all the enemies around, saving vital objectives and valued allies. Extremely valuable for clutch situations to change the enemy forces plan. Cataclysm Rounds- Double your damage and blow apart your enemies in a concentrated volley. Now’s your chance to focus fire and cause extreme damage. Static Turret- Deploy a weapons turret that demands enemy attentions and puts out damage. Nows your chance to even the odds with your own deployable weapons platform. All this and more is waiting inside Alliance, so pre-order today! Don’t forget to check out our previous posts including: NEW Trailer! Alliance Release Charity War

[ 2017-03-28 04:48:32 CET ] [ Original post ]

For those that can survive its fires. The last and final open session brings with it an exclusive item you can only get until the 8th when the beta ends.  30 victories on hell level missions to earn the Spore shield goggles for male and female. This is no easy mission and will take the best in you and your crew.  Best of luck and remember, winners get the exclusive mask, losers get nothing.
If you don't see the mission on the main screen, simply relog your game and download the update.

[ 2017-03-01 20:10:13 CET ] [ Original post ]

New content/features: - Alliance Beta (For Open Period) - Static Story Book - Pietro's Veil (Male and Female) for buyers of Alliance - Recommended Ship/Loadout for matches/modes/difficulty settings
- New War Goal voting system - War Period: When war period begins, alliances will be automatically formed and each alliance will have 24 hours to vote on their war goal.  This replaces voting on what alliances to form, which was found to be confusing and less rewarding based on feedback gathered.  These goals range from converting the enemy’s populace by conquering a territory, enforcing a will of strength by growing to a certain size, to activating a super weapon by accruing resources. Skirmish - New Gun: Typhon Heavy Flak Mk. II: The old 2 shot flak of yore in a new body.  You asked for it, and here it is. Let us know what you think!
- A new map derived from Alliance’s Parous Glen.  Take a peek at our new content in the form of a dark and deadly, although strikingly beautiful, DM map.
- New underdog icon - Match list opens if Matchmaker goes too long - New Map: Ashen Scuffle 3v3 and 2v2 General - End Match Screen: Show faction progression for both Skirmish and Alliance - Improved Voice Commands menu - New character customization page
- New ship customization page
- Goggles are now dyeable
- Added tooltips for class selection, tab settings - Period/Daily Rewards
- Additional titles, in particular Mercenary - Ship kill count displayed in scoreboard - Distinct "component destroyed" sound effect for the balloon Changes: General - Faction message panel adjusted - Adjusted grounded flag on slopes - Moved the Vote in Progress countdown to right below the map vote panel on the left - 'Favorite Ship' text on profile page changed to 'Most Played Ship' - Captain priority extended to team - Tweaked lights on all ships - Ladders are easier to notice Alliance Beta (For Open Period) - Escape Pod renamed to Enemy Supply Ship - Alliance world map design improvements - World UI Ease of Use adjustments - Icon callouts to indicate Leader choices - Better communication of Leader status - Killfeed adjustments - Flare made to trigger for drill armor break - Marker bullets will now self destruct after a second and a half Skirmish - Balloon outline in Skyball matches is now toggle-able as spectator Balance - Overall balance changes to enemies, difficulty modes, and game modes  like repair rate, damage output, ramp up between Novice and Normal etc… - Survival: all matches are now set to 5 waves, each of which are timed. - Assault: in-world icons on currently active base - Retrieve: convoys are now tanky but move much slower, Refineries have increased health while the Final Refinery has greatly increased health - Defense: tweaks to Friendly Emplacement effectiveness to support more constant push of enemies Fixes: General - Overlapping chat - Recommend load-out menu appears in match - When you die spotted, you spawn with HUD displaying as spotted - Edit Event button leads to "Create Event" panel instead of "Edit Event" - Help balloon while transitioning back to lobby - Tooltips showing up off-screen in some cases - Flickering engine when fireproof coating added - UI elements on loading screen - Character positioning on heavy guns Alliance Beta (For Open Period) - Failsafe kit starts cooldown on rebuild - Alliance content missing in Progress screen - Special Abilities sometimes trigger without pressing the button - Tar bomb framerate drop on certain maps - Tar bomb no longer sometimes hits the ship that created it - Corsair and Crusader: Valentine's theme items placing - Crusader: catwalk is cutting the main engine in half - Character model positioning issue on new guns - Crusaders: pistons are clipping - Magnate: clipping into brass decorations - Magnate: walking through wall - Magnate: pistons clip through material - Fixed some special ability configuration issues - Fixed past leader display on unlock markers - Fixed resource count display for the resource war goal - Fixed reinforcement purchase error for user buffs - World map: mission panel was not showing anything - Missing end match for Stormbreaker ship and balloon mesh error - Fixed bug with retrieve spawns - Arc shield generator light flickers with lightning Skirmish - Victory Defeat Notifications in Skirmish reversed

[ 2017-02-27 15:10:30 CET ] [ Original post ]

Many new players, many new experiences, and a lot of new data! Hello everyone, A huge thanks to everyone who took part in and gave feedback for the December Alliance Open Session. Also a big welcome to everyone from our Steam notification and feature. It was great to have so many new pilots, engineers, and gunners experience Alliance. In total, over 35,000 players came in throughout the week to fly in our skies. Between all those players, a total of almost hundred thousand hours of Alliance were played, making this open period our largest one yet! If you enjoyed Alliance, be sure to pre-order to be one of the first one in and if you email us at feedback@musegames.com with proof of purchase weâ

[ 2017-01-18 20:12:30 CET ] [ Original post ]

Alliance Beta will end in two hours (4am EST, 9am UTC). System will restart in another hour.

[ 2017-01-09 07:09:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone! Servers will be down shortly and be back up in about an hour. In honor of Steam's Daily Deal featuring and the extension of the Alliance Loyalty Reward, we're taking Alliance back up for people to play in a bit, and it'll last through the weekend. http://store.steampowered.com/app/209080/ http://store.steampowered.com/app/252590/ Thanks so much, enjoy, and Happy New Year! Howard aka Bubbles

[ 2017-01-05 09:53:32 CET ] [ Original post ]

Today's Deal: Save 75% on Guns of Icarus Online!*

In addition, owners of Guns of Icarus Online will get 33% off the upcoming Guns of Icarus Online Alliance Expansion until January 6th at 10AM Pacific Time.

Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are!

*Offer ends January 6th at 10AM Pacific Time

[ 2017-01-04 18:00:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

Happy Holidays everyone! We’ve been working hard at Muse HQ to get prepared for our next test phase with a bunch of new content and some major balance changes to make a much smoother Alliance experience. Two massive heavy weapons are coming to the skies including the very requested Heavy mine launcher! We also have a screenshot contest we’re really excited to invite everyone to. This session will be shorter than last starting on December 27th and ending January 2nd, so make sure you get in early and leave your mark on the history of Icarus. Follow along to See all the notes and see the requirements for our Screenshot Contest!

New content/features:

Alliance Beta (For Open Test Period)

• The Heavy Remote Mine Launcher sends a storm of high powered explosives into the sky, daring any to get near them.

• The Heavy Cavitation Gun fires a singularity, piercing ships and pulling them closer to their destruction.

• Added alliance specific loadouts
• Added leader icon for chat
• A notification appears for officers and leader when player applies for their clan

 

General

• Pietro’s veil (male & female) — As a token of appreciation for those who have supported us early. Every pre-order of Alliance will come with this mask
• Up/down arrow in chat rotates over your sent messages
• Dead ships are marked on scoreboard
• On respawn map, the spot is marked where your ship was destroyed

Changes:

General

• Modified visibility rules to prevent visible from ships popping out of existence in dust clouds
• Social icons’ optimizations
• Team tab moved to last in sequence at match end screen
• Changed mines’ description to less confusing
• AI that are set to 'shoot only' repair the guns they are on

 

Alliance Beta (For Open Period)

• Increased the margin for the in match objective text
• Visual solution for not shooting at barge and friendly outpost
• Assault Enemy Goal Per Player Count
• Match-end UI: war chest full warning display
• Fade in and out AI airship spotted lens flares
• All faction resource goals are now visible on the world map resources panel

Fixes:

General

• Mighty Pirate using wrong lines while on helm
• Player popup buttons sometimes don't work
• AI switching guns between each other
• Map edge gust at low altitudes on Dunes
• Old thumbs up notification is back
• No sound feedback when clicking on ship's name to check loadout in lobby
• 5:4 Scaling too high on menu ui, social panel overlap
• Blocking players will obscure their name text with the background
• Player profile popup issue with scoreboard
• Match chat cut off and overlap on 4:3
• Vet Matches option on matchmaking menu missing text
• City Hunter 4v4 initial spawn issue
• Clan missing levels
• Blue team's 1st captain title is sometimes wrapped and truncated
• Start screen callout text overlaps images
• Long descriptions for costumes get cut off
• Removing clan members from clan list does not immediately show them as removed
• Improved CPU utilization, particularly for large matches.  Should result in better framerates for many systems.

 

Alliance Beta (For Open Period)

• Defense was not counting the boss in its "Kill all enemies" end goal
• AI boss and bases not firing guns
• Chaladon and Fjord baronies description on faction select screen gets cut off
• Footer menu items misaligned
• No boss spawn on survival boss wave
• Hitches/slowdowns when bosses and large groups of airships spawn
• Erratic rotation for map icons
• Reinforcement buttons popping up on world map refresh
• Pressing ESC while looking at a specific territory brings you back to main screen instead of the full map
• Faction Icon Display in faction selection not displaying properly
• Hear Charging sounds for longer distances
• Typo in "Mechanized Rebuild” skill name
• Laser effect is shortening when it hits your own ship
• Faction leaderboard ordering was reversed
• Laser sound effect doesn't clean up

 

Alliance Screenshot Contest

We want the community involved in showing off the game in the best way possible. The images you send in will be used to market the game and make up map screenshots (that you see when selecting a map.)

Rules:

• All images must be from no-UI spectate.
• Images must express the feel and scope of the map, ships, or game mode.
• Contributors can submit as many or few maps (game modes) as they wish.
• Contributors can submit up to three screenshots per map.
• Screenshots should be [tbd] resolution in [tbd] file format.
• Recommend graphics settings. Have to decide if we want to limit the field of view options as well as preferred postprocessing/film grain.
• Screenshots must be sent to feedback@musegames.com (in a zip file?) with the map name as the file name. paritian_rumble1.png for example. Include ingame name.
• Set date.
• Specify that images will be used to promote the game so no one gets surprised if their image shows up on some website.

Categories:

• Maps. Showcases the features of the map itself. Ships and battles may be included, but should not be the main feature of the screenshot. At least 3/4 of the screenshot should be background. Avoid prominent decals and players
• Ships.
• a. Pristine: Showcase the ships in the best way possible. Try to keep the shot clear of chem, armor, and buff, and other effects.
• b. In Action: Show the ships giving or taking hell.
• AI
• a. Capital (boss) ships: Show these beasts as they truly are. Try to express the scale of these ships.
• b. Front line: Give the other ships some love as well. Or hate. Whatever you prefer. Just make it a good shot.
• Players: Show your fellow players at their finest, in their finest.

Rewards:

Names in credits as contributing 'photographers'. A Muse made item from the store. Title: Shutterbug

[ 2016-12-23 19:05:30 CET ] [ Original post ]

[img=http://gunsoficarus.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/start-shot.png] https://www.youtube.com/embed/GWRhvIY-GI0 A quick snapshot of some of the action we saw over the beta Hello Everyone, It’s been little over a week since we put the planes, bosses, and faction fleets back into the hangar, and that’s given us time to go over the feedback and data, start making changes and prepare for the December open period!  The data allowed us to go through matches from close to 20,000 unique players who helped us test, 40 million effort points spent, and the turnover of 320 territories. We received a few hundred direct feedback from people, and over 150 responses from our survey. From a data collection and feedback standpoint, this was the most successful testing period we’ve had for Alliance. A big thanks to all the players who took the time to play, test, give feedback, and fill out surveys on our expansion. That data and feedback drives us to improve the game and pushes us in the right direction. Follow along to see what we learned, the parts we’re proud of, and the parts we’re improving. Also, please go to the fixes section for not only a recap of all the issues and experiments during the test period, but also for a few fixes that we’ll patch in today. We’ve moreover added a draft of the post war lore for the open testing period that we’ll add in game.

What We Did Right:

New Ultimate Abilities

The new special ability got a lot of use and a lot of love from the Beta. Feedback was overall very positive from across the spectrum of player levels and skills. Juxtaposed the feedback for abilities against that for the skill upgrades from the last open period, we’ve clearly moved in a positive direction with player person progression, and that’s been gratifying to see. The tar bomb and mine ejection were a bit underwhelming, and we’re looking to improve them. Also, we are creating more abilities for players to unlock and use including shields, pushing enemies, support clone dummies, and more!

A Whole New User Interface

The new UI is currently in game, and it took a few revisions based on feedback to improve it over a short course of time. We were able to use the testing period to experiment with a few different layouts and implementations possibilities, and get feedback on them from a larger group of people very rapidly. We did take a bit of risk with very agile development on production, which we very rarely do. While this caused a bit of anxiety on some veteran players, the risk was overall worth it, as we were able to iterate and try ideas quickly, and ultimately coming up with a UI revision that most people are happy with.  All the feedback and emails we received helped us with improving placement of certain elements, examining info hierarchy of some functions in more detail, and finding ways to improve the chat and community sections of our game. As we mentioned before and during the open period, the new UI is still work in progress. Some sections are not done yet as you all noticed, and some parts need more work and revision.

Stormbreaker

We were really excited to show off this new and unique ship, and based on feedback, it seemed that the ship lived up to expectations. This was one of the most used ships in the open period with a slew of players giving positive feedback or affirmation to this asymmetrical sky beast. By comparison and based on data, we’ll be targeting the Magnate for balance adjustments. As a side note, we’ll also be looking at the Lens Array and the Coil for balance adjustments as well.

Mission Complete!

People who participated in the war and pre-war phases got their first taste of missions, and the players completed the missions amazingly quickly. We were happy to see these not ignored by leaders and passionate players and while we want to do more to show these off, it puts our mind at ease knowing the core concept works so we can keep adding and improving upon it.

What We Need To Improve Upon:

Balance:

Retrieve Farming

We put in a lot of work to try and and solve this issue stemming from the last open period, where skilled players could fight and end a match in Retrieve in under one to two minutes. Yet, with the introduction of the new Stormbreaker ship and new special abilities, our previous efforts proved inadequate in stemming players from jetting through the match and grinding out points for their factions. This was painfully obvious from the data, feedback, and our own observations in game. We are now working on ways to make this rush strategy harder and riskier to pull off while still making it a viable one.

The Challenge of Normal

This time around we got novice games to a much better place, with the expected win rates largely in line with our expected values. We still want to tune them a bit, but overall the “novice” difficulty is in a much better place. However, the same could not have been said about normal difficulty and above. For a multitude of reasons, many of these games resulted in losses for players, the actual win rates across the board (with the exception of Retrieve) were lower than expected. The discrepancy in normal difficulty matches were quite a bit larger than we anticipated. While Assault and Survival game mode matches had win rates that were a lot closer to our expected values, they also skewed long in terms of match length. We’ve identified a few factors that caused lower than expected win rates as well as long match lengths in certain game modes, and we are now making balance adjustments to address these factors. We are also adjusting rewards for partial wins higher as well.

Defending Alone

One of the biggest issues with balance we saw was single ships trying to play Defense and unable to both attack and defend at the same time. We are now looking this issue to make sure Defense maps are better balanced for single ships as well.

Underpowered Weapons and Ship

While a majority of the new ships and weapons were fan favorites, (especially the stormbreaker!) some new equipment didn’t work up to snuff. The Lens Array, Lightning Coil, and Magnate all fell below where we hoped they’d be. Player feedback and data are pushing us to look again at these pieces of content and buffing them into the fold.

Single Ship Matchmaking

We saw the matchmaker making a lot of single ship matches again. This was an issue in the last open period as well. While we made fixes and improvements from last time, this test period exposed a few more issues. There were some more bugs with it that were solved, but we’re also realized that we needed to change up the novice match logic and constraints. The legacy from Skirmish PvP actually didn’t apply to or fit PvE conditions as we learned. So we’ve made some more fixes and improvements in preparations for the next open period later this month.

World & Faction

We got a lot of great data back from the war. Many players put in a crazy amount of time and effort to fight on our mmo-Risk board. However, the participation overall was relatively low. This was in a way to be expected, as this was our first integrated implementation, and the focus had been to get the meta game functionally ready. The emphasis going forward and the next milestone is to work on UI clarity, player education, and hooks for this system and meta game to make sure everyone feels the urge to spend their warchest, to make tactical choices, and to be more invested. The World UI also had a few ease of use issues such as leaders being confused as to what to do. Lower participation in the meta game also resulted in part from balance issues such as Retrieve Mode speed runs. With better tutorial, UI ease of use improvements, gameplay hooks, and balance adjustments, we should be in a better place with World and Faction progression for the next open test period.

12.5.2016 Hot Fix Patch Notes:

• Fixed Party voice chat icon
• Bringing back red/blue team color for team voice chat
• Fixed incorrect match lobby outline

Recap of Fixes During Test Period:

• Player title, 'Sentinel' misspelled
• Match lobby fixes and layout experiments
• Chat layout fixes and layout experiments

• Warning message is blocked by in game menu
• Back button on the voting dialogs was not clickable
• Weird hover tooltip background
• Chat messages are showing from blocked players
• Joining a passworded game issues
• Lobby chat's scrollbar missing
• Player name display issue in match list
• Unresponsive player popup
• Clan level display
• First time players can't play tutorial if they access it from header
• UI for confirming or cancelling video settings
• Profile status does not update when leaving created lobbies
• Player names and info overlap inconsistently
• Can't exit chat tab settings by clicking on other tabs
• Text overlap in match list
• "Tab to switch channel" message to only display when applicable
• Refer friend not working properly
• Chat modes change when you check out the score screen [TAB]
• Ship ​pictures are missing when viewing each ship stat
• Match list alignment fix
• Tooltip fixes
• Event list does not show start time correctly
• Clan member role not showing
• View friend profile / clan in match leading to bad (dead) states
• Item/gun tooltip position fix
• "Profile" menu does not have an option to take you to your profile
• Back [ESC] from crew form takes to you main menu instead of PLAY menu
• Tip position fix for selection window
• Clan tag doesn't immediately appear when a clan gets a new member
• If chat display is hidden, it doesn't immediately appear when unhidden

Lore Recap

Once again, war has swept across the land.  The Outsiders’ War, named after the unusual alliances formed, was quick and but narrowly decisive.  The war was kindled by the Chaladonians as they claimed mines from the Merchants for new heavy manufacture, and secured land from the Baronites to protect the farms from being overburdened and stripped bare of resources.  Despite exploiting weak Chaladonian convoys and retrieving unheard of amounts of essential goods, champions like Skyraider of the Fjord Baronies, TzeroX of the Angleans Republic, and El Yuron of the Mercantile Guild could not stop the likes of Hai Fisch, Slipt, Letheliah, and Oppressedzebra from bringing about war. Historically, the Angleans and Chaladonians aren’t known to get along.  However, some goodwill might have been brought to the tropical isles by Waper, who was known to fight for both factions before the war began.  Ultimately, the Angleans and Chaladonians formed the Primal Conservancy, at 6000 members strong, to prevent fertile lands and water supplies being spoiled by the cutthroat capitalism of the Utilitarian Assembly.  Backed by the Merchants and Baronites, the Assembly fought for free and open trade with 5500 supporters.  Despite looking down on the Merchants’ habit of trading labor so freely, the Baronites could not strike the market pacts they required to feed their growing migrant population. The two alliances fought tooth and nail over resources and territories with RearAdmiralZill, Shinkurex, Lysanya, and gloowa bringing in many territory victories for the Assembly while Dementio, EXPEREMENTATOR, Diehard.zero, and Gevurah secured resource domination for the Conservancy by completing key Missions.  In the end, The Mercantile efforts waned dramatically as the world transitioned into war while the Baronites struggled to shoulder the weight.  Clearly, the Fjord Baronies stood to lose the most if they suffered a defeat. In the end, the Primal Conservancy was successful in protecting the bulk of the resources that they needed to ensure the future of their factions, and perhaps the futures of any faction willing to share.  The Utilitarian Assembly failed to acquire enough new resources to incentivize the formation of new commerce agreements.  The forces of the world have shifted and it will take some time for the dust to settle and for balance to be found.  Perhaps, then, new alliances will be forged to fight for a different interpretation of the world.  

[ 2016-12-05 22:13:20 CET ] [ Original post ]

[img=https://humblebundle.imgix.net/misc/files/hashed/f07355786dda74fe6ae14313074f49e1ce726af6.png?auto=format&lossless=1&ixlib=python-0.2.0&s=4296ea312147069fc06f2bc2ba984184] The Yogscast Humble Bundle Jingle Jam is live! We're super pumped to have Guns of Icarus a part of it so buy now and also get a bunch of other great games with more to come as we go through December! Don't forget that your support helps a bunch of great charities! https://www.humblebundle.com/yogscast-jingle-jam

[ 2016-12-05 21:49:23 CET ] [ Original post ]

9 of the best teams fighting for cold hard cash! Now if your chance to get to see the best Icarus has to offer. Teams have been training for the chance to prove themselves to earn exclusive prizes, an opportunity to name an in-game AI and $200. This all starts tomorrow, December 2nd, 7:00pm UTC/2:00pm EST. With so many games in this double elimination we'll be casting across multiple streams. Watch them all here. Your contenders to watch, learn, rise and fall with are:

• Clan Clan
• Chef Xedeon's Potatoes au Gratin
• Altruistic Aeronef Aviators
• Fancy Cloud Dancers
• East Chaladon Squirrel Company
• Team Predators
• StoneCake Sky Navy
• Team Rocket
• We Are Pirates

Brackets can be found here.

[ 2016-12-02 19:22:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

Peace reigns, but for how long? Thank you everyone for a highly successful test of our war system. It was amazing to see and hear players fighting it out in a vicious fashion. What we need right now though is your feedback! Click here and fill out the survey to let us know how to improve Guns of Icarus Alliance. If you liked what you saw, don't forget to pre-order a copy of Guns of Icarus Alliance. So you can be one of the first taking up your factions flag again. We Also have some lore for the war, this is just preliminary as we analyze the mountains of data and information generated by everyone during the beta. War has permeated through the land with the rise of two great alliances: the Chaladonian-Anglean Primal Conservancy and the Mercantile-Baronite Utilitarian Assembly. Chaladon initiated the war in an effort to stem Mercantile territorial advances, use of water fouling mining techniques, and suspicions of human trade. Threatened by the strict Chaladonian trade requirements, the Fjord Baronies joined with the Mercantile Guild to promote free trade in order to secure foodstuffs while turning a blind eye to the transfer of more questionable 'wares'. Reluctantly, the Angleans realized that their water and food were depleting and joined the Chaladonians to form the Conservancy and fight for a sustainability. Expect more in the official lore write-up once data has been collected and analyzed.

[ 2016-11-25 18:59:23 CET ] [ Original post ]

Go to our store page now at http://store.steampowered.com/app/209080/?snr=1_7_7_151_150_1 and vote! We would love everyone to vote for all the games you think should deserve an award and we believe we're a great fit for "I thought this game was cool before it won an award" award. Big thanks to our amazing community for staying with us, trying beta, and helping us in this contest!

[ 2016-11-23 18:59:51 CET ] [ Original post ]

[img=http://gunsoficarus.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/war-now.png] Our paid DLC is free for all to play for the next two weeks. All you have to do is turn on Guns of Icarus and enjoy new ships, content, including our first period of war between the factions. Learn to survive the war here. Read the full patch notes here!

[ 2016-11-09 21:40:26 CET ] [ Original post ]

Are you ready? Starting Monday November 7th, the new new patch hits and war comes to Icarus, but we need people to test it out before hand! We're doing a massive testing call tonight at 9 pm eastern, 1 AM GMT (we believe with the daylight savings.) This is to give us an opportunity to look through all the new UI, systems, and exciting features we're putting in and make sure there's no major break points. Please come join us test and if you don't have access to the dev app get your key here! Find the full notes below!

New contents:

Alliance Beta (For Open Period)

• Special Ability System

Special Abilities (official name TBD) are new class specific unlockables designed to give each class more strategic options and create impactful gameplay moments.  Normally unlocked via playing Alliance matches as each class, we’ve unlocked all of them for your perusal.  Like the ultimates in other games, careful strategic planning and usage of these abilities can dramatically change the tide of battle.  Emit an electrical blast to disrupt enemy components as an Engineer, trigger ship mechanisms to speed reload all the weapons with larger clips as a Gunner, unlock the engine’s true power for a devastating forward ram as a Pilot, and many more. If you go to the Character Loadout screen, you’ll find a new ability slot for every class. Once you equip one, you can use it in match like you would use other class specific skills with the 5 key.  The ability has long cooldowns, so use it wisely!

• The Stormbreaker

The Arashi faction is not in the game yet, and we have our own ideas of what changes need to be made for the next iteration of this ship, but we’d love to hear your feedback as we embark on the next iteration.  The Stormbreaker’s engines, scavenged and retrofitted from larger ships, provides extreme acceleration that’s perfect for skirting enemies.  The asymmetric design speaks to Arashi’s make-it-work philosophy and finding gems in the rough.

• Infiltration

• The ship in the first match lobby slot is the VIP.  The VIP must survive at all costs and is the only one who can infiltrate enemy refineries that are scattered through the map.  Infiltrate each refinery by flying near it while teammates defend the infiltration process.  After all refineries have been dealt with, the VIP, escorted by teammates, must escape at the very end of the map.

• Survival & Survival Mini

• Basic but vicious survival lives up to its name. Go through 8 or 5 waves of objectives ranging from drill destruction, VIP targeting, boss battles, and more!

• Defense 2.0

The primary objective now is to destroy the enemy resource drills.  Barges will heal your base, but they are not required for victory. After  you destroy the last drill, you’ll need to wipe the remaining enemies off the map or survive and defend your base for 5 minutes!  Good luck.

• Alliance Tutorial

With all the new objectives and ways to fight in Alliance, we created a new tutorial segment specifically designed to illustrate new the Alliance mechanics, such as destroying the drill, capture barges from enemy ships, depositing barges, and battling the enemy outposts.  Captain Morrison returns to guide you on this new training mission.

• New Faction Leader Influence

Players that earn the most efforts over a period of time will become leaders of their faction. We’ll be using an accelerated version of this time period for testing purposes.  Leaders unlock the ability to set Rally Points at the location they are currently deployed at.  As more and more leaders coordinate to rally at the same territory, their faction gets War Effort buffs.  These buffs range from a few percent to pulling all players who have not made a choice on which location to deploy at (it can be a lot!).

• New Unlock more attacks on the world map

Factions can coordinate to spend their well earned Coins to unlock additional attacks against factions of their choice.  When enough Coins are invested, the system will choose a new location to unlock.  Be careful!  The more actions you have on the world map also means your efforts will be spread thinner as well so make sure to coordinate.

• War!

Resources will now come into play.  Each territory has a set number of resources.  Conquering a new territory will add that territory’s resources to your factions’ coffers.  Each faction has a Resource Goal, and once a faction has reached their goal (aggressor) a War will be initiated.  The factions will be split into two alliance, the first is seeded with the aggressor and the second will be seeded with a faction of the system’s choosing.  Remaining factions can then vote for which alliance they want to support.  The faction with the highest % of votes towards an alliance will win the vote and go to the alliance of their choosing. When War starts, each alliance has a new Resource Goal to complete.  Once that is reached, the War will end with a winner and a loser. To supplement territory resources, Missions are still available.  Each Mission has different objectives (e.g. conquering specific faction’s territories) and has different rewards.  Look through the Missions and attempt to complete those are that are beneficial to your faction, or block others from completing from theirs. Wars could be won and lost with Missions!

• Integrated World and Faction Progression

The world and faction menus are one click away, and with the new UI, you’ll be able to access these menus from the lobby! Apply war loot, devise strategy, and talk to your faction from any lobby or menu.

• Compiled History and Lore

After the war, we will be compiling everyone’s actions and using the information to create unique lore entries for a player-wide history book.  Flip through its pages to find the exploits of factions, clans, and players. Here is a snippet of the previous alpha test, a short tidbit of what to expect: From the compiled records of the Traveling Historian— There are days when the people can relax without fear of conflict, but those days are often few and far between.  The power in the world are shifting and the new factions are arising to take it for themselves.  The rugged Anglean Republic gained tide after tide of supporters and began to wreak havoc in the central plains against the Fjord Baronies.  The Baronites were overwhelmed by the incessant onslaught of sure numbers and had no choice but to defend their territories by the teeth.  After losing many lands to the fur-cloaked marauders, the Fjord Baronies managed to hold their ground and stem the tide of defeat as the Angleans lost their momentum and by investing in fortifications like armored walls and bulwarks.  The Anglean Republic had spread itself thin. Across the narrow channels to the east, a small but extremely well organized contingency of Chaladonians led their forces against the Mercantile Guild in the south.  The Order of Chaladon was able to break into the mainland due to their superior leadership to contest on Anglean and Baronite lands.  The islanders continuously assaulted key locations in all surrounding factions.  A push like this may have tipped the scales to war but the unexpected happened. In the 11th hour, the Mercantile Guild managed to scrap together their weakening forces to retrieve valuable caches of weaponry, coin, and information from enemy factions.  The Guild was once again rich with their regained their lands.  They advanced back into the mainland to challenge the Angleans, Baronites, and Chaladonians. When the war broke… The last few pages of this account were lost so we’ll never know how the war played out (okay, there was no war in the alpha but let’s play pretend).  We’ll have to wait for the next installment to see who wrests the seat of power this time around. Skirmish

• King of the Hill: Frostbite Occupation

The call to adapt the maps was made, and we’ve heeded the call. First up is a KotH of Anglean Raiders. Dive into the breach and try this brutal capture point map.

• Vs. AI in Practice

Novice AI made a huge splash during our last patch with many vet players wanting to fight against our in-human captains and crews. We’ve unlocked the ability to fight these AI ships in practice mode.  Please note that matches in Practice will not count towards player progression, as Practice is a safe zone for people to learn and hone skills. Enjoy the destruction of AI!

• Skyball 2.0

• Removed defensive spawns to combat easy turnovers that turned into incredibly long matches, and revised spawn locations overall
• Increased winning points to 3 (from 2)
• 20 minute timer for all matches.  Team with the most points at the end of 20 minutes will win (if less than 3 points).  If there is a tie between the two teams at 20 minutes, a 5 minute sudden death round will commence.  During sudden death, the first team to score wins.  Furthermore, captures are instantaneous during sudden death.

General

• New Alliance & PS4 Compatible UI (Work in Progress)

In this beta period, we’re testing a new UI that spans across all Guns of Icarus products (Skirmish and Alliance) that have allowed us to increase information density and functionality, and will allow us to have full controller support and target new platforms in the future.  We’ve streamlined primary and secondary navigation, incorporated a number of ease of use changes that you’ve requested, and audited navigation for controller ease of use and compatibility.  We’ve also made information hierarchy clearer.  For example, on the main screen, people would only have to make a selection between the PvE Alliance and the PvP Skirmish, and they can enter the play screen right away.  With the new design, we were able to place map and mode objectives on the lobby, so people will have clearer ideas of what the mission objectives are before they start the match.  The chat display is also cleaned up, making identification of different statuses and channels hopefully easier. The UI is still work in progress, in that it has not gone through a final Steampunk embellishment pass.  The alignment of chat and social panels is also shifted from left to right to accommodate the updates we’ve made to the navigation scheme.  We’re looking for your help during this open period to test drive the new UI and give us lots of feedback, so we can work on remaining issues and continue to improve upon it.  Thanks!

• Birthday Goggle giveaway
• Celebratory Fireworks
• Birthday cakes provided in our birthday theme

 

Changes:

General

• Unity 5.4 Upgrade
  • Improves stability and performance for all platforms
  • Mac OSX 10.7 is no longer supported
• DirectX11 is the default mode
• Updated Workshop client (engine and video options)

Alliance Beta (For Open Period)

• Allow captain priority entire squadron, and make it more forgiving to mark planes
• Ram killing planes no longer counts in stats
• Tweaked Anglean player ship mesh for wider room for the back engines
• Spectator - HP bars of NPC enemies being attacked by players should now be visible
• Auto display enemy health
• Tweaked collider to Arashi player ship
• Tweaked particles for planes destructions
• Enemy physics more responsive to disables
• Always Spot bosses
• Changed Merchant boss ship's weak points around instead of its sails
• Display enemy health when crew damages enemy ship
• Tweaked texture particles for polish
• Female Yesha Hat receives hair color changes
• Barge capture more obvious and consistent
• Shrike: metal pillars are removed near heavy guns to avoid character animation clipping
• Crusader: adjusted collisions Better decision making and targeting of player by bosses
• Tweaks to higher difficulties to emphasize more coordination and responding to threat instead of bigger meat shields
• Retrieve game mode escalates faster and has better initial enemy spawning to prevent too-fast matches
• Reduced number of objectives in Assault game mode
• More fine tuned hull and component health scaling on convoys and bosses based on # of player ships in match for additional dynamic difficulty
• Difficulty and threat level across bosses should feel more similar

Skirmish

• Pilot tutorial: countdown to reach area starts when ship starts moving instead of when player mounts the helm
• Gunner tutorial won’t remind you not to shoot the balloon when the mortar damages it with AOE
• Wilson’s Notes expanded

 

Balance:

Squid

• Increased hull armor to 335 (from 230) so that it requires an additional rebuild hit with the Spanner
• Decreased hull health to 450 (from 950) to address complaints about tankiness and maintain the design goal of “nimble but weak”

Mobula

• Gun arcs more forward to emphasize weapons platform design
  • Lower side guns turned forward by 5 degrees (-45 to -40, 45 to 40)
  • Top side guns turned forward by 10 degrees (-50 to -40, 50 to 40)
• Decreased forward and vertical maneuverability to increase attack commitment, but same rotation maneuverability to maintain close range effectiveness
  • Top forward speed decreased to 26m/s (from 28)
  • Forward acceleration decreased to 3.5m/s2 (from 4.25)
  • Vertical acceleration decreased to 4.75m/s2 (from 7.5)

Fixes:

General

• The engine upgrade fixes some major threading/rendering issues that manifested as:
  • “Stuttering” framerate (seemingly random periods of lower framerate)
  • Low framerate plus low resource (GPU and CPU) usage
  • Lower framerate and stability as more matches are played in a single session
• [LINUX] Missing tray icon
• [LINUX] Missing UI elements

Alliance Beta (For Open Period)

• Restored missing Devil's Eye/Alleron lightmaps
• Flickering textures on building (parous glen)
• World map Icons stick around after territory flips
• Traveller theme on merchant ship isn't using cubemap lighting shader
• Devil's eye lod and mat was pink
• Missing map colors
• Misplaced main engine on boss ship
• "against your faction" warning stuck on screen
• In World Progression, the foggy fade gradient on the sides of the map screen prevents players from clicking mission buttons
• Added planer mesh for the chandelier on Magnate
• Main base UI health bar does not line up with the weakpoints
• Different ship flickers in ship menu when player completes match
• Escape pods not spawning
• When in Faction Screen, the territory markers in Battle are still showing in the back
• MasterBase Stages needs specific colliders for the weakpoints to be targeted inside of the shell
• Mispositioned Fire Control FX
• You can attack drill before it lands on Defense
• Clean Up Navigation Meshes for All Coop Ships & Some PvP Ships Under Components
• Laser gun's ray goes through target
• Unlocking territories on faction map adds one point per click
• Odd visuals for faction territory
• Missing textures for player freight ship in wrought lod
• Missing fire Particles on Heavy guns
• Missile Circus: mismatch between server and client paths
• Damage smoke was too white
• Missing flyby sound on the boss beam gun
• Faction avatars lack lighting when choosing to switch factions through the skirmish mode menus
• OSX memory crash/corruption
• The needle of the gas mortar jumping out without animation while reload
• Lightning gun missing unpredictably
• Crash on exit
• Decoration of Traveller theme blocks view on Crusader in third person
• Crusader fade out/in on the engine
• Rubberbanding on Crusader between the heavy guns
• War chest size is 0 before playing for the faction
• Armor kit and fail safe displaying swapped skill upgrade descriptions
• Masterbase mini. Fixed z fighting and reverse normals
• SFX volume slider has no effect on lens gun sounds
• Figureheads placed at the helm on Corsair
• Flickering Damage States every time the hull was shot
• Player receives negative progression score after losing an Alliance match
• The last drill doesn't show up in Defense
• Crusader + traveller theme carpet placing issue
• Crusader top left and right light guns placed slightly above the floor
• Crusader navigation mesh is causing AI to get stuck
• Balloon tube missing on Crusader and Magnate
• damaged Magnate rope clipping
• Crusader + fortress theme barbed wire placing issue
• Stormbreaker AI path issues

Skirmish

• Initial spawns can overlap on some maps
• In lobby, switching to spectator may change class
• Match end screen "team" tab doesn't get highlighted by default
• Startup crashes in some cases
• FPS lock not working when window is minimized
• AFK when you are in end match screen and there is nothing you can do to end it
• Engine volume differences
• Getting stuck when jumping down at the ladder on Spire
• Last shot of a Heavy Carronade has no firing effect
• Crew form system message typo
• The target dummies do not attack you at the end of the Engineering tutorial

[ 2016-11-03 00:48:10 CET ] [ Original post ]

Are you ready?[ Starting Monday November 7th, the new new patch hits and war comes to Icarus, but we need people to test it out before hand! We're doing a massive testing call tonight at 9 pm eastern, 1 AM GMT (we believe with the daylight savings.) This is to give us an opportunity to look through all the new UI, systems, and exciting features we're putting in and make sure there's no major break points. Please come join us test and if you don't have access to the dev app get your key here! Find the full notes below!

New contents:

Alliance Beta (For Open Period)

• Special Ability System

Special Abilities (official name TBD) are new class specific unlockables designed to give each class more strategic options and create impactful gameplay moments.  Normally unlocked via playing Alliance matches as each class, we’ve unlocked all of them for your perusal.  Like the ultimates in other games, careful strategic planning and usage of these abilities can dramatically change the tide of battle.  Emit an electrical blast to disrupt enemy components as an Engineer, trigger ship mechanisms to speed reload all the weapons with larger clips as a Gunner, unlock the engine’s true power for a devastating forward ram as a Pilot, and many more. If you go to the Character Loadout screen, you’ll find a new ability slot for every class. Once you equip one, you can use it in match like you would use other class specific skills with the 5 key.  The ability has long cooldowns, so use it wisely!

• The Stormbreaker

The Arashi faction is not in the game yet, and we have our own ideas of what changes need to be made for the next iteration of this ship, but we’d love to hear your feedback as we embark on the next iteration.  The Stormbreaker’s engines, scavenged and retrofitted from larger ships, provides extreme acceleration that’s perfect for skirting enemies.  The asymmetric design speaks to Arashi’s make-it-work philosophy and finding gems in the rough.

• Infiltration

• The ship in the first match lobby slot is the VIP.  The VIP must survive at all costs and is the only one who can infiltrate enemy refineries that are scattered through the map.  Infiltrate each refinery by flying near it while teammates defend the infiltration process.  After all refineries have been dealt with, the VIP, escorted by teammates, must escape at the very end of the map.

• Survival & Survival Mini

• Basic but vicious survival lives up to its name. Go through 8 or 5 waves of objectives ranging from drill destruction, VIP targeting, boss battles, and more!

• Defense 2.0

The primary objective now is to destroy the enemy resource drills.  Barges will heal your base, but they are not required for victory. After  you destroy the last drill, you’ll need to wipe the remaining enemies off the map or survive and defend your base for 5 minutes!  Good luck.

• Alliance Tutorial

With all the new objectives and ways to fight in Alliance, we created a new tutorial segment specifically designed to illustrate new the Alliance mechanics, such as destroying the drill, capture barges from enemy ships, depositing barges, and battling the enemy outposts.  Captain Morrison returns to guide you on this new training mission.

• New Faction Leader Influence

Players that earn the most efforts over a period of time will become leaders of their faction. We’ll be using an accelerated version of this time period for testing purposes.  Leaders unlock the ability to set Rally Points at the location they are currently deployed at.  As more and more leaders coordinate to rally at the same territory, their faction gets War Effort buffs.  These buffs range from a few percent to pulling all players who have not made a choice on which location to deploy at (it can be a lot!).

• New Unlock more attacks on the world map

Factions can coordinate to spend their well earned Coins to unlock additional attacks against factions of their choice.  When enough Coins are invested, the system will choose a new location to unlock.  Be careful!  The more actions you have on the world map also means your efforts will be spread thinner as well so make sure to coordinate.

• War!

Resources will now come into play.  Each territory has a set number of resources.  Conquering a new territory will add that territory’s resources to your factions’ coffers.  Each faction has a Resource Goal, and once a faction has reached their goal (aggressor) a War will be initiated.  The factions will be split into two alliance, the first is seeded with the aggressor and the second will be seeded with a faction of the system’s choosing.  Remaining factions can then vote for which alliance they want to support.  The faction with the highest % of votes towards an alliance will win the vote and go to the alliance of their choosing. When War starts, each alliance has a new Resource Goal to complete.  Once that is reached, the War will end with a winner and a loser. To supplement territory resources, Missions are still available.  Each Mission has different objectives (e.g. conquering specific faction’s territories) and has different rewards.  Look through the Missions and attempt to complete those are that are beneficial to your faction, or block others from completing from theirs. Wars could be won and lost with Missions!

• Integrated World and Faction Progression

The world and faction menus are one click away, and with the new UI, you’ll be able to access these menus from the lobby! Apply war loot, devise strategy, and talk to your faction from any lobby or menu.

• Compiled History and Lore

After the war, we will be compiling everyone’s actions and using the information to create unique lore entries for a player-wide history book.  Flip through its pages to find the exploits of factions, clans, and players. Here is a snippet of the previous alpha test, a short tidbit of what to expect: From the compiled records of the Traveling Historian— There are days when the people can relax without fear of conflict, but those days are often few and far between.  The power in the world are shifting and the new factions are arising to take it for themselves.  The rugged Anglean Republic gained tide after tide of supporters and began to wreak havoc in the central plains against the Fjord Baronies.  The Baronites were overwhelmed by the incessant onslaught of sure numbers and had no choice but to defend their territories by the teeth.  After losing many lands to the fur-cloaked marauders, the Fjord Baronies managed to hold their ground and stem the tide of defeat as the Angleans lost their momentum and by investing in fortifications like armored walls and bulwarks.  The Anglean Republic had spread itself thin. Across the narrow channels to the east, a small but extremely well organized contingency of Chaladonians led their forces against the Mercantile Guild in the south.  The Order of Chaladon was able to break into the mainland due to their superior leadership to contest on Anglean and Baronite lands.  The islanders continuously assaulted key locations in all surrounding factions.  A push like this may have tipped the scales to war but the unexpected happened. In the 11th hour, the Mercantile Guild managed to scrap together their weakening forces to retrieve valuable caches of weaponry, coin, and information from enemy factions.  The Guild was once again rich with their regained their lands.  They advanced back into the mainland to challenge the Angleans, Baronites, and Chaladonians. When the war broke… The last few pages of this account were lost so we’ll never know how the war played out (okay, there was no war in the alpha but let’s play pretend).  We’ll have to wait for the next installment to see who wrests the seat of power this time around. Skirmish

• King of the Hill: Frostbite Occupation

The call to adapt the maps was made, and we’ve heeded the call. First up is a KotH of Anglean Raiders. Dive into the breach and try this brutal capture point map.

• Vs. AI in Practice

Novice AI made a huge splash during our last patch with many vet players wanting to fight against our in-human captains and crews. We’ve unlocked the ability to fight these AI ships in practice mode.  Please note that matches in Practice will not count towards player progression, as Practice is a safe zone for people to learn and hone skills. Enjoy the destruction of AI!

• Skyball 2.0

• Removed defensive spawns to combat easy turnovers that turned into incredibly long matches, and revised spawn locations overall
• Increased winning points to 3 (from 2)
• 20 minute timer for all matches.  Team with the most points at the end of 20 minutes will win (if less than 3 points).  If there is a tie between the two teams at 20 minutes, a 5 minute sudden death round will commence.  During sudden death, the first team to score wins.  Furthermore, captures are instantaneous during sudden death.

General

• New Alliance & PS4 Compatible UI (Work in Progress)

In this beta period, we’re testing a new UI that spans across all Guns of Icarus products (Skirmish and Alliance) that have allowed us to increase information density and functionality, and will allow us to have full controller support and target new platforms in the future.  We’ve streamlined primary and secondary navigation, incorporated a number of ease of use changes that you’ve requested, and audited navigation for controller ease of use and compatibility.  We’ve also made information hierarchy clearer.  For example, on the main screen, people would only have to make a selection between the PvE Alliance and the PvP Skirmish, and they can enter the play screen right away.  With the new design, we were able to place map and mode objectives on the lobby, so people will have clearer ideas of what the mission objectives are before they start the match.  The chat display is also cleaned up, making identification of different statuses and channels hopefully easier. The UI is still work in progress, in that it has not gone through a final Steampunk embellishment pass.  The alignment of chat and social panels is also shifted from left to right to accommodate the updates we’ve made to the navigation scheme.  We’re looking for your help during this open period to test drive the new UI and give us lots of feedback, so we can work on remaining issues and continue to improve upon it.  Thanks!

• Birthday Goggle giveaway
• Celebratory Fireworks
• Birthday cakes provided in our birthday theme

 

Changes:

General

• Unity 5.4 Upgrade
  • Improves stability and performance for all platforms
  • Mac OSX 10.7 is no longer supported
• DirectX11 is the default mode
• Updated Workshop client (engine and video options)

Alliance Beta (For Open Period)

• Allow captain priority entire squadron, and make it more forgiving to mark planes
• Ram killing planes no longer counts in stats
• Tweaked Anglean player ship mesh for wider room for the back engines
• Spectator - HP bars of NPC enemies being attacked by players should now be visible
• Auto display enemy health
• Tweaked collider to Arashi player ship
• Tweaked particles for planes destructions
• Enemy physics more responsive to disables
• Always Spot bosses
• Changed Merchant boss ship's weak points around instead of its sails
• Display enemy health when crew damages enemy ship
• Tweaked texture particles for polish
• Female Yesha Hat receives hair color changes
• Barge capture more obvious and consistent
• Shrike: metal pillars are removed near heavy guns to avoid character animation clipping
• Crusader: adjusted collisions Better decision making and targeting of player by bosses
• Tweaks to higher difficulties to emphasize more coordination and responding to threat instead of bigger meat shields
• Retrieve game mode escalates faster and has better initial enemy spawning to prevent too-fast matches
• Reduced number of objectives in Assault game mode
• More fine tuned hull and component health scaling on convoys and bosses based on # of player ships in match for additional dynamic difficulty
• Difficulty and threat level across bosses should feel more similar

Skirmish

• Pilot tutorial: countdown to reach area starts when ship starts moving instead of when player mounts the helm
• Gunner tutorial won’t remind you not to shoot the balloon when the mortar damages it with AOE
• Wilson’s Notes expanded

 

Balance:

Squid

• Increased hull armor to 335 (from 230) so that it requires an additional rebuild hit with the Spanner
• Decreased hull health to 450 (from 950) to address complaints about tankiness and maintain the design goal of “nimble but weak”

Mobula

• Gun arcs more forward to emphasize weapons platform design
  • Lower side guns turned forward by 5 degrees (-45 to -40, 45 to 40)
  • Top side guns turned forward by 10 degrees (-50 to -40, 50 to 40)
• Decreased forward and vertical maneuverability to increase attack commitment, but same rotation maneuverability to maintain close range effectiveness
  • Top forward speed decreased to 26m/s (from 28)
  • Forward acceleration decreased to 3.5m/s2 (from 4.25)
  • Vertical acceleration decreased to 4.75m/s2 (from 7.5)

Fixes:

General

• The engine upgrade fixes some major threading/rendering issues that manifested as:
  • “Stuttering” framerate (seemingly random periods of lower framerate)
  • Low framerate plus low resource (GPU and CPU) usage
  • Lower framerate and stability as more matches are played in a single session
• [LINUX] Missing tray icon
• [LINUX] Missing UI elements

Alliance Beta (For Open Period)

• Restored missing Devil's Eye/Alleron lightmaps
• Flickering textures on building (parous glen)
• World map Icons stick around after territory flips
• Traveller theme on merchant ship isn't using cubemap lighting shader
• Devil's eye lod and mat was pink
• Missing map colors
• Misplaced main engine on boss ship
• "against your faction" warning stuck on screen
• In World Progression, the foggy fade gradient on the sides of the map screen prevents players from clicking mission buttons
• Added planer mesh for the chandelier on Magnate
• Main base UI health bar does not line up with the weakpoints
• Different ship flickers in ship menu when player completes match
• Escape pods not spawning
• When in Faction Screen, the territory markers in Battle are still showing in the back
• MasterBase Stages needs specific colliders for the weakpoints to be targeted inside of the shell
• Mispositioned Fire Control FX
• You can attack drill before it lands on Defense
• Clean Up Navigation Meshes for All Coop Ships & Some PvP Ships Under Components
• Laser gun's ray goes through target
• Unlocking territories on faction map adds one point per click
• Odd visuals for faction territory
• Missing textures for player freight ship in wrought lod
• Missing fire Particles on Heavy guns
• Missile Circus: mismatch between server and client paths
• Damage smoke was too white
• Missing flyby sound on the boss beam gun
• Faction avatars lack lighting when choosing to switch factions through the skirmish mode menus
• OSX memory crash/corruption
• The needle of the gas mortar jumping out without animation while reload
• Lightning gun missing unpredictably
• Crash on exit
• Decoration of Traveller theme blocks view on Crusader in third person
• Crusader fade out/in on the engine
• Rubberbanding on Crusader between the heavy guns
• War chest size is 0 before playing for the faction
• Armor kit and fail safe displaying swapped skill upgrade descriptions
• Masterbase mini. Fixed z fighting and reverse normals
• SFX volume slider has no effect on lens gun sounds
• Figureheads placed at the helm on Corsair
• Flickering Damage States every time the hull was shot
• Player receives negative progression score after losing an Alliance match
• The last drill doesn't show up in Defense
• Crusader + traveller theme carpet placing issue
• Crusader top left and right light guns placed slightly above the floor
• Crusader navigation mesh is causing AI to get stuck
• Balloon tube missing on Crusader and Magnate
• damaged Magnate rope clipping
• Crusader + fortress theme barbed wire placing issue
• Stormbreaker AI path issues

Skirmish

• Initial spawns can overlap on some maps
• In lobby, switching to spectator may change class
• Match end screen "team" tab doesn't get highlighted by default
• Startup crashes in some cases
• FPS lock not working when window is minimized
• AFK when you are in end match screen and there is nothing you can do to end it
• Engine volume differences
• Getting stuck when jumping down at the ladder on Spire
• Last shot of a Heavy Carronade has no firing effect
• Crew form system message typo
• The target dummies do not attack you at the end of the Engineering tutorial

[ 2016-11-02 23:51:32 CET ] [ Original post ]

Squid changes, skyball changes, and more being tested right now! Hello everyone, Mayday Friday is back after its hiatus and we have a lot going on! As you've noticed we have an entirely new game mode that has a tournament coming up where you can win exclusive titles and eight copies of the game! That's not all that's happening though, we are testing some new changes in the dev app. You can see them all here and get in on the action! Squids, mobulas, and Skyball will never be the same again! Coming up is what our team is working on and our player of the week! Alex: Has been tracking down performance issues that were introduced when we upgraded to Unity 5.2, and investigating what we can do to fix them.  Also prototyping a couple of new Alliance weapons for the remaining factions. Tom: Working on Ambush and prototyping the new class Special Abilities for Alliance. Eric: Prototyping new guns for yesha and arashi. Jerry: Working on new UI. See a special sneak peak here Matthew: Press outreach, store marketing audits, and testing. Last and never least, our player of the week! Congrats to Deargdue for winning a free item of his choice. He's been an awesome player with suchs applauds as: "Player went above and beyond instructing crew." "Worked well with the team"

[ 2016-09-30 18:17:51 CET ] [ Original post ]

Fixes:

- Mighty Pirate voice pack on helm/off helm repair commands swapped - Mighty Pirate voice pack missing store description - On second match of region, map is broken (white) - AI routes going through components - Partial fix to missing UI elements on Linux (more complete fix in the works) - VIP rules description was updated - Skyball’s "ball captured" text at start of next game - Top part of certain texts cut off - Collider from preventing hull fixing on Squid

[ 2016-09-27 10:19:38 CET ] [ Original post ]

New content:

• Novice Deathmatch: Novices will now be placed into games versus AI ships. They may opt out at any time, but this will give them a safe place to learn the mechanics of the game. This also makes novice games easier to make since they require half the number of players as from before.
• New game mode: Skyball. In this sports inspired game mode, compete against your opponents by dragging a cargo barge into their goals to score. Steal the ball by ramming into each other for dramatic plays. Run the ball or defend your own goal!
• New 4v4 Paritan Rumble! Try not to crash :P

Cosmetics:

• Decals: - Wrought Iron Manticore (Free, created by Skletch) - The Valknut (Free, created by Technoholic) - Profiled Pup (Pay, created by ashenlion) - Steam Rose (Free, created by Huckleberry Finn) - Harpoon (Pay, created by Addam) - Roman Insignia (Free, created by JubJub) - The Pouncing Fox (Pay, created by Little Miss Nuke) - Phenixian (Free, created by NextgenZ-) - Mad Hat (Pay, created by Dabzy) - The Liberator (Pay, created by Hue C. Sosnitsky) - Kabuto Musha (Pay, created by nebe) - Solaris (Pay, created by SteelShark)
• Hats: - Mrs. Mad Hatter (F) (Free, created by Mr. Vibe) - Parrot’s Tricorn (M) (Free, created by Akuu) - Bohemian Dreadlocks (F) (Pay, created by philsip) - Picklehauber Pith (M) (Pay, created by A_Harmless_Fly) - Picklehauber Pith (F) (Pay, created by A_Harmless_Fly)
• Goggles: - Green and Gold Aviators (F) (Pay, created by A_Harmless_Fly) - Half Rim Glasses (M) (Pay, created by A_Harmless_Fly) - Half Rim Glasses (F) (Pay, created by A_Harmless_Fly) - Cedar Cifar Holder (M) (Pay, created by Jonasspil)
• Voice Pack: - Mighty Pirate (M, English) (Pay, created by ATrueJedi)

Changes:

• Revamped VIP rules to count escort kills towards the goal score. VIP kills now count for more.
• No double reports of player joining/leaving if s/he is a clanmate and also on the friendlist.
• Lochnagar changes: guns that drop to 1 ammo now do not completely destroy the gun, reverting to more familiar mechanics. However, for clip sizes greater than 1 the same proportional damage per shot still applies. The philosophy remains “repair while shooting” vs. “shoot now, rebuild later”.
• Lowered intensity of gun effects, projectile trails and flare effects on dark maps.
• Added notification for the store if steam overlay not enabled.
• Increased Default Joystick Deadzone for better compatibility.
• Changed perma-healthbar to 10 tick.

Fixes:

• Fixed white texture because of painted detail map on Squid player ship
• Fixed shadow artifacts on Dunes lightmaps on low quality settings.
• [Linux] fixed rendering artifacts on terrain on some GPUs (primarily Intel HD cards)
• Engine damage sounds were missing.
• Reimplemented animations on the Mobula.
• Fixed fog becoming bright when in both tar smoke and other clouds
• Colliders on the Squid ship have been changed to prevent snapping, warping, and falling through the floor in some places.
• Removed highlighting on targets that are in-range when the Tutorial Text option is on.
• Cooldown ticking sound getting stuck
• Fixed various unnecessary differences between shader quality settings
• Fixed rendered fog distance to be more consistent with culling distance on low-visibility maps (e.g. Anglean Raiders), to prevent ships from vanishing while not yet in fog.
• Fixed several cases of character “rubber banding” when just barely bumping pieces of ship geometry
• Fixed different shades of fins on different shader quality
• Fixed voice chat icons/text being under the gradient background of the map
• Fixed typos in pilot tutorial
• Fixed workshop decal icons having different background color
• Removed unnecessary rope on Goldfish
• Fixed Conductor costume repair animation issue
• Fixed graphical glitch with Bowler hat
• Fixed particle effect positioning issue with Hades
• Fixed soft particles issue on Northern Fjords
• Fixed an object placement issue with Traveller theme on Galleon
• Fixed decals hard to see in store in some cases
• Fixed missing “crew” tab at match end screen
• Fixed unnecessary “Recruit from Queue” button in lobby menu when a match already started

[ 2016-09-19 12:34:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

[img=https://scontent-dft4-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/s480x480/13876634_845376722229525_8214475490522251895_n.jpg?oh=039b9df1447c8998bd7c4fe677601d0e&oe=5811E017] We're finished with our first week of the Alliance Open Alpha and we've returned Guns of Icarus to its regular PvP battles. Coming out soon will be stats, lore, and everything we've learned from your amazing feedback. Thank you everyone for a great week!

[ 2016-08-09 19:12:23 CET ] [ Original post ]

The Alliance Open Alpha begins Monday, August 1st, and the skies will fill with new exotic ships, new lethal weapons, and new strange locations. It’s a dangerous new world and you’re going to fly in it. Servers will go down at 12 am Eastern Monday and be back up at roughly 6 am Eastern. From 8/1 to 8/8, you will be able to experience 3 new Alliance game modes - Assault, Defense, and Retrieve - over six new maps. You’ll find yourself flying and crewing on four new ships with access to 4 new guns in the service of one of four factions. All of these new contents will be in service to the first war of Icarus. Defend a homeland, launch a daring attack, recruit mercenaries, and build defenses as you and other players attempt to dominate the world. Can you rally your faction and turn the tide of the war? How to Fight a War
Every battle you fight will not change the world around you as you apply points, recruit troops, and build defenses. When you first start Alliance, you’ll pledge to one of the four available factions. The honorable Baronies, industrious Anglea, sage Chaladon, or devious Mercantile.
After you’ve chosen your side simply press Play and begin! By pressing play, the matchmaker will find you a match, and points will be applied to your faction's side, you’ll progress through your faction (up to rank 4 for the Alpha,) and earn points for your war chest. To specify where you want to fight for and apply your earned points towards your faction’s war efforts, click World Progression on the main menu. From this map screen, you can spend from your war chest by click on a territory and then click on Reinforce to improve attacks and defenses of the territory. By click on the territory, you’ll also dedicate your next battle there. Your war chest will increase in size as you rise through the faction, earning the opportunity to horde and use more resources for your side. Full Patch Notes Alliance Alpha Features (August 1st - August 8th): Ships-
The Chaladonian Shrike The Order of Chaladon have been known as peaceful and reclusive, but the pull of war and the planet’s dilapidated state are starting to change traditional Chaladonian values.  Being the mad scientists, the Shrike uses heavily modified balloon gas technology in order to support the ship’s heavy armaments on such a small frame.  If you look closely, you may see some of this gas leaking from various pipes on the ship—a common issue with this new substance.  The Shrike’s movement is and durability comparable to that of the Squid’s but with additional firepower.
The Anglean Corsair   Like its creators, the Corsair is extremely rugged and is not easily budged.  Based on ancient war machine designs, the Corsair is ideal for inserting itself into a fray of enemies and simultaneously dispatching them from multiple angles.  Gameplay wise, the Corsair takes cues from the Spire in its layout.  The Corsair has multi-tiered decks and a massive interior.  Given the ship’s toughness, scurrying up and down ladders can be kept to a minimum for a skilled engineer.
The Fjord Baronies Crusader Long, sleek, and painstakingly crafted, the Crusader plows its way through enemy lines in glorious charges. Stained glass and crisp design hide a hardened workhorse that has served the Baronies through many conflicts. More dangerous than its sturdy frame and protected balloon is its unique heavy weapon angles which give it an edge over opponents, catching them by surprise.
The Mercantile Guild Magnate Luxury and violence have no closer merging than the Mercantile’s Magnate. Blistering with weapons on both its port and starboard the Magnate is invulnerable to flanking. While exquisitely cut sails and an aerodynamic design, has turned this heavily armed and armored ship into a nimble beast of the sky comparable to a Goldfish. Maps-
Oblivion Approach- Retrieve Similar areas like this one lay scattered across the world, but no route is more deadly than Oblivion Approach.  Its deep ravine cuts a narrow passage that’s too risky for most traders to fly in.  The low traffic and multitude of nooks makes it an ideal place for marauders to hide or even be used as an escape route.  There have been tales of robbers successfully making their getaway through the approach, using the jagged terrain to lose their pursuants.  Must feel terrible to get robbed and crash your ship in a single day.  Hope that doesn’t happen to you anytime soon.
Voyager’s Cove- Defense The Voyager’s Cove takes place off the coast of Chaladonian shores.  Judging by the ruins, it was once a bustling coastal city that has since been reclaimed by the sea.  Now, the cove is an important defensive location linking the Isle of Chaladon to the mainland.  This new map follows the Defense mode ruleset and is designed for 3-4 player ships.
Seas of Alleron- Assault It is known that the world has changed its face many times over.  Now, Alleron wears an arid mask of sand and scorching heat.  However, there is evidence that briny waters once bathed the obelisks that lay partially buried in the dust.  Of course, this also means the seas left many valuables resources behind.  Sifting sand and drilling through rock is a time intensive process, but a worthwhile enough endeavor that many parties fight over the production facilities that lie in the old seas.
Parous Glen- Assault Raw materials drive conflict and Parous Glen’s unique location gives it access to material impossible to find anywhere else. Numerous refineries and outposts drill and process ores day and night. The sound of rumbling and grinding is only ever broken by the sound of raiders attempting to destroy this fortress of manufacturing. Attackers will be quick to find these bases more prepared for war than any stronghold.
Thornholt Crest- Retrieve A fractured church sits at the heart of Thornholt, surrounded by a broken crown of rails from before the age of air.  The crest it sits on provides a natural bastion for numerous outposts and refineries. Unfortunately this also means it is a natural target as well. Numerous factions attempt to plunder the resources tucked away in the crest following the now broken rails to rich targets.
Devil’s Eye- Defense The Hot springs of Devil’s Eye are beautiful and pristine, but the smell of sulfur nearly suffocates any near. It is this sulfur that brought giant refineries and loading docks. Tucked within a crater the Devil’s Eye Citadel can only be reached from 3 angles of attack. These lanes are littered with the wreckage of many who believed they could make it through dangerous paths. Weapons and Tools-
Seraph Tempest Missiles The Fjord Baronies have always had a distinct flair to every aspect of their culture from their attitude, dress, and even weaponry.  Taking a cue from this tradition, the Seraph Tempest Missiles not only provide a spectacle to behold but also excellent support capabilities.  The missiles’ movement are known to trick enemies into thinking that shots have been missed, but with a guided aim the missiles will travel to its intended target despite taking a few detours along the way. Use its unique aiming mechanic to dodge obstacles and hit enemy mechanical components to disable them.  If the enemy’s armor is down, the Seraph Tempest Missiles also do substantial damage to hulls.
Charybdis Gas Mortar Even though Chaladonian researchers tend to not exclusively focus their work on war applications, many of their experiments have unintended side effects.  When trying to find new ways to disperse aerosols, and new environmentally safe pesticides, something went awry.  The dispersal method worked fine, but the pesticide didn’t work as intended.  Instead of killing deadly insects, it was better at corroding metals and gunking up intricate mechanical parts. When the specially designed shells make impact, chemicals are released in the form of a deadly green cloud that will slow down any ship that gets caught.  The cloud will slowly eat away at metal armors, engines, and weapons.  There’s even a handy early detonation function on the shells too.
Februus Weaponized Coil Reverse engineering parts unearthed from the frozen tundra, the Anglean Republic has reconstructed methods to temporarily store an electrical charge.  At first, they were disappointed by their inventions’ instability but soon realized that it could be weaponized to devastating effect. The gun fires an electrical charge that arcs between multiple enemies. Hold the trigger to charge up to 6 seconds.  The damage and the number of jumps increase with charge time. It has a minimum charge time of 3 seconds.
Aten Lens Array Harnessing the power of the sun via a series of carefully crafted lenses, the Mercantile Guild is able to burn its enemies with a focused beam of light.  Only the Guild is able to procure such valuable diamonds and crystals that make up the weapon’s intricate lens array.  The armament’s devastating effectiveness easily justifies its costly construction. To operate the Apollo, hold down mouse to start shooting. The longer you train the beam on an enemy ship, at the expense of less turning arc and movement, and the the more damage the gun would inflict.

[NEW ENGINEER TOOLS] Armor Kit and Fail-safe Kit   Both kits are buff tools, bringing the total buff tools to 3.  Buffs can only be applied one at a time and cannot be stacked.  Armor kit will apply armor to any component for a set duration of time, or until armor has depleted.  Fail-safe Kit applies a rebuilder automaton for a set duration of time.  When a component with the Fail-safe buff/automaton is downed, it will begin to rebuild itself.  Normal assistive rebuilding still works.   Once rebuilt, the buff/automaton is removed. Changes:

• Engine updated to Unity 5.x (5.2.5)
• Director budgeting improvements
• uning reflection/ambient balance in metalmap shaders
• Tweaks to have correct teamcolor sails on shrike
• Gun Particle Update
• Protection map lightmapping
• HUD typeface overhaul for clarity

  Alliance Fixes:

• UV mismatch on triplanar effects
• Newly registered accounts can't choose a faction
• Smoke or trail stucks
• Display issues for "inactive" assault bases
• Visibility shader issues
• Players collide with other ships/bases
• Mobile drill damage shatter is not consistent in game
• Issue with smoke on Small Bases
• Very bright spotlights
• LOD issue on cannon
• Baronese Boss gun animation
• Gun Handles are not animating on the laser gun
• Flare collision is zeroed out in transform
• LOD problem from resulting double mesh
• Assorted fixes to postprocess-less outlining
• Meshes overlapping issue on merchant boss ship
• Wrong EndMatch Camera placements on player ships
• LOD checks and tweaks for player ships and boss ships
• Dark Lighting on Faction Selection Page when using "Low" settings
• Boss and cloud bug
• Chat window layered above Match End Background

Skirmish Fixes:

• First-time player tooltips stuck
• Particles remain after reloading Banshee
• Long clan names overlap clan experience text
• No tray icon when running in borderless windowed mode on Linux
• Rubber mallet is clipping through the AI's body in tutorial
• On player's initial spawn the initial spawns are being used along with normal team spawn points
• Speech icon is visible on the screen after crew forming and returning to Main Menu
• Offscreen rope flag animation is delayed
• Repair point and weapons bars shrunken textures
• typos in tutorial
• Flickering textures on Junker
• Score isn't shown on map
• Player model clipping on Junker
• Typo in Lochnagar ammo description
• Reload animation and actual reload is not synchronized when gun gets destroyed then rebuilt
• Recruit from queue button is not visible for the lobby creator
• Traveller theme's objects are dark on Junker
• Missing ship collision sounds
• Can’t receive PMs after multiple name changes

[ 2016-07-31 23:09:15 CET ] [ Original post ]

The skies will darker with bosses and new players! Hello everyone, The event we've been talking about for the past couple weeks, the open alpha has a date!  August 1st will be the start of the open alpha week.  We'll have more information coming up soon. Also Alliance won an award for Best 3D Graphics in the 2016 Intel Level Up Game Dev Contest! As always we'll be talking about the open alpha, new updates, and answering questions at 3 pm on twitch.tv/gunsoficarus. Stop by, enjoy the rambling, and learn Icarus secrets! This week's highest applauded player is Szalony and Sorrow. He'll be receiving any item of his choice for being a strong member of the community with applauds like: "Great captain. One of the best I have had the honor to be led by." "amazing leading and piloting"

[ 2016-07-15 18:03:06 CET ] [ Original post ]

What some of us stare at daily Hello Everyone, Unity 5 is in full force and you can see Guns of Icarus on Unity 5 in our dev app. We're testing it for bugs and issues that the new engine upgrade introduced. Also be sure to try fighting against our new AI pilots! We'll be talking about unity 5 and the upcoming open alpha today at 3 pm eastern at twitch.tv/gunsoficarus. Come ask us about it, other things, and hear us ramble and get off topic! Next up what some members of the team work out. Alex: Tracking down a few Unity 5-related issues revealed by Dev App testers, and performance work on both client and server. Tom: Ambush, testing enemy AI and behavior. Matthew: Video editing, test planning, and orchestrating casters and youtubers. Last and never least, our player of the week is: MegaMexican He will receive free muse made item of his choice for earning the most applauds this week including "A natural leader and stalwart comrade. One of the best to have at your side when the cards are down." "Thanks For Being the Best Leader" "You make a great leader and a great captain. I am sure you will go far!"

[ 2016-07-08 18:34:37 CET ] [ Original post ]

Our process for map making Hello everyone, A long slow clap for the beautiful gif above from Tim, our art director. This should show an outline of the process that goes into all of our maps.  We're coming up to the final week for the "Why We Fly" video event, please send in your submissions so you can get exclusive titles that will NEVER be given out again! Our apologies for last week's stream being missed. We had a pressing press engagement that ran long, but we're back this week! We're be at twitch.tv/gunsoficarus at 3 pm eastern talking about the hotfix and upcoming Open Alpha that's in the works! Next what the team has been working on: Alex: Fixing assorted graphics bugs introduced by Unity 5. Eugene: -Tweaked sand storm cloud texture/mat to differentiate from normal clouds better. -Resized base & boss guns and their bullets to increase visibility. -Tweaked mines to look better with metalmap shader to be more noticeable in the field. Tom: Ambush mode and bugs. George: Fix unity 5 bugs, Fixes to AI ship state effects, fixing bugs with the newly added guns. Matthew: Marketing content, testing plans, and press engagements. And now: Our player of the week and winner of a free item! MrTheREALButcher For being applauded the most in the past week including "Great communication as fellow captain" "Excellent at communication and encouraging to the novice players." "jolly good and enjoyable chap"

[ 2016-06-24 16:10:33 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes: Reduce the limit of veterans necessary to open Vet Games Rematch vote logic change: 1~2 DM, 0~1 VIP, 1 CP. Last played map will not show anymore. Bug fixes: Added tutorial loading screen pictures "ChatCrew" correctly binds to ‘L’ by default, default binding of “TaskList” moved to ‘T’ (was conflicting) Fixed TAB Scoreboard data issues in Practice Player popup shows in ESC scoreboard again Fixed an effects leak on the Banshee that was causing lower frame rates

[ 2016-06-22 14:09:35 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• Reduce the limit of veterans necessary to open Vet Games
• Rematch vote logic change: 1~2 DM, 0~1 VIP, 1 CP. Last map will not show anymore.

Bug fixes:

• Added tutorial loading screen pictures
• "ChatCrew" correctly binds to ‘L’ by default, default binding of “TaskList” moved to ‘T’ (was conflicting)
• Fixed TAB Scoreboard data issues in Practice
• Player popup shows in ESC scoreboard again
• Fixed an effects leak on the Banshee that was causing lower frame rates

[ 2016-06-22 11:15:45 CET ] [ Original post ]

Trying out a new ambush mode, but the AI jumped us with over 100 objectives! Hello everyone, We've been testing out a lot of new ideas all through the week. Ambush, Skyball, and new VIP changes are being worked on right now. With all the work both Skyball and the VIP changes are ready to get dirty and have players run though them. You can find their testing through the Experimental Crew. We'd love everyone to show up and let us know what you think of what we're working on. As always we'll be live at 3 pm eastern at twitch.tv/gunsoficarus to talk about these changes and new game modes live.  Come ask questions, be a part of exclusive events and rewards, and join in the community experience! Don't forget the "Why We Fly" Video event is live! Exclusive titles and a chance to be one of the faces of Guns of Icarus is up for grabs! Next up is what the team has been working on this week. Howard: Been recovering from a viral infection thing with symptoms that somehow sounded a bit like ZIKA. Otherwise, I've been doing a bit of planning for CoxCon, for an open alpha event (stay tuned!). Eric: SPIES.  EVERYONE LOOVESSSS SPIIIES!! Tom: Ambush mode and bug fixes. Alex: Bringing the whole of Guns development into a newer version of the game engine (Unity 5.2), and dealing with the inevitable complications of that. George: ​​Working on new States for Ai Airships, ship editor improvements to improve artist workflow, Fixing AI Flare issues, testing Unity 5. Matthew: Press organization, content generation, and testing optimization. Last and never least is our player of the week: Sky-Gunner "Wonderful leadership" "good communication" "This... beautiful man is a legend. He not only always keeps a positive outlook towards anything he always has that calm voice even when everything is falling apart."

[ 2016-06-10 18:23:26 CET ] [ Original post ]

Why do you choose to fly in these bullet riddled skies? Hello Everyone, We’re creating a video of the best part of our game: the community! All you have to do is send footage of yourself or of you playing in one of the listed situations.  Everyone who sends in footage will receive an exclusive title reward: Evangelist. If you do one for every situation you will receive a second exclusive title: World Bearer. The videos that make the cut will be edited together into a community “Why we fly” video. We truly appreciate the time our players put in and want to show them off to the world! Send your entries to feedback@musegames.com, please have the subject line read “Why we fly” and include your in-game name. Contest submissions will be accepted up until July 1st Situations: You can send in footage for one or all of these situations. These help us put a theme to the video and make editing and categorizing much easier. Examples are included for each of these. Feel free to take artistic license with any of these ideas. Videos can use webcam, in-game, related media, or any combination. Feel free to let your creative side flare! There is no time requirement or limit for these videos. Why I fly: A video with a description of why you love guns of Icarus. Favorite Gameplay moment: Some gameplay (Can be of yourself or someone else) with commentary (either taken in the moment or added after.) My faction: Announce your faction, it’s up to you if you want to include your reasoning. Favorite Ship: Announce your favorite ship, it’s up to you if you want to include your reasoning. Here are some simple examples: [url=https://youtu.be/Orf-NVFKrL4]My Faction Favorite Ship How to record: Feel free to use any software or tools you feel comfortable with, these are for players not experienced with video recording my advice is Open Broadcaster Software (free) To get started

• Open the program
• Go to Settings and settings
• Under broadcast settings go to Mode and set it to File Output Only
• Set where you want it to save the footage.
  • Now when you press start recording it will always go there
• Make sure your microphone is properly set up
• Add a new scene on the main screen
  • Right click to add a new source to that scene either game and/or your webcam.

If you’re feeling really ambitious: How to make local recordings high quality You can also send any questions to feedback@musegames.com. Can’t wait to see everyone’s footage!

[ 2016-06-09 15:45:17 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• Allow players to change to opposite team's empty slot if balance allows
• Easing rematch requirements
• Increased Voice Over volume in Tutorials

Bug fixes:

• Fixed store's tooltip header issue with some items
• Fixed respawn and loading issues on 3v3 Fight Over Firnfeld
• Fixed floating map elements in Paritan/Labyrinth
• Fixed some subtle effects and UI errors that were causing performance issues
• VIP icon in lobby intersecting with other text
• Captain command icons missing
• Player name above gun selection menu
• Tabs missing on match end screen
• Pressing Enter or Space in chat at match end screen un/checks the rematch vote
• Match end stat text issues
• Mastery achievements aren’t listed
• Can't block players on score menu

New Content:

• New tips for matchmaker waiting screen created by the community and vets to make sure players get the best advice.

[ 2016-06-03 11:03:18 CET ] [ Original post ]

Editor’s Notes: Welcome to 1.4.6, one of the biggest patches to hit Guns of Icarus, with the first new entirely new game mode - VIP - in a long while! VIP is tactical, but also thrilling and violent. It's been really exciting and rewarding for us, as we're finally able to take the mechanics we've been developing for Alliance and bring them back to Skirmish PvP. Not only do we have the new VIP mode, we also have a massive tutorial revamp, complete with voice over, more interactive scenarios, and final tests for players to earn higher medals and rewards. There's more! A new coupon system and friend referral bonuses are here to reward everyone who's been so instrumental in helping us grow the community. This isn’t the end of skirmish content either. As we speak, another game mode - Skyball - is being designed for the next patch. It is an entirely different and unique sky sport game coming FREE to all owners of Guns of Icarus. Get ready for some zany fun and more explosions and stay tuned! New content:
New VIP Game Mode You’ve gone out on your own to play this mode, and we’ve seen how much fun you all have.  We’ve connected with Tropo, Richard, and KitkatKitty the creator and organizers of the player run VIP matches to discover how your rules and nuances make the mode fun.  Score points by killing each team’s VIP.  If the VIP kills another VIP, you get bonus points!  First team to get the required points wins the match.  Important thing to note, the first ship on each team in the match lobby is designated as the VIP.  Plan accordingly!  There are 5 revised maps to play this hectic mode on with a set of achievements to boot.  Happy Hunting.
Alliance Sprung a Leak!! While we’re deploying this morning, we misconfigured something…  And! All the first level costumes for Alliance are now in the game!  it’s not often that our mistakes have pure, unintended, and positive consequences. While we have to rework our progression for Alliance, we’re happy to announce that everyone in game is now gifted (accidentally :D) an Alliance custom free! Enjoy! If you so choose, the Alliance preorder is on our Steam store page, feel free to check it out.
New Tutorial The best crew member is a crew who knows how to complete basic tasks on the ship.  This is why we’ve completely revamped our tutorial to ensure that new players can have a place on every ship.  It even offers mini-game challenges that even the experienced players can test the skills with and earn medals.  There are tutorials for all classes and each one is meticulously instructed by Captain Morrison via radio (just in case you crash the ship).  These revisions should offer a more in-depth yet concise, and highly engaging way to learn how to play the game.
New Friend Referral Our players have gone out of their way to recruit, refer, and bring in an amazing number of friends, and it’s vital to the growth of our community. It’s the reason we have such great clans and upstanding players. To reward and push for more players to do the same, we’ve added in a referral system. On the main page you can click the “Review and Recruit” button to get your code and give it to friends. Once they redeem this code you and them will earn items, dyes, and exclusive titles! Each player can only be recruited once so make sure to grab your friends quickly and look for more.
New Coupon System A new reward has been added into the game. Coupons! You’ll be able to receive these in the new friend referral feature and in other upcoming reward systems. These coupons will give you your choice of items from the store at a discount instead of simply being assigned a reward. Once you get one all you have to do is use the store and you will see your coupon applied on checkout. New Workshop Items

• Decals
  • Frostbite by Thorn the Branch (Free) http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=667097608
  • Faerie by GeoRmr (Free) http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=367718480
  • Snakeyes by NextgenZ- (Store)  http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=384432518
• Hats
  • Boarding Hat - Jeremy Woodes Collection (M) by The Lifeless Hatter (Store) http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=668664218
  • Boarding Hat - Jeremy Woodes Collection (F) by The Lifeless Hatter (Store) http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=668676813
  • Padded Crew Helmet (M) by Taint (Store) http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=629810430
  • Padded Crew Helmet (F) by Taint (Store) http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=629797154
  • Tommy Helmet (M) by Taint (Store) http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=620488384
  • Tommy Helmet (F) by Taint (Store) http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=620785262

Changes:

• Anti-aliasing method is now stated in the options menu
• Different animation for Character in customization window when zoomed in
• Notification when a novice player’s class gets changed from pilot in non-novice matches
• Increased character limit for notifications
• Functionality of hold R and F to throttle forward and backward
• Performance optimisation for multiple Flares
• Bounty and bounty hunter scoring improvement
• Different mechanics for Captain's recommendation spam filter (now works in a similar way like chat spam filter)
• Disallow players to move to the other team via spectator in system-made lobby

Bugfixes:

• Engine sound cuts off abruptly when changing direction
• Match end screen gunner stat text overlaps
• Match end screen effect out of borders
• UI bug when you're inspecting a ship from a running lobby, but the lobby ended
• Multiple notifications when AFK kicked
• Clipping on top deck of Pyramidion
• Seats misplaced on heavy guns after swapping them in practice mode
• Floating smoke on Junker and Spire
• Message saying guns are locked because player is in novice yet he isn't
• All-weather Service Cap is missing the upper half of the model
• Clan page text might get out of border
• Display issue with hair 'Cropped Pixie'
• Display issue with hair ‘Nihongami’
• Dye confirmation UI element shows up when viewing another players’ load-out
• Message saying guns are locked because player is in novice yet s/he isn't
• Too long titles at match end screen
• Ship type name cut off on match end screen
• The size of gaps vary between the notches of the hull health
• Hwacha fire animations missing occasionally

[ 2016-05-23 11:39:16 CET ] [ Original post ]

Credit to  player jamesmokka who made this amazing piece of art. The team has been hard as work squashing bugs, putting the final touches on, and finishing the last little bits onto skirmish 1.4.6. We're really excited to have everyone play VIP, recruit friends, and use enjoy our novices taught by the new tutorial. At 3 pm eastern on twitch.tv/gunsoficarus where Howard, Matthew, Mikko, and Josie will be talking all about the new patch incoming your way hopefully next week. Keep reading to see what the team has been working on and the player of the week Mikko: -7 Deadly ship image and event support -General assistance the Sunday Community Skirmish, Chaos Skirmish Saturday, & Spread Your Wings -Alliance keys/support -General intermingling with the player base Alex: An assortment of small fixes to bugs and performance issues in Alliance.  Testing some rendering improvements on a wider variety of hardware and discovering the inevitable problems that they introduce. Tom: Various bug fixes, testing, and finishing up tutorials. George: Bug fixes, meetings, and finished up sound design test. Matthew: Some moderation work, bringing in our next round of CAs, and expanding testing to three days a week! Our player of the week: The-Doctor- "This player is always focused on making sure every team has enough players even if it hurts their team. Excellent player." "This player has helped me train quite a few new players in the game. Also this player is always more concerned about everyone else having fun than their own success."

[ 2016-05-20 17:09:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

[img=http://gunsoficarus.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/skyball-smaller.gif] Hello Everyone, We're very excited to announce testing for not one, but two new game modes for Guns of Icarus Online! Join in this Saturday at 12 pm eastern. Fire up your Dev App and join us in game as we put these two new game modes through the fires of player testing. The Game modes are VIP, which we'll be testing on Anglean this weekend. Anglean VIP  has proven to be the most violent game mode we've ever tested.  30 ship destroyed in 20 minutes. Get in, protect your VIP and destroy theirs in a Knock-Down, Drag-Out Brawl. Skyball is a tactical  mode focused on aggressive tackles, deadly turn overs, and mad dashes to the goal line.  You can see an example of a ball steal above that lead to a rush cross the line while the enemy was wiped out by the backline. If you don't have access to the Dev App, Click here and grab a code in the discussions! We're going to be talking about these new game modes and more live at twitch.tv. Next: what we've been working on and our player of the week! Warren: New menu mockups, Tutorial/Tooltip/subtitle alternatives, new icons for new achievements and rewards Alex: Primarily testing Unity 5 and banging into walls (trying to track down some collision weirdness, particular with barges.) George: Various bug fixes, working on Video for Sound designer test, and help setting up assets for boss guns. Tom: Tutorials, Ambush, and captain priority changes. Michael: Improvements and fixes for Protection, VIP, and Skyball. Matthew: Marketing creation and testing revamping. Our player of the week is: Barbute This earns them a free item of their choice due to the numerous applauds they've received. "Barbute is perhaps the greatest gunner I have ever seen, always landing incrediable shots. Shots which disable enemy guns as well as landing fatal blows. Without a doubt in my mind Barbute is an amazing gunner and stunning teammate." "Super nice gal"

[ 2016-05-13 18:16:33 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Everyone, We are officially in Alpha now! This means a huge batch of content and first iterations of major systems for you to test out and give feedback on. Below you’ll see notes on everything from a new map to the first take on Alliance World Progression! For Alpha, we have increased the viability of single ship and single pilot games, and we will expand regular group testing sessions beyond every Saturday at 12 pm EST. Stay tuned in the coming days for announcement of more days and times. If you have questions or issues with the update, you can always email us at feedback@musegames.com. If you haven’t pre-ordered Alliance yet, you can now do it through Steam! Thank you so much for your support! Once you pre-order, just send us an email at feedback@musegames.com. We'll give you a code to join us in the prototype, and you can have an exclusive first look at everything yourself and give us feedback! New Contents

• New (Assault) map: Seas of Alleron

• It is known that the world has changed its face many times over. Now, Alleron wears an arid mask of sand and scorching heat. However, there is evidence that briny waters once bathed the obelisks that lay partially buried in the dust. Of course, this also means the seas left many valuables resources behind. Sifting sand and drilling through rock is a time intensive process, but a worthwhile enough endeavor that many parties fight over the production facilities that lie in the old seas.

Alliance World Progression Update

• Claim territory for one of four factions - Anglean Republic, Order of Chaladon, Fjord Baronies, and Mercantile Guild

Alliance Character Progression

• Improve your class equipment over the course of many battles. For the time being, your account will have the planned maximum number of Upgrade Points for your class skills. In the future, Upgrade Points will be unlocked via a series of achievements for each class as you complete matches in Alliance. Please go ahead and try to upgrade your skills. You will not be able to maximize all of them so choose carefully. Furthermore, the ability to reset your upgrades is not complete but is planned for the future. So… be even more careful. We are looking for feedback on UI/UX flow and the comments on the upgrade paths for items.

New Alliance Main Menu Background

• Updates based on your current faction.

New Faction Costumes

• Along with new faction selection screen showing off the costumes you can unlock.
• For the time being, your account will have the basic level costumes from each of the four available factions. In the future, all faction costumes will be unlocked via Faction Progression (playing matches for a selected faction). In the Faction Selection screen, you will see the Elite version of the faction costumes as a what’s to come preview. Enjoy your new threads!

Boss Ships Die Harder

• More dramatic deaths for all bosses.

Boss Weak Points

• Bosses now have weak points that need to be destroyed in sequence, each with separate armor. They are now tougher on individual ships, but still fear teamwork.
• Enemy bases defend themselves at long and short ranges - Beware of mines if you get too close!
• Alternate time-of-day skies and lighting for Voyager’s Cove and Oblivion Approach
• Better balance for “single player” (one ship, pilot only) mode
• Loading screen images for new co-op maps
• New map images for small Voyager's Cove

Changes:

• Move quest hotkey Q to another key to prevent people from hitting it by accident
• Replaced some old armor breaks, updated explosion on escape vessels
• Compass should show A, B, C for objectives instead of Shields
• Barges no longer highlighted as enemies
• Make our base on mini map look a bit different than objectives
• In-match upgrades (from killing secondary objectives and bosses) indicated on UI
• Hit feedback: now uses Skirmish-style hitmarkers and spotting colors

Bugfixes:

• Fixed audio priority issues that could cause sound effects to go missing
• Various targeting oddities with lightning and missile circus guns
• Emplacements missing damaged LOD
• Ship could jam through destructible walls without shooting it down or breaking it
• Reappearing particles
• Fixed some cases of cargo barges causing players to get stuck in narrow spots (ongoing effort)
• Defense: Planes no longer skip the outer defenses to target the main base immediately
• Collisions (played getting stuck) on new ship
• Final Explosion on boss is being offset when rotated
• Figure head spawning at middle of Alliance ship
• Fixed some (excessively long) lulls in the action produced by the AI director

[ 2016-05-05 14:17:12 CET ] [ Original post ]

Move over bonefish, the Arashi are upgrading It's the week before pax and all through Muse. Not a dev was sleeping, especially not those who schedule press interviews. Others were working on fitting the alpha into a USB with care In hopes that everything would work on first try when they got there With computers tucked in all tight in the back of a van Devs were on their way, rocking out to Dvořák's 9th symphony in a four door sedan. To be the first to hear about our plans for PAX and get to ask about the upcoming alpha, join us for our weekly dev fireside chat at twitch.tv/gunsoficarus. We'll be taking questions and talking about the massive push into alpha coming to a con and computer near you! This week in Muse: Howard: Planning for Pax East!  If you're coming to Pax, come by booth 7212 to visit us and play some Alliance!!! Jack: More Arashi Cloud-Breaker work. Alex: Implementing the code bits for a new Alliance title scene, and making the "missile circus" guns behave themselves. Tom: Tutorials and bug fixes. Matthew: Updating the way we produce content from the Muse team, choosing the next batch of CAs, and preparing for PAX! For our player of the week, big congratulations to: The Squash "Lead a crew of AI to victory after our allies dropped from the game" "For always helping me out when I need it and teaching me so much."

[ 2016-04-15 17:57:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

So much violence has happened and will happen for this little square of land. Hello everyone, We're excited about a lot of upcoming things. We have PAx East coming up where we'll be showing off a mountain of new content which will make its way into the player prototype shortly after and just as exciting is the revamp of balance testing a procedure. As always we'll be talking about this and more on twitch.tv/gunsoficarus  at 3 pm eastern as well as taking your questions live! Balance Procedure Revamp We're coming to you today with what we hope will be some reassuring and exciting news about how we balance Guns of Icarus Online and our aims for the future of how we play the game together. Let’s talk about it! After the last balance cycle, we can totally understand why everyone is frustrated - us included. Having reviewed the process, a lot of things were done wrong and communication across the board left a lot to be desired. We want to change that because these changes ought to benefit the players and community instead of causing developers and players unnecessary grief. In order to help everyone out, we are going to change the way that we handle balance. The hope is that this will make changes less intimidating and keep everyone better informed as to what our goals are. Here’s a brief summary what we’re going to do. Instead of making many changes at once, we’re going to deal with problems on a more regular basis, but balance changes will be made one or two at a time instead of in lumps of nine changes once a year. This will mean that our balance changes don’t fight each other as hard and will create a more regularly updated game environment. The changes will be less significant in general so they will be less risky to implement. This will help the ease of adapting to the new balance and will ease the tracking of changes. We will be tackling a confirmed problem statement during each cycle. This will be determined based on player feedback with corroborating data as we already do. We will be discussing with the community which statements we tackle and do our best to communicate our aims so that everyone is on the same page. The hope is that the changes we’re making to our method should help everyone out. In order to get the ball rolling, we’re going to have a discussion about the first problem statement that we’re going to tackle for this first cycle. At the moment, we’re looking at the effectiveness of the Meta Mobula. We’ll take some time to gather data and think about it and see what we can do! In the meantime, please send us your balance feedback. It doesn’t absolutely have to be related to our current problem statement by the way - we want to know all about the things you’re seeing in our balance so that we can generate new problem statements to prioritise and work on for future cycles. Go ahead and tell us what you think! Team's Weekly Progress Howard: Been doing some testing, some outreach for Pax and Alliance previewing! Michael: Has been testing and fleshing out new modes. For skirmish:

• Battle Arena - Each team has a fortress that must be protected. If a fortress is destroyed, the other team wins. (no creeps or anything else)
• Skyball - A soccer / basketball-like mode. Drag the floating ball-barge into the opponent's goal to score.
• VIP - A deathmatch variant, where only killing the enemy team's VIP ship counts towards the score.

For Alliance:

• Protection (working title) - Coop VIP mode. One player ship must be escorted through the map and to the exit without it dying.
• Escape - Players race against the clock to the map exit, destroying numerous obstacles in their path.

Alex: Testing, finalizing things for PAX, and making slow but steady progress on upgrading GoI to Unity 5. George: Working on the ability for Boss guns to charge before they fire. Tom: Working on Ambush and tutorials, with some minor bug fixes. Eric: Lore, new game modes, old game modes, and planning data collection for next balance cycle. Player of the Week Our player of the week is: SteamBrains "A-Star Level Leadership" "Helped us out when our captain left." "Truly a 100% decent pilot."

[ 2016-04-08 16:24:24 CET ] [ Original post ]

An amazingly player, Atruejedi, made this for us. I bring it up for no reason. Hello Everyone And happy April 1st. As you may know, this is classically a day for pranks and tomfoolery. On that note, the patch that went out today has no gameplay changes. Beyond that though we'll be talking about Guns of Icarus and Alliance while answering your questions at twitch.tv/gunsoficarus at 3 pm eastern. Can't wait to see everyone there and get to hang for an hour! Going to be a short update today, because news on April 1st is always a frustrating prospect. So last and never least, our player of the week! DiemExDei, who will receive a free muse-made item of their choice! They have apparently been sharing their musical talent and many players have enjoyed. "Great at piano!" "Sweet Toons" "Playing INSANE LIVE MUSIC!"

[ 2016-04-01 18:04:17 CET ] [ Original post ]

Balance Changes Mobula -Outer top guns fanned out 5 degrees -Inner bottom guns fanned out 10 degrees Spire -Reduced turn acceleration to 10d/s2 (from 15) -Reduced top turn speed to 10d/s from 12 Squid -Back gun turned inwards (towards right side of ship) 40 degrees (from 0) -Increased forward/backward acceleration to 8m/s2 (from 6.66) Heavy Flak -Damage moved to direct hit for a 70/30% split between direct and AoE (from 45/55%) -Higher clip capacity to 4 (from 2) -Damage per shot reduced (115/50 explosive, from 150/180 explosive) -Increased RoF of 2 shots/s (from 0.8 ) -Reduced reload time of 4.5s (from 5) -Reduced camera shake Lochnagar Shot -Reduced clip size reduction to -50% (from reduction to 1 shot) -Reduced rotation speed reduction to -80% (from -90%) -Changed damage-to-gun model so that is deals proportional damage per shot until gun is destroyed (e.g. if gun has 2 shots then each shot deals 50% damage vs a gun that has 4 shots were each shot deals 25% damage) Hwacha -Reduced projectile speed to 250m/s from 400m/s -Decreased camera shake Harpoon -Added right click and hold to reel in -Increased harpoon force to 1,500,000 (from 230,000) Pyramidon -Hull health increased to 700 (from 550) -Ship mass increased to 300000 (from 200000) -Ship propulsion increased from 283500 to 675100

[ 2016-03-18 21:09:15 CET ] [ Original post ]

Lights... Guns... ACTION! Hello everyone, Now that we're past our teenage texting title we can get into the nitty gritty of this weeks update. We'll have some finished balance notes coming out soon and into the game, but for now you can hear it and have all your questions answered first at 3 pm eastern at twitch.tv/gunsoficarus. In massive news though. Guns of Icarus Alliance Pre-order is on Steam! This is a massive step and we're really excited to be moving closer to a full release. As salways if you send in your purchase information to feedback@musegames.com you can get early access to the prototype. Keep reading for what the team has been working on and our player of the week! Howard: At GDC, and with the help of Steam and got Alliance pre-order up on Steam finally! Eric Cheating in World Progression, breaking events, ruining balance, and building walls. Tom: Working on the new Ambush game mode for Alliance. Alex: Wrangling engine versions and fixed a couple of odd networking glitches. Tim: Hooking up some lights (see above.) Michael: Has been prototyping new modes, including Capture the Flag for skirmish and a couple VIP modes. Also, created a new "Debug" tab in the world map that allows more control over cheats related to world progression and viewing more data about the world. Matthew: Buying the worst computer possible to test min spec for alliance mode along with community work and balance testing and feedback. And our final part of Mayday Friday, our player of the week! Air Admrial Sean He will be receiving any muse-made item of his choice for getting the most applauds this week including: "Great leader, would crew for again 11/10" "Maintained a fun yet efficient attitude as captain, contributed to the overall humor of the crew, and led the charge with atypical ship types." "He's nice man"

[ 2016-03-18 18:02:43 CET ] [ Original post ]

Unity 4 lightmapping sat on a wall, Unity 5 made it have a great fall, and now all the Alex is putting it back together again. Hello everyone, We've been hard at work in the office with everyone's feedback on our massive changes for "When Ambush Comes to Shove." We've made a lot of progress and we think we have it right this time. To be a part of the (possibly) final balance testing follow this link. As always we'll be live at twitch.tv/gunsoficarus talking about balance, alliance, and answering every question you bring up at 3 pm eastern. Here's what the team has been working on: Howard: Planning for GDC!  We'll be at the Intel booth demoing Guns of Icarus Alliance! Alex: Reinventing the (lightmapping) wheel in a way that will actually work for us in Unity 5, in support of eventually upgrading the game engine and tweaking miscellaneous highlighting/damage display things for Alliance. Tom: Wrapping up Tutorials. Warren: Cleaned up World Progression screens and working on HUD improvements/clarity. George: Getting up to speed with everyone's tasks and solving the many sounds in Coop problem. Jack: Preparing for GDC as much as I can and moving forward with the Arashi player ship. Eric: Balancing (or possibly unbalancing,) Lore, Progression, and new Game modes. Matt: Choosing the next batch of CAs and developing press materials. And last and possibly most: Our player of the week. Congratulations to Psaltery he has earned a free muse-made item of his choice! "One of the best players in the whole game, always ready to help other players." "Great pilot and has great sportsmanship, Round of applause for him"

[ 2016-03-11 18:40:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone! In this new update, we’re excited to unveil another big batch of new and major things for your testing enjoyment! In addition to a new map in the retrieve mode family, we’ve also added a new faction ship and 2 more faction weapons. Another major system added is dynamic weather and time of day effects that vary across different map climates. Bases are now more threatening, with defenses and a more dynamic weak point design. We're now hosting regular group test sessions every Saturday at 12pm EST, and we'll be collecting feedback afterwards. If you have questions or issues with the update, you can always email us at feedback@musegames.com. If you haven’t pre-order Alliance yet, you can do that on the Humble Store, and we’re working on getting pre-order up on Steam as well. Thanks for supporting us! Once you pre-order, just send us an email at feedback@musegames.com. We'll give you a code to join us in the prototype, and you can have an exclusive first look at everything yourself and give us feedback!
NEW FACTION SHIP:  Chaladonian Shrike The Order of Chaladon have been known as peaceful and reclusive, but the pull of war and the planet’s dilapidated state are starting to change traditional Chaladonian values.  Being the mad scientists, the Shrike uses heavily modified balloon gas technology in order to support the ship’s heavy armaments on such a small frame.  If you look closely, you may see some of this gas leaking from various pipes on the ship—a common issue with this new substance.  The Shrike’s movement is and durability comparable to that of the Squid’s but with additional firepower.
NEW MAP:  Oblivion Approach Similar areas like this one lay scattered across the world, but no route is more deadly than Oblivion Approach.  Its deep ravine cuts a narrow passage that’s too risky for most traders to fly in.  The low traffic and multitude of nooks makes it an ideal place for marauders to hide or even be used as an escape route.  There have been tales of robbers successfully making their getaway through the approach, using the jagged terrain to lose their pursuants.  Must feel terrible to get robbed and crash your ship in a single day.  Hope that doesn’t happen to you anytime soon.
NEW BARONITE WEAPON:  Heyoka Guided Missiles The Fjord Baronies have always had a distinct flair to every aspect of their culture from their attitude, dress, and even weaponry.  Taking a cue from this tradition, the Heyoka Guided Missiles not only provide a spectacle to behold but also excellent support capabilities.  The missiles’ movement are known to trick enemies into thinking that shots have been missed, but with a guided aim the missiles will travel to its intended target despite taking a few detours along the way. Use its unique aiming mechanic to dodge obstacles and hit enemy mechanical components to disable them.  If the enemy’s armor is down, the Heyoka Guided Missiles also do substantial damage to hulls.
NEW CHALADONIAN WEAPON:  Charybdis Gas Mortar Even though Chaladonian researchers tend to not exclusively focus their work on war applications, many of their experiments have unintended side effects.  When trying to find new ways to disperse aerosols, and new environmentally safe pesticides, something went awry.  The dispersal method worked fine, but the pesticide didn’t work as intended.  Instead of killing deadly insects, it was better at corroding metals and gunking up intricate mechanical parts. When the specially designed shells make impact, chemicals are released in the form of a deadly green cloud that will slow down any ship that gets caught.  The cloud will slowly eat away at metal armors, engines, and weapons.  There’s even a handy early detonation function on the shells too.
New Features

• Improved visuals and behavior for dynamic storms. Sky and lighting changes give a clue to coming weather, and storm behavior varies across different map climates - dust storms on desert maps, thunderstorms on wet ones, snowstorms on cold ones.
• Time-of-day lighting variants for some Alliance maps (Parous Glen and Devil’s Eye)
• Escape Pods now escape!  Catch them for bonuses before they disappear.
• Enemy outposts and bases now have weak points arranged around their structures.  Keep an eye out on which is active to deal damage to them.  Watch out for mines!
• Tip for how to pick up and drop off Barge
• Travel sound effects (wind noise) for bullets/projectiles/airplanes/destroyed airplane parts
• Oblivion Approach now features breakable walls.  Choose your shortcuts wisely!

Balance changes:

• Apollo Lens Array: Reduced range to 1500m (from a lot) and added damage falloff starting at 750m range at a rate of 1% damage reduction per additional 1000m.

Changes:

• Better AI plane maneuverability to handle narrow spaces
• Change flavor text to bulleted objective list on Loading Screen
• Faction switching at match startup

Issues Fixed:

• The brief version of debug overlay disables the "prototype" banner
• Debug text is under the gradient background on the match end screen
• Beam cannon fire sound effect doesn't have 3D positioning
• Match end UI is zoomed in way too much
• Hand positioning on the beam gun
• End match sequence failed on Parous Glen
• Directional hit edge indicators in the new ui get stuck center-screen
• Misplaced smoke on boss ship
• AI ships don't deal with mines well in clearing them
• Boss Ship Guns Particles missing for destruction
• Captain command UI looks too stretched on structures
• Deploy screen effect remains on screen
• Medium gun factory is missing Stand, and Launch Point for config
• Exit button on loading screen doesn't work properly
• Numerous performance improvements, particularly with regards to enemy aeroplanes

[ 2016-03-04 22:09:48 CET ] [ Original post ]

Though I walk through the valley of forum comments... Hello everyone, It's been a busy week for us and we need to start it off with major thanks to every player that came out on Saturday and Sunday to help us test a crazy new balance patch that affected so many ships, guns, and physics itself.  The feedback was vicious, it was brutal, and it was unrelenting and we couldn't be happier to receive it. "When Ambush Comes to Shove" is one of the largest balance shifts in Guns of Icarus since we fixed the way mass was calculated in our game over 2 years again. We aren't done testing and we'll be back in the Dev App skies: (Get your key here) (Compare rumors here!) Saturday 11 AM eastern (blind test) Sunday 12 PM eastern (Non-blind test) As always we'll be talking balance, Icarus, and Alliance on twitch.tv/gunsoficarus at 3 pm eastern. We'd love for you guys to come hang out with us! NeedNoLife is our player of the week and will receive any muse-made item of his choice. Players had this to say about him: "he taught me" "explaining stuff" "Helping out the newbies in global, cool dude."

[ 2016-03-04 18:48:35 CET ] [ Original post ]

When Ambush Comes To Shove

On the prowl for meta changes Welcome to the first large scale balance testing and style change since the mass rework of 1.2. We’ve decided to take larger approach with many smaller changes on numerous systems rather than targeting single weapons or ships directly.  This wide lensed balance update provides for you as players and us as developers new opportunities and challenges, so we want you guys to be talking to us every step of the way and we’ll do the same so we can improve how we approach balance and the game as a whole. We’re going to be communicating our reasons, and what you can be expecting next from this set up every step of the way. We will still have blind testing where exact figures aren’t released, so that we can try to get a better idea of the “feeling” of our changes, but the day after, we will also have informed tests, so you can attempt to take full advantage of any numbers issues you see. If you don’t already have the Dev App and want to help us test, grab a key. As always feedback@musegames.com is the where we want you to tell us everything so we can file, digest, and discuss the data you bring up.

Timeline

February 24th Balance Plans Announced February 27th 11 am eastern- Blind Data Test Affected Systems

• Mobula
• Spire
• Squid
• Heavy Flak
• Harpoon
• Pyramidion
• Physics related to ship fall
• Hwacha

February 27th 1 pm eastern- Change Notes Released February  28th 12 pm eastern-  Informed Data Test

[ 2016-02-24 16:17:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

New features / new content:

• Player and voice channel hierarchy and color
• Added 2v2 water hazard to novice map rotation
• New skirmish match-end with crew stats and match summary
• Notification for being autokicked
• More video options: - Soft Particles (was part of Postprocess Effects, improves cloud/ground intersections when enabled) - Shader Quality (older GPUs may see a performance improvement if set to Limited or Low)
• Captain target mark is now visible offscreen too
• More information for Need Help button
• Tutorial text improvements (overheated guns, gun info)
• More tools for practice (showing projectile path, spawning targets in different distances, switching guns ingame)
• Clan level 11~15 with new rewards
• Added tooltip help for why the guns are locked for novice players
• Added game mode rules in the lobby too
• Added clarification for the way most active clan leaderboard works
• Active helm skill icons shown on affected components
• Recommended loadout would save just like other loadouts.
• Notification when pilot leaves/comes back
• Score panel is now available on the deploy screen too
• New workshop items: - Decal: Oculosprocket (free) - Decal: The Bounty Hunters (free) - Decal: 1812 WarHawk - Male goggles: Green and Gold Aviators - Female hat: Dapper Dame's Veiled Hat

Changes:

• Players are default switched to pilot when they’re in captain seat. Novice players can’t change class if they’re in captain seat.
• Hats and outfits of the same type now stack in character customization inventory UI
• Rematch map vote would at least have one CP map as option
• Ship kills will stay longer in match news feed (at top left)
• Steam client will be used for achievement notifications from now on
• Different colors for un/completed achievements
• Running water effect removed during rainstorms (due to performance, quality issues)
• "AFK" changed to "Inactive"
• Deployed mines for Mine Launcher is easier to read
• Shorter component names in kill feed so there will be less messages cut off
• In-game store will charge USD, Steam will handle currency convert
• Spectators are not allowed to vote map
• Clan chat is now visible in all chat tabs
• Report window doesn’t disable chatbox
• Match system changes - Novice are put into regular queues automatically after waiting for 85 seconds - Team balance logic fix
• Changed the way character hair is rendered slightly (it gets shadows properly now, but lost some subtle soft edges)

Fixes:

• Client connection times out less quickly under unstable networking conditions
• Add smoke trail at hull break
• Several achievement descriptions on Steam
• Light sources on ships (lanterns etc) are now disabled by distance/settings rather than flickering weirdly
• Flares (and other light sources) no longer stack brightness as crazily on clouds
• Guns being fired by other players aren’t played
• The carpets of the traveller theme have strange light smears
• Hitmarkers are now shown as your own if you get off the gun after firing
• Fixed display/music issue where buffing the hull was interpreted as damage+repair (triggering drums)
• Start screen’s "Play" button not clickable in some aspect ratios
• Friends should not join tutorials
• Character loadout doesn't get updated if accepting recommended loadout while being on customization screen
• Going “Inactive” no longer activates combat music

[ 2016-02-23 10:33:14 CET ] [ Original post ]

Dating is like an airship battle. You have to try to make the right moves, work together, and hope that no one brought a flamethrower. Hello everyone, Happy valentines weekend! Make sure to take your significant other into the skies, it's a perfect way to spend time, share experiences, and get them to call you "the captain." If you're not into the pink and frilly corporate holiday, hop in game and blow the happy couples out of the sky! Before you either embrace or destroy Valentines day, join us at twitch.tv/gunsoficarus at 3 pm eastern for the Dev Fireside chat! We'll be live with the founder and leader designer talking about all the things coming into Alliance mode including new guns, maps, and destructible terrain! Below see what we're all working on, be reminded our new event, and see the player of the week! George: Baked some lightmaps, fixed some sounds bugs, and added new theme music. Howard: New main theme tracks - string and pizzicato ver. - and sheet music now available on Guns of Icarus Steam store page! If you own the Collector's Edition, you'll have these automatically unlocked in your soundtrack folder. If you don't currently own CE, you can upgrade to it now on the store page as well. Enjoy! Alex: Fixing lots of last-minute things for MAGfest, particularly Assault base weakpoints,  making builds, and trying to improve plane performance. Michael: Fixes for MAGFest, namely for the end match UI and the stats displayed there. Also, a rather new UI panel that tracks COOP objectives. As an objective is completed, a tab slides in from the right-hand part of the screen to update players on what's going on. This will eventually replace the objective UI when the in-match menu is accessed. Tom: Bug fixes and Build testing. Eric: Messing with balance. Nothing is sacred. Matthew: Investigating new CA applicants and devising a new media strategy. Do not forget we're running an event asking for covers of the new live Guns of Icarus Music.  Find the full information here! For our player of the week, put your hands together for: Captain Nickel "Really nice and funn,y very positive" "This player is such a good leader, he leads with a fist of golden hearts. Not in the way that you think, he legit takes the hearts of his enemies, paints them gold, and makes gauntlets out of them." "Great Captain, Great Sportsmanship."

[ 2016-02-12 19:20:19 CET ] [ Original post ]