March was a great month for Dark Horizons Mechanized Corps, not only did we add a lot of great players but we began to finalize and implement one of our persistent online multiplayer features of the game which we are calling “Faction Wars”. We were also able to make some progress toward cross platform play. Because Faction Wars is such a huge addition to the game we are going to post a 2 part DEV DIARY for April leading up to the 0.0.8.0 release which will have the next big phase of Faction Wars. For part 1, we are going to discuss some of the systems we are adding that will tie both Faction Wars and single player aspects of the game, this focuses around earning and spending Credits as part of the game experience. Credits and how you earn them. Credits are a currency that you can only earn by playing the game, you cannot buy them with real money, via the persistent multiplayer portion of the game (Faction Wars), online play, or through playing offline (single player) missions. Players will earn credits based on both their performance and their team’s performance in-game. This includes factors such as number of kills or assists the player gets, whether the player’s team was successful, credits for salvage for the winning team (a credit bounty for each enemy mech destroyed by your team) and amount of damage inflicted. (Mockup of new results screen below).
(note: this is purely a mockup, though its close to the final in-game layout) Will there be other ways to earn credits? The answer to this is yes there will be a couple other ways. All players will begin with enough credits to build out a couple of custom mech configurations which will help them get started. Players will also earn credits each day that they log into game (as a stipend from the merc guild or your selected faction that you fight for in Faction Wars). There were also be other additional method for earning credits in future releases (beyond release 0.1.0.0) which include, but are not limited to:

• Player market (the ability to sell parts and builds)
• More complex salvage system

Spending Credits As we previously mentioned one of the uses for the player to use Credits on will be building mechs! Currently in-game you can build as many chassis as possible with no limits. As a planned feature, with the implementation of Faction Wars, players will now earn credits and then spend those building out their mechs. The following item categories will cost credits:

• mech chassis
• weapons
• equipment (targeting laser, ammo deployer, jumpjet, etc…)
• engines
• extra armor
• additional ammo (future feature)

So essentially every component used in building your mech out. Future updates:

• Squad upgrades
• Custom mech builds
• Additional mech slots
• and more...

Can you try out a config before purchasing? This feature will come in a future release, but until then we will allow players to sell back the build at full price for an unspecified time period while we pull in analytic data to ensure that your credits earned is balanced with your credits spend. With that said you also can sell just the base chassis of a build and strip the weapons and put them into your inventory (for use later on a future mech config that the player will want to create). A mockup of this functionality is as follows: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=431133920 http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=431133566 Once an items is in the player’s inventory it can be used in future builds without any additional costs, or the player can choose to sell the item on their own. In Closing So that is the credits and inventory systems at a high level. Please feel free to post questions or make suggestions in the forums . http://steamcommunity.com/app/266470/discussions/0/618460171315113977/ Tune in next week, we will be posting details on the rest of the upcoming 0.0.8.0 patch including:

• Faction Wars, Balance of Power map
• Faction bonuses for territory control (XP and Credits bonuses)
• New in-game lobby layout
• New AI and default config layouts
• Status on some other items
• New battlefields
• Linux update
• New team member introductions

Upcoming events May Faction War Fridays! We will be hosting Friday events again focused on the start of the 2nd Machine Wars. We will also be looking to host more events on Sundays also. To be kept up to date on scheduled events we encourage you to join the OFFICIAL GROUP at http://steamcommunity.com/games/dhmc .

[ 2015-04-24 23:56:14 CET ] [ Original post ]

WARNING: THIS GAME IS CURRENTLY IN EARLY ACCESS AND IS CONSIDERED IN ALPHA. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO PARTICIPATE IN ACTIVE DEVELOPMENT OF A GAME, PLEASE DO NOT PURCHASE THIS ITEM. YOU WILL EXPERIENCE POSSIBLE BUGS, GAME RE-BALANCING AND PERSISTENT STAT RESETS DURING THE DEVELOPMENT PERIOD OF THIS GAME.

In the year 2210, fifty years after the start of the machine wars, the battle mech is the premier weapon of war. Standing over 35 feet tall and weighing up to 40 tons, these hulking behemoths are walking arsenals of firepower and armor that have no other rival in a theatre of war. As part of your factions Mechanized Corps, you will need to utilize your intellect to custom configure battle mechs that suits both your play style and the mission parameters as well as hone your skills and cunning as a pilot to survive

Play on your own or join the action online in a persistent warzone called “Faction Wars” that enables you to not only fight for domination over mission zones to earn unique unlocks and achievements, but also create and manage squadrons, and tracks player and squadron stats.

Dark Horizons : Mechanized Corps is the sequel to the 2005 Independent Games Festival Finalist “Dark Horizons Lore” reviewed on The Junkyard http://legacy.the-junkyard.net/reviews.php?action=viewreview&id=46.

Currently Implemented Features:

• Intense mech based combat. Unleash your firepower and tactics on your opponents. focus your attacks to localize damage to destroy weapons, equipment or even cripple and more readily destroy enemy mechs.
  
• Customize multiple mechs to suit different styles of play or mission types. Choose from 4 different mech classes, 41 different weapons and pieces of equipment, custom paint styles and colors and more. You can employ any of these saved configurations in-game as you play.
  
• Play any mission offline versus bots, in instant action mode.
  
• Or get into the action online against up to 16 other players (per mission)! NOTE: 32 players being worked on.
  
• Earn stats for leaderboards and achievement unlocks in a persistent game environment.
  
• Faction Wars, persistent online battle.
  
• Multiple mission environments, with 6 zones currently available.
  
• 4 games modes including Attrition, Team Death Match, Free for All, and Mini-nuke.
  
• Create or join a squad and fight together to take control of various mission zones online.
  
• Pilot progression through military ranks that also unlock faction bonuses.
  
• Implementation of 3 main factions (Federated States, Eastern Confederation, Overload Mercenary Guild).

NOTE: The Faction Wars system is currently still in development, but out first order of business after EA launch is to work on getting the persistent stats feeding into the online war map system.

Features that are in development

• 32 players for online missions.
  
• Addition of dozens of new and unique weapons and equipment to configure your mech with.
  
• More mechs for each class, providing additional unique configuration options to try out.
  
• Faction Wars, the persistent online war component will be implemented on a ongoing basis with features like:
  
  • Variable spawn points per mission based on which faction has control over that mission online and other factors.
    
  • Contract missions for mercenaries and faction pilots.
    
  • Co-op missions with special raid and recon missions.
• Deploy equipment in-game at various locations throughout each mission to construct bases that will help secure key locations and enable your team to take control of the mission against your opponents.
  
• Additional Game play modes like Siege, Raids, and Arena mode.
  
• Addition of new missions through out Early Access.
  
• Support for additional platforms (Linux/SteamOS/Mac).