Refueling Station Update

Hey Gearheads!

Time for another Weekly Update!


Refueling Stations are an exciting new addition to the Annexation game mode. Capturing a Generator now powers up a nearby Refueling Station.



Only the team currently controlling the associated Generator can use the Fueling Station. Capturing a Generator from an opposing team will also take control of the nearby Refueling Station.



To use a Refueling Station that your team controls, simply step onto the platform and press [F]. While refueling, your Gear shuts down and is vulnerable to enemy attack. To stop fueling, just let go of [F] and keep moving. Note: Gears can only refuel when they have less than 90% of their total fuel.

Here is some of the additional things we’ve been working on this week:

Updated destructible trees to use less resources and optimized the water shaders to greatly improve performance.

Enabled Jump Jet particle replication, you can now see the exhaust of other player’s Jump Jets!

Reload animations!



New, in development Dueling Arena map available for play testing.



That’s all for this week. Hope to see you all tomorrow for play with the devs!

Also join us in discord! https://discord.gg/KfQG2qb

Have a great day and keep fragging Gearheads!

Hey Gearheads!

Time for another weekly update!

One of the many things we’ve worked on this week is gears got a detail texture pass, as well as a couple high poly weapon models



It isn’t just the gears getting shiny new paint.
Some of the guns have been updated as well.

First we have the refined heavy pulse laser model.



Next on the list is the sniper laser! Now you can look clean picking off targets from a distance!



There are countless of additional tweaks and changes that are in works for this Friday patch. Weapons have been rebalanced, gears got an additional pass on locomotion stats. Additional SMS leg steering animations have been added and at last we are rolling out the first pass on Fueling Stations. Your fuel will now at a much higher rate, since gears are now consuming a lot more energy and hydraulics. Don’t forget to pump the gas!

Make sure to come by tomorrow at 4pm EST for Play with the Devs and check all these new things out!

Disclaimer: You have to have your pre-release branch setup for this early test.

Hope you enjoy the rest of your day. Join us on Discord https://discord.gg/KfQG2qb
Happy Fragging Gearheads!

Hey Gearheads! Happy Thursday.

First thing we want to say a big Thank you! You have flooded my channels with screenshots. Which means starting Monday, be sure to check facebook, twitter, and the steam discussion forums for Screenshot of the day!



Here we have BlackFang surveying Port Oasis. Thanks for the submission!

Also hopefully you have your calendars marked already. Because tomorrow is the first official play with the devs. It starts at 4pm EST and we hope to see you all there!



One thing worth mentioning is that our tomorrows Pre-release update will feature rebalanced gear locomotion stats. Light gears are now super fast and agile, while heavies like Grizzly and Spitting Cobra are much slower and clunkier. This is a first iteration of gear rebalancing, we haven’t had a chance to do any extensive playtests, so numbers are going to change, but the overall direction is there. Make sure to provide your feedback on the new gear handling in Discord.

As always, we hope you have a great day and come out tomorrow and join us!

Happy Fragging Gearheads!

Hey Gearheads! Happy Friday!

So a few things today.

First we’re starting a screenshot of the day over on facebook and twitter. I will make a stickied thread in the steam forums. Additionally I will be making a channel on our discord for submissions as well.



Thanks RaptorRage for this extra hot submission!


Also today at 4pm EST we’ll be having an impromptu Play with the Devs!
If you haven’t already go get the pre-release branch. (Instructions on how are in mondays update!)
Then hop on here in a couple hours and frag some devs!



We’re currently planning on having at least one of these a week! So, if you miss out on this one, mark your calendar for the next one!

We will be meeting up in the discord so if you haven’t joined yet, please do!
https://discord.gg/KfQG2qb

Hope all you Gearheads have a wonderful weekend!

Hey gearheads, News on a monday?! Who would have guessed?

We have the latest and greatest patch out on the Pre-release branch. What’s the pre-release branch you ask? Pre-release branch allows us to safely test new builds without breaking the game for everyone. You can choose to join the early testing by switching to pre-release branch.

Here is a simple step by step guide to get you all setup!

Start by Right clicking Heavy Gear Assault in your steam library.

Click on properties.

It will take you to this screen.



From there click on the Beta tab!

You’re almost there!



Now click on the drop down menu and select Pre-Release.



Your game will need to update.

Now you have the pre-release branch installed.

So what is going on in the pre-release patch?

Quite a few things actually. A full changelist will be posted upon the patch going to the official branch.

Some of these things we want your feedback on to help expedite the release of the official patch.

Things like: The destructible environment assets, the enemy position indicator, Jump jet performance tweaks, prone behaviors. Just to name a few.

But now that you know what you’re looking for, and how to get on to the pre-release branch. Why are you still reading this?! Go blow each other up!

More updates are coming up later this week.

Stay tuned and have a nice day Gearheads!

Hey gearheads, It's friday! So let's get this started we have a quick update today. Also some changes to the way we're handling updates. So hop on discord or comment here with some feedback about the changes!





Crouch Mode

We are currently working on implementing a crouch mechanic for playtesting and community feedback. Crouching is intended as an element of a broader cover system... but that’s something for another update.



VFX Sneak Peak

As part of our cosmetic updates, we are doing a pass on many of the visual effects seen in HGA. Like the flames seen above, weapons and damage effects are getting some fresh polish.

Changes to “Workshop Wednesday”

We’re changing “Workshop Wednesday” to “Weekly Workshop”
So much is being worked on right now, we’ve been behind by a day for a few weeks now and it is just a smarter idea to not have a set day. So every week you gearheads will have an update. It might not be a feature. But it will be something equally as awesome.

Play with the DEVS

Alright everyone. We’re starting up play with the Devs again! We want your feedback, what time is good for you? Post up what times are good for you and we’ll review them tomorrow and this weekend and get a play with the Devs set up for next week at a time that is best for everyone!

So as always head on over to our discord and have a chat with us. https://discord.gg/KfQG2qb



Have a great weekend Gearheads!

Hey Gearheads another week, we've been so busy our workshops keep getting bumped back a day.

But it's here now, so lets get into some sweet new Enviro updates!

Environment Updates

Over the last couple months we’ve been doing significant updates to the HGA environments. These updates have, so far, been primarily focused on Port Oasis and Pioneer though much of the work will be utilized on all of the environments eventually.

Optimization is always an ongoing effort. We’ve spent time reducing poly and drawcall counts in both environments. Additional LODs have been created for many objects to aid in this effort.



Nearly all structures have been replaced using our new modular kits.

Another focus has been to add additional interactive elements to the environments. These take the form mostly, though not only, as destructible assets that are placed throughout the levels.



Trees can now be knocked down if hit hard enough. Each tree type has its own durability rating based on its size. Larger trees are harder to knock down while small trees fall quite easily. If you run into a tree but not hard enough to knock it down, it will shake from the impact.



They also respond to weapons fire.



In addition to trees, many other human scale objects have been added to the level. Not only are they fun to destroy, but they also help give a better sense of scale while piloting your Gear. Some of these new destructibles include street lights, railing, ladders, bollards, and exploding barrels.

Some interactive elements are less about destruction and more about simply responding to the presence of your Gear.



Water now responds to your Gear. Water splashes and ripples depending on how hard your Gear lands in it and a wake forms based on how fast you are moving through it.



Holographic signs have been added and have interactive behaviour when a Gear passes through them.


Well that's it for today Gearheads! Stop by our discord! There are always people around to talk about HGA and any questions and suggestions are always welcome!

See you all next week!

Hey Gearheads! Welcome to another Workshop Wed...

*Ahem* "It's Thursday nZo.."

Oh so it is.

Hey Gearheads! Welcome to a Workshop Thursday!

Sorry about the delay everyone but our devs were working extra hard yesterday to get all this cool stuff out to you sooner!


We are on our last stretch before the upcoming massive new update. All recently revisited mechanics are receiving their last round of love and polish before going public.

While part of the team is focusing on improving small things, we are also investigating some big issues and introducing several major changes to controls and handling of the game.


Improved Login Process

We have received occasional but recurrent feedback on login and registration process for new players through Steam. In response, we are doing a pass on the UI to make the process for registering, logging-in, and recovering your password easier and more apparent.



If you are one of the few players that weren’t able to login into the game, we apologize for inconvenience and we can assure you that this issue is currently being looked at and we will be rolling out a fix with the latest patch. Once the patch is out, if you are still having trouble logging in, make sure you contact us on Discord and provide a detailed description of error messages you are receiving or any other relevant details to the problem. So far only a small amount of players have had login issues and we need as much data as possible to figure out the root cause.

Aiming Mechanic Update

In the past couple weeks, we’ve continued to increment on the new aiming and control mechanics for Gears. Our latest update brings in some exciting changes that we believe will make HGA even more approachable to new and existing players.

First, we removed the torso twist constraint to allow for a full 360 degrees of Torso twist. Previously, Gear torsos were locked to 180 degrees, with a hard stop at 90 degrees to either left or right. Dropping these limits allows for a greater freedom of motion. You can now continually twist your torso in one direction around and around. This will allow you to shoot at things while you run away, and change the direction of the gear without affecting your aim.



Second, we’ve completely unlocked the torso from the legs. This means you can rotate your legs without your torso or view changing at all. While your legs can continually rotate and move in any direction, you can continue to hold your aim steady where you want it.



Lastly, we’ve implemented a “legs-to-torso” feature that will automatically orient your Gear in any direction you face. This is a toggle that can be enabled with a press of a button that can greatly simplify controls for new players. The beauty of the new control scheme is that while it’s being easy to understand, it stays true to classic mech game controls. We streamlined complexity without sacrificing any of the existing core elements such as torso twist, which we believe is extremely important for a mech game to have.



We are super excited about it and can’t wait for you guys to try it out.
Tell us what you think about this change on Discord!

Cheers,

Hey Gearheads! We heard your questions, now we're answering them! Hope this sheds some light into the questions you had!




Could use some more details on the planned route for how melee will work. Last I heard the initial model was potentially similar to Mount and Blade, but there are many different directions it could go, like if it will have different preset attack animations that vary depending on the direction of attack, or if it will be more of a direct combat style as far as player inputs stringing together individual attacks. Or if the melee will offer different types of moves based on which weapons are equipped and the like.

- You are absolutely right, there are a lot of different approaches for implementing melee into HGA. While we do have a clear picture of how we want melee combat to fit into the game, the exact implementation will be based on what feels best for HGA. As such, melee will be developed and released through an iterative process. We will likely start with basic punch/swing and block mechanics. From there, we will be able to look into supporting a variety of weapons before moving onto combos or potentially gesture and directional based attacks.


When will we be able to crawl in the prone position again?


PRONE IS BACK! Im happy to say that prone movement will return with the next update. In order to re-enable crawling, we had to seperate the prone code from the fallen code to allow for each state to behave independently.

"When will v1 be released?"

We really hope that 1.0 will be released some time in 10 years? *Cough* Looking at World of Tanks v 1.0 *cough*
The industry have shifted significantly since we started this project. So did the way we approach building our game. In the past, we planned to release the game in modules, piece by piece, until its ready. Currently we are using a rapid prototyping approach, adding mechanics and iterating on them within days and sometimes hours. In the upcoming month we are planning to get back to our weekly / bi-weekly patch schedule in order to allow our community to test these mechanics and watch them grow and improve right before their eyes. Parts of melee module might become available as early as next week (we are not joking), while certain elements we initially hoped to have sooner, like infrastructure for a single player campaign, could take months to accomplish. Its hard to tell when a final or feature complete version of the game will be released, because our vision is too grand. One thing we can tell for sure is that things are about to get a lot more exciting around here and we need you: Community to help us with feedback, playtesting and support.

"I don't know how many people bought the game over the years and forgot about it, but what is their plan for attracting an audience when the time comes?"

Getting the word out there is one of our top priorities for HGA. We are currently in the process of tooling up our social media presence as well as developing a full marketing campaign. Recently we signed with the PR firm, Dead Good Media, who will be assisting us in the endeavor. Additionally, we are planning series of ESL Tournaments to bring back old players and attract a new bunch. To drive this ball farther, the upcoming Player Progression system will allow us to reward social media influencers / curators with in-game items and unique visual customization options to further encourage the word of mouth effect. (We will totally have a statue of your gear with your name embroidered on it.)

How will the Tokenplay integration work with HGA, assuming "tokens" become the ingame premium currency, can you provide more details around those planned functions?

The current plan is to allow players to buy, earn, and spend Tokens directly from within HGA. While they will function much like a premium currency, there will be some differences due to them actually being an external cryptocurrency. More details will be released about tokens as we get closer to token integration.

When will we see phase two gears enter the game? (Leopard?)

Phase two Gear production is currently on hold while we focus our attention toward gameplay refinements. Before we add more Gears to HGA, we feel its important that each Gear, in its base form, has its own unique performance and feel. Right now, our developers are working to expose the performance variables so that our designers can adjust each Gears base statistics and make them feel as unique as possible within the boundaries of the lore. In the meantime, our artstaff are focused on updating and enhancing the environments. The Leopard may make an early appearance however.

When will we see the esports integration and website update? (Old website up as placeholder?)

Great question. Were actually in the process of recruiting a new web development team to take over the HGA website. Well have an update on that soon.

What are the new timelines for the previously mentioned modules (Market, Melee, A.I., Corporate, eSport, VR, Single Player, Sniper)? Are they hinging on the tokenplay integration?

As we mentioned before, most modules are being worked on simultaneously while we continue to refine the already released gameplay elements. You will start seeing features from some of the modules you mentioned in some of our upcoming updates. Currently the focus is directly on mechanics that improve the gameplay and make gear handling feel more fun, with customization and progression being the next huge milestone. TokenPlay and its integration is handled by a separate team.

When will we see the in-game shop go live?

The in-game shop will be re-enabled with the implementation of the progression system since they are integral to one another. Once our next set up updates go live, this will be one our primary focuses moving forward.

Has the scope of the project changed any since the tokenplay arrangement?

Nope.

Is Stompy Bot implementing Steam VR in the game and if not, can they at least bind a cockpit camera look to the headset tracking. Elite Dangerous does this and IMO works very well as no pilots need controller tracking, controls are still handled via HOTAS+pedals or KBM. HG would benefit greatly from this it seems and the lower resolution required for VR at this time would actually improve gameplay performance on older systems that can handle VR but can't do ridiculous resolution and framerate numbers that enthusiasts chase after these days. Steam VR also makes it so it will work on all VR offerings.

We will look into it. VR support was designated as a post initial release priority, but it is possible we could enable some functionality in the meantime. Stay tuned for updates on that one.

Is there any plans for a single player mode either vs Ai or a campaign? This game looks promising but I am worried about a low server population.

Yes, absolutely. We have a really exciting plan for an episodic single player campaign with some deep story driven elements. Single Player campaign would also be directly integrated into multiplayer as means of unlocking new gears and pilot characters. However, this might not be something well be able to achieve right away. In the meantime, we are planning on scheduling extended Play with the Devs dates and times when you will be able to join our servers and play with us. Redesigning Ai bots and allowing players to make them less deadly will be our first step towards the single player experience and it is scheduled for early summer updates.

Had a question posted pertaining to the HUD UI in general as to what sort of updates might be expected coming down the pipeline?



Currently we are adding interactivity to static UI elements as a part of our latest HUD polish pass. As an example, reticle elements now reflect the status of arms and will gray out when the gear is reloading. There are a ton of little details like this that improve accessibility coming down the pipe. Once this layer of secondary interactivity is added, we will be looking in additional mini map modes (radar) and sensors.

Any idea of when the sniping module will become available and what abilities it will offer?

We dont have any estimates for sniping weaponry at the moment, but we are planning a set of weapon updates in the upcoming months. The idea is to refine the guns we currently have, make sure they are balanced correctly and that all of them have proper art, sound effects, reload and recoil animations and support the upcoming guns customization functionality. Once that is out of the way, we will start looking into long range weapons. Also, we are bringing grenades back!

"Mech painter and decals"; I want armored core level paint jobs at least"
"Itd be nice to be able to adjust the level of shine as well. and of course paint every weapon, each arm and leg and everything separately. different camos, whole nine yards. its genuinely one of the most important things to me."

Gearbay 2.0 and Paintbay are two of the biggest priorities for upcoming updates. Currently the plan is to allow players to unlock and purchase customization elements like color palettes, paint patterns, decals and decal placement schemes, as well as some additional attachments: faction flags, goofy hats (if youre into that kind of thing), and other fun elements that can be screwed, stapled or glued to your armor plates. Suggest your own attachments on Discord!

Hey Gearheads! We heard your questions, now we're answering them! Hope this sheds some light into the questions you had!




Could use some more details on the planned route for how melee will work. Last I heard the initial model was potentially similar to Mount and Blade, but there are many different directions it could go, like if it will have different preset attack animations that vary depending on the direction of attack, or if it will be more of a direct combat style as far as player inputs stringing together individual attacks. Or if the melee will offer different types of moves based on which weapons are equipped and the like.

- You are absolutely right, there are a lot of different approaches for implementing melee into HGA. While we do have a clear picture of how we want melee combat to fit into the game, the exact implementation will be based on what feels best for HGA. As such, melee will be developed and released through an iterative process. We will likely start with basic punch/swing and block mechanics. From there, we will be able to look into supporting a variety of weapons before moving onto combos or potentially gesture and directional based attacks.


When will we be able to crawl in the prone position again?


PRONE IS BACK! I’m happy to say that prone movement will return with the next update. In order to re-enable crawling, we had to seperate the prone code from the fallen code to allow for each state to behave independently.

"When will v1 be released?"

We really hope that 1.0 will be released some time in 10 years? *Cough* Looking at World of Tanks v 1.0 *cough*
The industry have shifted significantly since we started this project. So did the way we approach building our game. In the past, we planned to release the game in modules, piece by piece, until it’s ready. Currently we are using a rapid prototyping approach, adding mechanics and iterating on them within days and sometimes hours. In the upcoming month we are planning to get back to our weekly / bi-weekly patch schedule in order to allow our community to test these mechanics and watch them grow and improve right before their eyes. Parts of melee module might become available as early as next week (we are not joking), while certain elements we initially hoped to have sooner, like infrastructure for a single player campaign, could take months to accomplish. It’s hard to tell when a “final” or feature complete version of the game will be released, because our vision is too grand. One thing we can tell for sure is that things are about to get a lot more exciting around here and we need you: Community to help us with feedback, playtesting and support.

"I don't know how many people bought the game over the years and forgot about it, but what is their plan for attracting an audience when the time comes?"

Getting the word out there is one of our top priorities for HGA. We are currently in the process of tooling up our social media presence as well as developing a full marketing campaign. Recently we signed with the PR firm, Dead Good Media, who will be assisting us in the endeavor. Additionally, we are planning series of ESL Tournaments to bring back old players and attract a new bunch. To drive this ball farther, the upcoming Player Progression system will allow us to reward social media influencers / curators with in-game items and unique visual customization options to further encourage the word of mouth effect. (We will totally have a statue of your gear with your name embroidered on it.)

How will the Tokenplay integration work with HGA, assuming "tokens" become the ingame premium currency, can you provide more details around those planned functions?

The current plan is to allow players to buy, earn, and spend Tokens directly from within HGA. While they will function much like a premium currency, there will be some differences due to them actually being an external cryptocurrency. More details will be released about tokens as we get closer to token integration.

When will we see phase two gears enter the game? (Leopard?)

Phase two Gear production is currently on hold while we focus our attention toward gameplay refinements. Before we add more Gears to HGA, we feel it’s important that each Gear, in its base form, has its own unique performance and feel. Right now, our developers are working to expose the performance variables so that our designers can adjust each Gear’s base statistics and make them feel as unique as possible within the boundaries of the lore. In the meantime, our artstaff are focused on updating and enhancing the environments. The Leopard may make an early appearance however.

When will we see the esports integration and website update? (Old website up as placeholder?)

Great question. We’re actually in the process of recruiting a new web development team to take over the HGA website. We’ll have an update on that soon.

What are the new timelines for the previously mentioned modules (Market, Melee, A.I., Corporate, eSport, VR, Single Player, Sniper)? Are they hinging on the tokenplay integration?

As we mentioned before, most modules are being worked on simultaneously while we continue to refine the already released gameplay elements. You will start seeing features from some of the modules you mentioned in some of our upcoming updates. Currently the focus is directly on mechanics that improve the gameplay and make gear handling feel more fun, with customization and progression being the next huge milestone. TokenPlay and it’s integration is handled by a separate team.

When will we see the in-game shop go live?

The in-game shop will be re-enabled with the implementation of the progression system since they are integral to one another. Once our next set up updates go live, this will be one our primary focuses moving forward.

Has the scope of the project changed any since the tokenplay arrangement?

Nope.

Is Stompy Bot implementing Steam VR in the game and if not, can they at least bind a cockpit camera look to the headset tracking. Elite Dangerous does this and IMO works very well as no pilots need controller tracking, controls are still handled via HOTAS+pedals or KBM. HG would benefit greatly from this it seems and the lower resolution required for VR at this time would actually improve gameplay performance on older systems that can handle VR but can't do ridiculous resolution and framerate numbers that enthusiasts chase after these days. Steam VR also makes it so it will work on all VR offerings.

We will look into it. VR support was designated as a post initial release priority, but it is possible we could enable some functionality in the meantime. Stay tuned for updates on that one.

Is there any plans for a single player mode either vs Ai or a campaign? This game looks promising but I am worried about a low server population.

Yes, absolutely. We have a really exciting plan for an episodic single player campaign with some deep story driven elements. Single Player campaign would also be directly integrated into multiplayer as means of unlocking new gears and pilot characters. However, this might not be something we’ll be able to achieve right away. In the meantime, we are planning on scheduling extended “Play with the Devs” dates and times when you will be able to join our servers and play with us. Redesigning Ai bots and allowing players to make them less deadly will be our first step towards the single player experience and it is scheduled for early summer updates.

Had a question posted pertaining to the HUD UI in general as to what sort of updates might be expected coming down the pipeline?



Currently we are adding interactivity to static UI elements as a part of our latest HUD polish pass. As an example, reticle elements now reflect the status of arms and will gray out when the gear is reloading. There are a ton of little details like this that improve accessibility coming down the pipe. Once this layer of secondary interactivity is added, we will be looking in additional mini map modes (radar) and sensors.

Any idea of when the sniping module will become available and what abilities it will offer?

We don’t have any estimates for sniping weaponry at the moment, but we are planning a set of weapon updates in the upcoming months. The idea is to refine the guns we currently have, make sure they are balanced correctly and that all of them have proper art, sound effects, reload and recoil animations and support the upcoming guns customization functionality. Once that is out of the way, we will start looking into long range weapons. Also, we are bringing grenades back!

"Mech painter and decals"; I want armored core level paint jobs at least"
"It’d be nice to be able to adjust the level of shine as well. and of course paint every weapon, each arm and leg and everything separately. different camos, whole nine yards. its genuinely one of the most important things to me."

Gearbay 2.0 and Paintbay are two of the biggest priorities for upcoming updates. Currently the plan is to allow players to unlock and purchase customization elements like color palettes, paint patterns, decals and decal placement schemes, as well as some additional attachments: faction flags, goofy hats (if you’re into that kind of thing), and other fun elements that can be screwed, stapled or glued to your armor plates. Suggest your own attachments on Discord!

Hey Gearheads!




We spent last week in San Francisco, at the Game Developers Conference. So we werent around to put up a standard Workshop Wednesday. But were back and were gonna do something different for the next two weeks.

Have a burning question?

Possible feature ideas?

Just want to tell us how awesome we are?

Or not awesome?

This is your chance! We will be taking, from now until the next update, any comments from here, facebook, twitter, or directly from the steam forums. We will be compiling them and answering as many as possible for the next weeks update.

So welcome to the Question portion of this Q & A.

Ask away Gearheads! Were ready to answer.

Hey Gearheads!




We spent last week in San Francisco, at the Game Developers Conference. So we weren’t around to put up a standard Workshop Wednesday. But we’re back and we’re gonna do something different for the next two weeks.

Have a burning question?

Possible feature ideas?

Just want to tell us how awesome we are?

Or not awesome?

This is your chance! We will be taking, from now until the next update, any comments from here, facebook, twitter, or directly from the steam forums. We will be compiling them and answering as many as possible for the next week’s update.

So welcome to the Question portion of this Q & A.

Ask away Gearheads! We’re ready to answer.

Hey Gearheads, its that time again. We invite you into the mech bay to see what we have under development. As always these are not implemented into the current steam build. But you will get to play with them soon.


Quality of life Update

Welcome to the Workshop Wednesday update, Gearheads!

While a lot of development focus goes into refining gameplay and adding new features, we also spend a lot of time squashing old bugs and improving existing mechanics.

Here are just a few of the recent changes and improvements we’ve made:

Weapon Pickup Mechanic

Weapon pickup code has been simplified. It is now more reliable and makes picking up weapons much easier.



Jump Bug fixes

Jumping while running uphill has been vastly improved. Hitches and hiccups while ascending have been removed completely. Gears also now jump higher and fall faster.



Damage when fallen down

Fallen Gears now take damage as they should. Previous code had a bug that made fallen Gears much harder to kill. Now you’ll be dead even sooner!




Camera squash prevention

One of our personal pet peeves was the camera behavior in close quarters while in third person. Backing up against a wall used to push the camera up into the Gear’s rear plates. That’s not the case anymore, since we are switching to FPS camera dynamically if there’s an obstacle blocking the view. Moving away from a rear-obstruction restores the camera to third person automatically.



Respawn Button and Counter

You can now respawn by going into the ESC menu and pressing the respawn button.
A simple respawn counter was added to show players the time remaining before you are allowed back into the action.



FPS/TPS FOV

First person camera and Third person camera now have variable Fields of View. They are both based on the FOV that you specify in the settings. The FPS camera gives you a 10 degree wider angle, while TPS camera is more focused in front of you.


Death Polish

We did initial polish pass on the Death Event. Now, once you’ve been demolished in combat, there’s a small explosion and special effects that are left behind. Future iterations here are planned in an effort to make deaths even more fun and cinematic. Losing should be fun too!



Broken Limbs stay visible

Destroyed plates stay visible and fall onto the ground after they’ve been disabled. This is a great feedback indicator that “bad stuff is happening to you.”


Camera Shakes

We did a camera shake pass on a lot of in-game mechanics that needed to feel more impactful.
Landing after a high jump, falling off a tall ledge, or receiving significant damage will shake your camera making things feel a lot more dynamic.



New Single Wield / Dual Wield Aim Poses

All aim poses have been redone from scratch.
Dual wielding now features stretched out limbs that showcase weapons better and provides a greater range of aim, while two-handed weapons now properly matching the shape and angle of the big guns.




Armor Destroyed Event

Voice overs have been added when you lose your limbs and armor plates. The added notification makes it much more obvious that part of your Gear is gone.

Additional Selfie Cams

As a part of our new aiming mechanic testing, we’ve added a few extra debugging cameras. These are now available to you in game as additional “selfie cams”. Press ALT+C to switch selfie cams.



Scoreboard improvements

Scoreboard now displays Kills, Deaths as well as Captures in annexation mode.



More updates are coming next week. Stay tuned, join our Discord https://discord.gg/KfQG2qb
And we’ll see you at the arena!

Cheers

Hey Gearheads, its that time again. We invite you into the mech bay to see what we have under development. As always these are not implemented into the current steam build. But you will get to play with them soon.


Quality of life Update

Welcome to the Workshop Wednesday update, Gearheads!

While a lot of development focus goes into refining gameplay and adding new features, we also spend a lot of time squashing old bugs and improving existing mechanics.

Here are just a few of the recent changes and improvements weve made:

Weapon Pickup Mechanic

Weapon pickup code has been simplified. It is now more reliable and makes picking up weapons much easier.



Jump Bug fixes

Jumping while running uphill has been vastly improved. Hitches and hiccups while ascending have been removed completely. Gears also now jump higher and fall faster.



Damage when fallen down

Fallen Gears now take damage as they should. Previous code had a bug that made fallen Gears much harder to kill. Now youll be dead even sooner!




Camera squash prevention

One of our personal pet peeves was the camera behavior in close quarters while in third person. Backing up against a wall used to push the camera up into the Gears rear plates. Thats not the case anymore, since we are switching to FPS camera dynamically if theres an obstacle blocking the view. Moving away from a rear-obstruction restores the camera to third person automatically.



Respawn Button and Counter

You can now respawn by going into the ESC menu and pressing the respawn button.
A simple respawn counter was added to show players the time remaining before you are allowed back into the action.



FPS/TPS FOV

First person camera and Third person camera now have variable Fields of View. They are both based on the FOV that you specify in the settings. The FPS camera gives you a 10 degree wider angle, while TPS camera is more focused in front of you.


Death Polish

We did initial polish pass on the Death Event. Now, once youve been demolished in combat, theres a small explosion and special effects that are left behind. Future iterations here are planned in an effort to make deaths even more fun and cinematic. Losing should be fun too!



Broken Limbs stay visible

Destroyed plates stay visible and fall onto the ground after theyve been disabled. This is a great feedback indicator that bad stuff is happening to you.


Camera Shakes

We did a camera shake pass on a lot of in-game mechanics that needed to feel more impactful.
Landing after a high jump, falling off a tall ledge, or receiving significant damage will shake your camera making things feel a lot more dynamic.



New Single Wield / Dual Wield Aim Poses

All aim poses have been redone from scratch.
Dual wielding now features stretched out limbs that showcase weapons better and provides a greater range of aim, while two-handed weapons now properly matching the shape and angle of the big guns.




Armor Destroyed Event

Voice overs have been added when you lose your limbs and armor plates. The added notification makes it much more obvious that part of your Gear is gone.

Additional Selfie Cams

As a part of our new aiming mechanic testing, weve added a few extra debugging cameras. These are now available to you in game as additional selfie cams. Press ALT+C to switch selfie cams.



Scoreboard improvements

Scoreboard now displays Kills, Deaths as well as Captures in annexation mode.



More updates are coming next week. Stay tuned, join our Discord https://discord.gg/KfQG2qb
And well see you at the arena!

Cheers

Hey everyone,

In anticipation of our next Steam patch we will be undergoing service maintenance over the next 24-48 hours. During this time our services may be degraded or offline. This patch will be available for preview on our beta branch for testing by our Community after maintenance is complete.

Yours truly,
HGA Dev Team

Hey everyone,

In anticipation of our next Steam patch we will be undergoing service maintenance over the next 24-48 hours. During this time our services may be degraded or offline. This patch will be available for preview on our beta branch for testing by our Community after maintenance is complete.

Yours truly,
HGA Dev Team

Hey Gearheads! Another week, another update! As always these are a first look, they have not made it to live servers as of yet. So that aside, let's pull open the bay doors, and see what's going on in the workshop!


HUD, UI, Minimap updates

The User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) both remain as important, long term commitments to us. As we continue with that endeavor, here are some of the recent made to the UI and HUD. These changes are a work-in-progress and will be rolled out in order of completion.




Updated HUD layout

The hud layout has been updated so that central elements are more spaced out around the central reticle, giving the player additional visibility around the aim target. The reticle itself is a lot more obvious now with an additional highlight added to it allowing the reticle to stand out regardless of the background. Elements, like the health indicator, have been scaled down while the Minimap, as well as resources bars, have been scaled up. Youll notice that the score indicator moved from the top center of the screen to the lower left corner above the minimap. This places all of the tactical match info in one corner and enables you to see the overall score and objective status icons in a quick glance.



Improved minimap

One of the more noticable changes is the updated minimap. The new setup is a hybrid between in-game capture and artist generated masks. We use captured backdrops with artist generated masks to highlight or dim down portions of the map based on importance. The new minimap uses simpler graphics making map features easier to distinguish on a small scale.

While the minimap has been updated, there are still two additional modes that are a work-in-progress:

Big Map Mode

Currently a rough implementation that gives player a more detailed view of the map. Accessible through Escape key menu, eventually it will display locations of all teammates as well as the status of all capture points. This mode can be used to provide player with a global tactical overview of the match



Radar mode

A mode that provides the player with an up-close view around their gear. While active radius of the radar is limited by gear capabilities, it can be more useful for close quarters skirmishes showing enemies that are not directly in the line of sight



Scoreboard

Weve reworked how the in-match scoreboard display works. By pressing `Tab` a new Scoreboard has been added with a more lightweight design that does not block player input while visible. This makes it easier to check the score without interrupting your movement.



Resource Indicators

Gear resources are going to be more important in the next set of updates. Hence we made it much more clear when resources are low or depleted.



In addition to on-screen animations, resources, and many other in-game mechanics, received voice-overs to indicate critical status information.


Damage Indicators

Weve added a directional damage indicator to the HUD. It shows the direction of enemy fire when taking damage. While a simple addition, it adds a ton of situational awareness and allows you to decisively respond to incoming fire.



Menus

Although not crucial to the gameplay, we are continuing to update the game menus to use unified UI elements. It is a long term commitment and we expect a few more iterations until the new design is fully implemented.



Updated Weapon Storage and Equipping UI

While we are still experimenting with new weapon equipment mechanics, we have updated the current UI to make things a little more streamlined in the meantime. Previously, all of your weapons and storage locations were displayed at once. With so many weapons and slots, there was a certain degree of sensory overload, especially to new players. Now, only elements that are in-use are displayed. Elements that arent currently being used, such as empty slots or slots that have jump jets equipped, are hidden. Once you equip a weapon into the slot, it becomes visible either on the left or right side of the gear depending on which hand you equipped it into. We also fixed a little bug that could result in you getting stuck in equipping mode when trying to equip weapons from an empty weapon slot.



More updates are coming up next Wednesday! Stay tuned for more and join the conversation on discord https://discord.gg/KfQG2qb
Until next time, Gearheads!

Hey Gearheads! Another week, another update! As always these are a first look, they have not made it to live servers as of yet. So that aside, let's pull open the bay doors, and see what's going on in the workshop!


HUD, UI, Minimap updates

The User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) both remain as important, long term commitments to us. As we continue with that endeavor, here are some of the recent made to the UI and HUD. These changes are a work-in-progress and will be rolled out in order of completion.




Updated HUD layout

The hud layout has been updated so that central elements are more spaced out around the central reticle, giving the player additional visibility around the aim target. The reticle itself is a lot more obvious now with an additional highlight added to it allowing the reticle to stand out regardless of the background. Elements, like the health indicator, have been scaled down while the Minimap, as well as resources bars, have been scaled up. You’ll notice that the score indicator moved from the top center of the screen to the lower left corner above the minimap. This places all of the tactical match info in one corner and enables you to see the overall score and objective status icons in a quick glance.



Improved minimap

One of the more noticable changes is the updated minimap. The new setup is a hybrid between in-game capture and artist generated masks. We use captured backdrops with artist generated masks to highlight or dim down portions of the map based on importance. The new minimap uses simpler graphics making map features easier to distinguish on a small scale.

While the minimap has been updated, there are still two additional modes that are a work-in-progress:

Big Map Mode

Currently a rough implementation that gives player a more detailed view of the map. Accessible through Escape key menu, eventually it will display locations of all teammates as well as the status of all capture points. This mode can be used to provide player with a global tactical overview of the match



Radar mode

A mode that provides the player with an up-close view around their gear. While active radius of the radar is limited by gear capabilities, it can be more useful for close quarters skirmishes showing enemies that are not directly in the line of sight



Scoreboard

We’ve reworked how the in-match scoreboard display works. By pressing `Tab` a new Scoreboard has been added with a more lightweight design that does not block player input while visible. This makes it easier to check the score without interrupting your movement.



Resource Indicators

Gear resources are going to be more important in the next set of updates. Hence we made it much more clear when resources are low or depleted.



In addition to on-screen animations, resources, and many other in-game mechanics, received voice-overs to indicate critical status information.


Damage Indicators

We’ve added a directional damage indicator to the HUD. It shows the direction of enemy fire when taking damage. While a simple addition, it adds a ton of situational awareness and allows you to decisively respond to incoming fire.



Menus

Although not crucial to the gameplay, we are continuing to update the game menus to use unified UI elements. It is a long term commitment and we expect a few more iterations until the new design is fully implemented.



Updated Weapon Storage and Equipping UI

While we are still experimenting with new weapon equipment mechanics, we have updated the current UI to make things a little more streamlined in the meantime. Previously, all of your weapons and storage locations were displayed at once. With so many weapons and slots, there was a certain degree of sensory overload, especially to new players. Now, only elements that are in-use are displayed. Elements that aren’t currently being used, such as empty slots or slots that have jump jets equipped, are hidden. Once you equip a weapon into the slot, it becomes visible either on the left or right side of the gear depending on which hand you equipped it into. We also fixed a little bug that could result in you getting stuck in “equipping mode” when trying to equip weapons from an empty weapon slot.



More updates are coming up next Wednesday! Stay tuned for more and join the conversation on discord https://discord.gg/KfQG2qb
Until next time, Gearheads!

Hey Gearheads! Another week, another update! welcome back to Workshop Wednesday. So this week we have a great update about my personal favorite game mode. Annexation!

As always this is a first look at things in development. These are not currently live on the steam build. But they are headed there soon!

So how about we pull back those bay doors and see what we have in the workshop today.


Annexation Updates

Gameplay and in-match mechanics are a main focus for development moving forward. In that endeavor, we will be updating the various game modes to promote more dynamic gameplay. The first game mode to get a major overhaul is Annexation.



A core mechanic of any flag/point capture mode is the Capture. It was important for us to make this process as smooth and accessible as possible, while keeping it fun.

Generator capture in Annexation is now proximity based. Meaning that, instead of pressing and holding a shortcut, all you need to do to capture is to stand close to it for a set amount of time. Not only does this increase your situational awareness it also frees your hands, maintains your character’s mobility, and allows you to defend your capture point from opponents.

Annexation is a team based match type and to that end we want to emphasize the importance of teamwork. Capturing a generator with your teammates will boost the capture rate significantly. Each additional teammates reduces the capture time by a percentage. While you’re in the process of capturing a point, however, keep an eye out for any enemies. Capturing can be slowed down and even stopped if one or a few enemies enter the capture zone at the same time. The team with the most players within the zone will gain control of the capture. Basically, a big game of tug-o-war but with Gears and guns!



Visually, the generator art has been updated to match the art style more closely and serve specific gameplay needs. A huge beam of light emits from the top of the generators into the sky, its color indicating the generator’s status.




A circle around the generator delineates the outer edge of the capture zone. The circle spins and changes color as you capture the generator.




The HUD indicators have also been streamlined a bit to better depict the most important information at a glance. As a part of our HUD/UX update we are removing unnecessary clutter without sacrificing the functionality. A lot of UI elements are now context sensitive and only show up when it’s relevant.

More about HUD updates and exciting UI changes, in the next week’s Workshop Wednesday.

Peace out, Gearheads!

Hey Gearheads! Another week, another update! welcome back to Workshop Wednesday. So this week we have a great update about my personal favorite game mode. Annexation!

As always this is a first look at things in development. These are not currently live on the steam build. But they are headed there soon!

So how about we pull back those bay doors and see what we have in the workshop today.


Annexation Updates

Gameplay and in-match mechanics are a main focus for development moving forward. In that endeavor, we will be updating the various game modes to promote more dynamic gameplay. The first game mode to get a major overhaul is Annexation.



A core mechanic of any flag/point capture mode is the Capture. It was important for us to make this process as smooth and accessible as possible, while keeping it fun.

Generator capture in Annexation is now proximity based. Meaning that, instead of pressing and holding a shortcut, all you need to do to capture is to stand close to it for a set amount of time. Not only does this increase your situational awareness it also frees your hands, maintains your characters mobility, and allows you to defend your capture point from opponents.

Annexation is a team based match type and to that end we want to emphasize the importance of teamwork. Capturing a generator with your teammates will boost the capture rate significantly. Each additional teammates reduces the capture time by a percentage. While youre in the process of capturing a point, however, keep an eye out for any enemies. Capturing can be slowed down and even stopped if one or a few enemies enter the capture zone at the same time. The team with the most players within the zone will gain control of the capture. Basically, a big game of tug-o-war but with Gears and guns!



Visually, the generator art has been updated to match the art style more closely and serve specific gameplay needs. A huge beam of light emits from the top of the generators into the sky, its color indicating the generators status.




A circle around the generator delineates the outer edge of the capture zone. The circle spins and changes color as you capture the generator.




The HUD indicators have also been streamlined a bit to better depict the most important information at a glance. As a part of our HUD/UX update we are removing unnecessary clutter without sacrificing the functionality. A lot of UI elements are now context sensitive and only show up when its relevant.

More about HUD updates and exciting UI changes, in the next weeks Workshop Wednesday.

Peace out, Gearheads!

Hey Gearheads!

This is the first look at some of the things we're currently working on. I must say these are not currently implemented into the playable build, but they are on their way.

So let's pull back the bay doors and take a look at what we're working on in this weeks Workshop Wednesday!



New Aiming Mechanic

One of the major developments in the works is an update to the Gear aiming mechanics.

The new system introduces variable turn rates for a Gear’s head, torso, and arms. A Gear’s head, or view, will now move nearly on par with the mouse while the arms and torso chase to catch up with the reticle. While this increases the amount of time it takes to aim your weapons, this delay will help us differentiate Gears from each other and further make leveling and upgrades matter.



Eventually, as we define the rules of Gear weight, you will be able to overload the weight capacity for each specific part installed. For example: if you equip two Heavy Autocannons on a Cheetah you will feel the arms strain under the weight and not respond as quickly as compared to two Very Light Autocannons. In addition to different turn rates, each part will have its own range of motion. This means that larger Gears with more bulky armor may have less mobility than their less armored counterparts.



Further, the new system will allow us to consolidate and unify the Standard and Advanced control methods into a single system. Currently the two methods are being maintained as two separate systems, which is cumbersome and challenging when it comes to controls configuration. By unifying the systems, not only is it easier for the developers to maintain but will also make customizing your controls a simpler process.


Check back next week for another look into the workshop!

As many of you may already know. Last night our dev team was finally able to recover HGA from the grips of that evil b*tch Irma. Through a series of near tragic events we almost lost everything. When hurricane Irma hit landfall in Florida our server hosting company was breached by flooding bringing down the facility hosting several critical pieces of our core infrastructure to its knees. Our backups that were stored at this facility were all damaged. At first we weren't that concerned because all of our backups were hosted at a server in Montreal as well which we assumed were in good working condition and would just need to be restored. Sadly that couldn't of been further from the truth. Our Montreal backups were all nixed due to a Linux bug and all of our backups were just a bunch of a empty archives and they've been arriving like that for months.

At first our ambitions turned to possibly recreating the HGA backend functionality using Steam's Workshop/Inventory API. However, this task quickly turned into much more work than we had bargained for and unfortunately we lost some of our developers due to lack of revenue being generated by the game during this time making this task extremely difficult to achieve. We have every intentions of integrating more of the Steam API into HGA but due to the time required we couldn't get this rebuild done in a reasonable time frame.

We then turned our energy back to those badly damaged servers. Perhaps there was a way for us to recover the data. That's when some old friends stepped up to help. I have some old friends in the Black Hat community to thank for their efforts and help.

It is nothing short of a miracle and thanks to some serious determination by our dev team, and some actual luck, we were able to bring HGA online in its previous form - as Betty says 'all systems nominal'.

We are now looking forward to a very bright future for HGA.

Currently we have our infrastructure hosted in Saint John where our local dev studio is located. We also have 1 East Coast game server hosted here and 1 hosted in Ireland. So far we've not experienced any hiccups with hosting.

Hello everyone,

As of today we are currently testing a new build of HGA that addresses issues relating to our server outages last month. Unfortunately some of our server infrastructure including our backups for that infrastructure were lost after the hurricane that ravaged Florida earlier last month. We were in the process of migrating to our local servers in Canada when a critical motherboard failure knocked those servers offline which are hosting our company website, email, and other services. Unfortunately this server was an older model server and no motherboard was available for the server for days. Overall its been a hellish month of failing critical infrastructure and hurricane BS which we've had no control over.

After many discussions and brainstorming sessions we've decided the best course of action is to migrate entirely towards Steam's Session based hosting environment where players can more easily host Listen servers using Steam sessions. This move will ensure this disaster never happens again. We've also decided to migrate our player inventories towards Steam's Inventory Manager as well. And we are planning to embrace the Steam Workshop as well.

At the moment we have the integration 80% complete and we will be releasing this new build to the Steam community very soon. Once this new build is active you will no longer be required to have a third-party login account and we will be able to better integrate Steam's features into HGA.

While this has been a massive setback for our development milestones we are think there is a silver lining in this cloud in that this fundamental change to HGA will make the game run more smoothly with Steam and allow us to better interact with our players through player inventories and exchanges using Steam.

With these changes we are currently discussing some other big updates that this new development enables but I will discuss this in more detail when have our immediate concerns resolved which is to get players playing again!

Thank you everyone for your patience.

This is a public service announcement regarding our server issues since Hurricane Irma. Unfortunately some of our server infrastructure was in the direct path of Hurricane Irma and we are now in the process of hurrying to resolve the issues that we've been experiencing since the Hurricane struck. Some of our game server and master server infrastructure was impacted by the Hurricane and it needs to be migrated away from the compromised data facilities on the east coast in North America. This situation impacts all of our web services and we are in the process of migrating to a local facility where our dev studio is located here in Canada. We'd like to take this time to thank everyone for their patience and while we take our issues seriously we want to remind everyone that this situation is nothing compared to the situation that the Hurricane victims in Florida, Texas, and the Caribbean are facing today. If you have a few spare dollars please donate to any of the Hurricane response funds to help people in need.

We do not currently have an ETA on when all of our services will be restored. As the lights keep flickering while we try to obtain backups from the onsite backup facilities our infrastructure was being backed up to. We will work hard to keep you informed and when service has been fully restored we will update this post with the updated information.

Thank you everyone for your patience.

-New HUD
The first iteration of the updated HUD has been implemented and is ready to test.
The goal with this new hud is to create a clean and coherent interface that is easy to use and simple to maintain. Main gameplay elements have been pushed closer to the center of the screen where they can be easily seen at all times. Secondary indicators are now closer to screen edges. Animated reload indicators show the reload status for handheld and mounted weapons. Recharge indication for jump jets are still a work in progress. Additional tweaks and polish will be added to this new hud in the upcoming weeks. If you spot an issue or have feedback, please make sure to share it with us in Discord.

-UI Color picker
HUD colors can be changed under the color tab in the Options menu. We will continue refining the default color palette and the binding of the colors to corresponding elements, but in the time being feel free to customize it yourself. A simple HUD preview has been added to the Options window. We will continue to add elements to the preview but it already makes changing colors a lot easier.

-Scoreboard
Pressing Tab will now display a scoreboard with a list of bots and players

-Audible Hit Indicator
We’ve added an audible hit indicator Team Fortress style. Its aim is to provide an additional layer of feedback for confirmed hits against enemy targets. This feature is disabled by default and can be turned on or off under the gameplay settings.

-F1 Help Polish
Onscreen Help will now automatically hide after 5 seconds on every spawn, but you can still toggle its visibility by pressing F1.


-UI polish
We’ve done countless tweaks and adjustments to Menus and UI. We are currently going through every menu screen and unifying elements like buttons, updating fonts and making sure that font sizes are consistent throughout the project.

-Collisions
Multiple collision issues have been fixed.

-Gear Heads
We fixed the bug where gear head geometry would be missing when spawning in first person mode.

-Bug fixes
Lastly, we squashed a lot of small under the hood bugs that were giving us bad headaches.

A lot more exciting features and bug fixes are planned for the next patch.
Thank you a lot for your support, stay tuned
and we’ll see you in the arena!

Influencer ColeusRattus has published a new review of Heavy Gear Assault today. This new review looks at the current version of HGA since its latest patch on the weekend as compared to when we launched on Steam in December when he was quite critical of the first release here on Steam. While still not entirely happy Coleus notes the game has much improved in our 9 consecutive patches since hitting Steam.

Most of the quirks that ColeusRattus would like to see fixed are all issues our development team is currently working on right now!

The Steam Community has provided great feedback on the game so please keep it coming!

Check it out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUC3E6AkFmg

Remember to join our Discord Community and chat with the devs and our community directly about the game!
https://discord.gg/rGG7SbN

Changelist: 06/23/17 Version 316

Added:

• New and Refined versions of Port Oasis and San Lopez
  
• Main Menu UI materials and hover effects
  
• Additional weapon icons
  

• Main Menu UI polish and refactor
  
• Simplified Gearbay collisions
  
• Navmesh generation settings have been adjusted to prevent bots from getting stuck
  
• Spawn point placement have been adjusted in Pioneer and Lopez to minimize bot stucking
  

• Numerous navmesh fixes in Pioneer and Lopez and Hydro
  
• Missing Terrain material Port Oasis
  
• Audio stuttering have been fixed.
  

Hey Gearheads,

Heavy Gear Assault is available at a 40% discount during the Steam Summer Sales event!

http://store.steampowered.com/app/416020/Heavy_Gear_Assault/


Get in the action today!

The Heavy Gear Assault development team is very pleased to announce that Dream Pod 9 has renewed our Heavy Gear license until 2022. We are fully committed to the Heavy Gear universe and we are poised to continue bringing new features and content online in a competitive multiplayer format following our Early Access development schedule. We have some very exciting announcements planned regarding our first Early Access eSports tournament so please stay tuned!

Full press release:
http://stompybot.com/blog/187-heavy-gear-license-renewed

Changelist: 06/06/17 Version 314

Added:
Initial implementation of UI redesign

Changed:

• Increased damage output on all weapons
  
• Updated HUD layout
  
• Updated snow material and decals in Pioneer Outpost
  
• Added rock LODs and updated rock and stone materials in Pioneer Outpost
  
• Improved mortar and bazooka sounds
  
• Decreased bot aiming accuracy
  

• Bots can now return to navmesh within 10m of detaching from it
  
• Resolved issue that caused the server and potentially the client to crash when playing against bots
  

• Some terrain textures do not tile properly. Will be fixed in next patch.
  

Hey Gearheads,

We have an awesome update for you today. Our Game Designer, AlexS, has posted a YouTube video talking about his recent work on Heavy Gear Assault.

Check it out!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgQlo7idBZ8

Join us tonight (2017-04-27) at 6PM CST for a Twitch stream by https://www.twitch.tv/mohotashi

If you are looking for players remember our Discord channel is always open for business: https://discord.gg/rGG7SbN

See you there Gearheads!

This weeks update brings with it a long awaited upgrade to our ONNet system. And for those of you that don’t know, the ONNet is the Gear’s Optical Neural Network, or on board computer which now communicates gameplay related information to the player via the Audio Warning System (AWS). The ONNet is that lone voice in your ear that informs you when things are about to get hot. When you hear that sexy AI voice you better react.

For those of you that don't know - the on board computer or CPU is found under the pilot's seat inside the a Gear's cockpit. As our meta-game evolves, the CPU found under your pilot's seat will be considered one of the most valuable objects in-game. Considering its value, and potential resale value, retrieval and deployment gameplay mechanics are being considered very carefully for future updates to HGA.

Cockpit concept:



To in-game:

ONNet was originally developed by Abaline Research for Northco as part of the UMF's BOT Project & characterized by the crystalline cube structure that produced a sufficiently-powerful and sufficiently-compact computer system that could be 'grown' and installed onto a walker vehicle - was the critical breakthrough technology that allowed the development of the Hunter into the formidable war machine that would be the forerunner of all modern Heavy Gears. Without this piece of machinery, the Gear would cease to function for one very specific reason: the ONNet's capacity to not only think almost as swiftly as a human being, but also its capacity to be trained and to learn and to develop its own crystalline links within itself, thus increasing its response time while controlled by the pilot. Although anyone could reasonably purchase an ONNet, if they were to have the money, the reality is that a blank ONNet is just as likely to end up being next to useless outside of a standard construction walker.

• ONNet voice over lines for some gameplay events
  
• New Gatling Laser Cannon model
  
• Idle animations in Gearbay
  

• Weapons spawners can be activated with the ‘use’ key
  
• Removed Gearbay doors on San Lopez
  

• Holes in UI buttons
  
• Message system now reports the correct players
  
• Navigation and pathfinding issues on San Lopez and Port Oasis
  
• Issue on Tershaw Valley where bots would get stuck on the corner of their base
  
• Jump Jet visual and crashing bugs
  

We have updated the TRM application and published a Steam guide. It features the updated Tiger, Grizzly and Spitting Cobra.

You can read about the Gears' history and stats, and customise armour values on your own dedicated server.

The introduction of the track-based movement system changed the way we handle the feet section on Gears. The TRM site detects this and exports the JSON file accordingly.

The long awaited 'Heavies’ have finally arrived. The Southern Spitting Cobra and its Northern counterpart, the Grizzly fill the fire support role in their respective Polar armies. To support the additional weight of the bulky armour and weaponry needed to accomplish their intended purpose, they both feature a tracked secondary movement system.



We also introduced a new landing page. Simply click on the icon of the desired game mode to instantly join a server. The server browser is still accessible through the [ALL SERVERS] button. The new message system is still under development and it has some known bugs.



Added:

• New Gears:
  
  
  
  • Spitting Cobra support Gear
    
  • Grizzly support Gear
    
  
  
• Tracked foot support
  
• New landing page with quick launch for gamemodes
  
• Added weapon tutorial segment
  
• New unified message system
  
• New turn in place animation
  

• Replaced customization Gearbay lighting with neutral lighting
  
• Increased Gear spin speed in the customization Gearbay
  
• Updated main menu to reflect changes with new landing page
  
• New stock Gear loadouts
  
• Lean animations now play on remote players
  
• Updated strafe system
  

• Tutorial text now displays [Unbound] keys
  
• Two handed weapon pose head orientation
  
• Brunesball scoring issues
  
• Fixed an issue where players and bots would spawn in the middle of the air
  

Join our Saint Patrick's Day Play with the Devs event!
Sponsored by Cascade Breweries

Watch it live on Twitch starting 6PM EDT, or better yet join us on our Discord and to chat directly with the Devs and other players!

INCOMING TRANSMISSION LOG



Today we are pleased to introduce the Grizzly manufactured by Northco/Shaian Mechanics and the Spitting Cobra manufactured by Territorial Arms.These Northern and Southern chassis are the heaviest close combat brawlers featuring impressive fire support. They often accompany recons and light support Gears into battle.

These new Gears feature a new gameplay mechanic which is the tracked foot. The tracked foot is a unique foot featuring tracks instead of wheels. The tracked foot required new animations and updates to our Gearbay. The track gives the heavy Gear wearing the foot a unique advantage on loose terrain such as sand and snow - as well an advantage in that it does not loose speed driving up inclines. As we introduce our weight system the tracked foot will be incredibly useful on open terrains.

The tracked foot and the Grizzly & Spitting Cobra will be revealed over the next 2-3 patches. We will keep you informed as we roll out these new features. We are also pleased to announce that this release marks the official production of our second season of Gears. More on this soon.

HACS-02HG-MPS GRIZZLY



Code Name: Grizzly
Faction: Northern
Production Code: HACS-02HG-MPS
Production Type: Mass Production
Cost: 199800 TEC
Manufacture: Northco/Shaian Mechanics
Use: Close fire support Heavy Gear
Height: 5.1 m
Width: 3.8 m
Average Armor: 70 mm
Armor Material: durasheet with alloy ceramic
Standard Weight: 9210 kg

Description:
The first result of cooperation between industrial giant Northco and Kenema's Shaian Mechanics, the Grizzly heavy fire support Gear has been a mainstay of the Northern armies since its introduction in the TN 1870s. Designed to replace the Bear, the Grizzly brought a combination of raw firepower and thick armor to the battlefield. The basic armament of the Grizzly was generally based on that of the Bear featuring a Riley M225 heavy autocannon as its main direct fire weaponry, supplemented by twin GH-8 rocket pods. In addition to the unguided rockets, indirect fire capabilities are provided by TD-76 mortar unit, capable of lobbing guided high-explosive shells up to two kilometers. This long-range guided weaponry makes the Grizzly extremely dangerous when paired with a forward observing unit using a laser designator - such as a Cheetah or Ferret scout/recon Gears. The Grizzly’s S-V22OOZ engine was a distinctive improvement over the Bear’s troublesome S-V790T and managed a mild speed improvement, despite heavier armor. The Grizzly remains slow and lumbering compared to trooper and scout Gears and even to motorized infantry. To provide point defense, the Grizzly was equipped with a GU-10 gatling machinegun.

Despite its heavy armor and impressive weapons load, the Grizzly is usually deployed with lighter machines as defensive escorts. Tank hunting enemy Gears can be frighteningly effective if they are allowed to close range with the Grizzly, because of speed and maneuverability advantages. The standard tactical deployment remains in mixed companies, using squadrons of Grizzly in secondary positions, with strike squadrons moving forward and including at least one forward observing unit to relay coordinates and laser targeting data to the Grizzly. The successful use of the Grizzly has led to the progressive decommissioning of the Bear, but has entailed corporate difficulties for Northco. As Shaian Mechanics has become an active competitor, the long term contracts that bind the two corporations to the Grizzly line has become a matter of great contention -and possible litigation.


=========================

OACS-01H/SU SPITTING COBRA



Code Name: Spitting Cobra
Faction: Southern
Production Code: OACS-01H/SU
Production Type: Mass Production
Cost: 199800 TEC
Manufacture: Territorial Arms
Use: Fire support Heavy Gear
Height: 5.0 m
Width: 4.0 m
Average Armor: 90 mm
Armor Material: armoplast with alloy ceramic
Standard Weight: 8990 kg

Description:
The Spitting Cobra is the heaviest mass-produced Gear chassis currently in service with the Southern MlLlClA and Republican Army. Designed to fill the operational role of a heavy weapons platform, the Spit (as its crews invariably call it) is designed to wield devastating medium to long-range firepower on the modern battlefield. The Spitting Cobra's main fire-support weapon is a massive SCRP-98 back mounted rocket pod. Although unguided, the heavy rockets can saturate an area with ease and can take out heavily armored targets. More precise is the secondary fire-support weapon, a shoulder-mounted Vogel-H series guided mortar. Although less powerful than the SCRP- 98 rockets, the Vogel-H fires high-technology guided munitions capable of in-flight course corrections, allowing the Spitting Cobrato make full use of laser-designator data provided by forward observers such as infantry or scout Gears Both major weapons have an effective range of 1200 meters. Short to medium-range firepower is provided by a second pair of weapons more typical of a general purpose Gear, comprised of a MR60 autocannon and a shoulder-mounted FSRP-36 rocket pod. These weapons provide an excellent defense against assault Gears and other units. Close defense capabilities are provided by a MGU-77 minigun fixed to the Cobra's upper torso, allowing the Gear to fend off infantry at very close range.

The heavy weapons load of the Spilling Cobra required a high-strength chassis so Territorial Arms used concepts developed by Mandeers Heavy Industries and thoroughly tested in their Desert Viper and Python Gears (and related models). Thick armoplast armor over a hulking frame are the mainstay of the Spitting Cobra. Developed in a time of concerns for pilot safety, the Cobra features a very heavily armored cockpit, allowing the Gear to shrug off the most dangerous attacks. Unlike the Python, the Cobra uses a standard sensor pod arrangement, with the pilot's head within the Gear's The Cobra required a very powerful engine so the WV-l500TC/A V-engine, with its 940 Hp output, was chosen to fit the bill along with a half-track secondary movement system.

Play with the Devs is back to its regular weekly schedule again.
Watch it live on Twitch every Friday starting 6PM EST, or better yet join us on our Discord server and to chat directly with the Devs and other players!

https://www.twitch.tv/stompybot
https://discord.gg/AaBKzD5

EXPLOSIVE UPDATE

Bazookas and Mortars are now available!

Take your pick: Light, Medium or Rapid-Fire! Shoulder mounted, Bazookas are an alternative to Rocket Pods. They have a slower fire rate and lower damage output than the Rocket Pods but the Bazookas are faster, easier to aim with and can be reloaded. Currently Bazookas require only a shoulder mount to be equipped, in future updates they will also require the corresponding hand manipulator to be free in order to operate.

Available in the Light and Heavy varieties, Mortars are attached directly to the side of the V-Engine, the same hardpoint location as Jump Jets. Utilizing the Gear’s advanced AI, fire arcs are automatically calculated for you. When aiming at a moving target the computer will adjust to the heading and speed of that target. Just point your reticle, fire, and watch destruction rain where you aim.

Added:

• Mortars (Light Guided Mortar, Heavy Guided Mortar)
  
• New HUD elements for V-Engine mounted equipment
  
• Bazookas (Light, Rapid-Fire, Medium)
  
• Flamer sound effects
  
• Flamer hit particle effect
  
• "Preview" mini-lobby
  

• Removed aim delay from "Advanced" Mech Sim Controls
  
• Stock Hunter has a Light Flamer instead of a Rocket Pod
  
• Increased Gear spin sensitivity in the Gearbay
  
• Log cleaning pass: removed false positive "Error" messages
  
• Gearbay lighting has been changed to neutral white for more accurate paint colour representation
  
• Improvements to Pioneer Outpost 2017
  
  
  
  • Removed turrets
    
  • Added lights in the Gearbay during night
    
  
  

• Lasers firing through concrete floor in Pioneer Outpost
  
• Fixed match time limit on Server Hosting Panel
  
• Fixed Exit Game crash caused by incorrect audio tear down
  
• Fixed Fatal Error "IRC" Crash caused by cached HUD pointer
  

• Issues with the scoring system: deaths may count as points
  

Our Producer Vince 'VAM' McMullin sits down for a few moments with PC GamesN to talk about Heavy Gear Assault and our team's use of Unreal Engine 4. We talk mech games, UE4 tech, and Heavy Gear in this one.

A very candid coversation with Vince McMullin, HGA Producer, on the state of HGA, the revival of the mech genre and the difficulty of developing crowdfunded games.

Read more .

With this week's patch, bots will now automatically populate servers. They will attempt to keep matches balanced in terms of player count and will fight against and along side each other and real players! We will be continuing to update the AI including adding the ability for bots to participate in objective based game types. We are happy to bring a new weapon to light with this update - the Light Flamer! Enjoy this toasty new patch - on us.

Finally, we have some exciting new material coming in our next patch. Check out the “Guess who?” image below. Do you know which Gear it is? Let us know.



Team AI Bots implemented!



Setting hearts on fire! Flamers implemented!



Mortars coming soon!

FUTURE UPDATE SNEAK PEEK!



Added:

• New Weapon: Light Flamer
  
• Player bots are available on all game modes and maps
  

• Right mouse button + drag now rotates your Gear in the Gear Bay, removed slider
  
• Hosting page updated
  
• Added bot settings
  
• Removed non-functional weather settings
  
• Improvements to Pioneer Outpost
  
• Boundary is now rounded
  
• Further optimizations and set dressing
  
• Reworked the jumpjet portion of the movement tutorial to be less challenging to pass
  

• Reduced time that the black screen after Stompy Bot intro displays
  
• Market scene camera placement
  
• Fixed an issue where the JumpJets FX wouldn't activate after being being activated once
  

Based on the feedback from some of our competitive players, we have introduced a hitmarker around the reticle that animates on confirmed hits. Pioneer Outpost got redesigned - slopes are more accessible and there are roads connecting major points of interest. Official servers will feature both maps on rotation. Equipment in the Gear Bay marked as “coming soon” is under active development.







Added:

• New engines and pylons (Light, Heavy, Assault)
  
• Updated Tiger assets
  
• Hit confirmation indicator to reticle
  
• Cleaned up the HUD, moved the ammo counters further from the centre
  
• Manual received an update
  
• Tutorial text changes based on key input settings and gamepad/mouse+keyboard
  
• New Pioneer Outpost 2017
  
  
  
  • Layout alterations
    
  • Reduced memory usage
    
  • Greatly increased FPS in Gear Bays and certain time of days
    
  • General optimisations
    
  
  

• Main menu Gear Bay scene optimisations
  
• Fixed a bug where picking up an empty weapon would not automatically start to reload
  
• Re-enabled the ability to manually reload weapons with [R]
  

Heavy Gear Assault is Now Available on Steam!

The world of Heavy Gear Assault is unforgiving but so is your lust for glory. As a pilot on the distant planet Terra Nova, you play the high-stakes game of competitive Gear Dueling. Earn fame and fortune by making a name for yourself on the arena floor.

Hey Gearheads,

Thanks for checking out Heavy Gear Assault so far! Did you know we released our latest patch version 259 on Steam on January 24, 2017. Check it out!

We are excited to announce that we’ve added significant support for Linux and fixed issues that were preventing some Linux distros such as ArchLinux from accessing the game. Thanks to the great work by our development, server, backend, and community management teams. In addition to patch 259, we are also happy to announce that we now have regional server support. We will be introducing changes to our in-game landing page with a combined Pilot Lounge and Game Launch Landing Page with our next patch.

Our backend team now has fully realized regional support. Currently we have 2 backends - one residing in Montreal and the other in France. HGA’s game servers are hosted all over the planet including Central, East, and West North America, Europe, and Tokyo. We are looking into an Asian-Pacific backend and will get the Asian community updated on that when it happens!

I am also very excited to announce that we have some very specific plans gearing up for the Heavy Gear community with focused efforts on new content! Hurray! Gears, Guns, and Glory!

We are planning some special updates for the eSports Community, Linux Community, and the Mech Communities at large. Stay tuned for more details.

And our new website and platform for teams and players is currently getting some last minute polish before being activated.

I think the community is going to love what we have on the way.

Our latest patch list is located on our Steam news patch so check it out: http://steamcommunity.com/games/416020/announcements/detail/687197541758707426

Thanks for your feedback everyone. Keep it coming!

Your Producer,
Vince “VAM” McMullin

Version 259 is now available through the public branch on Steam and through the standalone BitRaider launcher. We would like to thank all of our users that helped test the build through the Pre-release branch.

We have verified that this build should address most of the issues preventing some distributions of Linux from accessing the game.

This update includes a first pass at addressing some of the initial feedback we have received since Steam launch.

Fixes:

• Fixed issue that prevented player from being able to stand from the prone position
  
• Addressed issues with OnlineSub Systems for both Windows and Linux
  
• Updated UE4 4.10's LibCurl + hardcoded certificates pathing issues
  
• Addressed issues compiling with cross-platform compiler using Clang
  
• Updated the SteamAPI to the latest version for further compatibility with Linux and the Steam Controller
  
• Fixed memory leak in the Steam Controller interface
  
• Fixed issues with our virtual mouse in Linux
  
• Fixed issues with Clang causing FMalloc to crash
  
• Identified why our original proxy seemed to work but our newest proxy did not
  
• Identified issues with Geotrust and our RapidSSL certificate
  
• Implemented Let's Encrypt SSL certificates to work on Arch and potentially other minimal distros not yet tested
  
• Addressed various Backend issues related to missing TEC and Gears
  
• Fixed various SteamID issues and API updates to the Game client
  
• Regional backend server response times for Europeans should be better
  

• Weapon locations now highlight on the HUD when selected
  
• Selected shoulder mount location now highlights on the HUD
  
• Weapons equipping to tutorial
  
• Default gamepad movement control layout in tutorial
  
• Autodetect “Listen” to keybinding options
  
• Cancel rocket salvo by pressing the button again after release
  
• Base implementation of in-match experience system
  
• Continued to incrementally improve sounds, art, effects, animations and environments
  

Heavy Gear Assault version 20170124-11839-259 is now available on the Pre-release branch through Steam.

This update should resolve a number of issues for Linux users including those that received the following error upon attempting to login:

“LoginFailure: Login request failed, backend is unreachable or is malfunctioning”

Aside from the fixes for Linux, the HUD now provides feedback when equipping weapons making the system more intuitive to new players. Your Gear can also get up again from Prone by pressing the Prone key again -- [Z] by default.

We would like to invite all of our players, especially those on Linux, to take this opportunity to test this update before it is pushed to the main release branch of the game.

Switching between branches on Steam is easy:

Right click on Heavy Gear Assault in your Steam library and pick ‘Properties’. Go to the ‘Betas’ tab and then select the ‘pre-release’ branch in the dropdown menu.

Greetings Gear pilots, I wanted to take this opportunity to address the community and let you all know about what has been going on at MekTek and a little about what will be happening next.

First I’d like to let everyone that received a free key in a giveaway that they should all now be able to be activated in Steam and the game downloadable. If you experience any problems with the installation or authentication, we recommend that you take a look at the FAQ.

The last couple weeks have been a blur of activity around here. From preparing to release, to getting approval to release, to actual releasing. Not to mention the holidays falling in the middle of everything. Speaking of which, I’d like to wish everyone a prosperous new year.

Since we released on Steam, there has been a lot of great feedback that we’ve received. We are actively watching and listening to the discussions, reviews and comments on Steam, Youtube, and anywhere else we find people talking about HGA. We are taking everything into consideration and prioritizing our tasks accordingly, I would like to thank everyone that has taken their time to provide their feedback. In order to address these items, our plan is to push updates that make improvements to the presentation and user experience as we address them, while simultaneously working on larger upcoming features and content.

Right now, we are focusing a large effort into addressing a number issues with the Linux build of the game. It has come to our attention that many of our Linux players are running into various problems when attempting to play the game. Supporting Linux and the Linux community is one of our top concerns. We believe we should have most of the bugs addressed and will be pushing our next patch once we have had a chance to verify these fixes.



Maybe the most common feedback that we’ve received is that new players don’t know how to equip weapons. While we have a weapons and inventory tutorial in the works, we have made couple changes in the upcoming update to help address this issue. First, we have added a quick Equip Weapons step to the current tutorial. This will eventually be removed when the weapons tutorial is complete. Second, the weapon inventory slots will now highlight on your HUD when you select them. We have a couple more changes to the HUD that we plan to implement but we believe these changes should help most players equip their weapons.

Another common issue is players going into prone and being unable to get back up. We have identified and resolved the bug that was preventing the Gear from recognizing the get-up command. In the next update, you will be able to go prone by pressing [Z] then stand again by pressing [Z] a second time. If you are having trouble aiming while in prone, we recommend trying with Advanced Controls which allows you to torso twist while prone.

While we continue to make updates and expand the tutorials, I would like to invite everyone to take a look at the manual. It is packed full of useful information. You can find it on the Heavy Gear Assault store page on Steam or directly here: http://store.steampowered.com/manual/416020

In addition to the above updates, we also have a number of updated weapon models in production.

Light Pulse Laser


Very Heavy Autocannon


Heavy Laser Cannon


And last but not least, here is a teaser of the Spitting Cobra for the Southern fans!

5 cards, 5 emoticons, 3 profile backgrounds, 5+1 badge levels

Full Steam ahead! Heavy Gear Assault is now available for PC through Steam Early Access.

The market is now active. You can purchase available Gears, weapons, and armour parts. Players will also only have access to Gears they own whether purchased as a pledge, from our webstore, or with TEC. All weapons and armour plates are currently available through the Gear Bay and can be used in-game. We will be locking these inventories in a future update.

Fixes:

• “Billboard” header fonts now display correctly
  
• Correct Voice Overs now play in the Tutorial
  
• No longer able to purchase items if you do not have enough TEC in the market
  

• Confirmation screen when purchasing items in the market
  
• New Very Heavy Autocannon model
  

• Updated Tutorial overlay text to show Standard, Advanced, and Gamepad commands
  
• SMS to toggle by default instead of push-and-hold
  
• Locked player Gear inventories, you now only have access to Gears you own
  
• Gears, weapons, and armour can be purchased from the market (all weapons and armour are currently unlocked in the Gear Bay)
  

Heavy Gear Assault is Now Available on Steam Early Access and is 15% off!*

The world of Heavy Gear Assault is unforgiving but so is your lust for glory. As a pilot on the distant planet Terra Nova, you play the high-stakes game of competitive Gear Dueling. Earn fame and fortune by making a name for yourself on the arena floor.

*Offer ends January 5 at 10AM Pacific Time

One of the first things you’ll likely notice in this update is that we’ve added a Market to the main menu. Feel free to explore the market, you can uncheck the “show available” box to view the myriad of items available in the Heavy Gear universe. You can even spend your TEC now, however we are planning on reverting any purchases made in the market when we lock player inventories to items they own. Currently you can access all available Gears and weapons in the Gear Bay and In-Game.

We’ve introduced a basic movement Tutorial to help new players learn how to pilot their Gear. We plan on doing another pass on the tutorial shortly to better reflect some of the other more recent changes. You can also expect more tutorials to come!

Gamepad support has been greatly improved. The game now plays and feels much better while using a gamepad, we highly suggest giving it a try.

We’ve also added a keybinding or control profile system. This will allow you to create and save multiple sets of keybinding layouts. We are currently working on phasing out the Advanced/Standard gameplay options and providing them as individual profiles instead.

Many other changes and improvements have been made, check the changelist below for a complete list:

Fixes:

• Fixed issue that prevented chat from working in-game
  
• Plate destruction particle effects are back
  
• Tracer VFX now dies properly
  
• Radar contacts now appear while playing in Linux
  

• Market
  
• Movement tutorial
  
• New Gear skeleton
  
• Steam account integration
  
• Steam overlay support
  
• Xbox 360 gamepad support
  
• Minimap and radar contacts on HUD
  
• Nav points
  
• Options to in-game “escape” menu
  
• Quick in-game options menu on [TAB]
  
• Bullet and damage decals
  
• Keybinding profile system
  
• Sounds to get-up animation
  
• Burst fire mode for Autocannons
  
• Rocket Pod salvo
  
• Walk mode (hold [Left Control] to walk)
  
• New gameplay options
  
• Side facing 3rd person camera ([ALT]+[C] to toggle between “selfie” and “combat” camera modes)
  
• New V-Engine and Fuel tank
  

• Unlocked Gatling Laser, VHAC for all players
  
• Reenabled front facing 3rd person camera
  
• Wave Survival AI Gears can SMS and shoot rocket salvos
  
• New main menu background scene and Gear Bay
  
• New UI and HUD fonts
  
• HUD shows loaded ammunition
  
• HUD ammo bar instead of ticks for lasers and gatlings
  
• HUD reticle shows neutral/enemy/friendly
  
• HUD shows selected Rocket Pod and fire mode
  
• Adjusted one-handed weapon positions
  
• Adjusted first person camera
  
• Increased Headlight brightness
  
• Improved Snub Cannon particle effects
  
• Removed placeholder announcer voices
  
• New VLAC, LAC and VHAC sound effects
  
• Tweaked jump jet behavior
  
• New ricochet and impact sounds
  
• New reload sounds
  
• Default camera is set to 3rd person
  
• Cover around objectives on Pioneer Outpost
  
• Reworked the dock on Port Oasis
  
• Foliage and rocks on San Lopez
  
• Improved sand storm
  
• Get-up command currently disabled (you won’t be able to stand-up if you go prone)
  
• Double-tap dodging has been disabled
  
• Continued to incrementally improve sounds, art, effects, animations and environments
  

Stompy Bot Productions was set to release Heavy Gear Assault on Steam Early Access December 15th, 2016. What happened? Well, we believe Valve is overwhelmed with the upcoming Winter Sale and other happenings over there and as a result they were unable to give us final approval in time for our launch date despite us giving Steam 7 days for approval. As an end result we are stuck in Steam purgatory and we’re not happy about it! On December 15th, 2016 @4pm PST we released Steam keys to our early backers and alpha testers so they could play our game. Today we’ve decided to release a batch of our free Steam key giveaway for our splash page newsletter subscribers ahead of schedule. We don’t know what’s up at Valve but we will be sure to post an update as soon as we hear from them. #SteamDevPurgatory