COGs became even smarter and more difficult lately, which is good on one side, but it would be nice to stand a chance against them. A lot of improvements were done on player detection. Even to a point where attacking a drillship will attract attention and COGs will chase the intruder that tries to sabotage their surface mission. On top of that, missed shots that went past a COG or too much noise also reveal your position. Medkits will become your number one friend.

PREVIEW BRANCH

As the release is getting closer, we are going to frequently update the preview branch. If you would like to help us with polishing the final build, please feel free to join. Post any feedback or bug reports in this public thread. New builds will be announced in this thread with the following changelog of what is new in the current build. Please feel free to subscribe to the channel to get a notification each time a new message is added. Just a reminder, preview branch is a testing version of the new update available for anyone that already owns the game.

IMPROVEMENTS

Each playtesting round, we come up with many new things that need to be tweaked or balanced. Since this update is heavily focused on combat, we need to ensure players have access to all needed equipment and that the difficulty raises gradually with progression on the map. This includes balancing the loot drops and costs of items. Player should always have a chance to fall back, recover and advance again until reaching the goal.

DEVELOPMENT RECAP OF 1.17

This update turned out to be a long development marathon. We really got to set a better plan for the next update to ensure it won't overflow so much. What was supposed to be a simple improvement of the research system and weapons turned into a complete upgrade of almost all parts in the game. With 1.17 you will get new weapons, specialized drillships, many new items, difficulty settings, new quest system, countless drillship improvements and much more. The changelog is already a few pages long.

NEXT STEPS

We are going to continue polishing the final 1.17 build, together with the Volcanoids community. The quest line will need to be changed a bit, as we adjusted some of the upgrade recipes based on the community feedback. Still, the game can be played from start to finish already, so if you are already familiar with the features and would like to try the new version, jump right into the preview branch.

[ 2019-03-21 22:30:06 CET ] [ Original post ]

Set in the steampunk era, you take on an expedition to a forsaken island that you once called home. But sudden eruptions triggered by mechanical beings turned the wondrous place into an apocalyptic wasteland. In order to survive the island’s natural elements, you have to outsmart these creatures and capture one of their drillships. Use their own technology against them as you upgrade the machinery and reclaim your homeland.

MOBILE BASE

Take the vantage point, stay safe underground or choose a material-rich location and explore. The drillship is one of a kind base capable of joining you on every journey.

DEADLY ENVIRONMENT

Experience the tension and thrill of surviving volcanic eruptions. Time between each eruption is your most valuable resource. Use it to roam the island gathering materials, finding new technology and utilizing production.

MECHANICAL MENACE

Deal with a hostile race of robots that use the volcano as a source of energy. Their units are scattered all around the island’s surface as well as below it.

BASE MANAGEMENT

Customize your drillship from the inside out with colors, symbols, gadgets and more. Automate production, research technologies, set up defenses and turn the drillship into an unbreachable powerhouse.