Mahou Arms News

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Merry Christmas! Build 0.6.2267 is live! 2267 includes a new story chapter, Input Remapping, Save Slots, Trophies/Achievements, and more! There are also various tweaks, bugfixes, and some general QoL tweaks and fixes. Here's an expanded list of the changes:

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This is the chapter where Susan is introduced during Amelia's absence after the events of Chapter 5. A full length mission in a new map!


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Mahou Arms now supports input remapping for mouse + keyboard and gamepads! It also supports both Xbox and PS icons. Sorry this one took a while.


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Trophies / Achievements have been added! If you intend to play without Steam and then swap over, achievements and stats should be synchronized, but if you run into any issues, then please let us know.


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You now have access to multiple save slots. This should be handy for players who like to experiment.


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• [p]\[Cinematics] A short ending cutscene has been added to Chapter 5 to connect it to Chapter 6
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• [p]\[Gameplay] Many characters now have scan yields. The scanning system has been updated to better show when a character has new scan data
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• [p]\[Gameplay] Player / Enemy collision code fixed
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• [p]\[UI] Codex now supports hidden entries that can be unlocked when the correct conditions are met.
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• [p]\[UI] Super Armor tutorial image updated to reflected UI changes
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• [p]\[UI] Fixed a bug where the cursor freaks out when switching from gamepad to mouse + keyboard, then back
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• [p]\[UI] Menu auto-repeat scrolling fixed
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• [p]\[Environment Art] Exodus lighting tweaked and heavily optimized
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• [p]\[UI] Fixed a bug where pressing spacebar can activate a non-relevant button, occasionally softlocking various menus.
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• [p]\[Gameplay] Fixed a bug where you can reset the camera when it is focused at an NPC
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• [p] NPCs show up slightly faster
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• [p] Fixed a bug where NPCs can spawn twice when the player leaves and re-enters a Level Streaming Volume with very specific timing
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• [p]\[UI] Fixed a bug where the FOV Increase tutorial in Photo Mode doesn't work
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• [p]\[UI] Dropship in Astoria no longer has two minimap icons
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• [p] Fixed a bug where you can switch characters in the main menu
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• [p]\[UI] Fixed a bug where the main quest marker was flickering every few seconds
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• [p]\[UI] Fixed a bug where you can't right click when hovering over the selector popup in the Equip menu
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• [p]\[Narrative] Codex Entries edited for updated narrative changes
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• [p]\[Narrative] Edited various scene scripts
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• [p]\[Environment Art] Various Physical Materials have been assigned
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• [p]\[UI] Fixed some debug text showing on some actors
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• [p]\[Gameplay] Fixed a bug where only one fast travel point shows up on the Vanaheim
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• [p]\[Gameplay] Ophanim enemy how has armor
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• [p]\[UI] Indicators no longer show up during cutscenes and level loading
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• [p]\[UI] Autosaves added, triggered by Rest Points
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• [p]\[UI] Quest markers no longer sometimes disappear when changing maps, saving, or receiving communications even though the quest is still active.
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• [p]\[UI] Fixed a bug where the last bubble in a manga cutscene will be left blank if you speed through it too quickly.
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• [p]\[UI] Fixed a bug where switching characters immediately upon death lets you keep moving in the game over screen.
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• [p]\[UI] Fixed a bug where you can use the holster in the game over screen.
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• [p]\[UI] Fixed a bug where the defeat menu didn't accept gamepad inputs.
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• [p]\[UI] Fixed a softlock where the "Item Acquired" popup for certain items can softlock the game if there is dialogue currently playing or the player is talking to someone.
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• [p] Narrative] Some dialogue has been edited / corrected.
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• [p]\[UI] Holster updates properly when switching characters now.
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• [p] Various unnecessary UI images removed from game files
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• [p] Various performance optimizations[/p]

• [p] Some NPCs take a while to show up.
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• [p] Some blocks in Chapter 2 don't take damage when you're too close to them.
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• [p] Playtime in save slots are not recorded properly in some cases.
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[p]This is a quick notice that we are in the process of adding Steam achievements to Mahou Arms. This means that achievements for the game are now visible, but cannot be unlocked until the next version of the game (0.6) is released. We just wanted to let everyone know so that they don't struggle to unlock them before it's possible to do so.[/p][p]While we're here, we can also announce that version 0.6 will be released before the end of the month. It contains a new story chapter as well as a number of other improvements. We'll make a another announcement with more details once it's ready.[/p][p]Thank you all for your support as always and happy holidays![/p]

[p]Thank you all for your support and for following Mahou Arms development! We have some announcements to make about our release roadmap and the scope of the game.[/p][p]We are nearing version 1.0 of Mahou Arms and our graduation from Early Access on Steam, however Mahou Arms 1.0 will look different from what we had promised at the outset. This is certainly disappointing, but games change as they are developed. We're a small team with limited resources, so we can only make so much game, even if we want to do more. In some ways, the game has already grown bigger than we expected thanks to your support.[/p][p]There are three main differences: [/p]

1. [p]We will have two playable characters instead of three (more on this later).[/p]
2. [p]There will be no base building mechanics. We prototyped the feature, but it didn't fit in the game well so we scrapped it.[/p]
3. [p]Socialization mechanics will be scaled down in favor of romance quest lines, which we feel is a better fit for how the game has evolved.[/p]

[p]On a brighter note, there are things in the game now that we hadn't promised, like increased gameplay variety (drone racing, cyberspace battles, rail shooter sections), combat spells, and settlements with side quests.[/p][p]So what does 1.0 look like then? Since Mahou Arms is a single player game, we will consider it to be done when the main story quest is playable from start to end. However, we do plan to continue working on the game after release to fix bugs, make refinements, and add extra content. In particular, we would like to add additional side quests, voice acting, translations, and any other in-progress content that doesn't get finished in time for 1.0's release.[/p][p]As for the reduction in the number of characters, a third character is still a possibility (Seiko is still a part of the story), but two will be our base case. If we add a third playable character, we want to make sure they are refined, fun to play, and well integrated into the story with unique story missions. At this stage we aren't certain we can deliver that with our current resources, but we will see.[/p][p]In terms of a timeline, we just released version 0.5 and there are three more major planned releases (excluding bug fixes and minor releases). The first release (0.6) will be available in Q4 2025 and will include chapter 6. The next release (1.0) will be available in Q1 2026 and will contain chapter 7, 8, and 9 (the final chapter). We will follow 1.0 with 1.1 sometime in Q2 2026 which will contain the previously mentioned extra content to enhance the game.[/p][p]Thank you all for being patient and supporting the game. We know it's taken longer than expected, but we're still proud of what we've created and we sincerely hope you will enjoy it.[/p]

Build 0.5.2212 is live! This build includes a new story chapter, a rewriting of the current Rockefallen chapter, mid-combo character switching, fast travel, and much more! There are also various tweaks, bugfixes, and some general QoL tweaks and fixes.

Here's an expanded list of the changes:


[h2]Mid-Combo Character Switching:[/h2]

You can now change characters in the middle of combat. To do this, press the Right Shoulder Button on a gamepad or T on your keyboard. Character switching also performs an attack when you hold the character switch button. There is a small cooldown.



[h2]Fast Travel:[/h2]



Fast travel has been added to Rest Points. When you touch a new Rest Point, a fast travel entry is added.

[h2]New Chapter 4: Searching for Fangs (current Rockefallen Chapter re-ordered to Chapter 5)[/h2]

Embark on a quest that takes Amelia near and around Exodus to meet Hans and Fritz, a father and son duo of scientists. With their help, Amelia prepares the search for Susan, the second magical girl to join GARDA. This chapter explores the nature of reality, magic, and fragments of humanity's distant past.



[h2]Cinematics:[/h2]



Amelia Transformation sequence added at the start of Chapter 1.

[h2]Enemy Armor:[/h2]



Some enemies now have Armor. Enemies with Armor can not be hitstunned. A portion of your damage dealt to the enemy erodes their armor. When the enemy's armor breaks, they take additional damage and become vulnerable to hitstun. As of this build, only the Carnassus has armor, though some enemies in future builds will also have armor.

[h2]Individual Health Bars:[/h2]



Enemy health bars are no longer restricted to your locked-on target. Any enemy with damage dealt to them now have health bars until they are killed or leave combat range.

[h2]Scanner Upgrade:[/h2]



The "Scan" utility skill now shows more objects through walls, giving it more utility. Interactable items, chests, elevators, and other objects will show up briefly through walls when this skill is used. Decorative rings have also been added.

[h2]Courier Drones:[/h2]



Courier drones have been scattered throughout the map. When shot down, these drop a chest on the ground with items that can be collected.

[h2]Chests:[/h2]



Most of the pickups in the world have been replaced with animated chest models.



[h2]Game Design / Narrative:[/h2]

• [Narrative] Various script edits throughout the game, including rewriting of Ch5 (Rockefallen)
  
• Temporarily removed the Gilded Logs quest to fix a progression bug in Chapter 5 (Rockefallen). It will be restored later, however if you've already started or finished it, it will stay in your Quest Journal.
  
• Carnassus's first encounter in Chapter 5 health increased to 1.5x.
  
• Chapter 5 Journal / Task text rewritten.
  
• Tweaked Jump End Animation logic: player characters now only tumble when they've been falling for at least 0.25 seconds. This makes traversing rough terrain smoother
  

[h2]UI:[/h2]

• Quest markers now work even if the objective is in another level
  
• Renamed various interaction popup text items
  
• Mission Ticker behavior improved when sequential mission ticker events are quickly activated
  
• Dialogue and Choice Menus now hide when the game is paused.
  
• Dialogue widget no longer plays a sound when it opens
  
• Chapter 2 now has a mission selector image
  
• Character switching tutorial added.
  
• Pause Menu's "Map" changed to "Skills" for a planned progression system.
  
• Various tutorial texts edited and images added.
  
• Enable the Voice Acting volume slider for planned voice acting content.
  
• Foraging With Piro's quest collectible now says "Supply Drop".
  
• Various tutorials added.
  
• Exodus minimaps added.
  
• Medium font size text wrap character width reduced by 1.
  
• Healthbars now have a short "death" animation showing a small red cross.
  
• Some portraits added to certain dialogue sequences.
  

[h2]Cinematics:[/h2]

• Sounds added to Chapter 5's Carnassus introduction cinematic.
  

[h2]Art / Animation:[/h2]

• Courier Drones textures added.
  
• Commander's default standing idle changed.
  
• Item Trails effect polished a bit.
  

[h2]Performance / Optimization:[/h2]

• Optimized various materials.
  
• Optimized various actors by reducing Tick() calls.
  
• Standing toggle lamps (ToggleLamp01) are no longer persistent, optimizing the save files a little bit.
  
• NPCs now hide for 2s at the start of their spawn if they spawn in front of you to hide the spawn logic that they have to perform when they're first spawned.
  

[h2]Bugfixes:[/h2]

• Fixed a skinning issue with the beard and mustache models for the male character
  
• Quest markers no longer overlap use icons
  
• Fixed a bug where activating a non-active trigger through game script grants the player the item immediately
  
• Door trigger locations adjusted in Crew Quarters, Exodus, Back-Alley Lab, and more.
  
• Fix various level art bugs.
  
• Fixed a bunch of "out of bounds" glitches in New Inverness and the commander's office.
  
• Fixed the missing collision in the Main Street Cargo Ship.
  
• Fixed a bug where pausing the game right after ending a dialogue in the multiple choice menu freezes the game in the menu and requires a force shut down.
  
• Fixed a bug that allowed you to change characters in the main menu and during the manga cutscenes.
  
• Fixed a bug where switching characters during Amelia's ground pound causes her to hang before disappearing, leaving her axe to stay a bit longer.
  
• Can no longer jump or air dash infinitely by switching characters.
  
• Fixed a bug where the first hit of your combo doesn't have a hitbox and doesn't hit unless you dodge or get hit.
  
• [Amelia moveset] Fixed a bug where jumping after doing H H H H L, Amelia can jump an extra time since she is considered grounded.
  
• [Susan moveset] Susan had a similar bug as above with her H H H H H move, this has been fixed.
  
• Fixed a bug where dashing and character swapping at the same time causes your character to just stand there a bit, by adjusting the character switch timing.
  
• Fixed an unintentional delay after jumping where Susan can't use her dragon claw and the button doesn't buffer either.
  
• Fixed a bug where health wasn't being properly stored and retrieved from the Game Instance when used with Character Switching and Rest Points.
  
• MP now restores properly at Bonfires.
  
• Refactored the entire use indicator system to prevent various glitches where it can get stuck somewhere.
  
• Fixed a bug where finishing the Survey Drones quest doesn't give you the photography drone popup and tutorial.
  
• Fixed a bug where indicators pop up above tutorials, obscuring them.
  
• Fixed a bug where the UI shows up at the Chapter 5 start cutscene.
  
• Fixed a bug where certain items in the shop sell for 0 value even though the price isn't 0.
  
• Fixed a bug where Item Use Triggers are pingable even though they have no yields.
  
• Fixed a bug where the bonfire menu immediately exits upon opening when playing the game using Gamepad.
  
• [Susan Moveset] Only dashing + heavy performs susan's Dash attack now, same as Amelia.
  
• Fixed a bug where characters sometimes do a weird head spin when first looking at another target.
  
• Fences no longer become solid at a distance due to odd mipmap behavior.
  
• Fixed a bug where AI can sometimes forget about the player and lose target, often incurred by Character Switching.
  
• Fixed some conditions where AI can sometimes hang around doing nothing (there is yet more AI to fix).
  
• Healthbars no longer pop up momentarily at the top left when they first show up.
  
• Chests now hide during cutscenes.
  
• Can no longer talk to NPCs when dialogue is already playing since this breaks some stuff.
  
• Fixed a bug where switching characters when close to a UseTrigger makes the use indicator line get yeeted with the previous character.
  
• Fixed a bug where the chest opening animation can play repeatedly if the Use button is pressed repeatedly when opening a chest.
  
• Fixed a bug where Rockefallen's Lobby Door says "Use Elevator".
  
• Fixed the quest markers in Chapter 5 pointing to New Inverness 0,0,0 when it should be either not visible or inside Rockefallen.
  
• Fixed a bug where opening the menu during shop transactions can softlock the game in a broken menu state.
  
• Fixed the progression bugs in Chapter 5 (Rockefallen).
  
• Fixed a bug in the Equip menu where pressing the character's icon doesn't do anything, only the area directly above or below works.
  
• Fixed a bug where the payload gets stuck in Chapter 2.
  
• Fixed some odd collisions in Chapter 5.
  
• Fixed redundant quest markers at the front of Fritz's Lab.
  
• Assigned some missing PhysMats.
  
• Fixed a bug where redundant health bars pop up when an enemy is already assigned a boss health bar.
  
• Restored the sword sound to Carnassus's portal swords.
  
• Fixed a bug where some of the magic use triggers play audio even when hidden.
  
• Fixed a bug where NPC spawners can spawn their player collision blockers even when the NPC isn't spawned.
  
• Various other bugfixes
  

[h2]Known Bugs:[/h2]

• The objective marker flickers every couple seconds.
  
• Forfeiting a drone race after the drone has gone far enough to de-spawn the level can glitch the character's sitting position on return.
  
• Some characters are missing dialogue portraits.
  

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Hello! We're excited to announce that we're going to be adding partial voice acting to the game. The video above is an audio mixing test of dubbed over gameplay footage. (The video was edited to match the timing of the audio.)

For the past couple of weeks we've been quietly auditioning for roles and having recording sessions with voice actors. Our plan is for Mahou Arms to have full voice acting for the main story chapters and partial voice acting everywhere else. Partial voice acting will be added to the game first, then full voice acting hopefully sometime near version 1.0.

Here is our current cast (we're still auditioning for Susan):

• Amelia: Kacey Cerise
• Seiko: Aika Intong
• Commander: Darrel J. Delfin
• Piro: Raki Kazuki