Mainframe Defenders News

Hello and welcome to the Mainframe Defenders dev diary!

Those of you who played Mainframe Defenders probably have noticed a lack of mission variety. The missions indeed were barely different from one another. After all, this is a game focused on combat, and there are only so many different ways of saying "kill all enemies". But the main difference is in the details. So, I've tried to make each mission type fell a bit more unique, even if some of them provide similar challenges.
I've started with some reworks of existing mission types:

* DOWNLOAD DATA: You don't have to kill every single unit on this mission now. Once you've obtained the data, you'll need to return your squad to the room you've spawned in. The enemy will be waiting for you there, though. And every squad on this mission will have an Armored Spider in an attempt to slow you down.
* DESTROY INFECTED NODE: Now Infected Node applies Interference on your units each turn. But enemies that are immune to status effects can't spawn during this mission.

As of right now, I can also confirm 3 new mission types:
* DESTROY THE MAINTENANCE STATION: Your target is an infected repair station and some fabricators. There are two things that are unique to this mission type: enemies can retreat to repair and units spawned by fabricators guard the repair station instead of blindly charging at you.
* REACTIVATE THE DEFENSE: There are powerful allied Centurions (new unit) you need to activate. Once you do, you'll need to destroy enemy reinforcements.
* MATTER RAID: In this mission, you need to collect at least 3 out of 5 matter chests and then escape. Each time you collect a chest, the enemy receives reinforcement. A very high risk and reward mission that can provide a lot of matter for your upgrading needs =)

Also, a small change: Mainframe AI Core will now narrate some parts of the mission.



Those changes should hopefully make missions feel a bit more unique. But that is it for today! Stay tuned for new dev diaries.

Mainframe Defenders: Meltdown Update Announced!



Hi everyone, ShiftyCode here!
Since the release, I've been listening to the feedback our community provided. I've accumulated some fresh ideas and I've been working for some time on a massive free update for everyone. And today, I am happy to finally announce Mainframe Defenders: Meltdown Update!
I'll post more details (including the release date) in upcoming Dev Diaries. Meanwhile, here is what to expect of it:

- Mission variety. You guys rightfully pointed out that missions get stale pretty fast. To combat this, I am working on at least 3 new mission types, alongside with reworks of existing ones. More on that in the next dev diary!
- QoL improvements. Key bindings, UI tweaks, etc. New color pallet that should be easier on the eyes.
- Reworks. Some underused mechanics and stuff with identity crisis will be reworked. Internal damage is too similar to corrosion? Heat builds are forcing you to use Plasma Residue? This (and a lot more) is going to be fixed!
- New items and mechanics to play with!
- New player units with unique upgrades.
- Updated demo version.

This is by no means a full list. There is some other stuff in the Meltdown Update that will be announced later, so stay tuned for Dev Diaries!

This small patch aims to adjust the balance for higher difficulty, where reducing armor becomes more relevant. I've also changed some unit upgrades to add armor penetration or armor breach stacks instead. Also, you will find a new loadout for the Arawen.

New Content:
- Arawen B: Rend Cannon, Repair Gel, and Nullifier.

Item Balance:
- Rapier: +25 armor penetration.
- Hoplite: +20 armor penetration.
- Laser Drill: now applies 10 stacks of Armor Breachper shot.
- Magnetic Cannon: now applies 3 stacks of Armor Breach per shot.
- Slasher: now applies 3 stacks of Armor Breach per shot.
- Morana: now applies 10 stacks of Armor Breach per shot.
- Phase Cannon: now applies 7 stacks of Armor Breach per shot.
- Laser Cannon: now applies 5 stacks of Armor Breach per shot.

Unit upgrades:
- Huntsman: A new T2 upgrade that adds armor penetration.
- Champion: A new T2 upgrade that adds armor penetration.
- Paladin: New T2 upgrade that adds armor penetration.
- Viper: A new T1 improvement. Applies 4 Armor Breach stacks per shot and -15 max. heat.
- Viper: A new T3 upgrade that applies 15 Armor Breach for non-burst weapons.
- Arawen: T2 armor upgrade no longer adds +5 heat per turn.
- All T3 armor upgrades now give 8 armor.

Enemies:
- The Enhancer cannot add more than one item for a unit and can no longer add a Nullifier.

Bug fixes and improvements:
- Escape can now be used to exit some menus and open the in-game menu.
- Fixed a bug when heat damage was still displayed despite the unit having Skadi equipped.

In this patch, I tried to stave off some obvious choices, such as Repair Kit and items and upgrades that gave a second move. Also, some weak items were strengthened, and the starting items of some units were changed (for which the new items were added). All these measures will make builds more diverse.

Item Balance:
- Description of the Razor now explains that damage to itself is reduced by armor.
- Autocannon: heat increased to 20.
- Plasma Cannon: heat is reduced to 10.
- Autocannon: damage changed to 7-9.
- Plasma Sniper Rifle: critical damage increased to 35.
- Broadsword: heat increased to 25.
- Armored Chassis: now does not add heat per turn.
- Heavy Armor: now gives +12 armor, and reduces max. heat by 25 instead of 2 move range penalty.
- Heavy Reactor: now reduces max. heat by 25 instead of 2 move range penalty.
- ExposedReactor: now reduces max. health by 15.
- Repair Kit: use cost increased to 2 AP.
- FC-31 Carbine: damage increased to 15-17.
- T3 Mechanic upgrade: provides only 10 bonus damage for Internal Damage.
- T2 Mechanic upgrade: now repairs 2-3 hull in a radius.
- AP Ammo: now penetrates 10/20 armor.
- Lightweight Propulsion: no longer reduces heat.
- Ray Gun: no longer gives movement bonus, minimum damage increased by 2.
- Scouting Equipment: now provides +4 secondary move instead of +6, and also takes 25 max. heat.
- T1 Oppressor upgrade: now applies a reduced amount of Corrosion from non-critical shots.
- All items and upgrades that give range now have drawbacks.
- Rend Cannon: heat is reduced to 20, and armor penetration is increased to 15/25.
- interference Matrix: now reduces the damage of enemies by 35%.

Enemies:
- Acarid damage now increases by 2 after each attack, up to 6.
- Overlord and Improved Acarid: damage now increases by 3 after each attack, up to 9.
- The maximum heat of T2 units is increased.

New Content:
- 2 new items: Cobra, Repair Matrix.

Unit loadouts:
- Oppressor B now has Autocannon, Liquid Cooling, and Acid Infuser as starting items.
- Mechanic B now has a Rend Cannon, Scavenger Nanites and a Repair Matrix (new) as starting items.
- Atlas B now has Cobra (new) and B-81 Reactor as starting items.

Bug fixes and improvements:
- Fixed bug when Propulsion Damage was affecting a unit 1 turn more than intended.
- Space now allows you to end the turn.
- Added new option to skip all menu animations.

I am excited to announce that Mainframe Defenders is released! This was a long journey that started with a simple question: can I make items in X-Com more fun? From there, it grew far beyond what I've originally intended. And hopefully, it won't stop there, so stay tuned for possible free content updates in the future!
If you really liked the game, help us to spread the word =D