AE2 Development Update #2 - Dropship, Drones and Troops!
Greetings!
Development has been going very well, we are working on more complicated features that take more time to code. One of them will be featured today! Thanks to all the valuable feedback the community has given us, it's been very beneficial towards the development process.
[h2]Dropship, Drones and Troops[/h2]
The Dropship concept gives the Mechs the ability to call in re-inforcements upon engagement. The way it works is that the Mech can signal for support, drop a smoke grenade to mark a landing spot and a Dropship will fly in and deliver up to 8 Ground Troops at a time. Currently there is only one mech that can do this, the Scout Mech, but depending on how testing will go, this can definitely change!

Currently, there are 3 different types of Ground Troops, each with their own behavior. The Sniper will engage at a farther distance and behave more cautiously. The Machine Gunner will engage at a medium distance and not advance too close. The Assault soldier will behave most agressively and advance with a sacrificial behavior. These troops may distract your Turrets from the more valuable Mechs in a strategic move to overwhelm your defenses. While individually these won't prove too much of a threat, in groups they can be devastating if unchallenged!

There are three enemy drone classes each with their own weapon system and threat level. First you will encounter the lower level drones, but as time goes on expect to suffer the more powerful drones!



All these enemies! Time to start working on the vast arsenal you will have to combat this army of enemy AI. This 'Emergency Drone' is on your side. Feel like your being overrun? Need some backup? This emergency drone is extremely powerful and devastating, but it's also got it's disadvantages such as long reload time as well needing lots of Tech upgrades to perform it's best!

[h2]What's Next?[/h2]
Turrets, turrets and more turrets. With such a vast array of enemy classes, you will need just as equal a variety of weaponry to defend against their attacks. Initially quite basic, there will be many upgradable features on each Turret to transform them into efficient machines of destruction. There are currently plans for up to 8 different turrets all with differing roles on the battlefield. Keep in mine, it's still early in development and anything can change!
If you would like early sneak peaks at what we work on before the monthly post, join our discord to see them!
Thanks again for all of your support and suggestions!
Discord link: https://discord.gg/p62Afqr
[h3]Until Next Time![/h3]