Mars Tactics News

[p]Hey guys, just a quick thing you might enjoy.[/p][p][/p][p]Last month's trailer gave a super tiny glimpse of new Gunsmith graphics and design. So today I wanted to show off the full suite of new graphics. And share examples of how special attachments actually work in battle.[/p][p][/p][p]I will do a deep-dive after more playtesting, but here's how the final design is shaping up:[/p]

• [p]There are now 6 gun frames. Each one looks unique and has strengths and weaknesses. For example, "Homebrew" is cheap to manufacture. "Buck" calculates hit-chance per projectile instead of per shot, so it's basically your shotgun maker. "Maschina" allows an extra special attachment. Etc.[/p]
• [p]Each frame can be improved in multiple ways (barrel length, caliber size, fire rate, etc). The number of improvements is limited by your research progress.[/p]
• [p]Each frame also supports 3 attachment slots: scope, stock and special. [/p]
• [p]Special attachments include everything from drone-targeting systems to M203-type launchers to cameras that record battle footage which can be converted into propaganda. The video below includes 5 examples of how they work in-battle.[/p]
• [p]All told, there are about 50,000 completely different guns you can make. And if you include all the small and cosmetic differences, the number is about 100 million. And there are more attachments coming.[/p]

[p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p]HUGE thank you to Russ (@ahintoflime) who creates all the amazing 3D art for the game. The designs, models and textures are beautiful, and they slotted right into my existing framework. It's hard to describe the level of artistic and technical achievement. I've been toying with it for 2 months and still finding new things each day. I hope you will enjoy it.[/p][p][/p][p]And lastly, a special thank you to ZOHEI (@yakitate_aggai), who inspired us with his concept art. I'm happy to announce ZOHEI has agreed to do some official illustration work for the game.[/p][p][/p][p]Thanks everyone for supporting the game. [/p][p][/p][p] -Yuji (MH)[/p]

The factional asymmetry of Mars Tactics ain’t about Fish Himbos vs The Telepathic Hairdryer Folk of the Highlands. It gives you the bracingly topical choice of suits vs revolutionaries. In the blue corner, you’ve got the iron fist of Capital, who begin each campaign in a position of supremacy, but are beholden to the fatter cats on Earth for supplies. And in the red corner, you’ve got Labo(u)r, who kick off with little more than their chains, but are able to manufacture their own gear due to being honest working folk, and have higher morale due to being a bunch of zealous bolshies.

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[p]Hey guys, based on recent progress with the strategy layer and good feedback from playtesters, I finally feel confident to nail down a release date: May 2026.[/p][p][/p][p]
[/p][p]This will be an early-access release, but development is in a pretty mature stage. So you can expect all major features and mechanics, multiple endings for each faction, and basically the main meal. In fact, looking at the remaining items, I think EA proceeds will be invested mostly in art and presentation. But I will share a detailed roadmap prior to release so you can decide to wait or jump in.

Furthermore, I know EA is a sensitive topic, so I just wanted to share my clear thoughts with you. I don't want to languish in EA for years. For this game, it doesn't make sense. Because MT has been developed in a SUPER transparent way from the start. So, I think I've already collected most of the benefits from being in the open. Plus, I'm afraid of losing momentum after entering EA, which is a natural thing to happen after hitting a milestone. That's why I waited as long as possible before EA. I wanted the shortest path possible to 1.0.
[/p][p]Moving on. In case you didn't catch the new trailer, here it is. Big thank you to the magazine of my childhood, PC Gamer, for featuring the game.[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[p][h2]Looking Ahead[/h2][hr][/hr]Next up, in the coming months, you can expect a first look at story cinematics, a detailed look at the capital campaign, and finally, a proper permanent demo. As well as continuing updates from playtesting.

I'm active on Steam forums, Reddit, Discord, and YouTube (links below), so please let me know if you have any questions. And if you haven't already, don't forget to wishlist the game. Number-go-up really pleases the algorithm gods.

Finally, it's been a long 4 years, and there's still a lot of work ahead. But for today, I just wanted to thank each of you for sticking with me. The community has gifted me amazing ideas, tested the hell out of every mechanic and button and tooltip, and most importantly, provided tons of encouragement every day. In return, I will continue busting my ass to deliver a good product for you to enjoy.

-Yuji

[h2]Join the Mars Tactics Community[/h2][hr][/hr][p]That’s it for now! You can follow along and join the discussion here:[/p]
Discord | BlueSky | YouTube | Reddit

If you lent a keen eye to the Mars Tactics trailer which dropped at today's PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct, you might have spotted the ability to establish universal basic income right next to a button which wheels out a Martian Guillotine, or even the option to declare neoliberalism and "bend the knee to Earth's institutions." Come for the tactics, stay for the ethical and logistical burden of leading a revolution!..
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[p]Hi everyone. The playtest re-started last month so I just wanted to share some progress. These are just small observations and not official patch notes or promised features or anything. I know some of you guys like to follow along but don't have time to monitor Discord, so I'll summarize the playtest highlights here for you.[/p][p][/p][p]Big takeaways so far[/p]

• [p]Switching the strategy layer from turn-based to real-time-with-pause (RTWP) went well. It was a huge change, but feedback has been great. I wish I switched earlier. Now I understand why Xcom and Jagged Alliance went with RTWP for their strategy layers.[/p]
• [p]Testers were mostly OK with the more streamlined resources and reduced micromanagement. But some aspects will tilt back toward more granularity in the upcoming builds based on feedback.[/p]
• [p]Labor management and outpost management are feeling good. Giving speeches, paying bonuses, ordering decrees and enacting ideology policies is working as intended. It's delivering the right experience and is very open-ended but without all the prior micromanagement. But needs more content and polish.[/p]
• [p]However, logistics was a big pain point for almost everyone. So I modified it (see details below).[/p]
• [p]World map still lacking strategic structure so I'm continuing to experiment with it (see below).[/p]
• [p]Tactical layer was already feeling great, so no big changes there. One focus point in the last patch was overwatch. I'm not a big fan of the overwatch meta in tactics games. So in this game it's weak on purpose. But previously it was too weak. So I buffed it. Roughly speaking it's about half as powerful as it is in modern Xcom. And I noticed people were actually using it now to interrupt enemy actions. I think it's in a good place now.[/p]
• [p]One surprise for me was Infiltration. It's a small side mechanic, but it got a lot of positive feedback. First, it's actually useful (for example players liked starting a battle with a spy behind enemy lines providing visibility). And second, it's very thematic for an insurgency. So I will expand it more. And yes, in the Capital campaign you will uses Infiltration to place spies inside the rebellion.[/p]

[p]On the world map, infiltration agents perform useful tasks at enemy locations. And if a battle breaks out there, they spawn as undercover civilians. If they don't break their disguise, they can migrate to a new location after the battle. Overall, I will expand Infiltration more.[/p][p][/p][p]Logistics[/p][p]The prior logistics design (as explained in this video) ended up being too harsh. Players felt very restricted and struggled to move around the world map. That's kind of the point of logistics I guess, but the testers are right. It just didn't feel good. So I made the big switch to now actually managing a fleet of squad vehicles. So logistics is again less abstracted. We'll see how this goes.[/p][p][/p][p]Sorry for the grainy gif. Steam limits me to 5MB uploads. Anyway, here a squad is walking, then gets in a vehicle and drives off. The point is logistics are physical, not abstracted. However, this needs more thorough testing.[/p][p][/p][p]World map[/p][p]In all previous designs, the world map was square. However, most players felt lost about where to go and overwhelmed by enemies attacking from too many directions. So now I'm experimenting with different map shapes while maintaining a procedural sandbox.[/p][p]One example of a rectangular world map. It's procedurally generated and still very sandboxy with random hidden points of interest, but the shape could give the campaign more structure. However, I'm still feeling this out and it will evolve with more testing.[/p][p][/p][p]Next focus[/p]

• [p]Continue to test and refine above things. In particular, RTWP has been a HUGE change and was received positively, so it's forcing me to re-think yet again what is the right amount of abstraction/granularity for the strategy layer.[/p]
• [p]FPV drones[/p]
• [p]Full gunsmith implementation. The new 3D models look sooooo good I can't wait to share them. Russ (ahintoflime) did an amazing job.[/p]
• [p]More vehicles on the world map (dropship, train)[/p]
• [p]Robots[/p]
• [p]Beginning to test early Capital campaign + Earth interactions[/p]

[p][/p][p]FPV drone chasing its target.[/p][p][/p][p]BTW, here's a nice compact playtest story from Tsar Lord. Should give you a more direct feel for the game from a player's perspective. Slightly edited for brevity.[/p][p][/p][p]on the latest run i simply put everyone i could recruit into one squad, handed them mining charges and just enough guns to apply suppression, and rolled through outpost after outpost picking up more people along the way. by the time i attacked the comms center to call earth, i had an 18 rebel deathstack in the squad. still lost like 5 or 6 against the tan corporate soldiers, they are not a joke. the tide in that fight didn't actually turn in my favor til i captured a machine gun from the first one that i downed. in prior runs i'd been focused on resource conservation and trying to build a lasting resistance so i could get into the details of the gunsmith system and the espionage and research, but this time i actually played the game like a revolutionary and just threw as many bodies as i could muster at the problem until we defeated the superior force. looking at it through that lens i think the difficulty does make narrative sense and it forced me to adapt playstyles.[/p][p][/p][p]Finally, I have to tell you about goose's incredible playtest story. It's very complicated so I will paraphrase: goose lost all soldiers and territory, effectively losing the game. But still had a spy at an enemy location. That spy managed to trigger a new labor uprising and took over the location. It became goose's new home base where new soldiers were recruited, who eventually won back control and contacted Earth. TBH, I didn't even know the game continues if you have a spy. But I will definitely make it a proper feature. The resistance is never truly over.[/p][p][/p][p]Alright that's it. If people find this interesting, let me know and I will post this again. [/p][p][/p][p]And one more thing: please tune in to PC Gamer's PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct at Sept 28 at 9am PDT / 12 noon EDT / 4pm UTC / 5pm BST / 1am JST![/p][p][/p][p]-Yuji (MH)[/p]