TOP DOG News

That's it, TOP DOG is officially out of Early Access!

[h3]Changelog[/h3]

• New main menu + improved settings/input menus
  
• Finished a bunch of 3d models
  
• Added sound feedback for picking up scraps
  
• Added 'operation time' to victory screen and leaderboards
  

[h3] See you on the leaderboards! 🫡[/h3]

This is most likely the final update before the imminent release out of Early Access

Thank you for sticking by all these months 🙏 I wish I could have handled better the development between version 0.97 and 0.98 (almost a year gap): at that time I had a bit of a middle-age crisis regarding the game and spent a lot of time changing and trying new things that were taking the game too far from its core. Hopefully I learned my lesson for future projects

Changelog below 👇

[h3]Operations[/h3]

• 'First Strike' turned into a proper operation: 5 stages long and with the smoothest difficulty curve of all ops
• Increased a bit 'Hostile Territory' score/intensity: which now sits between the new 'First Strike' and 'Endgame'
  
• Removed any daily gating to operations: you'll need unlock them only once (as before)
• Space Elevator stage difficulty tweaked to be on par with Space Station stage
  

[h3]Missile System[/h3]

• 'Premium' upgrade will now add a baseline missile refill: similar to how it was before the 'FAFO' update
• Tweaked some missile refill stats
  

[h3]Miscellaneous[/h3]

• Added 3 simple tutorial screens to teach game's basic mechanics
  
• Defeat/Victory screen updated with some daily stats: total time + sessions
  
• Fixed a bug with the "Space Dog" achievement stats (Menu > Achievement screen): progress was not properly saved

[h3]That's it! 🫡[/h3]

Quick but important update that should address most of the hot issues caused by the new missile system

[h3]Game Start[/h3]

• Improved stats for base jet: you can dare to delay mobility upgrades now
• Improved accuracy and damage for base gun and AC-30
  

[h3]Missile System[/h3]

• You now start with a full reload ready to drop
  
• Tweaked refill rates + made structure/frigate hits refill missiles regardless of damage type
• Removed 'Premium+' upgrade
  
• 'SWRM-6' refill rate adjusted
  

[h3]Scoring[/h3]

• Stage bonus is now shown all the time under the score, then becomes effective on stage end (as before)
  
• Testing a mechanic where stage bonus decays only when firing: I'm not 100% sure to keep this but if someone wants to stress-test it I will appreciate the report 🙏
  

[h3]That's it! 🫡[/h3]

Title explained: F*** around (change the score system) and Find Out (that missiles are broken)

This updated started (with v0.98G) as a simple tweaking pass and later become a rework of the missile system and a final pass on the new scoring

[h3]New Missile System[/h3]

• Missiles are now refilled by gun kills: adds a new tactical layer to the gameplay
• Missile count is now carried over stages: no more free-lunches
  
• Premium upgrades have been adjusted accordingly
  
• Tweaked capacity of all missile types: 12 for Base and PRDTR-4, 24 for SWRM-6
  
• Known issue: SWRM-6 should be refilled at twice the rate of PRDTR-4
  

[h3]Final Scoring[/h3]

• Nuked the accuracy bonus: it's an all you can shoot buffet now
• Added back a time-based bonus ('Stage Bonus') but much more contained than the old combo system: it is given at the end of each stage and you'll briefly see it under the score before the stage ends
• Stage bonus is scaled with stage total wave(s) size
  

[h3]Structures & Pickups[/h3]

• Pickups from Ground Outpost, Space Station and Space Elevator will spawn before complete destruction
• All structures will now block the next wave until their pickup is spawned
  
• Removed 'Repair & Reload' from the pickup random pool: it is now a simple coin-toss between 'Extra Life' and 'Extra Upgrade'

[h3]General Tweaking & Controls[/h3]

• Elites damage reduced by 16%
• Frigate (engines), Sky Tower and Heavy Turrets health reduced by 33%: made consistent with the other capital ship weakpoints
• Base regen bumped from 4% to 5% per scrap
  
• 'Mechanic' regen bumped from 8% to 10% per scrap
  
• 'Mechanic+' regen bumped from 12% to 15% per scrap
  
• Added 'Stick Strafe Assist' option (Menu > Controls): on by default (current behaviour)
  

[h3]That's it! 🫡[/h3]