TOP DOG News

With this update all mechanics are more or less final: it took a while because I've spent some time testing a few solutions (of varying complexity) for target locking and upgrade selection but ended up streamlining those and not making major changes.

Focus will now switch to content creation: enemy types (3-6 more), waves variation, player upgrades (at least 4 more) and polishing.

Game progression/session length is also quite final: 10 waves seem to be the right number but I'm considering adding a difficulty selection at the start of the run that will make the game more challenging for veteran players. What do you think?

[h3]All the things[/h3]

• Target Lock (B button/LMB) improved: aim assist + strafe-assist for stick controls
  
• Score combo tweaking: less emphasis on aggressive play, combo decay is now affected by time and gun use
  
• Disabled collisions with enemy fighters and aces
  
• Upgrade selection streamlined: less waiting after a wave clear and bonus upgrade on last wave
  
• IR-4 upgrade improved: ammo + maneuverability increase
  
• Wing Leaders and Rogues invulnerability time tweaking: 30% decrease
  
• AI sticks more to map center: this will lessen the problem of reaching map limits. I consider this one pretty much resolved except for maybe some HUD warnings approaching the limits at a later date
  
• HUD flashing on hits: target icons and menus are no more affected by it
  
• Intro music completed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC6rwBrSenQ
• Mouse input takes priority over other devices: should help solve input issues some of you are having
  

Shoutout to Splattercatgaming for covering TD 🙏


[h3]That's it! 🫡[/h3]

[h3]Reworked progression[/h3]
First of all, there are 10 waves in total now (instead of the 12-13 we had). Focus has shifted from the stage (desert, clouds, space) to the single wave: each has it's own name (and a bit of character, if you will) and can escalate, for example: 'Furball' > 'Furball II'.

Current progression is split in 3 sections: the middile will feature the new 'Rogue' enemy and each section will shuffle the order and selection of waves to offer a more varied run each time.

Current balancing is not final and probably the game is a bit more difficult now so please bear with me while we tweak it out together with the upcoming updates.

[h3]All the things[/h3]

• New progression system
  
• New 'Rogue' enemy: a more aggressive fighter that can strafe and takes 2 hits
  
• New 'Scavenger' Upgrade: for maximum scraps attraction
  
• Better 'Armored' Upgrade: boosts hull to 150% but no more extra life (there are towers for that)
  
• Tweaked 'Wing Leader': still the hardest enemy but now a bit more consistent in it's behaviour + there are less of them (maybe except for the final wave 🙃)
  
• Tweaked 'Sky Tower': takes one less hit + repair pickup gets activated on first hit + proper extra life pickup icon
  
• 'Sky Dog' achievement changed: obtained by destroying 5 sky towers
  
• Interceptors are now officially aces: hex icon + ace category
  
• New 'Vector' variant paint job: now comes in sexy black with red lines (rogues are using the same)
  
• No more HUD flashing red during upgrade selection (rare-ish)
  
• Added 'Stick Accel' option (Menu > Controls): setting it to 'exponential' might be useful if you are using a hotas setup
  

[h3]That's it! 🫡[/h3]

I've been working on a better wave/stage system but it needs some more time for basic tweaking and balancing: by next saturday it should be in a playable state for you to check out.

[h3]What's happening (work in progress, not in the current build)[/h3]

• New progression system based on waves (and not stages): it will allow for more randomness and finer tuning
  
• New 'Traitor/Defector' enemy (let me know which name you like better): a more aggressive viper that can strafe
  
• Tweaked 'Wing Leader' enemy: will be a bit more consistent in it's behaviour and there will be less of them
  
• New 'Scavenger' Upgrade: for maximum scraps attraction
  
• Better 'Armored' Upgrade: boosts hull to 150% but no more extra life (there are towers for that)
  

[h3]That's it! 🫡[/h3]

[h3]Big Stuff[/h3]

• Baseline 'Mechanic' + tweaking: you now get 'scraps repair' by default (4% per 1 scrap) and the 'Mechanic' and 'Mechanic+' upgrades are boosting that to 8% and 12% (numbers are not final)
  
• Leaderboard overhaul: 'smart view' that prioritizes friends + full view if you scroll down ('Show more players' button) + total (fighter) kills under the name
  
• Last day leaderboard view: you can take a peek once (for now)
  

[h3]Tweaking & Polishing[/h3]

• 'Supersonic' boosted: goes to ridiculous speed, outrunning missiles
  
• Enemy Missiles/Drones arrows: they show up only when you are actually pointed at
  
• 'Enemy Hit' sound: a bit more hearable
  

I wanted to include more stuff in this update but I think there's enough to go around until the next big one which will include a new player upgrade and probably a new enemy.

Thinking further ahead: I'd like to do some improvements to the 'target lock' and begin to make stages a bit more random.

Let me know what you think, and please don't forget that I'm reading every bit of your feedback even if I don't always reply.

[h3]That's it![/h3]