MENACE News

Menace's first roadmap, while light on details and dates, is here to give you an idea of what's on the way

Menace, the latest very XCOM-ish game from Battle Brothers developer Overhype Studios, has been out in early access for about a month now, and with that the arrival of a roadmap has appeared to grace us with very sparse details regarding what you can expect in the game's numerous updates to come.

Dev Diary #42: Early Access Roadmap for MENACE

[p]It’s been four weeks now since MENACE was released into Early Access. The time immediately after the launch was even more intense than the weeks leading up to Early Access, but now that things have calmed down a little, we want to get back to publishing regular dev diaries so you folks can see what we are up to and what we are working on.

First of all, we want to show you what we plan to add during Early Access. The game will be in Early Access for about one year if everything runs smoothly. Please keep in mind that this roadmap reflects our current direction for Early Access development, and features, content, systems, and timing may change as development continues.

Preparing the game for the 1.0 launch requires adding the following features (see image).
[/p][p]There are a few things to bear in mind here.

First of all, we explicitly decided against showing a predetermined order for adding the features. We will go with the flow and repeatedly evaluate which feature makes the most sense to be added next. The problem with rigid roadmaps is that they impose strict boundaries on our development process, and that is not how we want to work.

Secondly, this feature list is not complete by any means. There will be constant adjustments and improvements to most game components, even if they are not part of this list.

Even though we have taken a lot of care and consideration while putting this list together, game development is not a straight path, so changes can happen at any time in the future.

Lastly, I want to mention again that your feedback is very valuable to us and it will help us to keep steering the development in the right direction, balance the game, and help us determine the priority of certain features.
[/p][p][/p][h3]Engage, Explore, and Stay Informed[/h3][hr][/hr][p]You can find us on Discord, BlueSky, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Reddit for discussions, updates, and feedback. You can also subscribe to our monthly MENACE newsletter on our website.[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

MENACE Patch #6 - Fixed AI, New Barks, Fixes, ..

[p]Hi all,[/p][p]Today’s patch continues to iron out the AI issues, particularly for how it reacts to undetected allied units. Another work in progress is finally seeing the light of day: SL Tech can now properly lift heavy weaponry, just as God and dense muscle tissue intended. The pirates are also getting ‘touched’ as their hierarchy better articulates itself with the arrival of some Boarding Commando barks. These changes and more can be read about below, and as always, thank you all for your great support and feedback! (P.S.: We will publish the roadmap very soon! Sorry for the delay.)[/p][p][/p][p]Note: This update is save game compatible with your ongoing campaigns.[/p][p][/p][h3]Changelog[/h3][hr][/hr][h3]v0.6.9

New[/h3]

[p]Tech’s perk "Get Motherfucked!" allows him to fire tripod‑mounted weapons from the hip without deploying them first[/p]
[p]Added new heavy pirate barks[/p]

[h3]Improvements[/h3]

[p]AI no longer flees from undetected player units[/p]
[p]Added correct impact effects for laser rifles per surface[/p]
[p]Moved Operation HUDs on Dice to make them them readable[/p]
[p]Accessory 'Explosive Reactive Armor' now displays a dropdown text when triggered[/p]
[p]Adjusted OCI texts to use the term "Squaddies"[/p]
[p]Added hint in black market, that entire stacks can be moved with shift-click[/p]
[p]Updated vehicle weapon description texts to convey our equipment rules:[/p]
- [p]Light weapon slot and transport capacity gets disabled when equipping twin weapons[/p]
- [p]Transport capacity gets disabled when equipping heavy weapons[/p]
[p]Reordered title menu buttons[/p]
[p]Added an external link icon to the "Player Guide" button[/p]
[p]Added various icons[/p]

[h3]Bugfixes[/h3]

[p]FIXED effects of some 'medical' accessories didn't work as intended[/p]
- [p]'Nitrophenyl' didn't restore morale[/p]
- [p]'S12 Aphenedrin' didn't work when positioned in watchtowers[/p]
[p]FIXED mines didn't trigger when fast-forwarding movement[/p]
[p]FIXED ammo crates no longer get consumed when no ammo was restored[/p]
[p]FIXED blaster bug no longer gets stuck during the vault animation[/p]
[p]FIXED infinitely skipping turns at the end of the tutorial is no longer possible[/p]
[p]FIXED 'twin linked rocket organ' didn't have an area of effect[/p]
[p]FIXED The game froze after firing twin linked version of the 'ATGM Launcher'[/p]
[p]FIXED Bog emotional states now match the audio files[/p]
[p]FIXED Perk 'Rally' now works on units inside towers and other buildings[/p]
[p]FIXED Losing the 'Pinned Down' condition no longer grants a bonus turn[/p]
[p]FIXED Item names weren't displayed translated in item received dialog[/p]
[p]Multiple issues with the dossiers in the blackmarket were fixed[/p]

[h3]Balancing[/h3]

[p]Slightly increased fire tile damage to unit[/p]
- [p]Element Hit Percentage from 50% to 70%[/p]
- [p]Damage from 4 to 8[/p]
- [p]Armor Penetration from 5 to 15[/p]
[p]Increased 'Anti Material Rifle' accuracy dropoff from 3 to 6[/p]

[h3]Known Issues[/h3]

[p]Some antivirus programs incorrectly classify the "GameAssembly.dll" file as malware and delete it, making the game unplayable. If that happens please whitelist the "GameAssembly.dll" and "Menace.exe".[/p]
[p]If the game is installed on HDD drives, loading times are bad and barks are delayed.[/p]
[p]Some letters in Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian are displayed with a different font.[/p]
[p]Display mode "Fullscreen" behaves sometimes not as expected, after minimizing the game. Until this is fixed please consider using "Fullscreen Window" instead.[/p]
[p]Setting the 'Grass Quality' setting to high/ultra can cause FPS drops and crashes.
[/p]

[h3]Steam Reviews: Your Feedback Matters[/h3][hr][/hr][p]Now that MENACE has entered Early Access, please consider taking a moment to leave a Steam review. Early Access is a collaborative process where your thoughts and feedback matter as patches and content are developed. Even if it's a few sentences about how you feel about MENACE, it'd be a great help to the team.
[/p][h3]Community Guides and Resources[/h3][hr][/hr][p]Be sure to check out the latest community resources and official guides.[/p]

[p]The Gate Rippers’ War Manual: This is a mega-compilation of guides that covers the basics of MENACE, how to use stealth, what accessories to pick, how to engage in close-quarters combat, and much more. A must-read for any prospective commander looking to excel in the Wayback.[/p]
[p]Squad Leaders, a Brief(ish) Overview: A fantastic overview of all the game's current Squad Leaders and what their strengths are. [/p]
[p]Enemy Almanac: Rogue Army: Knowing your enemy is half the battle. This guide covers the Rogue Army, what their strengths are, and how to fight them effectively. [/p]
[p]Official Beginner's Guide: If you're brand new to MENACE then check out our official beginner's guide that'll cover all the essentials to prepare you for the frontlines.[/p]
[p]Official MENACE Wiki: Do you have more questions about MENACE? We have a community-run wiki that has details and information to help you along.
[/p]

[h3]Engage, Explore, and Stay Informed[/h3][hr][/hr][p]You can find us on Discord, BlueSky, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Reddit for discussions, updates, and feedback. You can also subscribe to our monthly MENACE newsletter on our website.

[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

MENACE Patch #5 - Optional Squadleader Heads, Improvements and Fixes

[p]Hi all,[/p][p]In today's patch we continue to work on improvements and fixes to iron out the most reported issues and get the game in a stable state while we develop the first big content patch. [/p][p]Most notably, we added a feature to turn off the unique squad leader heads in today's patch. This was requested by many players and can be toggled in the options now.[/p][p]Of course there will be a proper dev diary once we are close enough to publishing the first big content patch to let you know about all the ins and outs. [/p][p]Thank you all for your great support and feedback![/p][p] [/p][p]Note: This update is save game compatible with your ongoing campaigns.[/p][p] [/p][h3]Changelog[/h3][hr][/hr][h3]v0.6.8

New[/h3]

[p]Added "Subtitles" setting to disable subtitles[/p]
[p]Added "Show Unique Leader Heads" setting to disable unique 3D squadleader heads[/p]
[p]Added "Player Guide" link to the title menu[/p]

[h3]Improvements[/h3]

[p]Optimized various assets for better performance[/p]
[p]Increased width of tooltips to prevent them from being cut off (e.g. when targeting with a skill)[/p]
[p]Infantry repositioning animations look more natural and trigger only when necessary[/p]
[p]Improved readability of strategic/enemy asset icons on the mission preparation screen[/p]
[p]Active strategic/enemy asset are now shown on OCI screen[/p]
[p]Offmap ability 'Laser Turret' now always spawns if there is a least 1 valid tile in range[/p]

[h3]Bugfixes[/h3]

[p]FIXED Keyboard input shouldn't be broken anymore, after opening the Steam Overlay[/p]
[p]FIXED The impact explosions of the Airburst Launcher were too bright at night[/p]
[p]FIXED Infantry Tripod Weapons was incorrectly tagged as "Vehicle Weapon"[/p]
[p]FIXED Enemies sometimes ended up under the terrain while leaving a tower[/p]
[p]FIXED AI units sometimes left transporters using a far-away tile as exit[/p]
[p]FIXED Deployment positions were sometimes not saved correctly, when strategic assets increased deployment zone sizes[/p]
[p]FIXED Some events rewarded the wrong pirate boarding commando armor[/p]
[p]Items[/p]
- [p]FIXED Armors and vehicles with penalty to Detection now show it in the tooltip[/p]
- [p]FIXED "Aphenedrin" accessory didn't reduce suppression when a unit was inside tower[/p]
- [p]FIXED "Nitrophenyl Injector" accessory didn't work as intended[/p]
- [p]FIXED Jetsuit armors set the detection stat to 0[/p]
- [p]FIXED "Smart Gun Link" accessory only worked for 1 mission[/p]
[p]Objectives[/p]
- [p]FIXED Objective in POW Rescue Mission where POW unit was not being spawned but automatically saved[/p]
- [p]FIXED The game could get stuck when civilians were rescued as last unit in a round[/p]
- [p]FIXED One of the secondary objectives in the \[REDACTED] recon patrol mission didn't grant any reward points[/p]
- [p]FIXED The secondary time limit objectives in the Rogue army POW Rescue missions weren't configured correctly[/p]

[h3]Balancing[/h3]

[p]Set stats of vehicle accessory VMAT to be in line with T2 Rocket Launcher[/p]
- [p]FIXED Damage To Armor Durability from 0 to 330[/p]
- [p]Reduced Accuracy Bonus from 20 to 10[/p]
- [p]Reduced Suppression from 90 to 70[/p]
- [p]Reduced Elements Hit from 2 to 1[/p]
- [p]Increased Ideal Range from 5 to 6[/p]
- [p]Reduced Max Range from 10 to 9[/p]

[h3]Known Issues[/h3]

[p]Some antivirus programs incorrectly classify the "GameAssembly.dll" file as malware and delete it, making the game unplayable. If that happens please whitelist the "GameAssembly.dll" and "Menace.exe".[/p]
[p]If the game is installed on HDD drives, loading times are bad and barks are delayed.[/p]
[p]Some letters in Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian are displayed with a different font.[/p]
[p]Display mode "Fullscreen" behaves sometimes not as expected, after minimizing the game. Until this is fixed please consider using "Fullscreen Window" instead.

[/p]

[p]The Gate Rippers’ War Manual: This is a mega-compilation of guides that covers the basics of MENACE, how to use stealth, what accessories to pick, how to engage in close-quarters combat, and much more. A must-read for any prospective commander looking to excel in the Wayback.[/p]
[p]Squad Leaders, a Brief(ish) Overview: A fantastic overview of all the game's current Squad Leaders and what their strengths are. [/p]
[p]Enemy Almanac: Rogue Army: Knowing your enemy is half the battle. This guide covers the Rogue Army, what their strengths are, and how to fight them effectively. [/p]
[p]Official Beginner's Guide: If you're brand new to MENACE then check out our official beginner's guide that'll cover all the essentials to prepare you for the frontlines.[/p]
[p]Official MENACE Wiki: Do you have more questions about MENACE? We have a community-run wiki that has details and information to help you along.
[/p]

Hooded Horse's new strategy game Menace isn't XCOM, and that's okay

I assumed, from its pretty hardcore cinematic - as well as everything else I'd read - that Menace was like XCOM for people who didn't like themselves. I was well up for that, filling each requirement perfectly. I love XCOM, with its super granular tactical turn-based goodness, and let's be honest, I'm only so-so.

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