Steel Swarm: APOCALYPSE News

[h3]GAMEPLAY[/h3]

• Fog of war now extends beyond the map borders
  
• Fog of war transitions are now smoother
  
• Free camera system added:
  
  
  
  • Hold mouse middle button or Ctrl and move to screen edge to pan
    
  • Click on minimap with middle/Ctrl to jump to that location
    
  • Camera now updates to show entities at its destination
    
• While dead, you can switch between teammates using left/right click
  
• If the entire team is dead, camera stays at your death location
  
• Super Ballistic Drone now uses bot AI like Escort Drone
  
• Escort and Ballistic Drones now scale speed with level (like wave minions)
  

[h3]Balance Adjustments:[/h3]

• Respawn timers have been increased.
  
• Minions now move faster at level 20 (corresponding to around the 20-minute mark).
  
• Vulcan turrets’ range and AOE radius have been reduced.
  
• Vulcans can no longer deal damage to targets outside their effect circle.
  

[h3]SOCIAL PANEL: ACTIVITY STATUS[/h3]

• Added new activity status indicators to Social Panel
  
• You can now see if friends are:
  
  
  
  • In Match
    
  • Online
    
  • Offline
    

[h3]BUFFS & ABILITIES[/h3]

• Added missing buff icons for:
  
  
  
  • Ghost Portal
    
  • Jet Fuel
    
  • Invisibility
    
  • Shield, Counter Fire, Cold Blood
    
  • Panther Talent 4B
    
  • Freedom Fighter Ultimate
    
  • Khan Ultimate
    
  • Firefly Pitch Black & Fire debuff
    
  • Ironclad Triangle Formation DEF debuff
    
• Added Mantis reward wave buff:
  
  
  
  • First kill: +100% DEF & ATT to wave minions for 2 minutes
    
  • Second kill: +100% DEF & ATT for 4 minutes
    
  • Third kill: +100% DEF & ATT for 4 minutes
    

[h3]AI & BOTS[/h3]

• Increased bot gear purchase chance
  
• Fixed Pirate Smuggler casting harpoon while disarmed
  
• Firefly wheel rotation is now visible to other players
  

[h3]VFX & AUDIO[/h3]

• Replaced old gatcha box render with new one
  
• Prevented launcher from playing SFX while in-game
  
• Replaced launcher chat notification sound
  
• Added death SFX for fire hydrants
  
• Overhead VFX like stun and heat ammo now correctly position above large units
  
• Sprockets now rotate on XBTs (Khan, Sphinx, Inso, Panther)
  
• Added wheel rotation to Riot Suppressor
  
• Slightly moved up announcement text widget to prevent overlap with stats screen
  

[h3]BUG FIXES[/h3]

• Fixed incorrect status text in surrender window
  
• Prevented launcher from playing SFX while in-game (duplicate entry removed)
  

SSA TEAM

We’ve got a small but meaningful update to share!

Indie Game Spotlights recently featured our game Steel Swarm: Apocalypse on their social media channels 🎮

We’re incredibly grateful for their kind support and for helping us reach more players.

As an indie team, we deeply appreciate every bit of recognition. These kinds of shoutouts help us grow our community and bring our game to a wider audience.

A big thanks again to the Indie Game Spotlights team!

And don’t forget to check out and follow their accounts!
https://www.instagram.com/indiegamespotlights/

https://youtu.be/vPBKrl7rFH0?si=T2iRbWcgBVSScBNg

See you again in our upcoming updates! 🚀
https://steelswarm.net/news/igs.html

Clay Token Game Studio

🧰 Mechanics Updates

- Fast Laner Gear has been reworked into a Support Kit:
- Grants movement speed in base.
- When you last-hit a lane minion, a portion of the earned Xalium is shared with the nearest XBT without a Support Kit, and you receive 20% bonus Xalium.
- If the nearest XBT last-hits the minion, you receive 20% of their Xalium as bonus.
- If no ally is nearby, Xalium gain proceeds as normal.

- Teleportation system updated:
- “Teleport to Portal Drone” can now only be used on your own drone.
- Power Jumper item activated (allows teleportation to teammate’s Portal Drone).
- Teleport to Base and Teleport to Portal Drone cast times increased from 5s → 7s.
- If the target Portal Drone dies during cast time, the teleport is interrupted immediately.

- Fog of War system added to the game.

🔧 General Fixes & Improvements
- Fixed an issue where effects (such as damage) could incorrectly transfer to similar entities upon death.

💬 Launcher Features
- Added direct messaging between players in the launcher.

🎯 Upgrade Adjustments
- In the Permanent Upgrade system, 20% of the damage from the Defender path has been shifted to the Fast Attacker path.

⚙️ Buff & Stat Adjustments
- Jet Fuel (0–15 minutes): Duration reduced to 5 seconds.
- Jet Fuel (15+ minutes): Duration is 10 seconds, effect reduced to 10%.

🔁 Respawn Adjustments
- Respawn modifiers at 35 and 40 minutes have been removed.
- Maximum respawn time is now capped at 92 seconds.

SSA TEAM

At Clay Token, our software development engineer Mehmet Kardaş shares the challenges he faced while developing Steel Swarm: Apocalypse, the best advice he received in software engineering, and how he stepped out of his comfort zone during the project.

🔹Can you briefly introduce yourself?
I am a Software Engineer at Clay Token. I love making games as much as playing them. I also write sci-fi short fiction.

🔹What music genres and bands do you listen to while developing?
I usually listen to soundtracks, epic, or electronic music. Anything atmospheric with minimal vocals is my vibe. Less distractions, the better.

🔹What is the best piece of advice you’ve received about software development?
I had so much good advice, but nothing comes to mind as the best. Still looking for one.

🔹What was the most challenging bug you encountered in this project, and how did you solve it? What was your last "developer panic moment," and how did you handle it?
There was a particular bug with Sphinx. When its plasma charge exploded and multiple minions were killed, sometimes unrelated minions elsewhere (in another lane, or just spawned) would die.
It took a full workday to solve. The issue was that damage was being applied to entities that would die that frame, causing a chain reaction of unintended deaths in the next frame.

🔹What’s something you did in this project that pushed you out of your comfort zone, and you’re glad you did?
Probably the first time I contributed something substantial to the project. Understanding the structure and how things worked was tough at first—but once it clicked, it made so much sense.

🔹What are you currently learning? How do you prioritize your "next things to learn" list?
I’m interested in all things game development. Currently, I’m working on improving my sound design skills and learning some shader magic.

🔹How many cups of coffee do you drink per day?
I don’t drink much coffee or tea, actually. Water is the way to go!

🔹What advice would you give to a newly graduated developer?
Find what you're genuinely interested in. Think about how you could improve or innovate in that space. Build things—create solutions—and learn along the way.

🔹Among the features you developed in this project, which one makes you the proudest and why?
The mission system. It was incredibly fun to build. While it’s not heavily used in the current game, it’s very modular and can be adapted for other purposes.
We could probably make a full RPG with complex quests using it.

https://steelswarm.net/news/developer-spotlight-mehmet.html SSA TEAM

🤖 Bots can now purchase gear.

🕒 Death time increases at specific moments during the match:
At minute 20, death time increases by 5%.
At minute 25, it increases by 10%.
At minute 30, it increases by 15%.
At minute 35, it increases by 20%.
At minute 40, it increases by 25%.

🛠️ Fixed an issue where bots wouldn't buy anything at the start of a match.

🎓 Fixed an issue preventing Tutorial 3 from opening.

📣 Fixed problems related to gear and upgrade announcements.

📡 When a Portal Drone is destroyed, the notification will now only be sent to its owner.
Previously it was sent to all players.

🚀 Fixed an issue where the Super Ballistic Drone would not fire.

SSA TEAM