ARCHANGEL ANNOUNCEMENTS NOVEMBER 2018
Welcome to our sixth and belated issue of Archangel Announcements.
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The Combat UI has been updated for the first time since the early demo. This UI update also comes as a preparation for the single-player content and missions we have planned. Our aim was to create a cleaner overall look and address several issues with the older UI.
The weapons have now been arranged in a diamond, with the top being the shoulder weapon, the left and right being the hands, and the bottom being the back weapon.
We now utilize divisions of 500 for HP bars, and always make the numerical value of HP visible. At the same time we did away with the disappearing boost bar and gave boost and stability permanent space and visibility.
The bars also change in length depending on the value of the portrayed stat, which also gives players a better gauge of their own strengths. The target's HP bar also has this treatment.
You can see this new GUI (or at least parts of it) in the preview version of the game. We hope it provides a better experience in the public release of this update!
As our game mechanics change and new weapons are added, new systems begin to come into play. In the latest public update, we will be adding the Burning and Barrier States to the game.
Certain weapons will impose the Burning on targets, such as the Schafer flamethrower, and the Yulong and Tiangou Swarm Missiles. Meanwhile, the Barrier State will be generated by November's new weapon, the Agimat Barrier.
Burning is a damage over time state that deals 25 damage per second for the duration of its effect. Its 'stacks' come in the form of additional time, which extend its duration to a maximum of 10 seconds.
Each combatant only possesses a single 'stack' of burning; so burning afflictions from different sources only add to a singular total duration of an Archangel's burning state.
Barrier grants a unit temporary armor and stability for a short period, allowing them to ignore damage that would otherwise flinch or destabilize them, as well as reducing damage to armor.
However, a barrier can only receive a set amount of armor and stability damage before it breaks.
For now, only the Agimat Barrier can generate this effect, and the actual numbers are indicated below.
November was originally supposed to be our final balance pass month before our full release in the original road map, and though a lot of plans have changed and deviated, we've decided to pull off a lot of dramatic changes to existing weaponry and systems.
Due to the sheer number of stats and weapons impacted, we will save the complete changelog for the update this friday, November 30th.
Those in the preview build have had a taste of these changes, which are also detailed here : https://steamcommunity.com/app/682450/discussions/0/3104564981106354471/
The most impacted equipment are those whose gameplay mechanics have changed dramatically. They have their own sections below.
Schafer now deals 0 stability damage, but now inflicts the 'Burning' status effect on all those hit by its attacks. The schafer is now centered around dealing armor damage over time with the burning status effect and its high rate of fire.
It loses its reload on demand secondary move in favor of a cooldown based reload similar to the peacemaker that triggers only when ammo count reaches zero and is left alone to reload.
To make up for this, its special now lobs a new napalm projectile that consumes 12 counts of ammunition, but applies a full stack of burning on all units caught in its explosion
The Gram Railgun loses its old long startup in favor of chargeable damage. Tapping the Gram Railgun quickly fires off an instantaneous 150/150 hitscan projectile, but holding it for a longer period allows it to deal more damage, going up to 1500/1500 damage.
The railgun can be flinched, destabilized or cancelled out of its charge state, which gives players several options to utilize when fielding and fighting against it.
The new weapon for November is the Agimat Barrier system, mounted on the shoulder.
A secret weapon developed during the Demiurge Incursion wars, it has been declassified by the Solar Empire and Maaga Industries for public purchase. It has made its way to the arena, and to a handful of pilots.
The Agimat system creates a barrier on activation that can absorb up to 1000 stability or armor damage, an effect that lasts for 5 seconds. If it takes 1000 or more damage of either type before then, it ends prematurely, leaving the Archangel open to attack.
The barriers take 15 seconds to recharge between activations.
The winner of the Archangel Arms Concept Competition 2018's Rearmed and Refitted Category is the shoulder cape 'Ziqinile Pelerina', which has the same mechanics and stats as the Obolochka shoulder shields.
It is the only weapon in game that currently uses cloth physics for movement and aesthetics. Due to this, visual bugs will sadly be very common - as the game wasn't made with cloth physics in mind.
But... the people have spoken (and quite strongly, we might add!) and we must oblige.
If you want to add a fancy touch to your Archangel, try it out in the coming update or switch over to our experimental preview build!
Although it is not yet going to be part of our coming update this friday, we have shown progress on the 'Star Gauntlet' - the AACC2018 winner of the Cutting Edge category. It features an all new movelist
and mechanic.
You can watch this Wednesday Warzone episode to see it in action, and Paolore even shows off the moves and systems.
This weapon will be released in December!
Several contests passed us by last month, and several champions have been added to our hall of fame. These winning units have been added to the permanent roster as a result :
* Spooktober Skirmish Winner : HIMASHO KURARA
* ESGS Epic 2018 Winner : LEEK SLICER
* Cosmic Clash S02E03 Winner : ARCHEOPTERYX
* Cosmic Clash S02E04 Winner : UUSHA IL KARMA
You'll see their devious designs soon! (Or if you're in our preview build, you've probably seen them already!)
As always, especially with the dramatic November update, we still continue to improve existing game systems and mechanics, as well as fix bugs reported by our community. Please do join our Discord channel and our social media pages so you can work with us in developing Garrison: Archangel to be the definitive custom mecha game for PC.
_________________________________________________
As usual, make sure to like/follow us on Facebook and Twitter for news and updates!
We also have a YouTube channel where we post videos of our game's development.
You can also visit our Discord and talk with the devs and players of the game!
_________________________________________________
New Feature : Updated Combat GUI
The Combat UI has been updated for the first time since the early demo. This UI update also comes as a preparation for the single-player content and missions we have planned. Our aim was to create a cleaner overall look and address several issues with the older UI.
The weapons have now been arranged in a diamond, with the top being the shoulder weapon, the left and right being the hands, and the bottom being the back weapon.
We now utilize divisions of 500 for HP bars, and always make the numerical value of HP visible. At the same time we did away with the disappearing boost bar and gave boost and stability permanent space and visibility.
The bars also change in length depending on the value of the portrayed stat, which also gives players a better gauge of their own strengths. The target's HP bar also has this treatment.
You can see this new GUI (or at least parts of it) in the preview version of the game. We hope it provides a better experience in the public release of this update!
New Feature : Barriers and Burning Status Effects
As our game mechanics change and new weapons are added, new systems begin to come into play. In the latest public update, we will be adding the Burning and Barrier States to the game.
Certain weapons will impose the Burning on targets, such as the Schafer flamethrower, and the Yulong and Tiangou Swarm Missiles. Meanwhile, the Barrier State will be generated by November's new weapon, the Agimat Barrier.
Burning is a damage over time state that deals 25 damage per second for the duration of its effect. Its 'stacks' come in the form of additional time, which extend its duration to a maximum of 10 seconds.
Each combatant only possesses a single 'stack' of burning; so burning afflictions from different sources only add to a singular total duration of an Archangel's burning state.
Barrier grants a unit temporary armor and stability for a short period, allowing them to ignore damage that would otherwise flinch or destabilize them, as well as reducing damage to armor.
However, a barrier can only receive a set amount of armor and stability damage before it breaks.
For now, only the Agimat Barrier can generate this effect, and the actual numbers are indicated below.
Weapon Balance and Mechanics Overhaul
November was originally supposed to be our final balance pass month before our full release in the original road map, and though a lot of plans have changed and deviated, we've decided to pull off a lot of dramatic changes to existing weaponry and systems.
Due to the sheer number of stats and weapons impacted, we will save the complete changelog for the update this friday, November 30th.
Those in the preview build have had a taste of these changes, which are also detailed here : https://steamcommunity.com/app/682450/discussions/0/3104564981106354471/
The most impacted equipment are those whose gameplay mechanics have changed dramatically. They have their own sections below.
Modified Weapon : SCHAFER FLAMETHROWER
Schafer now deals 0 stability damage, but now inflicts the 'Burning' status effect on all those hit by its attacks. The schafer is now centered around dealing armor damage over time with the burning status effect and its high rate of fire.
It loses its reload on demand secondary move in favor of a cooldown based reload similar to the peacemaker that triggers only when ammo count reaches zero and is left alone to reload.
To make up for this, its special now lobs a new napalm projectile that consumes 12 counts of ammunition, but applies a full stack of burning on all units caught in its explosion
Modified Weapon : GRAM RAILGUN
The Gram Railgun loses its old long startup in favor of chargeable damage. Tapping the Gram Railgun quickly fires off an instantaneous 150/150 hitscan projectile, but holding it for a longer period allows it to deal more damage, going up to 1500/1500 damage.
The railgun can be flinched, destabilized or cancelled out of its charge state, which gives players several options to utilize when fielding and fighting against it.
New Shoulder Equipment : AGIMAT BARRIER
The new weapon for November is the Agimat Barrier system, mounted on the shoulder.
A secret weapon developed during the Demiurge Incursion wars, it has been declassified by the Solar Empire and Maaga Industries for public purchase. It has made its way to the arena, and to a handful of pilots.
The Agimat system creates a barrier on activation that can absorb up to 1000 stability or armor damage, an effect that lasts for 5 seconds. If it takes 1000 or more damage of either type before then, it ends prematurely, leaving the Archangel open to attack.
The barriers take 15 seconds to recharge between activations.
AACC2018 Winner Equipment Release : ZIQINILE PELERINA
The winner of the Archangel Arms Concept Competition 2018's Rearmed and Refitted Category is the shoulder cape 'Ziqinile Pelerina', which has the same mechanics and stats as the Obolochka shoulder shields.
It is the only weapon in game that currently uses cloth physics for movement and aesthetics. Due to this, visual bugs will sadly be very common - as the game wasn't made with cloth physics in mind.
But... the people have spoken (and quite strongly, we might add!) and we must oblige.
If you want to add a fancy touch to your Archangel, try it out in the coming update or switch over to our experimental preview build!
AACC2018 Winner Equipment Preview : STAR GAUNTLET
Although it is not yet going to be part of our coming update this friday, we have shown progress on the 'Star Gauntlet' - the AACC2018 winner of the Cutting Edge category. It features an all new movelist
and mechanic.
You can watch this Wednesday Warzone episode to see it in action, and Paolore even shows off the moves and systems.
This weapon will be released in December!
New Presets : Spooktober Skirmish, ESGS Epic and Cosmic Clash Winners
Several contests passed us by last month, and several champions have been added to our hall of fame. These winning units have been added to the permanent roster as a result :
* Spooktober Skirmish Winner : HIMASHO KURARA
* ESGS Epic 2018 Winner : LEEK SLICER
* Cosmic Clash S02E03 Winner : ARCHEOPTERYX
* Cosmic Clash S02E04 Winner : UUSHA IL KARMA
You'll see their devious designs soon! (Or if you're in our preview build, you've probably seen them already!)
DEVELOPMENT CONTINUES
As always, especially with the dramatic November update, we still continue to improve existing game systems and mechanics, as well as fix bugs reported by our community. Please do join our Discord channel and our social media pages so you can work with us in developing Garrison: Archangel to be the definitive custom mecha game for PC.
_________________________________________________
As usual, make sure to like/follow us on Facebook and Twitter for news and updates!
We also have a YouTube channel where we post videos of our game's development.
You can also visit our Discord and talk with the devs and players of the game!