Archangel Announcements August (and July) 2019
Our sincerest apologies for the absence of last month's Archangel Announcements. This issue should cover the updates from last month as well.
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For the past month, our efforts were focused on the development of the new Baja Secunda campaign. We've given players access to the procedural missions, the faction system and the shop upgrades. Even now, two possible 'neutral' endings can be (and have been) achieved by our players.
There have been several updates since then, and they can be seen below.
All weapons in missions mode should now have two levels of visual upgrades, save for the premiums which can only be unlocked by achieving officership in a faction.
Upgrade stats and prices have been adjusted for certain weapons that were found to perform either very well or very poorly in the mode. These adjustments may continue as development of missions mode goes on.
It is now possible to encounter multiple Ghost opponents during certain mission objectives or phases. They will usually have reduced individual armor and damage modifiers when compared to a solo encounter.
Some Ghosts are well-known for working together as a team, such as Kuumi and Kakau (who won the community-run Deadly Duets AI tournament earlier this year!) - always be on your guard.
Special Missions are missions that appear only when specific conditions are met, such as turn count or faction prestige.
One such special mission type already released for public testing is the 'Tournament', which appear on specific turn counts. It harkens back to Garrison: Archangel's arena fighter aspect, and represents an important institution within the setting.
Ghosts can fight multi-round duels (similar to arcade mode) for credits. Like all missions in this mode, the competition becomes more difficult over time, especially if you've been winning.
The other special missions are those given by the major factions, representing key battles or significant narrative events.
These missions are not procedural, and have a set difficulty. More importantly, they can be repeated if failed. This means one can retry the mission with stronger equipment or a different loadout if they have trouble completing it.
These special missions will also have large monetary rewards and hefty prestige gains for faction clients and losses for opposing factions. They will also usually raise the faction prestige cap, allowing players to reach higher levels within the faction.
For the four primary factions, completion of these special missions are required to achieve their ending. Some of these special missions have already been integrated in our preview branch.
As we flesh out the mechanics of the campaign and the narrative behind the conflict on Baja Secunda, more and more combatants will be introduced to the battlefield.
These may have spoilers (especially for those who got to the campaign neutral ending/s):
Expect to see most of these in the special missions to come!
The Aurora Defense Field is self-explanatory. On activation, it creates a defensive field for you and your teammates that reduces all incoming damage for a few seconds.
Its striking look is emblematic of the avant-garde design philosophy of Bleeding Edge. You can also unlock its level 2 and 3 versions in missions mode.
It is the third and last of the three team field generators after the Hawkeye and the Hata-jirushi. Try it out for yourselves on the preview build!
To coincide with the release of the new Aurora defense field, we're adjusting existing weapons' stats and mechanics this month of August.
Here are some significant examples :
- Arc missile (Popigai and Chelyabinsk) - reduced homing capability
- Hata-Jirushi and Hawkeye - increased damage bonuses
- Balang Araw - projectile speed increased dramatically
- Schafer - alternate projectile damage and speed increased.
- Star Gauntlet - general damage increase for melee attacks and specials.
- Labrys Gigantas - general damage increase for all melee attacks.
- Homing Lasers - individual laser damage increase
These changes are being applied to our preview branch, so opt in if you want to try them out! Please do leave your feedback regarding these changes in our discord or our steam forums!
For the past month, we've been listening to the community's feedback and bug reports regarding the new and experimental missions mode. Thanks to the help of our players, we were able to identify various areas that needed improvement, and work to fix them. Many such optimizations to the game have been made in the past month to address these, and more will follow.
We received a lot of positive (and constructive) feedback in the past month regarding the missions mode, and we're excited to say that there's more to come. Our efforts will be focused on the completion of this singleplayer game mode for the coming months.
_________________________________________________
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!
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MISSION MODE UPDATES
For the past month, our efforts were focused on the development of the new Baja Secunda campaign. We've given players access to the procedural missions, the faction system and the shop upgrades. Even now, two possible 'neutral' endings can be (and have been) achieved by our players.
There have been several updates since then, and they can be seen below.
Mission Mode Update : Weapon Upgrades
All weapons in missions mode should now have two levels of visual upgrades, save for the premiums which can only be unlocked by achieving officership in a faction.
Upgrade stats and prices have been adjusted for certain weapons that were found to perform either very well or very poorly in the mode. These adjustments may continue as development of missions mode goes on.
Mission Mode Update : Ghost Encounters
It is now possible to encounter multiple Ghost opponents during certain mission objectives or phases. They will usually have reduced individual armor and damage modifiers when compared to a solo encounter.
Some Ghosts are well-known for working together as a team, such as Kuumi and Kakau (who won the community-run Deadly Duets AI tournament earlier this year!) - always be on your guard.
Mission Mode Update : Tournament and Special Missions
Special Missions are missions that appear only when specific conditions are met, such as turn count or faction prestige.
One such special mission type already released for public testing is the 'Tournament', which appear on specific turn counts. It harkens back to Garrison: Archangel's arena fighter aspect, and represents an important institution within the setting.
Ghosts can fight multi-round duels (similar to arcade mode) for credits. Like all missions in this mode, the competition becomes more difficult over time, especially if you've been winning.
The other special missions are those given by the major factions, representing key battles or significant narrative events.
These missions are not procedural, and have a set difficulty. More importantly, they can be repeated if failed. This means one can retry the mission with stronger equipment or a different loadout if they have trouble completing it.
These special missions will also have large monetary rewards and hefty prestige gains for faction clients and losses for opposing factions. They will also usually raise the faction prestige cap, allowing players to reach higher levels within the faction.
For the four primary factions, completion of these special missions are required to achieve their ending. Some of these special missions have already been integrated in our preview branch.
Mission Mode Update : Enemy Types
As we flesh out the mechanics of the campaign and the narrative behind the conflict on Baja Secunda, more and more combatants will be introduced to the battlefield.
These may have spoilers (especially for those who got to the campaign neutral ending/s):
Expect to see most of these in the special missions to come!
NEW EQUIPMENT : AURORA
The Aurora Defense Field is self-explanatory. On activation, it creates a defensive field for you and your teammates that reduces all incoming damage for a few seconds.
Its striking look is emblematic of the avant-garde design philosophy of Bleeding Edge. You can also unlock its level 2 and 3 versions in missions mode.
It is the third and last of the three team field generators after the Hawkeye and the Hata-jirushi. Try it out for yourselves on the preview build!
WEAPON AND EQUIPMENT BALANCE
To coincide with the release of the new Aurora defense field, we're adjusting existing weapons' stats and mechanics this month of August.
Here are some significant examples :
- Arc missile (Popigai and Chelyabinsk) - reduced homing capability
- Hata-Jirushi and Hawkeye - increased damage bonuses
- Balang Araw - projectile speed increased dramatically
- Schafer - alternate projectile damage and speed increased.
- Star Gauntlet - general damage increase for melee attacks and specials.
- Labrys Gigantas - general damage increase for all melee attacks.
- Homing Lasers - individual laser damage increase
These changes are being applied to our preview branch, so opt in if you want to try them out! Please do leave your feedback regarding these changes in our discord or our steam forums!
BUG FIXING, AI ADJUSTING AND OPTIMIZATION
For the past month, we've been listening to the community's feedback and bug reports regarding the new and experimental missions mode. Thanks to the help of our players, we were able to identify various areas that needed improvement, and work to fix them. Many such optimizations to the game have been made in the past month to address these, and more will follow.
DEVELOPMENT CONTINUES
We received a lot of positive (and constructive) feedback in the past month regarding the missions mode, and we're excited to say that there's more to come. Our efforts will be focused on the completion of this singleplayer game mode for the coming months.
_________________________________________________
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!