MarZ: Tactical Base Defense News

We’ve cooked another new and shiny update with some tasty ingredients, new stuff and – a surprise!
Since the last update we’ve been quite busy reworking our balancing, adding a new level and some other cool features, including one that has been requested for many times! :)

Let’s check it out:


In our opinion, probably one of the most beautiful environments in the game. It’s the third last level of the campaign, so this level is quite tricky and challenging. Whats behind this bunker door? Will you master it?




Since our latest great performance progression and optimizations and in regards of creating a better game-play feel and fun, we wanted to add more zombies to our game. Who doesn’t like lots and lots of zombies, right? Another argument was, that we wanted to create a better differentiation between our enemy types. So how hard can it be? Simply add more of them right? Wrong! This one was quite a challenge for us. Balancing a game is a huge task, we’ve already put hours and hours of work in balancing MarZ Rising before. Adding more Zombies would cause a dis-balance and make the game unplayable. That’s why we had to rethink all of our values, play testing each level several times over and over again. But it was definitely worth it! So as of the April Update most of the levels has now twice (!!) as much enemies as before. Which is really awesome! But don’t worry, this doesn’t mean that levels are now twice as difficult as before. Thanks to the re-balancing of all enemy and tower values all missions are equally hard to master ;) except that it is now much more fun to play. Another nice effect of the re-balancing is, that differences between enemy strengths are much greater now. Weak enemies really feel weak and boss enemies really feel like you’re now facing a boss. Also tower ranges has increased significantly. And there’s even more! We’ve overhauled our special zombies to make them really special.

So here are our special zombies in detail:


The Electro has now an additional shield which must be destroyed first. Thankfully Tesla Towers can deactivate its shield instantly which makes it easier to kill it. Other towers will take much longer to destroy the shield.




Similar to the Electro, the Fire zombie has a “fire shield”. This shield can be instantly eliminated with the Freezeray super-weapon. If the fire is extinct, the attack strength is halved.




Bomber are still best to be killed with the Laser Tower. But now, a Laser Tower can destroy its jet-pack very fast compared to other towers. So a Bomber with destroyed jet-pack can’t fly into buildings anymore and will use a secondary attack similar to the Fat Walker.




The Parasite Zombie is now divided into two states. First one is the zombie itself and second one are the Parasite Worms. We’ve also added a better death animation.




Probably a game changer for many of you! We’ve added a slow motion mode to the game in which it is possible to build and make commands. We also like to call it: The PANIC button! If it’s getting stressy, simply switch to slow motion take a deep breath and make your decisions. – Phuuu. We’ve also added a nice looking depth of field effect to it. In case you don’t like it, you can turn it off in the options.
Timecontrol shortcuts are now:

• 1 – Pause
  
• 2 – Play / Slow-mo
  
• 3 – Fast forward
  
• 4 – Superfast forward
  

It’s now possible to change a perk ingame during a mission. This allows you to quickly change tactics and adds an additional help if you’re in trouble. After changing a perk the function is locked for a time, but you can change your perk when the time is up. Perks are really useful to change the difficulty level of MarZ Rising, so make sure to unlock those Perks now! :)







Last but not least we have a nice announcement to make. We’re thrilled to show you something we’ve been working on for MarZ Rising since early this year. It’s far from being finished, but it is now in a showable state and we really want to share it with you to show you what will come at some point in MarZ Rising. Many of you have asked for Skirmish Mode, well –, we’re happy to say that it’ll come! :) In Skirmish Mode you’ll have the possibility to setup your enemy waves based on weights, so if you want to play only against Crasher enemies, simply set the weight of the Crasher enemy to 100%. Additionally it’ll be possible to set your start resources and other options. We already have a playable prototype system, but it is far from being finished. The skirmish mode will generate enemy waves completely procedural, that means, every game will be different. You’ll be able to choose from the maps of the single player campaign aaand… – and now comes the very exciting part – from your own maps made with our level editor integrated into MarZ Rising! Yes! That’s right, you’ll be able to create your own maps with MARSFORM! =)



With this editor it’ll be possible to create your own maps and play them in skirmish mode. You can sculpt the terrain with simple to use tools – similar to the map editor of cities skylines – add spawn points, enemy paths and you’re good to go. Our goal is to make it as intuitive and simple as possible. Additionally we plan to integrate Steam workshop access where you can share and download maps. Please be aware, all those features won’t likely be ready very soon. They’re in a very early stage and our main task is to finish the campaign first. But you can start the hype train now! ;)

Alright, so did I miss something? hmmmm….
Ah yes we’ve made some further boring internal database and code optimizations ;) YAY!
As always the complete changelog can be found at the end of this post. Hope you guys like our newly released update. Please spread the word we’re thankful for any support!

If you want to stay updated about further development of the game you can also follow us on our social media channels here:

Marc: Twitter
Miriam: Twitter
MarZ Rising: Twitter
MarZ Rising: Facebook
doorfortyfour: Instagram

Thank you and have fun playing!
Miriam & Marc
Over and out!

• New: mission 18 – the ascent
  
• New: balancing
  
• New: slow motion mode
  
• New: in-game perk selection
  
• New: electro zombie shield behaviour
  
• New: fire zombie behaviour
  
• New: bomber behaviour
  
• New: parasite behaviour
  
• New: lander shield repairs instantly
  
• New: enemy healthbars
  
• New: sounds for time control
  
• New: towers now prioritize attacking enemies
  ——————————
  
• Changed: internal database + optimizations
  
• Changed: night lights – reduced volumetric light for better visibility
  
• Changed: lander build grid
  
• Changed: reduced laser glow for better visibility
  
• Changed: Early wave spawn maintains time difference to upcoming wave, to prevent time shifts.
  
• Changed: Monolith research time is now longer
  
• Changed: Repairing the Lander shield does not deactivate the shield.
  ——————————
  
• UI: Enemy indicator shows time counter also between enemies – not only between waves
  
• UI: Added time control mouse over text
  
• UI: Endscreen shows dead crew count
  
• UI: Main bar shows dead crew count
  ——————————
  
• Bugfix: tower ranges with upgraded crew are displayed correctly now
  
• Bugfix: Fixed a spawn relevant time delay which resulted in several rare bugs
  
• Bugfix: Tower cables are now being destroyed after hub replacement
  
• Bugfix: Fixed a bug where towers won’t shoot occasionally
  
• Bugfix: Parasite worms no longer losses orientation
  
• Bugfix: Fixed bug where enemies occasionally runs around the lander
  
• Bugfix: Fixed some fog of war transparencies
  
• Several smaller bugfixes and code optimizations
  

February update!

New update is here and brings tons of new stuff, optimizations and changes! We know it took us some time and you’ve been waiting long enough for this one. One reason for the long wait is, that we’ve overworked all of our levels with a new terrain shader, new textures and new lighting. This took us quite some time but the results are absolutely worth it. The visual quality of MarZ Rising got an additional boost. Another reason is, that we’ve added and tested plenty of new features and really wanted to make sure that the game feels polished and every new feature integrates well. In exchange for the long wait, you’ll get a super nice new update! :)

Let’s head on to the changelist and see what’s new:


Make sure you’re prepared for this one because you’ll face a new boss enemy here called ‘Shocker’. He’s got a secondary attack mode which stuns surrounding buildings and crew members.



This is the second mission coming with the fabulous new update. Don’t let the beauty and the solitude of this level fool you. It’ll get quite dangerous out there.



This is probably the biggest change we’ve made since EA launch. We have reworked every single level and have added our new terrain shader to the Mars landscapes. If you know the old version you’ll surely notice the changes. The new terrain shader brings a complete new visual quality to the game with new textures and better shading. The terrains are now textured procedurally, that means that we don’t need any vertex colors or splat maps. We have also reworked the lighting and especially the night levels aren’t pitch black anymore.



We really love this one. Now crew gets automatic upgrades based on their kill points. Upgraded crew adds a multiplier to buildings stationed in. That means towers can get even stronger. The crew also automatically evacuates out of a building which is about to explode. Pretty cool, huh? :)
Crew members also have got a melee attack animation.

In addition it’s now possible to change the crew controls. Some of you are used to use the right mouse button to send units (just like in modern RTS games) it is now possible to change that in the options menu.



There’s now a possibility to upgrade your lander with an infirmary. Once built, it automatically heals wounded crew members inside of your lander.



Options menu is now accessible in game. \o/



The new update introduces a superfast forward mode which speeds the game up to 2.5. In addition the ‘normal’ fast forward mode has been reduced from 2.0 to 1.5.



There are now off screen warning icons showing up as soon as a building gets attacked. This really helps to see where the actual danger is.



In addition to our new terrains we have also created some nice and shiny crystals. :)



We have changed the perks a bit and their icons from here to there.

• When activated ‘no worries’ a supply capsule spawns randomly on the map and can be collected by a crew member to get additional building material.
  
• Perk ‘bombasic’ now let’s you produce nukes for free instead of one free nuke at the start of a mission.
  
• Perk ‘reinforcement’ activates one extra crew per reinforcement instead of 3 extra crew at the start of the mission.
  
• Using perk ‘coffee time’ causes each wave is late instead of just the first.
  

• We’ve added a new main menu background.
  
• We’ve created and added a new main menu music. (MarZ Rising has now 12 tracks)
  
• We’ve added a new loading scene background.
  
• We’ve replaced all of our post processing effects with the unity post processing stack and got a nice boost, performance wise but also visually.
  
• We’ve changed shortcuts: This might be confusing for some of you who are already used to the old shortcuts. But we’ve got lots of feedback regarding shortcuts so we’ve changed them a little. Let us know how you like them now.
  
  1. time control: 1 – Pause, 2 – Play, 3 – Fast forward, 4 – Superfast forward
     
  2. ring menu: ALT + W, D, S, A (clockwise order of ring menu buttons)
     
  3. superweapons: ALT + 1, 2, 3, 4
     
• play/continue: ENTER
  
• We’ve changed plenty of UI behaviours.
  
• And of course we’ve fixed a lot of bugs.
  

The complete changelog can be found at the end of this post. We hope you’ll love to discover all the new stuff. We’d like to thank everyone who supports us and everyone who’s submitting bug reports, keep them coming ;) Please bear with us if the communication isn’t as fast as expected we are only two Indie Devs, always trying to improve. If you want to stay updated about further development of the game you can also follow us on our social media channels here:

Marc: Twitter
Miriam: Twitter
MarZ Rising: Twitter
MarZ Rising: Facebook
doorfortyfour: Instagram

Thank you for your patience and have fun playing!
Miriam & Marc
Over and out!

• New: mission 16 – no man’s land
  
• New: mission 17 – silent ridge
  
• New: terrain shader and textures, reworked every single level!
  
• New: crew upgrade system
  
• New: boss enemy “Shocker”
  
• New: main menu background
  
• New: main menu music
  
• New: loading scene background
  
• New: resource field asset
  
• New: infirmary to heal crew
  
• New: send crew can now be switched to right mousebutton in the options menu (RTS like)
  
• New: crew melee attack animation
  
• New: replaced post processing with Unity post processing stack.
  
• New: monolith spawns debris if destroyed
  
• New: monolith cracked ground asset
  
• New: mouseover hub displays available slots
  
• New: super fast forward mode
  
• Changed: perks > no worries, bombastic, reinforcement, coffee time, catapult
  
• Changed: shortcuts (listed in the options menu)
  
• Changed: turrets prioritise enemies with lower health
  
• Changed: difficulty of mission 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15
  
• Changed: enemy effects Mutated & Electro
  
• UI: options menu is now available in-game
  
• UI: added perk information icons on relevant ui buttons
  
• UI: new off screen attack warning indicators on buildings
  
• UI: changed monolith icon graphic
  
• UI: added mission scene grid fx
  
• UI: health of building is now shown underneath repair button in ringmenu (same for shield on lander)
  
• UI: reworked all healthbars
  
• UI: enemy paths are better readable
  
• UI: fixed some ring menu button behaviours
  
• UI: added crew information card in ringmenu
  
• UI: changed enemy set card skulls to red
  
• UI: monolith outline is now red
  
• UI: new mission preview images based on new terrain shader+lighting
  
• UI: new commander icon for better readability
  
• UI: changed sorting of quality options
  
• UI: crew value card now shows only on mouse over not on selected
  
• UI: added special crew set card
  
• several bug fixes
  

November Update!

Our first big update since our Early Access launch is here, bringing you two new levels to play!! YAY!! Level 14 – “Phantom” and level 15 – “Sanguine Mesa” of the campaign are now ready and implemented. What’s more? We’ve gathered a lot of great feedback and suggestions from the community, and have already managed to implement some of them in this update. Besides of a lot of bug fixes we’ve also made huge optimizations in regards to our crowd simulation, and have reduced the memory footprint.

Let’s have a closer look at the new features:



A wide and open ranged level with huge amount of enemies coming from basically every direction. Discover large craters and old relics of the former times.



You’ll be landing at some very unstable ground here. You should better listen to Cpt. Tobin. Does it remind you of level 3? Yes, but this time…. it’s different!



The lander now has an optional shield which can be activated in it’s ring menu. The shield protects the lander from minor attacks, and gives you additional time to deal with the attacking enemies while keeping the health of the lander at 100%. Certainly some of you are desperately waiting for this feature :)



In regards to the difficulty, we have removed the “no destroyed buildings” from the victory task while keeping the “no crew lost” task. So you do not have to worry anymore if you’ve lost a building or not. But you still have to keep an eye out for your crew ;) Quick tip: You can evacuate a crew out of a building by double right click on the building.



Crew has now an increased fire range from 6 to 8. This way the crews reaction to enemy attacks is improved.



Crew members turns now into a zombie after their death. This idea came from one of our testers and we liked it so much we had to implement it. It also makes your crew even more valuable.



Bomber explodes after death and stuns crew members around.




In addition to all the bug fixes and visual improvements, we’ve also made great optimizations in regards to our crowd simulation which can now handle even more enemies!! Muahaha!
We had quite some fun stress testing our game:




The overall feedback concerns the difficulty in the game – we hear you! This update already reduces the difficulty and frustration level while maintaining the challenge. We have also adjusted the wave countdown timers in every level. That means that the enemy indicators of a wave are showing up much earlier than before. This helps a lot in regards of preparations.

We are still evaluating additional features and suggestions from the community and happy for further feedback. Post them in the official Steam community forum here:
http://steamcommunity.com/app/682530/discussions/
Thank you for your support!
Over and out!




NEW:

• Added Lander shield which can be activated from it’s ring menu
  
• Camera tutorial can now be skipped with space key
  
• Added Early Access end screen
  
• Crew mutates into a zombie when dying
  
• Removed no destroyed buildings from the 100% victory task
  
• Bomber explodes on death and stuns crew members around
  

CHANGES:

• Increased fire range of crew member
  
• Increased health of boss enemies
  
• No worries perk adds 2000 instead of 1000 more build material
  

OPTIMIZATIONS:

• Huge Performance optimisation in regards to the crowd simulation
  
• Additional smaller performance optimisations
  
• Reduced memory footprint
  
• Improved explosion effects
  
• Improved camera shake
  
• Improved Bomber jetpack animation
  
• Hub build grids do now have a circular shape
  
• Hubs do not react when crew distribution tool is active
  
• Wave countdown indicator times has been adjusted for every level
  
• Additional level wave optimizations
  

BUGFIXES:

• Fixed bug: Fixed floating enemies in Level 3 (finally!)
  
• Fixed bug: Moving energy hub to a different position enabled more than 4 buildings within range
  
• Fixed bug: Crew played confirmation sound when automatically following an enemy
  
• Fixed bug: Empty dialog screen pops up when monolith gets destroyed
  
• Fixed bug: Tesla lvl3 did not explode when destroyed
  
• Fixed bug: Drones tower had a bug when destroyed and not manned
  
• Fixed bug: Fixed weird explosion fx on machinegun tower
  
• Fixed bug: Fixed Crasher attack animation
  
• Fixed bug: Fixed Mutated attack animation
  
• Fixed bug: Updated Bloom effect, should fix graphical issues.
  
• Fixed bug: Building won’t destroy when not connected to a hub