M.A.S.S. Builder News

Hello everyone! Today we're showing a part of a system we're working on. With how we are adding new development nodes into the game for newer systems, we will include techs that will transform how your shields and close combat works!

We're also working on a sorting system that could help players easily look through all the development nodes they have and select ones that they wanted. We hope this will improve the Quality of Life for everyone.

So, how was the 0.2.0 patch, and the hotfixes until 0.2.4 where we finally added a timer skip button? We'd like to apologize for all the troubles this new version has caused, and we'll be trying to improve further on things like scheduling out a patch with more time to test things out. Now, to get into what's coming next for the game, we'd like to discuss with you all on the development plans we are thinking about.

First, getting it out here, from our expectations, it'll be a February patch instead of a January patch. With the last patch breaking more things than expected, we would like to ask for more time to develop and flesh out some bugs before we release. This is why we're telling you straight here that we'll delay the January Patch towards February instead, but we'll try to make it FEBRUARY. We do hope you can understand our decision to do this.

Well, all bad news aside, what can you expect from 0.3.0?

- MORE BUG FIXES: Of course there are still bugs in the game that we'd like to see fixed. However, we do think they can wait until version 0.3.0 as to not hamper our development plan and make us delay the patch further, thus there will not be a 0.2.4 unless a critical bug appears.

- MORE BALANCE UPDATES: We're looking through feedbacks to see how are the tuning nodes as well as weapons being used, and how some of the things don't seem appealing to use (even though some of them are extremely potent) and to how we can have our players "try" using them in various circumstances and get a feel of how beneficial something is in a specific situation.

- MORE Stories and Hunting Grounds mission: We're continuing our story line and adding more missions into the game. The feedback for both Logistics Obstacles and Wrath of the Wastelands was great, and we'll try to keep the momentum going on our level design!

- Close Combat Animations and Mechanics Rework: We'll be introducing new animations and more dynamic combos into the game alongside some mechanics and buttons rework. While we're not ready to show them now, we'd like to ask you to wait a few weeks and you'll get to see them in action with further details!

To further explain on this, we are experimenting on some functionalities and control schemes that might bring us closer to something that was much requested by our players. However, they are still experimental and we do not know if we can weave the functionalities into our core gameplay without making our controls too confusing. This also ties to the next thing topic which is...



- Dual Wielding Close Combat Weapons and Shield System: Dual wielding is coming at last, and we're also slapping an active shield system alongside the thing. Now One-Handed close combat weapons will be able to utilize a shield to defend as well as gain more utility benefits when using one.

This will be the first phase of the shields update and we'll be experimenting a lot with how they're used and adjust accordingly in order to bring out an active shield system that can fit in many use cases.

- Player Decals set 1: We are almost ready to show your creations to everyone else playing M.A.S.S. Builder. There's nothing much to say here except thank you for your contribution!

Finally, the new updates 0.2.0 has arrived, later by a few days than expected. We've added some new things to the patch notes released a few weeks before so please check out this new and summarized patch notes down here!

Thank you for waiting and having faith in us. Please have fun in this new updates!

**IMPORTANT**
If you're facing crash or fatal error on startup. Version 0.2.1 is built on a newer UE4 engine and it might cause some conflict to happen. To fix this, go to
C:\\Users\\your user\\AppData\\Local\\MASS_Builder\\Saved
and delete the folder Config

If you do not have an AppData folder, you can use the Windows + R run command and type in %appdata% to access the folder

Also if you received a fatal error on some graphics problem, please try a method posted by Kashim in this discussion

Go to %appdata%, then navigate to : AppData\Local\MASS_Builder\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor

Make a backup of 'GameUserSettings.ini'
Change FullscreenMode=0 to FullscreenMode=1


Patch Notes

New features
- New Firing type: Spread Bullet Shooter
- New Firing type: Ray Energy Shooter
- New Armor set: Kaiser armor set (3 Variants)
- New Feature Photography Mode
- Two new story missions
- New Boss
- Unlocked Tier 3 Nodes
- Added FPS limitation options (Default at Unlimited)
- Quarks will have a more dynamic behavior and attack patterns as well

Improvement
- Added 3 new transition patterns for Close Combat to smoothen gameplay
- Players can now boost away easier from enemies to dodge attacks
- New main hangar
- When exiting from armor menu, camera will not reset anymore
- New level design concepts
- Improvement of some NPC sprites
- Improvement of Boss Quarks visual effects
- Every boss fight will now have a magazine/energy cell spawn point

Change
- Added a small delay to jumps
- Changed drop list of some stages to accommodate new armors
- Reworked the tutorial stage
- Adjustments on All nodes for Shields, Shields Recovery, and Armor Values
- Adjustments on Tech nodes for POWER-focused techs
- Adjustments on WEIGHT effects on Fuel Burn Rate and Attack Speed
- Adjustments on names and wordings to lower confusion
- Adjustments on default materials for development tutorial
- Adjustments on a lot of Sound Effects
- Higher difficulties will now result in better drops
- Higher difficulties will now be more difficult as well
- Changed fuel consumption, players can now boost for longer duration

Bug Fix
- Fixed icon to correctly show M.A.S.S. Builder Icon
- Fixed lots of minor bugs
- Fixed game crashing by GPU due to uncapped FPS
- Fixed item drops floating in mid-air
- Fixed unable to shoot after interacting with an object

0.2.1 Hotfix released

- Fix a bug that causes game to crash on destructible prop
- Fix damage delay for some boss attacks
- Fix Tier 3 Nodes (now unlockable finally)
- Fix more typo in some area
- Improve Spread Bullet Shooter damage

0.2.2 Hotfix released

- Fixed bugs that cause Quarks to stand still / teleport around
- Fixed bugs that cause Quarks to become immobile after getting damaged by destructible props
- Fixed some effects and damage not showing on some Quarks attacks
- Improved Hangar performance
- Fixed camera stuttering when lowering camera to very low angles/on ground
- Changed shortcut for Photograph mode background select (it doesn't collide with steam overlay now)
- Further increase damage for Spread firing mode
- Fixed minimap to display some areas correctly

0.2. Hotfix released

- Fixed photograph mode not saving images

Hello everyone, today, we're sorry to announce that the November patch has been postponed. We know that this might disappoint you who're waiting for the patch to come in November, but to speak frankly, we were not able to finish every feature up to our standard. We do not want to release an incomplete build and have you be disappointed with them so forgive us when we have chosen to delay the patch by a few days.

To talk about it, one main thing that we need another week to work on is the two variants of the Kaiser armor set. We first thought we'll release a patch with one variant in November if we're not able to finish it, but we felt it would not be satisfying for our players. M.A.S.S. Builder thrives on the armor sets and customization so we'd like it to be as complete as possible here.

We also would like to at least complete our vision of the new level designs and the new boss. This is something that was explored late into the patch development, but from discussions with you in the discord and through our social media presence, we learned that you liked them and there were some suggestions we immediately added into the feature since we just started working on it. You can see some things we've added for combat, level designs, environmental effects, and etc. in the images below.



One final thing that we decided to change is our hangar. We wanted to give it more camera controls so players can look at their creation from all angles. Please have a look at this screenshot, it should be able to explain more than our texts.



It was a hard decision to make but we hope you can all understand that we'd like you all to have the best experience in both parts of our creation, the customization and the gameplay itself. If we are able to finish the update early, we will notify everyone and release it ASAP but for now, please expect the patch to be updated on December 5th.

We're three months in after the early access release of M.A.S.S. Builder! As you may have read a few weeks ago about our adjustments, we are now almost ready to release the additions and adjustments to the game. First, let us admit that we might have not been able to finish all the things we've promised, there are some last minute changes that made us reworked many of the patch parts (looking at you, level design). We're still aiming for another January update with lots and lots more content to come. The updates should be coming to everyone SOON.

Additions to the game

New Firing Types
As promised, we are ready to let players try out more firing types that have been shown throughout the weeks. For now there's only the two that was shown before but we're continuing our work on more of them!. If you haven't seen them yet, check them out below along a short description:

• Spread (Bullet Shooters): A short-ranged cone firing pattern, the "spread" fire will allow players to dish out heavy damage through multiple pellets from a single button press. The closer an enemy is, the chance for them to get hit by multiple pellets increases. When used in conjunction with damage properties, the spread fire will be able to add great utility to their damage.
  
  
  
• Ray (Energy Shooters): A mid-ranged narrow stream of energy burst forth! The "ray" shooter fires at an extremely fast rate with piercing rays through, delivering streams of energy to a large group of enemies with ease. With how fast these shooters can fire, players can utilize them with damage properties to deliver a constant stream of conditional ailments!
  

New Armor Set

We are also adding in the Kaiser armor set. The set is themed around a more rounded and curvy design.



Photography Mode
Another promised addition, the Photography mode is here to help everyone take screenshots of their creation to show it off. The feature currently allows players to pose their M.A.S.S. in various poses, alongside their crafted weapons, in the various backgrounds that we have. We do plan to update this feature alongside the game when we create more missions and tilesets that can be added to the backgrounds. For now, please have fun and show us what you can create with the feature!



Story and missions

• Added 2 new story missions with an epic boss fight at the end of mission 8. So, the ending of Chapter 1 which is just introduction has come, mission 8 will feature an extremely difficult boss fight against one of the first epic boss Quark. Please have fun with it, we do hope we lived up to the hype of having a great boss fight.
  
  We're also updating new level designs into the game through the newly added missions. With how well they were received during our WIP previews, we've decided to work on them immediately (shifting some of the things backwards) and implemented them into the game in this patch.
  

Adjustments

Defensive Focus adjustments
Reworked how defensive focus M.A.S.S. functions: With these adjustments, we hope to help brawlers playstyle that can make players feel better when fighting in close combat without having to worry much about their durability. If damage to a point, they can quickly step out of combat to regenerate most of their shields before rushing back into battle. Please let us know how these changes affect you and how you feel about it.

• Increased shields on Architectures tree, shields recovery, and armor across the board by a significant amount while lowering Durability or shifting it into some other units instead so players can have a better focus on each units. This meant the Effective Durability of a player stays the same, but now half of it can be regenerated quickly out of combat via Shield Recovery tuning. Techs that have conditions relating to Durability should also be more effective and easier to use.
  
  
  
  
• Reworked techs that focus on defensive prowess of a M.A.S.S. and also change their placements on the development nodes. This should make it more focused and less confusing for our players.
  
  
• Adjusted the numbers of Armor status increment and application to compensate for every part that has lowered Durability. This should complement well into the playstyle with our shield changes if players decide to go full defensive units.

Close Combat adjustments
We've been secretly reading through discussions and noticed that players doesn't have the greatest feeling when using close combat weapons. As a response to that, we have adjusted a lot of things relating to them as well as add some new things to the playstyle. We believe this alongside the shield changes could bring brawling up to a higher level and bring more fun to players in preparation for the January major update.

• Reworked some development nodes for the Power tech tree to give them a better feeling earlier in the game.
  
  
• Shortened levels of the POWER techs from 3 to 2 without removing their efficiency and add more POWER techs into the game.
  
  
• Move POWER techs around (some up the tree, some down) to dispel the clutter and allow players to reach new strengths quicker in the game. For what's important right now, Tempo Preserver is now a tier 1/2, Pressurized Gears now tier 3/4. Higher tiers are also being adjusted accordingly.
  
  
• Added in 3 more movesets for Close Combat attacks. These will trigger upon attack transitions and will make the combat flow much better with methods to pounce onto enemies afar or flying around in the air.
  

Weight adjustments
We have seen players speaking of optimal methods to play and didn't like how it sounded as our game prioritizes customization and we want everyone to be able to play with the appearances they like as it is the core concept of our game.

• Rebalanced weight correction on Fuel Burn Rate as well as adjusted Fuel Burn Rate and Recharge on various modules as well as weight scaling on the status. This should allow players to both use boosters more than before as well as easier tuning in the related status.
  
  
• Rebalanced weight correction on attack speed. Weight will now have a lower effect on the attack speed of a M.A.S.S. allowing heavier M.A.S.S. to be able to swing much faster and more in-line with our concept of the game to allow separation of aesthetics and gameplay itself.

Status and Units adjustments
In addition to others mentioned above, we have also adjusted other status of various units all over the board as following.

• Change some architectures' name to reduce confusion as well as some of the default texts in a continuous plan to polish language in the game. Looking at you, Regrower Frame development line.
  
  
• Adjujsted Enhancement and Fuel Save Modules to have negative Fuel Burn Rate value instead to further help with the issue of low-mobility M.A.S.S. units. Now players can further customize a longer lasting M.A.S.S. that can move around the mission area (which will be updated to new level designs later down the line).
  
  

Other adjustments

• Reworded some texts in the HELP function of the game. This will be a continual update alongside adding new topics into the HELP function.
  
  
• Hangar improvement. You can now have a much more zoomed out camera and we've remade the whole thing to give it a livelier and larger feeling.
  
  
  
• Adjusted some default items given to players so that they can try to develop a node during the development tutorial. Thanks for the suggestion kind soul of the community.
  
  
• Reworked mission 1 (tutorial) for a better flow of game mechanics introduction.
  
  
• Fixed game icon to show M.A.S.S. Builder Icon instead of Unreal Engine icon correctly. We did not noticed this until the community pointed it out so thanks once again!
  
  
• Adjusted a lot of sound effects. We've replaced most of the bullet shooter sounds as well as update on many other parts of the game, adding some depths and variations of sound effects.
  
  
• Tier 3 nodes are being unlocked this patch. Players will now be able to develop their M.A.S.S. to a higher level and face off against more difficult enemies to come.
  
  
• We've added an option to limit FPS and fix a lot of bugs that are currently in the game. When the patch is out, please don't hesitate to send us report of bugs that are still found in the game.