Invasion Machine News

As anyone who's been following this game knows, the release date is being pushed forward over and over again. This is because laying the foundation for it (all the most important systems of the game, as in movement, firefights, pathfinding, etc.) is always taking more time than I'd like it to. By now, I have most of it complete and I'm slowly entering the stage where I can focus on creating the actual, proper game content. This means that on the outside the game seems to be dead, but it's actually slowly but steadily getting developed.
But, because it's been delayed so many times - I decided it at least owe it to you all and should get a "proof of life" build out, so people know the game's still coming and hasn't been abandoned.

...so - If you're feeling adventurous, you can join the Open Public Alpha for the game.
I've just released the first playable build, for now only available off-Steam (because it's super-early, and not necessarily suitable for unfiltered, public access, yet).


If you do, however, please keep in mind that this build haven't been uploaded to Steam for _a reason_ - most of the features that will make this game unique, are either not in it yet, or are broken and incomplete.


Of course the actual Early Access release is not canceled. Currently, I plan to publish on Steam around July 15th, after all the most spectacular and ridiculous bugs are taken care of.

I don't want it to become another buggy mess on Steam, so if I don't believe it's ready for you - I won't publish it here.

Terribly sorry to announce that I will not meet the original deadline for the EA release of Invasion Machine - I have to delay the release a bit.

The game is of course still steadily in development, improving every day, but at this moment I don't feel I have a build that would be good enough to release for public consumption.


I'll also make a public, open alpha available in about two weeks, I'll have more information about it on the game's discord server.

Nothing else changes, the game will come out as soon as it's ready to.
As always, feel invited to join our Discord channel to talk specifics (or take it out on me for the delays): Invasion Machine Discord Server

The store page for the game was incorrectly stating that the early access build of the game would become available on March 1st - I regret to inform you all that this was an error on my part.

Although March 1st was initally a planned release date, I changed it later on to end of March (technically - April 1st, because you cannot launch during weekends, on Steam).

I'm no happier about this than anyone waiting to play the game, but in the end - I think it's better to delay it than rush the release just to push a completely broken experience.



I will post further updates here, but as always - the freshest possible information is on the Discord channel: Invasion Machine Discord

You'll be facing different opposition forces in the game, and they all tend to react a little differently to being fired upon.

Your most vicious enemy is the Narco Guerrillas - bought and paid for by the local druglords, who in the absence of any legitimate local government took reign in your area of operations.
These fighters are fearless, but lacking even the basic military training - easily defeated in open combat.

Even though these fighters are the least likely to think tactically when in combat, or will often even come at your troops with all guns blazing - even they, as do all units in-game - have survival instinct and will try not to stay in the open, during a firefight.




- run to nearest cover, when first shots are fired at them (duh)
- if trained military, may try to help stabilize and evacuate wounded buddies (sometimes with awful consequences, if inexperienced)
- react to explosions around them (double duh)
- if met with overwhelming force, try to evade
- Civilians and Press almost always flee firefights, but if in dire straits - sometimes might grab a rifle as well

All this is done to make the game actors more authentic, as opposed to what units would generally do in the classic RTS titles (stand still in the middle of a gunfight, or run directly at their enemy).



As always, many ideas for deeper gameplay elements come from, or are discussed on our

In case anybody is wondering, the game is still very much in active development - this month I've completed the Rules of Engagement update, probably one of the bigger changes to AI.

I might be wrong, but this is probably the only strategy game to have this feature. Your units, depending on the tactical situation in the AO, will have a choice of taking appropriate action against possible threats, ranging from the least aggressive - as in trying to discourage the engagement, to the standard "weapons free" response.

If your focus is on developing relations with the locals, you're gonna want to choose the less lethal approach and tell your units to try and arrest any targets, before opening fire.
On the other hand, if the enemy presence in your AO is becoming too strong, it may be time for a tougher stance.

Separate settings can be used for controlling interactions with human targets and passing vehicles.



Just remember that the tougher you order your units to act, the more difficult the life of the civilians in the area becomes. Here's a little preview of a traffic jam forming on a checkpoint I told my troops to set up: