Ally Troops
So far, Drone Sector has mostly been limited to missions where a small number of player squads are heavily outnumbered. The gunship helps even the odds, but it still means the player has to keep a close eye on their squads and react quickly whenever enemies start surrounding them.
To open up more types of missions, I added computer-controlled allied troops.
They operate very similarly to enemies on the map and are not under player control. Depending on the mission, there can be quite a few of them. This means the allied force can keep the enemy occupied while your own squads focus on objectives, flanking, ambushes, or other support tasks.
It also gives the player more room to focus on the gunship. Your own squads are still the ones you need to keep safe, while the allied troops can take part in larger firefights without requiring constant attention. You can support them with the gunship when useful, but you don't need to keep every allied unit alive.
Missions with allied troops also show an expected frontline on the pre-planning map, separating the areas held by each side.
Protect Objectives
I also added a new objective type: Protect.
Destroy and Capture objectives give the player quite a lot of freedom over when and how to complete them. Protect objectives are more restrictive. Once one becomes active, the target has to survive for several minutes, and the objective fails if the enemy destroys it.
Unlike Capture objectives, there is no way to speed up the timer by sending more troops. Once it starts, the player has to hold the area until the objective is complete.
Enemies will actively push towards Protect objectives and destroy them if given the chance. Most Protect objectives are placed inside allied territory, so the enemy should not immediately be on top of them. There is also a short 20-second grace period before enemies can start attacking the target, giving the player time to react if hostile units are already nearby.
This creates a different kind of combat from the existing objectives. Instead of always advancing towards the enemy, the player can prepare defensive positions and ambushes while the enemy comes to them. Since their destination is known, their movement should also be somewhat more predictable.
Combined with allied troops, this allows for missions that are much more focused on gunship fire support. Your squads may be able to stay around the objective area while allied forces and incoming enemies create the larger battle around them.
I also added some basic territory rules for objective placement. Destroy objectives should generally appear on enemy territory, while Capture objectives can appear on either side of the frontline.
A Note on the Roadmap
The first few updates after launch have gone a little differently than I originally expected. Allied troops, along with quite a bit of the work I've done since launch, were not originally part of the roadmap.
A lot of these changes grew out of discussions with players and feedback on the Steam forums. I read the discussions regularly, and even when I don't respond directly, I do read a lot of what gets posted there. Quite a few problems, ideas, and suggestions raised by players have influenced what I've decided to work on next.
The roadmap is still the plan, but Early Access also gives me room to adjust priorities based on how people are actually playing the game. Some things have seemed worth addressing before moving on to the next originally planned feature.
That means some roadmap items have moved back a little, but they haven't been dropped. The order has simply changed as the game develops.
- Ingmar
Full Patch Notes
Added
- Missions can now include independent allied forces that are not under player control.
- Added Protect objectives. Protect the target until the timer expires. The objective can fail if the target is destroyed, potentially altering the rest of the mission.
- Mission map preview now shows the expected frontline between allied and enemy territory when allies are present.
- Sandbox mode now allows customizing allied forces and the shape of the frontline.
- Non-player transport trucks now try to leave the map after dropping off their troops.
- Added a setting to replace the 3D weapon impact zone marker with a 2D target point.
- Added a setting to disable unit movement prediction targets.
Changed
- Redesigned the Sandbox mission options UI. Settings are now organized into collapsible sections inside a single vertical scroll view, allowing more options without overlap or clipping.
- Updated objective HUD markers to make progress easier to read and show the remaining time for Protect objectives.
- Reduced the volume of ground-level rifle and machine gun fire.
Technical
- Improved unit icon HUD performance, reducing the performance impact of having hundreds of units on the map.
- Improved unit sensing and visibility check performance, especially in missions with large numbers of units.
- Improved human unit animation performance when large numbers of units are present.
