Welcome to the fourth (and fashionably late) BATTLEMENTS devlog! BATTLEMENTS is a 2.5D top down shooter centered around building vending machines that grant you perks, protecting said machines from mutants that attack in waves, and slowly unlocking new rooms to reach the end of a map with all the machines intact, blah blah blah let's get right to it!

This devlog was delayed significantly due to me working on a new game! It's called Lab Cat Chaos, and you can check it out by clicking the link or by heading to our creator page! 

But don't fret, we've been cooking up some neat stuff for BATTLEMENTS in the meantime, including HUGE UI revamps, game progress, a new turret, a complete rework of the perks system, and music! This is a pretty lengthy one, so strap in.

Here's the second piece of keyart, Shellshock! I'm really satisfied with how it came out, and I love the diorama perspective that it has going for it. I can't tell you if we'll revisit this perspective in future posters or not, since I'm looking for more dynamic angles, but I'll think about it. (full rez here)

BRAND-SPANKING NEW UI!

You've seen the new HUD, now get ready for the new MENU! 

I was getting tired of the boring old concept version, with it's perfectly white boxes and perfectly smooth arial, so I made these updated mockups to replace it, take a look! (full rez here)

These are mockups and not final

Here's the old version in case you're curious.

If you're vigilant, you might have already noticed some interesting things in here that'll pop up shortly. Anyways, the main changes include some scuffed up boxes (which in my opinion bring the whole thing together quite nicely), a much more fitting font, a cleaner layout in general, and the addition of the trading cards in the customization menu. 

These trading cards are BATTLEMENT's skins, and they're obtained at the end of a game once you beat it successfully from packs. They aren't handed out randomly, and they're rewarded based on a number of different factors, including the difficulty you beat a map in. 

Easy corresponds to teal packs, standard corresponds to red, and hard corresponds to yellow. In the future we plan to add a fourth unlockable difficulty called infernal, unlocked by beating the map in hard.

TURRETS, TESTS AND TRACKS!

Before showing off some map tests, some crusty early gameplay footage and some brand new music for the game, why not take a look at the most recent in Plastic Platoon defense technology!

MEET THE THUNDERBIRD

This is the THUNDERBIRD! A powerful electric turret that can shoot out bursts of electricity, or lock onto up to three targets with multiple concentrated beams with upgrades! It's massive damage capability and small traces of afterburn are sure to leave your enemies in a shock.

I'm really pleased with this guy's design, and it stands out from the more industrial looking Rocketeer and Hothead with it's sci-fi detailing. It's inspired by old 60's science fiction weapons, and that's very evident with the small blue and white buttons that have zero practical use. 

TINKERING AROUND

Check out this crusty clip of some more early gameplay! We're currently focusing on improving enemy pathfinding to lay a foundation for their AI. We've also finished Trainwreck's layout for testing. After finishing pathfinding I want to focus on weapon buys and upgrades. 

MUSIC?

This is the first excerpt of music we've (sorta) finished for the game! BATTLEMENTS' music is inspired by surf rock bands like The Langhorns and The Tremolo Beer Gut, and also partially influenced by Team Fortress 2's score. Music will play in menus and during waves, bosses will also have their own music tracks too.

THE PERK REWORK!

We've completely reworked how the perks system will operate to make it a bit more restrictive but strategic at the same time. 

Before the rework, you'd be able to equip four of any perk you wanted, meaning that you'd need to manage four vending machines (dreadful!). We've managed to cut the vending machine count to two thanks to the reworked system!

Every perk has been completely redesigned and re-balanced from the ground-up, they've also been evenly split between active and passive perks.

PASSIVE PERKS!

Once equipped they will give you an effect that remains for the entire round. For example, Manic Munitions gives you extra ammo upon killing a Mutant, and it rewards more based on how close you were. 

Most perks in general have a snowballing mechanic, so using Manic Munitions again as an example, the more Mutants you kill, the more extra ammo you'll receive, and that bonus starts snowballing as you kill more and more. The snowball bonus resets after you die and respawn, incentivising players to stay alive to keep the streak going.

ACTIVE PERKS!

These perks can be activated during a round to give you a temporary effect, later entering a cooldown that requires kills to charge back up. For example, Napalm Sauce doubles the player's damage and deals afterburn to enemies, however their ammo consumption is doubled too. The effect lasts 9 seconds and will later enter a cooldown. 

This perk also features snowballing. If the player chooses to not use the perk when its available, and instead waits and racks up kills, they can extend the duration to up to 12 seconds! This will incentivise people to strategically activate the perk during key situations, and will reward patience.

FRESH NEW DESIGNS

(full rez here)

As you can tell, the perks of BATTLEMENTS have changed quite a lot since you last saw them! The icons have been simplified and made more readable, the colors have been improved, and most importantly they've all been encased in bottle caps (with one exception). 

We've also added two (technically three) new perks since Devlog 1, which include Dracula's Ale, a passive perk that grants bonus health on kill, and Friendly Fire Martini, an extremely unique active perk that grants you a martini to throw at a Mutant, and upon a successful hit, the Mutant will temporarily switch sides and fight along side you, shortly after running into the enemy and exploding!

HOW IT WORKS

You'll only be able to equip three perks now instead of four. Only two active or passive ones, and another of the opposite type. So for example, if you equip two passive perks, that means that you're unable to equip a third passive one, and will be forced to add an active one, and vise versa.

Your two active/ passive perks will show up in-game as a single vending machine that's able to dispense both perks, and your single perk of the opposite type will appear in its regular machine.

GOOD, EVIL AND BOSSES!

The world of BATTLEMENTS is home to many characters, one good, most bad. You've seen the Mighty Mutants, you've seen the Plastic Platoon, but you're yet to meet the people that boss them around!

GENERAL DYNAMO

General Dynamo is one of the main officers in charge of the resistance effort against the Mutants. He's your voice-over guy in-game, and he's also the face of the Dynamo's Depot upgrade catalog.

Dynamo established the Platoon alongside a group of other figures in the 70's shortly after Tinker, their manufacturer, announced that they'd be discontinuing their line. 

This newly founded team sought to create a refuge for discarded toys, hidden from the public deep in the desert. They'd carry out search and rescue operations to find forgotten figures, sometimes finding them in quite precarious situations. The Platoon slowly but surely grew in size, expanding to other regions all around the west coast.

That was until one day a massive series of strange disappearances peaked the Platoon's interest. News of Plastic Platoon toys still in the care of their kids, mysteriously taken away and replaced by figures from Tinker's new toy line, the Mighty Mutants. Soon a war broke out between the two lines, as both sides fought for what they thought was right. The Platoon to protect their brothers, and the Mutants to complete their prime directive.

COMMANDER VIEWMASTER

Commander Viewmaster is one of the bosses we have lined up for the game! We're thinking about adding him to Trainwreck, our first map, but we're still not sure. 

Viewmaster is a hot-headed brute with a strategic mind. He's also responsible for commanding all Ranged and Melee mutants. Even though his short temper and bombastic personality can be difficult to deal with, there's no doubt that he's a formidable strategist and combatant.

GENERAL REX

Rex is an unreleased prototype figure elected as Mutant general by the Marauder for his stern leadership. The Mutants have grown to respect Rex's ruthless personality, obeying his command with no question. 

Underneath Rex's cold attitude lies an extremely vain man, thinking of himself as having escaped the fallacy of free will (among other things). Rex views himself and the Mutants as nothing more than products, merely tools to complete their prime directive. As a result, he pities the Platoon and views them as inferior, blissfully unaware of what they truly are.

His attacks will be fully weapon-based unlike Viewmaster. We're planning on giving him an advanced revolver that can shoot bullets and attract them back in quick succession, alongside other curious weaponry.

WRAPPING UP.

Thanks for tuning into devlog 4! This time around I focused on showcasing more visual improvements, even if I did discuss some pretty massive gameplay reworks like the perk system tweaks. While the visual changes are nice, next devlog I'm aiming to focus more on gameplay and other in-game assets like props. I also wanna start seriously working on introducing the remaining basic mechanics.

If you wanna follow development on BATTLEMENTS closer, I'd advise following our Twitter and YouTube for "daily" updates and news! Check out our site too.