The "Information" update was given this name as it is the first showcase of some new features that will be used in the future to explain more of the game and story of Vactics. The first are tutorial popups that show off all the tech available in the game with full video. This replaces some animated popups that all much harder to build and maintain and my plan is replace all existing animated popups with these videos soon. Existing players should see popups the first time they use any tech in a campaign run. Please let me know how they are looking.

The second feature is a brand new intro cutscene, which is a test of the new story sequence system I've built. This setup will allow more cutscene content to be introduced to the game in the future and because of this I've also added a new menu to re-watch them if you wish.

Finally the a major gameplay introduction in this update is Fog. It's a new mechanic that will obscure the view of the player and enemies, and block your ability to use your skills. Fog at the moment is released when a special tile that appears in levels is activated or when the new Fog Wave escalation is active in a district. It changes some possible strategies available to the player and during my testing I sometimes felt like a mech ninja moving from cloud to cloud!

As always:

1. If you are enjoying the game, please leave a Steam review. They are helpful for Steam to inform people about the game and for new players to see if this is the kind of game they might enjoy as well.
   
2. Tell a friend and tell some strangers. Word of mouth is the main way people can find Vactics so please share widely.
   
3. If you have any things that aren't working for you, I want to hear from you. Make a forum post or use the in-game feedback button and tell you me your thoughts. People who get in touch in these ways have really helped me improve Vactics.

Thank you as always for playing Vactics and leaving feedback.

Cheers,
Gerard / The Lemur Conspiracy

Client Versions

Early Access: #0.400.4415
Demo: #0.400.4415

Changes

• Audio: Tweaked the recharge sound played when the Recharge Drone moves onto the mech.
  
• Audio: updated button hover and press sounds to give a more keyboard button feel.
  
• Gameplay: Added Fog tile to the game. A new special tile that can appear in levels that spawns fog clouds when activated.
  
• Gameplay: Added new Fog mechaic to the game. Tiles with Fog clouds cannot be targeted by enemies or the player. When the mech is on a fog tile their tech cannot be used and won't recharge between turns.
  
• Gameplay: Added new Fog Wave Escalation that causes fog to appear in all levels.
  
• Gameplay: Updated logic so that Citywide Escalations are kept active between runs, saving the need to re-enable them each time. Thanks to the user for the feedback that led to this change.
  
• Narrative: Added new introductory cutscene that will play the first time the player begins the campaign. This is WIP to get the story features tested and working. It will see more improvements in the future.
  
• Tutorials: 14 new video tutorials for all tech in the game. These will play the first time the tech is used in the campaign.
  
• UI: Addded a new Cutscene screen to allow players to re-watch previously viewed cutscenes. This will be populated with more content in future updates.
  
• UI: Added a button to clear all active Escalations on the Citywide Escalation screen.
  
• UI: Added a feedback button to the gameplay panel to provide users easier access to that feature.
  
• UI: More polish added to the opening title to improve it's layout on multiple screen resolutions.
  
• VFX: Added some additional effects that play when the player skips their turn and surrounding buildings are cleared out.

Bugfixes

• Fixed bug for scenario where player could be trapped in a corner by multiple shooter vactics. Thanks to the user who let me know about the issue.
  
• Fixed minor visual bug where enemy would revert to default colours when the player died if they happened to be frozen.

Note: Any relevant fixes and improvements will also be in the updated client for the demo version of Vactics.