Dev Log 4-1

We're starting our monthly progress report, this is the first of two.

This report won't feature videos, as we've been busy with several large-scale tasks and haven't finished them yet. We'll be releasing videos as we complete various stages of current tasks. However, we still have a lot to tell and show, so let's get started.

A new missile launcher.

You can never have too many missiles. Steam post image

This launcher's unique feature is its simplicity: it fires infrared-guided rockets at the player's active target, meaning it doesn't require a separate target lock, allowing for a salvo to be fired much faster than other missile launchers. True, the missile guidance isn't very good, and a mobile enemy can easily dodge them, but against large, slow targets, this missile launcher will be ideal.

Damage model

In short, fairly large enemies will have several modules that can be destroyed individually, including weapons, armor plates, weak points, and so on. Damage to modules reduces the unit's overall combat capability until it's no longer able to fight. Nothing groundbreaking in terms of gameplay, but in 2026, it's a shame to make something simple. The health bar, modules, and damage model are a massive undertaking. Modules have their own stats and defenses, and they literally provide enemies with their offensive and defensive capabilities. Even working out the architecture of how this should work is a massive undertaking that requires time, but we'll be showing it in action soon.

To make it less boring to just read the text, I'll add a few weapon sketches. These weapons are still far from finished, but work on new guns is ongoing. Steam post imageSteam post image

The damage model entails even more extensive mechanics, which we spent a lot of time conceiving.

Armor and APS mechanics

This is a combination of two key mechanics that, in my opinion, should add realism and depth to the game, transforming it from simply shooting tanks into something more.

• AdjustedThe armor part is clearour game is about powerful military vehicles, and almost all of them are protected by armor. There are several armor levels, and weapons have armor-piercing capabilities. If a weapon's armor-piercing capability is equal to or higher than the armor level, you inflict full damage. If the weapon's armor-piercing capability is lower, the damage is significantly reduced. It's practically impossible to damage heavy armor with a weapon without armor-piercing capabilities. Each unit has areas of varying armor. It's not as complex as in War Thunder, but it's enough to reward the player for accurate shooting.

• The APS part is more interesting: it's an Active Protection System, which is equipped on elite units. It operates similarly to modern systems like Trophy, but is more advanced. It incorporates high-speed radars, small anti-projectile lasers, EMPs and Countermeasure launchers, all controlled by a specialized AI system, it can detect all projectiles, bullets, shells, missiles, and drones approaching the unit and destroy them. While the system is operational, it is virtually impossible to penetrate.

This isn't a Star Wars shield. The countermeasure launcher doesn't care about projectile damage; it cares about the number of projectiles fired in small time. The countermeasure launcher is very effective against single, powerful shots, but bursts from a machine gun or multiple shotgun blasts can easily overheat it, as the system has to shoot down numerous projectiles in a short period of time. When the Active Protection System overheats, it shuts down for emergency cooling, leaving the user defenseless.

This is where our core gameplay mechanics and weapon balance come from: when fighting an elite unit, you first need to overheat the enemy's APS, and then inflict maximum damage until the APS activates again.

• weapons effective against Active Protection have low armor-piercing capabilities and cannot inflict significant damage to armor;

• weapons with high armor-piercing capabilities have a low rate of fire and cannot penetrate Active Protection;

In addition to specialized weapons, APS can be bypassed by other methods: point-blank shooting, mines, concentrated allied fire, melee weapons, and stratagems with projectiles of such caliber that even Active Protection cannot cope with them. Besides elites, there are other units with their own characteristics but without APS, such as aircraft, clusters of small enemies, and buildings vulnerable to Explosives, and so on. Our idea is that when creating a build, the player can't simply pick the four biggest guns with the highest damage and beat the entire game. Instead, they should select a variety of weapons to solve different problems. We don't want to limit the player to any specific techniques; we simply present the player with challenges and a variety of tools, and the player will choose the solutions that best suit their playstyle.

Turrets

Medium missile and cannon turrets for defending various bases. Nothing special, but I still took the time to draw them; I want to show them off.

Steam post imageSteam post imageSteam post imageSteam post image

That concludes the first part of the report.

Look for the second part tomorrow.

Thanks for your attention.

Join our Discord group for even more information.