2026 DEV UPDATE

After long radio silence, burnout, and many a perturbation in my personal life, I am back, and so is Steel Executor.

No better time for a comeback than the Steam Cyberpunk Festival! CHECK OUT ALL THE NEW VIDEOS AND SCREENSHOTS ON THE STORE PAGE!

A word of explanation: I’ve wasted an immense amount of time and effort trying to get *any* sort of support for my game.

The conclusion is that I am 16 years too late to the party. But that’s alright, it is what it is.

Paradoxically, for you, the player, this is great news.

Since I am no longer restrained by any tight budget or schedule, and since I no longer intend to please anyone specifically to get something in return, Steel Executor is going to be exactly what I imagined it to be in the very beginning.

As unfiltered and raw as it can get.

Buckle up and grab a rocket launcher, introducing…

TOTAL DESTRUCTION

From this moment on, I would like every comparison to Hotline Miami clones to politely exit the room.

ANY SORT OF EXPLOSIVE ORDINANCE IN STEEL EXECUTOR NOW HAS THE ABILITY TO DESTROY (ALMOST) EVERY SINGLE ENVIRONMENTAL OBSTACLE IN THE GAME.

See that wall? You can blow it open. Except unlike Todd, I’m not lying.

You can now level levels. I’m not saying you *should*… but you *can*.

Introducing: Grenade Launchers.

Grenades will bounce off walls and drop to the ground, then explode after a short delay (in a slightly smaller radius than a rocket explosion).

If an enemy walks over an active grenade, it will explode immediately.

Definitely not a suitable weapon for close-quarters urban combat… would be a real shame if I gave you one immediately upon game start, in level 1, and made it cheap…

Let me know in the comments if you like this direction and how far you want me to take this.

What you see is the moderate approach.

UNLOCK AND BUY WEAPONS

Improved gun accuracy, faster melee weapon swinging, extra lives during hacking…

Permanent gameplay modifiers are cool, and you already get that in the form of robotic body upgrades (wasn’t it a bit lame how you could only wear one mask at a time in HM?... Balance in a single player game?...)

What I felt was severely missing from these kinds of games was the ability to further customize player experience through the mission preparation stage.

Like how you would select your assassination kit in the Hitman game series before every mission.

YOU CAN NOW PURCHASE ANY UNLOCKED WEAPON WITH A PORTION OF YOUR EARNED SCORE IN EVERY LEVEL.

AND I TRULY MEAN EVERY WEAPON, INCLUDING UNIQUE RIDICULOUS BOSS ONES (IF YOU MANAGE TO UNLOCK THEM).

High scores are no longer just fluff, they are a direct economic incentive for you to keep that combo timer up as long as possible, and chain as many hits as possible within that short timeframe.

The higher the score at the end, the bigger the payout.

Don’t worry, it won’t be difficult to accumulate cash and go crazy on the black market… depending on your spending habits. Rocket Lances and Plasma Halberds don’t come cheap.

How do you unlock weapons? Just pick them up, even if only once, and finish the level.

See that secret weapon you can’t reach behind the wall? You’re going to have to carry a loaded rocket launcher all the way to stage 3, and you WILL have fun doing it. That’s a promise.

(REWORKED) HACK THE WORLD

Hacking was definitely a design challenge to fit into the entire picture of what Steel Executor’s gameplay is, but after a *lot* of playtesting (special shoutout to everyone who played my demo on NGJ 2025!) I think I reached the final iteration I am fully satisfied with.

I always intended for Hacking to essentially be a self-contained arena shooter survival stage, but I also don’t mind when a game is difficult (when it’s fun).

Turns out I am the exception, not the rule.

Previously, Hacking punished failure way too much for what it provided in return.

NOW, SUCCESSFULLY FINISHING THE HACKING SEQUENCE PROVIDES THE HACKING BENEFIT REGARDLESS OF YOUR POSSIBLE DEATH LATER.

EVERY TIME YOU RESTART THAT STAGE DUE TO DYING, THE HACKING EFFECT WILL TAKE PLACE IMMEDIATELY AND GIVE YOU A TACTICAL ADVANTAGE.

The Hacking Avatar now has a default slow single-firing cyber Assault Rifle weapon.

The other ones (Shotgun, Rocket Launcher, Railgun) have been redesigned as pickups/limited powerups you can grab on the way to the exit.

They might just give you the edge you need to survive... while making Hacking upgrades far more worthwhile.

Any Hacking-related upgrades will now also increase the ammo capacity and firepower of these pickups/limited powerups, further synergizing the body upgrade system with palpable impact on gameplay.

So you can be ridiculously powerful not just in real life, but on the Internet too!

CONCLUSIONS (AND THE FUTURE)

Basically, what I’m trying to say is all sorts of different game mechanics within Steel Executor are now much more seamlessly intertwined with each other. The result is fun.

Everything you decide and choose bears real impact on gameplay, and boy will I let you choose…

In my opinion, the #1 issue plaguing modern gaming is the focus shift to cinematic experiences and taking away player agency in favor of railroaded, sanitized, curated, no-fun-allowed, board- and investor-approved, factory-made slop game design approach.

We *need* games that allow players to tell the level designer to go fuck himself. Honestly, fuck that guy, especially the one in charge of Doom 2016’s Argent Facility (Destroyed) progression path.

We *need* games you can effectively break and make your own if you mess with the tools and mechanics long enough.

We *need* games that don’t pull any punches, and actually have something of substance to say and prove, instead of regurgitating the same basic work-safe hero’s journey over and over again.

Or maybe I’m saying *I* need these games and barely anyone is delivering, so it falls on me to fulfill my own wishes. Either way, everyone benefits.

HIT THAT WISHLIST BUTTON (PLEASE).

Making such development updates is a colossal effort with how much I’ve got on my plate and a full-time job eating away at my vitality every goddamn day, so I’d rather keep them BIG like this one, but rare.

It should be the other way around, but I ain’t got the time or energy.

If you’re more interested in keeping up with the state of Steel Executor, join my Discord channel.

It will stay dead forever until *you* join and say hi. It’s also the best (and only) way of getting in the inevitable closed beta somewhere in 2027.

You can also check out my new cool l33t landing page @PAXTYRANNICA.NET for no reason at all. Unless you're looking for a Press Kit and a hidden message.

Cheers, and until the next time.