Steam Marines (Now at Open Alpha v0.8.0a)

[getter77]

There's a learning curve for sure and it is still coming along...not incredibly unlike how it takes time to get to grips with any given X-COM game even when such things are at a more mature stage of the development cycle.  From the dev's twitter rantings from time to time while playing the new X-COM EU game, I'd reckon Steam Marines stands to benefit from the various stumbles he's suffered in it in the long haul.

Game Hunter did a test drive video for the last update of the game as one of the last few to round out his ARRP 2012 videos, checking that out might give you some insights beyond the changelogs.

[Worthless_Bums]

@jim I get pulled in two different directions at once regarding the starting difficulty. It's surprisingly polar, either too hard or too easy. That said I think it's fair to say that the Flamejacks really mess up new players and they will most likely be bumped to a different deck level, or at least won't spawn on the first level when new players are learning the ropes.

Do I rant on Twitter? I suppose I do! I hate panic so much... Also, v0.6.3.5a is out and it's primarily to fix a nasty reloading bug in v0.6.3a. Should be available for download on the main site and in the forums as well. Thanks for trying Steam Marines!

[getter77]

Heh, not so much ranting I guess versus exasperations.   

Full log for the curious:

Bug Fixes
-------------------------------------------------
Fixed bug with weapon stats ammo to fire and reload AP cost not persisting in save file.
Fixed bug with squad members not being able to fire through elevator tiles.
Elevator tile fix should also cause squad members in Guard Mode not to fire through closed doors.
Fixed AI path finding bug when moving through multiple door tiles.

[jim]

It's weird, I guess I'm just being a wimp about this game. I'm normally a hardcore, l337 individual when it comes to roguelikes, but perhaps I just missed the boat on Steam Marines. Maybe a tutorial would help? It's been a while since I played, but I truly did not "get" the game when I played it, and I spent a good hour trying to figure it out. Is there a wiki, or maybe a quick "getting started" post anywhere?

[Worthless_Bums]

It's weird, I guess I'm just being a wimp about this game. I'm normally a hardcore, l337 individual when it comes to roguelikes, but perhaps I just missed the boat on Steam Marines. Maybe a tutorial would help? It's been a while since I played, but I truly did not "get" the game when I played it, and I spent a good hour trying to figure it out. Is there a wiki, or maybe a quick "getting started" post anywhere?

There's a basic guide on the forums here: http://www.worthlessbums.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1707

Do remember that this is in alpha so I wouldn't assume I'm doing smart stuff and you're out of it. I am fully capable of putting in stupid stuff, both deliberately and accidentally I do greatly appreciate player feedback!

[getter77]

v0.6.4a

New Features

-Implemented basic Primary and Secondary mission objectives.
-Added difficulty options on new game: Easy and Normal.
-Reduced Brute and Flamejack stats.
-Simplified Flamejack AI on Easy difficulty.
-Flamejacks no longer spawn in beginning levels of the Command Deck.
-Rebalanced enemy melee hit chances.
-The squad's action points are refunded after descending via the elevator.
-PDAs can be picked up and used to provide information on enemies or the elevator location.
-Added Engineering Deck floor tiles.
-Added new Engineering Deck grating tiles.
-Severely reduced chance for monsters to burst from grating tiles.
-Added event log message when monsters burst from grating tiles.
-Updated tutorial overlay with new information.
-Reduced chance of item spawns, PDAs in particular.
-Lowered switch spawn chance.
-Enforced no name duplication for squad members on new game.
-Reduced grenade use from 2 AP to 1 AP.
-Added blood/corpse smear when squad members die.
-Increased item grenade damage to primary target to 50 and aoe to 30.
-Implemented proper fade in/out for audio channels.

Bug Fixes

-Fixed PDAs not having proper names!
-Fog of war now updates properly when smashing crates and dispensers.
-Fixed broken music looping on Mac OS X in the Engineering Deck.
-Fixed water tiles improperly being used.

[getter77]

v0.6.5a

New Features

-(*Most; see notes below) level data now persist in saved games.
-The player may now choose the name, gender, and class of each squad member on new game.
-Reduced experience required to level in Easy and Normal difficulties.
-Removed possibility of speed penalties on starting armor.
-Portrait updating in line with any class in any squad slot.
-Added popup text for missed shots from squad members.
-Auto saves on quit/window close/load and a game is in progress.
-Removed scrolling event text back panel. Text now just hovers.
-Guard Mode reverted to cardinal lines of fire only.
-Updated some sound effects.
-Added sound effects for using consoles and dispensers.
-Dispensers spawn powered on by default now. Using them for ammo shuts them off.
-Flamejacks in higher deck levels can be sneaky on Normal difficulty.
-When squad members get hit their weapons have a chance to have a stat be permanently reduced.
-Increased base loot chest spawn chance and increases spawn chance based on deck level.
-Changed various button hover times from 1000ms to 0ms.
-Squad member attacks made from behind their targets will automatically crit, dealing double damage. Follow Mode auto-shots cannot crit this way.
-Squad member attacks from the sides will flank the target, making them turn automatically to face the squad member. Follow Mode auto-shots can flank this way.
-Added Guard Mode animation to indicate squad member status.
-Monsters can decide to loot nearby chests.
-Replaced level music with new ambient loop.

Bug Fixes

-Fixed reload bug with some Grenadier weapons.
-Fixed AP to Fire cost bug with high ammo weapons.
-Fixed scrolling event log sizing problems with different screen resolutions.
-Fixed Guard Mode sometimes deducting ammo from the wrong squad member.
-Fixed Scout shots not penetrating primary and secondary targets in unusual circumstances.
-Consoles now render below enemies instead of on top of them.
-Consoles properly retain unique messages/logs instead of sometimes randomly generating new ones.
-Fixed dispenser lights being rendered above fog of war.
-Reloading without firing after now persists the proper amount of total ammunition per squad member.

Notes

-The load state preview on the main menu displays incorrect data due to the squad slot class change.
-Damage numbers can still pop up on the Grenadier's primary target even if no damage is actually done (shot missed). This is just a display error.
-*Most level data now persists, but unit status effects (like fire) do not.
-Weapons can be permanently damaged by attacks but armor currently cannot due to not having a stat rebalance yet like weapons have had.
-On the squad creation screen when choosing to start a new game you can cycle gender and class with the two buttons below each squad member. Their names are also directly editable in their respective text fields; no white space allowed.
-Sleep chance for spawning monsters turned off until further work on the mechanic is done.
-Flanked shots in Follow Mode can cause the target to face away instead of toward the source of fire!
-Removed 640x480 and 800x600 from video options until the GUI is updated to accommodate lower resolutions.

An array of good meat added to the bones this time around especially it would appear.   

[getter77]

v0.6.6a

New Features

-*A survivor recruitment system is in place.
-Tile destruction data now persists in save file.
-Mission Objectives now persist in save file.
-Smashing wall tiles with melee now has a 50% success rate, up from 33%.

Bug Fixes

-Fixed Frozen weapons always showing “-1 AP” on hit even when no action point reduction was applied.
-Elevators no longer power off when a save game is loaded.
-Multiple save/persistence bugs fixed.
-Fixed consoles always being corrupted.

Notes

-*The survivor recruitment system is triggered when using the elevator and the squad has lost at least one member. A survivor will be generated with random stats/gear and the player may choose to accept or reject the recruit candidate as desired. Survivor recruits may start wounded.

[getter77]

v0.6.7a

New Features

-Added “Acidjack” enemy that reduces armor rating on melee attack and explodes when killed. Acidjacks have a higher than normal chance of reducing their targets' weapons' ranges.
-All decks have persistent Hostile Control and Integrity stats.
-If a deck reaches 0% integrity you lose the game.
-Enemies have their current action points displayed on the lower left. AP reducing effects should update this (e.g. Frozen weapon and Dismantle).
-Added experience and ammunition bars for the active squad member in the bottom center of the screen.
-Added new Weapon display instead of pure text readout in side panel.
-Added end of level statistics screen.
-Program start loading screen added.
-Reduced base chest and item spawn chances and increased spawn chances based on deck level.
-New armor stats added; repair, oxygen, fire/frost/acid/explosive resistance. Repair allows a character to regenerate health when killing robotic units. Oxygen is partially implemented; nothing yet reduces it or forces a squad member to use oxygen. Resistances are flat damage reductions for damage types.
-Oxygen tanks restore all oxygen (nothing implemented for use yet) and 3 AP (this works).
-Grow size for unit actions now dependent on sprite size.
-Firing a marine's primary weapon is now a two step process. Pressing the fire key will toggle target indicators on, showing what tiles the shot will pass through (green) and what tile(s) the shot will directly hit. Indicators will show all non-obstruction tiles in line of sight for the full weapon range and can therefore reveal fog of war.
-Damage numbers pop up from environmental effects like land mines.
-Made each deck 5 levels instead of 4.
-Inventory Side Panel's visibility is now toggleable.
-Added toggle buttons for the Deck Information/Mission Objectives side panels.
-Added weapon damage and accuracy popups on fire control toggle.
-Scrolling Event text now inserts new messages at the bottom of the log.
-Added visual movement buttons in the bottom right corner.
-Added visual control for Grab/Interact/Guard Mode in the bottom right corner. Squad Follow button adjusted to this panel as well.
-All squad members now have current action point overlays, not just the active character.
-Implemented animated main menu logo.
-Guard Mode now only triggers on enemy movement instead of every enemy action.

Bug Fixes

-Monsters can no longer spawn with less than 1 health on Easy difficulty.
-Weapons and armor in inventory now properly persist stats in save file.
-Treasure chests and land mines now persist in save file.
-Many squad states now persist in save file.
-Ambient music properly fades in on load game.
-Many small bugs regarding monster AI and pathfinding.
-Fixed issues with some assets being initially spawned on screen when they should have been out of sight.
-Fixed bug with enemy units opening doors and using the incorrect tileset.
-Increased size of Mission Objectives text area so it fits in smaller resolutions.
-Fixed talent bar sizing and positioning in different aspect ratios and reduced slots to 4.
-Fixed some incorrect tile swapping between the Command and Engineering Decks.
-Light switches now render below monsters.
-Fixed enemy unit desynchronization issue with enemy unit and Guard Mode with Leader class weapon knockback.

Notes

-Armor swap GUI reformatted to account for new armor stats.
-The Hostile Control bar can shift to the right when a game is loaded. This is unintended.
-The game just slams into the “Game Over” screen if the player loses via deck integrity, just like squad death. No fancy overview screen yet. Sorry!
-Interact and Grab button tooltips are not capitalized. Not sure why.
-The Large Font game option is disabled until the GUI is overhauled.

[getter77]

v0.6.8a

New Features

-Squad members' weapons' ranges now affect accuracy as well. Targets at max weapon range have a 100% chance to be hit.
-Target indicator now displays 100% accuracy shots In purple.
-Weapon accuracy stat rebalanced to account for new range/accuracy mechanic.
-Enemies now crit for double damage from behind like squad members do.
-Enemies now flank their targets like squad members do.
-Squad member base melee damage is now 1, down from 4.
-Fire, Reload, Promotion, and End Turn buttons have been added.
-Apart from the starting levels of the Command Deck, Brutes have a chance to spawn larger, with more stats and a charge ability. They are marked by slightly larger size and a shade of blue.
-Squad members no longer start equipped with weapons with special prefixes.
-Not all weapons spawn with special prefixes.
-Reduced base item spawn chance and chance for killed enemies to drop items.
-Activated enemy evasion stat (reduced chance to be hit from ranged attacks).
-Target indicator popup now takes enemy evasion into account when calculating accuracy.
-Target indicator popup now includes rounds fire along with damage done per round.
-Adjusted health and damage values downward for easier understanding of mechanics.
-Clamped floating HP and AP text so they don't bounce on update anymore.
-Reduced Mission Objective and Deck Stats font size to be in line with the rest of the UI text.
-Medikits now restore up to 5 health points.
-Canteens now restore up to 2 health points and 2 action points.
-Reduced land mine damage to 10 from 20.

Bug Fixes

-Fixed Squad Follow auto-firing not always using the correct weapon range when taking shots.
-Fixed auto-end turn message sometimes popping up erroneously on manual end turns.
-Fixed deck Hostile Control going negative.
-Fixed bug with target indicators not always using the proper damage range.
-Secondary Mission Objective “Use no grenades” now automatically updates upon using a grenade instead of updating on using elevator.
-All unit shadows properly attach on load game.
-Weapon attachments properly orient themselves on squad member weapons and facing on load game.
-Updated Squad Follow message when trying to enter follow mode in improper formation.
-Fixed ranking by level for individual squad members.
-Game state enforcer should synchronize all squad member deaths properly even with fastest enemy turn speed on slow computers.

Notes

-Target indicator damage numbers do not take into account target armor or resistances. Unsure as to whether this will change or not.
-When a squad member dies the immediate field of view he/she had turns full black in fog of war. This is unintended.

[getter77]

v0.6.9a

New Features

-Tiles squad members can stand on to activate the elevator are now highlighted.
-The entire squad must be within 2 tiles of the elevator to descend (down from 4).
-Added gear explosion effect when robotic units die.
-Squad weapons now have smoke trails, one for each round fired.
-Smoke trails have different colors for different weapon prefixes (e.g. Inferno and Frozen).
-Critical hit and flank text now scroll upward.
-Critical damage numbers pop a lot harder to make it more obvious a critical hit has occurred.
-Changed font size/coloring for status effects such as flanking and armor Repair.
-Added delay between monster actions and Guard Mode firing.
-Added slow motion on squad member death.
-Reduced ammunition given by the Ammo Crate item.
-Added intro screen with lore and background on new game.
-Enemy units now spawn facing random directions.
-Added random squad dialogue on new game start.
-Squad members now announce when they spot new enemies.
-Added death screen showing statistics.
-Enemy units now move slower/smoother from tile to tile.

Bug Fixes

-Fixed Scout class talent Scoped not always hitting 100% of the time.
-Closing a door with the squad's last action point can now properly trigger the automatic end of turn.
-Elevator arrow animation properly spawns on load game.
-Changed rendering layers so crates, consoles, and dispensers look correct when units are on top of them.
-Blocked most actions from being taken while the enemy turn is ongoing. Actions that do not interfere such as pausing and going to the main menu or switching squad members or changing zoom level are permitted.
-Fixed squads spotting unconnected areas after using elevator.
-Revenants should no longer spawn until unit assets and AI are fully implemented.
-Enemy units now face in the direction the melee in even if they miss their target.
-Fixed class/persistence squad preview on main menu screen.

Notes

-Oxygen Tanks and Power Cores removed from drop lists until Power/Oxygen mechanics properly implemented.
-Changed default screenshot keybind to Print Screen.
-Game option for font size now toggles between large and small font size for the scrolling event log.
-The elevator cannot be activated when a squad member is on a door tile. This is unintended and will be fixed in the future.

[getter77]

v0.7.0a

New Features

-Enemies “Bucket” and “Thopter” added.
-Buckets reduce a squad member's action points. This reduction is only temporary for the squad member's next turn.
-Thopters are high speed, high evasion, weak damage units that lose action points when attacked.
-Grenadier class weapons now show a red indicator on targeted obstacle tiles. Non-obstructed tiles at max weapon range do not show a red indicator although grenades will still explode on that tile.
-All class weapons spawn with a fire and reload action point cost of 1. The stats can still be damaged (increased) from enemy units that can damage gear.
-Ammo Crates now only give ammunition to the squad member that uses the item. It also automatically reloads that squad member's equipped weapon; this ammo is not deducted from the normal amount given.
-Grenadier class weapons now clearly indicate each tile that will be hit if fired.
-Enemies now spawn more frequently in groups.
-Enemy stats and spawn chances adjusted for smoother difficulty ramp at the start of decks. Easy difficulty mode should be significantly easier.

Bug Fixes

-Fixed some issues with using squad member/squad's last action point and enemy turn not triggering despite auto end turn/switch character game options being set.
-Fixed position synchronization issue with Leader class talent “Charge”.
-Fixed action point cost issue with Leader class talents.
-Enemy health now updates on all aoe damage.
-Fixed melee attacks reducing enemy health to 0 without killing if melee damage and enemy health were exactly the same amount.
-Fixed Scout class talents “Scoped” not always hitting and doubling damage.
-Fixed Scout class talent “Called Shot” and Support class talent “Dismantle” not updating enemy AP counter when scoring a hit.
-Fixed Guard Mode always having the topmost squad member firing on last enemy action point, even when that squad member is not in Guard Mode!
-Fixed non-Leader class Guard Mode shots sometimes pushing back enemies.
-Fixed main menu/continue game actions not always responding.
-Fixed enemy status effects sometimes being applied even if the attacks miss.
-Fixed HP and AP overlay layer render order.
-Fixed mouse controls not clearing target indicators after fire controls have been initiated.
-Max range shots with 100% accuracy override high evasion abilities.
-Fixed bug with character creation avatars not always resetting on new game.

Notes

-Locked main menu pause during enemy turn.
-Cut down on mission objective text.
-Health overlay shifted down on top of Action Point overlay.
-Increased chance to spawn monsters from grating to compensate for less powerful enemy units.

[getter77]

v0.7.1a

New Features

-During their turn enemy units now move in sequence until they die or expend all action points.
-The camera tracks each enemy unit in turn.
-Enemy AI may choose to spend an Action Point doing nothing or facing in a specific direction.
-Enemy units now grow and shrink when acting like squad members do.
-Guard Mode can trigger on every enemy action.
Added keybinds to button control tooltips.
-Added Medical Deck. Higher chance to get health pickups. Larger levels than in the Command and Engineering Decks.
-Added the Ripsaw, Tick, and Amputator enemy units. No special abilities yet, but they're tough. Beware.
-Lots of enemy unit changes. Like, a lot.
-Weapon stats scale more depending on the deck on which they are found.
-Most of the main UI hud is now toggleable on and off.
-Added a reverse character cycle keybind (default left control).
-Added a sound effect for when a squad member's weapon gets damaged.

Bug Fixes

-A host of pixel perfect rendering issues fixed in widescreen resolutions.
-Fixed unit shadows sometimes lingering after unit death.
-Enforced enemy positions with new turn mechanic.
-Fixed bug with door tiles not being included in the elevator zone.
-Fixed flicker of main menu UI elements in incorrect positions on startup.
-Widescreen resolutions better supported – black bars removed and other pixel perfect rendering issues resolved.
-Squad member health should update immediately upon taking damage from all sources.
-The proper marine now comments when scoring a kill if multiple marines are in Guard Mode.
-Fixed weapon sprites not mounting properly if use by the marine not equipping the weapon.
-Many minor UI/AI/level generation bugs. Fixed the diagonal movement bug with Brutes.
You can
-Escape now toggles weapon targeting off.

Notes

-Streamlined state enforcer. Game should be less CPU intensive.
-Tightened AI code. Game should be less CPU intensive during enemy turns.
-Enforced enemy positions with new turn mechanics.
-Changed event log message about not being close enough to the elevator with information about the elevator zone.
-Enemies no longer burst from grating in the early levels of the game.
-Map generation/loading should be faster.
-Increased chance to place environmentals such as wall pipes and lights.
-Main menu got an overhaul.

[spelk]

Steam Marines gets a First Impressions Review over at The Wargamer.

http://wargamer.com/article/3331/first-impressions-steam-marines-v0.7.1a

[getter77]

v0.7.2a

New Features

    -Added a delay to auto switching squad members and to auto ending the turn when no monsters are visible to avoid accidental actions.
    -Added a sound effect for when a marine runs out of Action Points, mostly to help the player notice an auto switch is going to occur with the new delay.
    -Clicking directly on a squad member will select that marine.
    -Added movement/facing tile indicators for mouse input. There is currently no “look ahead” so the indicator does not change depending on what is on the selected tile. Crappy ring animation is placeholder.
    -Rehauled the way promotions are taken. At each rank (Private First Class, Lance Corporal, Corporal, and Sergeant) you are given a choice of one of two talents. One talent is active and the other is passive. Talent points no longer exist and you cannot go back and change a talent choice.
    -Added controller/gamepad/joystick support. Yell at me with your specific device/OS if this isn't working.
    -The main menu (default escape) and promotion panel (default p) keys push and pop dialogs in logical order (e.g. both dismiss the promotion/confirmation windows when appropriate).
    -Base sight range per marine is now based on class; Leader is 4, Scout is 5, Grenadier is 3, and Support is 3. These numbers indicate the farthest number of tiles a marine can see in the direction he/she faces. You can still see one tile behind a marine and on the sides.
    -Laser Sight now gives +15% accuracy and reduces sight range by 1.
    -If on Windows the take screenshot keybind will default to print screen. On Mac it will default to ctrl + p.
    -The new class passive talents that reduce damage are all applied after all other damage mitigation/reduction effects. So if a marine has armor with +2 Fire Reduction and a talent with 25% Fire Reduction, getting hit with 10 raw fire damage means he will take (10 – 2) * 0.75 = 6 points of fire damage.
    -Enemy attacks now have their damage numbers color coded by damage type.
    -Added footstep sound effects for enemy units. Heavier units have heavier sounding footsteps.
    -Guard Mode will trigger on every enemy action, not just enemies directly in front of marines.
    -Ammunition now doesn't come in loose rounds, they come in magazines that fully reload a marine's weapon. If there is ammunition in the weapon when reloaded, one round gets saved and the rest are lost.
    -Ammo crates give two magazines to each marine (regardless of who uses the it) and auto reloads the weapon active squad member's weapon (does not use a magazine just received).
    -Stasis status effects lock down a unit so that it cannot act or be interacted with. Lasts a full turn cycle, e.g. if a marine stasis locks an enemy that enemy is in stasis for the player turn and the enemy turn. On the start of the next player turn stasis will fade.

Bug Fixes

    -The Promotions Panel is fully toggleable with the keybind again.
    -Fixed event log message when trying to reload without ammunition.
    -Buckets have proper animated sprites now.
    -Fixed Bulwark talent not properly displaying the wall if placed on a destroyed tile.
    -Fixed player input sometimes locking up after squad member death.
    -Fixed enemy units rendering on top of light sources.
    -Fixed enemy unit HP/AP floating text flickering on top of fog of war.
    -Fixed persistence issues with lights and light sources.
    -Fixed shotgun knockback not interrupting enemy AI action queue.
    -Fixed screen getting cut off on some Macs in windowed mode.
    -Fixed kill tracking sometimes applying a kill to the active squad member instead of the squad member responsible for the kill.
    -Tile indicator animation now appears on top of traps.
    -Ammo counter and bar now update after using a dispenser.
    -Fixed autoswitching bug not canceling when the player initiates another character switch command.

Notes

    -Removed Acidjacks from the game (probably temporary). Art assets and new enemy talent system holding things up.
    -The squad's action points are now refunded at the beginning of the enemy turn instead of the end. This allows action point deductions to take place more clearly to the player's eyes (during the enemy turn).
    -Updated window GUIs.
    -Landmine got a facelift.
    -The Options Dialog (actually all window GUI stuff) is undergoing some changes. I apologize for the half-baked look and feel. Game Settings tab page is disabled for now.
    -Updated the squad creation UI. Also displays better in widescreen resolutions.