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Game News Mechajammer Kickstarter Update #33: Three Hand Harry Commentary Video

Infinitron

I post news
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Messages
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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Tags: Mechajammer; Whalenought Studios

Last month when Mechajammer made its appearance at the PC Gaming Show, Whalenought promised that some sort of gameplay video was in the works. Here it is at last, played by Joe and narrated by Hannah. In this particular scenario, the player character is tasked with raiding the compound of a local thug named Three Hand Harry. A one man frontal assault quickly proves unsuccessful, so they opt for a stealthy backdoor approach instead. Of course, it's always possible to just zerg rush the place with a horde of minions. In addition to the video, the new Kickstarter update also has details about some of the latest features that Joe and Hannah have been working on. The most interesting of these is a chaos level system in which the game world changes based on how much havoc the player has been raising.



We consolidated some gameplay from the city into some general overview stuff on navigation. Three Hand Harry is a punk, and Hannah gives a few recommendations on how to greet your neighbors on Calitana.

We're nearing ready to summon you all for some larger game area testing. Prior to this we're finishing some focused improvements on:

enemy / companion AI
NPCs have various ranges of how stupid they are, from attack-flee-wander to actively searching for you through shadows like the terminator. We're finding a nice balanced in-between feel for the median encounter and companion.

UI upgrades
Reflect some of these AI visual updates (noise indicators, suppression meters are louder, etc.)

Sneaking
Some gameplay tweaks to make things easier, based off feedback. Sneaking will now happen anytime you are holding shift and click to move somewhere, or click on yourself to just crouch. Sometimes you just want to duck behind a box, but then you want to run after that, and don't want to enter a sneak mode where you're committed to a slow quiet movement. Much more versatile, and easy to remember, shift for shifty.

Adapting to Chaos
The way the game is laid out and [very] open-ended, it ranges from infiltration focused to very casual exploration and driving. The gangs react to you(r violence) in logical ways — gangs friendly to ones you've attacked will turn hostile to you, and ones also against them open up as allegiances. But what about everything else? There's a city of laborers and citizens at the disposal of syndicates, the gangs, and the newcomer: you.

Knowing how most tabletop sessions go, and most games, we needed reactivity for setting the sandbox on fire. With perpetual saving, we also wanted your actions to have enough consequence to be considered (permanent) decisions, but enough leeway to also have some freedom to experiment. Killing a gang boss is cut and dry, but what about everything else?

There are syndicates to steal from, gangs to conquer, drug dens to bust for property keys, and a whole lot more that are inevitable threats. One of the avoidable things you can do in the game is beat the crap out of all the citizens and laborers. They aren’t terribly easy to pummel on accident (you’re welcome, as you’ll find out), but if your going around and convincing hordes of them to join you there’s going to be consequences.

Like the 13 gangs, Calitana itself has a meter to determine its current threat level. For the gangs, you'll usually cross the line on being able to ally with a gang if you kill their agent, or enough of their laborers/patrols. Likewise for the city meter, the civilians in the city are MFI’s laborers, and too many disappearing is going to raise some flags, or guns, in this case.

The stability of the relationship between the civilian laborers, gangs and syndicates of Calitana is pretty shaky at best. As we’ve said, it’s a pot ready to boil over. Someone just needs to turn up the heat. Driving waves of civilians to your violent bidding is enough to raise some eyebrows of the city administrators.

Threat levels can ease with time until it hits a new grade. As the city’s threat level rises, the civilian crowds thin out. Feeling threatened on top of an already dead-end existence, you tip them over the edge, and the denizens band together to form more small-time gangs in the streets. More bodies, more rats, and more MFI patrols.

This is manageable for the player, but resource management can get tighter when your usual peaceful streets are full of enemies to avoid or waste ammo on. Not is all at a loss though. Paying some heavy tribute to The Faith syndicate will replenish civilians back to an indoctrinated state, dropping the Threat level, and giving them a new lease on life.

Cool stuff. If you want to try it yourself, the Mechajammer demo is available again on Steam until the end of the month as part of the Dreamhack Beyond digital festival.
 
Self-Ejected

Netch

Self-Ejected
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Jul 22, 2021
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The open ended design and combat seems interesting, the art direction on the other hand... I'm not usually one to complain about graphics but the visuals in this seem incredibly muddy.
 

Alter Sack

Magister
Joined
Dec 22, 2019
Messages
2,201
The open ended design and combat seems interesting, the art direction on the other hand... I'm not usually one to complain about graphics but the visuals in this seem incredibly muddy.

Don't worry. I think we can still expect at least one or two major art overhauls until release.
 

DeepOcean

Arcane
Joined
Nov 8, 2012
Messages
7,394
I liked the art style, it has a more dirty look to it that fits better with the game.
 

Lady Error

█▓▒░ ░▒▓█
Patron
Vatnik
Joined
Jan 21, 2021
Messages
9,215
Strap Yourselves In
I don't mind the "dirty" look, but the stylized pixel-graphics are quite messy in the sense that it is difficult to recognize what you are looking at.
 

grimace

Arcane
Joined
Jan 17, 2015
Messages
1,957
Mechajammer reminds us of:

Shadowrun SNES and Genesis

DOS Syndicate

Ultima 7 simulation aspects

Metal Gear Master System

Grand Theft Auto 2

Jagged Alliance 2
 

Junmarko

† Cristo è Re †
Patron
Joined
Jun 20, 2011
Messages
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Location
Schläfertempel
"So right now we're driving through the middle of Old Town..."

*runs over 5 people, hits a street lamp, t-bones a motorcycle*

Bloody women drivers.
 

Bester

⚰️☠️⚱️
Patron
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Messages
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> you can jam the lock, but since the game is constantly saving, it's permanent

Oh Christ, thank you. Finally someone did it in an RPG.
 

luj1

You're all shills
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Eastern block
I don't know why, or how, this happened but I'm starting to like how it looks! :o

Still don't like the name though! :rpgcodex: Copper Dreams was soooooo much cooler!

Or just Jammer would have been 10 times better.

Anyway they didn't change the name because this one is cooler. Copper Dreams was associated with development hell and 12 art overhauls, it was starting to be a meme. It's easier to like something that you think is a new game.
 
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Codex Year of the Donut
ss_041a4f5ab3fbcd656eeb33b982c49b2b26fef207.1920x1080.jpg
 

Van-d-all

Erudite
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Location
Standin' pretty. In this dust that was a city.
After playing the demo I must admit I was pleasantly surprised. The final (?) artstyle is still very reminiscent of PSX (which I liked in some Copper Dreams previews), and the hex TB combat is both fluent and somewhat unique outside of roguelikes. Really eager to see how the game turns out.
 

Alter Sack

Magister
Joined
Dec 22, 2019
Messages
2,201
In a way it's understandable.

If a developer won't include that shit he would be beleaguered by mentally ill twitter retards (who wouldn't buy the game anyway) crying mascara tears.

And if he doesn't give in he would be canceled by the woke so-called gaming "journalists".

In a way I understand that a small two person studio can't risk that economically.

But it's sad nonetheless.
 

Alter Sack

Magister
Joined
Dec 22, 2019
Messages
2,201
If a developer won't include that shit he would be beleaguered by mentally ill twitter retards (who wouldn't buy the game anyway) crying mascara tears.
Solution = Don't use Twitter.

99% of the people on there are mentally insane.

I don't think that would help. These retardera idiots and their ilk would make a ruckus on twitter and in the net in general anyway.

And these woke "journalists" would eat that shit right up.
 

Bester

⚰️☠️⚱️
Patron
Vatnik
Joined
Sep 28, 2014
Messages
10,992
Location
USSR
"non-binary"...

Oh shit, really?

Where does it say that?

I don't want to roleplay a mentally ill dangerhair. :negative:

Edit: Ok, saw it. At least your aren't forced to play as one.

But it's a plague nonetheless.
As likeable as Hannah and Joe are, they are, at the end of the day, jews. And since they can't help themselves, it's almost not their fault in way. Still, I think the codex should be a safe space for developers, so even if destroying our society is on their agenda, we can still enjoy RPGs together. Especially if the sexopathology is optional.
 

Tyranicon

A Memory of Eternity
Developer
Joined
Oct 7, 2019
Messages
5,861
That UI is slick as hell. Not sure I prefer the slanted inventory, but I've got to give it style points.
 

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