Hey Brigadiers! We're finally ready to share some details about our next update. We took a step back to review the design of the entire game and decided to focus on improving the two areas that receive the most consistent feedback that we haven’t addressed in updates yet: pilots & the overworld gameplay loop.
PILOT TRAITS & PROGRESSION
We want pilots to be a meaningful part of the game rather than just a name and portrait that you occasionally assign to a mech. In our next update, the pilot system will receive a total overhaul.
Pilots will gain experience and level up based on their experiences in combat. A set of traits will gradually unlock with level progression. Available traits depend on class and differ between pilots. The effects of traits range from simple buffs to new abilities, making different play styles and pilot specialization more rewarding.
On top of progression, pilot states will become more complex. Pilots will gain fatigue from combat, receive injuries and even acquire unique negative traits if you mistreat them. We hope these additions (and more changes we aren't yet ready to detail) will make your campaigns more interesting and would give you a reason to glance away from the shiny mechs, if only for a second! :)
OVERWORLD
We're also improving the gameplay on the world map. Our original approach where the world was generated at the start of the campaign had its benefits, but made it difficult to achieve a balanced campaign experience. You could fight the same kind of an enemy over and over, miss some mission types entirely, run out of enemies during contests, etc. We reconsidered how we approach the world map and switched to a director system that will consider the history of your campaign and spawn missions that are most likely to be fresh and appropriate for the current phase of your quest. You won't be locked to a single option and will continue to have agency over the direction you chart in your campaign, but we feel that the reworked generation will provide a much more varied and interesting experience to every player.
With these changes, we also took the opportunity to rework and improve almost every aspect of the overworld gameplay. You will be able to see all mission details, including potential rewards, right from the world map without entering briefings. Contest mechanics, escalation levels, dialogs, quests, unit repair & pilot healing, resupplying and more have been reworked to create a tighter, more interesting experience.
QUALITY OF LIFE IMPROVEMENTS
Finally, this next update will feature lots of quality of life improvements. Some of them include reworked pilot, briefing, debriefing and dialog screens; a quest system that guides you through the campaign and input hints. A new codex screen will help you remember or learn the myriad of mechanics present in the game without needing to restart your campaign to revisit one-time tutorials (in addition to some interesting lore!). We are also hard at work on adding gamepad support across the entire game.
We’re still a ways off from release, but we ARE gearing up to playtest rough versions of these changes. If you'd like to help shape this update, please join our Discord and sign up for the playtest here! We’re looking for players of all experience levels, from those who’ve never played PB before, to Brigadiers who mod their own mechs - each unique perspective is super valuable to us!
Last but not least, we really want to thank everyone for playing and supporting Phantom Brigade. Our review score has been steadily improving since launch, and it really means the world to us to see our updates be warmly received. We read every bit of feedback we get (special shoutout to players who submit in-game reports, that data is super helpful!) and it continues to shape our plans and work. Thank you Brigadiers!
— The Phantom Brigade Team (Artyom, Dakota, Pavel and Jaymee)
