Today marks the launch of 1.0 for Gunlocked 2. After nearly 2 years of work (off and on), and 1 year from the Kickstarter, it has reached a place that I'm finally happy with. This update is massive, and literally game changing, but before I jump into the notes, I wanted to mention a couple things.
Firstly, thank you one final time to everyone that supported the game from the Kickstarter to Early Access. It means the world to this solo dev. I could not have made this game without you. I barely did anyway, haha. From losing early builds to file corruption to other setbacks I won't get into, the support both in obvious ways (aka: monetary) and less obvious (the many private chats, encouragement, and positive reviews), made an extremely tough time in my life a little easier.
Secondly, I want to mention there is still a bit more content coming. I need to take a break from Gunlocked, but I have some more achievements, upgrades, and 1 more Boss in the works. It will be a while, but this isn't quite the end for Gunlocked 2.
Now, onto the update. It's big enough to be a DLC expansion.
Major Utility System Overhaul
18 new alternate pilots with unique skills, inspired by Kickstarter backers
1 new primary pilot
3 New Bosses
1 New Elite Zone Type
Codex and Simulator polish
6 Alternate NPC portraits inspired by Kickstarter backers
Mouse menu control update
Throughout Early Access, it has become clear that one of the most contentious changes to Gunlocked 2 from Gunlocked 1 was how utility upgrades worked. Gunlocked 1 didn’t have much variety in build paths, so I designed Gunlocked 2 with the idea that players could create a wider variety of play styles, with no cap on power. That came with some costs though.
More upgrade choices meant it was harder for players to immediately parse what might work well together in a build. Without knowing all the upgrades, some upgrades would seem very weak on their own.
Infinite stacking meant upgrades had unbounded power, but each copy offered a much smaller power boost. I tried to offset this by granting way more upgrade opportunities (15 data beacons vs 3, more level ups), but this also had the downside of interrupting gameplay more.
Ultimately, Gunlocked 2 was a game that rewarded the long haul. It wanted players to get familiar with its systems and many upgrades, and learn how to manipulate the odds to create insane builds, then dive deep into endless mode. This worked for many players, and feedback has been overall positive, but it meant turning off new players that didn’t have the time or inclination to dig into the systems and wait for everything to come together.
Today’s update is about finding a solid middle ground between Gunlocked 1 and 2, and improving the flow of gameplay alongside that.
Roughly 80% of utilities now offer 2x the benefit they previously did, with the rest also being stronger, but not twice as strong
Utilities now have a cap of 6 total copies (equivalent to 12 copies in previous builds).
In addition to preventing any instability in gameplay, this cap has the added benefit of automatically thinning the upgrade pool without needing to banish upgrades.
Many utilities have had their functionality streamlined, some rarities have changed
Some utilities have had their text simplified
A few utilities have been removed from the pool, as their functionality has been made redundant by other changes
The changes are too numerous for me to list, as literally every utility in the game has been changed, so remember to read the tooltips
I've also listed some changes to leveling up below, related to this change.
Wingmen are 18 all new alternate pilots
These pilots were designed alongside feedback from my Kickstarter backers, without whom I could not have made this game.
Wingmen share the same starting weapon and mastery as their counterpart, but each has a unique skill all their own to mix things up
Because Wingmen are not entirely unique, they unlock for free when you’ve unlocked their counterpart. So if you’ve already unlocked a bunch of pilots, get ready for twice as many on launch.
The Tyrantulord returns from the Second Gunning DLC, reborn with new art and new attacks
The Army Ant makes his debut, but the later encounters bring an old friend back from Gunlocked 1
The Super Mantis brings a style unlike any other boss
Hyper Swarm = Extreme enemy spawning, but only the smallest enemies
Experience and Leveling
Because every level is effectively equal to 2 levels in the previous build, leveling up requires a little more experience (but not double) after level 3.
This has the added benefit of improving game flow, with fewer interruptions to combat.
The increase in utility power means you’ll actually be earning more experience per game because you’ll be killing a lot more enemies, a lot faster
In testing, most players were able to reach the same level as in previous builds, but with double the power they did before, and all without constantly having the action interrupted.
Anomalies
With the massive increase in power, I wanted to make sure anomalies still offered a challenge.
Poor Connection = Data Beacons charge 30% slower, and lose charge 30% faster. Up from 20%.
Thick = Enemies have 20% more health. Up from 15%
Decimated = Start the game with only 10% of your max hull and reduce your max hull by 10. The max hull reduction is new.
Slow Learner = +15% exp needed to level, up from 10%
Mathematically Impossible = +20% enemy spawn rate, from 15%
Upgrades
A few key changes among a sea of updates...
Weapon: Drone Swarm now spawns all of its maximum drones at once, with a small cooldown once they’ve all been expended.
Augment: Improb Drive is finally active, and brings some highly improbably nonsense to the battle.
Lucky Strike, Meta Material, and Relighter have been removed from the utility pool
Machine Learning is now a common upgrade, down from rare, and offers more possible max health for drones (making Meta Material redundant)
Utility: Scatter Shot has been remade. Now reads: When your next bullet upgrade attacks, create extra bullets in random directions in front of you. No longer has drawbacks, nor is it an array type upgrade.
Achievement: Critical Mass now requires 45% crit up from 35% because it’s much easier to get crit.
General
Mouse controls have been rebuilt to be more responsive in the main menu, settings, and codex
You can now see which boss you’ll be facing in the Warp Menu, via a custom icon and tooltip if you inspect
NPCs now have randomized portraits, with new characters inspired by Kickstarter backers
NPCs now have nametags for a little more personality
Drone targeting range indicators are now more transparent, and less overwhelming when multiple drones are on screen
Codex
Added the Collectibles category
Added the Credits category
Complete re-write of mouse navigation and inputs
Fixed a bunch of bugs
Simulator
You can now select a loadout and then choose to load it or save over it, instead of automatically loading it
Added support for the wingmen characters
Fixed a bunch of usability bugs\[/p]
Fixed a variety of bugs with the accessibility menu when using the Mouse
Fixed a variety of stat texts in the player inventory