Playtest Update v0.4.0 — Combat Feedback Update

OVERHEAT PROTOCOL — DEVELOPMENT UPDATE

This update focuses on how OVERHEAT PROTOCOL looks, sounds, and feels to play.

Redesigned menus, updated first-person hands and weapon visuals, reworked combat effects, and new music are all part of that work. My goal is to make your actions easier to read and more satisfying—and to give the game a stronger visual identity.

I also want to share some of the ideas shaping its future. Below, I’ve separated what’s in this update from the features I’m working on and the directions I’m still exploring.

WHAT’S IN THIS UPDATE

Redesigned Interface

The main menu, settings, pause menu, level-up screen, and other core screens have been redesigned.

The aim is a more consistent interface that fits the world of OVERHEAT PROTOCOL, with clearer layouts and a shared visual style across the game’s menus.

Updated Hands and Weapon Presentation

The previous first-person hands and weapon model have been replaced. The weapon’s on-screen appearance, animations, and overall presentation have also been reworked.

The current AKM is a temporary weapon, not the final direction for the game’s arsenal.

I’m actively modeling an original weapon specifically for OVERHEAT PROTOCOL. More on that in the development section below.

Reworked Combat Effects

Combat effects have received a substantial rework, including:

• Muzzle flash and impact effects.
• Lightning, laser, and shrapnel effects.
• Limb-severing, head-severing, and enemy death effects.
• Effect-specific feedback for enemy hits and kills.

The goal isn’t simply to put more particles on screen. It’s to make different actions feel distinct while keeping combat readable.

A severed limb, a destroyed head, and a robot’s final explosion should share the same visual language without feeling interchangeable. Lightning, lasers, and shrapnel should also have their own sense of impact.

These effects will continue to evolve alongside the game’s build system.

Robot Dismemberment

Robot dismemberment has received additional attention, with reworked feedback for limb loss, head destruction, and death.

I want this to become more than a visual flourish. As the game develops, damage to enemy body parts should help communicate the consequences of your attacks and the strengths of your build.

The Effect / Trigger / Behavior System

The upgrade system is built around three connected parts:

EFFECT → TRIGGER → BEHAVIOR

• Effect: What happens?
• Trigger: When does it happen?
• Behavior: How does it behave?

The goal is to move beyond upgrades that only increase a damage number.

I want the build you create to change how your attacks work, how their effects behave, and how enemies are destroyed. The visual effects have been developed with those combinations in mind.

This system will continue to grow with additional Effects, Triggers, and Behaviors.

New Music and Smoother Transitions

New tracks have been added for the main menu and different levels of combat intensity.

The music system now uses gradual transitions between quieter and more intense gameplay, helping the soundtrack follow the action without abruptly switching from one track to another.

Breach Warden — Temporarily Removed

The Breach Warden boss encounter has been temporarily removed from the Playtest.

For now, I want to focus on getting the core combat into a stronger, more consistent state before bringing the encounter back. That means refining weapon feel, enemy interactions, build behavior, and combat readability.

I’m not planning to reintroduce the Warden until that foundation feels ready. There’s no return date to announce yet, and the encounter may be reworked to better fit the game’s evolving combat.

WHERE THE GAME IS HEADING

OVERHEAT PROTOCOL is still in active development. The current Playtest is a foundation, not a finished picture of the game.

Longer term, I’m exploring a stronger roguelite structure with extraction-style decisions: starting a run, fighting, developing a build, and deciding whether to keep pushing for greater rewards or leave safely.

Separating temporary power earned during a run from persistent progression outside it is another part of that exploration.

These are design directions, not announced features or a fixed release schedule. They may change as I prototype them and learn what works best for the game.

IN DEVELOPMENT AND UNDER CONSIDERATION

1 — An Original Weapon

I’m currently modeling a new weapon designed specifically for OVERHEAT PROTOCOL.

The aim is to gradually replace temporary weapons with designs that belong to the game’s own world and visual identity.

The model is underway, but there is still work ahead: materials, fitting the first-person hands, and integrating the weapon into Unity. I don’t have a release date to share yet.

I’m sharing it now to show what’s happening behind the scenes—not to promise that it will arrive in the next update.

2 — The Beacon and the World Behind It

I want OVERHEAT PROTOCOL to develop its own world and story, with a stronger connection between its mechanics and its setting.

Enemies currently drop orbs, and a beacon stands in the arena. I’m exploring ways to connect those elements more meaningfully.

One idea is that the beacon isn’t simply a machine, but a living, spirit-like entity.

Energy collected from defeated enemies could feed it. As it grows stronger, it could support the player or launch attacks of its own.

That could bring enemy kills, energy collection, and the beacon together into a single gameplay loop.

This is still a concept rather than a confirmed feature, but it captures the direction I’m interested in: making the beacon a more central part of both the combat and the game’s identity.

3 — Level Design

The current arena does not represent the final level design I’m aiming for.

I want environments with a stronger visual identity, better opportunities for movement, distinct combat spaces, and more decisions to make during a fight.

This is a larger undertaking, so I plan to develop it in stages.

4 — Damage Numbers

Damage numbers still have room for improvement.

Readability, animation, critical-hit distinction, and clearer feedback for different damage sources are all areas I want to refine.

The aim is to make them more useful at a glance while keeping them visually consistent with the rest of the game.

FEEDBACK AND CONTACT

If you encounter a problem, have a suggestion, or want to share how the update feels, I’d like to hear from you.

Steam Discussions is my preferred place for feedback. It makes it easier to keep conversations together, ask follow-up questions, and discuss your experience in more detail.

You can also leave feedback through a form in your preferred language:

• English feedback form
• 简体中文反馈表 / Simplified Chinese feedback form
• Türkçe geri bildirim formu / Turkish feedback form

You can also find me on X — @xtr_rene.

For this update, I’m especially interested in how the combat feedback feels: which effects are satisfying, which are difficult to read, and whether anything gets lost during busy fights.

OVERHEAT PROTOCOL is a solo-developed project. My priority is to strengthen its foundations and build on them steadily, rather than add more content than I can properly support.

I try to read every message, and your feedback helps me understand what deserves attention next.

Thank you for playing, following the project, and being part of its development.