A brand new system that has been added to the new version of ORION: Prelude is the Squad Leader System.
A.I Teammates have been revamped from the ground up and they now move, fight and respond like actual teammates -- and for the first time ever, they take your orders.
To achieve this I've also remade the actual Radio Command system. This used to occupy three bindings (Z, X, F by default) which was an aggressive amount. The original was a text-based menu and it could only be interfaced with a Keyboard; Controller users were unable to utilize.
The new system is a single key Radial Menu with sub menus. All types of players across Keyboards and Controllers can now enjoy Radio Commands and Squad Commands.
The Squad Leader (Host) can now direct the bots through existing radio menus. Pick a command and the squad reacts instantly. Bots that are able to acknowledge that order will directly do so with their own voice so you know it landed.
"Follow Me"
= Rally to you, keeping the current fight.
"Go Go Go"
= Sprint to a point ahead of your view, shooting on the way.
"Cover This Area"
= Roam and fight within your location, never chase beyond it.'
"Retreat"
= Drop the fight and sprint behind the bot's facing direction.
"Stay Here"
= Hold the current location, fight from it.
"Requesting Medic"
= Healer travels to you and replenishes your health + shield.
"I Need Backup"
= Same as Follow me but drops the current enemy first.
Rally to you, keeping the current fight.
Sprint to a point ahead of your view, shooting on the way.
Same as Follow me but drops the current enemy first.
Drop the fight and sprint behind the bot's facing direction.
Drop the fight and sprint behind the bot's facing direction.
Bots pace themselves around player run speed instead of permanently sprinting everywhere like they used to.
Bots now have smooth, natural motion with momentum-based stops; no more freezing mid-stride. They also have human-rate body turns (no more instant 180 snaps) and far fewer robotic back-and-forth waypoint runs.
Bots are more aware of their own teammates and now spread out instead of piling into the same spot; they step aside when a teammate crowds them and no longer stand inside each other.
GAMEPLAY / "Go Go Go"
Previously bots would come to a grinding halt to engage in combat. This is no longer the case as the bots now fire on the move, strafing with their body squared to the enemy.
Bots now have human-like aim where freshly-acquired targets take a moment to settle in their sights and shooting on the move costs them accuracy. No more instant laser precision.
Teammate Bots can now throw grenades. Assault with the Frags, Support throws Smokes and Recon throws EMP. Each announced with a proper "Fire in the hole!" in that soldiers voice.
Recon will Cloak to close distance, escape and revive you. Assault rockets up with its jetpack mid-fight (still shooting) and the Support proactively breaks off to heal any human teammate who drops low.
GAMEPLAY / "I Need Backup" (#1)
Bots watch as you move around them and visually track the enemy they're fighting with natural easing.
Bots escort the nearest human, keep formation-ish distance and catch up when you leave them behind. They will break off distant fights to stay with you, revive you and heal you.
Bots will fill whichever classes the humans aren't first.
GAMEPLAY / "I Need Backup" (#2)
They are there from the very start. The squad will spawn seconds into the match instead of 20 seconds late like the original game.
The Squad will top up to 4 total combatants with the new player count change.
A deep pass on AI replication will be shipping alongside the bot features.
Fixed a long-standing "phantom dino" bug where clients joining late or returning to an old battlefield could see frozen, unkillable enemies that weren't really there.
Fixed corpses never cleaning up for clients and ragdolls occasionally launching skyward on kills.
GAMEPLAY / "Requesting Medic
ORION: Prelude is back in active development.
The goals are simple:
A better game across gameplay and feel.
A more optimized game across polish and performance.
An open development process worth following along with.
This is all on an existing game that you may already own. Every update and quality-of-life improvement goes to existing owners for FREE.
ORION: Prelude @ Steam:
FREE UPDATE
The new version of ORION: Prelude in development goes to existing owners for FREE.
PRICING MODEL
The price of ORION: Prelude is increasing on October 25, 2026 from $0.99 to $9.99.
The Ultimate Edition DLC will be retired on this day; unlocks will continue to work for existing owners.
NEW GAME(S)
New ORION project(s) are in development.
Behind-The-Scenes
Extended Previews
Private Discord Access
Listed in Game Credits*
& more
Additional previews
Poll voting
Testing opportunities
Dev Interaction
& more
With Love,
PRAZ