We're gearing up for 1.0 release on September 28th! This patch includes many quality of life updates, a new Mech chassis to pilot, and tons more. Please see the full patch notes below.
Look forward to piloting and facing against the mighty Bangpae Medium Mech! Punching far above its weight class, this manoeuvrable walker excels at brawling. Weak leg armour can be a problem for unwary pilots. However, skilled use of terrain and cover will mitigate this disadvantage.
To take full advantage of the changes, it is recommended that you start a new campaign save file rather than continuing an older save.
It feels unreal to have worked on this game for so long, and to be so close to getting the full version into your hands. Drop Command will be launching into v1.0 on September 28th 2026! That gives us just one month to wrap up work on the core campaign experience. We'll have a post-launch road map ready to share soon, where we will share some details regarding future content updates. I hope to see as many of you as possible on Launch Day! Until then, good luck and happy hunting!
Content
New Medium Mech: Bangpae (variants A, B, and C)
New Mech Variant: Wolfspider-E (2x Auto-EEC, 2x Small Ballistics)
Added target tracking indicator
Neutral planets can now hire Mercenaries (always check mission CV before launching a mission!)
Intro Cinematic voiced by Tex of the Black Pants Legion
Empire and Pilot Management
Increased experience requirements for pilots to reach Veteran and Ace status
New Facility: Hospital (used to heal pilot injuries)
Many New Empire Camos, Border Colors, and Logos to choose
Added pilot uniforms based on starting profession and on empire founding
Added Arabic language to demographics and pilot name generator
Added empire random events (pilot brawls, immigration surge, etc)
Player starting unit selections now split by Recommended/Intermediate/Experienced
Added info tags to 'Recruit Unit' buttons
Unit AI
Squad members now stick together more closely
Units now follow player orders more strictly
Units now move closer to max speed when ordered to rejoin formation
Pilot AI now leads moving targets based on their Aim attribute
Units now avoid terrain blockers more accurately
Infantry units now continue to fight while trying to return to formation
Tactical Map
Increased scan range of Mini-map
Tactical Map: hold right click to pan camera
Combat Balance
All VTOL units have had hitpoints reduced by ~40%
All VTOL units added +2 seconds to power up sequence
Buffed AGG: increased range to 250, increased shots per attack to 2
Balanced unit CV costs to spread out the light/medium/heavy units
Moved 4 hitpoints to the Zunder light tank Center Torso from the Head
Removed 1 Energy Hardpoint from the Dodo light mech
Flamer hitbox size reduced
Civilian dwellings now have double the hitpoints
Sentinel mech moved from medium to heavy chassis (more in line with visual hierarchy)
Armadillo mech moved from light to medium chassis (more in line with visual hierarchy)
Stinger VTOL can now fly in reverse (slowly)
Campaign Balance
Pilot survival and injury rolls now use rank as a constitution bonus
Belisarius garrison value decreased for fairer first Annex Planet mission
Player starting planet now always has at least 3 build slots
Reduced Warehouse Facility maintenance capacity bonus from 1500 to 1000
Pirate Raids can no longer occur on planets which had battle, pirate raids now count as planet experiencing battle
Updated auto battle success probabilities (less favourable for attacker)
Sounds
Added infantry footstep SFX
Added engine hum SFX
Added leg jump SFX
Added torso twist SFX
Added startup/shutdown/overheat SFX
Increased spinal crunch sound when player controlled infantry is stepped on
Increased max simultaneous sounds to 256
Miscellaneous
Updated UI scaling to work with most screen sizes
Global cap of 16 Dropships/Wings rather than a chassis cap of 5 each
Added control rebinding warning: rebinds may not take affect until next mission
Added credits screen
Added new loading screen: Lagash Pirate Raid
Added strafing for mechs/tanks with torso twist
Recruit button now has helpful tooltip when planetary influence < 10
Removed wishlist button from main menu
Updated pilot trait icons
Updated raid defense missions: now ends in failure if all defense targets are destroyed
Bug Fixes
PlaySound_OneShot now correctly uses game volume settings
Jump jet sound effects now correctly use SFX instead of Voice volume settings
Retiring units now correctly removes the pilot from player units
Infantry can no longer stomp each other as if they were mechs
AI pilots now correctly gain traits for earned kills
Pilot tooltips no longer interrupt themselves from opening
First build option no longer accidentally hidden
Pirate bases with no leader and no CV can no longer perform raids
Stinger VTOL pivot point was wrong, which caused sinking into Refit Bay floor
Flamer hitbox now always faces same direction as the Flamer VFX
SetOnFire now correctly checks collider area rather than bounds area
Fixed a rare crash during terrain generation when placing rocks
Time no longer passes when a player loses a non-auto battle garrison mission
Prevent infantry getting shoved out of dropship roofs during dismount
Fixed several issues causing facilities to spawn inside terrain or high in the air
Fixed several issues causing infantry zombie legs