The Meat Cage 0.9 is Out!

Hello, Mercenaries!
Huge thanks to everyone who participated in the beta testing of the Meat Cage Update. Now it's time for its release!

Highlights

• New mechanics: Augmentations and Implants
• Controller support and full keyboard-only control mode
• Combat log
• New locations: 4 new tilesets, 5 celestial bodies, 27 new stations
• 2 new story missions
• 4 new melee weapons, 9 ranged ones, 1 hat, 35 augments, 21 implants
• Faction items in barter
• A TON of bug fixes and balance changes

Let’s get into the details!
This patch has spent a long time in beta, and today we’re finally updating the main game branch to version 0.9.
Here’s what’s new:

Game Interface Overhaul

Full support for controllers and keyboard-only controls.
Check out the control and hotkey settings! There, you can pick your preferred control scheme, tweak input delay, and assign a wide variety of keys and combos including full controller support.
We’re looking forward to your feedback and hope this will make the game more accessible to even more players.

New Locations

• 4 new tilesets: industrial, Jupiter stations, Europa snow, Callisto tundra
• 5 new celestial bodies with 27 stations: Jupiter, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto
• Bramfaturas will be introduced in future updates, but the first-stage soundtrack is already available!

Augmentations & Implants

• Augmentations let you replace your clones’ body parts with components salvaged from robots (and not just them!) - from heads to drill arms.
• Human medicine won’t help fix them! You’ll need tools marked specifically for “Robots”
• Implants are slotted into operatives and provide anything from passive buffs (more armor, immunity to certain wounds) to active skills (enemy reveal, stun scream). We won’t spoil too much — experiment and find what works!
• Enemies can also have augmentations and implants! And yes, that’s one way to get your hands on them (you know what to do).
• The Augmentation Department on the Magnum is not available yet and will be added in future updates.
• Augmentations and implants are installed aboard the Magnum via a new menu in the Operative Management screen.

Combat Log

Wondering who hit you, from where, with what, and how hard? Now you’ll know. We’ve added a text-based combat log in the bottom left of the screen, giving you more info about what’s happening during combat.

Extensive Balance Changes

As always, we continue tweaking the balance based on your feedback and new ideas from development. This time, we focused on:

• Faction profiling for specific damage types and resistances - you should now have more strategic options when planning to attack a faction.
• Scientists, professors, VIPs, and assassination targets now have access to higher-tier gear than other units. Solid gear for solid lords.
• Line of Sight and Aiming algorithms reworked - no more “they see you and shoot, but you can’t see them” (hopefully).
• Adjusted mission difficulty balance:
  • Easy missions now give fewer reward points
  • Hard missions are slightly shorter
  • Escort missions give more reward points
  • Increased enemy count in Defense and Surveillance waves

• Item stats have been tweaked - from weight reductions to new properties (yes, that includes a pet spider).
• Multi-use items have been removed from Robbery mission objectives.
• Upgrade costs for the Magnum have been simplified.

2 New Story Missions

“Men in Black”, continuing the “Community and Anarchy” storyline.
“From a Spark, a Flame”, continuing the “Manifesto” arc.
Whose side will you take in this conflict? Of course… there's always a way to work for everyone.

New Items

4 new melee weapons, 9 ranged weapons, 1 hat, 35 augments, 21 implants.
Special thanks to Discord server members for contributing artwork: Lynchantiure, Disjunction Junction, Invictus!

Key Fixes

• Thrown weapons now have a chance to pass through objects.
• Destroying a wall connected to a door now also destroys the door.
• Player and NPC fists now display correctly depending on which hand is used.
• New animations for quasimorphs dissolving upon death.
• Shuttle arrival skipping is now instant and fully skips the flight cutscene.
• Intro sequence updated when starting a new game.
• Barter system update: faction gear can now sometimes be found at stations - based on the faction’s Technology Level.

You can find the rest of the minor fixes here:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/2059170/discussions/0/505069214894162607/

Thank you once again to everyone who shared feedback during beta testing!

This patch was a huge undertaking: we spent a long time perfecting controller support, and augmentations turned out to be a far larger and more complex feature than we originally planned. But it’s done and now it’s in your hands.

We’re excited to hear your thoughts and as always, please report any bugs you encounter!

Good luck on your raids, mercenaries!
All the best, Magnum Scriptum Team.