Steam Marines v0.6.7a is out with GUI upgrades, Deck Integrity, and more! news

Hello, everyone. Before launching into the gritty details of the newest build, I'd like to remind everyone that Steam Marines is listed on Steam Greenlight and an upvote/favorite would be enormously appreciated if you enjoy the game so far! As usual you can download the newest builds from the official site or on the forums ^_^

Marines, ho!

This version of Steam Marines is packed with a bunch of stuff. Some features didn't quite make the cut (yet!) like Oxygen but you do get a bunch of GUI upgrades, a third (!) set of controls of basic controls for people who expressed concern over keyboard focused gameplay, and an end-of-level statistics screen.

A new enemy, the Acidjack, has been added to the game as well. On that note I'd like to mention that my artist has had a rather serious hardware issue recently but should be back up on his feet in a week or two. Expect more art assets to coming pouring in after that point starting with more enemies!

The Improved GUI:

Some of the new GUI elements can be collapsed:

The new enemy exploding upon death! Veteran players might recognize the graphic :)

Another day, another grate tile ambush:

Statics screen when completing a level:

Choose your shots wisely

I wanted to take a moment to discuss the new targeting system. Quite a long time ago Steam Marines was called "Quad" and was a slower type of game. There was effectively no facing mechanic - you could fire in any cardinal direction from any position. It also had tile targeting that gave you more information on what you could do. With Steam Marines v0.6.7a we're returning partially to that mechanic:

Tapping the fire key now flips on animated tile target indicators. It's now very clear what tiles you can fire through (tiles with crates, items, friendlies, et cetera). You also get a popup of damage and accuracy numbers on your primary target! Tap the fire key again to shoot the robotic invaders to pieces!

And, of course, the almighty changelog - phew!

V0.6.7a

-------------------------------------------------
New Features
-------------------------------------------------

• Added "Acidjack" enemy that reduces armor rating on melee attack and
  explodes when killed. Acidjacks have a higher than normal chance of
  reducing their targets' weapons' ranges.
• All decks have persistent Hostile Control and Integrity stats.
• If a deck reaches 0% integrity you lose the game.
• Enemies have their current action points displayed on the lower left. AP reducing
  effects should update this (e.g. Frozen weapon and Dismantle).
• Added experience and ammunition bars for the active squad member in the
  bottom center of the screen.
• Added new Weapon display instead of pure text readout in side panel.
• Added end of level statistics screen.
• Program start loading screen added.
• Reduced base chest and item spawn chances and increased spawn chances based on
  deck level.
• New armor stats added; repair, oxygen, fire/frost/acid/explosive resistance.
  Repair allows a character to regenerate health when killing robotic
  units. Oxygen is partially implemented; nothing yet reduces it or
  forces a squad member to use oxygen. Resistances are flat damage
  reductions for damage types.
• Oxygen tanks restore all oxygen (nothing implemented for use yet) and 3 AP (this
  works).
• Grow size for unit actions now dependent on sprite size.
• Firing a marine's primary weapon is now a two step process. Pressing the fire
  key will toggle target indicators on, showing what tiles the shot
  will pass through (green) and what tile(s) the shot will directly
  hit. Indicators will show all non-obstruction tiles in line of sight
  for the full weapon range and can therefore reveal fog of war.
• Damage numbers pop up from environmental effects like land mines.
• Made each deck 5 levels instead of 4.
• Inventory Side Panel's visibility is now toggleable.
• Added toggle buttons for the Deck Information/Mission Objectives side panels.
• Added weapon damage and accuracy popups on fire control toggle.
• Scrolling Event text now inserts new messages at the bottom of the log.
• Added visual movement buttons in the bottom right corner.
• Added visual control for Grab/Interact/Guard Mode in the bottom right corner.
  Squad Follow button adjusted to this panel as well.
• All squad members now have current action point overlays, not just the active
  character.
• Implemented animated main menu logo.
• Guard Mode now only triggers on enemy movement instead of every enemy action.

-------------------------------------------------
Bug Fixes
-------------------------------------------------

• Monsters can no longer spawn with less than 1 health on Easy difficulty.
• Weapons and armor in inventory now properly persist stats in save file.
• Treasure chests and land mines now persist in save file.
• Many squad states now persist in save file.
• Ambient music properly fades in on load game.
• Many small bugs regarding monster AI and pathfinding.
• Fixed issues with some assets being initially spawned on screen when they should
  have been out of sight.
• Fixed bug with enemy units opening doors and using the incorrect tileset.
• Increased size of Mission Objectives text area so it fits in smaller
  resolutions.
• Fixed talent bar sizing and positioning in different aspect ratios and reduced
  slots to 4.
• Fixed some incorrect tile swapping between the Command and Engineering Decks.
• Light switches now render below monsters.
• Fixed enemy unit desynchronization issue with enemy unit and Guard Mode with
  Leader class weapon knockback.

-------------------------------------------------
Notes
-------------------------------------------------

• Armor swap GUI reformatted to account for new armor stats.
• The Hostile Control bar can shift to the right when a game is loaded. This is
  unintended.
• The game just slams into the "Game Over" screen if the player loses via
  deck integrity, just like squad death. No fancy overview screen yet.
  Sorry!
• Interact and Grab button tooltips are not capitalized. Not sure why.
• The Large Font game option is disabled until the GUI is overhauled.