- Heading Toward 1.0 - 16 April 2025
Hi everyone It's been a while, so I thought I'd just post a quick update about my plans with Mechabot Defender. As you might know, I wanted to have this game in 1.0 last year. Unfortunately, life got in the way. So, having looked at what I set out to do, I'm happy with the progress Mechabot has made since launching into Early Access. I have decided to forgo any new characters, as it's just not feasible for me to continue adding them. However, I do still plan on adding a new stage or two before launching into 1.0. I'll also be trying to polish up the game as much as possible, maybe balancing some things out and hopefully adding a little more upgrade variety. Either way, the plan is once again to have this out by August, but I can't say for sure. What I can say for sure is that I won't be increasing the price on release. I'm also going to try post more updates; no more radio silence for m…
- New Year Plans - 6 January 2024
A belated Happy New Year to everyone! I'm just popping in to let everyone know that this game is still in development, and that I plan to get Mechabot Defender to 1.0 by August of this year. Although, plans could change. While I can't really say exactly what the 1.0 version of the game will look like, I can tell you that I think I am finally done dramatically changing the mechanics of the game. To everyone that has played through these constant, drastic changes, thank you for your patience. In general, my plans for 1.0 are currently: A new character 3 new stages Story/Character dialogue between runs Upgrade balancing More upgrades (maybe) General polishing / bug fixing Again, though, these plans aren't final. Thanks again to everyone that has continued to play the game, and a very special thanks to everyone that took the time to leave a review as well. Cheers, Spargit
- Next update is on its way! - 12 October 2023
Hi everyone, Just letting you know that I'm postponing the update (again) by another couple of days while I continue to optimize the game. Many of the optimizations are already implemented, so all that's left to do is stress test the game and try to catch some more bugs before pushing the update to the default branch. After these optimizations are complete, I'm hoping to move on to creating more stages for the game. Cheers, Spargit
- Updated beta branch - 3 October 2023
Hi everyone, Just letting you know that I'm postponing the update to the default branch for another day or two while I iron out some of the more major bugs in the game, but you can try out all the new changes now in the beta branch! Cheers, Spargit
- New beta branch - 27 September 2023
Hey everybody, just letting you know I've been fixing a few bugs and making a few tweaks to certain upgrades and classes, and you can play with these changes right now in the game's beta branch. I'll be pushing these changes to the default branch in the next couple of days. Cheers, Spargit
- HUGE UPDATE + Improved Controller Support - 25 September 2023
Hey everyone! I've been hard at work on a massive update for the game, including some much needed polish and controller support. As always, big updates like these are bound to introduce some bugs and issues, but I've tried my best to catch everything. Here are the major patch notes: > A new character to unlock and play as - The Archmaster. > Four completely new and unique TURRET CLASSES including a Flamethrower and a Cluster Bomb turret. > Complete UI overhaul > New main menu art > Character portraits for the character select screen! > New music (and more on the way!) > Keybinds work now! And you can now use the keybind menu with a controller, speaking of... > Controllers are now fully supported with customizable keybinds and an improved aiming system while tethered to turrets > Tethering to turrets now costs energy but gives you a speed boost and improved fire rate, as well as Bullet t…
- Big update is on the way - 24 September 2023
Hey everyone! It's been a while; life's been pretty crazy for me over the last 6 months and I haven't really had the opportunity to work on the game, but I'm just finishing up a big update which will be out TOMORROW. I'm not going to go into detail here, as the update hasn't been released on the main branch yet, and there will be a separate post containing all of the patch notes. HOWEVER, you can now play the latest update of the game on the BETA BRANCH (right click the game in your library > properties > betas > select the beta branch) I need all the feedback I can get in order to catch any bugs or problems this new build might have before it's published to the main branch in time for the Steam SHMUP Fest, so I'd love to hear from you. I want to thank everyone that has kept an eye on this game for their patience, I hope you like the update. Cheers, Spargit
- The "Clarity & Fairness" Update - 25 February 2023
Hello everyone! After a little bit of a break from development, I've managed to cobble together this pretty large update. There isn't a lot of content in this update (although there are some fun new upgrades), but instead a lot of balance changes, bug fixes, and quality of life changes. Mechanics have been removed, changed, and switched around all in the name of making the game clearer and less bloated. I hope you enjoy the changes, and here they all are in no particular order. PATCH NOTES >Charging turrets is now done through a large AOE instead of single targeting. This makes charging turrets MUCH easier and even allows you to charge two at the same time! >Picking up turrets is now instantaneous. As a result, the turret pickup time upgrade has been removed. >Max scrap storage increased from 30 to 100. Rerolling now costs 10 scrap instead of 3. >Energy crystals now remain on the ground…
- I'm back + new beta branch - 14 February 2023
Hey everyone, sorry for the hiatus. I took some time away from the game to work on various other projects that, to be honest, never really amounted to anything. But the break was highly necessary, as I was beginning to completely burn out on this game. Thankfully, returning to work on the game has been a relatively painless experience, and I've made some changes that will hopefully make the game more enjoyable. I'm not going to go into detail here, as the update hasn't been released on the main branch yet, and there will be a separate post containing all of the patch notes. HOWEVER, you can now play the latest update of the game on the BETA BRANCH (right click the game in your library > properties > betas > select the beta branch) Every time I get feedback on the game, it's always extremely valuable. So if you have any suggestions or encounter any issues, or even if you think a certain…
- Healing Change + Bug fixes and balancing - 6 December 2022
Hello again everyone, this update reduces the amount of early-game healing and gives the option to scale that healing into the mid-game by upgrading your wrench. I also fixed a few bugs and added a new setting. >Nerfed repair wrench to 1 use with the option to upgrade using scrap >Nerfed pickups to 1 per pickup (default used to be 2) >Added option to reduce bullet opacity to 50% for better visibility (but this is OFF by default) >Fixed bug where you were able to go over max scrap by 1 >Fixed bug where the game would become unpaused while looking at certain menu screens >Stopped “INCOMING” warning blocking mouse input Cheers, Spargit
- Minor fixes + Changes - 3 December 2022
Hey everyone, and welcome to new players! This is just a small patch to fix a few bugs and balance issues brought in by the new Major Update. >Nerfed bullet hose so it no longer instant kills non-boss enemies. >Bunch of balance changes to enemy formations/spawns >Defeating the Enforcer now gives all future enemy spawns +2 max health >Fixed difficulty scaling issue >Fixed bug where victory screen would get stuck >Fixed bug where you would receive too many Starchips >Stopped "Napalm" upgrade showing up when fire upgrades are taken. You must now take an explosive upgrade to add "Napalm" to the upgrade pool >Fixed bug where the revive screen spawns multiple times >Fixed bug where your starchips can go into the negative >There is now a constant blue light underneath the player to make the game more readable >The Enforcer can no longer be pushed around by the player >Fixed bug where enemies w…
- MAJOR UPDATE -- Everything has changed. - 1 December 2022
Hello everyone! This update has been a long time in the making, and there's lots to cover, so I'm going to get straight to it. RELOADING HAS BEEN REMOVED You no longer have to reload your turrets. Turrets have unlimited ammo, and can now be loaded with energy (collected from enemies) to charge up powerful ultimate abilities. These abilities are different for each turret class! CHANGES TO ABILITIES AND HEALING Abilities no longer have cooldowns, but instead cost energy to use. Each character has a different energy cost for their ability. Healing is now limited to 3 uses per level, but has no cooldown. These uses are replenished on level-up, but there are plans to limit this healing as it's currently quite strong. Also, Harper's ability no longer disables turrets. NEW LEVEL-BASED SYSTEM Instead of waves, you must now power BATTERIES with your turrets. The locations of these batteries are…
- Updated Beta Branch + Major Update SOON!! - 14 November 2022
Hey everyone! It's been a while. The reason for this is that the major update that I've been working on has just gotten bigger and bigger and now contains a BUNCH of new stuff, and a BUNCH of changes. I won't get into it too much here, but you can now play the game as it stands with all the new stuff on the BETA BRANCH (right click the game, properties, betas, choose the beta branch). It would be extremely helpful if you could check out the game on the beta branch and give any feedback, especially if you encounter any bugs or issues. This new update is planned to release very soon. Thank you for your patience, and thanks to everyone that's still playing. Cheers, Spargit
- Small patch - 27 September 2022
Hello again everyone! This is just a little update that fixes a few issues brought in by the recent Major Update, as well as a few balance changes and one new upgrade. I'm about to start work on a bigger update that will add a new stage or two (along with new bosses to fight!), as well as some more enemy variety. If there's anything you'd like to see added to the game, please feel free to comment on this discussion, or join the Discord and let me know over there. Added new upgrade: “Swift” Defaulted game to “Windowed” Mode as a soft fix for the resolution errors some people have been having, but I will continue to look into a neater solution for this. Added a visual to the “Turret boost on deploy” upgrade, so you can now see if a turret is currently boosted! Nerfed the starting magnetism by A LOT, so it’s more of a very small quality of life. Also nerfed the upgrade. Fixed an issue with…
- Windowed Mode + Quality of Life changes - 19 September 2022
Hello everyone, and welcome to any new players this sale has brought in! Some people have had issues and/or suggestions, so I've addressed them. There's not much to say, but hopefully, this should increase the quality of life of the game :) -added a window mode option -added a warning that pops up if you have a controller plugged in, warning you that the game's mouse+keyboard controls might not work properly with a controller plugged into your computer -you now become untethered when you disable a turret with Harper's EMP -disabled turrets can no longer be tethered to -scrap automatically magnetizes towards you. The Magnetic upgrade has been changed to increase the magnet strength and range That's everything! I hope you're enjoying the game. Cheers, Spargit
- MAJOR CONTENT UPDATE - 15 September 2022
Hey everyone, the update is finally finished! I'm super excited to share this huge update with you, so here's a rundown of everything that's been added and changed. NEW UPGRADES There are 22 NEW UPGRADES in the game, I won't tell you what they do, I'll let you figure that out in-game. However, here are all their names: -shock -electrical fire -double strike -chain lightning -vessel -storm -lightning pulse -nitro coat -coolant leak -icy exterior -ice shard -sharp shards -snowball -snowzone -ring of fire -line of fire -fire orbital -unstable mechanics -extra explosive -durable shells -homing missile -air support -satellite NEW PLAYABLE CHARACTER A new character: Goran the Glitch. Goran has a dash that damages enemies. Goran has his own unique upgrades available (these are separate from the 22 new upgrades!). Goran can be unlocked with 5 lore points (gained from completing challenge waves…
- Devlog: MAJOR UPDATE - 5 September 2022
Hey everyone, Just popping up out of the woodwork to let you know that this next update is going to be a BIG one, and it's nearly ready. I won't babble on, but instead here's most of what you can expect from this update: -22 NEW UPGRADES. -A complete rework of the first boss (they now have attack patterns and even a Phase 2), as well as a unique boss for Stage 2! -1 new turret class: The Giant -2 new events: "Time Attack" and "Preserve" -Turrets can now only have ONE bullet type (eg. explosive, flaming ,freezing, etc.) -tutorials are now in 3 segments, separate from the START button -explosive bullets are now destroyed on contact -explosions are now MUCH smaller by default -fixed a few minor bugs -fixed upgrade duplication bug when rerolling -it is now impossible to get the same OBJECTIVE twice in a row -the chance of getting an objective has been reduced, and the scaling of this chance…
- UPDATE: Keybinds + Controller Support! - 22 August 2022
Hey everyone, Just letting you know that keybinds have been added to the game, as well as controller support. You can now rebind all the major inputs from the pause/options menu! It's a little janky in places at the moment, sometimes it'll change the wrong inputs-- I'm going to be working on smoothing out the experience, but I'd like to start adding some actual content to the game first. You should be able to fully play the game with a controller, including navigating any UI/menus. There are some prompts that haven't been changed yet, and the cursor is a little stiff to control at the moment, but again, this will be worked on after I've managed to push out some content updates. This week I'm going to get to work on the big list of upgrades to be added to the game, so keep your eyes peeled for an update regarding that. There's also going to be a major change to the way elemental effects…
- Update Soon! - 14 August 2022
Hey everyone, I just wanted to check in and say thanks to everyone that's been playing the game. I've been having a short break from development this last week, but I wanted to let you know that I've been taking feedback into account, and keybinding and controller support are nearly fully implemented into the game! If all goes to plan, I expect this update to be ready in about a week, but it could be sooner. I've also been working on the next playable character, which will be part of the first major update, which I expect to be close to the beginning of September. But as always with game development, delays are inevitable, I just wanted to let everyone know the game is being actively worked on, and those who gave feedback have been heard :) I'll try and keep everyone updated like this every week or so, so keep an eye out for future posts. Also, if you'd like to follow the development of…
- Mechabot Defender is out now!!! - 3 August 2022
My Arena-Survival game, Mechabot Defender, is finally out! If you enjoy the game, don't forget to leave a review, it helps the game so much. If you encounter any bugs, or have any suggestions, head to the Discord and leave your feedback there :) (you can get to the discord by clicking the Discord banner on the Store Page!)
