Windows only build update to fix Steam Achievements not triggering correctly.
Minor main menu UI fixes for different save game states.

Hi, everyone!

It's been a long haul, about two and a half years, one of them on Early Access. Windows, Mac, and Linux builds have been pushed with added content, tweaked AI and difficulty levels, and a bevy of bugfixes.

For fun and flavor, two short stories in the universe of Steam Marines have been written! In the "_Stories" folder of the install directory you'll find the following:

• Orion Hunted - Jourdan Cameron.pdf
  
• The Grinding Teeth - Darren Grey.pdf

They give more background information on the events before the player's marines wake up from cryosleep.

I hope you enjoy them and happy robot hunting!

Hi, everyone.

Steam Marines is steaming toward full release within a month! Having been on Early Access for a little over a year now (since September 2013), development has been largely affected by players offering feedback and suggestions.

A brief overview of what has been added since hitting Steam:

• Linux build (yay!)
  
• Alien Deck and final Patriach boss.
  
• Weather/random event system.
  
• Game options to cater to more casual players.
  
• Level completion scoring report system.
  
• Brutal difficulty level.
  
• The Engineer marine class.
  
• Perks to further differentiate marines.
  
• Marine retraining to reclass and continue leveling stats and skills.
  
• Faster AI Delay settings for impatient players.
  
• Exposed internal data for modding.
  
• Steam Achievements and Trading Cards.
  
• New items, weapon ammo types, and alien enemies.

Steam Marines will be released soon, but not abandoned. I fully expect bugs to crop up and I will be here to squash them. The price will remain at $15 for the foreseeable future, and purchasing Steam Marines on non-Steam platforms will continue to provide Steam keys.


Thanks for helping Steam Marines become a real game!


P.S. Remember, there's a Beta Requests thread on the discussion forum!

Hi, everyone.

This build brought Steam Achievements and Trading Cards. It also brings a bevy of UI/UX upgrades and quality of life improvements, such as:

• Reload action informs the player that it can be used to discard worn Hulk Suits.
  
• Reload/Guard Mode tooltips more detailed.
  
• Mod/Config has bad data detection and can default to hardcoded defaults if things go off the rails.
  
• The Squad Info and Promotion screens had tooltip overhauls.
  
• Partially opaque backpanel inserted behind the scrolling event log
  
• The marine promotion animation persists until the promotion screen is brought up.

In addition this build brings boss AI tweaks and non-boss variants have had their spawn rates increased - deck order is more important than ever!


Thanks for playing and happy robot hunting!

Steam Marines now has 15 achievements to be unlocked and 7 trading cards to be had!

As the game continues through beta I will be adding more achievements, both as progress markers and as optional gameplay/challenges.

Happy robot hunting!

Hi, everyone.

I'm pleased to announce that v0.8.9b has been released as a beta version of Steam Marines - the first build of beta!

All platforms now have access to the Alien Deck and the last Patriarch boss, re-implementation of pre-Linux port content, marine class Retraining options, and finally the sentry turret animations - in short, Steam Marines is pushing through development!

Beta will be more tightly focused on polishing existing content and UI/UX on the road to release (Q4 2014.) There are certainly bits of content I wish to add such as additional items, armor/weapon mods, and talent/stat/skill/perk tuning, AI tweaks, et cetera, but the meat is all there and I am primarily interested in player satisfaction with the full experience and not just the core mechanics and systems.


Thanks for playing and happy robot hunting!

Steam Marines v0.8.8a now has a Linux version (tested on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS). The Alien Deck did not make it in this build, but a bevy of bug fixes, UI/UX changes, and performance gains have come through.

Hi, everyone!

Lots of little quality of life stuff this build. Enemy AI speed scaling, New Game Plus difficulty ramping, fog of war and camera interaction, and cursor and event message tweaks. You can also discard your Hulk Suit with the reload key - handy if you need access to your non-Hulk Suit potential.

The big boy of the build is the Matrix. He's... oversized. But does stuff go in that mouth of his... or out? Maybe both! And he doesn't seem to turn - weakness or strength?

That completes the bosses for each of the five decks of the steampunk spaceship. Aside from implementation tweaks I'm moving on to the Alien Deck and some curious new enemy AI mechanics.


Happy robot hunting!
Mister Bums

This builds brings some big changes and a ton of bugfixes in preparation for beta.

The files data.mod and dialogue.mod expose in-game data for enterprising modders. Profiling tools were added to the console, and you can now opt-in to send Steam Marines play data to a server for tweaking/balance reasons (no private data sent; opt-in only!) This may also pave the way for a leaderboard or other online components.

Also, PEWPEW![www.steammarines.com]

Marines get a new class to help them kick nasty robots and aliens off their ship - the Engineer. Submachine gun? Check. Hacking consoles and PDAs? Check. High tech looting? Check check check.

The new perk system is available upon Squad Creation. Extra Laser Sight damage. Bonus enemy spotting experience. More Hulk Suit flamethrower carnage. You'll need it for the new Medical Deck boss... the Brainien.

Full changelogs are on the discussion forums!