Figured I would make a post that I can update as I go, explaining what my current projects and subgoals are. Here ya go!
What Goes Into the Sausage
It would be amiss were I to jump in and not explicate my current work load. Each project is going to be different, but there are certain things that should be the same just as baseline.
Manufacturer Projects:
This will be the most variable set and really depends on what the idea behind a manufacturer is and what I want from them. I’ll delineate the manufacturers list as of now.
General Massive Systems: No plans to expand Everclimb content as of now. These ideas tend to be formed, created, and released in fairly short spans (mechs being the exception).
Pioneer Technologies: Red Bull in a mech! That’s P-Tech! I’m working on a CQB/Defender wrapped around big dual pistols and heat levels, and a Controller/CQB that has no weapon mounts, instead working with rams, improv attacks, and grapples. I’m also slowly (very slowly) working on the FAFF’s ecosystem.
Twinfinite Twindustries: I have a whole line of mechs on the drawing board. Two are entire mechs that are piloted by two simultaneous players. One is designed to work without the pilot at all, always a dangerous prospect in your standard mech-to-mech combat. And, there’s more! These will take a while for me to get to as I’m pretty enchanted with Pioneer’s magical stupidity.
Writing up a manufacturer is a different beast from writing up a mech. Manufacturer writing is really just flavor. Mechs have all of the game’s player-side crunch. That crunch necessitates: a mech, two systems and/or weapons at the first license level, two more at the second license level, and two more to cap things off at the third license level. That ecosystem of six weapons/systems with the mech takes time to make and feel confident about the end result.
Pioneer Technologies
I have three things I’m working on for P-Tech. There is finishing up the FAFF’s ecosystem, which is still missing several elements. This one is taking me a while mostly because I got the whole idea that I was looking to craft out in the mech. I have an infrastructure in place for where to go, and by that I mean I have a bare skeleton scribbled into Visual Studio Code.
The Pistolero is a CQB/Defender frame in size 1/2 that wields enormous revolvers. The frame revolves (heh!) around boosting its own Heat levels to empower its revolvers, which deal more Burn damage as the mech’s Heat escalates. The Pistolero is also a crit monster, with a frame trait and a system that increase its crit range and a core power that does the same. These tie back into the revolvers, which grant another attack when scoring a crit. Yes, it’s supposed to become atrocious.
I’m also working on a melee-only mech that has zero weapon mounts. I call it the Sumotori, a Controller/CQB frame that is intentionally designed to play similarly to a fighter a la 4E (the latest edition of D&D that I’m deeply familiar with). Is the 5E fighter more or less the same? Then, it’s like that, too.
Twinfinite Twindustries
I have quite a few ideas for TT, all of which center on the theme of “twins”. I’ve personally hit upon six being the ideal number of frames to max out at for a small-time manufacturer. I dunno, that feels appropriate. It’s not a target, more a ceiling. With six frames, you have enough room for a player to spend all 15 of their license levels with one manufacturer, with room for a mech to spare.
I’m still very much working on TT and figuring out who they are and where they exist in-universe. The theme for their mechs is, again, “twins”. I’m choosing to represent that two different ways.
One class of TT mechs is literal twinned frames, two separate frames that are designed to work together. I have two pairs in production right now. Mothi & Magni are one pair, and Izanami & Izanagi are the other pair.
Another class is designed to allow two pilots to operate the mech at the same time. These two, the Gemini and the Ibeji, are going to take some time to work out. It’s a different way of operating a mech and I want it to feel fun and different.
I have another mech idea, the Neizghani, that involves using an NHP to run the mech from the word go. That one, in particular, is going to take time to figure out. It’s also the one I’ve been working on the most when I’m not focused on Pioneer.
All of these are going to take some time to work on and release initial versions of. Remember how I said six seemed like the perfect ceiling? There I go breaking it.
That’s All for Now
So long, and thanks for all the fish. I’ll update this doc as I go/remember to.