We know we’ve been quiet for a while, but all this time has been spent cooking up content for you and we are so excited to be sharing it!
We’ll be releasing a massive update soon with things you, the community, have requested, things we’ve discovered through focus testing and internal feedback, and things that will help Robocraft 2 take its next step to the future. This includes new movement types, new weaponry and a host of updates and upgrades to the game, both functional and visual.
Build bay size upgrades
Bigger is always better! Upgrading your CPU to certain benchmarks will now also increase the scale of the Build Bay, giving you more space to build artbots (and tools of destruction).
Going over 1000 CPU will give you the 35x35x35 medium Build Bay:
And going over 1500 CPU gives you the 49x49x49 Large Build Bay:
To make traversing these vast systems easier, movement speed & acceleration can be tweaked in the Options menu.
How will you fill these massive bays? We’ve also got an often requested feature which we’ve wanted from the beginning.
Atomizing!
This new system is being added to the block forge and allows you to scrap all of your unwanted resources and blocks.
Atomizing something gives you a new resource type, called Matter, which, like other resources, comes in different forms; Coarse, Refined etc. If you’re drowning in Refined Ladium with nothing to do with it, turn it into Refined Matter. If you then find out you don’t have nearly enough Refined Shatterite, just craft it with the Matter.
Resources will now appear in the block forge for you to craft.
Updated Hellion Crater, Upgraded AI
Hellion Crater has gotten a facelift! The massive Protonite crater, which started this whole war, is finally featuring centre stage.
The more perceptive of you will also notice that its surroundings have something new: Volumetric Fog! Alongside our updated lighting, this will help to make your battles far more atmospheric.
Of course, we will be adding far more than this map as soon as we can, but the tools and techniques we’ve used to iterate on this one will help us create more high-quality maps in the future!
There is more to the map than just the landscape though, there are the things you fight in it!
Our AI systems have been getting a steady stream of improvements, not least to help them make the most of our new movement systems and weapons.
Step one is that we’re getting rid of our repeating AI Robocraft, and instead using the communities! If you play a game and achieve over a certain score, your Robocraft is added to the AI Robocraft pool, and can globally appear as an enemy or ally in anyone's game. So much of Robocraft’s experience is fighting against different enemies every match, and this change helps keep things fresh from game to game!
Of course, our goal is that if you’re playing PvP, you’re playing against real players. In these very early days though, our AI friends are helping us finetune the experience and offer a fallback to keep your queue times low. As we have more players joining us, we’ll be focusing on throwing you all against each other instead of the computer.
New Parts - Plasma Cannon, Rail Gun, Nano Healers, Hoverblades & Insect Legs
Plasma Cannon
The Plasma Cannon brings you that glorious burst fire AOE.
Stick a bunch of these on your Robocraft and watch the enemy's defences melt away. They consume a lot of energy, but in return spread their damage over an area, quickly getting rid of movement and weapon blocks they hit. While you might not completely destroy your enemy's Robocraft, strategically switching to lasers at the right moment for their precision can help you finish them off.
Plasma Cannons are available from T1 to T10.
Rail Gun
The Rail Gun is the opposite of the Plasma Cannon, it delivers precise destruction.
With a high damage output and incredible precision, the Rail Gun lets you pick off enemies blocks from a distance and of course the enemies themselves. The key thing to look out for is that movement will massively decrease your accuracy, so you need to pick your spot, and your timing, to utilise them best.
Aiming with the Rail Gun will create a fine laser beam that enemies can see, as well as a glint on your scope, so don’t expect to catch people completely unaware! Of course, this also makes them great at area control, no one wants to drive out into a canyon filled with lasers.
Rail Cannons run from T3 to T10!
Nano Healers
Something to mix it up a bit from endless destruction: The Nano Healer!
Fire them at your allies to heal them, giving them the upper hand in any firefight. The amount of healing done stacks with the number of Nano Healers you have on your Robocraft, so there is room for dedicated healers to turn the tide of battle!
Nano Healers can be found from T5 To T10.
Hover Blades
Rise up with the hoverblades.
These parts let you hover above the ground, and strafe with your movement keys. Your Robocraft will rotate to follow your crosshair, giving you a massive amount of manoeuvrability on the battlefield.
You’re going to need to be smart about placing these. Losing a Hoverblade in the wrong spot can throw your entire Robocraft off balance! Of course, this means that if you’re fighting one, picking off the right blades could be the key to victory.
These new parts will start at Tier 3 going all the way up to Tier 10.
Insect Legs
Get climbing with the Insect Legs!
These movement parts also strafe and follow your crosshair, but they can climb cliffs! Along with their jumping ability, this gives you a new way to access the battlefield and find that perfect shooting angle.
These go from Tier 7 up to Tier 10.
Part of the AI overhauls we mentioned recently was them utilising all this new weaponry and movement blocks. Insect legs use a custom navigation mesh, meaning they go where others can’t, and the AI will swap out between available weapons depending on the situation, including Nano Healers!
Other Features, QoL Improvements & Additions
Here’s a little overview of some of the other changes that are coming with this update.
Spectate Mode
If you’re destroyed in battle, instead of being thrown straight back into the build bay you’ll be able to sit back and watch the rest of the match play out! After viewing your killer’s perspective for a few seconds, you’ll be able to cycle through your surviving teammates.
Tech Tree Auto-unlock
To streamline the progression of unlocking new parts we’ve removed the manual step of going into the tech tree and purchasing the new part. Once you’ve gained enough proficiency with a part you’ll be shown any new parts that have unlocked on the post battle summary screen. These parts will then be available to forge right away.
Profile Cosmetics Vault
Found in the Ops Room segment of the radial menu, you can customise your avatar, frame and banner to stand out better in your friends list and the in-game player lists/scoreboard. The Ops Room will also be home to a lot of other cool screens and features in future.
Social Console
Like the other consoles placed around the build bay, we’ve added a new social console to show your friend’s statuses.
Hold LMB to continuously place cubes
No more constant clicking to place or remove a larger number of parts! Hold either LMB or RMB to rapidly place and delete blocks.
Capture point UX improvements
A new in-world bit of UI showing where the capture points are as well as a minimap icon that reflects the current state of the capture points.
There’s much more, along with tons of bug fixes too!
Everyone here at Freejam appreciates your patience over the last two months as we've focussed on development, as well as all of your feedback which has gone into this latest update, and future updates to come. We'll be inviting more people into the playtest in the coming days and can't wait to hear your thoughts and fight against your creations!