Co-op is coming next Thursday, September 5th!
Grab your favorite friend, sibling, twin, clone or machine learning algorithm and see you then!
We’re baaaaaaaaaack! We’ve been working on some awesome stuff the last few weeks, so figured it’s high time for an update post!
Following up on the new Arena design detailed in our last preview, the upgrade room and spawn areas are being given face-lifts of their own.
Can you spot the difference?
The TVs now also show a preview of the next level!
Clone Drone is “TOO EASY”, you say? Well, now you’ve done it. We’re adding two new difficulty tiers: Uranium and Insanium. Good luck.
As part of the all-new Arena design, we’re working through all of the existing endless levels and enhancing them with the power of awesome new art and the last two year’s worth of level editor improvements.
We’ll be including a Twitch Extension update alongside the next update, and will be starting a beta test of the extension before then. Shoot us an email with your Twitch stream URL and we will send along a link to the experimental beta extension once it’s approved for testing by Twitch (late this week or early next week, hopefully!).
The updated Twitch Extension will feature:
These features are still under heavy development, and during the beta will require using a separate test Twitch Extension app, so wait for the extension beta instructions if you’d like to try it early!
We’ve been having a blast playing co-op, and these arena and level changes have been making it all the more fun.
As always, Doborog is streaming development live on Twitch! https://twitch.tv/doborog
As we noted last time, on the stream page you can also find a link to access the latest experimental builds, which include progress on co-op and the new arena. (As the description notes — these builds are under heavy development and will contain lots of bugs! So proceed with caution :D)
We are aiming to release the co-op update before the end of August. It’s going to be a big update!
Until then!!
Happpppy Summerrrr! We’ve been hard at work on some fun new things for our next major update, so we figured now would be a good time to share some peeks at what’s in store.
Co-op has been one of our most requested features since we added multiplayer support last year. Now that we’ve started building it, we get it — it’s really fun! For the past few weeks we’ve been working through the various parts of endless mode to make them multiplayer co-op compatible.
Co-op places you and a partner in the arena for some tag-team robot slicing. Clones are shared, and if you run out, your partner’s last-ditch combat may be the only thing standing between glory and humiliating defeat.
Our initial “tests” are revealing Co-op is a great mode to play with a friend and jam on for a few hours. Yes… “tests”… (we may have become a bit addicted…)
Gary has been applying his voxel skills to refresh the Arena!
Ooh… pretty!
The audience! What is this?
They’re doing the SIN() wave!
As part of upgrading spiders-tron to work well in multiplayer for Co-op, we’re making their legs smarter! Gone are the days of spider-tron falling over at the slightest gust of wind.
What wonderful inverse kinematics!
We <3 Twitch mode! It’s been a while since our last major Twitch-related update, so this update we will be doing a refresh of Twitch mode and the Twitch Extension. If there’s something you’d like to see in Twitch mode, now’s a great time to let us know, too!
If you’re a Twitch streamer and interested in trying out betas of the extension update, email us with your Twitch stream URL and we will get you hooked up to try the latest!
Did you know?! Doborog has been streaming co-op development daily! If you would like to follow along with the latest, check out the Twitch stream here: https://twitch.tv/doborog
On the stream page you can also find a link to access the latest experimental builds, which include progress on co-op and the new arena. (As the description notes — these builds are under heavy development and will contain lots of bugs! So proceed with caution :D)
We’re expecting to ship this update some time in August, and will share more on release as it’s closer to complete.
Until next time!
Holy cow, Chapter 4 was a big update!
Between the new enemies, mind transfer mechanic and spear / shield, we decided to put together a quick mini-release to add these elements throughout the game. (We also took this as an opportunity to do some extra bug fixing and optimization!)
Spears and shields… over the network?!?! Yes!
The basic spear costs 1 upgrade point, which introduces many opportunities for interesting spear-combination builds.
All out of upgrade points? There is now also a Max Spear drop in Last Bot Standing!
This update adds a fresh batch of endless levels that feature the new enemies introduced in chapter 4. You’ll find these levels are chock-full of spear and fleet command / analysis bots.
Look for these levels in Endless and Twitch modes (and in the workshop challenge below). Keep your head down!
We released an updated Twitch extension (0.0.7) with the new enemies from chapter 4.
We also:
No longer must you fear lava causing the game to grind to a jittery halt! (Now you can fear it just because it might set you on fire…)
Not a fan of garbage? There is now a setting to limit the amount of robot garbage the game keeps around the level. This is especially useful for Twitch Mode, or other custom levels with tons of enemies.
We decided Chapters 3 and 4 are levels so big, they deserve their own dedicated loading bars. Now you can cheer on your computer while the bar fills up!
You can now enable any of the following in your workshop challenges:
Set these in the Level Editor under Challenges -> Config! We are looking forward to seeing what folks make with these new modifiers!
To demonstrate the Random Upgrade modifier for Workshop Challenges, Doborog put together a Random Upgrade Challenge 2.0 workshop challenge that features new endless mode maps from this update (including Death Cube 3.0)!
Subscribe on the Steam Workshop and play the challenge it under Challenges -> Workshop!
We hope you enjoy this update, & up next: Co-op!!
What is your status, human? Let us tell you of our status!
We just pushed a small update that fixed a few things:
Let us know if you find any other bugs!
Chapter 4 added a ton of new features, so before we move on we want to make sure they get a chance to spread to other parts of the game!
We’re putting together a fun little update that will:
Look for it in the next 2-3 weeks!
Wouldn’t it be cool if you could fight robots with your friends?
We think so too, which is why we’re tackling co-op as the next major update to the game!!!
What do you want out of a co-op experience? Is hugging important? Let us know!
Wait no longer, Chapter 4 has arrived!
With your mind now transferred into the Fleet, make your way through one of the fleet’s most heavily defended ships.
With no Clones or business transfer stations in the Fleet, you’re going to need a backup plan. Mind Transfer gives you a lifeline and opportunity to fight as a variety of enemies.
Stab enemies in the face with the new laser spear! The spear rewards precisely aimed stabs, and just feels dang satisfying.
Spears are now available as an upgrade in endless mode, the Spear Only challenge (which unlocks the Flame Spear), and in a number of enemies you can transfer in to in Chapter 4.
Grab your gravity boots, we’re going outside! Chapter 4 features zero gravity combat, which makes for beautiful floating bouquets of voxel destruction.
One of the major innovations in the development of Chapter 4 is the addition of a Level Editor Animation System. This is also available for use by level editors! Check out this demo video with some more details on how to use it!
This chapter is our first since the talented Gary Lucken joined the team! Gary’s incredible voxel art is featured heavily throughout chapter 4.
Pretty!
Look who’s talking too! Combat robots in Chapter 4 feature a primitive voice system that allows for dynamic commentary. (This is also now available for use in the level editor!)
Chapter 4 features a number of new enemies, culminating in an epic battle with some fresh new faces. Good luck!
In the Mind Transfer challenge, death is only the beginning. Can you make it to Titanium armed only with the ability to transfer your mind into enemies??
The Spear-Only Challenge puts your spear skills to the test. Beating it unlocks the flame spear.
Today we’ve already released some bug hotfixes, but if you encounter anything / get stuck in the game and can’t continue let us know in the community Discord or at our support email. You can always try going back to the main menu, changing difficulties, or restarting Steam to see if there’s been a game update that fixes your issue.
We’ll likely put out another mini-release integrating some of these sweet new features elsewhere in the game (like adding the spear to multiplayer!)
Have fun!
Fresh robot combatants.
A laser spear.
Gravity-defying space-boots.
Giant.
Transport.
Tubes.
Can’t wait? Follow Doborog’s dev streams for a sneak peek.
Prepare for mind transfer!
Just about two years ago when we first started on Early Access, we included these two puppies on our FAQ:
Turns out, eventually is NOW!
Clone Drone now supports a wide variety of game controllers! You may now lean back and bask in the glory of playing Clone Drone in the comfort of not-with-your-keyboard-and-mouse.
The game’s UI buttons are fully navigable by your controller’s left stick or D-pad, and they come with visual selection and sound effects to make it clearer which button is selected.
Pretty!
Controller hints throughout the game have also been updated to use icons for the specific controller you are using. It will even swap hints in real-time if you change controllers or move back to using mouse and keyboard:
Thanks to everyone who helped test the controller support while it was in its infancy (shout-outs to Myriad453, AwesomePants, GeekCrafter412, Stealth000, Arcylic, davy jones locker, JustASloth, Jelley, theyummyoyster, RedCreep, X606, Dat Alpha Waffle, Niek_Alexander, LagTeam Leader & everyone from the Discord #controller-testers channel!). This rag-tag crew of brave experimental branch testers was super helpful in tuning the default set of buttons to something that was not just usable, but some may even say preferred!
Let us know what you think! And if you try it out with an esoteric flight pedal or Guitar Hero controller, send us a clip, because that’s just awesome.
Dvorak, Colemak, and AZERTY friends! No longer must you suffer the indignation of switching keyboard layouts or using external utilities prior to becoming a sword robot.
With the new Edit Controls menu, you may now remap in-game actions to whatever key (or controller button/axis) you would like. Let us know if there are any actions you would like to see made configurable in this menu!
While Brian was working on getting controller support and key remapping hooked up, Erik has continued adding mind-blowing new mechanics that will be featured in chapter 4, like low gravity combat:
We’re anticipating launching Chapter 4 and some new bonus challenges towards the end of April, if all goes to plan.
Until next time!
We figured it’s about time for another UPDATE POOOOST!
We’ve been hard at work constructing a mind-bending Story Mode Chapter 4 with completely new weapons, environment art, interactive story animations and characters. If you thought Chapter 3’s journey outside of the arena was a step up from the first chapters, wait ’til you experience this next chapter 😀
We are expecting Chapter 4 to release some time in April, and we will follow up with more details as we are closer to wrapping up its development.
Controller support (yes, controller support!) should come out some time in the next couple of weeks. See below for more details!
Check out these tubes! Erik has been taking the level editor’s new in-editor animation system and using it to bring Chapter 4 to another level. Watch for even more immersive, surprising moments during this chapter.
One request we’ve gotten from players since we started in Early Access has been to tighten up the graphics a bit. With the incredible Gary Lucken now part of the Doborog crew, Chapter 4 is bringing the game’s visuals to another level!
Another feature of the new level editor animation system added for chapter 4 is the ability to animate LIGHTS!
Pretty!
(Even before Chapter 4!)
One of the top requests we’ve gotten ever since we entered Early Access has been support for game controllers & key remapping.
As fans of playing games with controllers on the PC ourselves, we always suspected Clone Drone would be a great fit for controller support, but couldn’t be sure until we tested it out to confirm. (That’s why we were always careful not to promise controller support, in case it didn’t fit with the gameplay!)
Turns out, it works, and it feels great! (Some may say it’s even better than keyboard and mouse. But those people would be heretics.)
Here’s VastLite slaying at the game while twiddling his thumbs:
No QWERTY? No problem! One of the things we’re adding in the process of adding controller support is the ability to re-map in-game actions to whatever keys or mouse buttons you’d like.
Dvorak, AZERTY, and non-US keyboard users, rejoice!
(Now we haven’t tried it with a Guitar Hero controller yet… but we can’t say that it WOULDN’T work…)
We’re working with some early testers to whittle down a default control set that feels great across the gamut of controllers out there.
For those interested in trying the controller support + key remapping development pre-alpha early, join the #controller-testers room on the community-run Discord and we’ll put instructions there on how to test the controller support branch out. We’d love to hear what controls you find the most intuitive / enjoyable as you play.
Note: the controller branch is still under heavy development and not quite feature-complete, so it may change / break your game data, so be sure to back your save data up before trying it out!
For long-requested, larger features like this, it’s taken a bit longer between updates than we’d otherwise prefer. Turns out — constructing a mind-blowing chapter with all-new enemies, environments, animation system, weapons, etc, takes a single developer while! & so does re-vamping the game’s input system and UI navigation to support a variety of controllers. 🙂
Rest assured, we’re well on the way to concluding the game’s epic tale and rounding out the rest of our planned major features for the game!
To all of you who have been with us in Early Access, diligently trying updates as we’ve continued developing the game — who continued streaming, sending in bugs, moderating community spaces, creating incredible workshop maps and blowing our minds with what’s possible with the tools we manage to share — thank you!!
Stay awesome, and watch for updates here soon!
Happy Friday!
After a fun morning of playing your workshop levels I’m happy to announce that we have 4 gems temporarily joining the official Last Bot Standing rotation!
This amazing looking level has an even more amazing Final Zone.
Survive until the end, and you may encounter… THE BEAST!
Why fight in buildings when you can fight ON them? Roof Top delivers a fun experience for all city loving humans.
A tight design delivering fun battles with a high tempo! The Maze Below impressed us with its gameplay.
Turn into garbage and experience Fireworks! The sloped design of this level felt simple and surprisingly fresh.
Thanks to everyone who submitted levels and participated in the playtest!