M.O.A.B. Is Coming: Co-op for Warped Universe

Road to M.O.A.B., The Mother of All Builds

Champions of the Warped Universe,

It’s been a few months since our last update. We’ve been building the biggest update Warped Universe has ever had, and with a team our size, that took a while. Our main focus was the two things you asked for most: co-op and a new animation system. As it turned out, they went hand in hand. To make co-op work, our animation system had to be rebuilt to hold up over the network. So we dug in and did both. Thanks for sticking around while we did. We haven’t slept much, and a lot of coffee was consumed, but we think it’s worth it.

Warped Universe has always been a game destined for co-op. We released in Early Access as single player only to get players in and see what people liked, didn't like, and help us adjust. You've all helped us so much in knowing what and how to improve the game, and we feel that co-op will really give this game the life and excitement it deserves. So hats off to all of you who have logged in, played, written a review, or messaged us. You've all made a massive impact on the development of this game.

We’re calling it M.O.A.B., the Mother of All Builds. It’s truly the biggest build we’ve made so far. Let’s dive into what it incorporates.

Warped Universe is going multiplayer

Up to four players, in every mode. Ground or space, real-time or turn-based, any mission can be played as a squad.

You can add friends, see who's online and form a squad before you launch. Lobbies can be private, so you invite your friends in, or public. If you want to play with other Champions, walk up to the lobby terminal, pick a mode and join an open lobby.

Voice chat is built in, push-to-talk or open mic, so you don't need anything else running to talk to your squad. Every co-op mission also has its own text chat, which is handy when you went down first and would rather not say it out loud.

Space co-op has been one of our favorite things to test. Not many space games let you fly missions next to your friends.

"I jumped out of my chair in excitement the moment we as a team logged in to a mission together and flew side by side. It’s been years of waiting for this moment, and it was such an unreal feeling to be able to battle together. I can’t wait until you all get to do this too." - Adam, co-founder / game audio

Turn-based works in co-op too. There's an initiative bar, a turn banner and a countdown so everyone knows whose move it is, and you can move freely between fights.

A few other things we built for squads:

• Loot isn't a race. When Residuum drops, everyone gets it.
• Mission steps are shared by all players.
• Enemies get tougher as your squad grows.
• The results screen gives every player their stats.

Getting four players into the same fight in every mode meant rebuilding a lot of the game under the hood. It took longer than we wanted. We really think it’s worth it, the fun factor of the game has gone up here. Our tests are taking longer not just due to checking everything, but because we’re having a blast playing together.

Turn-based is a lot faster

Combat doesn't wait for the dice to finish rolling anymore, and enemy turns are paced so you can follow them without sitting through them. Missions also start with a short pause before the shooting so you can get your bearings.

Fights now open with an initiative roll, with PSI and Speed giving you a bonus, and the turn order shows at the top of the screen. You can peek around corners and fire before stepping out. The Void show up in squads now and plan their moves together.

When you plan a move, your weapon range shows in red and your skill range in yellow. In turn-based space, picking a maneuver shows where enemy guns are pointed. And the combat log collapses with one click if you want a cleaner screen.

Things that go boom

Two new explosive weapons, in real-time and turn-based. The rocket launcher fires straight or locks on and chases its target. The grenade launcher bounces around corners or goes off on contact.

Damage types do something now. When a bonus damage die from your sparks or modifiers rolls its max, that damage type triggers an effect:

• Light blinds the enemy so it has trouble aiming
• Gravity slows it down
• Kinetic staggers the target, knocking it off balance and interrupting its attack
• Armor Piercing shreds the target’s armor so it’s easier to hit, and builds up the more it triggers
• Void sets it burning for damage over time

There are two new skills. Healing Light drops a beam from above that heals your squad and blinds any Void standing in it. Residuum Rage gives up some defense for more damage and speed.

And the pistol is a real sidearm now, in real-time and turn-based ground. You asked for this one a lot, rightfully so. Carrying a long gun and a pistol means you can actually plan for range.

Performance

We spent a lot of time making the game run better, and most of it is stuff you’ll feel more than see.

Big fights were the main focus. When the screen fills up with ships, gunfire and explosions, the game holds up much better than before, and that goes for every weapon, not just the ships.

Co-op testing helped a lot here too. Running missions on our servers showed us lag and problems we never saw playing alone, so we went through the logs and fixed them.

If you still have performance feedback, let us know on Discord.

Movement, enemies and more

You told us ground movement needed work, so we ran with it. Movement and animation are rebuilt for you and for the Void, and running and jumping are a lot smoother and more responsive.

The Void got smarter. They take cover, fire in bursts, work as a squad and go looking for you where they last saw you. Four new types join them:

• Necromancer: brings fallen Void back and heals the group. Kill it first.
• Enrager: sends a nearby Void into a rage, faster and hitting harder.
• Nightmare: covers the area in darkness that blinds you. The Void can see through it. Healing Light clears it.
• Phalanx: holds a shield that blocks shots from the front. Break it or get around it.

In space, Void battleships are worth bringing a squad for. Take out the shield generators first, then the turrets, engines and hangars. They pay out a lot of Residuum.

Turn-based space has new tricks too. Missiles take a few turns to reach their target, so you can shoot them down on the way, and the Void can shoot down yours. The Void Hive launches Gnat fighters. Ship movement in turn-based space got an upgrade too, and it’s much smoother now.

Ground Explore missions are in. You can now expand the system map from ground missions, not just space. We added this after watching how many of you stick to ground, so thank you.

Smaller things: clearer hit markers, cleaner waypoints, a better aim-down-sights HUD, faster loading almost everywhere, and a lot of new ambience and sound, recorded and created by the team. It takes time to build that up in the game, but it’s worth it to have original, hand crafted sounds throughout.

What's next

We’re very close to releasing M.O.A.B., and we’ll give you a heads-up before it lands. We’re in the final stages of testing, and multiplayer only really shows its problems when lots of people play at once, so this is where we need you. Come join our Discord and help us test. We’re in there every day, and a lot of this build came from what you told us there and in your Steam reviews.

Bring your friends, it’s free to play. See you in the Nexus.

-The Warped Games Team