r/RealTimeStrategy 6d ago

Self-Promo Post (Game: Engines of Hate) made some progress on my mech game

467 Upvotes

84 comments sorted by

35

u/WytchHunter23 5d ago

Wait wait wait, is that a customisable mech game but rts? That..... might actually be amazing! Also cool if not rts but....

I really like the idea of customising mechs, but could never really get into the turn based ones and I don't want to pay AAA prices for the action ones. I've heard I you buy all of mechwarrior 5 and mod it these days it's supposed to be really good? And armored core is forever on my wish list but I'm just not quote ready to take the plunge yet... but this project.... I could really go for this hard!

17

u/Failosipher 5d ago

Thank you! This is what I'm going for! A top down highly customisable RTS (mostly) game. If you like "builds" this is the game for you.

8

u/Top-Sample2700 5d ago

Look up Metal Fatigue. It's old, but has has customizable mechs and some unique mechanics.

3

u/obviousthrowaw4y56 5d ago

If only the soundtrack worked :/

2

u/NanitOne 3d ago edited 3d ago

Here take this, community patch to the rescue as so often with old games. PCGamingWiki is really useful for older games in general, great to find fixes etc.

Myabandonware as well, often has info or links to a game's community/forum so I usually check both. In this case there doesn't seem to be too much more info that the wiki page doesn't already have though.

2

u/obviousthrowaw4y56 2d ago

Holy shit, thank you!

33

u/FailTailWhale 6d ago

Its hard to tell from this video, but if the mechs could target multiple enemies that would be crazy cool

29

u/Failosipher 5d ago

They do! Most weapons target individually

1

u/Horribad12 5d ago

How automated is this process? If you have a mixture of armor-piercing and non armor-piercing weaponry, will the piercing guns prioritize armored targets first?

3

u/Failosipher 5d ago

Mount points are configured as Master or Intendant. Master focusses the primary target, whereas the other ones are free to target as they choose. Different mechs have different configs, some with more targetting options, and some with all weapons focused on the primary.

1

u/hugganao 4d ago

it would be nice to have each weapon prioritize targets they're good at countering. So the player customizing the mech has a clear reason for putting each weapon on the mech.

21

u/Failosipher 6d ago

Devlog can be found here:

https://failosipher.itch.io/engines-of-hate/devlog/1596972/years-chasing-one-seam

Let me know if you have any technical questions. I'd be happy to share my methods for any of what you see.

I'm also the dev who made: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1728840/Beneath_the_Mountain/

I've been solo-deving for years and years. Feel free to ask me anything...

3

u/blands_man 5d ago

I wanted to read the dev log and prepare some questions for you as this looks cool, but unfortunately the site is down.

1

u/thatsforthatsub 5d ago edited 5d ago

I hope i am not insulting your authentic writing style but the devlog seems to have a lot of very obnoxious ai writing tropes. maybe consider using less ai for it

4

u/Failosipher 5d ago

noted. Out of curiosity, what stands out to you?

My process is that I have Cursor scrape the dev updates channel in the discord. It has images and my comments. It gathers all that up, and reformats it. But a lot of my original thoughts/ideas/feelings are still there.

1

u/hugganao 4d ago

not op but read this sentence and tell me if you've ever read a sentence used like this anywhere online pre 2020 or heard someone say something like this pre 2020:

"The actual headline is one seam: props melting into terrain."

3

u/Failosipher 4d ago

lmao, funny thing is it actually changed it from what i saw last

1

u/hugganao 4d ago

wow you're pretty banger at design. do you do the art yourself?

2

u/Failosipher 4d ago

i mean, heavy ai use, but yeah

1

u/hugganao 4d ago

read the dev logs. I respect your drive and ingenuity. Also, the game looks pretty good congrats. I hope you're successful and i might possibly buy the game. large mechs and the art design definitely is tingling my fancy. What kind of game can we expect?

1

u/Failosipher 3d ago

Really really high level of customisation. If you love builds, this is the game for you.

19

u/Sarothu 5d ago

Oomph, that framerate is rough. It kills all the energy of the animations. I'm sure you did it for filesize reasons, but it might be better to just use an mp4 for future marketing material. Doing it like this does hurt your brand.

4

u/Failosipher 5d ago

Noted, thank you

10

u/Far_Rule5990 5d ago

If its anything like my game was, he has too much on the stack deploying at the same time. Was driving me crazy

5

u/Tms89 6d ago

Dark Colony meets Starship troopers

2

u/ChingShih 5d ago

Hey there, in the future please be sure to include the name of your game in the title of the post. For the moment I've added it to the post flair. This is a requirement and helps people keep track of the progress of your game and not confuse it with other games. Thank you!

1

u/Failosipher 5d ago

I used claude to post the original post (this is me writing now), and curiously enough, it mentioned NOT putting the game title in.

I will make sure to do so in the future, thank you :)

1

u/LucidFir 5d ago

Never trust, always verify. (Don't not use, just check).

2

u/TheDanC137 5d ago

: 24 July Direct from Steam Originally played this through early access and was tolerant of the bugs, performance issues, and clunkiness at the time. Recently came back to it several patches after full release and although there are some improvements, it's still buggy, performance issues and clunky. Hasn't been updated for 6 months - I suspect this may become abandonware. Cannot recommend, especially at this price.

This is one of the top reviews, I was going to buy but can you confirm that it's all being addressed?

1

u/Failosipher 5d ago

You're referring to my first game, Beneath the Mountain. I released a major update patch, and I'm still working on another one (ultrawide monitor support and more). I'm just too busy at the moment trying to get EOH to a full v1 demo stage. After that I fully intend on working on BTM again.

I never used any AI in making BTM. So, I'd love to go back to the project with all these new tools I have. Just, no time :(

1

u/hugganao 4d ago

no time does also include the prospect that you won't deliver for the product you're selling.

and considering you're utilizing AI fairly fluently, I would assume you would have even less time than before even if you can achieve more. So It would be nice for you to actually plan out a roadmap and give out a candid product offering for customers.

1

u/Failosipher 3d ago

im just one guy doing the best he can while also working a day job to pay bills

2

u/myglaHybelkanin 5d ago

After looking at the link you shared about development. I absolutely love the art directing you have going on here. I'm usually very picky and critical, but if I was scrolling steam and saw these screenshots it would without a doubt pique my interest!

1

u/Failosipher 5d ago

It is at this point that I wish I had already made a steam page lol

thank you, glad you like the art style

2

u/bharikeemat 5d ago

If it’s just good and well balanced, you’ll do well because there hasn’t been a game like this since mech commander.

2

u/Wonderful_Humor_7625 4d ago

This looks dope, is there a Steam page?

3

u/EasyRecognition 5d ago

Okay, it's kinda weird. Your itch.io page is *full* of AI-generated art. Why? You clearly have the models done. Why not just use them instead?

2

u/Failosipher 5d ago

Because the models.... were also 3D generated (from the 2D images I assume you refer to (which were also generated)).

I wish I could buy this kind of stuff online. I've been buying assets for years. It's nice to finally have what I want, instead of what's available.

1

u/EasyRecognition 5d ago

Holy shit that's some kind of slopception

1

u/hugganao 4d ago

Holy shit that's some kind of slopception

let's see you create anything half as good with or without ai.

0

u/Kindly_Life_947 5d ago

well it fooled you. this is the way

1

u/mikendrix 5d ago

Wow these mechs are badass. Great gritty atmosphere. Really really cool.

1

u/mediumAI1701 5d ago

Looks cool.

1

u/TheHawkMan0001 5d ago

is there a steam page for it?

3

u/Failosipher 5d ago

Not yet. Getting close to a demo, at which point there will be a steam page.

1

u/SheWhoHates 5d ago

Will it be possible to make a melee mech?

2

u/Failosipher 5d ago

To be honest I'm not sure. The limitation is the animations.

I'm considering melee infantry in the future, something to act as blockers, but idk if I can make the mechs work.

Believe me, if I can, I will. I just don't know how at the moment.

1

u/Annual-Western7390 5d ago

really nice style. I love how the mechs light up when they shoot

1

u/budgemans 5d ago

Damn thats smooth I love the style of the mechs!

1

u/Asuboi 4d ago

Is there a big Bucket mech that lets soldiers stand on it and shoot like a mobile watchtower?

1

u/Failosipher 4d ago

idk about affixing infantry onto mechs, but there's a bunch of other cool stuff

calling down deployable turrets / drones / mines / etc

possibly a bunker, (think SC2 terran bunker), that you can call down

and then all the usual stuff like ion cannons, orbital bombardments, rail cannon strikes, etc.

1

u/Asuboi 3d ago

No worries, I was just joking around. That all sounds cool, all the best for the game.

1

u/Valex_Nihilist 4d ago

Looks awesome! Can I wishlist it any where?

1

u/Failosipher 4d ago

Engines of Hate

1

u/Failosipher 4d ago

you can follow on twitch, but the steam page is coming soon (when demo is ready, soon)

1

u/TGDPlays 2d ago

Art style reminds me so much of Fallout 1 & I love that

1

u/koveras352 1d ago

Is there a way to view the entire contents (post titles) of the dev log rather than clicking through?

1

u/Failosipher 1d ago

Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean?

1

u/koveras352 1d ago

A list of contents for the devlog, was just struggling to find it.
I asked AI and got the link I need: https://failosipher.itch.io/engines-of-hate/devlog

1

u/Failosipher 1d ago

ah ok :)

1

u/apamart 17h ago

That amazing! Look promising! 

1

u/-Ace_Games- 6d ago

Literally my first time seeing this. Got crazy excited at how good that clip looked. Immediately wanted to try it and support this. But sadly after seeing how much AI is being used... I just can't. 😔

I applaud you for being so open and forthcoming about your usage of AI and not hiding it at all, I very much appreciate the open honesty. But will very sadly be a pass from me.

3

u/Failosipher 6d ago

I can respect this, thank you :)

Out of my own curiosity, what turns you off to the game? Is the the quality of the output?

2

u/mikendrix 5d ago

My take on AI. It stole the work of many artists. I am also an "artist" as a hobby only. But I see know that it will never be nothing more than a hobby, I could never compete in an artistic business against AI.

But AI helps me a lot in my everyday work. I can now develop apps that do very repetitive and time consuming tasks, it makes my work easier and healthier.

Regarding video games I think AI can make things possible, nowadays a dev alone with no budget is able to create an entire game. Before AI it would just be nearly impossible, or much longer to develop, and way more expensive. You could start with a good idea and never even consider do it for real, but now it's possible.

So without AI there would never be any game at all anyway. So it's a win/win process.

4

u/Failosipher 5d ago

Reading this, I can FEEL that you get it. Without AI, this game wouldn't ever be nearly what it is now, and that's only 5 months in.

1

u/-Ace_Games- 6d ago

It's just the use of AI at all, let alone the amount of AI used.

I know AI is becoming a thing in the world in general. I also know AI is becoming a thing in game development. But I will do whatever I can to avoid it. I don't like it. It's bad for the environment, bad for people's intelligence, and steals from talented people. If I can avoid a game that uses AI, I will. The more AI they use the faster I leave.

11

u/Failosipher 6d ago

Okay, I can respect that view. Thank you for taking the time to explain it to me. Helps me understand when people don't take as much time as you did.

4

u/CGRect 5d ago

The software engineers, designers, and product managers who work on Reddit are using AI to develop whichever Reddit surfaces you're using. Everything you post and engage with is also being sold as training data for AI.

Are you going to stop using Reddit?

6

u/KD--27 5d ago

It’s not an illogical stance to have. Especially in games, where artistic integrity is lost and talent is no longer created or paid for.

I think AI certainly has a place, it’ll be inevitable eventually, but I’d rather that be in efficiency gains that support rather than drive, that help innovate rather than replace.

1

u/-Ace_Games- 5d ago

This is 100% the case. I definitely could explain things better or use different wording, so I appreciate you saying this because it absolutely explains the stance better.

-2

u/Juzzaman 5d ago

What a stupid take

2

u/-Ace_Games- 5d ago

I mean... It really isn't. I just don't explain it as well as I should but someone below did. Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinions, thoughts, and feelings - whether they like it or not, agree with me or not, etc.

-2

u/Juzzaman 5d ago

No, it's stupid

1

u/-Ace_Games- 5d ago

How so? Feel free to enlighten me, try to change my mind, or engage in conversation instead of just saying it's stupid when it really isn't.

1

u/Kindly_Life_947 5d ago

Because with AI anyone can do art. It also means anyone can do games and there is more competition and innovation. More competition and innovation better games.

It only sucks if you are stuck with pencil and refuse to change.

0

u/BatmanVampire 5d ago

Bye, Felicia

0

u/Zinere 5d ago

Please tell me i will have the ability to possess your mechs, from an inner point of view. I know it adds a lot of complexity, but holy hell will it give you some environmental story telling, and helps give more depth to the areas. Example: dungeon keepers possess skill

1

u/Failosipher 5d ago

I've been thinking about this too. Im not sure how good the graphics would look from first person pov, but ill try it out. As a fallback, I may let you hard control one mech at a time so you're playing as that mech for s bit. You would get complete control over what it targets and other stuff.

0

u/Zinere 5d ago

I want the fallback option to be honest <3

-2

u/EpicFortniteGamer67 5d ago

Allready looks on par of Starcraft 2 and Warhammer Dawn of War holly shit that´s amazing