With the release of Update 2, I have made significant changes to the core gameplay mechanics, which is why I am titling it "Gameplay".

I know not many will read this, but if you stumble upon this devlog and try the update, I would really appreciate any kind of feedback (even just "it sucks") on the following new mechanics:

• How do you feel about the new ore / money system? Does it feel like a tense decision whether to sell your ore at the end of a wave or risk losing it all for more money? Or do you just sell your ore every round? Does it make any sense?
• Do the difficulty indicators help with determining difficulty spikes? Do they represent the true level of difficulty well?

Of course, any type of feedback is greatly appreciated!

Update 2 is an attempt to fix many of the core issues with gameplay. Particularly, I wanted to address the feeling of uncertainty between waves, as well as some of the more frustrating parts of the game.

I still plan to explore some other new mechanics in the following updates:

• Contract system: each mission will be randomly selected for a contract, with a difficulty that matches the players current power level. The contracts difficulty will determine which waves are randomly selected using the new wave difficulty system. A few contracts will be given, with some being higher risk / greater reward.
• Temporary upgrades: small equipment upgrades that will not be carried between missions.
• XP system: Some upgrade paths will be locked behind a level requirement. Towers gain levels / xp with each enemy they kill.
• And more!

The next update will be titled "Content", and will contain large amounts of polish, as well as enough content to bring the game closer to a few hours of gameplay.

I plan to release a few hotfixes before then to tweak balance a bit and fix any bugs I can find.

Changelog:

• Added guns to mining drills
• Comeback mechanics:
  • Give a free marine when player loses them all and has no money
    
  • Randomize deaths on mission failure, 1/3 chance of unit not dying
• Upcoming wave difficulty indicator
• Upcoming wave countdown timer
• Mission difficulty indicator
• New money system:
  • 2 currencies, Money is permanent, ore is converted/lost at the end of mission. Only ore is gained during a mission based on mining drills. Has no use (yet) on its own. At the end of each phase, ore can be converted to cash
  • Ore can be saved up, if converted when completing mission you get more money for it.
    
  • If ore is sold during mission you get slightly less money in return
  • If mission is failed all unconverted ore is lost
• Money bonus on mission completion
• Ability to move units during mission
• Unit personalization:
  • Each unit is given a randomized name
  • Name can be customized when managing units
• Unit death cause at end of mission
• Med kit upgrade to heal units during mission
• New waves for first mission
• Many bug fixes