It’s been a while and I apologize for the radio silence. I’d like to start off by reiterating that I have not abandoned the game. And while admittedly I haven’t been putting much love into VS, I would never completely abandon it without being explicitly clear with everyone. In this blog, I will go over the future of Visionary Squad and what you should expect.

2.9+

We hope to release around two more updates before the big 3.0. These updates will contain visionite reworks / adjustments, reinforcement balancing, and eventually a new tank visionite. The idea is to get everything into a state where we barely have to touch them again, so we can focus on new content past 3.0.

3.0

The big 3.0 update will contain many long awaited features. Firstly, Mission Mode will finally see the light of day, along with some Standard gamemodes. There will also be more map mechanics to improve the uniqueness of maps. A bunch of other things are included, but I will let them remain a mystery.

3.0+

Since the updates before this point set things up, the game will enter cruise mode: a lot of new content, including but not limited to: maps, visionites (a few), and reinforcements. Mission Mode will also be continuously developed as an ongoing story, kind of like a tv show, which is great for lore enthusiasts and those looking for something new. Lastly, major seasonal events will be much more detailed with their own gameplay and not just token gathering.

Conclusion

The game is still being worked on. I appreciate everyone who has supported me and the team through these past 1.5 years, and I apologize for any distress I may have caused. Stay tuned!

Introduction

I hope you’ve had a wonderful new year! My holidays have been pretty uneventful. Mainly, I’ve just been working on NMT, even on days like Christmas or New Years Eve. You can probably tell by the fact NMT received several updates back-to-back. In this devlog, I aim to illuminate you on a shift I will be making in NMT development.

New Priorities

The past few updates have focused on content updates, such as survivors or maps. They are nice, but for now I want to dial it back and focus on the fundamentals. Core systems like progression, gameplay loop, repetition, and quality of life are all things I’m going to re-evaluate and improve. Basically, I am going to pause on furnishing the house until I stabilize the structure. Expect the upcoming updates to be more like the recent one, which added the sandbox and improved end screen UI. If you are a veteran player with a million credits, I understand if you might be a bit frustrated at this shift. Keep in mind it is only temporary and I will resume content updates when I am satisfied with the core of the game.

Conclusion

So yeah, just a quick little heads up on where the development of NMT is headed in the short-term. I greatly appreciate all of your support. Thanks for reading!

Introduction

This post will not be a traditional devlog, but instead a collection of teasers for the new update! I don’t usually reveal stuff before an update drops so consider this a rare exception.

The Stuff

By the way, check out the previous NMT devlog if you have not; it goes into more detail on why progress is so slow. I know it’s not much, but I hope you are still looking forward to the update! Thanks for your support.

We are aware that the release of the 2.9.1 update was rocky. There were a number of game-breaking bugs and overall it was a lukewarm update. I know everyone has been waiting a long time, so I understand your frustration and I apologize. In this blog I will address the elephant in the room, as well as what is next.

As you may have noticed the game has become much harder, especially the lower difficulties such as Easy and Normal. This difficulty spike was planned. We aimed to give enemies their own unique mechanics that provided more depth to the game, or improve pre-existing mechanics so they were not a detriment to themselves. In doing so, it inherently raised the difficulty. Here are two examples:

• Tiny Goblin

  • Before: their only feature was being small.

  • After: they now hitch a ride on other enemies and jump on you.

• Mystic Brute

  • Before: their jump constantly overshot their target and they were very slow, meaning they never posed a significant threat.

  • After: their jump accurately lands near their target and they are faster, meaning they pressure the frontline and prevent you from easily attacking the backline (most Normal enemies are support or ranged).

Next

I already listed what was next in the last blog, but I will reiterate what we are going to work on in the short-term. Our idea is to polish the game so that we can only focus on new content in the 3.0 update.

Visionite Reworks

We already adjusted a few visionites that needed it, like Demolitionist, Aero, and Buoy. Now we are going to finish the rest of the roster. Some visionites will get touch ups and others will get overhauls.

Visionary / Reinforcement Reworks

After we finish up the visionites, we are going to completely redo the Visionary. As I mentioned in the previous blog, nobody wants to play Visionary right now. We hope to make playing Visionary feel more RTS-like and not a spectating simulator.

32nd Visionite

We will be adding the last visionite before the 3.0 update.

Nightmare Rework

Every other difficulty except Nightmare has received a rework, so it will be joining the rest of them.

Conclusion

We still have a lot of stuff planned, so stay tuned! We’ll keep improving the game step by step.

It has been around 2 and a half months since the last No More Time update. I’d like to start by apologizing sincerely for the drought. In this blog, I will simply talk about the development of No More Time.

Why No Update?

The big question. Don’t worry, I have not abandoned the game. I will never abandon any of my games without clearly expressing my wishes to discontinue development. Simply, I have No More Time (haha, get it?).

But actually, I have been under a tremendous load in my personal life and cannot spend as much time as I used to on the game. Except for August, I was not productive in August. The rest of the time however, I have been slowly but surely making progress on the update.

Additionally, I am a solo developer working on two games at once. My other project is called Visionary Squad; I blog about it here aswell.

I’m also still in education, so not only do I have to take care of my academics, I also have another game that takes my attention away from No More Time. Hopefully you can start to see why development is moving at a snails-pace.

The Scoop

What should you expect in the next update?

New Map(s)

I’m aware of the fact there aren’t many maps in the game, especially not enough for two-minute matches. I’m still unsure of how many maps will be added, but rest assured at least one will be included.

Survivor Reworks / Balances

The update will also rework certain survivors that aren’t the most appealing. I would also like to point out that I’d rather a character be fun but too weak/overpowered instead of boring but balanced; that is my philosophy for cooperation games (obviously not PvP games). Some survivors on my radar include but are not limited to: Ouro, Bacon, Wu, and Yourself (aka Determination, but Yourself is the official name). This list does not mean they’re guaranteed to get a change this update, but I’m keeping my eyes on them.

New Music

With the help of several composers, some maps will receive their own music track, and the rest will be added every now and then in the future.

Why I Made NMT

I’m going to end this blog by explaining why the game was created in the first place, and maybe give you some insight into how I develop the game.

No More Time was not intended to become popular. Now, I’m grateful for all of your support, but when I created the prototype back in February my goal was not for it to reach the levels it has reached today. So why did I create the game?

I started No More Time as a side project to take a break from the development of Visionary Squad. For context, I have been working on VS for over 4 years, developing my skills alongside it. The pressure got too much and I decided to take a week break to work on something new, thus the NMT prototype was born.

This video below is the earliest footage of No More Time I could find.

NMT acted as an art journal of sorts, where I would let my thoughts run rampant and slap things into the game unfiltered. If I had an idea for something, I would add it into the game, no second thoughts required. Sometimes, I would complete two entire characters in a single day. Were they polished and/or fun? Not really, but I had a blast making them.

Nowadays, this game is no longer a side project and it has been elevated to my second main ongoing project. I have told you the backstory of No More Time because I want to make a crystal clear statement right now: I might not listen to the community as much as you hope. Before some of you go crazy, that does not mean I will completely disregard your thoughts, suggestions, or concerns. I love hearing your feedback and suggestions, and if utilized correctly they can greatly improve the game and reveal any blind spots I miss. I just want you to know that I value my creative freedom as well. I made this revelation when I realized I don’t remember the last time I added new content to the game that I came up with by myself. If I continue down this path, I’m sure to burn out soon. I would like to reiterate: that does not mean I will shut myself off from the community. There is a delicate balance that I wish to maintain, and I’m setting a boundary before it becomes too late.

Conclusion

I hope you take away something from this blog, whether that be having your concerns addressed, confusion cleared, or anything else. I am eternally grateful for all of your support, and it means a lot to me. That is why I am writing this blog right now, because I value the relationship between developer and fanbase. I’m not a cold, disembodied triple A studio with hundreds of employees; I’m just one guy who is trying to create something special (and who bolds stuff way too much). Thank you for reading!

At the time of writing, it has been exactly 4 months since the last Visionary Squad update. I’d like to start by apologizing sincerely for the drought. In this edition, I will go over why it has been taking so long, what progress has been made, and what to expect in the future.

Why is Progress So Slow?

While it seems development has reached a standstill, rest assured we are still working on the game slowly but surely. Simply, we are just being careful with how much we reveal. We have been working diligently behind the scenes, and there will be a lot of stuff in the new update.

Also at the end of the day, we are all still in education and we have lives outside of just Visionary Squad. I hope you can understand.

The Scoop

Alright! This section is the part most of you are here for. What exactly have we been doing all this time? Of course everything will be vague, as per the wishes of the rest of the team.

New Visionite

If you’re a frequent in the Discord server you would know. This visionite singlehandedly split update 2.9 into two because of how complex he is. Let’s just say he has 12 abilities.

Note: This visionite was the only thing that was supposed to be left of the 2.9 update. I suppose I got ahead of myself, whoops.

Difficulty / Enemy Reworks

Every difficulty is being reworked, alongside most of the enemies. This overhaul will completely change up the gameplay (and make the bots suffer even more). Get ready for a refreshing challenge!

Unit Changes (Part 1)

By the end of this update and the next, we hope to have all current visionites and reinforcements in an enjoyable and somewhat balanced state. We will not be able to finish all of them in a single update, so it will be split.

QoL / Bug Fixes

Every update usually has some quality of life changes or minor bug fixes, but I felt like there were enough of these small adjustments to give it a spot in the blog.

The Future

Now that you have a general idea of what’s in store for this upcoming update, what is next for Visionary Squad? This section will be ordered with the sooner stuff at the top and the farther away stuff at the bottom.

Unit Changes / QoL (Part 2)

We will finish up the rest of the visionites and reinforcements that have not been touched up yet.

Visionary Overhaul

It should be exciting to play as the Visionary, but instead most matches end up with everyone opting out and an unlucky player being forced into a role they do not want. We hope to make the Visionary feel more like a tactician and leader rather than a spectator.

Mission Mode

The gamemode that has been put on hiatus indefinitely will be making a comeback in update 3.0 with an overhaul and more missions, which will be exciting for lore enthusiasts or those looking for a switch-up from the traditional game.

Conclusion

I hope this blog has cleared up some confusion and provided some knowledge regarding the development of Visionary Squad. Future devlogs will not be as long as this one, and will go more into detail on specific things instead of being a broad overview. Thanks for supporting us. We hope to deliver something spectacular soon!

I’m hoping to start a weekly sorta thing, and also learn how Substack works because I’ve never used a blogging platform before. You’re probably reading this in the future, so I hope I stick with the plan!

Here’s a hamster I found in my photo library. I wanted to test the image feature!