Interview With Chris aka Screenhog - Mech Mice Prototyper

The interview with Mech Mice Prototyper, Chris (aka Screenhog) has been released! Remember: watch the whole video. ;)


Up next, we will be interviewing Mech Mice Producer & Game Programmer, Russ. Here are a few fun facts about him:

• He’s also known as SheepVsGravity
• His favorite food is still cereal
• He can move his eyebrows independently
• He’s a photographer
• He always keeps a bowl of candy by his desk

Ask Russ anything you like and he will answer 10 of them in the form of a video!

Featured Fan Art #2

This week’s Fan Focus is once again all about the art. The artist whose art we chose to focus on is Bubblz126. Check out their awesome art of a new Recon Unit! Art!

“This is my recon unit, Tolli. She is a fun, creative, and sneaky mouse that can shoot a mean gun!”   -Bubblz126

Fantastic job, Bubblz126 – I love the attention to detail. Very artistic! Here’s what it looks like in our office.

Next week’s Fan Focus will showcase your writing skills. In 300 words or less, write something (story, poem, blog etc.) about this topic:

AMBUSH

CLICK HERE to submit your blog post and don’t forget to write AMBUSH in the subject field. Feel free to attach an image or screenshot. Have fun! Moose OUT!

Mech Mice Beta - More Update Bits

The Team has just pushed the live button on some pretty cool updates! First things first – previously the Team showed us a sneak peek of the new victory and defeat screens. Well, they’re now live and ready to be tested.

The Team launched a feature called Line of Sight. What’s line of sight you ask? It basically means that your units will no longer shoot or be shot at through objects. It’s a pretty small update, but it definitely changes the dynamics of the game – big time.

The Team also introduced a new bug to all levels - the Medium Melee Bug. These bugs have a “hunter” feeling to them. They travel in packs, move fast, and strike hard at short range. These bugs feel like they clear the battlefield nightmarishly fast.

And, the Team have now opened up Level 2-2 for Founders to play. The Team says:

This level is awesome – the lava adds a nice touch to the overall look and feel to the game.

Lastly, the Team added a "fairly large update" to the bugs in game. All we need to do is login to find out what it is!

Mech Mice Beta - Update Bits

A few weeks ago, the Mech Mice Team given us two map designs and asked us to help choose the final one. And now, the results are in! The Team tallied up all of the votes from the blog, Twitter and Facebook and Option B won with 118 out of 162 votes! That's a lot!

The Team says:

Excellent choice – the blue flags add a great feeling of accomplishment! You can expect to see this map added to the game in the next few weeks. Booyah!

In other news, the Team is planing on launching some awesome-tastic updates very soon. If all goes according to plan, well’ll get to test out new enemy bugs, a new feature and for Founders, they can test level 2-2! Here’s a sneak peek:

Woah! It looks epic! What do you think? Also, the Team wants to know our thoughts on the current levels. Let the Team know your favorite level and why in the comments.

Beta Bug Report - August 21, 2013

Here's the latest Beta Bug Report:

Hello Beta Testers! 

Before we get started with the bug report, here are some updated stats I think you will enjoy. :) 

Time Played: 195.94 Days
Shots Fired by Enemies: 162,385
Levels Played: 17,334
Hexes Traveled: 2,823,296 

Below is the updated Beta Bug Report. As always, if you find any bugs that aren’t in this report, or just want something clarified – feel free to write us a comment… or 5. Moose OUT!
-MechMoose 

Report 1 – Bugs We’re Fixing 

• Healing plants in 2-1 aren’t working properly
• Characters Still Talk After Dying
• Bugs sometimes walk onto the hex you are on
• Mice appear pink in-game
• Bugs and mice can shoot through obstacles (Fixed for Next Update)
• ‘Skip turn’ button displays ‘enemy turn’ even when no bugs are around
• Level 1-6 freezing when moving to certain hexes
• Music doesn’t change when quitting level and choosing a new one

Report 2 – Fixed Bugs 

• No save points or level select
• Clicking learn more after level 3 doesn’t always work
• Screen resolution problem
• Avatar cards block hexes
• Mice Freeze Sometimes in Level 3
• Mice Health Bar Isn’t Working Properly
• Mice can activate towers in level 1 when they aren’t close to them
• Game freezes when quitting a level and choosing a new one

Report 3 – Clarification

Tokens: 

• Right now, finding the secret Treasure Tokens just gives you bragging rights. But soon they’ll give you lots of cool rewards for finding them. What kind of rewards? Stuff like power ups, achievements, and experience points.

Hexes:

• Green hexes mean there’s a switch you can push, red hexes mean you can attack what’s on it, and blue hexes mean you can move there.
• You may notice sometimes there are blue hexes with dotted lines – these show you how far your unit can go if they use BOTH their Action Points to move.  And using them can even give your unit a move bonus.

Bugs are weaker in Level 3:

• It’s true! Well actually it’s not. Bugs are exactly the same. What’s changed however is that your mice are stronger.

Leveling Up:

• In Mech Mice, your units will gain Experience Points as you play, and eventually they’ll level up and get more powerful. We plan for this to happen the first time, by the time you reach level 1-3 – making Blaze and Flank more powerful just before the big battle in Tumbleweed.
• Don’t worry, level ups will be much cooler in the final game (and will even let you customize your units a bit).

Fan Focus: Featured Fan Writing #2

In last week's Fan Focus blog, the Team asked us to write a story, poem or blog on one simple topic: BUGS! The Team received awesome submissions from really creative mice around the world. All was really good and the Team had a hard time picking the standout one but finally.... *drumrolls*

The featured fan this week is Feey1 with their FANtastic short story about the history of bugs in Mech Mice. Enjoy!

Awesome work, Feey1!

Next week’s Fan Focus will feature art – whether it’s drawing, painting or even sculpting! You can submit your art right here. You are allowed to give it a brief description on the piece you submit. Don't remember, the featured artwork will be displayed on a wall in our office! Good luck!

Mech Mice: Interview with Cody

As promised, the interview with Cody - Experience/Level Designer for Mech Mice, has been released! And there's only two words to describe it - Fun and Funny! It's hilarious especially at the... well, I'm not gonna spoil much but watch it to find out more:

The next interview is with someone you know very well. His name is Chris, but most of us know him as Screenhog. Here are a few interesting facts about him:

1. His job for Hyper Hippo is Prototyper.
2. As Prototyper, he takes ideas that Hyper Hippo has come up with for games and game systems, and makes a quick prototype of them to see how fun and/or useful they are.
3. He has been playing piano since he was 5 years old, and enjoys composing more than performing.
4. He has no sense of smell.
5. His favorite insect is the dragonfly.

Colonel Black Introduces Recon Unit - Dusty

Colonel Black is back again, having someone to introduce to us mice. Last time he introduced Flank, Heavy Unit of the Mech Mice Team; Today, he'll be introducing... Dusty, the Recon Unit!

Dusty is the squad’s recon specialist, and an unrivalled marksman. Hailing from a hot and arid land, he is at home in the extreme heat. He tends to get cold in any other climate, and is often coming down with the sniffles; he is actually a bit of a hypochondriac.

Anyways, who do you think will Colonel Black introduce to us the next time? Here's a hint given by Moose - ONE of them isn’t even a mouse.

Founders - Dragoon Unlocked!

As many of you know, the Team recently updated the founders program to unlock units by destroying bugs. Well, as of today we have defeated over 250,000 enemies! That means a new unit has been unlocked! Congratulations!

Meet Turner, the Dragoon. 

 

Selfless, stern and strategic, Turner is a legendary leader and mentor. Having served in the Mech Mice since the First War, he has survived more battles, and achieved more victories, than most mice ever will.

Founders will be able to use Turner when Mech Mice launches later this year. The next unit you’ll be unlocking is Pi, the Heavy Unit. You have approximately 150,000 more enemies to defeat until that happens. That’s a lot of enemies, soldier – you better get started! :)

Good luck mice!

Fan Focus: Featured Fan Art #1

Mech Moose has made a new post. And by 'new', I mean brand new information in it! He calls this the... 'Fan Focus' blog post! The point of these posts is to feature talent from any Mice – whether it’s drawing, writing or filmmaking. Here's the full post.

This week’s Fan Focus is all about art. We’ve dedicated a wall in our office to feature fan art and with your help, we hope to have it filled – top to bottom! Since this is the first post, we put two awesome pieces on the wall. Here they are: 

This first piece is by Bkn109. I love the use of perspective on the Hexes. Well done, Bkn109!

 

This second piece, by Lulu, is of the Medic Unit – Petra. Excellent work, Lulu!

   

Thanks Bkn109 and Lulu! Here’s a shot of Cale (Mech Mice Art Director) putting them on the wall. 

 

Next week’s Fan Focus will showcase your writing skills. In 300 words or less, write something (story, poem, blog etc.) about the following topic:

BUGS 

Just click HERE to submit your blog post. And don't forget to write “BUGS” in the subject field so the Team know which ones to read. Also, feel free to attach an image or screenshot. Good luck!

Lance Priebe Explains Founders Program

The Team received some feedback that the Founders program isn’t easy to understand, but they're big fans of people understanding stuff. So they got Lance (aka RocketSnail) explaining what exactly the Founders program is, and why it’s so awesome.

BIG UPDATE: Unit Library

Ears up, Mech Mice Beta Testers!

The team just launched some serious updates that need serious testing from serious beta testers. Seriously. 

First things first, the team wanted to give EVERYONE a new challenge: level 1-5. This is one of our most advanced and challenging levels so far – good luck! If you get stuck, check out this walkthrough we made. 

 

Now that we’re unlocking 1-5 for everyone, we wanted to give something special to our Founders: level 2-1. That’s right, we are giving our Founders the first look at chapter 2. In this level, we introduce a brand new unit and special abilities. 

 

But wait, there’s more! We’ve also added a unit library to the game. Check it out by clicking on the ‘Units’ button in the top right corner of the map. 

 

Oh I almost forgot – there’s one more update! The team added a super awesome feature to all of the bugs; but you’ll have to login to find out what it is! ;) 

Jump on play.mechmice.com to check out the updates. If you have any suggestions or feedback, feel free to let us know in the comments. Remember that your feedback can go a long way. This is your game, enjoy it!

Awesome!

Sneak Peek: End Screens

Hey guys! Mech Mice has released a sneak peek of the victory and defeat screens. Soon, the Team will include more information when new features are added to the game. But for now, this is a basic idea of what they will look like.

The team would love to know what you think! Is there anything other information you would like to see on these screens?

Mech Mice Beta Bug Report #2

Mech Moose has updated us with the second Beta Bug Report, check it out!

Greetings beta testers! Beta has been live for nearly a month and the response has been awesome. Here are some cool stats we’ve gathered:

Time Played: 3,940 hrs.
Bugs Killed: 212,930
Shots Fired: 397,935
Hexes Traveled: 2,436,844 

Below is the updated Beta Bug Report. Have a read and in the comments, let us know if there are any important bugs we should add to the list. Moose OUT!
-MechMoose 

Report 1 – Bugs We’re Fixing

• Mice Freeze Sometimes in Level 3

• Mice Health Bar Isn’t Working Properly

• Characters Still Talk After Dying

• Bugs sometimes walk onto the hex you are on

• Mice appear pink in-game

• Bugs and mice can shoot through obstacles

• Mice can activate towers in level 1 when they aren’t close to them

• ‘Skip turn’ button displays ‘enemy turn’ even when no bugs are around

• No logout button

• Level 1-6 freezing when moving to certain hexes

• Music doesn’t change when quitting level and choosing a new one

• Game freezes when quitting a level and choosing a new one

Report 2 – Fixed Bugs

• No save points or level select

• Clicking learn more after level 3 doesn’t always work

• Screen resolution problem

• Avatar cards block hexes

Report 3 – Clarification
Tokens:

• Right now, finding the secret Treasure Tokens just gives you bragging rights. But soon they’ll give you lots of cool rewards for finding them. What kind of rewards? Stuff like power ups, achievements, and experience points.

Hexes:

• Green hexes mean there’s a switch you can push, red hexes mean you can attack what’s on it, and blue hexes mean you can move there.

• You may notice sometimes there are blue hexes with dotted lines – these show you how far your unit can go if they use BOTH their Action Points to move.  And using them can even give your unit a move bonus.

Bugs are weaker in Level 3:

• It’s true! Well actually it’s not. Bugs are exactly the same. What’s changed however is that your mice are stronger.

Leveling Up:

• In Mech Mice, your units will gain Experience Points as you play, and eventually they’ll level up and get more powerful. We plan for this to happen the first time, by the time you reach level 1-3 – making Blaze and Flank more powerful just before the big battle in Tumbleweed.

• Don’t worry, level ups will be much cooler in the final game (and will even let you customize your units a bit).

Read the first Beta Bug Report here: Mech Mice Beta Bug Report