Demo Patch v0.3.00

Welcome back Pilots!

We're gearing up for 1.0 release on September 28th! This patch includes many quality of life updates, a new Mech chassis to pilot, and tons more. Please see the full patch notes below.

New Mech: Bangpae

Look forward to piloting and facing against the mighty Bangpae Medium Mech! Punching far above its weight class, this manoeuvrable walker excels at brawling. Weak leg armour can be a problem for unwary pilots. However, skilled use of terrain and cover will mitigate this disadvantage.

We Recommend Starting a New Game

To take full advantage of the changes, it is recommended that you start a new campaign save file rather than continuing an older save.

Launch Day

It feels unreal to have worked on this game for so long, and to be so close to getting the full version into your hands. Drop Command will be launching into v1.0 on September 28th 2026! That gives us just one month to wrap up work on the core campaign experience. We'll have a post-launch road map ready to share soon, where we will share some details regarding future content updates. I hope to see as many of you as possible on Launch Day! Until then, good luck and happy hunting!

Full Patch Notes

Content

• New Medium Mech: Bangpae (variants A, B, and C)
• New Mech Variant: Wolfspider-E (2x Auto-EEC, 2x Small Ballistics)
• Added target tracking indicator
• Neutral planets can now hire Mercenaries (always check mission CV before launching a mission!)
• Intro Cinematic voiced by Tex of the Black Pants Legion

Empire and Pilot Management

• Increased experience requirements for pilots to reach Veteran and Ace status
• New Facility: Hospital (used to heal pilot injuries)
• Many New Empire Camos, Border Colors, and Logos to choose
• Added pilot uniforms based on starting profession and on empire founding
• Added Arabic language to demographics and pilot name generator
• Added empire random events (pilot brawls, immigration surge, etc)
• Player starting unit selections now split by Recommended/Intermediate/Experienced
• Added info tags to 'Recruit Unit' buttons

Unit AI

• Squad members now stick together more closely
• Units now follow player orders more strictly
• Units now move closer to max speed when ordered to rejoin formation
• Pilot AI now leads moving targets based on their Aim attribute
• Units now avoid terrain blockers more accurately
• Infantry units now continue to fight while trying to return to formation

Tactical Map

• Increased scan range of Mini-map
• Tactical Map: hold right click to pan camera

Combat Balance

• All VTOL units have had hitpoints reduced by ~40%
• All VTOL units added +2 seconds to power up sequence
• Buffed AGG: increased range to 250, increased shots per attack to 2
• Balanced unit CV costs to spread out the light/medium/heavy units
• Moved 4 hitpoints to the Zunder light tank Center Torso from the Head
• Removed 1 Energy Hardpoint from the Dodo light mech
• Flamer hitbox size reduced
• Civilian dwellings now have double the hitpoints
• Sentinel mech moved from medium to heavy chassis (more in line with visual hierarchy)
• Armadillo mech moved from light to medium chassis (more in line with visual hierarchy)
• Stinger VTOL can now fly in reverse (slowly)

Campaign Balance

• Pilot survival and injury rolls now use rank as a constitution bonus
• Belisarius garrison value decreased for fairer first Annex Planet mission
• Player starting planet now always has at least 3 build slots
• Reduced Warehouse Facility maintenance capacity bonus from 1500 to 1000
• Pirate Raids can no longer occur on planets which had battle, pirate raids now count as planet experiencing battle
• Updated auto battle success probabilities (less favourable for attacker)

Sounds

• Added infantry footstep SFX
• Added engine hum SFX
• Added leg jump SFX
• Added torso twist SFX
• Added startup/shutdown/overheat SFX
• Increased spinal crunch sound when player controlled infantry is stepped on
• Increased max simultaneous sounds to 256

Miscellaneous

• Updated UI scaling to work with most screen sizes
• Global cap of 16 Dropships/Wings rather than a chassis cap of 5 each
• Added control rebinding warning: rebinds may not take affect until next mission
• Added credits screen
• Added new loading screen: Lagash Pirate Raid
• Added strafing for mechs/tanks with torso twist
• Recruit button now has helpful tooltip when planetary influence < 10
• Removed wishlist button from main menu
• Updated pilot trait icons
• Updated raid defense missions: now ends in failure if all defense targets are destroyed

Bug Fixes

• PlaySound_OneShot now correctly uses game volume settings
• Jump jet sound effects now correctly use SFX instead of Voice volume settings
• Retiring units now correctly removes the pilot from player units
• Infantry can no longer stomp each other as if they were mechs
• AI pilots now correctly gain traits for earned kills
• Pilot tooltips no longer interrupt themselves from opening
• First build option no longer accidentally hidden
• Pirate bases with no leader and no CV can no longer perform raids
• Stinger VTOL pivot point was wrong, which caused sinking into Refit Bay floor
• Flamer hitbox now always faces same direction as the Flamer VFX
• SetOnFire now correctly checks collider area rather than bounds area
• Fixed a rare crash during terrain generation when placing rocks
• Time no longer passes when a player loses a non-auto battle garrison mission
• Prevent infantry getting shoved out of dropship roofs during dismount
• Fixed several issues causing facilities to spawn inside terrain or high in the air
• Fixed several issues causing infantry zombie legs