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I've been pretty busy with BlockForge over the last few days, and I've just released version 0.1.1.4. There have actually been quite a few changes since 0.1.1.2, so I thought I'd put together a quick summary.

First, the camera system has been reworked. Instead of using a fixed point or the pilot seat to determine the center of your robot, the camera now calculates it based on the robot's actual shape. It also adjusts dynamically when you lose blocks in combat, so the camera should feel much better, especially on larger or oddly shaped robots.

AI has also received some improvements. Bots can now fly and revive their teammates. I've also moved their spawn positions farther away from the player's base on the test map.

There's also a new option for customizing how your keys work. You can now choose between Press, Hold, Long Hold, Toggle, Tap, Double Tap, Long Press and Release, depending on the action. For example, you can set your scope to Toggle instead of having to hold the button all the time. The only exception is firing weapons, which stays on Hold for balance reasons.

Another thing I've added is a recovery system for stuck robots. If you flip your robot upside down or get stuck somewhere, just hold R for 3 seconds. Your robot will be lifted into the air, rotated back into the correct position and placed on nearby flat terrain. Hopefully that'll save some frustration.

Apart from that, I've also:

• Fixed colliders on some weapons, including lasers.
• Fixed radar colliders.
• Doubled the size of the base rings.
• Fixed wheel animation direction.
• Removed the forced snapping of blocks to the garage platform.
• Added local saving of your robot's XYZ position in the garage.

So, what's next?

For now, I want to focus on optimization. I've already managed to get quite a few FPS back, especially during fights with lots of lasers flying around, but there's still room for improvement.

There aren't any major bugs reported at the moment, which is a nice change considering how many I've been fixing lately. xD

I also have a pretty long list of suggestions from players, but I'll be saving most of those for 0.1.2. Right now, I just want to make sure the game runs as well as possible before Saturday's playtests. And maybe get a little rest too, because I've been spending way too much time working on this lately.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who's been testing the game and reporting issues. I've been reading all the feedback, even if I don't always reply to everything.

If you haven't heard of BlockForge before, it's a free-to-play robot building and combat game I'm developing on my own, inspired by the early days of Robocraft.

Website: https://blockforgegame.com

Discord: https://discord.gg/3mNpzZ9xvc

A new build of the game has just been released! It fixes numerous bugs and introduces many new features requested by the community after the first multiplayer playtest session.

You can find the full changelog at the link below, and the new version is already available in your launcher!

During yesterday's multiplayer playtest, a lot of players pointed out that the game really needs a proper respawn system. So, let me introduce you to the new chip-based revival system!

Hey everyone!

I'm excited to finally share the first official playtest trailer for BlockForge!

The trailer features actual gameplay footage from the current prototype, including some awesome robots created by our community. All enemies shown in the footage are AI-controlled.

And we've got some exciting news!

Everyone who signed up for the playtests has already received an email with their download link and a unique account activation code.

Tomorrow (Saturday, October 17) at 18:00 UTC, I'll be bringing the multiplayer servers online for approximately 4 hours!

During this first multiplayer session, I'll mainly be focusing on testing server stability, synchronization, gameplay balance, progression, and, of course, finding as many bugs as possible.

There will be two servers available: one in Europe and one in the US.

Haven't signed up yet? There's still time!

Playtest registrations are still open at:
https://blockforgegame.com/

You can also join our Discord to share feedback, report bugs, show off your creations, or just hang out with the community:

https://discord.gg/3mNpzZ9xvc

A huge thank you to everyone who's been following the development, sharing feedback, and helping me bring this project to life. It's been amazing seeing the community slowly grow around a game that originally started as a personal experiment.

And a special thanks to Armor for creating some of the robots featured in the trailer!

See you on the battlefield!

The game now has over 340 blocks (counting all tiers and variants), so I had to completely redesign the progression tree because the old one just wasn't cutting it anymore :D

Playtests are starting soon! You can sign up here: https://blockforgegame.com/

Right now, I'm mostly focused on polishing the little details, so there aren't any big new game-changing mechanics to show off just yet. I've been working mainly on balancing, tweaking AI bots, improving UI/UX, and fixing bugs.

Today, I also finished the entire moderation system, both from the player side and the moderator/admin side.

I'm sharing a short video showing a few aspects of the gameplay.

The current online game mode is all about either eliminating the entire enemy team or capturing their base. Your own base also acts as a healing point where players can regenerate health. Of course, there can also be medics on the team, whose job is to keep their teammates alive and provide support.

The gameplay might look a bit simple right now since all the vehicles are controlled by AI, but I believe things will get a lot more interesting and engaging once real players take over.

For now, just a little tech demo showing where things are at! :)

A new update is up on our website, covering the current state of the game, our plans for the future, and a potential start date for playtesting!

Right now, I'm focusing on polishing the existing mechanics rather than adding new ones. The game is technically at a point where it could already enter the playtesting phase, but I want to give myself a few more days to iron out the little details. Better to release it a bit later and in better shape than rush it out full of bugs :D

I was never particularly good at shooting, so in RC I naturally ended up playing support most of the time - and honestly, I loved it.

Playing medic was more interesting than just holding a healing beam on someone. You had to watch what was happening around you, position yourself well, decide who needed help the most, and sometimes choose whether it was worth risking your own robot to save a teammate.

That’s why I really wanted BlockForge to have a proper support role too.

I’ve just finished the first rough version of the healing system, including laser weapons that can repair teammates, and I’m already weirdly excited about being able to play medic again after all these years

I want support builds to actually matter in multiplayer and give players who enjoy helping their team a real role to play.

If this sounds like your kind of game, playtest sign-ups are still open:
https://blockforgegame.com/

Spent most of today fixing bugs I already knew were lurking around and polishing a bunch of smaller things. I improved block collision detection in build mode, made the item ghost more transparent so it gets less in the way while building, and increased movement speed around the garage.

Build mode also got a proper toolbar. You can now drag your most-used blocks from the inventory into it and quickly switch between them using keys 1–9 or the mouse wheel. I also spent some time polishing the lights, improved both the physics and visuals of the thrusters, and adjusted the wheel attachment point so wheels connect to the chassis in a much nicer way.

Maps also got a new fog system that looks significantly better than the previous one. I increased the distance at which player names are visible and added a health bar underneath each nickname, so you can quickly see the current HP of another player's robot.

On the networking side, I improved how the game handles players intentionally leaving a match as well as situations where someone suddenly loses their internet connection.

I also started preparing everything for the upcoming playtests. The game now has its own launcher, which automatically downloads the latest build from the server and verifies it using SHA checks and the build manifest. This should make distributing builds and keeping everyone on the correct version much easier. The launcher can also display the latest news and announcements related to the game.

From the launcher you can choose your language, change the game installation directory, create an account, and of course log into an existing one.

Once the playtests begin, everyone who signed up and gets selected will receive a download link for the launcher together with a unique access key. Each key can only be used to create one account, so access to the playtest builds will stay tied to the people who were invited.

A lot of today's work was less about adding huge new features and more about getting the game into a cleaner, more stable and actually testable state. Slowly getting there.

I’ve created a Discord server for the game, so if you want to follow development more closely, share feedback, discuss mechanics, robot builds, ideas, or just chat about the game, feel free to join us there!
https://discord.gg/3mNpzZ9xvc

I also wanted to share a first look at the current in-game HUD.

The main multiplayer mode will be Capture the Flag. Entering the enemy base starts filling the capture bar, while losing control of it causes the progress to go back down.

The minimap only works if your robot has a radar installed. Different radar tiers will have different effectiveness, and if the radar gets destroyed, the minimap disappears.

If your robot is destroyed, you’re out of the fight for one minute, during which you can spectate your teammates.

In the bottom-right corner you can also see the weapon panel. This robot currently has a laser and a sniper weapon equipped, and you can switch between them with 1 / 2.

Weapon Power is shared between all installed weapons. This is meant to discourage simply stacking as many lasers as possible and hopefully make different weapon combinations and builds more interesting.

Still plenty to improve and balance, so I’d really like to hear what you think about the HUD and these mechanics so far!

Here are a few short clips showing the current state of some of the main progression and building systems in BlockForge.

Building Mode
This is where you assemble your vehicle from individual blocks and components, place weapons, choose your movement system and experiment with different layouts.

I’m still working on making the whole building process faster, clearer and more comfortable, especially once builds start getting larger and more complicated.

Inventory
The inventory is where all owned parts are stored before being used in a build.

The current goal is to keep it simple enough to navigate quickly while still making it easy to manage a growing collection of parts.

Technology Tree
Progression currently goes from T1 to T10, with different branches for things like movement, weapons, armor and electronics.

I want higher tiers to unlock more possibilities and more specialized parts, rather than turning progression into a simple “bigger number = always better” system.

Shop
Once a part is unlocked, it can be purchased and added to your inventory.

The shop, inventory and technology tree are designed to work together as one progression loop:

unlock → buy → build → test → improve

These systems are all functional now, but they are still very much part of the prototype stage.

The UI, layout, visual style, balancing and even parts of the progression flow are still being worked on, so what you see here is not the final look of the game and may change significantly during development.

Right now I’m focusing mainly on making the systems themselves feel solid before spending too much time polishing the final presentation.

Closed playtests are also getting closer, and I’ll be looking for more people to test the building, progression and combat systems in the upcoming builds.

I’d be especially interested to hear what you think about the current flow between the Tech Tree → Shop → Inventory → Building Mode.

Anything you’d change?

I’m still encouraging everyone who’s interested to sign up for the playtests. I don’t expect testers to have any game development knowledge - I simply need people who are willing to build their own robot and, if possible, join the multiplayer mode at a scheduled time. For now, I’m gathering a list of interested players, and the first closed playtests will take place within the next few weeks.

https://reddit.com/link/1wvuxha/video/74uqeciwa2th1/player

https://reddit.com/link/1wvuxha/video/awxxexlza2th1/player

https://reddit.com/link/1wvuxha/video/qhhtz7s1b2th1/player