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Category Archives: Mechanics

“Desire Paths” for a Robot World

desire path (n.) — a planning term referring to a path made by walkers or cyclists, as opposed to one that is officially planned For years I’ve always been interested in making some kind of utility that allows you to see paths that were traveled by robots, partially because it just seems like a neat […]

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Infowar Expanded

Stealth plays a role in most Cogmind runs, with the degree varying all the way from “maybe I’ll dodge this one patrol until I’m in a better position to siege up” to “I am ninja.” To best support a variety of play styles in that regard, we need a range of systems and utilities built […]

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Siege Tread Mechanics

Hot on the heels of upgradable RIF abilities for bothackers, Cogmind has gotten yet another relatively accessible new mechanic that will lead to a variety of new tactics: all multislot treads have the option to enter “siege mode.” Patron Item/Mechanic One of the goals I’d set on my Patreon was to allow players to submit ideas […]

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Robot Hacking: Upgrades

Last year Cogmind got an expansive new robot hacking system with a lot of hacking options to use as either a primary or supplementary strategy. Overall it’s not as powerful as the simple placeholder version used in Cogmind’s early years, but it’s a lot more versatile. That said, as it was designed bothacking does become […]

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Turn Time Systems

I’ve always enjoyed turn-based games, giving you unlimited time to consider and react to changing situations (even if you don’t always take advantage of that opportunity and instead bumble into mistakes far faster than necessary). Turn-based mechanics are especially apt in traditional roguelikes, where the RNG typically plays a starring role and therefore said changing […]

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