In this significant update (Update Alpha 42), I have improved game play in several ways:
Updated menu with graphical buttons
Fixed alignment issues with menu buttons
Added a medal for finding the Secret Room of Secrets on Earth
Adjusted default settings for Blue 42 to more "comfortable" values
Adjusted the jump skill to be more reasonable and not too overpowered
Moved the Earth quiz golden question mark to be more visible (first room on the left).
Fixed a few more bugs
This marks the 42nd update I have made so far to Planetary Settlers, significant because the robot's name is Blue 42.
Hot Stuff: Fixes, Features, and a Super Power
I have performed a number of updates in the past week, to include the following:
Flowing lava on Venus - The lava now has an interesting flowing effect.
Power Projectile Superpower - Increase the projectile's impact by an order of magnitude (x10)! When you launch a projectile at something, it will have a major impact, moving the object with great force. If the object is small (e.g. a chair or small rock), it will likely go flying off into the distance! This is planned to be something you have to unlock later, but is currently available from the start, in the pause menu!
Dialogue update - The dialogue now disappears from the screen once you "enter" through all the text for that conversation. Your current objective is now tracked in the pause menu, instead of always sitting at the bottom of the screen, allowing for a better view.
Menu update - Updated the positioning of several of the menu items to make it more organized and improve the look. I plan on making further improvements to this in another update.
Multiple bug fixes
Diamond Medals Update
In the latest update, I made it so that you can get diamond medals for each medal. Earlier, some medals had a highest level of gold, and others diamond for doing extremely well on the challenge. Now that they are all diamond, you can know when you have finished each challenge.
I also made it so the rocks are "solid". Now if you hit a small rock, it will bounce you a bit, and a large rock will stop you, instead of going through it. You can still pick up the large "loose" rocks like you could before. I have tested the races and increased the times to beat where rocks are a factor, so they are still achievable.
The Overachiever's contest is still on through the month of August! Only one person (other than me) has gotten the Blur 42 achievement, and no one else has gotten the Valedictorian achievement yet. Can you get either of these challenging achievements this month? If you do this, you have earned the honor to be listed in the credits for future players to see!
More new missions / update!
Now you can do targeting and race mssions on Venus and Mercury (a total of 4 new missions)! I have also fixed some bugs and improved the look of Mercury and Venus.
I hope you're not afraid of heights! Fly up to the top of the Mercury tower, where you will find the blue question mark that will trigger the Tower Target Drop, where you walk out onto targets, hit them, and fall down to the next one! Note that you will fall more slowly than normal because the gravity of Mercury is pretty low (only 0.38 G or 38% of that of Earth). If heights aren't your thing, you have many other missions to choose from!
August Achievements and Update
There are 2 new race missions and targeting missions (Moon and Earth). There are also now 3 achievements you can get based on how well you do on the quizzes! Can you get all A's and B's for the Honor Roll? How about all A's for the Dean's list? Can you even get all 100's for the Valedictorian achievement? If you can manage that one before the end of August (or get the Blur 42 achievement this month), you can be listed in the credits for your grand achievement! See further details here:
I am working on 3 new achievements for doing well on the quizzes, and they should be out in the next update! You can look and see what they are now. You can also try to ace all the quizzes ahead of time, and the achievements unlock once I release them and you re-take and ace one of the quizzes. You can make the honor roll by getting A's and B's, Dean's list by getting all A's, or even the Valedictorian for getting all A+'s.
I have been hard at work adding new missions to the Moon and Earth. In the next update, there will be targeting missions and races on both worlds, as well as a bit of new furniture. I have discovered it is quite funny and fun to throw stuff on different worlds and see how differently gravity really impacts the result. Things behave much differently on the Moon, with its low gravity. This gives you a feel for how objects might really behave on different planets!
Martian Missions Update
I have added 3 new missions to Mars, and even a little furniture to spruce up the place! Build your knowledge and player skills with the new Mars Quiz. Test your speed with the new Red Planet Race. Try your accuracy and get more of a feel for the gravity of Mars with the target challenge. You can even "re-arrange" the furniture if you like! Can you beat me at my own game and earn diamond medals?
Planetary Plans
My plans for the near future are to keep adding missions to the existing worlds, add more super powers per suggestions (world teleport is already implemented), implement the leveling system, implement more game mechanics (e.g. multiple saves, screen resolution selection), fix bugs, and add new worlds for the outer solar system.
Don't forget to enter the Super Powers contest and have a chance to affect the future of Planetary Settlers at: https://steamcommunity.com/app/857860/allnews/
Alien Update!
I've been hard at work, adding new missions and achievements to the alien level (an A'kramm ship orbiting the sun), and it is released! All medals on this level are now implemented.
Now you can negotiate with the A'kramm from a communication console (located at the bottom of the ship), which may result in several interesting outcomes / endings. If you declare war, they will immediately destroy the sun and solar system! Otherwise, they may try to destroy you and cause more havoc by starting another solar flare, or pursue peace depending on what you say to them. Our fate is in your hands!
If the A'kramm try to initiate another solar flare, you can make their plan backfire by deploying nanites at key points on the ship to cause the energy pulse to destroy their ship instead! Hurry though, you won't have much time. You must reach these points and then escape through the portal before the ship is destroyed!
There are now three new achievements! Stop the A'kramm in one of multiple possible ways (using the consoles at the base of the ship) to beat the first main quest and earn the winner achievement! Replay the level and experience all the endings to unlock the "Many Worlds Interpretation" achievement. This is a reference to the "Many Worlds Interpretation" of Quantum Mechanics. I don't know if that interpretation is correct, but it is definitely interesting.
Can you stop the A'kramm faster than the developer, with 52 or more seconds still remaining on the clock when you finish deploying the nanites? If so, you will earn a diamond medal, and an achievement which "Blue 42" earns the nickname "Blur 42" because of his great speed! This will probably be the hardest achievement to get in Planetary Settlers for a while, are you up for the challenge?
Bug fix
I just found and fixed a bug accidentally introduced when the Alien level was added, where the Alien level dialogue also showed up in the Mars level. This certainly could have created some confusion, but we should be good now!
