There were quite a few issues I missed with the 0.8.2 update and released small patches for, these include:
Missing textures on Asteroids
Incorrect textures on some bosses
Sub-projectiles had mods applied too many times
Players could damage their own ship with AoE damage
Some boss collision was acting improperly
Flares were not properly attracting homing weapons
As a example, this was what could happen with the sub-projectile bug: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptKdIr162lc
Update 0.8.2
This update took much longer than intended due to a job I had to take for three weeks putting up fencing. I had intended for 0.9 to be finished by now, but instead I'm releasing this update with most of the performance updates and a few of the balance and visual tweaks that were scheduled for that update. I mostly want to put this out there in case it helps anyone who was having performance issues and also to see if it breaks anything for anyone.
Here is a list of changes:
Updated visuals for Boss explosions
Added background ships to several levels and updated level lighting
Added a ship wireframe to the fitting menu
Added a progress map to the end game screen
Added player collision to Bosses
Performance Improvements
0.9 Shouldn't be too much longer, so stay tuned, and until then I hope people enjoy this update!
Update 0.8.1
The designer of the Picard wanted to update the visuals of the ship, and that's the main thing included in this update.
The default renderer has also been switched to DX11 because of reports of DX12 crashing on non-nvidia cards.
Update 0.8
The 0.8 update has been a long time coming, and I apologize for the wait. However, the time wasn’t spent idle, as this update is completely packed with updates to every aspect of the game. Some of the bigger updates are to the out-of-combat experience, so I’ll go through those first:
Hangar Update: The visuals of the hangar have been updated to better convey the journey you’re undertaking. There’s now a forcefield keeping oxygen inside the hangar! There is a map in the corner that shows your path through the solar system, and there are new animations for warping between sectors and launching the ship.
Salvage Update: There is now the option when selecting multiple items to salvage at once, to select/deselect all items of a category, or even all items at once.
Shader Caching: A good portion of the shaders should now compile on first load, reducing any potential stutter when encountering them for the first time.
There are a great many changes to the combat experience as well:
Better Controller Deadzones: The default input handler for Unreal Engine has cross-shaped deadzones, making it hard to aim in non-orthogonal directions. I’ve updated the game to use the enhanced controller handler so that the deadzones can be circular as intended!
Consumable Auto-Trigger: One of the hardest things to remember in the heat of battle is sometimes that you have a Shield Overload or other consumable ready that could have saved you if you only remembered to use it. Now, consumables will automatically be used if the ship gets extremely low on shields or energy, or if it starts taking hull damage. However, these systems have a cooldown before they can trigger again, so they can’t be 100% relied on to save you if you continue to take damage.
Status Icons: The icons for the various ship statuses have been updated to better reflect what they do, and there are a few new status effects representing the automatic consumable system cooldowns. Additionally the icons have a timer at the bottom that shows the time remaining for each status effect to wear off.
New Bosses: The Chimera has been completely reworked and features independent turrets that are chosen based on your route and can be independently destroyed. And for those who can make it that far, there is a new final boss that is sure to challenge any pilot who faces it!
New Ship: The Ophiuchus is built to highlight a couple of the new features in its default loadout. It has the updated Thermal Beam, which works like the MMC beams do on enemy ships now, in that while firing your ship has reduced turn rate but increased maneuvering thrust. It also fits the new primary weapon.
New Weapon: The Flak Pulse Cannon is unique so far among primary weapons in two aspects. The first is that it splits into submunitions, and the second is that in addition to a small amount of energy it consumes a small amount of resources every few shots.
New Weapon Firing Mode: There is now the potential for weapons that begin to charge when fire is held, and discharge upon release. The Plasma Cannon now uses this firing mode by default. There is a chirp when the weapon is ready to fire, and the chirp will stop when it is at full charge.
Photon Rework: The Photon has by default swapped its Plasma Field Grenades for a Plasma Cannon
Difficulty Tweaks: AI has been tweaked to make it easier at lower difficulties Lower difficulties start with some consumables
Ship Upgrades: There are now more stats that can be upgraded, and there are new upgrades along with some balance changes to existing upgrades. Each stat now has a corresponding icon, and there will be future updates to the salvage page that better preview the stats similar to weapon mods. Other Changes and Fixes:
New song!
Issues with pause menu fixed Fixed issue where hangar menu incorrectly received input instead of the story intro
Beam Weapon and Damage over Time weapon scoring fixed.
Beam Collision Fixed
Black Hole weapon collision more closely aligned with visuals
Update 0.7.5
The biggest change in this update is not actually the shields turning red as ships take damage, the biggest change is that all ships and all projectiles have been slowed down by 20%, with according decreases to acceleration and turn rate. The objective of this is to incentivize players to spend resources on ship upgrades more than just on weapons as well as decrease the relative speed of ships approaching from opposite directions.
There has also been more work done to make brightness levels more consistent across stages and across different visual effects.
Now the main menu will have new bosses appear only after they have been defeated in the game.
Update 0.7.4 - New settings menu options!
This update fixes the issue that has bugged me the longest, which is that originally the first level was set near the moon of Rhea and that's what the moon in the first level was designed to resemble. Now it actually looks like Iapetus instead of some other impostor moon!
Otherwise, this update contains mostly performance improvements through the DX12 RHI, as well as lots of other optimization work.
I have also redesigned the settings menu with more options to adjust visuals and performance to suit your computer.
I also corrected some issues with the depth of field, where certain particles were either being affected by depth of field when they shouldn't or vice-versa.
Update 0.7.2
This update contains a variety of fixes and balance tweaks, but the biggest update is that now any weapon which inflicts a status effect now has an aura of energy around it and an additional graphics and sounds on impact corresponding to the status applied. This is to make it clear which projectiles are extra important to avoid, and also to display the effects of different types of rounds when they are applied on a weapon.
Update 0.7.1
This update contains a few fixes to the 0.7 update, but it also has quite a few new things as well.
The last few levels have updated background graphics, and are all at least set in the proper location that they will be in the 1.0 release.
Additionally there has been attention paid to the lighting in most of the levels, with some over-bright highlights being dimmed for better visibility.
The dark circles below enemy ships are gone, replaced with an option for background brightness which can be set as desired.
The settings menu has been updated to more quickly preview graphical changes.
Additionally, collision has been fixed on several bosses and there are numerous balance changes to upgrades and weapon mods.
Finally, there has been a large buff to the force grenades, hopefully making the Hunchback a more viable option again.
Update 0.7
Update 0.7 has been a long time in the making, and parts of it are still not entirely complete. The compendium, specifically, will be getting lots more content and updated formatting. That said, there are a huge number of significant changes so I just want to get this out there so people can start playing with them!
The first major addition is the Compendium. It can be accessed from the main menu, and the goal behind it is to be a reference for all the game mechanics, ships, items, etc. It’s also where you can view your lifetime statistics and achievements from within the game. Currently there is a lot still to be added, and the organization of some parts may change.
The second major addition is Achievements! There are already over 65 in the game, and more will be added over time. Some are for specific feats, some are for cumulative stats over time. Some of these achievements have unlockables associated with them. Currently there is one unlockable spaceship to play with, but more unlockables will come in future updates!
Many of the levels have new music, and many of the later levels have had visual updates to get them closer to what their final appearance will be.
There is a new visual for when your ship is affected by the slowdown status effect
When Salvaging multiple items, the list now scrolls to the selected item at the top if that item would be off-screen.
Thank you so much to everyone who plays the game and sends feedback, and special thanks (and belated happy birthday!) to ConstaFR aka LaBrioche for submitting the new spaceship design!
Update 0.6.6
This is a small update that fixes a few issues that weren't necessarily common but were fairly important:
-It's no longer possible to both win and lose a level at the same time -It's no longer possible to accidentally use a consumable item after the boss is defeated -Callisto no longer has a broken targeting camera -Titan is much easier on the eyes
