This update is a complete 3d overhaul of all art assets and the in-game renderer, replacing the old 2D sprite-based system. Almost all sprites are now 3d models and all level chunks (used to generate the platform levels) have been rebuilt with 3d assets.
This change allows us to achieve the lighting and shadow effects we need going forward, especially as we add more content to the game including new ships, levels, and the upcoming new final sector. We did some tests last year with 2d lighting effects compared with 3d models and materials and it was clear that 3d was the way to go!
Note: gameplay is the same as before. Movement and physics are still essentially 2d, but the camera now has perpective giving us way more depth than the previous 2d parallax effect.
New Features and Balance
Added a small amount of inertia to player ship movement.
Weapon pickups now roll additional random stats when picked up during gameplay.
Picking up a device will now drop the previous device so it can be picked up again (there is a 1 second cooldown on pickup).
Double Damage module no longer applies to smart-rocket missiles.
Shield pod now blocks Beam weapons on regular enemies and turrets. Boss/Miniboss beams are not blocked.
Bounce projectiles no longer pick up the piercing module effect.
Decreased movement speed of Horizon from 30 to 27
Bug Fixes
Unlocking the Hydra ship now shows the Hydra Pod in the journal. The pod is also unlocked if you have previously unlocked the Hydra.
Collision from the player ship would sometimes not damage breakable objects in the level due to the order of collision processing.
Fixed enemy spline movement when scrolling stops.
Enemy beam color set to white when not doing damage after firing.
Menu buttons with screen fade now only respond to the first press.
Bounce shots are now killed when their target is dead or invalid.
Fixed rare soft-lock in AI Boss level when destroying trigger objects before scrolling has stopped.
Fire-Rate shown in the shop screen is now shots-per-second instead of shot delay.
Ball lightning, ionized-hull, and homing missiles now do raycasts against terrain.
When starting a sector, the credits text no longer count up from 0.
Background chunk generation at the end of platform levels now line up with foreground platforms better.
Enemies should no longer spawn near or after the warp gate at the end of space levels.
Electric items now target weak points correctly on the Pirate Destroyer.
Devices were previously called Special Items.
Update 0.4.1
Update Notes for May 6 , 2022 - 0.4.1
Added weapons crates in sector 1 so there are more chances to find new weapons
Buying the weapons locker key in the store now immediately adds a weapon for sale
Decreased the angle of some of the angled shot mods by half
Left-Shoulder/Right-Shoulder buttons and Q/E keys now cycle ship weapons/missiles at the store
Player Credits on the Sector Map and Store aer bigger and easier to notice
Bounce damage range is now limited to half then screen width and will favor the right direction when choosing targets
Fixed a soft lock where dying at the A.I. Core would cause subsequent levels to not spawn a warp gate
Some VFX were not getting cleaned up properly
Weapon pickup names were not all correct
Survive the Rift - Update 0.4
Update Notes for April 30th, 2022
Version 0.4
Game Improvements
Alien level Art has been overhauled with more detail
Alien level chunks have all be tuned to be more challenging and have less "dead" areas
UI Menu art updated for a cleaner look
Bug Fixes and Game Tuning
Alien Boss beam clips correctly to the edge of the screen
Alien turret fire rate slightly increased
Alien turret explosion VFX
AI and Alien space levels now have their own planet sprites
Plasma weapon hit VFX
New and updated sounds
Fixed sprite sorting issue with some elements in the AI platform level
Chromatic Aberration graphics setting can now be turned on or off correctly
Updated Hangar art
Update 0.3.5
Update Notes for Apr 9th, 2022 - Version 0.3.5
Game Balance
Store can now stock different types of missiles
Ships now have a max missile capacity
Extra loot module chance per stack reduced from 5% to 2.5%
Ankh drop chance decreased and price in the store doubled to 400 credits
Update 0.3.4
Update Notes for Apr 5, 2022 - Version 0.3.4
Added a score to Sector Completed and Game Over screens
AI Core boss beams could get stuck on after the core is destroyed
Group kill stats no longer counts single-enemy groups
Increased credits for destroying a turret to 10
Alien shot and hit VFX updated
AI small enemy shot changed to use the correct blue VFX
Update 0.3.3
Update Notes for Mar 21, 2022. Version 0.3.3
Special items now stack properly
Special beam weapon was stuck on if another special item was picked up while firing
Added special item stack text in the HUD
Pickup notifications of the same type are now collapsed to reduce screen clutter
Reduced opacity of pickup notification background sprite
Shot mod delay multipliers tuned to fire faster for dual shot modifiers
Stages can no longer have both a store and a miniboss
Boss target points fixed to work with Smart Rockets and Ionized hull
Fixed Alien spine hazard invisible collision with piercing weapon
Alien Sector & Store Update
Update for Mar 17, 2021 - Version 0.3.2
Added Alien asteroids stage
Alien sector no longer has AI stages
Added a restock option in the store to re-roll the items and replenish consumables
Store now has 4 modules for purchase at a time instead of 3
Platform level times reduced by 10 seconds to help with pacing
Asteroid level time reduced from 120 to 100 seconds
Update Notes For Feb 10th 2022
Update Notes For Feb 10th 2022 [Version 0.3.1]
Added a new music track.
Enemy groups now have a greater chance to drop modules.
Increased the chance for spawners to spawn loot-dropping enemy groups.
Decreased the length of space stages.
Lowered the health of miner space barrier hazards.
Lowered the health of pirate space flame hazards.
Always display the module stack count unless the module doesn't stack.
Damage Gives Credits module awards less credits when taking damage.
Alien miniboss tuning.
Stage/Sector Completed panel now shows the total credits for the run as well as the player's current credits.
Update Notes for June 18
Patch Notes
Ignore damage module now works correctly.
Fixed art under the Pirate platform ramp. The solid black was hard to see and easy collide with.
Removed red debug sprite covering the upper doors in the AI Core level.
Smart rockets now only target the Pirate cruiser once.
Smart rockets now target the Pirate Boss correctly.
Update 0.2.3
Patch Notes
All player missiles now have trails.
Added menu item for upcoming Challenge levels.
Take damage shake/chromatic-aberration effects are no properly cleared if you quit a run while taking damage.
Shot modifiers no longer display the stat icon in the journal.
