Very similarly to the prior release, it's been 24 days since the last writeup (and in this case, the last non-beta build). This new version is only the fifth public build since then, though most of them were hefty and were in beta. Full notes here.
What's new?
- First up, there is a brand new "journal" concept, which lets us put in a whole bunch of new thematic or useful text that you can find. And of course it can be used in mods. I don't personally plan to use it a whole lot, but I know some mod authors and some folks wanting to volunteer some minor lore writing have been waiting for this.
- Chat, as used for multiplayer and for the AI talking to you, has been revamped a fair bit, since the journal-like things are no longer a part of that. It's now more efficient, and has a few new capabilities, like...
- Cheat codes and debug commands issued via chat have been added! Am I strange for feeling like cheat codes are anachronistic in the current market? Sigh. Anyway, I've always liked having those for folks.
- Fleet EXP has been removed, and we're no longer planning on doing the "perks" system that we've been talking about for about 2 years. Basically it was always something that could cause you to have to grind, and there are simply better ways to let you upgrade fleets and make them how you want them.
- Speaking of, all fleets (or their flagships at very minimum) can now be upgraded directly by science. There have been some science costs rejiggered based on this, and a lot of interface additions to make this really smooth in the most recent version in particular. This basically gives you a cheap way to have the same-ish experience, but without the ability/requirement to grind for levels.
- There's a big new "hooks" framework for mods, which we can use to talk to mods in an indirect way when they want to do something right before, during, or after key events.
- There's an interesting new debug setting that you can enable to test some new mechanics: "Enable Astro Train Power Increase"
- Drones of all sorts now get upgraded based on their spawner being upgraded, so they are far more dangerous than before.
- The dyson sphere voice lines should now be played properly.
- Cloaked and agile transports are both something you can now find in the wild in new campaigns.
- Lots and lots of bugfixes!
More to come soon!
Please Do Report Any Issues!
If you run into any bugs, we'd definitely like to hear about those.
The release of this game has been going well so far, and I think that the reviews that folks have been leaving for the game have been a big help for anyone passing by who's on the fence. For a good while we were sitting at Overwhelmingly Positive on the Recent Reviews breakdown, but there have been a lot fewer reviews lately and so that has definitely had a material negative effect. Go figure. Having a running selection of recent reviews definitely is helpful, but at least we have a pretty healthy set of long-term reviews. If you've been playing the game and enjoying it, we'd greatly appreciate it if you'd drop by and leave your own thoughts, too.
More to come soon. Enjoy!
Problem With The Latest Build?
If you right-click the game in Steam and choose properties, then go to the Betas tab of the window that pops up, you'll see a variety of options. You can always choose most_recent_stable from that build to get what is essentially one-build-back. Or two builds back if the last build had a known problem, etc. Essentially it's a way to keep yourself off the very bleeding edge of updates, if you so desire.
The Usual Reminders
Quick reminder of our new Steam Developer Page. If you follow us there, you'll be notified about any game releases we do.
Also: Would you mind leaving a Steam review for some/any of our games? It doesn't have to super detailed, but if you like a game we made and want more people to find it, that's how you make it happen. Reviews make a material difference, and like most indies, we could really use the support.
Enjoy!
Chris
