It took about 2 weeks to clean up all my work on the new user interface, thanks so much to everyone who reported issues, I think they're handled now ;) Here are this week's changes, now live in the beta branch, version 1.9a1H

I don't expect you to read it all but

• Hopefully fixed an infamy bug during quest success.
  
• Fixed an issue where long rest on away mission would auto-complete before cooldowns were expired.
  
• Fixed teleportation skill being random/broken.
  
• Fixed shuttle cooldown being ignored for returning from away missions.
  
• Added % grokked to tooltips.
  
• I may have fixed a bug where the motion tracker did not reveal entities on unknown tiles.
  
• Added cave depth and type of planet to top center display where sector or planet name goes.
  
• Fixed a bug where detect monsters and detect quest items didn't work in high contrast mode.
  
• Surrendered ships will no longer eat your towed shipwreck
  
• Added "surrendered" and "victorious" to tooltips.
  
• Fixed the bug where your starting skill has the wrong name and effect, but shows the right tooltip (which is very confusing!)
  
• I increased the size of floating texts at many zoom levels.
  
• Fixed a bug where certain Monk quest items were being spawned multiple times in the same area.
  
• I tried to address a problem with entering whitespace clearing out a sector map.
  
• Added a note in stations when hiring an officer: whether or not you already have an officer from that class and division.
  
• Fixed minimap images used on main map
  
• Limited surrendered ships from picking up items.
  
• Away team images have returned to the officers screen.
  
• Fixed 2 typos
  
• Fixed an error where you could not choose what your new ship looked like when claiming a shipwreck.
  
• I increased the base chance that a specific repair item you need will spawn from a locker, but also reduced the chance by difficulty.
  
• I fixed the thing that allows you to pick up no-longer-needed quest items and get a few credits and some data.
  
• I tried to address a problem where spelunker skill was not revealing stairs down sometimes.
  
• Fixed an error where you could not install a permanent device in your custom built ship.
  
• Fixed a bug where long rest went on forever when you had auto-repair power and damaged ablative armor.
  
• I greatly increased the "abandon ship" cooldown, making escape craft less abusable.
  
• I increased the cost of hull repairs at stations.
  
• Reinforced the "don't spawn a merc base when you're looking for the Monk's map" function.
  
• Fixed a display issue where a 1-weapon reactor would show 2 weapon slots available.
  
• Fixed a bug where your ship could move without engines.
  
• Fixed discrepancy in pawn shop sale prices
  
• Fixed a bug where if you saved your game while inside a station, you'd still have to close the station window afterwards.
  
• Fixed a visual bug where the screen would jiggle when moving at maximum zoom-out.
  
• Infinipedia now remembers the last sub-screen you used, and opens to it next time.
  
• Addressed an issue regarding stealth versus monsters that charge and attack.
  
• Enter key will now install a selected component or device
  
• Officers button text will flash yellow when someone is ready for a promotion.
  
• "Promote" button text will flash yellow if that officer is ready for a promotion.
  
• You can now view and identify artifacts in your inventory (top of misc).
  
• The identify screen now allows use of left side buttons (officers, inventory, etc.)
  
• I removed the spawning of intelligent "prisoners" in cells. For Now. They will be back better later.
  
• I fixed an accidental teleport when canceling power-leap skill.
  
• Fixed a bug where you couldn't power-leap far enough to the right.
  
• Escape key now exits all screens of new game process.
  
• During new game process, you now get a popup warning before exiting.
  
• Space bar now works as "yes/accept" on splash screen and load game.
  
• I'm working on, but not finished with, better display of uninstalled items in the inventory.
  
• Finished up the display of missing and unavailable devices in the inventory screen.
  
• Fixed a text overflow bug when picking up notepads
  
• Fixed a bug where you couldn't dock at Bankers stations with <50 rep (the intended amount is 40+)
  
• I made it so you can't go on an away mission without a space suit (i did and died instantly.)
  
• Fixed: quests were not properly giving out rewards like items and devices.
  
• I created the new "last 30 messages" screen.
  
• I increased it to last 50 messages.
  
• Fixed a bug where you got an endless stream of messages about not being able to afford hull repair.
  
• Away team maps will now be saved as soon as you enter them. This may be changed back.
  
• I added cannon/beam/missile to the description of weapons in stations and inventory displays and color coded them.
  
• I reactivated the thing that is supposed to make each race's station only sell specific kinds of weapons.
  
• I added a "back to station" button when you're at a station and you click officers, inventory, etc.
  
• Fixed a bug where a ship's speed wasn't properly colored in the shipyard.
  
• I'm reordering the function keys F2-F8 to work in the same order as the buttons on the left: F2=officers, F3=inventory, etc.
  
• I made a lot of progress in keeping the tooltip window OFF of the thing you're trying to look at!
  
• I fixed a bug where the away team didn't adhere to the outer hull when spacewalking.
  
• You can no longer warp without a warp drive!
  
• I did something cool with Gruff and weapons...
  
• Shuttle ace skill no longer reduces shuttle cooldown time.
  
• Shuttle ace skill requires the officer to join the away team (why didn't it?!)
  
• New "shuttle ace landing" screen created, complete with descriptive text.
  
• I added an explanation of speed modifiers to the tooltip of speed in the UI.
  
• I may have fixed the error on the officers screen where the officer's name appears on top of their picture.

Thanks to a recent post on twitter, I put together a collection of images of Approaching Infinity at different stages of development. Look how far it has come over the years!

Well, there were a lot of bugs. But I also got a lot of cool feature requests. What has changed?

Here's a list:

• Hopefully fixed an apparent crash where a dialog box appears behind an overlay and waits for input.
  
• Fixed long rest on away missions
  
• Added descriptive text to long rest, and some feedback messages when it fails.
  
• Added text descriptions/instructions to lower left of station rooms.
  
• Changed the final zoom level to fit the map better.
  
• Added station descriptions for data, component cooldown service, and crafting parts.
  
• Added red alert status indicator
  
• Codes found are now added directly to the captain's log.
  
• I made skills stack on the right side instead of along the bottom. I suppose "bottom" should still be an option? IDK.
  
• I discovered that my website changed my address and so none of my data collection has been working for a long time. FIXED.
  
• Now that I write that, I feel like that happened once before...
  
• I rearranged the shipyard display
  
• Fixed "install on away mission not change power"
  
• Fixed "return from away mission places ship in wrong location"
  
• Fixed "i spawned in a cave and there's no way out!"
  
• Fixed "Sigorn box shortage quest not completing"
  
• A tooltip is displayed for the monster you are currently targeting. (like the old target info window)
  
• Added whether your weapons are in range or not to tooltips of entities
  
• Added tooltips for more loot items
  
• Added tooltips for some UI elements (bars in upper right)
  
• Added "hidden" indicator for away missions.

All this is now released in the beta branch, version 1.9a1d


I hope to get all the rest of the bugs and features done in the coming week so I can move on to finishing up the rest of this UI stuff and get back to GAMEPLAY!

But I'm tired of working in isolation, so I'm letting you try out the new controls.

• Freely zoomable map: your ship or away team are always in the middle of the action (and the screen), with readouts and controls around the edges
  
  
  
• Every screen is new: Most screens (officers, inventory, etc) are complete, but some aren't. You'll also get to see some totally new stuff, like the "diplomacy" screen and exciting new "herbarium".
  
  
  
• New character creator: customize your captain's appearance to your heart's content. Or randomize it and get on with your life. But I think this will be a fun time-sink for a lot of you ;)
  
  
  
• New warp screen: unlimited range (ok, 99 sectors!) with bigger readouts and a little "you are here" marker on the galaxy map. Sectors even have names!
  
  
  
• New death screen: (and victory screen too), with tracking of your personal "bests" in many stats, allowing you to track your progress across games.
  
  
  
• Improved keyboard handling: much of the information that you used to have to use mouse tooltips for is now just *there* on the screen. There are also some newly added keyboard commands, and almost everything is customizable.
  
  
• More settings: Unlock the frame-rate, change the size of your messages or whether things are displayed as icons or buttons or not at all. Automate processes. Control!
  
  
• Better Tooltips: You'll get more information, presented in a better-looking more organized fashion.

• Crafting: This will be the next big project, and it will be a complete rework of the crafting system giving you much better control of what you get.
  
• Asteroid Base Rooms: Just isn't done yet, but it will be.
  
• NPC Dialogue: Needs work.
  
• A few other things here and there: I'll get to it.

We plan to include a "classic UI" option that uses the same basic layout as the current game, with the map on the left and all the UI on the right. But I need to get all the new stuff working before I can do that. But here's a mockup:





The UI Overhaul is only the first step in the final push to version 2.0 and full release, but it is a BIG DEAL, and once that is done, I'll move on the reworking crafting and then what? Check the Star Map:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/551620/view/3714965613418825879



If you're enjoying Approaching Infinity, please consider giving it a positive review on Steam. It really helps!

This video demonstrates my progress on completely reworking Approaching Infinity's user interface:



Here's what I cover:

• Starting a new game
  
• Loading a game
  
• Expanded play area
  
• Zoomable map
  
• Officers screen
  
• Inventory manipulation
  
• Quests screen
  
• Options menu with new options
  
• Cooldown icons
  
• Space station interiors

In case you don't know what I'm talking about, and you're not a video person
(I'm more of a reader), here are some images:

You've already seen some of the progress I've made on the gameplay area, but let's get started with something unexpected:

We're still working on making this the best it can be, with randomization and locking features. We'll also have presets available, and you'll be able to save your favorites.


You can watch me do this next part
in my series of progress reports,
starting with the latest one:





(Warning: SLOW GIF!)

It starts with ship selection, showing lots of easy-to-read information. Then you customize your captain's appearance (or randomize or choose from presets, whatever you want!). Next you choose your class and skill. Finally select difficulty, perma-death, and starting funds. Each with its own dedicated screen.



Now you can see everything about all of your officers, in one place, all at once!

(Yes, this screenshot uses the old officer art. The new ones aren't actually in the game yet...)




Everything is getting a makeover, and space station interiors are already about 1000% more user friendly:


All space station navigation is now done either with the mouse or the arrow keys, and everything is laid out in a nice orderly fashion, with big text and on-screen descriptions.



All the info you need to make the best choices about where to buy and sell goods for the biggest profits. Also a "sell everything" button that tells you up-front how much you'll make ːsteamhappyː



Gone are the days of paying for "restocks", hoping you'll find that shield you need. Instead, space stations can now carry over 20 items, and they're guaranteed to have at least one of every kind of ship part and away team gear.

You even get color-coded comparisons of the gear that's offered versus what you have installed.






What's the down side?

The work is going slower than expected because I need to rearrange and rewrite enormous blocks of spaghetti code (ramen?) that have accumulated over the past 10 years.

But as you can see, things are getting done.

If you want more information on the plan for finishing the game, take a look at Starmap 1.9 here on Steam. And if you're already fine with the existing user interface, don't panic!




(And for owners of the UI DLC, we'll make new exclusive UI skins for you that fit the new layout!)

If you've been following this game for a while, you know something about me:
So it's only a matter of time until I go on a fixing spree.


Here are further changes to all public branches, version 1.8i2:

• Fixed "cargo vacuum doesn't pick up credits and supplies if cargo bay is full". now it does.
  
• Fixed "gravity pulse (and cryo blast) doesn't give damage type knowledge on kill". now it does.
  
• Fixed "level up pop-up appears during combat". Now it doesn't.
  
• Probably eliminated picking up invisible items to be "marked for transport". Haven't found why they're spawning.
  
• On sprawling planets, your location N/E/S/W will be more clearly displayed.
  
• Fixed a rare error in race's "last words"
  
• Tried to find and prevent some ways that null items might be spawning.
  
• Created an "exclusion list" for things that some monsters will pick up on away missions. (not only firax objects, but it looks like they could pick up transit tubes and radiation tiles!) should be fixed.
  
• When you come out of a cave and find yourself on the north/east/etc. area of a planet, and the surface wasn't supposed to have those, path arrows should now spawn, and you can return to the landing site.
  
• Fixed an error that caused quest entities to re-spawn after they've been completed.
  
• I fixed a bug where some pre-designed shipwreck levels would generate totally surrounded by floor.
  
• Fixed a bug where away team icons would briefly flash white during certain area transitions.
  
• I attempted to address the improper deletion of files from victories and deaths.
  
• Hopefully also fixed some weird issues when going up and down cave levels.
  
• Also working on getting the game to register the fact that you've destroyed all nanostructure on a planet or shipwreck, thereby averting the nanopocalypse locally.
  
• I am further working to eliminate the random "marked for transport" bugs, because I just got one.
  
• Tried to prevent your ship from blowing up because you switched armor :O
  
• Fixed a bug where petting a bunny while wielding a zapper would trigger the adjacent attacks of that weapon.

All these are in addition to the previous update which you may or may not be away of:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/551620/view/6507196838838247786






PS: if you haven't seen my plans for the next year, check out Starmap 1.9:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/551620/view/3714965613418825879




PPS: Yes, I'm still talking. Thanks for reading this far. And since you're here, if you haven't given the game a positive Steam review yet, please take a moment to do that. Getting to 500 reviews would put us in a whole new category of visibility ;) Thanks!

As usual, these are the broad strokes. Lots of other features and fixes will happen along the way.

• Make the entire screen be the play area.
  
• Center the action on the player (you), and make the map freely zoom-able.
  
• Place interface elements unobtrusively around the edges.
  
• Make all menus to use the full screen space.
  
• Update the "new game" process.
  
• Create new information screens, essentially a "Infinipedia" of everything you want to know.
  
• Modernize everything!

https://youtu.be/-dVKi-Alj5U


But what if you like the screen layout the way it is? There's a "classic mode", with the map on the left and the HUD on the right.

And for everyone who has the UI DLC: It's already been updated with new special UI skins!

CRAFTING OVERHAUL (DONE!)

[/h1]
I use that term "overhaul" a lot. I picked it up playing a certain space 4x game as a kid, where you could bring your old ships up to current standards, at the cost of time and resources... yep, that sounds about right ;)

• There are 14 crafting parts
  
• Each one is more unique and has a description and specific uses
  
• 5 of them will be naturally occurring
  
• Rarity is "baked in" to the new system
  
• A warp drive will be much harder to build than a knife (finally!)
  
• I'm introducing a "modding" system for upgrading existing gear
  
• The crafting lab is going away
  
• I've already replaced the first Tentaculon quest with something else...
  
• You'll be able to craft consumables like medkits, rad remover, and squik poison!

AUTO-EXPLORE (DONE!)

[/h1]
That thing has been unreliable for years. As part of 1.9, I'll devote a chunk of time to rewriting the auto-explore and using some of those cool new settings you can find in the options menu (hint hint).

ENGRAVERS STORY (DONE!)

[/h1]
This is the #1 most wanted story among players in the Discord.

Who are they? Where did they go? How did they leave all those messages on planets? WHY?!

I know.

Now you can find out too... And at the end of your long journey, you'll be rewarded with a new starting ship and the option to change the universe in exciting ways... not just for your current run, but in new games too!

NANOPOCALYPSE RESOLUTION
(DONE!)

[/h1]
So who here has used nano-weapons on an away mission, and everything went terribly wrong, and now you've lost an entire sector to the "nanopocalypse"? There's an achievement for that...

But how do you get rid of it?

For now, you can't. It will take cooperation between many of the alien factions in the area, and a lot of footwork on your part. This is planned to be one of the biggest quests so far, but it probably won't end in a new victory... just a way to temporarily avoid defeat.

Disclaimer: the "nanopocalypse" is an avoidable situation that at most can take over a single sector. It will not "stop you from winning", unless of course one of the enemies kills you directly.

SECTOR 50 (DONE!)

[/h1]

Do you want to get into sector 50? Of course, we all do! But how do you unlock it, and what will you find there?



I started working on this game in 2013, and it will (hopefully) be "finished" sometime in 2025. I can't imagine not working on it, but after this major development cycle, it should be the game that I intended all those years ago... and the game that so many of *YOU* helped it to become.

Thank you!

If you're already a fan, please leave a positive Steam review, it really helps with visibility (the next big milestone for the algorithm is 500 reviews). And if you haven't played yet, try the free demo!

• I updated the description of the fake id device.
  
• I made sure that illegal commodities weren't selected for Sigorn trade missions.
  
• I made more checks to keep trade quests from pointing to sectors without stations.
  
• I've made it so that the sigorn trader and pirate smuggler should only ever hail you once, instead of repeatedly.
  
• Time between Sigorn trade quests has been extended, and they should not point to sectors with existing quests.
  
• I have probably fixed the inconsistencies with asteroid base items.
  
• I also lowered the prices of those items.
  
• Rooms that are ready to build in the asteroid base are now green in the list on the left:
  
• Mercenary skill "nemesis hunter" now does +25% damage per level against bosses / big bads
  
• Fixed a bug where "auto-fire" wouldn't decloak your ship or trigger the stealth runner quest.
  
• I limited the kinds of items that will make salvage teams angry if you pick them up. (for example, taking credits or devices angers them, taking blood stains will not)
  
• I made sure that aliens on salvage missions would pick things up.
  
• I've added a "seen / unseen" condition indicator to the away team gear panel, based on whether anything else currently sees you.
  
• When repairing machines on shipwrecks that require gadgets or repair kits, you will now be asked "this requires X and you have Y, do you really want to fix it?"
  
• The flashing colored warnings around the edge of the screen for things like low hull, supplies, oxygen, and HP can be SHUT OFF using the code "nopulse".
  
• This will also stop hypno-flowers from flashing.
  
• Monsters on away missions may no longer be able to shoot you from around corners. may.
  
• I have finally Finally. FINALLY! Fixed the items on the map that appear as white squares until you light them up.
  
• Bankers now pay triple for surveys of "former human colonies" , but it can hurt your reputation with the Resistance...
  
• Selling a Firax artifact in an embassy pawn shop will increase your rep with that race by 10
  
• But it reduces your rep with the Firax by 5, except:
  
• Selling an artifact to the Firaxughinians boosts your rep by 20.
  
• Ships will no longer "pick up" quest items and other important stuff.
  
• I removed debug text when tooltipping item on map.

How will we know? Let's check in with Starmap 1.8, created long ago to guide this part of the journey.


Here are some of the final touches coming to all players as of today:

• NPC ship captains exist :O
  
• You can get trade missions from a Sigorn captain (if you're friendly with them).
  
• Pirates can offer missions where you smuggle illegal goods into Limoquee space.
  
• Alien corpses found on planets will sometimes have stories explaining what happened to them.
  
• The Eaters will now judge you based on how many other factions you're friendly with.
  
• New feature: "Mark for Transport". Tired of making multiple trips to the shuttle when you find lots of big loot? Just mark it for transport and those days are over!
  
• Once unlocked in any game, rare plants will spawn in all games, but not much in lower sectors.
  
• "Fake ID" and "Credentials" now require you to pay a bribe to get into stations where you otherwise would not be welcome. Higher levels reduce the effect.
  
• Docking at faction embassies can reduce your reputation with their enemies. (For example, docking at a pirate base can reduce your rep with the Sigorn, Bankers, and Limoquee.) This happens once per sector.
  
• Pirates and Eaters will actively go after big stacks of commodities left on the map.
  
• Cyber-skills picked up are now automatically equipped to any officer who can use them.
  
• Nebulas are now continuous clouds with nice round edges.
  
• I changed how away team hit points are calculated so small away teams aren't so useless ;)
  
• I introduced "pay it forward" daily codes.

There are, of course, the usual host of fixes and quality-of-life changes. Enjoy!


What's next?


1.9 will be the final push to (let me check my math...) 2.0 , which means


That's probably still a year away...


1.9 is going to start *big*. The long awaited, much requested, feared-and-lamented-by-me

The plan is to emphasize the play area and keep the UI as sleek and out-of-the-way as possible. Here are some mock-ups we've done:

Space, with the map zoomed out:


The new installation screen:


Zoomed in on the away team:







And for everyone who uses the UI DLC, don't worry! We'll make lots of special UI skins for the new UI too.

Other plans for 1.9 include:

• A mega-quest about the Narcratu invasion
  
• Learning more about the Engravers
  
• Finding a way to fight the nano-pocalypse
  
• More rooms and quests from asteroid bases
  
• Crafting system overhaul
  
• Introduction of "commerce planets"
  
• Much much more...