Patch 2.04 is released, adding more optimizations and a few balance tweaks! This build should have a noticeable increase in performance for most players of 20-40 FPS in many areas.

Balance

• Reduced Blood Altar use from 50 to 40 health to prevent instant kill if you have the Scorched Choker
  
• Added secret highlights to more objects for the Leg Feelers mutation
  
• Mutation: Gaseous Sack - Increased initial boost and vertical boost speeds to make more useful
  
• Weapons: Quill Shotgun and Thorn Dealer (Variant) - Increased delay before regenerative reload begins
  
• Weapons: Stygian Hunter and Stygian Hammer weapons - Increased reload time

Optimization

• Cleaned Menu and Level 1 Start areas to give increased performance
  
• Disabled shadows on many light sources that weren't largely noticeable
  
• Optimized Prism Spider Droid and Shipping Drone light usage
  
• Optimized Shipping Container and Containment Chamber light usage
  
• Optimized fire effects and lighting
  
• Optimized many champion enemy particle effects
  
• Optimized many death explosion particle effects
  
• Optimized weather particle effects
  
• Optimized and improved geyser particles

Fixes

• Fixed Effigy core material
  
• Fixed weapons aiming at nearby player drones instead of enemies in some cases

Patch 2.03 is out, adding some performance improvements, new sounds for the Icosatron enemy (laser soccer ball), and other fixes! This will likely be the last minor patch coming out before 2.1 in a couple weeks, which will be the first larger content patch of our early access development including a bunch of new Native faction content.

Balance

• Enemy - Solus Prime: Charge ability range increased so it will use it more often when further away
  
• Boss - Excavation Spider: Improved beam impact damage so it will hit the player more often when sweeping over
  
• Icosatron - Decreased max health after fixing lasers harming itself while rolling (Still around the same time to kill), optimized particle effects, and fixed lasers staying active sometimes while in cooldown

Audio

• Added new Icosatron movement and attack sound effects

UI

• Updated pickup wheel timer reticule visual

Misc

• Added new arc line preview for Rotspore Heels and Tritoraptor Heels
  
• Increased all camera zooms slightly, and improved balance of camera zooms in landmark levels from levels 1-4

Fixes

• Garbage collection fixes and optimizations
  
• Optimized many water and swamp particle effects
  
• Optimized many texture import sizes to reduce texture memory used
  
• Fixed controller aim lock locking onto small breakable objects or drones instead of enemies
  
• Improved interaction when rotspore whip vine pulls an enemy tethered to you off a cliff
  
• Fixed Tesla Shield aux being droppable while active, giving semi-permanent shield
  
• Fixed Containment Prism aux not activating cooldown on item when used
  
• Improved Level 5 Start floor glass visibility
  
• Fixed Level 5 Weather switching when near the bottom wall in a landmark area
  
• Fixed Act 2 Prism Containment Loot variant scripting errors

Patch 2.02 contains our first set of improvements for controllers and handful of other tweaks and fixes! The main additions include an Aim Lock that holds the cursor on an enemy when Left Trigger is held, as well as the ability to rebind controller buttons. If you’re a controller player try out the new aim locking and let us know how you like it. We’re open to exploring more options for controller aiming as well if the aim lock still doesn't feel quite right, but in our initial tests it's been a much better play experience.

Controller

• Added the ability to aim-lock on targets by holding Left Trigger
  
• Right Joystick Click cycles between targets while aim locking
  
• Grenade moved to Up D-Pad (Used to be left trigger)
  
• Map moved to Right D-Pad (Used to be Down D-Pad)
  
• Flashlight moved to Left D-Pad (Used to be Up D-Pad)
  
• Fixed issues with controller being difficult to use in some menus
  
• Fixed selection not resetting after clicking an option on the main menu
  
• Fixed vibrate staying active on death sometimes

Options

• Added Reset to Default setting in Keybinds tab
  
• Added ability to re-bind controller buttons (Xbox One supported)
  
• Added aim and menu speed settings (Applied to Controller joysticks)

Balance

• Magrail Handgun and Droid Dropper (Variant) - Set to Single Shot reload to compensate for recent semi-auto change
  
• Rotspore Repeater and Seeker (Variant) - Set base Repeater needles to home at a low rate and increased homing rate of Seeker needles
  
• Enemy - Pyro Droid MK3: Increased health of pyro pod summons
  
• Improved visibility of Hailshard, Lightning, and Solar Flare stormcell telegraph effects
  
• Lowered base Stormcell spawn chance for all weather types

Audio

• Added new Hexagoth attack and movement sounds
  
• Added new Effigy attack and movement sounds
  
• Fixed bullet impact volume being too loud since 2.01

Levels

• Added new pipewalks to many angled pipe sections to make walking on them easier
  
• Flauros Blood Altar - Secret unlock mechanic replaced with a simpler "Sacrifice 50 Health" to unlock
  
• Updated level 5 shipping conveyor jump puzzles to be easier to jump between multi-conveyor jumps
  
• Fixed Solus Stomach secret triggering green screen fade if you jump too high inside
  
• Fixed Level 04 Shipping Landmark cavern not teleporting

Fixes

• Fixed multiple games being started if menu buttons were spammed
  
• Fixed items being difficult to swap when multiple were overlapped
  
• Fixed Tesla Strike lightning sticking down through the floor where it impacted
  
• Fixed an issue with the targeting manager not hitting some directional targets correctly
  
• Fixed being able to open the tab screen with the escape menu open
  
• Fixed Solus Colonies being difficult to shoot at
  
• Added cooldown to throwable pickups with multiple uses to prevent hitting yourself

Patch 2.1 development is coming along well too and should be releasing in early April. Here's a look at one of the upcoming landmark zones, the Untamed Sanctuary!

Thanks to everyone for their support following the launch into Early Access! We’ve got a small updated released that should (hopefully) fix the Continue freeze many players were having as well as some other minor changes listed below. If you end up encountering the Continue freeze bug again please let us know on our Steam community or Discord!

Balance

• Assault Rifle and Swift Arbiter (Variant) - Reduced max bullet damage
  
• Medium Enemies - Increased max health of a handful of Medium tier enemies
  
• Reduced positive stats in Paramount DNA from 3 to 2 to encourage use of more DNA mods and prevent UI error
  
• Increased trigger radius on many health drops to make them easier to pick up

Audio

• Added new DNA Research and Level Up sounds
  
• Added DNA Mod Select and Place sounds
  
• Added Mutation Roll and other Genome Sequencing sounds
  
• Added Reconstitute tooltip popup sound
  
• Added fire sound to Quill Bladder auxiliary item

Levels

• Added map hint to level 01 start to hint checking map before entering the level
  
• Made a few Act 1 jump puzzles easier to complete
  
• Added more side panels to pipewalks in Level 1 and 2 to make easier to walk over
  
• Fixed Flauros Dimension central teleport platform being unreachable with the Sack Feet mutation applied
  
• Fixed Fungi Cache loot dungeon having a broken cavern teleport
  
• Other miscellaneous level fixes and improvements

Misc

• Improved player positioning and stickiness when on moving platforms such as shipping containers
  
• Improved responsiveness of enemies that fall off of the level and set to explode shortly after
  
• Semi-Automatic weapons will now fire at a slow rate while the fire key is held down

Fixes

• Fixed Continue getting stuck on black screen before loading into level for certain players
  
• Removed recent drag and replace DNA addition on reconstitute screen to prevent being able to replace locked DNA.
  
• Fixed music not reverting to background correctly on exit from many pocket worlds (Disabled Level 1 Landmark Music to assist)
  
• Fixed Icosatron lasers not appearing during its first attack
  
• Fixed Tesla Pistol and Electrocutioner damaging self when Mini-SFG ball fires
  
• Fixed Rotten Egg grenades not causing enemies to fight each other
  
• Fixed Prism Security Droid enemy having too low of a wakeup range
  
• Fixed leaping enemies getting stuck in a leap animation if they target an enemy other than the player
  
• Fixed many Uncharted items having the wrong faction icon on index entries
  
• Fixed memento/item title text wrapping incorrectly on low resolutions
  
• Fixed Nanomed Trauma Patch not saying Instant Use

We've started working on the next content patch as well which will add a couple new enemies (among other things), including this guy.

Beacon is now released on Steam Early Access! With the release onto Steam comes patch 2.0, Depth Charge. Make your way into the cryptic Prism Vault where your beacon locator has been pointing you, face off against new Uncharted enemies, and when you eventually die recycle all that unused DNA into new item research!




New Features

• ​​DNA Research - Recycle your unused DNA into the new DNA Research bar at the end of each life, unlocking new items and weapons to spawn in the world for further lives.

New Items

• Weapon: Stygian Hunter - Fires lava rocks with a slow fire rate that increases over time, with hot homing lava rocks firing on critical shots
  
• Weapon: Stygian Hammer - Fires hot homing lava rocks, with a mega lava rock firing at the end of the clip that bursts into a cluster of hot lava rocks
  
• Weapon: Laser Refractor - A semi-automatic weapon composed of refracting glass, firing bursts of tightly refracted lasers
  
• Passive: Hailshard Drone - Befriend a hailshard drone that hovers around you, bursting on the first enemy it contacts
  
• Tinkered Weapon Variant: Late Bloomer (Quill Revolver) - Fires explosive acid quill on critical shot
  
• Tinkered Weapon Variant: Lance Keeper (Quill Gatling) - Fires penetrating acid quills, and a burst of explosive acid quills on critical shots
  
• Tinkered Weapon Variant: Mjolnir (Tesla SFG) - Tesla SFG projectile fires tesla coils at nearby targets
  
• Tinkered Weapon Variant: Illuminatus (Globule Lobber) - Globules explode on impact rather than sticking
  
• Tinkered Weapon Variant: Rapture's Emissary (Globule Cannon) - Globule detonates in mid-air, bursting into a mega globule cluster
  
• Tinkered Weapon Variant: Death's Door (Chaingun) - Fires larger bullets that ricochet off of walls, with lower max ammo
  
• Tinkered Weapon Variant: High Roller (Magrail Launcher) - Fires a mega magrail ball

New Enemies

• Hexagoth - An interdimensional lifeform that was phased in during an off-world experiment, the Hexagoth spins in a whirlwind of tentacles that knocks back anything hit by it.
  
• Effigy - An amalgamation of crystalized organisms, anything that comes into contact with the effigy begins to crystalize and is stunned.
  
• Icosatron - A massive contraption of unknown origins, the Icosatron rolls towards its targets, occasionally toggling a series of high powered lasers from inside of its hull.
  
• Mega Embedded Tesla and Pyro turrets added - Fire extended bursts of Tesla Pulse and Pyro SMG rounds. Have high armor to all attacks other than explosives.

Levels

• Level 5 Added: Enter into the cryptic Prism Vault, clear the central chamber, and gain access to the central elevator to continue to the lowest depths of Prism's facilities.
  
• New Act 1 Prism Loot Zone: Laser Core Cache - Redirect the energy beams to gain access to the loot cache
  
• New Trap/Power Mechanic: Laser Redirect Beam - Redirect a high powered Prism beam through the level to complete objectives
  
• New Trap: Damaged Redirect Prism - When hit with an energy beam, the unstable prism will charge up and explode
  
• New Trap: Tesla Prong - Extends from a fortress wall, firing off 3 large Tesla Coils as it descends back inwards.
  
• New Trap: Flame Field - Covers an area in a Flame Field, igniting anything in contact with the holographic field.
  
• New Trap: Mining Eye - Fires a mining beam at random intervals from a static position.
  
• New Trap: Expunge Barrier - Sweeps over an area, instantly disintegrating anything that comes in contact with it.
  
• New Crate: Crystal Prism - Hit the crystal prism with an energy beam to release the items stuck inside
  
• Added 10 new Act 1 Connector tiles, making traveling between level 1 and 2 areas more randomized
  
• Increased size of Cavern entrance to make easier to enter
  
• Updated and improved various Act 1 tiles
  
• Updated Travel: Swamp Bubbles - Now pops and flings the player upwards, rather than carrying them slowly
  
• Added floor hologram enemy markers in many Prism arenas that display the amount of enemies left before the arena unlocks

Audio

• New Reconstitution sound effects added
  
• New Tutorial Screen sound effects added
  
• New Stormcell Incoming sound effect added
  
• Added player landing sounds
  
• Added new sounds for Flamethrower and Acid Blaster weapons
  
• Add new music for levels 2-5

Mementos

• Added new Level 4 and Level 5 Starting Mementos
  
• Added rare Prism comm mementos
  
• Added new deceased clone dog tag mementos

Balance

• Weapon: Magrail Launcher - Increased reload time per ball
  
• Weapon: Grenade Launcher and Copycat (Variant) - Increased reload time per grenade
  
• Weapon: Quill Cannon - Reduced max ammo and increased delay before ammo regen begins
  
• Weapon: Flak Revolver and Crowd Pleaser (Variant) - Increased bullet spread and decreased damage slightly
  
• Weapon: Flare Gun and Supernova (Variant) - Increased damage dealt by Blue and White flares on impact and updated effects
  
• Weapon: Impeder - Increased range and damage per shot, updated goo effects
  
• Weapon: Chaingun and Death's Door (Variant) - Reduced max ammo and slightly decreased max fire rate.
  
• Weapon: Laser Engine - Updated and re-enabled Prism's Laser Engine heavy weapon
  
• Auxiliary: Enflamed Heart - Improved reflectiveness of flame shield and updated effects
  
• Pickup: Bone Shield - Improved reflectiveness of bone shields and updated bone shield model
  
• Pickup: Repentant Daggers - Replaced old buff effect with 3 throwable daggers that lifesteal on hit.
  
• Enemy: Pyro Droid MK2 - Now throws pyro grenade instead of incendiary grenade
  
• Enemy: Tritoraptor Patriarch - Increased max movement speed and added AoE stun to pounce landing
  
• Enemy: Pyro Droid MK3 - Increased speed of flame dash and lowered ability cooldown times
  
• Enemy: Large Turret - Large embedded turrets are now damageable with any weapon instead of just explosives, but have high armor values.
  
• Mutation: Giant Appendage - Chance to fire acid bomb on dodge changed from 100% to 25%
  
• Mutation: Fallen Crown - Reduced lifesteal amount from 50% to 20%
  
• Mutation: Leeching Tentacle - Reduced lifesteal from 25% to 20% on melee
  
• Mutation: Aerodynamic Tail - Increased from +25 to +50 speed when stamina is empty and updated effects
  
• Increased the damage required to stun/flinch many large tier enemies
  
• Reduced stress bonus for DNA and health drops on many enemy types to prevent too much dropping in levels 4 and 5.
  
• DNA Mod: 50% Reduced Melee Stamina Cost - Changed to -5 Melee Stamina Cost
  
• DNA Mod: 50% Reduced Dodge Stamina Cost - Changed to -5 Dodge Stamina Cost
  
• DNA Mod: -50% Aux Cooldown - Changed to -10 Seconds Aux Cooldown

Bosses

• Hivemind - Acid Tails now descend at end of fight
  
• Excavation Spider - Laser impact position improved
  
• Aphelion - Added passive flame aura and increased speed of flame wave spread

Misc

• Added Credits Screen to Main Menu
  
• Updated reconstitution tooltip descriptions and effects
  
• Added Multi-Use ability to certain Pickup items, allowing them to be used 3 times before being discarded
  
• Updated many item statistics to better reflect their abilities and be consistent with the latest gameplay updates
  
• Updated and optimized many weapon and item particle effects

Fixes

• Improved performance of HUD waypoints
  
• Optimized weather particles on all weather types
  
• Fixed Mementos not being saved to Index Archive
  
• Fixed a few items causing Continue to break
  
• Fixed player and camera being mispositioned at Tutorial start
  
• Fixed Menhir stone pillar not bursting when shot
  
• Fixed Succulent Sanctuary fruit item unlock not triggering correctly in some cases
  
• Fixed laser beam impacts being mispositioned
  
• Fixed Stormcell Incoming UI not appearing after the first few storms
  
• Fixed DNA not becoming unstable when stat is below -100
  
• Fixed level seed not resetting after death on Continue if restarted at Level 1
  
• Fixed passive drones not saving on Continue
  
• Fixed vsync setting not saving
  
• Fixed items dropped from health behaviors landing on top of eachother often
  
• Fixed acid pools applying acid debuff while the pool was mostly faded away
  
• Fixed a few blurry icons on lower settings
  
• Fixed level load screen stats being displayed incorrectly on continue
  
• Fixed scroll bars being difficult to use on the Reconstitute screen

We'll be paying close attention the next few days to any feedback and bugs reported and should have an update with any important fixes out in the next few days!

Leading up to our Early Access launch we wanted to give everyone a closer look into our plans for the rest of Beacon’s development. The above image lists our current set of patches planned, including a few of the main features that will be added. We’ll of course be listening to feedback from the community and will talk about adding any suggestions! The feedback we received during our first access development has helped shaped the game into its current state and we’re looking forward to having more community involvement once it’s available on Steam.

Below is a more detailed list of the patches and features listed on the roadmap. We plan to release a new content patch every 3-5 weeks with minor fix and feature patches in between. Patch 2.0 will be releasing on February 27th, including Level 5 and the DNA Research Bar feature!

Patch 2.0 - Depth Charge
The facility is breached, loosing new secrets and attracting strange adversaries.

• Level 5 Added, beginning Freja’s descent into the cryptic Prism Vault
  
• New Act 1 level content, including beam redirect loot zones
  
• New Music for levels 2 through 5
  
• New Uncharted Faction Enemies and Armaments
  
• 8 New Tinkered Weapon Variants added, left behind by past Freja’s

Feature - DNA Research Bar
Invest your excess DNA into researching new items and weaponry at the end of each life

Patch 2.1 - Undying Brood
The planet’s autochthonous inhabitants take drastic action to ensure their survival.

• New Native Faction Enemies and Armaments
  
• Additional Act 1 and Act 2 Native Levels
  
• Expanded Native Story Content

Feature - Daily Challenges
Complete Daily Challenges to gain DNA research points and unlock more items

Patch 2.2 - Blighted Stars
Shadowy forces make themselves known, intervening in events with malicious intent.

• New Uncharted Faction Enemies and Armaments
  
• Additional Level 5 Reactor Landmarks
  
• Expanded Act 1 Uncharted Levels

Patch 2.3 - Corporate Intervention
A lost cache is uncovered, providing new tools and evoking old memories.

• New Kaiser-Schmid and Shoraiteku Armaments
  
• Additional Act 1 Shipwreck Levels
  
• Expanded Freja’s Story Content

Feature - Boss Mutations
Mutate into the highest lifeform of your DNA’s species, giving you a bonus ability and a full set of matching mutations

Patch 2.4 - Breaking Point
Strange foes are discovered in familiar places, new challenges faced upon well-trodden paths.

• New Act 1 Boss Fights
  
• Mini-Boss Encounters Added
  
• Additional Enemy Champion Mods

Patch 2.5 - Kovus Almanac
Strange and disparate aspects are encountered, presenting both opportunities and threats.

• New Enemies for Solus and Prism factions
  
• New Items and Armaments added for research

Patch 2.6 - Pathfinder
The curious and perceptive are presented with ever more numerous challenges and rewards.

• Final Act 1 and Act 2 Level Content Added
  
• Expanded Secrets, including new hints towards Prism’s purpose on Kovus-18
  
• Additional Tinkered Weapon Variants added

Final Release
The facility bares itself to only the most intrepid. One way or another, the journey will end.

• Explore Level 6, descending through Prism’s highest security chamber
  
• Defeat the Act 2 Final Bosses and activate your Beacon
  
• Localization, Achievements, Community Features, and Final Polish
  
• Beacon OST Released

If we finish all of these milestones on time the full release should be later in Summer or Fall 2019. We had to make the tough decision to hold off on adding localization and more community features until the final release due to our small team size and structure, but we’ll update everyone when we’re more certain which languages we’ll be translating to.

Thanks to everyone for their support following the announcement! This is the first game most of our team has worked on and we’re very excited (and scared) to have it releasing on Steam in a few weeks.

See you all on the 27th!

The holidays are over and the grey, damp weather of a new year is upon us. If you're anything like me, you're doubtless standing in the shadows of your dusty and disused attic, illuminated only by the weak flickering of an elderly gas lamp. The harsh whistle of the wind is probably imposing itself under shale and through cracked panes, filling the room with an uncertain and disagreeable atmosphere. Shivering, you might pull your heavy woolen shawl close around your shoulders, and look down upon the truculent heathland that surrounds your once-proud abode. Day after day – week after week – you repeat this ritual, staring out from the wreckage of your past. Standing vigil for the return of video games.

Well, we have good news.



WATCH OUR NEW TEASER HERE

After eight months of First Access release through Itch.io, we're at a point where we feel Beacon is ready to make the jump to Steam Early Access. We'd like to thank everyone who took a chance on the game so far; it's thanks to your support and feedback that the game is in a strong enough position to open it up to a wider audience, and we hope you'll continue to enjoy the game as we progress towards full release.


If you can't wait that long, you can wishlist the game right now, and of course the game is already available on Itch.io. Everyone who purchases the game through Itch.io will also receive a free Steam key for the game upon Early Access release.
Before that, though, we just released another major patch to Itch.io First Access. Along with a boatload of fixes and a couple of new items, Patch 1.9A also had some long-awaited feature improvements:

• Improvements to the continue system – players will now be able to resume a game on the same level they quit on, with all items and weapons preserved.
  
• Tutorial screen update – The initial tutorial screen has been redesigned with improved flow and visuals to better help new players quickly get to grips with the game.

Patch 1.9A is available now for everyone who has purchased the game through Itch.io!

Finally, we wanted to give you a glimpse at a major part of the new content arriving with the Steam Early Access build — level 5. Those of you who have been playing Beacon already will probably have noticed that, as you progress further through the game, you find yourselves making your way closer and closer to the mysterious PRISM facility. Level 5 allows you to finally breach the mysterious PRISM vault, and along the way introduces new mechanics and gameplay that players will have to interact with in order to progress further.



We've put together a roadmap to chart out the coming months on Steam Early Access, and we'll be going into each step in greater detail soon. For the moment, though, here's a sneak peek at what you can expect:



That’s everything for now. We’re so excited – and scared, and anxious, and excited – to finally release Beacon to a wider audience. We hope you all enjoy it, and continue to follow us as we develop and add to the game over the coming months.

- Joe

Patch 1.5A is released, Mechanical Demise! Prism's synthetic security teams initiate severe countermeasures against the escaped specimens, and the planet's population at large.

FULL PATCH NOTES AND DOWNLOAD

Beacon First Access patch 1.4A is released! The insectoid Solus continue to expand their ever-growing domain on Kovus, intent on reclaiming land previously lost to foreign intruders.

FULL PATCH NOTES AND DOWNLOAD

Beacon 1.3A is released, adding a handful of new weapons, items, and traps to help give Freja the edge in survival!

See full patch notes on itch :

https://monothetic.itch.io/beacon/devlog/43369/beacon-patch-13a-fighting-chance