Jun 22, 2021

Skullgirls 2nd Encore - hiddenjesse

Hello everyone, this is Jesse! Hope you're having a good day!

This is a small patch meant to address a few bugs from 3.2.0. As we lock things down for Annie's final release, we felt it was worthwhile to get these bug fixes out sooner rather than later.

As a reminder, Annie's final release (and her departure from Early Access) will coincide with her full release on PS4. On that day, the last piece of Annie's remaining content, her story mode, will be released here on Steam. After all, we know how hard it is to dodge spoilers on the internet these days.

The full update notes for this version are below!

General

Beta Mode Disabled

Though we removed it from the in-game menu and Steam launch options, some users were still getting into "beta" mode through command line arguments. The "-beta" command line argument has been disabled... for now.

Linux Build Restored

Before releasing 3.2.0, we noticed Linux was hard crashing when arriving on the main menu, but we could not isolate the cause. Rather than push an unusable build to Linux users with 3.2.0, we held back that platform until we could investigate and address the issue.

The bug has been fixed and Linux is once more in sync with Windows and Mac. However, we've been forced to disable loading screens on the Linux build for the time being. We are sorry for the delay and the inconvenience.

Misc

Restored one of Double's talking heads that somehow slunk away.
Localization and translation bug fixes in Trials, Tutorials, and a few other places.
News Feed bug fixes.
The buildings in the background of the Medici Tower stage should be rendering properly again on OpenGL platforms (Mac/Linux).
Small texture updates to Medici Tower, both 3D and 2D.

Characters + Gameplay

Big Band

Satchmo Solo (Lv. 5) will always wall bounce the point character on the last hit, even if the final hit is the only hit.

Parasoul

Krieg's eyes are a proper purple color for Parasoul's Palette 25 on character select again.

Annie

Annie's stage, Sound Stage 15, changes to 2D mode when that option is selected.
Annie's command list is accessible from the Command List menu.
sf+MP - Andromeda and sf+HP - Luminous Supergiant appear properly when being set as the assist actions in character select.

(Build version 3.2.0.1)

Jun 22, 2021

The Writing of Paladin Dream

Paladin Dream - HitherYonGames

Paladin Dream was inspired by a short story I wrote in high school, which you can access in the link below. (Don’t worry, there are no game spoilers!)
https://hitheryongames.s3.amazonaws.com/promotion/Dream.pdf

This was done for the King Arthur unit in English class and contains many characters from Aurthurian lore. Adrielian Abbey is loosely based on Camelot, for example. But the unique ideas I imagined in my short story formed the foundation for Paladin Dream, with many similar plot points and concepts.

Dream Duel
Both stories begin with a knight that loses a duel in a recurring dream. The lookalike enemy is the same. The mountain cave far away is the same. The identity of the rival duelist is different. Getting permission from the authority figure is the same.

Rival Duel
In King Arthur, Sir Kay is sort of a bullying oaf, and in my story he loses his temper and falls off a drawbridge. In Paladin Dream, Sir Kroy is less physically tough but more spiteful and malicious. Since Josiah is generally regarded as a sturdy and athletic knight, it made more sense to give him a rival who would try to bully him physiologically rather than physically. In both cases, the hero takes care of business and leaves their home.

Religious Bandits
Both stories have the plot point of bandits who continually sack a town because of their loyalty to religion. This idea is also similar to The Seven Samurai / The Magnificent Seven where a poor village employs mercenaries to defend them against a threat. In the original story, the bandit leader mistakes the hero for a villager, whereas in the game the interaction makes it clear that the paladin is recognized but underestimated.

A Witch’s Forest
Both stories have the element of a witch enchanting a forest so that the hero is unable to pass through until gaining a magic item. The gas mask in my older story is likely inspired by post-apocalyptic RPG Crystalis, and is a bit of a weird anachronism in context of Arthurian lore. The Fairy Flower is a better choice. Dierdre the Witch is less of a villain than Morgana. She’s more of a pagan / Celtic witch (not the Halloween and broomstick kind) and proves to be a bit crazy.

Enemy City
Each story has a part where the hero must pass through an enemy city and avoid guards who would otherwise attack them. In the original story, Balyn has a magical cloak, and in Paladin Dream, it’s possible but unnecessary to obtain this item. In Paladin Dream, the role of the rival city is greatly expanded where we learn that there’s a nefarious scheme being hatched there.

Return Home
Both stories have an element where the hero returns home to discover something they didn’t know before. In the original story, the knights ride home across the land, but in Paladin Dream the method of return is different. From a gameplay perspective, it didn’t make much sense to have the player backtrack across a huge map, so the plot created a solution to this logistical problem.

Writing Help
I want to extend a huge, public thank you to my friend Geoffrey Golden, who consulted with me on smoothing out the plot difficulties I was having early on. He is the one person I could not have made this game without since otherwise, I’d still be struggling to form a coherent plot instead of being a game developer. I don’t remember many of my early erroneous ideas, but at one point the hero character was a monk, I wasn’t sure whether or not to have a final boss battle, and there was an extraneous character who was murdered but had no other reason to exist.

I worked really hard on the story for Paladin Dream, and I hope the effort shows through. The short story is one of a small number of creative writing samples that I’m actually proud of, and it was a challenge to adapt a 10-page story into a more complex RPG. Play the game and let me know what you think!

Please wishlist the game! Thank you all for your ongoing support of this project! I really appreciate it. 🙏
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1592120/Paladin_Dream/

Jun 22, 2021

Jet Powered Update Is Live!

ASTRONEER - staymighty

The Jet Powered Update contains new vehicles to speed up Astroneer’s traversal of land and air! Use the new Hoverboard to shred planet surfaces while your friends use the VTOL to scout from the lower atmosphere!

This update comes to Steam later today.

Vehicles

VTOL

The VTOL is a versatile flying vehicle, capable of hovering in place, or streaking through the sky. Use it to survey for resource deposits from above, skip over treacherous terrain, or navigate the vertical depths of planetary cave systems.

Item Information
Fuel: Hydrazine
Storage: 2x medium slots, 2x small auxiliary slots, 1x fuel slot
Recipe: 1x EXO Chip, 1x Tungsten Carbide, 1x Silicone
Printer: Medium Printer

Hoverboard

The Hoverboard lets you glide over the terrain with ease, both downhill and up, without a pesky reliance on gravity to keep you moving. Speed up travel along your existing tether lines or bring some power and oxygen along for journeys into the unknown. Just make sure to stick those landings if you want to avoid painful interruptions. Pro Tip: Pair it with a Solid-Fuel Jump Jet!

Item Information
Power: 1 Power/second
Recipe: 1x EXO Chip
Printer: Backpack

Leveling Block in Adventure Mode

This item can now be printed in Adventure Mode. It has the same function as in Creative Mode, but with limited uses.

Item Information
Byte Cost: 500
Recipe: 1x Full Small Soil Canister
Printer: Backpack

New Missions

New missions have been added for investigating experimental EXO Dynamics data. Curious Astroneers will navigate to Desolo and Vesania to recover this information and synthesize schematics for crafting new vehicles!

Compass navpoints have been integrated to aid in locating mission-critical points of interest:

Data Recorders
Unique EXO Caches that must be located and “turned off” to activate their paired MAT processing station.

MATs (Material Analysis Transmitters)
Processing and broadcast hubs that consume various requests to determine optimal construction methods for vehicle schematics. May require a wide variety of materials for proper analysis… and are also somewhat unstable.

EXO Chips

A new rare resource has been added that can be found on all planets contained in secure EXO Caches.

EXO Cache
These secure containers can be destroyed with dynamite, releasing an EXO Chip on destruction.
Found on all planets, use your compass to track down their locations.

Recipe Updates

Small Camera
New Recipe: 1x EXO Chip

Hydrazine Thruster
New Recipe: 1x EXO Chip, 1x Steel

Winch
New Recipe: 1x EXO Chip, 1x Rubber

Trade Platform
New Recipe: 1x EXO Chip, 1x Tungsten, 1x Iron

Large Shredder
New Recipe: 1x EXO Chip, 1x Tungsten Carbide, 1x Iron

XL Shredder
New Recipe: 2x EXO Chip, 1x Tungsten Carbide, 1x Steel

Auto Extractor
New Recipe: 1x EXO Chip, 1x Tungsten Carbide, 1x Rubber, 1x Steel

Large Rover
New Recipe: 2x EXO Chip, 1x Aluminum Alloy, 1x Rubber

Large Shuttle
New Recipe: 2x EXO Chip, 1x Titanium Alloy, 1x Ceramic

Debris and Scrap Adjustments

Large Station Debris – Adjustments have been made to the type of items that can be found in large station debris found on all planets. In general items found in these larger debris items should be more useful and valuable.

Debris Scrap Values – The scrap generated from shredding debris has been universally increased.

Thruster Tooltips

Tooltips for shuttles and thrusters have been updated to display real-time fuel levels and launch capacity.

EXO Automated Mass Production Protocol

The Automated Mass Production Protocol has been re-initiated! EXO Dynamics is once again asking Astroneers to provide large amounts of resource nuggets via the Request Platform.

Progress occurs in stages, with a different resource requested at each stage. Points are only given for the stage you’re currently on – cooperation is encouraged for efficiency! Ship off your goods for unique cosmetics and goodies along the way.

EXO Dynamics rewards contributions with:

“AMPP Throwback” Bundle – Rewarded for completing the Compound Stage Contains cosmetics rewarded from the previous year:

“VR Vision” (Mask)
“Gearhead” (Hat)
“Metal Gear” (Visor)

NEW “Copper Plate” Palette – Rewarded for completing the Aluminum Stage
NEW “Cogpiece” Mask – Rewarded for completing the Aluminum Alloy Stage
Useful incremental rewards along the way and randomized recurring rewards at the end of the event by submitting Astronium – including QT-RTGs & EXO Chips!

Store – New Items Available Now!

New Bundle

Pride Visor Bundle! This bundle is free for all players, just enter Exo Outfitters to claim <3

New Suits

Tough Suit

New Emotes

Gun Show Emote
Imaginate Emote

New Hats

Head Lights Hat
Long Haul Hat

New Mask

Horned Mask
Spiked Mask

New Palettes

On Grid Palette
Scarab Palette
Carbon Fiber Palette

Improvements

Added lights to dynamite to help indicate detonation timing
Narrow mod deform speed has been adjusted down, so that it can be more easily used with the leveling block
Wanderer Probes can no longer be winched.
Light position on seats has been adjusted to increase visibility.
It is now much easier to stop a slide by moving backwards (braking).
Sliding is slightly less likely to occur when sprinting down gentle slopes.

BUGS

The following are known issues as of 1.20.265.0:

[AS-15256] User cannot blow up objects if they have more than one piece of dynamite attached to it
[AS-15366] Data Recorder can only be blown up if dynamite is attached to it. Setting off an explosion nearby will not complete the mission objective

The following bugs have been fixed as of version 1.20.265.0:

Audio

[AS-15098] Lowered the QT-RTG audio by 10 decibels to make it closer match the volume of the Tier 2 RTG
Multiplayer
[AS-14496] Fixed a bug for clients where items attached to the terrain tool would disappear after quitting the game with the terrain tool out.
[AS-15191] Fixed an issue where tooltips for the worklight were not uniform between hosts and clients.
Achievements/Trophies
[AS-14977] Fixed a bug where players on some platforms were not able to unlock the “EXO Dynamics Solar System Mastery” Achievement.
[AS-15111] Fixed a bug where PS4 players would not unlock the Overachiever palette when completing the “EXO Dynamics Solar System Mastery” trophy.

Landing Zones

[AS-9986] Fixed an issue where players would sometimes have no landing spots on Glacio. Raised the minimum number of spots from 1 to 12 and included the “Sheets” biome in the allowed list of landing locations.
[AS-12318, AS-13816] Fixed a bug where landing spots on or near a gateway could cause players to softlock during the landing sequence.

Miscellaneous

[AS-15413] Field Shelter can now be picked up and moved after being deployed.
[AS-15230] Fixed an issue where inactive chamber navpoints would rapidly change positions on the compass when using gateway teleportation.
[AS-15112] Fixed a bug where reaction slots on the XL Sensor Arch were doubled, allowing two T1 items to be slotted into the same slot.
[AS-9956] Fixed a bug where drillable T1 items could fall out of the backpack when terrain is deformed while they are slotted.
[AS-14972] The Chemistry Lab will now auto-pull from the backpack when you click the print button. If the repeat button is selected, it will continue pulling from the backpack until the control panel is closed. However, if the machine is already crafting when you open the control panel, it will not pull resources from your backpack.
[AS-15428] The probe scanner can now pick up already unlocked probes.
[AS-14330] Large round porous rocks on Vesania can now be destroyed with a drill. They will no longer wiggle when unburied and should despawn based on the standard timer.
[AS-15071] Disabled the large button of the mission control panel while supply drop is in progress to avoid weirdness when players try to spam claiming mission rewards.
[AS-14926] Fixed a bug where the blurred background when viewing Astropedia pages did not cover the entire screen on console platforms.
[AS-15115] Fixed some weirdness with storage not auto-pulling properly when using multiple connected cars.
[AS-4640] Fixed a bug where the Soil Centrifuge would clip into the ground when picked up
[AS-9725] Fixed a bug where players could become stuck in the starting shelter if something blocked the exit
[AS-14993] Fixed a bug where the red locking bolts on the Large Extended Platform were not animating when switching states between Locked and Unlocked
[AS-15142] Fixed a bug where lighting could become very dark at certain camera angles
[AS-15148] The Apollo Lunar Module is now indestructible
[AS-15153] Cleaned up the physics on particle effects from explosions
Crashes
[AS-14616] Fixed a crash that could sometimes occur when joining a dedicated server with 6 or more players from PlayStation 4.
[AS-14811] Fixed a crash that could sometimes occur when joining a dedicated server from a save.
[AS-15206] Fixed a crash that could sometimes occur on a dedicated server when a user starts a new game.
[AS-14986] Fixed a crash that could occur on PlayStation 4 due to players having a very large friends list. The number of friends that will be displayed in the game is now limited to 250, with joinable friends being prioritized

Localization

[AS-15103] Fixed an issue where the description for the mission “There’s Something Out There” was not properly localized for non-English supported languages
[AS-15116] Fixed an issue where the description for the Medium Battery was not properly localized for non-English supported languages
[AS-15273] Fixed an issue where the tooltip for Novus was listing the incorrect resources in Spanish
[AS-15159] Fixed a typo in the French translation of the Red Card emote
[AS-15165] Fixed an error in the Japanese translation for the Trade Platform

[14835] Fixed a bug on the EXO Request Platform where an arrow on the control panel progress bar was not very visible due to being the same color as the background
[AS-15185] Changing resolutions in the Options menu should now show the full list of available resolutions, not just those for the currently set aspect ratio

Astroneer Merch

Want to grab some summer gear from our official store? We just launched a few new designs that you can grab here!

Ok thats all for now! Stay tuned for a Q&A video next week where we talk about what is coming to the game next! We can’t wait to show you <3