Mac version should correctly start up now.

While working on the full version of the game, many more minor and bigger improvements have piled up and will be released to the demo version in this major update.

More on what's new below -




All your choices are now mapped on a star map that visually represents the adventurous journey of your character, different for every player. Even more, while explored stars remain unlocked across the playthroughs acting like a sort of achievement.

This is probably the most important bit of the update because it helps understand how non-linear and varied the game is. When we say the game is fat, not tall, this is what we mean - in a single playthrough, even if you complete everything on your way, you physically can visit only maximum of 60% of the game major locations. And the map now shows that.




We added explicit and visible quest update messages to make it clearer when there is certain progress with them. Because you gain experience (XP) only by completing quests, this is important information. These messages also show your XP progress towards the next level.


Speaking of XP - marks are introduced in this update. Every time you gain a level, you must pick a mark; every odd - positive mark, every even - both positive AND negative mark. Because the other side of the experience is ... stress. Levelups are good but also ... bad because trying too hard can cause burn-out and associated mental or health problems.



What is a mark? Mark is a context-sensitive character quirk, some small thing that affects you - positively or negatively - in certain situations. Mostly they don't give you a flat % increase in a certain stat, instead, they activate +/- bonus IF some condition is true, e.g., -1 AP IF you are fighting a robot. And so on.



There is a small selection of marks in the demo available.




While our main focus is on the full version of the game, we have included some small changes in the demo as well. Particularly, there is now something you can do if you manage to save Finn Alley. Nothing major, just a few more options to proceed, stars to unlock.




You can now find a new type of spacesuit in the demo - the Security spacesuit. Used by security personnel back in the old days, it sports a distinctive look but, contrary to expectations, protection is just average.




Because NPCs react to you differently, if you approach them armed, a shortcut to quickly holster/unholster weapon was a matter of necessity.




We noticed that quite often first-time players choose the combat character Peter, probably because this archetype seems safer and familiar. We adjusted the preset so it is now more "normal" - less HP, melee proficiency but, is not scared to talk to people and, a new thing, starts off with a gun, PNH-10 already equipped. In fact, any character build that has RANGED 3+, will start with a gun*.

___
* This is actually explained in a nod to the original plot which saw you start on the BULTA and then if you had good enough RANGED, you could persuade the team to give you their only weapon.




When you open a container to loot its contents, you will have a new UI layout to work with. Not much to it, just that it was necessary to update it along with the new inventory layout changes.




We keep tinkering with UI and this time we have replaced [sometimes not obvious] scrolling in the inventory with discrete pages of items and clear buttons.




We noticed that sometimes it's not clear why you don't have a shot - line of fire is blocked - to enemy in certain situations. Similar issue arises when using zero-G jumps, or leaps, which are possible only if there are no obstacles in the way; which they sometimes are not obvious.



Now in these cases there is a clear message and first problematic tile is highlighted in red.


Note that there are a few subtle details changed how other characters behave in combat scenarios. Also, there are changes in how companions follow you.

...in major visible things. There have been actually a ton of other, smaller, less visible changes across the board as well, including a slew of bug fixes.

As always, do reach out in the comments or on discord, we keep an eye on those and many of the changes, in fact, have originated there.

Have a nice space adventuring!

Update 0.01.0290:

• Added 2 new late-game weapons.
  
• Added new exterior loot area to "Mall".
  
• Fewer spawns locations for Steinar.

-added shop NPC
-fixed some bugs

• Added economy system. You get budget every month, and more every other month the more agricultural development and industrial development you get. Your authority and popular support decrease by 1 every four months. You can spend your budget on increasing agricultural or industrial development, the military, welfare, repression, and bribery. These increase certain variables and they must be managed to avoid bad events that potentially end your game. The ending slides have been somewhat rewritten and some bugs have been found and removed. The ending slides have been made to work with the new system. Make sure to join the discord to report any bugs that may have snuck in, or balancing that was bad.

Mac was having issues starting up, but now that's resolved.

Added some sound effects

We are currently experiencing a problem where development missions cannot be restarted correctly after rebuilding a facility if the facility is destroyed while some of the internal development missions are completed.

We will notify again as soon as we adjust our response schedule.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and ask for your patience as we work to correct this issue.

We are currently addressing major issues that are affecting the game's experience. If you've reviewed game, we'll be addressing all problems in the game to give you a better experience. We apologize for the inconvenience and we urge you to review the game once the update is out.

Laying down the groundwork to ensure that the game is modular and easily maintainable.

May 21 2022 Beta Update Notes:

- Right and left weapon activation now cascades during whirlwind. The intended effect is to make it easier to see what's going on by preventing the projectiles from instantiating on top of each other.
- Level regeneration has been changed. You now must enter the desired path then walk onto the green circle to start the level. This is to generate only the path to be ran when desired.
- A new room has been added into the level array for level generation(The Dock).
- The gambler npc has been placed but is not currently active. Once available, spend large amounts of gold at this npc to acquire a random item of Epic Quality.
- Adjusted railing in some areas to prevent the player from going out of bounds.
- Frost Bolt should correctly apply increased Poise Damage
- Adjusted water shader values and directional lighting to properly render the water.


Known Issues -

- The UI still needs work.
- There is a known issue when managing inventory while using a controller. The cause of the bug is due to the equipment window and bag window being in separate panels. Merging these windows should improve controller compatibility.
- Moving the mouse cursor or thumbstick in synergy to the rotation of whirlwind increases it's rotational speed thus increasing the number of hits you can land on a target by a significant amount potentially increasing the dps beyond the intended amount. This is somewhat intended to give melee builds an edge over ranged dps when in melee range but will clamp the torque to a degree to ensure the dps isn't out of control.