A few small but important tweaks in this update:
Increased the time the end-game quote stays on screen
Fixed the description for the Commander skill
Added dedicated Linux build support
Thanks for playing and for all the great feedback and bug reports.
Cheers!
-Sockhouse
Now after the game has been released for 2 weeks, I was very happy to hear from your experiences with the game so far and how much you enjoyed it.
After talking to you, my players and receiving some feedback I have decided to drop the base price of the game, because I honestly overshot my initial estimate.
So even though my initial release discount is gone now, I hope people will be able to enjoy Dungeon Drops in the future at an affordable price.
Over the next months, a few new things will also be added, Steam Achievements being one of them. So I hope you are all looking forward to it.
Thank you very much again everyone,
Marcipu
After a week at the beach, and before 4th of July, I addressed some issues, added some features, and tweaked some numbers. This is released for everyone, version 2.0.14a:
I fixed a lot of issues with mutated diseases. Sorry about all that!
I fixed a bug where scanning or boarding certain syndicate shipwrecks caused a hang / crash.
I put in more checks to auto-complete the quest in sector 7.
I fixed a visual bug in classic UI mode when exiting stations.
The captain's log no longer auto-formats your messages with capitals and lowercase letters.
Bandit machines (slot machines) now payout stacks of Commodities instead of just 1, and they only give certain Commodities.
Bandit machines can now pay out consumables (like squik poison and porta-doors).
Banker Soldier attack range increased to 7.
Ship classes that don't allow built-in devices (like the cruiser) will no longer show built-in slots on the inventory screen.
I refined the saving/loading of settings a bit more.
Diplomacy officers get more XP for large trades. Profit and distance traveled don't matter. Number of items and total sale price do.
From the inventory, you can now learn price grades of Commodities by spending data.
I created a one-time popup explaining that your crew does not need FOOD.
If you have the "classic plus" DLC and your ship is one of the standard types (not custom built from a shipwreck), you can change back to the stock image for that ship type.
"Wonder" from the Discord has started to put together a wiki! I've been helping out by exporting game data according to templates, but there is still lots of work to do. Check it out here:
https://approachinginfinity.fandom.com/wiki/IBOL:_Approaching_Infinity_Wiki
or here, in this add-less mirror: https://approachinginfinity.antifandom.com/wiki/IBOL:_Approaching_Infinity_Wiki
🚨 DUNEBORN PLAYTEST IS VERY CLOSE! 🚨
We’re getting closer to launching the public playtest of Duneborn — our brutal multiplayer survival experience in a post-apocalyptic desert world!
🛠️ This week we’re starting internal tests, where we’ll polish the main mechanics that will be present in the playtest. Some important changes have been made to ensure the testing has maximum impact:
⚠️ Important changes in the Playtest:
🌐 Only dedicated servers will be available — it will not be possible to host local games or play offline.
Our focus is to identify and resolve issues in large-scale multiplayer sessions.
🏕️ It will be possible to defend large camps during periodic attacks throughout the game session.
These events will help us test the combat systems and global event mechanics.
🚗 Basic vehicle customization will also be available!
Around 5 vehicles will be customizable during the playtest, focusing on accessories and suspension adjustments.
🎁 Playtest Rewards:
During the playtest, we’ll be watching closely on our official Discord server for players who actively report bugs and give suggestions.
Those who stand out may receive a permanent game key and continue participating in exclusive testing even after the playtest ends —
with early access to new features throughout development.
💬 Our team will be online on Discord during the test period, interacting with the community and tracking all feedback.
Get your vehicles ready, gear up your weapons, and prepare to face the dust —
we’ll meet soon in the sands of Duneborn!
👉 Join our official Discord to participate: Discord
New Features & Content
Feature revamp - Stars:
Finally now stars are a full blown feature!
You can now find Star Crucibles in the middle of Stars! Burn all your good to get powerful items...even star-exclusive, legendary items!! (e.g. Living Sun item).
New star aliens, they now can drop gold.
Stars are now bigger, spaceship heating up is slower.
Player is now slightly slowed down inside a star (harder journey).
From the planets "lightest spot", you can now better tell where is the closest star.
New spaceship: Aestas (unlockable through stars interactions).
New minibosses: Alien Splitter, Alien Spaceship.
New stage featuring planet sentinels.
New missions: The Golden Offering, Tyrant Reaper.
New artifact: Hyperfocus Lens.
New items: Galactic Cookie, Lunar Cheese, Living Sun, BioHull Impactor, Starpiercer, Fusion Core.
Game Improvements
The stages are now 12 minutes, rather than 15 minutes.
Merchant no longers run out of items (always fresh items available!)
Balance improvements (talents, ships, items, etc...)
The tutorial has been improved with better pacing and videos, including information about perfect landings (the most asked question in the game).
Base movement speed of all ships has been increased.
Bug Fixes and General Improvements
Fixed an issue where percentage healings of HP and energy were scaling with healing or energy bonuses.
Fixed an issue where the selected artifact details were not updated when browsing artifacts with gamepad.
Fixed an issue where celestial beacons showed both the blue arrow (item) and the orange one (fight event).
Fixed an issue where wishing space rifts rolled different items if you resumed a session.
Fixed an issue where only one visuals for moons was present.
Fixed an issue where, upon resuming a session, the same moons and planet defender aliens could re-spawn.
Fixed an issue where mission tiers didn't take it well when the game was updated and their requirements were changed.
Fixed an issue where the background could flash when defeating enemies.
Fixed an issue where passive items and artifacts were not selectable with gamepad.
Fixed an issue where reaching -1 defense would fully unlock Quest for Aegis.
Fixed an issue where contaminated planets started appearing from stage 6 instead of stage 7.
Fixed a few issues around gravity attractions with moons.
Fixed an issue where cloud load would not work.
Various fixes and improvements.
Of course, these changes are those applying to the release version, but many of them will touch the demo version too.
I am also working hard so that the full Steam release (along with mobile) will be this year (2025), and no further :)
Patch 0.23
Improved some tutorial text
Added additional connections between keep buildings. It should now be much easier to combine and connect keeps.
Hello subROVvers! 😄 Jose speaking in the first devlog I publish through the news system.
First things first:
THIS PROJECT IS ALIVE AND ACTIVELY DEVELOPED
So far I've used this board only to announce game updates or important news. For work in progress or quick dev logs, I've used the Discussion Forum's update thread, Discord, and/or socials, and recently I've added a brief dev update header to the game's Steam front page -I thought I had all the bases covered.
I don't post every day, but I've never let things stay quiet for too long, so imagine my surprise when several people got in touch recently to ask if the project was dead. None of my updates had reached them at all!
From this I've come to the conclusion that most people only sees posts from this board, so they've been getting the impression that nothing has happened since last August.
Needless to say I'm quite bummed, but at least it's something I can fix. From now on I will give priority to communication through this board, and I will post short devlogs here every once in a while. I still haven't decided if they're going to be "quick updates" (one-liner+picture), or recaps (several smaller updates in one); let me know what you'd prefer to see.
With this out of the way, here's what's taking me so long:
THE TITANIC
I've been working on the Titanic model since the game's last update. I already owned a model that I had commissioned earlier, and I had decided to work 3-4 months on a number of "hero assets" where I would go the extra mile with detail, and release it with a new dive. Then Magellan released their game out of the blue, featuring a model created with photogrammetry, and raised the bar for the wreck's representation significantly.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3341228209https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3353669300https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3408166867
I've been working since then to revise my model, both looking at magellan's and at every bit of reference I find (I'm becoming a bit of an expert😅). My goal is to produce a model that is generally correct and easy to read (e.g. you can follow the sections of rope); a "study model" that has something for both newcomers and experts alike.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3464282787https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3484223959https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3432342411
About the current state of the model: I've been revising it from the forecastle back, and today I have just finished the well deck.
Once I get to the bridge, I will release the wreck up to that section in beta, and I'll unveil the rest in sections as I complete them. I want to believe I've already done the hardest parts of the model, but there's still plenty to do, and I would very much like to know what you think about the work so far.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3497374818https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3501732305https://:/steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3514915878
And here's why it's taking me so long:
ONGOING ISSUES
Not exactly an issue, but, well, it's the Titanic we're talking about! it's the highest-profile wreck, everybody knows it, and yet reference is not nearly as abundant as I had thought. Of course magellan's scan helps, but it's "blurry" in places, with chunks missing or parts where it's not easy to say what's what (this is not a criticism: it's spectacular!). On top of that, as a 3D model, the wreck is half organic, half hard-surface, and it's full of elements that qualify as full projects in their own right (e.g. the telemotor).
That said, the last year-and-a-half or so has been really difficult for me personally. I'm still dealing with the aftermath of a very serious family issue that I believe I've managed to course-correct but still takes, on a good week, half of my time. On top of that, my studio flooded several times and is partially in tatters, and my health is not great either. I could go on and on 😅
Unfortunately I can't pause the world a few hours every day to compensate for these issues, but I've never stopped working on the game. The Titanic is creating a particular bottleneck, but I think it is worth it and all this work will soon start paying off.
WORK AHEAD: NSF AND VR
After the summer I will be working again with scientists in the context of an NSF grant. We're still deciding on what to do exactly, whether something specific for a dive, or a feature that expands the game as a whole. I find this kind of work particularly rewarding and I'm very much looking forward to it.
Also, last spring I was awarded a grant to develop a prototype for a VR control room, which I will try to integrate with the game starting Q1 2026. To me this is a treat, because I've always wanted to simulate the ROV's control room fully; furthermore, the fact that it is a prototype gives me peace of mind in case it ends up being too complex or difficult to fully develop it.
Aside from this, there are a couple more things that might crystallize into some exciting news for the game, but I don't want to jinx them so I won't say anything for now 😁
IN CONCLUSION
Now you're up to date! I hope this post will dispel the notion that the game is dead. I wish I could work faster, but I'm working as much as I can on it, and I'm doing my best to bring you something memorable.
GET IN TOUCH
From the game - press the Feedback button in the main or pause menus
Through the forum right here on Steam
Through our Discord Server,
Through Bluesky,
Through Twitter,
Through mastodon,
By email (info 'at' sqr3lab.com)
SUPPORT SUBROV
If you enjoy subROV, please leave a review. It helps a lot!
Thank you for support - Happy subROVing! ⚓😄
Jose