Kepler Build Now Live
Author: justkevin,
published 3 months ago,
The "Kepler" build has now been promoted to default build for [i]Starcom: Unknown Space[/i]. Since the previous default build was "Icarus", this is a significant update, incorporating the changes from both Jupiter and Kepler.
The biggest change is that the main storyline now has a proper ending, but there are lots of other updates of various magnitude, including a number of new side quests, factions, and more "off-path" regions.
Since both Jupiter and Kepler were made available for opt-in testing and dozens of players have reached the end, I feel confident that Kepler is at least pretty solid: there have been some issues reported, but few serious bugs as of the latest build.
Saves are not compatible between named builds, but if you were in the middle of a game, don't worry: you can always switch back to Icarus to finish your current game. [url=http://wx3.com/early-access-updates-and-save-games/]See here for instructions and select "Icarus Rollback"[/url].
[img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//42185452/d80240ae74ba82454576e1ae4f0efe27adeb6f55.gif[/img]
Here is a minimal-spoiler list of changes since Icarus:
[list]
[*] Ending to main story line
[*] Prologue opening transition
[*] 46 new planet anomalies
[*] Anomaly "environment soundscapes"
[*] New stories, side quests, factions, Easter Eggs
[*] Improved guidance/fixes for missions where players commonly found themselves stuck
[*] Numerous new character dialogues, crew prompts
[*] New ship modules and technologies
[*] New weapons, variants
[*] Numerous balance changes
[*] New enemy attacks, AI
[*] NPCs now automatically aggro'd by attacks to their allies (unless also allied with aggressor)
[*] Changes to fixed guns
[*] New music tracks
[*] New achievements
[*] Mission "priority" indicator for main story critical missions
[*] Newly unlocked techs highlighted
[*] Ability to toggle mission goal tracking
[*] Difficulty / skill roll modifiers now in 5% increments
[*] Changed autosave timing
[*] Fix for vsync not being saved
[*] Engine turbo sound fades out
[*] Improvements to game controller support
[*] Fix for anomaly image change not reflected in log
[*] Fix for projectiles, effects persisting after save game load
[*] Various QoL improvements
[*] Additional analytics
[*] Performance optimizations
[/list]
[h3]Early Access Content Progress[/h3]
As with previous named builds, for comparison purposes, here are some metrics to give a rough sense as to how much content has been added to the game since it first entered Early Access almost 16 months ago:
[b]Betelgeuse (Dec 2022, first Early Access version):[/b]
75 anomalies
1264 mission logic elements
25,000 words
[b]Draconis (Jan 2023):[/b]
91 anomalies
1516 mission logic elements
29,000 words
[b]Europa (Mar 2023): [/b]
111 possible anomalies
1839 mission logic elements
36,000 words
[b]Fornax (May 2023):[/b]
120 possible anomalies
1990 mission logic elements
40,000 words
[b]Ganymede (June 2023):[/b]
145 anomalies
2390 mission logic elements
48,000 words
[b]Icarus (October 2023):[/b]
179 anomalies
3340 mission logic elements
64,000 words
[b]Jupiter (January 2024):[/b]
197 possible anomalies
4329 mission logic elements
82,182 words
[b]Kepler (current Default):[/b]
225 possible anomalies
4848 mission logic elements
90,400 words
[img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//42185452/1bd7775dc9d4af24f3aa5b9d7e2f91d1837983b1.png[/img]
For comparison, [i]Starcom: Nexus[/i] had roughly ~195 anomalies and 65,000 words of text. It used a different mission system, so there's no clear comparison, but [i]Starcom: Unknown[/i] Space definitely has significantly more mission logic and text.
There are still a number of features, fixes and content I'd like to add, but at this point I am starting to think about a 1.0 release, [i]possibly[/i] later this summer. Although as I have said since the start of Early Access, the key determinant is how players feel about the state of the game.
Thanks for reading, and thanks for playing Starcom: Unknown Space!