Summer’s upon us starchasers! Welcome to June, this feels like a big spacey month and I’m not quite sure why. Must be something in the wind and the cornfields. We’ll be having a major announcement in the coming months. I’m not sure of the ETA on that, we’re working things out on our end, but when it comes in, you’ll be like “Yeah that’s a pretty major announcement”. No spoilers though. Not yet. In time, you’ll see. Anyway, onto progress! As always, you can [url=https://pastaspace.itch.io/underspace]check out our demo[/url] and [url=https://discord.gg/34NbWxKkKh]our Discord[/url] for the latest updates! [h1]Testing and Fixes[/h1] The big focus this month was bugtesting and making sure things are playable to completion. This is different from the final polishing pass content gets, it’s about making sure that the baseline gameplay and scripting works. And hooo boy was the main campaign broken. Thankfully nothing that really required any programming work or internal engine changes, but after a LOT of effort I can confirm the main campaign is playable to completion! [previewyoutube=Cs7e7hEU2xQ;full][/previewyoutube] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//35321791/4f2ba7785642ac991e3fb772db19a32acace5a56.png[/img] [previewyoutube=AoSFt4fLTmk;full][/previewyoutube] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//35321791/bff730fe419342cf85f8fa43c86868892101a4e5.png[/img] [previewyoutube=a--bcGN3YmE;full][/previewyoutube] [previewyoutube=eCKz0arEERQ;full][/previewyoutube] It’s still got another pass of course, needing things like mid-mission saves, ambient NPCs, more cutscenes, better failure states, etc. In total though, if you were rushing through the game to ONLY do the main campaign, it’d take you about 11 hours in total. A good length, I feel. [previewyoutube=23yL8UXK3h0;full][/previewyoutube] [previewyoutube=i_sBb15guro;full][/previewyoutube] Bosses are also getting a pass too. A few had some pretty serious bugs that needed rectification, a few others needed their health, attack, etc, just so every slightly adjusted. [previewyoutube=y47d6VpF0GM;full][/previewyoutube] I also am not a fan of beating something only to die from some errant stupidity while the thing is dying. Defeating bosses can also disable their ambient attacks as their thrash and scream and explode. You know, typical boss stuff. [previewyoutube=vKQ-s4PT9sM;full][/previewyoutube] [previewyoutube=kTA3PuGm8gg;full][/previewyoutube] [previewyoutube=M4fvGW30n8k;full][/previewyoutube] This month will also be about focusing on more fixes, in this case it’s about going over sidequests and making sure those are all playable. [h1]Highengine Improvements[/h1] Working off feedback from players regarding various things, and my own experiences, I made the hard decision and spent a weekend improving highengines (players of… other games might call these “cruise engines”). For starters, there’s now some improved animations when entering highengines, including a delay, effects, and better pullback and camera animations. [previewyoutube=0ieyCT4D9R4;full][/previewyoutube] But moreover, players have been asking for an increased cruising speed. There’s a lot of issues with balance, timing, etc, that just increasing the base speed would bring. So instead, we added a SECOND level of highengines, wherein you activate a sort of powerful hyperdrive that causes you to move three times faster. [previewyoutube=MbiwSn6gKOg;full][/previewyoutube] [previewyoutube=foMlkS_lJ8M;full][/previewyoutube] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//35321791/5ce4c5e1f7442aaedcb56f8c9deda2e442005cea.png[/img] Using this has some downsides and is dangerous though! You can’t use it too close to large solar bodies (so stations, planets, etc) or asteroid fields. And hitting something at such a speed without the protection of a laneline can do serious damage to your ship. Still, engine tuning kits can be used to improve and reduce these penalties. [previewyoutube=yL0IV4NwHo0;full][/previewyoutube] Our next demo will have this, and it’s perfect for cruising over long empty distances. [h1]UI and Feedback[/h1] Feedback like feedback from the game, not player feedback. There’s elements in the game that, to an observant player, I’d like to be available in terms of visuals or audios. So, there were a lot of smaller UI changes done. Starting off, after certain quests or events, some factions can become permanently friendly, or permanently hostile towards you. And this is now reflected in the UI. [previewyoutube=RejH0Vd3eHs;full][/previewyoutube] You can also now see at a glance if you can craft an item recipe, and how much time is left on that item. [previewyoutube=jxwTBBvhkww;full][/previewyoutube] Scanning a legendary enemy will also now create a little icon next to it to indicate what kind of enemy it is, allowing you to plan your battles a little bit more tactically. We’ve also overhauled how legendary enemies spawn, separating out nonhostile NPCs and NPCs into their own spawning rules. [previewyoutube=Ak3jqKyTfeE;full][/previewyoutube] Equipment now has more in-depth descriptions as well. Heavy weapons will give you a full list of their abilities and damage, and chaff will display how effective it is against incoming ordnance. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//35321791/1b07f85e7e6990692f200b17b5a56bbbafa3f76c.png[/img] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//35321791/78d95ba7853ff17d47caae6a29faf42d4c7d02ab.png[/img] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//35321791/a3f8408acec19d6e8499e0f429d1bf9c1571df04.png[/img] Finally, you can access the bank menu from any cargo trader, which saves you having to locate a storage panel on a station. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//35321791/9d177f6043359a54362993d600a6491ce9fd38dd.png[/img] [h1]Other Work[/h1] We’ve added way more musical stings to the game. Little jingles that play when you do an action. In addition to having music when you level up or complete a mission, there’s now tunes for defeating bosses, reaching the max level, completing a campaign mission, or killing a storm. [previewyoutube=2Bxqqjo1mWs;full][/previewyoutube] Loot! Who doesn’t like a big box of whatever? Space dungeons have lots of loot now, from components that can be crafted into unique weapons, to artifacts that can help with leveling up (or just be sold for tons of money). [previewyoutube=uYdm4Q89xJA;full][/previewyoutube] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//35321791/ac6faf9b7b4106a6abb571dec686761a7816d6ce.png[/img] Piggybacking off the aforementioned legendary spawns, I’ve also recoded how NPCs spawn, using a new rules system. This means you’ll get much greater variety in the NPCs you see in encounter zones, as well as avoid things like multiple police checkpoints spawning over one another. [previewyoutube=DEextfWy0b0;full][/previewyoutube] I’ve also been optimizing various star systems to run better, with some places seeing almost 20 more FPS, even in heavy traffic areas. Lighting in customization hangars has also been improved. [previewyoutube=g_dxO15lQiE;full][/previewyoutube] [previewyoutube=UnAoCwTHwbQ;full][/previewyoutube] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//35321791/bfb568ad868d8e6e1b3ab77483d6a29cd6cde6fd.png[/img] We've added eye adaption as a graphics option, for those who want some additional clarity in their game. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//35321791/b44c879ebbec7b3bb1723753a1f79cf42f1a84f2.png[/img] Finally, ships! Some previously ships that were only able to be flown by NPCs can now be flown by players, such as this zombie mushroom freighter. [previewyoutube=VGX4XTJ-viU;full][/previewyoutube] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//35321791/c11a0003bf494f33603f74c73db2971d706c110d.png[/img] And some NPC only ships that had no textures now have them. Will they ever be flyable by players? Maybe one day. Maybe one day… [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//35321791/e6633502b6895a62ea2b9c40aaf3922f08f7d13e.png[/img] And that’s all for this month! Next month we hope to have a few more ship thruster effects to match that new hyperdrive! Check back then!