It's finally here! After over 8 years in development, Carnage in Space: Crucible is now fully content-complete and has left Early Access!
Appropriately for a final release, this update brings several major new features, as well as an excessively long list of smaller improvements.
Kodon's Story (and MORE)
Experience all of the events of Crucible one last time - this time, from the perspective of the gun-slinging do-gooder, Kodon Deinon; Operative Beta. Put his sharpshooting skills, his ideals, and his patience to the test as he fights alongside the former IOTA agent-turned-vigilante Nightmare and the recently-liberated mercenary swordmaster Tuhrahkkkii! Let the other guys dive into the fray, while you try out a variety of powerful ranged weapons to pick off foes from afar as Kodon.
But, while these three misfit warriors are getting into trouble and struggling to preserve their shaky alliance, what's going on back at IOTA? Take a glimpse into the inner workings of the galaxy's foremost peacekeeping organization - and Kodon's reasons for signing on with them - as the mystery continues to unfold.
Boss Rush (and MORE)
Whew, all that cooperation and intrigue gets exhausting! What better way to unwind than by partaking in the ultimate test of precision and combat prowess - the BOSS RUSH EVENT!
It's time to prove you've got what it takes - by facing off against increasingly long marathon battles until you've re-conquered every boss in the entire game. If you manage to do so, perhaps you may even attract the attention of someone very powerful...
...But is that really a good idea?
Wrap-Up (What are are you waiting for? Go play it!)
I'd like to say a great big thank-you to all of my Early Access players and beta testers. Thanks for all the feedback that helped me refine the game and clean up the rough edges over the years. And thanks to everyone who stopped to read the update posts (that means you). And, while we're at it, thanks to everyone who has played or will soon pick up the game. Every player is appreciated.
With this update, the game is now content-complete. Don't expect any more major updates, aside from bug fixes and other long-term-support.
That's all for now. If you'll excuse me, I have to get back to developing the next game...
Thanks again, and enjoy!
~ John (the developer)
Changelog (The aforementioned "more")
If you're still reading by this point, buckle in. This is a really long one - and there might even be a few more changes I forgot to mention.
New Content
Added Kodon’s story, with 3 all-new levels and additional new cutscenes added to existing levels
Added Boss Rush mode to the arena
Added new Nanotech items
Added 9 new achievements
Audio
Replaced the music in Chapter 5
Adjusted the audio level settings to be slightly louder at low levels
Added settings to adjust SFX and ambience levels individually
The crowd now cheers when finishing an arena battle event, and sometimes after clearing a wave
The music now correctly fades out again when dying again after being saved by Second Wind
Cutscenes
Rewrote some lines of dialogue
Player & enemy status effects and Kodon’s shield disappear when cutscenes begin
Kodon’s shield also disappears when talking to NPCs
Holding the confirm button during a cutscene now triggers fast-forward sooner
Added a new animation for an action that happens in Chapter 3 outro (N)
Graphics
Fixed bullet hit FX sometimes appearing on the wrong bullet
Certain types of bullets now leave a visual trail
A certain liquid surface that appears in cutscenes now reflects sprites
Added a “Water FX” setting to toggle off waves and water distortion
Added a “Shaky text” setting to toggle off shaky/wavy animated text
The moon now goes behind the clouds in Prologue (N)
Player/Weapons
Nightmare
Slightly reduced the knockback of Soulfire
Decreased the knockback of his special (so that more hits can land consistently)
Fixed a softlock performing special move on a vertically-moving platform
Nightmare’s special now pierces shields
The Silencer’s missiles only target enemies, not asteroids
Tuhrahkkkii
Reworked grapple strike to be easier and more reliable
The grapple extends and retracts more quickly
You are less likely to be hurt by an enemy when grappling onto it
Your jump attack or charged attack will automatically trigger when you collide with a grappled enemy
Increased the power of double charge (1.5x => 1.75x)
On critical hit, increased the duration of Berserker Rush (6s => 9s)
Tuhrahkkkii now correctly falls off of walls when stunned
Kodon
Reworked Beam Cannon
Slightly increased ammo capacity (20 => 24)
Added an intermediate charge level with a spread shot
Increased the size of the beam shot
Increased the speed & lowered the duration of the beam shot damage-over-time effect (total damage remains the same)
Updated the animations to reflect the 3 levels of charge
Added SFX when the next level of charge is reached
The Revenge & Bloodlust perks now increase the damage of the beam shot
The regen timer for Kodon’s shield now behaves more consistently (it will never recharge immediately after taking damage or breaking)
Adjusted Gatling gun
Slightly increased ammo capacity (200 => 240)
Reduced the spin-up and spin-down time
Shooting again during spin-down will now skip the spin-up time and shoot near-instantly
Slowed down the rate at which ammo generator activates (12s => 14s)
Buffed the damage output of the Hawk’s (Kodon’s ship) beam cannon
All
You can now use guns or Nightmare’s shield during a dash-jump
Fixed enemies sometimes turning your cannon beam / laser vision against you (or vice-versa)
Explosions, such as from Nightmare’s Particle Blaster or Kodon’s Grenade Belt, no longer pierce shielded enemies
The player’s ammo count will no longer be mismatched after switching guns and dying, or switching guns while another gun is still in your hands
The Unstoppable nanotech has reduced effectiveness against the strongest attacks
The Revenge nanotech lasts longer the harder you got hit
Reduced the knockback increase of the Brute Force Booster nanotech
Second Wind and Bloodlust can be equipped in the boss rush rest area, even if you’re not at full health
Bloodlust now doubles the damage dealt by corrosion & burn effects
Upgraded the “Pit Rescue” nanotech into “Hazard Guard”, which also protects from most hazards
Level
Fixed a softlock when attempting to play Chapter 5 as Kodon
Changed a solid wall into a platform in Chapter 8 so you can’t get squished by the nearby moving block
Swapped out some of the enemies in the arena events with new ones
Added background details to Chapter 4 (N)
The mid-atmosphere clouds in Chapter 5 now move slowly
Colliding with a missile in Chapter 5 will now hurt you, as you might expect. Explosions from missiles that you shot down are still safe.
Added more variety to the decorations in the arena lobby
Fixed stage hazards dealing less damage than intended
Enemies
Reduced Rifleman bursts from 5 bullets to 4
The thief copters in Chapter 1 now deal a small amount of collision damage
Fixed the boss of Chapter 6 (N) not charging his special meter
Reduced the warm-up time of Laina’s gravity well attack
Laina’s shockwaves can no longer deflect Nightmare’s special attack
The platforms in the final boss’s room no longer respawn after being destroyed
Reduced the final boss’s health once again (6400 => 6000)
Fixed a rare issue where parts of the final boss would be flipped upside down
Bombardiers return to their patrol zone faster after being knocked upwards (potentially out of the player’s reach)
Reworked the Chactida rematch in Chapter 7 - changed some attack patterns and turned it a different color to differentiate it from the first one
Brutes now take longer to recover after a dash attack, and are vulnerable to critical hits at this point
Gameplay
The “Interact” command now correctly takes precedence if it shares a button with attack/shoot/jump/dash
Added controller vibration to a variety of situations, like attacking or taking damage
Added a setting to disable controller vibration
When talking to an NPC up close, the player will back up to a respectable distance
Player & enemy status effects now persist when visiting the Settings or Instructions menus
Adjusted the scoring in the Target Practice minigame, and added a sound effect when you get points
Changed the requirement for the “Something to Prove” achievement to 24 challenge medals
Interface
Settings menu
It is no longer possible to remap the Cancel & Confirm controls on the keyboard
The “Talk” control is now called “Interact” (since it’s also used to open doors)
Remapping controls to certain reserved buttons (keyboard Esc, gamepad Start, or gamepad D-Pad) is not allowed
Mapping a control (other than “Interact”) to the same button used by another control will swap the two values
Added checkboxes and volume bars to some settings
Changed the Graphics | Display mode setting to use the slider controls
Removed the Data tab
Fixed a rare hard-lock when closing Settings
If playing in Portuguese, the money counter will use the correct thousands separator (“.”)
Removed the progress bar from the initial loading screen
Shrunk and moved the arena results screen so the player is still visible in their victory stance
Adjusted the shading of gamepad button prompts
Redesigned the new story / character select menu
Moved boss title text to the top or bottom so it doesn’t cover up the boss it’s describing
Fixed a softlock pressing cancel after the second warning before erasing your save file
Added a new popup and fanfare when you unlock a piece of nanotech
Resized or redesigned all nanotech icons
The arena/boss rush results screen now correctly shows current/best times in hundredths of a second
Damage from burn/corrosion effects now appears in a different color
Star rank icons are now animated
Challenge mode stars are now medals
