New Features
NEW WAIFU – TARON KRAASK
The star of this release is the nimble thief Taron, who has a very unique mission for the Captain. If you help her get her toys back, she just might join your crew!
NEW NEBULA – KRAKEN
Another portion of the galaxy opens with the release of 0.4, with more than 90 new anomalies and 8 sidequests to explore. As part of our ongoing Planets revamp, we are putting in a new UI for the planets, reducing the Tiers to eliminate backtracking and pave the way for more meaningful content starting from the next release. NOTE: The Events that are part of 0.4 are also placeholders, and will start getting replaced from 0.5 onwards.
NEW UI
We are in the process of making the UI feel more intuitive, especially in modules like grid combat where it was sorely needed. As part of 0.4 you will see numerous UI improvements and additions, and you can expect this to continue in 0.5 with even more tweaks.
NEW GRID COMBAT EVENT
A special form for Taron can be unlocked as you progress through the story for this release. We look forward to seeing what you guys think of it! If the reception is positive then we will enable these forms for the other ladies as well in Patch 0.5!
NEW – RED DEMI OUTFIT
As part of testing for early access, we have given DEMI a skin for Pandora that you can play around with. This is a very simple reskin, and the goal is to collect data before we start implementing the outfit system in earnest. You can enable DEMI’s red skin by going to her Pandora select menu and clicking the outfit tab at the top.
NEW – EXPERIMENTAL NSFW SCENE
One scene with Taron is enabled for interactivity. It happens during the story, so you don’t have to worry about missing it. You can move the camera around and interact with Taron’s body parts. This is a prototype so we are looking for feedback from you guys on this!
NEW FACTION – THE IMPERIUM
Players will finally be able to face off against the might of Empress Celestina’s forces! The new units consisting of ground and space forces can be encountered from the Kraken nebula onwards.
NEW SPACE COMBAT MODES
We’ve added two new experimental game modes (one instance of each); a Stealth style mission where you have to sneak past patrols while unlocking doors, and another one based around Resource collection. Both modes need feedback from the players on how to improve them
NEW SPACE UPGRADES
Space Combat tier 2 upgrades are now purchasable in the Hangar. Note: As of now, a speech bubble prompt will display once available sometime during Taron’s quest. In Space Combat, level 2 Waifu attack upgrades are now available. Note: As of now, these will unlock at level 12, 24 and 36.
NEW PANDORA SCENES
New Pandora scenes have been added for all existing waifus as well as Taron.
NEW ONBOARD DIALOGUES
Be sure to talk to your crewmates on the ship, they may have new things to talk about!
GENERAL
The Save Game Button is enabled when on board Mary Celeste and during dialogue sequences. Note game currently still autosaves frequently.
Tweaks
- Added the ability to skip cinematics again (default input Spacebar) during dialogue sequences.
- Anomalies now only have one encounter instead of three. Note: Tier 2 missions have been removed.
- When selecting a solar system from the nebula screen in Navigation, the previously visited solar system star will glow a bit brighter indicating that the user has just left the system.
- Added warpgate offscreen indicator in Navigation.
- Added a new cursor in Navigation.
- Anomaly screen redesigned in Navigation.
- Shortened description on the Nebulast and Pararaiha anomaly in Navigation.
- Added SFX when clicking on the Archive or Mission Replay hologram folder when inside the Captain’s Quarters on board the Mary Celeste.
- Added SFX when opening the inventory when on board the Mary Celeste.
- Added SFX on several items when poking interactable objects on board the Mary Celeste.
- Added a clear button to PANDORA UI. This allows the user to clear all the cards selected in one go instead of manually removing each one.
- PANDORA Card image updates.
- Added generic description to locked pandora cards that cannot be purchased (i.e. “Requires A Specific Waifu” and or “Requires A Specific Mantic”)
- Added new star badge icons on the endscreen UI–it can also be seen when selecting replayable missions.
- Added icons to distinguish between grid & space combat when replaying missions.
- Returning from a replayable mission or dialogue sequence now re-opens the selection screen UI automatically in the event users would like to continue replaying segments of the game.
- Updated Speech Bubble prompt UI design.
- Added indication stating last time save was updated when exiting Main Menu. Note: Currently doesn’t specify seconds so will return as 0 minutes ago if the user exits the session within a minute.
- Removed character level from character selection screen when entering the gifting sequence.
- Added a new enter screen when entering PANDORA and Gallery.
- Added new bobblehead icons.
- Added background icon preview when purchasing backgrounds in the Gallery.
- Updated Kloi Turret and Tibold mine turn queue icons in Grid Combat.
- Rebalanced Space Combat random scenario waves across the Hydra system.
- Updated the Scoundrel’s boss ship tri-laser attack so that it connects instead of having a gap between the lasers in Space Combat.
- Updated text line in Space Combat tutorial specifying that the user should continue through the rings.
- Reduced Ela’s DPS slightly in Space Combat.
- Jawz no longer heals when hitting enemies with damage negating shields in Grid Combat.
- Jawz ultimate now heals him when backstabbing and the preview is now showing correctly based on where Jawz will end up rather than his current position in Grid Combat.
- Hovering over incoming waves now shows their deployment area in Grid Combat.
- Fixed several issues when replaying story & tutorial missions in Grid Combat.
- Damage previews now show if an attack is effective, ineffective or kills the target in Grid Combat.
- Updated resolution setting under the Graphics setting tab so that it defaults to 100% instead of automatically downscaling the screen resolution when changing to High, Medium or Low. This can still be adjusted manually if needed.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed issue where some users reported that if you delete an image that was posted in Captains Quarters, it defaults to the UV placeholder image instead of updating the pictures on the wall.
- Numerous audio related fixes related to grid combat.
- Fixed issue where Tibold’s grid combat banter was ducking music volume when it shouldn’t.
- Added additional failsafes to the end screen continue button. (A specific sequence of skipping during the end screen can cause the continue button to not show up. Possibly when the rank medal is spinning.)
- Fixed issue in Grid Combat where damage previews did not display the skull icon over their health bars when they should.
- Fixed potential crash on Grid Combat Kurkle anomaly mission.
- Fixed issue in dialogue sequences where in some cases fast-forwarding caused the background or characters to not change when required.
- Fixed issue during dialogue sequences where the scene would render darker during Hangar scenes if “Use Background Images” was enabled from the graphic settings.
- Fixed issue on PANDORA UI that caused the card purchase window to still be visible if the user clicked on next or previous character before purchasing or exiting.
- Fixed issue where text could overlap when viewing the Trophies menu UI.
- Fixed issue with Lily’s toes during the Full Throttle PANDORA scene.
- Fixed animation blending in Robotic Supremacy PANDORA scene
- Fixed issue with anomalies not receiving any light in navigation depending on distance and color.
- Fixed issue where some planets' rings were rendered without color.
- Fixed typo on Tiny Invader PANDORA card description.
- Fixed issue in Grid Combat where units could spawn on detached tiles and get stuck.
- Fixed several smaller issues in Grid Combat related to the maps.
- Fixed issue in Grid Combat where Trisha’s ultimate would activate immediately upon selection.
- Fixed issue in Grid Combat causing Napholeon’s ultimate damage prediction to not show AOE.
- Fixed issue in Grid Combat where the holograms on some maps appear slightly off the ground.
- Fixed issue in Grid Combat where Ela’s ultimate AOE did not trigger an explosive energy barrel but the damage preview indicated that it did.
- Fixed descriptions for Hydra nebula CODEX entry.
- Fixed typos in the descriptions of the following anomalies: Uggo, Kloi Naval Command & Marmani.
- Fixed typo on anomaly label Bastion of Ignominious Exile.
- Fixed issue where DEMI’s trophies were no longer dropping. These should be restored if any were missing in this patch.
- Fixed issue in Space Combat where the Pirates' mortar ship would have lingering mortars in mid-air if destroyed.
- Fixed issue where the deny SFX could be heard when on a PANDORA screen if the skip button was clicked. Also could be heard during the PANDORA tutorial when clicking continue.
- Fixed issue where Killi’s recruitment scene could play back once reaching the end of the dialogue sequences when not intended.
- Optimizations made to characters to improve textures loading on characters during dialogue sequences and Space combat ships.
- Fixed tool-tip description when hovering “Use Background Images”.
Known Issues (Does not include all issues)
- Framerate drop can cause Mary Celeste to shoot out of the jump-gate in Navigation.
- Bridge projector fails to update the color scheme throughout Mary Celeste consistently with the addition of Hydra and Kraken Nebula.
- Physics on dangling pieces such as tentacles or hair (i.e. Huntress or Killi) may clip through the character's body or rapidly vibrate.
- Yellow/White screen flashing artifact during space combat when using the FXAA aliasing method. Most likely due to the lens flare and or high bloom values.
- On rare occasions, an unintentional song plays during some areas of the game.
- On rare occasions, clicking the Help button in the dialogue section of the game can remove the help text but can't be re-enabled until restarting or starting a new scene.
- Potential stuttering when playing back cinematics for some systems. Note there is an option to disable 4k videos from the graphics tab under settings. This has improved performance for some users.
- Hovering tool-tip text is covered by Subverse cursor.
- Elaisha has some weightpaint-related issues in some of her Dialogue Scene idles.
- Animation in You’re Mine Now scene needs finalizing.
- Subtitles for cinematics are disabled for this release. They will be re-enabled for 0.5.
- Elaisha does more damage than what the preview damage UI element states in Grid Combat.
- Replay icons and navigation icon concepts are a work in progress, inconsistencies are known.
- Animation clipping on several Pandora scenes. These will be fixed in 0.5.
Notes
- More details will be provided regarding the additions and changes to the game’s overall design in an upcoming dev diary.
- Optimizations: The goal is to continue making improvements with each release. The focus was on characters during the dialogue sequences in this block.
- UI to provide navigation progress is on hold until the next release. This is due to navigation system rework.
- Music will start receiving the proper treatment in later patches starting with the dialogue sections. Combat themes will also receive some variety.