While working on the full version of the game, many more minor and bigger improvements have piled up and will be released to the demo version in this major update.
More on what's new below -
Star map of your decisions
All your choices are now mapped on a star map that visually represents the adventurous journey of your character, different for every player. Even more, while explored stars remain unlocked across the playthroughs acting like a sort of achievement.
This is probably the most important bit of the update because it helps understand how non-linear and varied the game is. When we say the game is fat, not tall, this is what we mean - in a single playthrough, even if you complete everything on your way, you physically can visit only maximum of 60% of the game major locations. And the map now shows that.
Quest updates
We added explicit and visible quest update messages to make it clearer when there is certain progress with them. Because you gain experience (XP) only by completing quests, this is important information. These messages also show your XP progress towards the next level.
Marks
Speaking of XP - marks are introduced in this update. Every time you gain a level, you must pick a mark; every odd - positive mark, every even - both positive AND negative mark. Because the other side of the experience is ... stress. Levelups are good but also ... bad because trying too hard can cause burn-out and associated mental or health problems.
What is a mark? Mark is a context-sensitive character quirk, some small thing that affects you - positively or negatively - in certain situations. Mostly they don't give you a flat % increase in a certain stat, instead, they activate +/- bonus IF some condition is true, e.g., -1 AP IF you are fighting a robot. And so on.
There is a small selection of marks in the demo available.
New side-quest
While our main focus is on the full version of the game, we have included some small changes in the demo as well. Particularly, there is now something you can do if you manage to save Finn Alley. Nothing major, just a few more options to proceed, stars to unlock.
Security space suit
You can now find a new type of spacesuit in the demo - the Security spacesuit. Used by security personnel back in the old days, it sports a distinctive look but, contrary to expectations, protection is just average.
Holster weapon
Because NPCs react to you differently, if you approach them armed, a shortcut to quickly holster/unholster weapon was a matter of necessity.
Meet Splat - your new combat character preset!
We noticed that quite often first-time players choose the combat character Peter, probably because this archetype seems safer and familiar. We adjusted the preset so it is now more "normal" - less HP, melee proficiency but, is not scared to talk to people and, a new thing, starts off with a gun, PNH-10 already equipped. In fact, any character build that has RANGED 3+, will start with a gun*.
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* This is actually explained in a nod to the original plot which saw you start on the BULTA and then if you had good enough RANGED, you could persuade the team to give you their only weapon.
New looting interface layout
When you open a container to loot its contents, you will have a new UI layout to work with. Not much to it, just that it was necessary to update it along with the new inventory layout changes.
Bye, bye scrolling in inventory
We keep tinkering with UI and this time we have replaced [sometimes not obvious] scrolling in the inventory with discrete pages of items and clear buttons.
Obstacle highlighting
We noticed that sometimes it's not clear why you don't have a shot - line of fire is blocked - to enemy in certain situations. Similar issue arises when using zero-G jumps, or leaps, which are possible only if there are no obstacles in the way; which they sometimes are not obvious.
Now in these cases there is a clear message and first problematic tile is highlighted in red.
NPC behaviour changes
Note that there are a few subtle details changed how other characters behave in combat scenarios. Also, there are changes in how companions follow you.
That's about it
...in major visible things. There have been actually a ton of other, smaller, less visible changes across the board as well, including a slew of bug fixes.
As always, do reach out in the comments or on discord, we keep an eye on those and many of the changes, in fact, have originated there.
Have a nice space adventuring!