It's been a while since I did an update post, but figured I'd update steam and know that Minicology is alive and well. Here are some improvements made to the closed beta:
-Tutorials-
Tutorialization has been heavily increased. On the starting planet, you’ll find helpful guides on how to use electricity, how to open terraforming chests, and how to craft & farm various resources!
-Structures & Space pirates-
You’ll be able to find procedurally generated structures on some planets, staffed by fearsome lobster-pirates. As minicology’s development continues, look forward to seeing some other types of structures in future updates, each with unique loot and enemies!
-Combat changes-
-Many items now have new abilities, and the flow & pacing of combat has been improved. Enemies drop hearts to encourage more aggressive combat and allow you to recover quicker, and there are several new armor sets - some with unique set bonuses - to craft and discover!
Weapon changes:
-Guns have been completely remodeled. Taking inspiration from FPS’s, guns now feature several variables, including fire rate, magazine size, accuracy, recoil, and bullet speeds.
-New types of hammers: in addition to the old shockwave hammers that produced a shotgun-style projectile wave, we now also have ‘quake hammers’, which perform a powerful ground pound!
-Sword remodel - swords now perform a 360-degree spin attack which charges up abilities like projectiles or longer-range slashes
-Ecology Scanner-
Ecology scanner now acts as a bestiary of every creature and plant you’ve discovered. Take a look to see info like critter health, drops, and more!
-Boss reworks-
Two of the old bosses have been totally reworked. They now fit Minicology’s art style better, and have some mechanical changes that make them interact with the new combat mechanics better as well :). Bosses also now use a better gravity system that allows them to naturally navigate the planetary gravity, and will rotate smoothly across the different planetary quadrants!
-Gravity Changes-
The way gravity affects the player has been reworked since the Steam Next Fest! It’s now far more comfortable to navigate in caves and around the ‘corners’ of planets.
-Major QoL improvements
Crafting now allows for minecraft style Shift+Drag clicking, and crafting inputs will now notify you when an input is invalid and why. Some crafting inputs might even provide helpful hints on what inputs are valid!
-Electricity Remodel
Electricity is a lot nicer to use now, with a specific ‘electricity view’ that’s togglable when a generator is nearby. We’ve also added power splitters and power lines to help you connect electricity across the planet. We’ll be adding significantly more content
-Changes to mining/buckets/bottling
There was quite a bit of confusion in the Steam Next Fest demo on how mining and pickaxes worked. This has been addressed, with a new UI system for tool-based resource interactions. Should be much clearer what resources are being targeted, and various drop behaviors have been made more consistent.
-New player + background + tilemap art-
I’ve made some touchups to the Space-person’s art, giving them a little more personality and expression. Plus, there are some new animations for crouching, swimming, and flying! Background art has also been improved, and tiles have been re-shaded for readability (They’re now a little brighter near the edges, which helps a TON in telling where walls start and end - it also makes the colors pop a bit more!). Overall, the game just looks slightly nicer and more polished.
-Tons of new items-
I’ll let you discover these, but be on the lookout for some cool new weapons, tools like the big drill (great for tunneling!), and lobster-themed accessories! Enjoy!
