One last update to the demo! Heads up that I'm going to pull the public alpha on December 1st while I get ready for the next Steam festival Minicology is eligible to participate in - the Steam Base Builder Fest on January 23rd. If you want to check out the demo before then, make sure to play it this week!
Major updates:
-Minicology now has an XP and perk system! Complete events, unlock chests, and defeat enemies in order to level up and select buffs to stats like fall resistance, max health, and hunger. Every 4 levels you'll also encounter a choice between two mutually exclusive Rare Perks - choose carefully!
-Added a new accessory type - different Woperator Modules can be found across the starter world and unlock abilities that can be used to interact with Minicology's environmental mechanics.
These abilities are free to use, but require XP to unlock and time to cooldown on use - some of them have features that allow you to speed up terraforming, while others will allow you to mine longer, see in the dark, or inflict damage to enemies!
Players with existing Minicology saves won't find the Woperators on the starting planet, but rather in Crates that show up on newly-generated planets. Start up your ship and find a yet-undiscovered planet to get your hands on these tools!
-Tools can now be upgraded using the unique minerals found on each planet! Should give some more utility to aquamarine/sunstone/celestite :)
-Added Auto-turrets. On new worlds you'll find an auto-turret component in the Power Chest, which might help you out with the Fuel Extractor's Jellyfish Invasion!
-Added crates. Crates spawn anywhere! Up in the sky, down in the caves, in ponds or on mountains. Open them up for free loot... but be careful, some might be trapped!
Minor changes:
-Added lots more sounds to UI and small interactions with the world. Different materials have new footstep sounds, and lots of sounds have been tweaked to be less repetitive!
-Some minor changes to the art for stone/dirt textures to make them a little more subtle and less noisy. Looks nice, I think!
-Tweaked irrigation. Sprinklers no longer require power. Pipes are now 30x for 3 ferrite ingots. Lowered Rain Barrel max water - the max used to be huge, and people would see empty water bars and assume they had no water - when in fact they had tons!
-Empty buckets can now be used to catch raindrops
-Pressing the "Force Item" key (defaults to ALT) now lets you place equipment and blocks in item frames
-Pestquitos now drop... something
-Removed Unobtanium from Chest loot pools. Modified recipes for endgame weapons to no longer require it. Should make some later-game gear a little bit easier to craft (it was a huge hassle before!)
-Updated tutorial prompts and event prompts. Tweaked when Event Tags shine
-Some crafting recipes that were 'organized' - required specific placement - are now freely placed
-Re-organized Research Menu to highlight important items
-Stunned enemies have a new animation
-Updated icons for many status effects
Bugfixes:
-Fixed softlock when a player would die with spaceship destroyed
-Fixed a bug where raindrops would fail to water the right plants
-Fixed a bug that would require ladder constructions
-Fixed a bug that would cause Jellyfish to teleport
-Fixed a bug with non-item tools (harvest, omnivore pickup, etc etc) that would cause the cursor to improperly display