Greetings scientists!
We’ve just pushed a massive amount of content and changes to our Beta Branch which you can now play for yourself.
Some of you have noticed that this beta has lasted a little longer than previous ones. We’ve been cooking some changes to what we first released based on your initial feedback.
We also wanted to try reward players willing to come back and give us more feedback which you can read about below. So let's get into what we’ve been up to.
WHY WE'RE TAKING MORE TIME WITH COMBAT
Back in late July, we launched the beta for our next update. The overall sentiment from players was that it was fine and that we added some decent content to the overall game loop.
However, we felt we wanted to create something a little better than just "fine". We genuinely value and take into account player feedback so we saw this as another chance to truly show that. We went over all beta gameplay feedback again and together the team mapped out what additions and improvements could be made with an extra month of development time.
We’ve made some massive changes and feel we’ve added some great features and changes not just to combat, but the whole game loop.
WHAT IS BEING ADDED/CHANGED?
The changes/additions we decided to implement can be sorted into 1 of 3 major categories:
1. Combat Overhaul
Improvements to Crossbow, ammo types and traps. Suit upgrades - armor and backpacks. Mantis has improved player tracking, logic with new attacks and animations, including a ranged attack.
2. New Locations Overhaul
Mantis “arena” completely revamped from scratch, expanding the size & scale of the area. Visual improvements made to both new locations, making them easier to navigate. New high-voltage gates added to locations.
3. New Mechanic (Scavengers Printer)
A completely new mechanic/system was added to both new locations. Trade artifacts found in the world for others to complete your collection. Earn “Tech Sliver” to increase your Prestige and unlock new reward tiers.
You can see the full breakdown in the patch notes further below.
SOME ADDITIONS TO THE BETA ARE WORK IN PROGRESS
While playing the beta you will notice that some elements are whiteboxes/missing textures, which while they function as intended, still don’t have the finished visuals, textures etc. We wanted to test this content with our players sooner than later to see if we’ve hit the mark so we decided to release this to testing now. Rest assured, missing textures will be added very soon.
At this stage, we're mostly interested in your feedback about the changes to combat and all the new content additions, (listed below) and less interested in bug reports. Gameplay feedback is the priority right now.
Backpack tiers and armor can now be discovered and unlocked in the new locations.
NEW UPDATE RELEASE WINDOW
With all these additions, changes, and additional time for community feedback, we of course needed some extra development time. We opted to give the part of our team working on this the whole of August to make these improvements.
Therefore as it stands, this update will launch into the main game in early September.
Use Charged Bolts to clear pathways blocked by Growth Gates
SEND FEEDBACK AND STAND A CHANCE TO WIN 1 OF 10 STEAM GIFT CARDS WORTH 25 USD
We know that taking time out to provide in-depth feedback is time-consuming, especially for content we've had available for some time now.
So as a thank you to those who are helping us make the game better for everyone, we have put together a raffle where 10 beta testers who fill out the feedback form for the latest beta update will be sent a digital Steam gift card equivalent to 25 USD
REQUIREMENTS:
Please play the latest beta update and when once you have experienced the bulk of it fill out this feedback form
➡️https://forms.gle/PW9kYc7MjGdVktBx9⬅️
HOW ARE WINNERS SELECTED?
We will select 10 survey participants at random and will assess their feedback to see if feels legit and was filled in with actual intent and thought. So please don't just give everything a 10/10 as this will indicate to us this wasn't filled out with thought or intention to help.
The 10 winners will then be contacted by us via Steam where they will need to accept a friend request from one of our dev accounts.
STEAM PROFILE REQUIREMENTS EXPLAINED:
In the survey you see we are asking you to provide your Steam username and set your Steam profile to public. We are doing to so that we can:
1. Be sure you own Forever Skies
2. Can see the number of hours you've played in total
3. Allow us to send you your Steam Gift card
We are doing this to avoid rewarding people who simply submit answers to try win the gift cards and also to ensure we can get you your gift card if you are selected.
Details on how to change your profile privacy settings are here:
https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/588C-C67D-0251-C276
If you are not open to changing your profile to public for the duration of this raffle, we totally understand and you are of course still welcome to provide feedback on the beta. However, if your name is picked in the raffle we will need to pick someone else in your place if we can't find and view your Steam profile.
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Patch notes
NEW CONTENT:
- Mantis ranged attack added
- Crossbow Upgrade, level 2 with 10 bolts magazine size
- Crossbow Upgrade, level 3 with 20 bolts magazine size
- Destroyed Webling Larvae Nest model added (source of Chitin)
- Scavengers Printer device available on the Wild Habitat and New Nature Territory locations
- Prestige - Player reputation system (Scavengers Printer-related)
- Tech Sliver - currency used in the Scavengers Printer
- Artifact Lure
- Backpack Upgrade Small (module level 1 - 5 additional slots)
- Backpack Upgrade Medium (module level 2 - 10 additional slots)
- Backpack Upgrade Large (chitin suit - 20 additional slots)
- Chitin Armor Suit Upgrade
- Charged Growth Gate
- Throwable Mines range indicators added
- New player parameters - damage resistance & virus resistance
- New Inventory slots - Armor and Backpack
CHANGED:
- Mantis combat behaviors, parameters and animations improved
- General Crossbow handling and performance improvements
- Wild Habitat location - new level design overhaul for mantis arena
- New Nature Territory location level design overhauled
- Webling Larvae Nest model and VFXes updated
- Improved look of the Siren Crown plant
- Improved look of the Dust Firecracker plant
- Improved look of the Moss Needle Plant
- Printer-type devices will now display blueprints in alphabetical order
- Player Inventory Upgrade Slot now contains icons instead of names
- Dust Firecracker now grows on Wild Habitat locations & Eelair Plants now grows on New Nature Territory locations
- Study for Charged Bolt received after scanning Charged Growth Gate
- Explosive Bolt / Mine name changed to Charged Bolt / Mine
- Pickable Dust Firecracker plant changed to Dust Firecracker Seed
- Motion Detector item now gives Motion Detector study and Charged Mine study
- Pet Tactical Set in now possible to unlock in the Scavengers Printer
- Modish Set is now possible to unlock in the Scavengers Printer
- Artifacts are now available to buy through the Scavengers Printer
FIXED:
- Speed Booster effect name fixed to Mobility Booster
- Traps are not destroyed by an airship movement anymore
- Dust Firecracker plant now gives seeds upon harvesting
- Siren Crown plant now gives seeds upon harvesting
- Cozy Furniture set models’ LOD adjustments
- Missing scan materials for various objects added
- Advanced Access Module icon fixed
- Missing Fiberglass Database description fixed
KNOWN ISSUES:
- Hitbox for picking up Dust Firecracker plants from the Small Garden Pot is not precise and it might be tricky to harvest those.
- The Scavengers Printer mechanic’s are still in heavy development.
- The Scavengers Printer model is a placeholder.
- The already destroyed Charged Growth Blockade doesn’t save its state and will re-appear after loading the save.
- Prestige bar is present in all Printer-type devices (Fabricator, Ship Workstation, etc). This bar should only be visible in the Scavengers Printer device.
- Blueprints already printed in the Scavengers Printer will still be present in the device. Printing it again will result in an empty Memory Card.
- To sell anything at the Scavengers Printer, player has to have space in their Inventory. There is currently no error visible when the player tries to sell artifacts with no Inventory space.
- The Crossbow upgrade lvl 2 and lvl 3 mesh is identical to the regular Crossbow.
- Corpses found on the New Nature Territory & Wild Habitat locations have “Noah’s body” scan info.
- The Wild Habitat location has been modified and is a work in progress.
- New Nature Territory & Wild Habitat locations may have incorrect entries in the study.
- The Tactical Pet Set (Black) can’t be unlocked in the Scavengers Printer.
- Low vitality bars and viruses’ visual effects sometimes stay on the screen. This is fixed by going back to the main menu and loading the save again.
- Mantis Corpse in the Vault is not disappearing after collecting all of the chitin
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Thats all for now, scientists.
Let us know what you think of the new content!
Speak soon!