Hello everyone!
I am excited to announce that the first version of the Black Market update (V2) is now available on experimental! Although there is still lots of work to be done, I am excited to finally get the ball rolling on V2 and get into everyones hands.
HOWEVER, please note that this first version has a LOT of new content disabled. Many of the new ships, cards, arenas, and synergies, along with ship cosmetics and the new trials feature are not available in this first iteration. This is because they are either not done, or I'm purposefully holding them back until the live release so as not to spoil everything for testers. If you are wanting access to all the new stuff V2 has to offer, PLEASE wait until the live release!
With that being said, if you're ready to start your V2 journey now and help test all of the new changes, redesigns, and some of the new features and content, than feel free to opt into the experimental branch! (instructions on how to do so can be found at bottom of this post) Do keep in mind that the experimental branch no longer uses your main save! You'll be able to use your main save once the update hits live, or optionally replace it with your experimental save if you end up liking it more.
So, here's what's in the first version, and what can you expect to come throughout experimental...
The first phase of experimental will focus primarily on ensuring all the redesigns are working. You'll quickly notice that pretty much everything has changed in one way or another, mainly in regards to the design of the interface. Because of the sheer amount of changes, this is my main focus with the first phase and ensuring that the stability of the game is where it was in the original version.
PLEASE NOTE: Like I mentioned above, this first version of V2 really does not have that much new content. Just a couple new arenas, ships, and cards, alongside the new bosses, UI redesigns, and some other minor things. If you're wanting to experience a bunch of new content right away, I strongly recommend waiting until Phase 2.
NOTE FOR CONTROLLER PLAYERS: This version does NOT include the new controller mapping feature that was talked about months ago. I haven't had a chance to actually finish it, so some controllers may still not work without external software. This will be added in a later experimental version though, and will definitely be in the live release of V2.
The second phase of experimental will introduce a lot more of the content that's in the black market. Many of the ships, cards, and arenas will all be unlocked and available for purchase with power crystals. This phase will still not include trials, but MAY include master synergies.
If you're wanting to experience a lot of the content all at once, but don't want to wait for live, this is when I would recommend opting into testing. It introduces enough new stuff where you'll have PLENTY to do, but still holds back some awesome new features and content for the live release.
The final phase will unlock the remainder of content in V2, alongside the new trials feature (and master synergies if they weren't available in the previous phase for some reason). Phase 3 is essentially the entirety of V2, but will still remain on the experimental branch to ensure that once it goes live there are no major bugs or unbalanced items.
Once again if you're not wanting to wait for the live release, this phase is pretty much the whole update. So if you don't mind bugs or unbalanced items, this would again be a great time to opt in.
So with all that out of the way, you can opt into experimental whenever you like by following the steps below. Experimental is available to everyone, but I STRONGLY recommend joining our Discord so you can report bugs directly to me.
How to opt into experimental
- Right click on Neon Sundown in your library
- Click on the "properties" option
- Navigate to the betas tab
- Select the "experimental" branch
- Click apply and wait for it to download
Due to the sheer amount of changes and new stuff, there is unfortunately no patch notes available for this version. Just assume everything has changed in some capacity!
I hope everyone enjoys V2 and all it has to offer. This has been a long time in the making, and as the experimental versions progress you'll start to see more and more of that work come to fruition. I think this update will really show the kind of quality I'm looking to achieve with my games, and it'll only get better from here on out with each update!
Thanks for reading, and have fun!
~ Ben