The "Kepler" build has now been promoted to default build for Starcom: Unknown Space. Since the previous default build was "Icarus", this is a significant update, incorporating the changes from both Jupiter and Kepler.
The biggest change is that the main storyline now has a proper ending, but there are lots of other updates of various magnitude, including a number of new side quests, factions, and more "off-path" regions.
Since both Jupiter and Kepler were made available for opt-in testing and dozens of players have reached the end, I feel confident that Kepler is at least pretty solid: there have been some issues reported, but few serious bugs as of the latest build.
Saves are not compatible between named builds, but if you were in the middle of a game, don't worry: you can always switch back to Icarus to finish your current game. See here for instructions and select "Icarus Rollback".
Here is a minimal-spoiler list of changes since Icarus:
- Ending to main story line
- Prologue opening transition
- 46 new planet anomalies
- Anomaly "environment soundscapes"
- New stories, side quests, factions, Easter Eggs
- Improved guidance/fixes for missions where players commonly found themselves stuck
- Numerous new character dialogues, crew prompts
- New ship modules and technologies
- New weapons, variants
- Numerous balance changes
- New enemy attacks, AI
- NPCs now automatically aggro'd by attacks to their allies (unless also allied with aggressor)
- Changes to fixed guns
- New music tracks
- New achievements
- Mission "priority" indicator for main story critical missions
- Newly unlocked techs highlighted
- Ability to toggle mission goal tracking
- Difficulty / skill roll modifiers now in 5% increments
- Changed autosave timing
- Fix for vsync not being saved
- Engine turbo sound fades out
- Improvements to game controller support
- Fix for anomaly image change not reflected in log
- Fix for projectiles, effects persisting after save game load
- Various QoL improvements
- Additional analytics
- Performance optimizations
Early Access Content Progress
As with previous named builds, for comparison purposes, here are some metrics to give a rough sense as to how much content has been added to the game since it first entered Early Access almost 16 months ago:
Betelgeuse (Dec 2022, first Early Access version):
75 anomalies
1264 mission logic elements
25,000 words
Draconis (Jan 2023):
91 anomalies
1516 mission logic elements
29,000 words
Europa (Mar 2023):
111 possible anomalies
1839 mission logic elements
36,000 words
Fornax (May 2023):
120 possible anomalies
1990 mission logic elements
40,000 words
Ganymede (June 2023):
145 anomalies
2390 mission logic elements
48,000 words
Icarus (October 2023):
179 anomalies
3340 mission logic elements
64,000 words
Jupiter (January 2024):
197 possible anomalies
4329 mission logic elements
82,182 words
Kepler (current Default):
225 possible anomalies
4848 mission logic elements
90,400 words
For comparison, Starcom: Nexus had roughly ~195 anomalies and 65,000 words of text. It used a different mission system, so there's no clear comparison, but Starcom: Unknown Space definitely has significantly more mission logic and text.
There are still a number of features, fixes and content I'd like to add, but at this point I am starting to think about a 1.0 release, possibly later this summer. Although as I have said since the start of Early Access, the key determinant is how players feel about the state of the game.
Thanks for reading, and thanks for playing Starcom: Unknown Space!