Good morning, Jumpers!
We've got so much to cover today, so let's just get into it.
Our first content update is here!
Hangar Vendors:
Bozze and Vosk will now sell various gear and Artifacts for Credits, allowing you to prep for missions. Up by the Shooting Range, player weapons are also available to buy with Credits. These are randomly refreshed every time you enter the hangar, and higher MK weapons can also spawn but cost more.
We've heard a lot of feedback regarding player weapons and loot, like requests for a weapon locker to save your favorite weapons or just make everything permanent. Further down we will talk a bit more about this weapon carryover situation and how we will continue working on this through the Early Access period.
8 new Sectors:
You will encounter new maps as you play the new update - let us know what you think! Speaking of missions - Short, Medium and Long mission lengths can now generate on all Mission Types. So this just means you will see more variety in mission lengths and give you more options.
Sector Modifers:
A new mechanic! Once you enter a mission, the sectors can now spawn with different modifers to introduce challenges and rewards, making picking your path more interesting.
We are adding 8 modifiers to begin with, which can look like the image here.
Materia Remnants, Ion Rift, High Legion Presence, Weapon Stash, Incoming Legion Ships, Materia Distruption Field, Supply Beacon and Unknown Threat.
Let us know how you like this mechanic, and what other modifiers we can create!
Melee Weapons:
With this update we are adding 3 new weapons: Wrench, Crowbar and Heatblade! These dedicated melee weapons use no ammo, do more damage than just punching, and are able to block some damage by holding right-click. Pressing right-click right as you get hit by enemy fire lets you deflect it back.
The Heatblade specifically deflects enemy fire right back at them with good accuracy, letting you live out your space samurai parry dreams.
Dart Improvements:
We've heard the feedback that the Dart ship is frustrating to navigate when in the heat of battle. To address that, we've added these Hatches on the inside, top and bottom to very easily let you "teleport" back and forth so you can retrieve Materia or fix components.
(In a future update these will get a final 3D model, and an animation for climbing the ladders)
There are some additional smaller changes as well, like balance adjustments for some enemies, and now ALL Mission Types have Short, Medium and Long mission length varieties.
Halloween Event!
It's spoo~ky season even in the furthest reaches of the galaxy.
Between now and November 10th, enjoy the Halloween decorations around the hangar and the special quest given by Bozze.
Bring back enough pumpkins from your missions and get the Jack-O-Lantern cosmetic!
(Only available to get during this event, but it's usable year round afterwards.)
The Halloween event should appear for players who have completed the first two main story quests.
Supporter Pack!
Introducing the Supporter Pack with the "Telmari Knights" cosmetics!
We wanted to give players the option to support us financially a little extra. Some of you have been super duper eager and even asking for a DLC like this.
Strut your stuff with these suits and helmets, giving you a glimpse into how the Telmari empire once dressed while conquering the great expanse of space.
Available today as Steam DLC for Jump Space, for about $10.
This is of course entirely optional, as all of our players have done more than enough to support our journey so that we can soar past the future 1.0 release. We are truly grateful for each and every one of you.
Future Inventory Changes and Game Stability
Like mentioned above, we wanted to talk about weapons and item carryover a bit more, as it's easily our most discussed topic and point of feedback.
We absolutely hear the feedback about losing weapons and rare MK3s feeling bad. Good weapons are tough to find and there are too many points where inventory can be lost for reasons that are out of your control (griefing being just one).
This has resulted in a lot of requests for a weapon locker where weapons can be stored for later use or "protection".
In short, this Vendor update and the ability to buy the weapons is just the first of many changes to weapons and loot we will make during the course of Early Access. Even if our solution isn't ultimately to make weapons permanent or add a locker, trust us that we understand the frustration and will solve it with time.
Weapon spawns will likely be much more frequent in the future, in addition to the vendors supplying you constant gear whenever you're in the Hangar and have Credits to spend.
This will make good weapons frequent enough that hugging your MK3 for dear life won't be players top priority. It's very possible that we will rework the MK system in the future too, and instead opt'ing for something more interactive and progression-based where you can build weapons with attachments.
No plans are set in stone but much can change.
Try out the Weapon shop and let us know what you think. Should the selection be bigger and more permanent? Are prices too cheap?
We will evaluate what you all think of this first change - and then proceed on what we should tweak next on our journey to the sweet spot of weapons and loot.
There's a ton of other common topics, like why aren't instant rejoins possible? Or why isn't there a Power Grid preview or ability to change it immediately from the hangar?
These are absolutely things we plan on working on for the future - not every feature is mentioned on the roadmap right now.
Crossplay is another common one, but something that we can't promise until maybe after Early Access.
Instant rejoins for example is a technical hurdle - one which we will work on step-by-step until seamless joining missions is possible. For now, we have compromised with joining being possible at every ship jump. But trust us that we want the same thing you all do.
Many of these frustrations we have been hearing are further inflammed by the fact that some experience them because of disconnects and stability issues.
While we have made great strides since launch, some players on both PC and Xbox still experience stability or connection issues. Sometimes at the very end of missions which just highlights the lack of Quality of Life features.
Even if half of our team are working on new content update like these, the rest are still hard at work solving the stability so that everyone has a smooth experience.
We hear you that there are still technical issues for some, and we hear you that you find the content variety lacking.
You want more things to do. You want more progression. You want more GAME.
And we are going to deliver.
Thank you for reading, please have a blast with the Vendor Update and Halloween event! Plenty more to come.
Well, time to parry some bullets and make some new Mission Types.
- The Keepsake Crew