A Major Addition of Hair Styles
9 new hair styles have been added for female characters, bringing the number of options to 26. The additions range from fancy bridal hair to neat short cut and includes a flattering ponytail with physics. All hair options can be applied to any of the 46 preset female heads available for customization. All hair options can be colorized with two color shades. Most options are illustrated in the 144 head presets available to players.
5 new hair styles have also been added for male and big guy characters, bringing the total hair styles to 41 for males, and 17 for the big guy. As for females, all hair styles can be used on preset heads and colorized with two hair shades.
Environmental Improvements
- We optimized the appearance of the city a bit, adding more color, polishing textures in a few spots, and making some visual upgrades in areas that had not received attention in a while.
- We have also adjusted the skies and distance views and managed to eke out some moderate but important improvements in FPS. FPS always battle graphics quality in MMOs as there is so much more communication between server and client in an MMO than in a single or even multiplayer game. Our goal is to have a game that is enjoyable even if you do not have a top of the line computer and graphics card.
- Apotheosis City is getting dressed up for Christmas.
Game Play
We refined our targeting, following feedback gathered during Steam Next Fest, and explained how it works in a newsletter.
Quality of Life Improvements
- Our big map now has a transparency slider. Those who want to keep the big map open can set the transparency to clearly view the game behind it.
- We made the key to switch between superspeed effects programmable for those without a numerical pad on their gaming laptop.
- Our largest window size was previously 1920 x 1080. We have added 4 larger sizes.
Testing
Our pool of volunteer testers has almost doubled since our last update, and we are still looking for more testers, as there is a lot to test. You can sign up here to become a tester. You will have an opportunity to tell us what kind of testing you are interested in doing.
Updates You May Have Missed
Travel Powers
https://shipofheroes.com/travel-powers-in-ship-of-heroes/
In Ship of Heroes, you can fly right from the start. Flying is tons of fun, yet very few modern MMORPGs have it. Better yet, flight is only one of three fast-travel powers in Ship of Heroes.
Power Augments
https://shipofheroes.com/power-augments-better-than-gear/
Power augments allow players to strengthen specific stats of different powers. They are Ship of Heroes’ version of gear upgrades, but your appearance and build are entirely independent. For example, you can improve the damage, accuracy, or recharge time of any power.
Targeting upgrades
https://shipofheroes.com/targeting-upgrades-in-ship-of-heroes/
Targeting enemies in any game always draws a lot of opinions, and there’s a lot of subtlety to it. Tab targeting in particular is complex. You don’t need to worry about it when you’re playing because it’s intuitive to use. But behind this perceived simplicity is a bit of subtlety.
The New Camera Menu
https://shipofheroes.com/the-new-camera-menu/
We’re adding a camera menu to the Interface options, to allow control of how the camera moves and where it is aimed relative to your character. This will accommodate individual preferences.