Knocking a few more things off my request list with this update before I dive back into the Sector 4 - Phase 2 content I have planned.
Adaptive Shield
This is something I saw in a game trailer and thought would be cool. Shields now have a new legendary variant. Instead of forming a bubble around your ship, the Adaptive Shield follows a wider version of your ship's silhouette.
Dreadnought by John_Shi (https://star-vortex.com/ships.php?view=313)
This isn't purely visual, as it also reduces your hitbox, which in theory should mean you take fewer hits. The shield you upgrade to legendary will determine the actual visual style of the Adaptive Shield.
Mobile Test Drones
The Science Vessel now has a new Mobile Test Drone that darts around within a 60-meter area after it lands. This should give you a better representation of your DPS against a moving enemy, or you can simply use them for a bit of target practice.
Ship Design Mount Points
The little circular sections on ship parts have been bugging me since I made the game. Due to the rotation of parts, they almost never lined up properly with the snap grid. Getting a slot perfectly centered on one required turning snapping off and gently nudging it into position.
The solution was to add additional snap points directly to the parts themselves. These points sit within the grid and can be snapped to when placing other parts or slots.
Credit for this idea goes to Raptor3488 on Discord.
Glossary Attributes
The Glossary now has a new Attributes tab that explains every stat on the ship panel and every stat found on item cards in plain language. This covers everything from how armor is applied after resistance and shields, to what Maneuverability actually does to your ship, and how the per-tick damage cap works.
The Glossary is now also available in the demo, as we've had quite a lot of demo players recently.
Criticlal Hit Tiers
Taking a weapon above 100% critical hit chance used to be a waste. Not anymore. We now have Critical Hit Tiers. If you have 150% critical hit chance, you're guaranteed to score a regular critical hit for 200% damage, while also having a 50% chance to score a Tier 2 critical hit for 300% damage.
These higher-tier critical hits are displayed in orange and red and should make critical hit builds considerably stronger. I'll be adding more critical hit chance to later-game weapons to make these numbers easier to achieve.
There's loads more in the update too, including plenty of bug fixes and significantly faster loading screens. Enjoy!
Patch Notes
New Features / Content
• Added the Arc Capacitor, a primary that hits harder the longer you charge it.
• Added an Adaptive Shield legendary that hugs the outline of your hull.
• The Science Vessel now has a Mobile Test Drone that dodges your fire.
• Assembler storage can now be sorted like cargo after a confirmation prompt.
Balance Changes
• Crit Chance over 100% now rolls crit tiers that each add Crit Damage again.
• Toxic Orb damage increased by 218%.
• Frozen Orb damage increased by 183%.
• Magma Orb damage increased by 154%.
• Lightning Orb damage increased by 100%.
• Skeran Orb damage increased by 67%.
• Dodging or lunging now breaks any grapples hooked into your ship.
• Grapples now release players who hyperdrive jump out.
Quality of Life / Accessibility
• Glossary now has an Attributes tab explaining every ship and item stat.
• The demo now includes the Glossary, with full-game factions and ships marked.
• Fire keys are now Weapon 1 and Weapon 2, and either one can fire any weapon.
• Jump loading screens now end once your PC is ready, up to twice as fast.
• Sensor arrows now also appear on the radar edge, toggled by Show Radar Arrows.
• Distant enemy sensor arrows are now 50% larger so fog no longer hides them.
• New Low Hull Warning sound in Audio settings plays when hull drops below 25%.
• A tutorial now explains how to break free the first time you get grappled.
• Ship Builder parts now also snap to mount points on hulls, wings and fins.
• Static Shield hits now flicker arcs along the shield instead of thin lines.
• Critical hit labels are now colored by tier, yellow then orange then red.
• Orb launcher card DPS now assumes only 12.5% of the spray lands, as in combat.
Performance
• Encounter loads no longer scan every mission asset twice, cutting load times.
Bug Fixes
• Clicking radar encounters or other HUD buttons no longer fires your weapons.
• Enemies you left alive no longer haunt a cleared encounter when you return.
• Crystal Prism orbs no longer error when the Prism dies as they open fire.
• Kinetic Conduits and drone bays no longer roll or accept Debuff Chance.
• Hyperjump arrival fades now stay black, fixing a one-frame flash of your ship.
• Storage pages now keep Increase Rarity dimming after you turn the page.
• Co-op hosts can now reseed a sector at the gateway, which used to do nothing.
• Co-op traffic kicks now need 20 straight seconds over the limit, not a spike.
• Assembler now unlocks if you die as a teammate rescues it, old saves included.
• Co-op Assembler now jumps in at the fleet as soon as the host rescues it.
• Co-op shooters now see the damage number on crits instead of only the label.
Modders
• Mods folder now ships MODDING_REFERENCE.md covering load rules and overrides.
• New ChargeType.Ramp, chargeSound, Projectile.Hold/Release and FullChargeTime
• Damage, Heal and RouteDamage take int critTier, not bool crit, from CritRoll.
• MsgDamageEvent.critTier replaces crit and Modifier.CritTier(chance) rolls one.
• Palette.criticalHitColor is now criticalHitTier1-3Color + GetCriticalHitColor.
• Hull Shield.prefab hugs the hull and fires GameShip.HullColliderChanged.
• GameShip.GetShieldWorldRadius returns world units without a bubble collider.
• Shield.GetSurfaceHitPoint(angle) gives a rim or bubble point at that angle.
• Added GameShip.weapon1Target, and Rewired actions are now ActivateWeapon1/2.
• ShipPart.snapPoints adds builder snap points you drag in the Scene view.
• Added Ship.AiBehaviour.Evasive (EvasiveAIShip) and DroneType.Mobile.
• Added IAutoPilot.RequiresShip() and WorldMutationType.FleetAssembler.
• IDamage now exposes BaseDamage, BaseStatusEffectChance and BaseCritChance.
• LauncherProjectile.dpsHitFraction now defaults to 0.125 on the orb prefabs.