Crew,
we're out with Patch 06 and it's a Major update to the game. We reworked the Sonar, introduced new missions and items, huge performance improvements and a new World UI.
Here's the complete changelog:
Reworked the Sonar
The new Sonar sends an alert when there's stuff that can be found around you. When the Sonar buzzes, you can enter Search mode. While in Search Mode, Signals will approach your Airship - you'll need to lock onto these signals by pressing LMB (or A on the Controller) at the right time. When you do so they'll be highlighted for you and you'll be able to explore them and find out what's down there.
New Missions & New Rewards
8 Different mission types can be found using the Sonar including new wave-based encounters, timed deliveries and more.
A ton of new rewards can be obtained from these new missions including:
10 new videogames of Epic rarity
17 new Chroma Paints
Recipes as a collectible item - no more guesswork!
A new Enemy variant and Sonar upgrades
Introduced a new enemy variant: the Gunblade Goblin.
Sonar upgrades can be found and purchased from shops around the world. They make Search Mode more forgiving.
New and improved world UI
A much needed revamp of the world UI with several new indicators:
Pilots now display their mood, health status and aspirations.
A damaged mech now shows a warning.
Added a warning for low supplies.
Added a Wages timer and a clearer notification.
Added a counter for Activity Tokens
Reworked end of combat
In preparation of future updates, we've reworked the end of combat to be more tied to what happened during a battle.
Changed how mood is affected by combat. Now should reflect more closely what happened during the battle, resulting even in Mood increases in case of victory (but bigger swings in case of ugly losses).
Changed how XP is distributed at the end of a battle, now scaling with the difficulty of the encounter.
Pilots can no longer be wounded as a result of losing a Transport escort encounter. Wounds are always the result of the mech being destroyed.
Significant performance improvements
We've significantly optimized the game in the open world and generally optimized textures and streaming. As a result the game should always be comfortably above 30fps on Steam Deck.
This obviously means a significant bump in performance on older machines and lower VRAM usage that should benefit users of older graphic cards.
Further character customization
We have added a ton of new hairstyles for the female character. 93 to be exact.
Bugfixing & Minor Changes
Fixed various issues around orders that included an attack and a movement (i.e. Backflip).
Various fixes to issues outside of combat.
Character Creator is now fully localized.
What is next for NGO
Next on our sights is the Airship! We have new activities in the work and a significant overhaul of existing ones. Stay tuned!
Should you encounter any issue with this version, the previous version of the game is available in a beta branch called "previous".
We share regular updates with our community on Discord and our weekly stream.
Be sure to join us on on Discord to interact with the development team and be up to date with everything-NGO.
Thanks folks!
GP