Hey there,
As we’re hard at work getting the first major update ready to go live, we wanted to take a moment to share some insights into what's coming with it.
Workbench Overhaul
One of the core issues that we've had identified right after out launch was that gathering Items, levelling them up and increasing their overall power level was not as fun as it could have been. That is why we got working on overhauling the workbench feature.
Augmentation System
One of the major additions to the workbench is the new Augmentation system. You can now use different Crafting Modules, which are obtained through Recycling, to level up your selected gear by raising its XP bar. The rarity of the Crafting Module determines the amount of XP it provides, with higher rarity modules offering more XP. As your gear levels up, it will require increasing amounts of XP, meaning it takes more to reach level 10 than level 2. While killing enemies also contributes to the XP bar, the amount gained is significantly lower than when using Crafting Modules.
Recycling System
The Recycling system has been revamped. You can now recycle unwanted gear to acquire Crafting Modules, which will be automatically available at the Workbench. Note that the gear will be destroyed during the recycling process.
Quality Forge
The new Quality Forge allows you to upgrade your gear's rarity. Each rarity level requires a set number of different Crafting Modules to advance from one tier to another, with a guaranteed 100% success rate. However, if you prefer to take risks, you can still gamble by using fewer resources for a chance at a boost, similar to the current system.
Modification System
The Modification system has also been updated. In addition to rerolling modifications, you can now transfer a modification from an existing weapon to your main weapon. Be aware that the fodder weapon will be consumed in this process, and transferring modifications costs more Silicon than rerolling.
Ammunition Crafting
A new Ammo Crafting feature has been introduced, allowing you to craft all types of ammo using Crafting Modules. Each ammo type will require different resources, adding more versatility to your crafting options.
We've also added the ability for Maneuver and Gadgets to be also leveled up to further enhance their effects.
Shop Overhaul
The second major change we're working on is a complete overhaul of how the shop functions. At the moment, we’re not satisfied with how random and unpredictable the shop feels, as it doesn’t provide the experience we had envisioned. Our initial goal was for the shop to behave like a slot machine, aligning with the cyberpunk aesthetic and the theme of greedy corporations. However, we recognize that this randomness isn't delivering the desired experience.
The upcoming changes are designed to give you more control over what you can obtain from the shop, making it a more useful and practical feature. Importantly, we’re making sure that these improvements still preserve the original feel of the shop that fits within the world and theme we’ve created.
Additional Enemy Types
With this update we are introducing three more enemy types that you can fight off. With this change we want to increase the variety of encounters that you face while you are on a mission to make each encounter more engaging.
Additional Stuff and QoL
We are also making progress on implementing localization, with German being the first language introduced. Since it's our native language, this will allow us to effectively test the feature before expanding to additional languages.
In addition to that, items like Ammo and Crafting Modules can now be stacked, making inventory management more efficient. When you extract Crafting Modules, they will be consumed and automatically available in the Workbench, functioning the same way as the Shell Blueprints system.
To help you avoid losing any items, we've added a warning icon that will appear if you still have items left in the Workbench or Shop, serving as a reminder so you won't forget them.
Other
One important note: We know that a lot of you have requested controller support and we want to add it as quickly as possible and we are working hard on getting everything ready for it.
Why can't we implement Controller Support right now?
We are currently facing a challenge where several key features and significant changes still need to be added to the game. Some of these involve major adjustments to the user interface and inputs, which would directly impact the implementation of controller support. If we were to add controller support at this stage, we would end up having to redo a substantial amount of work after these changes are made, leading to an extended Early Access period. The extra work involved wouldn’t just take days to complete, but potentially weeks, causing unnecessary delays. By focusing on completing the necessary feature updates first, we can ensure a smoother and more efficient development process moving forward.
That's it for this Devlog, stay tuned for more as we are getting close to this updates release. Thanks for the read and don't forget to jump on our Discord to say Hi!
Best regards
Shell Runner Team