new UI sketch
The Red Solstice is nearing the end of it's Early Access phase and is nearing a full release. After spending a week at the Reboot Develop conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia, where we gathered feedback from some of the veterans of the industry, and making final arrangements with our publisher Nkidu games, we are confident we can do it (if we put off nonessential tasks such as sleeping for a few months).
Work on the singleplayer campaign is continuing at full speed with most of the essential systems already in place and mission design itself being revised and polished based on internal testers feedback. In the upcoming weeks we expect that more of you who have supported us so far will get the opportunity run through at least parts of the singleplayer experience and help us make it even better with your insights and feedback.
Part of the game that has always been a bit painful for us is the UI. It has gone through multiple revisions, but we were never quite satisfied with how easy it was for new players to grasp. Now finally we are in the middle of a new revision we are confident is going to perform well both in regards to usability, esthetics and intuitiveness. Some of the new UI's elements have already been implemented with this version, while others will be introduced as they are finished. A rough sketch of the new UI has been included in this announcement.
Among other improvements provided with this update are three new components, marksman neutralizer, hellfire guardian and marksman marauder component. Work is being done on the skills that remain to be finished, and we expect to have a full set soon, ready for final balancing and polishing pass.
Work continues on the tactical mode, a special multiplayer mode that enables a player to drop with up to three AI followers and control them in a bullet time mode. Based on community input, a lot of problems have been addressed, with few, including one quite nasty random crash, still preventing us from making it part of the official release version. It can be tested in the testers branch though.
Since new systems are being introduced, some of which require their own keybinds, we had to do some beneath the hood changes to the way settings files are loaded. We apologize about custom keybinds that might have been lost in the process.
Three new sectors are in late development, including military, a large chaotic sector featuring a new mechanic concerning supply crates, and docks, a smaller sector, also featuring supply crates. All of them can already be tested on the testers version.
PS. there is a new powerful legendary item in the game. Good luck finding a way to get it.