We have decided to delay the release of the game from early access to full version, because we got some amazing feedback and some amazing ideas from some players and i think we should include them in the full version. so i am releasing all the nice features and things i had finished in early access, so you all get to enjoy them, there is TONS more coming over the next week or so. #New Features
Healing Lasers: Your orbital and exhaust nodes can now fire healing beams that restore your health! When these beams hit your core, they heal you at the rate of your Regenerate stat. Orbital nodes with healing lasers automatically face toward you and stay close during free flight, while exhaust nodes aim backward to create a healing barrier. These beams have perfect accuracy and operate silently.
Cannibal Beams: A new weapon that drains life from enemies and feeds it to you! Cannibal beams damage enemies while simultaneously healing you, with both effects controlled by your Cannibalism Speed stat. The stronger the stat, the more damage you deal and health you gain. These beams also operate silently and preserve their original color.
Weapon Accuracy Control: Two new stats let you fine-tune weapon precision - "Spread Increase" makes weapons less accurate for wider area coverage, while "Spread Decrease" makes them more accurate for precise targeting. Works with all weapon types including projectiles, bombs, spray effects, lasers, and thruster particles.
Escape Key Shortcut: Press Escape when not in a game session to quickly deselect components and close panels, just like right-clicking. During active gameplay, Escape still opens the pause menu as expected.
Center-Screen Popups: Important notices (like new enemy intros, level-ups, and upgrade confirmations) now appear in the center and stack upward. They slide in from the top and cleanly shuffle when one disappears.
Enemies Dance on Their Notes: When a song hits the note an enemy represents, they do a quick signature "dance"—even from far away. It's fast, flashy, and then they snap right back to normal.
Epic Death Explosion: When you die, get ready for a spectacular show! A massive shockwave, blinding flash, sparks everywhere, energy globes flying, and debris scattering—all while your core disappears so you can see the full cinematic effect. The game over screen waits 1.5 seconds so you can appreciate the destruction.
Bosses by Merit (Per-Note Bosses): Defeat enough enemies of a note and its boss arrives. Beat that boss to unlock the next enemy type. One note at a time—earn your way to the full orchestra.
Enemy Meters on the HUD: 12 new meters track kills for each note.
Shows the note name and status: "Boss Coming" → "BOSS ALIVE" → "BOSS KILLED"
Pulses when you score a kill toward that boss, and during the boss fight it pulses when the boss takes damage
The meter's visuals ramp up in intensity and speed as it fills, and while the boss is alive it shows the boss's actual health
Uses each enemy type's signature color automatically
Progressive Unlock System: Many features now need to be earned through gameplay before you can use them:
Weapon Behaviors: Projectile weapons unlock after killing 100 projectile enemies, Laser weapons unlock after killing 50 teleporting enemies, Mine weapons require reaching level 5 once and dealing 10,000 total damage, Healing Lasers unlock after killing 100 healing enemies and reaching level 5 in a session, Cannibal weapons unlock after killing 100 cannibal enemies and reaching level 5 in a session (Spray weapons are always available)
Musical Beats: Midtones beat unlocks after surviving 10 minutes in a session, Treble beat requires killing 1,500 total enemies and reaching level 5 in a session (Bass beat is always available)
Musical Notes: Each note (except C#) requires killing 100 enemies of that specific note and defeating that note's boss (Note C# is always available)
Special Features: Free Flight unlocks after reaching level 10 in a session, the Boosting system unlocks after earning 10,000 total coins and reaching level 10 in a session
Achievement Notifications: When you unlock something for the first time, a popup appears to celebrate your progress
Smart Tooltips: Locked features show exactly what you need to do to unlock them, and you can't accidentally use them until you've earned them
#Improvements
More Natural Particle Bounces: Kinetic and Spray particles now react to your BounceRate stat by reducing how much speed they lose on impact. Higher BounceRate = less slowdown when bouncing. This makes ricochets feel snappier without changing their lifetime.
Fresh Song Discovery: The song list now shuffles randomly each time you start the game, so you'll discover different tracks instead of always seeing the same alphabetical order. Your custom songs still appear at the top, but everything else gets mixed up to keep things fresh.
Healing Enemies Join the Fight: Some enemies can now link a beam to a nearby wounded ally and steadily heal them during combat. The stronger the healer, the faster the heal. You'll see a visible beam while the healing is active.
Cannibal Enemies Evolve: A new type of enemy can drain health and power from other enemies, growing larger and stronger as they feed. These cannibal enemies become increasingly dangerous the longer they survive.
Silent Beam Effects: Healing and cannibal beams now operate silently, creating a more focused audio experience during combat.
Smoother Play Flow: No more clicking "Accept Costs" before starting a run—the game now handles this automatically when you press Play. One less button to worry about!
Clearer Announcements: New enemy type alerts are easier to notice mid-fight.
Snappier Animations: These little flourishes always end on time and won't get stuck, even if notes hit rapidly.
Boss Glow-Up: Bosses are now a single enemy that arrives stronger than the current wave (spawning at +10 levels by default) and scaled up in size. Cleaner fights, bigger presence.
Steady Pressure: Enemy count ramps up smoothly over the first ~15 minutes of a run instead of jumping with difficulty ticks.
Longer Climb: Enemies and bosses can scale much further now (difficulty can go up to level 100), so late-game keeps getting spicier.
Progression Clarity: Only the current note's meter counts. After you defeat its boss, that meter grays out and stops counting, and the next note joins the battle.
#Fixed Issues
Spray Effects Work After Session Return: Fixed an issue where spray particle effects would stop working on components you add after returning from a game session. Now spray effects will properly emit particles for any newly configured spray behaviors, ensuring your weapon effects work consistently.
No More Accidental Zooming in Menus: Fixed mouse wheel zooming the camera when you're browsing song lists, preset panels, or other menus. Now the camera stays put when panels are open, so you can scroll through options without accidentally changing your view.
Enemy Hit Effects Now Match Real Damage: Fixed enemy particle effects that were spamming particles every frame when hit by lasers. Now enemy pieces particles are emitted based on actual damage delivered - roughly 1 particle per 1 damage, with a guaranteed minimum of 1 particle when a new hit starts after a brief gap. This makes the visual effects accurately represent how much damage enemies are actually taking instead of looking like massive damage when it's just sustained laser contact.
Smarter Orbital Enemies: Enemies that orbit around you now spiral inward instead of staying at a fixed distance. They approach faster when far away and slow down as they get closer, creating more dynamic and threatening encounters that build tension as they close in.
Enemies no longer sometimes stay deformed after a note animation—they always return to their original shape now.
Your wallet has a bodyguard now: pasting a node's settings won't sneak you into debt. If a paste would cost more coins than you have, it's blocked and your previous setup stays intact.