This patch includes:
* Difficulty selection when starting a new game (Easy, Medium, Hard). Easy features slower asteroids with greatly increased base health and shields, while Medium and Hard reward the added challenge with improved loot and research discovery rates.
* The profile screen has received a major overhaul, including improved navigation. Press Left to enter sub-menus, navigate with Up/Down, and press Right to return to the main menu.
* Added an Inventory menu to the profile screen, displaying your collected items with icons and colour-coded stack counts.
* You can now choose from 3 different ship models: Carrier, Fighter and Bomber.
* You can now change the colour mask of your ship.
* You can now change the colour mask of your drone.
* The research screen has been completely redesigned.
* The full research tree is now implemented, with all researches fully functional and represented with icons throughout the interface.
* Magnetics research now attracts loot containers, health pickups and shield pickups.
* Sensor Improvements and Long-Range Scanners now highlight asteroids that are on an actual collision course with you, with the upgraded tier increasing detection range.
* Steam Achievements can now be earned during gameplay.
* Steam Inventory support has been added. Tradable and marketable items can now be acquired while playing.
* Loot containers now spawn during gameplay, with a live counter during the run and a complete loot summary shown on the post-game profile screen.
* Item drops are no longer limited to Steam Inventory items.
* The mining drone has been completely redesigned. It now uses tractor beams to continuously mine asteroid fragments instead of firing bullets.
* Added a countdown before each round begins.
* Added new shaders for both the ship and mining drone.
* The Orbital Station now has a light.
* Added several new assets in preparation for future content, including container and barrel models.
* Asteroid spawning has been completely overhauled, dramatically improving gameplay performance.
* Asteroid dodge tracking has been rewritten to more accurately determine when an asteroid is no longer a threat before awarding score.
* Replaced the underlying file-based player/profile save system with a database-backed solution.
* Improved the underlying item drop system and fixed several asteroid fragment rendering and shading issues.
* Updated the Steam Store page trailer.
* Upgraded the project to Godot 4.7.
Fixed:
* Mouse input has been completely disabled during gameplay. The cursor is now hidden and locked while the game is focused, and automatically restored when the game loses focus.
* Fixed crashes caused by rapid interaction in the ship selection menu.
* Fixed menu navigation triggering multiple times per frame.
* Fixed difficulty options occasionally failing to appear when first opening the profile menu.
* Fixed the post-game loot screen sometimes being skipped and immediately starting another run.
* Fixed research discovery notifications appearing for research that had already been completed.
* Fixed numerous loot, rendering, UI and gameplay issues introduced throughout the 0.8 beta cycle.
Stay safe and drift proper!