Week 3 Update
This week's update brings the new Plasma Bomb special attack to the game, hurling enemies into chain reactions, and some enemy and weapon refinements.
These features needs more work, and have been rescheduled 12/4 - 12/11:
Joystick support is still being worked on in the Public Test branch.
New Hyper Abilities need a bit more work before they will be ready for Public test.
Process Improvement
This update comes later than expected. Creating update notes and preparing branches takes time than planned, more time will be scheduled for this in the future to prevent late releases.
Notable Changes
New Plasma Bomb
Available as the default Special Weapon for the E.M.A. Ship
The E.M.A. Ship's primary attack - Plasma Link has also been tweaked to tick at a higher rate, doing more damage overall. An auto-fire / focus switch bug has been fixed on this weapon.
New Throwing Mechanics and Chain Reactions
Thrown enemies bounce off of other enemies and objects even while being destroyed, stunning enemies.
This is the first public version of this feature, which is central to the core theme of Cosmic Destroyer - more exciting updates to this are coming soon - see below "Next Up" section for more.
Special explosions are triggered when ship-to-ship collisions occur, which deal damage to nearby enemies, wreckage blocks bullets and hits for more collisions. More potential devastation in every throw!
When throwing an enemy, a glowing trail with a fading outline of the object is shown. Thrown enemy ships block bullets.
Medium sized enemies can be knocked back and stunned by throws as well. (Laser Miner, Cruisers, Stage 3 Assault, etc.)
Known Issue - currently throwing an object at an enemy homing missile will destroy the missile but the object will bounce off. This will be corrected in the future so that the missile consistently detonates without the thrown object bouncing off.
Crush Shell Focus mode Bullet penetration
When firing the Crush Shell in focus mode bullets can now destroy a target and continue on, applying any remaining damage to the next target.
In effect, a single focus shot can destroy more than one popcorn enemy, and higher levels can blast through an entire wave.
More Scrap and Dynamic Objects
Shooting asteroids and debris cause them to move, this minor collision can also lightly damage enemies and help clear paths when large numbers of obstacles are clumped together.
Enemies and Stages
Overhaul of the Ship Activation system, which helps ensure ships spawn with the intended behaviors and also improves performance.
Stage 1 Ice Mining Area - Reduced number of Ice Asteroids and slightly reduced speed to give players more time to fight the Gunboat.
Stage 1 Popcorn enemy behavior tweaked to behave as intended at varying speeds.
Interceptors in Shipyard 7's factory area now take off as the player is entering the area.
Split Shot Bots now slowly edge into the screen when they start firing, which provides a bit more pressure to the fight.
Coming Soon
Chain Reactions with Hyper Abilities
The chain reaction throw introduced today provides a glimpse of what is coming. The previous hit multiplier system was OK on it's own but will be enhanced to provide more incentive than simply scoring, with additional firepower and more player choice. The hit multiplier will be renamed to Tier Multiplier and progress represented in the HUD using a Gauge.
Hyper Abilities will be activated when "breaking through" multiplier thresholds, resetting the gauge to build to the next tier. Players can still build up their hits with primary attacks, but performing throw kills, combos, chain reactions, or splash damage kills (multi-kills from sub-weapons, etc.) will provide a longer-lasting bonus to the Tier Multiplier Gauge, enabling players to quickly break through to the next tier using these chaotic and risky moves. When this happens, the Hyper Ability for that tier will be awarded to the player, supercharging their weapons, sub-weapons, and providing new abilities. This will also include weapon swaps, allowing the player to change primary weapons. This Hyper state will persist while the player maintains their tier multiplier, and for a short duration after the multiplier is lost. This rewards players for making bold, risky moves offering more powerful and impressive capabilities and even more scoring opportunity.
More Object Variety
New salvaged objects to be found in wreckage, such as fuel canisters, objects which deflect bullets, and more pick-up weapons (two in development: Magnetic Mines, Mining Drill)
Stage 2's alien area could use some objects to grab and hurl at enemies.