Update v0.004 — improvements since v0.003

This update focuses on usability, stability, progression, and overall polish across the game.

Main visible improvements in this cycle include:

• a stronger and more polished Base Hub, with better navigation, readability, and flow across key meta screens
• improvements to Characters, Forge, Incubator, Inventory, Archive, and Expedition preparation
• cleaner mixed-input support for controller, keyboard, and mouse navigation
• better character stat, skill, module, and growth presentation
• broader combat and gameplay cleanup across abilities, status logic, progression, and enemy behavior
• a stronger run flow and reward loop, including clearer horde feedback and in-run improvements
• improved save reliability, profile safety, and progression persistence
• more complete Steam readiness, including groundwork for achievements, stats, and Steam Input
• broader quality-of-life and stability work to reduce regressions

Base Hub, navigation, and meta structure

• The Base Hub received a broad usability pass to make it easier to navigate, more stable on return visits, and more readable across multiple sections
• improved overall hub flow and section routing
• better presentation, contextual copy, footer hints, and transitions
• stronger controller-first navigation while preserving keyboard and mouse usability
• smoother handling for reentry, focus recovery, and top-level actions

Characters, roster, modules, skills, and stat readability

• improved character screen flow, roster browsing, detail panes, and stat readability
• better presentation of skills, skill cards, source breakdowns, and profile composition
• stronger growth, attribute, and progression popups
• improved piece-slot management, module actions, and inspector behavior
• tuning to make combat and progression data easier to understand during decision-making

Forge and account-level progression

• The Forge continued evolving into a more readable and reliable progression space
• clearer progression framing and more legible bonus presentation
• better tree navigation, node interactions, camera behavior, and zoom handling
• more robust overlay, points, and hint behavior
• targeted fixes to prevent the return of recently resolved input and visibility issues

Incubator, Archive, Inventory, and content presentation

• polished Incubator flow, banner presentation, reveal steps, and confirmation popups
• fewer cases where popups overflow, trap focus, or block important actions
• better layout behavior across reopening, tab changes, and repeated visits
• improved Inventory browsing and navigation for modules, mutagens, and related content
• Archive catalog and detail presentation refinements

Progression guidance and information surfaces

• clearer information panels and progression feedback across hub screens
• improved content presentation and readability
• better surfacing of progression-relevant information and guidance
• smoother behavior in information-heavy screens as more data is exposed

New game flow, onboarding, and run preparation

• improvements to the new game flow and character-setup presentation
• clearer stat layout and class-detail presentation during creation
• better controller map navigation and setup usability
• stronger handoff from setup into the hub and then into a run
• improved onboarding tutorial structure, overlays, and presentation

Combat, classes, abilities, and data consistency

• updates to combat math, source resolution, and runtime stat handling
• cleanup and tuning across active abilities, auto-attacks, and class combat data
• better organization and consistency across combat families and character identity
• balancing adjustments across enemy stats, traits, mutagens, and related progression definitions
• continued refinement of player progression and modular combat expression
• abilities touched in this span include projectile, fire, ice, lightning, and class-specific offensive tools

Run flow, horde systems, progression rewards, and HUD

• better horde feedback to communicate large-wave pressure and live combat state
• stronger reward handling, progression payout flow, and run persistence
• improvements to enemy pacing, spawn setup, loot pools, and progression behavior
• better onboarding overlay handling during live runs
• updates to HUD behavior, combo feedback, death-screen flow, minimap support, loading overlays, and pause-menu usability
• improved runtime UI behavior across common display sizes

Enemy cards, mutagens, socket rules, and progression resources

• added and adjusted modular-piece resources for heads, arms, torsos, and legs
• more authored content around mutagens and enemy-card definitions
• better groundwork for richer build expression, enemy modifiers, and slot-driven progression rules

Save system, profile compatibility, and progression integrity

• further improvements to save reliability and progression safety
• safer behavior under load failures, missing data, and compatibility mismatches
• better handling for onboarding state, Forge state, RNG behavior, and profile continuity
• continued emphasis on preserving progress and avoiding destructive fallback behavior

Steam readiness and platform support

• improved Steam readiness and controller support
• stronger groundwork for achievements, stats, and Steam Input
• safer platform behavior and more reliable launch conditions
• better release stability while preparing the game for broader distribution

Playtest feedback and live iteration support

• better support for tracking issues found during playtesting
• stronger iteration workflows for responding to live feedback
• smoother handling of follow-up fixes during active testing

Stability, quality, and maintainability

• broader stability coverage across hub, characters, Forge, Incubator, combat, save handling, and runtime UI
• targeted fixes for popups, skill cards, pause-menu inputs, stats layout, onboarding, save compatibility, and more
• continued cleanup to reduce repeated regressions and improve long-term maintainability
• additional support work to keep the project easier to update and more reliable over time