Patch note timestamp: 2026-06-19 CEST.

Hi pilots,

This update gives Nova Swarm a stronger first impression and a clearer route back into a run. The old flat start screen has been rebuilt into a cinematic hangar menu, with the ship on the launch deck, the swarm overhead, and the main actions grouped in a readable bottom dock.

New Hangar Start Menu

The new start menu now frames Nova Swarm around the launch bay itself. Launch Run, Sector Challenge, Ship Hangar, Leaderboard, Threat Codex, Achievements, and Settings all live in the bottom dock, with compact Music, How To Play, and Exit Game controls kept in the top-right corner.

The result is a clearer menu that still gets you into the action quickly.

Sector Challenge Start Points

Sector Challenge now has a dedicated start-point selector. Unlocked, ready, overrun, and locked sectors are easier to scan, and the right-hand panel explains exactly what will happen before you launch.

• Sector 5 starts at Sector 5.
• Checkpoint 10 starts at Sector 11.
• Checkpoint 20 starts at Sector 21.
• Checkpoint 30 starts at Sector 31.

Clearer Run Feedback

The sector intro and HUD pass make active runs easier to read. Sector name, current trait, record target, score, lives, and mission status are now surfaced more clearly around the action.

What Changed

• Current live build for this patch: BuildID 23809188.
• Rebuilt the start menu as a cinematic hangar scene with the player ship launching under the swarm.
• Added the new bottom dock layout for Launch Run, Sector Challenge, Ship Hangar, Leaderboard, Threat Codex, Achievements, and Settings.
• Added new menu icon art and derived runtime glyphs for the dock actions.
• Added a Sector Challenge start-point selector so unlocked checkpoint starts are easier to find and understand.
• Improved checkpoint copy so start sectors are explicit before launch.
• Improved menu motion so the hangar scene feels alive without making the buttons harder to read.
• Tightened dock text lanes, icon spacing, and safe areas so labels and glyphs stay inside their tiles across common desktop and laptop sizes.
• Kept top-right utility buttons compact, including Music, How To Play, and Exit Game.
• Threat Codex unread markers now appear only for unread intel.

Build Notes

• AppID remains 4765070.
• Windows depot remains 4765071.
• Depot manifest for this build: 2093552943102439710.
• Global leaderboard identity remains nova_swarm_global_score_v2.
• No achievement, leaderboard, save-format, or store metadata configuration was changed in this update.

Thanks for the feedback on the new menu pass. This one should make Nova Swarm feel sharper before the first shot is even fired.

Tiny Foundry