I said I wanted to do one more update before 2020 was over, and it's actually a pretty big one! The last version letter was 'e', so next it's the perfect letter to sum up the year:
F 2020!
A near-universally shared sentiment we'd all like to express regarding this pandemic / recession / political / rioting year. So I'd like to close it out with another awesome feature update. Here's what you can expect:
Environmental Shots
How many times were phasers used to dig or burn or otherwise mess with the environment? Plenty! Why can't I do that in Approaching Infinity?!
Now you can!
Previously, you could only affect the environment when there was a monster to shoot. No more! Now you can spend all day shooting a tree or a rock or the broad side of a shipwreck if you want.
You'll still need a weapon that has some kind of special power, like cryo, explosive, of incendiary. Launchers will always have a chance to alter the scenery, regardless of what type it is. They're just that powerful.
And speaking of launchers: you will now take proximity damage from all types of launchers if you fire them at point blank range. Stop shooting yourself! :P
Anyway, you can now shoot anywhere within range and line-of-sight, either by left clicking (once to select the target, and again to actually fire), or using the "Peer/Look" command, which now has the additional shortcut [CTRL]+[F], then pressing [F] again to fire.
Try it!
Earthquakes
When planet scanning was introduced, suddenly there was a wealth of information to be gathered and acted upon. Many of the planet's stats have effects on gameplay: fires spread faster on planets with high atmospheric oxygen, and sonic weapons don't work without enough atmospheric pressure, things like that.
But one readout was mostly for show: tectonics.
Uh oh...
Yep, now you have to look out for planet-quakes! Any planet where the scan shows "frequent" or "constant" tectonics will sometimes have ground-shaking ripples propagate across their surfaces. These disturbances don't last too long, but they can hurt you if you get too close (they also hurt monsters and your shuttle!), and they can leave a mess.
The deeper you go into caves, the worse they get :)
New UI
As a first step towards introducing multiple UIs for the game (another request from David the artist), and in response to a thread here on Steam...
We are experimenting with having a different user interface for non-perma-death games. It's gold, and it's just the right side of the screen so far. Perma-death games will not see any change.
But maybe in the future, we can have UI choices based on accomplishments...
Fixes and Changes
- Fixed: a display bug that always said "unexplored". (thanks Huntroid!)
- Fixed: Narcratu ships will never surrender!
- Changed: All grenades now have some chance of destroying cave-in traps.
- Changed: Launchers hurt you at point-blank range (don't forget!)
- Changed: Flying monsters are immune to certain ground-based effects.
- Changed: You get even *more* oxygen with every space suit!
- Added: There are 4 new kinds of custom cursor available.
That's It, go celebrate, stay safe, have fun!