This update improves Mercury autopilot fuel efficiency, updates rendering and lighting systems, adds the new Plume Renderer to Mercury and Gemini, enhances the Mercury cockpit, and resolves reported issues.
Note: If you experience new issues related to this update, please report them. You can revert back the a previous build using the Steam betas tab for the game. Most recent rollback option: Reentry Version 0.99.88.
Mercury ASCS
The Mercury ASCS is responsible for automatic attitude control. I made some improvements to it and fixed an issue where it would typically overshoot in roll, then enter a ping/pong mode until the target has been reached. I corrected the rate limiter issue that caused this to happen, and improved a few other things to reduce fuel consumption.
Tips: It is always recommended to use a manual mode for most of the flight.
Earth Rendering / Atmosphere shader fixes
I fixed a shader issue in the Earth Atmosphere shader that previously caused a NaN (Not a Number error). This created a small spark in the atmosphere as the faulty pixel was overbright and triggered the bloom system (many believed this was lightning strikes or other phenomenon. It became a little thing). For you who wondered what this actually was, now you have the answer.
As this is fixed I was finally able to re-enable the games blooming logic as part of the post processing effects.
This can make it possible to further down the line make an option to toggle off the Lens Flare, and instead render a bloomed sun. I will at a later update make it possible to toggle off the Bloom Effect in the post processing layer.
In addition, I made some improvements to the Earth and Cloud brightness settings and coloring to try and reduce the brightness of Earth, and the occasional but rather blinding areas where if over a desert with clouds below you, could be quite annoying. I will continue to iterate but I hope this reduces the issue.
Astronaut/Crew Hider
The astronaut hider responsible to hide the astronaut if your camera is near or inside its head had an issue that I though was corrected in the previous update. It was not, and I rewrote the logic. It should now work as intended.
New Launch Vehicle Plumes for Mercury and Gemini
I am continuing my pursuit of improving the plumes in the Mercury and Gemini ascent. These are quite simple but will adjust itself as the rocket climbs. You can see that the plume isn't static. Its size and shape is dynamic and will look different at lower altitudes compared to higher altitudes.
P01 Timescale block
Players trying to time scale through the P01 alignment in the Apollo Command Module before liftoff might have noticed that it can cause the alignment to fail. I have made a quick check to disable time scaling during P01 alignment.
Mercury Cockpit Improvements and Rendering
As I was fixing some issues with rendering and lighting conditions in the cockpits, along with re-enabling bloom, and decided to take a few hours to improve some of the elements inside the Mercury cockpit. This is the oldest craft, but the first step for most new players. When you enter the cockpit you will see new and improved cockpit indicator lights, fixes to a few gauges, updates to the Earth Path Indicator (EPI) model, and general fixes to various interactable components. I have also fixed an issue with the SSAO layer that could cause barely visible dark lines (artifacts).
Dynamic Cabin Audio
I continued to iterate on cabin audio in Project Mercury. I replaced the cabin depressurize and repressurize placeholder sound effects with new ones, and improved their logic. I also worked on the EPI and added its ticking noise. This is a test of the 3D cockpit sound effect.
Unity Security Update
A Unity security patch has been applied to the games executable to accommodate a security issue in the Unity Game Engine.
End-of-Early-Access Price Adjustment
As the game prepares to leave Early Access and launch version 1.0, the price is adjusted as mentioned in the Early Access interview on the games Steam Store page.
To accommodate Steam schedules, sale cooldowns and release logistics in November 2025, the price will be increased as soon as Steam publishes the new prices. The price of 34.99 USD is the final price for 1.0.
The journey doesn’t stop at 1.0 - it’s just the start of the next chapter. You can hear about the journey and the 1.0 release here, followed by the recording of my Ask-Me-Anything (AMA) I held October 1st.
The Ask-Me-Anything:
Patch notes:
Fixed the Earth Rendering sun reflection blob on the oceans
Fixed the root cause of the Atmospheric Flashes issue, it was caused by a Nan in two of the atmosphere shaders.
Astronaut Hider fixes
Improved Mercury Redstone Launch vehicle plume
Improved Mercury Atlas Launch vehicle plumes
Improved Gemini Titan Launch vehicle plumes
P01 timescale block
Mercury ASCS roll overshooting issue
Minor changes to CM lesson 9, Earth Entry
Fixed an issue with the RCS Rate Command logic in both Mercury and Gemini
Small updates to the Mercury EPI
Small updates to the Mercury Cockpit light indicators
Fixes and improvements to the Graphics Rendering logic
Fixes to the Earth brightness and tone
Fixes to the Clouds renderer, and re-coloring
Unity Security Patch
Update: Another build was released due to some meta changes, version is still the same.