Follow-Up Patch - Pilot Orders & Powerup Clarity
This update is a focused onboarding and feedback pass built from recent Steam Feedback & Suggestions.
The goal is simple: help new pilots learn the important Mayhem mechanics, and make spent defensive or charge powerups stop looking like they still have value.
What Changed
Pilot Orders
- Added Pilot Orders to the main menu as optional starter combat drills for Mayhem.
- The board shows three active orders at a time and rotates in the next unfinished goal after completed goals have had time to be noticed.
- Starter goals now focus on core skills: boss defeat, near-miss streaks, 1000 and 2500 total enemy kills, support ships, Phase, Blink Drive survival, Slow Time boss finishes, and reaching Sector 10.
- Completed Pilot Orders can be reviewed from the Hangar progress view.
- How To Play now explains Pilot Orders as optional drills that hide once cleared.
Powerup Clarity
- Shield now gives clearer shield-break feedback when it absorbs a hit.
- After Shield is spent, the active HUD state changes to an empty/spent read instead of implying protection remains.
- Bomb charge powerups now stop showing a normal active timer when all charges are gone.
- Bomb at 0 charges is marked as empty briefly, so 0/3 does not look like an active timed powerup.
Why This Changed
Pilot Orders are meant to teach the game, not turn Nova Swarm into a chore list. They are finite, local, optional, and there are no new rewards, rerolls, daily missions, or Steam achievements attached to them.
The Shield and Bomb changes come directly from player feedback: if a powerup has already been spent, the UI should say that clearly. The screen can be loud, but it should not lie.
Tiny Foundry