So a great Steam Next Fest is behind us, with over a thousand new players trying Relic Space! While there's been lot's of positive feedback, there's also been a number of reports of bugs and balance issues, as well as some really detailed discussion of game mechanics, particularly on the Discord.
So since then (after a bit of a break!) I've jumped straight into fixing what I considered to be the highest priority bugs and balance issues. While not the most exciting of updates, it will make the Demo a more polished and well-balanced experience for those trying the Demo for the first time (still available for download from the Steam page).
BALANCE CHANGES
MOD: all mission types are now more evenly distributed in the system
MOD: reduced frequency of ‘stolen goods’ mission variants
MOD: reduced frequency but increased difficulty of ambushes
MOD: reduced frequency of ambushes further for adventure mode
MOD: adventure mode now has a slower event clock
MOD: increase loot from enemy ships
MOD: voidfliers now have two random light weapons instead of medium laser
OTHER IMPROVEMENTS
MOD: improved character selection descriptions
MOD: amended heat warning text display to clarify ability to disable weapons using 'X'
MAP
NEW: added pulses to sector map for additional clarity
NEW: display indicating how many sectors have been explored compared to the maximum available (limited to 8 in the Demo)
FIX: unexplored sectors are now correctly marked with a glowing outline in the system map, and this is noted in the map key section
FIXES
FIX: ‘too heavy for ship’ message incorrectly shown when selling equipment
FIX: bug where pressing R activates equipment skills other than weapon skills
FIX: bug where using power shot can lead to weapons being deactivated
FIX: bug where incorrect skill level shown for techie trait skills in character selection screen
FIX: bug where circle faction stats are initially not shown in faction stat spider chart
FIX: bug where projectiles fired from platforms are too small to be visible
FIX: some issues with explosion animation for certain ships
FIX: incorrect chance of occurrence for certain faction event types
FIX: bug causing soft-lock when loading a 'random missions only' game straight after launching the game.
FIX: incorrect ship class icon for certain ship and platform types
FIX: weight warning sometimes shown when jettisoning goods
FIX: bug where cutscene audio is played at full volume irrespective of saved music volume preference
FIX: bug where background music in splash screen does not initially load with saved music volume preference
FIX: rare unexpected loud sound effect when returning to main view from system map
Thanks for reading and watch this space for more news as we progress towards Early Access!