Hi all, that's right - Relic Space is finally ready to transition out of Early Access, with the release date set for 19th July!
Here's a preview of what the full release will include:
Main Story Campaign
This is the big one - a whole new game mode allowing you to continue on from the story-based missions previously available in the tutorial, right through to an epic victory scenario.
We'll avoid going into details to avoid spoilers, but I can say it should take at least 10 hours to complete, and has been designed so that there continues to be an incentive to participate in the random missions already in the Early Access version (adding significantly more hours to a run!).
In addition to the main story missions, the universe of Relic Space will also be fleshed out by numerous brand new dialog options with random NPCs.
And look out for a major new faction - with 5 challenging new ship classes to defeat - that will gradually be encountered as you progress towards the endgame.
Controller and Steam Deck support
This will hopefully be a big plus for those who prefer to use a controller, or steam deck.
Since Relic Space is quite a keyboard-heavy game it's not 'full' controller support, and unlikely to be 'verified' on Steam Deck anytime soon.
However from my own experience during testing, it'll be very possible to do a full playthrough on steam deck if you're willing to make a few compromises - in particular moving your ship using a joystick actually feels better than mouse or keyboard imho!
Steam Achievements
Every game needs them, right? With so many game modes and difficulty levels available - including ironman mode - they might also inspire your next Relic Space challenge.
There are 40 achievements already live on the Steam page - so feel free to check them out! - and potentially more to come.
Balance improvements and bug-fixes
Getting difficulty and balance right is a challenge in a game as big and procedurally generated as Relic Space, and it's been fantastic to get really useful feedback on this area throughout Early Access.
The full release will incorporate numerous tweaks to how enemy ship difficulty changes during progression from early to late game, while at the same time hopefully provided more variety and challenge where needed.
As you'd expect there's also a host of user experience improvements and bugfixes too, Some I particularly like are the ability to highlight Relic missions in the sector map, and that the main equipment status/heat/energy panels stay open after entering and leaving a station.
Join the Discord
As usual to check out the Discord to discuss the game with fellow fans and the developer.