I am very pleased to announce our biggest Demo patch yet! Get ready for the Steam Next Fest update, which is now live! Here are some of the highlights to look forward to, and you can find the full patch notes further below.
We have added the first VTOL starting unit choice to the game. The Fire Viper is a capable gunboat and a highly manoeuvrable aircraft built on an attack helicopter chassis. Take to the skies as you vie for control of the Centuria system!
There have been many updates to the pilot RPG system, including three new pilot traits: Arms Master, Demolitionist, and Ordnance Master. These provide new pilot builds to work towards, and new squad archetypes to compose. The pilot attribute Handling has also been upgraded to improve acceleration, deceleration, turn speed, and torso twist/pitch speed for both player and AI controlled units.
Behaviour of the AI has seen significant improvements in this patch. Units are better at navigating difficult terrain, including cliffs and obstacles, infantry make smarter use of movement and jump jets, and units will now defend themselves when threatened- even if they have received a move order. We've also added specialized AI behaviours for fighting Vehicle Dropships, leading to more effective and believable engagements. Auto-battle outcomes are now more realistic, with casualty and experience gains that better reflect battlefield performance.
The refit bay now allows hardpoints to equip weapons up to 1 size category smaller. This opens up a larger variety of builds. For example, a Mech with small weapon hardpoints may wish to equip the lower damage infantry weapons instead to deal with a particularly hot planet, since infantry weapons have no heat cost. I am excited to find out what new and interesting builds you're trying out!
Start of Campaign
New starting unit: Fire Viper VTOL
Pilot career and life choices have been updated
Player starting planet is now guaranteed at least 2 build locations
New and updated tutorial tips
Starting maintenance has been increased (up to 3000 from 2000)
Maintenance per warehouse has been decreased (down to 1500 from 2000)
RPG Systems
New Pilot Trait: Arms Master, squad members pierce damage reduction by 5%
New Pilot Trait: Demolitionist, increase explosion radius by 10%
New Pilot Trait: Ordnance Master, increase squad explosion radius by 5%
Pilot Attribute: Handling, now impacts unit acceleration, turn speed, and twist/pitch speed
Patchwork, Adaptive Alignment, and Auger Analytics effect increased from 10% to 20%
Overwhelm now pierces 5% of each damage reduction source, rather ignore all reduction
Added pilot Rank Chevrons: switches with level up symbol when points available to level up
AI Updates
Auto-Battle: now uses Hill Function instead of Logistic Curve for more realistic battle outcomes
Auto-Battle: casualty and experience gains now better reflect expected combat outcomes
Infantry AI now prefers to use maximum speed and jump jets when navigating obstacles
Unit AI now defends itself even if ordered to move (uses target priority and move location distance)
Unit AI now more capable of scaling cliffs, preventing getting stuck on terrain in some situations
Special Unit AI for fighting a Vehicle Dropship: stand-off and fire, avoid approaching too close
Campaign Changes
Mercenary Companies can now spawn (note that interactions are limited during the demo)
Planetary Diplomacy: Financial Aid cost increased to $300, influence gain increased to 30%
Accessing campaign save data is now more efficient, reducing compute time when a week passes
Clicking anywhere on a Dropship display window will now bring that window to the front
Planet garrison combat value now visible below planet names on stellar map
Updated champion icons to show pilot portrait on hover
Added temperature and gravity icons to planet displays
Planet gravity now impacts manufacturing capacity (lower gravity increases capacity)
Building Hex tooltip now indicate that planet annexation is required for construction
Building Hex context menu can now be opened via left click as well as right click
Removed 'Clear Messages' button from news readout
(it brought only pain when clicked inadvertently)
Pirate Updates
Added info icon whenever a pirate faction is disbanded
Pirate bases with 0 combat value now automatically disband
Cancelling a map loading screen now auto-resolves pirate raid missions instead of skipping them
Mech Refit Bay Updates
Small hardpoints can now also equip infantry size weapons
Medium hardpoints can now also equip small size weapons
Mission Updates
Forced deployment missions such as Assault Pirate Base now split player units into squads
Player squad units now spawn closer to the player during forced deployment
Increased Flamer hitbox sizes
Added flame VFX for units on fire
Added billboard rock variety: Rare Minerals, Boulders, Dark Boulders, Sandstone
Updated Tactical Map to show bodies of water
Updated unit facing indicators on mini map: distinct colours and line types
Re-balanced heat sink efficiency and planet ambient temperatures
Re-balanced planet gravity levels
Reduced width of Weapon Readout HUD in cockpit UI
Encyclopedia Updates
Pilot encyclopedia pages now include current piloted unit near the top
Added encyclopedia entry for Stellar Gates (access by clicking an Interstellar Gate icon)
Added full breakdown tooltips for: Currency, Maintenance, Resources, and Scrap
Miscellaneous
New Unit: Fire Viper VTOL and variant Fire Viper-M
New Camo Unlocks: Wind Horse Interstellar
Base Combat Value for all VTOL units increased from 300 to 400 to reflect combat effectiveness
New loading screen: Martu Maintenance Facility