Hey Explorers! After the demo went live, I got a pretty solid dose of feedback about things that felt confusing, frustrating, unclear, or just not quite right yet. I’ve been watching Steam, Reddit, Discord, and reviews, and I put together a very concrete list of things to improve. Today I released a new version of the demo focused on the issues that came up most often. Here’s the high-level changelog compared to the first public demo build.
What changed
Removed the real-time demo timer. The demo is now limited by in-game Sols instead of real-world time.
Hardened a bunch of save/load edge cases.
Improved the first minutes of onboarding so the opening flow is clearer and less overwhelming.
Reworked early quest guidance, the current mission pill, quest tooltips, and next-target markers.
Improved the starter system and starter planet rules.
Added a more natural starter ecosystem setup.
Added a preview version of custom crew creation during new game setup.
Added experimental UI scaling from 90% to 110%.
Added scan-complete auto-pause support and other small pacing tweaks.
Improved comms handling, including the comms modal and quick info messages from player ships.
Cleaned up several HUD and layout areas.
Fixed bugs around failed orders, loading screens, cryostasis state after load, colony health, resource warnings, planet labels, scan markers, and various UI panels.
Improved performance and stability in galaxy generation, planet sampling, texture/cache handling, and demo startup flow.
There are also two experimental features in this update. The first one is UI scaling. For now the range is fairly small, from 90% to 110%. I checked most of the important screens at 110% and didn’t spot any major issues, but that does not mean I didn’t miss some cursed little panel hiding in the depths of the UI that overlaps something or crawls under the top or bottom bar. If you notice anything like that, please let me know. :D The second one is something I originally wanted to have ready for the demo, but didn’t manage to finish in time. It is now available in preview: custom colonist creation. During new game setup, in the crew selection step, you can replace each starting colonist with your own custom one. You can choose their first name, last name, key attributes, and traits. Both of these features will keep growing. UI scaling should get a wider range, and colonist creation should eventually get more options, including appearance customization with specific selectable elements. The new demo version is available now. I’m very curious to hear how the game feels after these changes, and what still causes the most confusion or friction. As always, I’m reading demo reviews, Steam discussions, and Discord feedback. And yes, as you can see in the changelog, I removed the demo timer. You are no longer limited by real-world time. The only limit now is the number of in-game Sols you can play. That should give you a lot more room to explore the game without the unnecessary pressure of a real-time countdown. So... buckle up and let’s go? :D Have fun! Szymon