- Capped main-game Dust Muncher waves and Equipment Hugger groups at 3 creatures and tier 4 for the first 20 played minutes. Added config controls for the duration, group size and tier cap; existing tier-1 introductory periods still apply.
- Added the missing purple aura to the Cosmic Ray Gun on the game map.
- Reduced redundant particle processing and repeated nearby-dust searches during bulk merges, Particle Slingshot activity and Magnetic Suction Bomb effects.
- Spread Magnetic Suction Bomb automatic target selection across frames and reduced save-time dust scanning. Autosaves now serialize and sign a separate snapshot in the background.
- Reduced repeated Steam connection work during equipment upgrades while keeping pending achievements queued for retry.
- Gave the Dust Propel Barrel a weathered metal finish with restrained rust and edge wear, and a darker graphite base for clearer separation from the upper body. Preserved its accepted mechanics, removed unused mesh tangent data, and corrected surface-texture imports so wraps retain their intended resolution.
- Fixed the Dust Propel Barrel snapping back to its pre-flight aim on arrival, including when carrying charged dust. Its 3D rig now stays active through transport, the thruster deploys/retracts over 1.0/0.95 seconds, and hover/click targeting follows a compact body-and-muzzle footprint. Polished curved-metal shading and the orange/cyan wrap, with Arctic and Hazard material previews prepared for review.
- Promoted the accepted Dust Propel Barrel 3D model into production with a shallower base, cleaned and UV-mapped geometry, matching placement artwork and aura. Strengthened flight roll and acceleration/braking pitch, added a distinct contract-hold-extend firing stroke and stronger body rock, and replaced instant stationary aiming with a slower banked turn. Charged dust waits for aim alignment before firing.