We're getting ready to release our first public demo of Night Machine, and have added some major updates to the playtest build.
Let us know what you think of the changes, so we can make any final updates to really help our demo shine!
We've added a ship mod system as part of the game's meta-progression, as well as a persistent currency: Helium-3 Crystals.
You'll accumulate Helium-3 through the course of normal play, and can spend it between runs on ship mods. You can then equip up to 3 of those mods on your next run.
Ship mods have various effects, with many more to come:
Augment your ship's max hull
Add more cargo slots to your ship
Start your run with bonus credits to spend in a shop
Pre-damage any enemies you encounter
Allow your weapons to be charged beyond 100%, which does extra damage
Add extra weapon charge when you play two back-to-back energy cards of the same type
We got some feedback that our UI was looking a little bland, so we took the time to add more in-theme buttons and switches, with accompanying satisfying animations. We've also added some light post processing, and a cooler background blur that we whipped up.
Details matter!
Added a theme song to the main menu! (Rest of the soundtrack will be added as it's finished)
Fixed our map generation logic slightly, to reduce the chances of playing the same level more than once in a row
Removed redundant cards, which were better off as mods
Reduced graphics memory footprint, for better performance on lower-spec PCs
If you're not currently part of the Night Machine playtest and would like to try the game and give us feedback before release, you can sign up on our Steam page. We'll be granting access on a rolling basis. As mentioned above, we're releasing our demo publicly soon, so feedback is very much appreciated!
Join our community on Discord and let us know what you think of Night Machine!