Aether & Iron · published · build 24032414
This update focuses on several areas we've seen players discussing, including controller usability, inventory management, combat pacing, and overall game performance.
One of the biggest changes in this update is a new save file compression system. Saves are now significantly smaller and take up less Steam Cloud storage. Alongside this, we've continued optimising performance throughout the game, helping improve loading and startup times.
We've also made several controller support improvements, streamlined several combat encounters, and added some quality-of-life improvements to inventory management.
Combat
Improved the look of the Aether Rat Transport vehicle with clearer primary and secondary colors.
Reduced the length of Dance Hall combat encounter.
Reduced the length of Luca Weapon Dealers combat encounter.
Improved opponent behaviour in Heist Escape combat encounter.
Reduced difficulty and improved opponent behaviour in bonus combat (available in the demo).
Increased scrap rewards from combat encounters.
Narrative & Scenes
Added new sounds to the Undersky Archive.
Added vehicles to Central Park.
Added crowds to Ellis Island.
Improved the appearance of the Dreamland vault door.
Improved how vehicles of different sizes appear in garages.
Improved character shadows in the Nations Crusade Dance Hall.
UI/UX
Added a new tutorial to better explain changing crew turn order.
Updated button layout when accepting combat and dialogue items and made them more consistent.
You can swap items of equal size by dragging and dropping them on each other.
You can double-click items in other inventories to add it to yours (e.g. buy from a store, or take a combat reward).
Improved item and status effect descriptions in certain ability tooltips.
Lots of controller support improvements!
Use joysticks and D-Pad to navigate tutorials.
Select UI elements in combat with the controller cursor.
Added clearer controller hotkeys to combat abilities.
Misc
Added compression to save files so that the game saves and loads faster and so that save files take up less space and cloud storage.
Reduced memory usage across the game for faster load and boot times.
Combat
Fixed the direction of the Scout Rifle visual effects.
Narrative & Scenes
Fixed MacOS-specific progression issue at Marm’s Roadblock.
Fixed issue where some checkpoints would not automatically progress after they were completed.
Fixed issue where not all POIs in the Dreamland Garage displayed on first load.
Fixed an incorrect POI in the Abandoned Shipyard.
Fixed issue with being able to exit the Dreamland Hippodrome early.
Fixed an oversized POI at the Crumbling Island’s Edge.
Fixed the position of Mr Blanc’s cigarette.
Fixed newspaper reveal not triggering as expected in the Dance Hall.
Fixed issue where camera focused on the wrong spot at the Rebel HQ.
UI/UX
Fixed highlight not always appearing on the first dialogue option when using a controller.
Fixed issue with some storage compartments spilling out of their container.
Fixed not being able to access “Recover” button in Load Game screen on controller.
Fixed not being able to access “EULA” button on controller.
Removed Windowed mode options on Steam Deck (game always runs full screen).
Fixed issue with being able to exit vehicle customization early on controller.
Fixed issue with rapidly interacting with the Ferry at The Hole on controller.
Fixed issue with some store inventories overflowing on certain aspect ratios.
Fixed issue with control bindings while renaming save files during combat.
Fixed issue with dropdown options selecting automatically on controller.
Fixed issue with swapping compatible crew vehicles.
Fixed issue with interacting with selecting inventory items on controller.
Misc
Fixed the feedback form sometimes timing out and not sending feedback.
[Steam] Fixed issue with keyboard not appearing in Big Picture Mode.
Fixed issue with Texture Quality settings not always persisting on reload depending on other graphics options.