Version 0.70 Major QoL feature update now live!

We've just released a new update (version 0.70 Early Access) that includes a massive list of fixes and new features across the game. The team has been working to address the community's feedback while getting brand new content ready for our 1.0 launch later this year. Take a look at all of the changes below, from QoL features in combat to full controller support, and more!

[h2]Change List[/h2]

Added a "Skip Round Break" feature. In the "Command Panel" in combat, there is now a button that will prevent the game from pausing between combat rounds.
"Skip Round Break" and Auto-Battle settings now save and stay across missions.
End of combat results screen now animates in, and XP gain bars are animated. Sound effects added here as well.
Characters in the back row receive less damage from Stamina damaging attacks targeting them. Characters using physical (stamina) damaging abilities from the back row deal lower damage to the target. Will damaging abilities are not affected by row.
Demoting a character's class in the job tree no longer resets their Will stat. Class changes no longer change a character's "Region of Origin" stat.
Drone Specialist class abilities now have new visual effects (Mind Ray, Cover Fire, Lock On)
Town rewards/tributes are altered by your reputation at the time of securing. A new UI will appear with the modification to the coin total based on reputation in parentheses (+10).
Added helper UI in combat to expose the combat fast forward keys, and the stat "Peek" feature. Helpers change to match controller buttons as well.
Fixed duplicate inputs firing when using a controller. There should be no jumping cursor between UI buttons, for example.
The Joystick can now be used to select targets, in addition to the LB and RB buttons.
Game download size reduced by ~2.5GB! The game takes up less space on disk and updates will be smaller in the future.
Fixed a number of bugs with the transition between mouse & controller modes in the UI.
Fixed incorrect button images displayed in the UI for some platforms.
Fixed errors related to the placement and "parenting" of the controller cursor.
The controller cursor now follows your target during target selection mode. The chance-to-hit text follows the cursor.
Fixed the joystick axis sometimes moving to the bottom left in the RTS view.
The "Command Button/Start Round" button can how be navigated to directly with the cursor, in addition to its button trigger. The Finisher Enabled slider is now controllable with the joystick as well as a button press.
Fixed issues with controller focus when tutorial message boxes appeared in encounters.
Fixed issues with controller focus throughout the title UI. Added a fall back button press in the unlikely event the control cursor gets unfocused with the UI (LB) in controller mode.
Unit supplies/items list is now accessible and usable with the controller. Unit actions list (Sprint button, etc) is also now navigable with the controller. Use the D-Pad to navigate the Unit UI and press L3 to inspect characters, use supplies, or sprint.
Cleaned up some UI placement and text formatting issues in the main menu.
Fixed issue where input wouldn't work at the start of a mission if the control device was changed while dialogue was present.
Fixed controller focus handling on the "Baby Raun Name Choice" panel.
Input is now blocked after starting a new mission to prevent bugs with button mashing during the transition.
Fixed bug with missing cursor after exiting combat, due to the UI element receiving a 0-scale.
Adjusted some character class data, including ability adjustments and balance tweaks.
Fixed error when returning to the HQ after the first mission, causing overlap of dialogue and game UI in the moment, and issues with save/load later. Issues was with how save data was stored in memory during gameplay.
Fixed some memory leaks and optimized some features for faster responsiveness.
Load times reduced when loading existing save games for the first time.
Fixed a crash when older save files had missing tutorial progress data.
Added a "Press Start" landing screen and menu flow for other platforms that require user detection at start up.
Hid some elements of the UI throughout the game that were redundant with controller-accessible ui items, when playing with the controller.
New game icon.
Many more bug fixes and tweaks.

[h2]Behind The Scenes work (not visible in build):[/h2]

Implemented an Xbox platform class and made many Xbox-specific platform changes to save games, graphics settings, and more.
Implemented console versions of existing feature such as achievements and leaderboards.
Refactored a variety of game features to work with AOT platforms.
Simplification and optimization of code and tools to improve development iteration time.

News: We were nominated for a Unity Award! We Are The Caretakers was recognized as a Best Social Impact game by Unity. Take a look at the other nominees and look out for when the winners are announced during GDC next week.

Looking forward, we're working on a lot of exciting things, including the final missions of an all-new 4th Era of the campaign, and a full sound effects pass from our sound designer Gaby. We'll be detailing our remaining work in an upcoming roadmap post in our Steam Forum. Thanks again for your patience as we worked on some big changes and put the game back together to get this update out.

We hope you like it! Be sure to send us your feedback in the forums if you get a chance to play the update.

-Scott