A-Star Theft News

[p][/p][p]After a year of development, a long break, and much emotional turmoil, I am finally in a place where I feel ready to properly announce the long talked about remaster of A-Star Theft, first announced in 2023.[/p][p][/p][p]WISHLIST THE GAME TODAY[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][h2]What does this remaster mean?[/h2][p]In short, a whole lot of things.[/p][p][/p][h3]New Story[/h3][p]Writing the new story has been an incredible process. I have taken in feedback from years of play testing to construct a brand-new experience for Logan Huntborn and his daughter Vanessa. This time, my most important goal has been to make players connect more deeply to the characters. The structural story events are similar to the original, but told in a very different way. All dialog is rewritten, the characters are rethought, and Logan's connection with Vanessa is explored to the fullest it can be.[/p][p][/p][h3]New Weapon System[/h3][p]A new internal weapons system leading to better stability, more weapon stats, faster development of new weapons, and even allowing entirely new weapon concepts that do not fire bullets (eg. flame throwers). Various melee weapons are added too. This is usable within a completely new interface built from the ground up.[/p][p][/p][h3]Skill System[/h3][p]Get ready for more play style variation than ever before. With Two Dollar Suits, I introduce a skill system to complement equipment for delightfully creative synergies. These skills are designed to deeply modify your strategies instead of being simple stat changes.[/p][p][/p][h3]Graphical Style[/h3][p]Major graphical overhauls make the game feel more immersive. I have iterated intensively on creating a style that captures the brutal feelings of the world we play in, and at the same time improves clarity during stressful gameplay moments. Vibrance and dynamics have intensified, the world is more colorful now.[/p][p][/p][p]So much stuff is going to change now. Don't believe me? Take a look at this scientific table to compare:[/p][p][/p][p]This is by far the biggest project I have completed, and I am honored to have your support.[/p][p][/p][h2]Full change log (so far)[/h2][p][/p][p]Story[/p]

• [p]Rewritten story, including new characters, events and missions[/p]
• [p]Improved character depth and motivations[/p]
• [p]Improved conflicts[/p]
• [p]Multiple facial expressions in dialog[/p]
• [p]Dialog boxes now have controls to rewind text for convenience[/p]
• [p]Major level design improvements[/p]
• [p]Theme-appropriate safe house music[/p]

[p]Art Style[/p]

• [p]Established a new art style[/p]
• [p]Lowered ambient lighting[/p]
• [p]Created new color filters to shift dark colors gray-blue[/p]
• [p]Added outlines to objects[/p]
• [p]Generally made the game more dynamic and colorful[/p]

[p]Weapons System[/p]

• [p]Created a new internal weapons system and unified handling of different weapon types, leading to better stability, more weapon stats, faster development of new weapons, and even allow entirely new weapon concepts that do not fire bullets (eg. flame throwers)[/p]
• [p]Created a new melee system[/p]
• [p]Added a new store system[/p]
• [p]Added new weapon: Plastic Pistol[/p]
• [p]Added new weapon: Hand Cannon[/p]
• [p]Added new weapon: Precision Sniper[/p]
• [p]Added new weapon: Light Machine Gun[/p]
• [p]Added new weapon: Minigun[/p]
• [p]Added new weapon: Knife[/p]
• [p]Added new weapon: Baseball Bat[/p]
• [p]Added Katana as a purchasable weapon, defaulting to fists again (The purchasable katana is a lot stronger than the current default one)[/p]
• [p]Added new weapon stats: Recoil, Damage Falloff, Bullet Speed, Ammo Pickup, Noise, and Headshot Distance[/p]
• [p]Further reduced store prices[/p]
• [p]Slightly improved weapon icons in the store[/p]
• [p]Reduced credit cost of the Loot Bag to 1[/p]

[p]Skill System[/p]

• [p]Added a skill system[/p]
• [p]Added 30 skills, organized into 5 tiers based on their power level[/p]
• [p]Skills are divided into the categories Action, Stealth, and Money[/p]
• [p]Skills are intended to significantly change playstyles in different ways than equipment[/p]
• [p]Like equipment, skills are purchased using money, then equipped using credits[/p]

[p]Hard Mode[/p]

• [p]Added a setting to enable Hard Mode[/p]
• [p]Hard Mode affects many aspects of both action and stealth approaches, including the following:[/p]
  • [p]Enemy reaction times[/p]
  • [p]Enemy sight distance[/p]
  • [p]Damage taken[/p]
  • [p]Maximum police on the map[/p]
  • [p]Police response times[/p]
  • [p]Stealth detection speed[/p]
  • [p]Body bag size[/p]
  • [p]Police call speed[/p]
  • [p]Ammo drops[/p]
  • [p]Amount of healing stations[/p]
  • [p]Amount of guards on some Freeplay maps[/p]
  • [p]Amount of cameras on some Freeplay maps[/p]

[p]Settings Menu[/p]

• [p]Redesigned the settings menu from scratch[/p]
• [p]Categories are now displayed in separate tabs[/p]
• [p]Keybind settings are now displayed like other settings[/p]
• [p]Added reset settings button[/p]
• [p]Greatly improved gamepad support[/p]
• [p]Added several new settings[/p]
• [p]Removed True Pixel Style setting, deciding to always leave it enabled due to graphical issues (All new graphics has been designed to look best with this setting enabled)[/p]
• [p]Removed Relative Movement mode due to quality issues and difficulties keeping both movement modes up to date[/p]

[p]Help menu[/p]

• [p]Redesigned the help menu from scratch[/p]
• [p]Contents of the help menu has been updated to reflect the current version of the game[/p]

[p]Interactions[/p]

• [p]Added ability for explosions to destroy nearby explosive barrels[/p]
• [p]Added ability for crew members to enter the van during escapes[/p]
• [p]Added ability to carry multiple keycards at the same time[/p]
• [p]Added ability to melee kill civilians[/p]
• [p]Added ability to step on rats to kill them[/p]
• [p]Added a rat infestation problem to the Freeplay safe house[/p]

[p]Combat and AI[/p]

• [p]Improved NPC combat stability[/p]
  • [p]Enemies are less prone to stay still for prolonged periods (Still happens sometimes)[/p]
  • [p]Enemies take cover more consistently[/p]
  • [p]Enemies are less prone to run in huge packs toward the player[/p]
  • [p]Possibly fixed NPCs sometimes walking through walls[/p]
  • [p]Improved smoothness of crew members finding a new path to the player while the player is moving[/p]
  • [p]Improved decision making when enemies consider opening alarmed doors[/p]
• [p]Removed leaning mechanic due to animation issues, reliability issues, AI issues, game balance issues, usability issues, and production issues (probably also other issues)[/p]
• [p]Improved NPC pathing to make them less prone to moving very close to walls and have their shoulders clip inside[/p]
• [p]Improved guards escorting players[/p]
• [p]Fixed NPCs sometimes running through security bars[/p]
• [p]Tweaked gamefeel when kicking open doors[/p]
• [p]Reduced frequency of enemies dropped their weapons when punched[/p]
• [p]Removed SWAT bomb planting teams due to quality issues[/p]
• [p]Added a new gamepad aim assist system, active when not manually selecting targets using the cursor. The aim assist intensity can be modified in the settings[/p]

[p]Improvements[/p]

• [p]Redesigned internal Freeplay heist management to be unified with the remastered story system, leading to faster development and ability to add story heists to Freeplay[/p]
• [p]15 new Freeplay heists added from the new story, giving a total of 30[/p]
• [p]Slightly increased EXP needed to level up in Freeplay for improved progression balancing, but reduced additional EXP needed per level[/p]
• [p]Added a new sound effect for the Improved Drill, so it sounds different to the normal drill[/p]
• [p]Added headlights to vehicles[/p]
• [p]Added siren audio to SWAT vans[/p]
• [p]Added red and blue lighting to SWAT vans[/p]
• [p]Added ability for SWAT to turn on power during combat[/p]
• [p]Added a timer to intimidated civilians to better show how long they will stay still[/p]
• [p]Added over 30 more environmental car designs (Thanks to PKPain!)[/p]
• [p]Added flies that fly around garbage bags[/p]
• [p]Driving into cash registers now destroy them and drop money like other loot objects[/p]
• [p]Changed so you have to release the shoot button before you can start melee attacks, to prevent accidental melee in close battles with many enemies[/p]
• [p]Improved visual effect when destroying military turrets[/p]
• [p]Improved unplanted bomb visual clarity[/p]
• [p]Tweaked camera shake to emphasize certain moments, but be more mild in others[/p]
• [p]Tweaked gamepad functionality to be more consistent (still struggles in some areas)[/p]
• [p]Removed zoom out effect on some camera shake events because it was annoying[/p]
• [p]Decreased ammo drop rate from killed enemies to better balance different weapon ammo amount and pickup rate[/p]
• [p]Reduced crew cuts for both stealth and loud[/p]
• [p]Improved light blurring at screen edges[/p]
• [p]Improved door kicking predictability on double doors[/p]
• [p]Improved clean up body parts: Players should no longer accidentally clean up body parts instead of stealing loot, if both items are nearby[/p]
• [p]Lowered shooting and explosion volume for more balanced audio[/p]
• [p]Improved explosion sound when destroying fuel tanks (no longer multiple explosion sounds on top of each other)[/p]
• [p]Improved spatial audio[/p]
• [p]Improved reliability of the Stuck In Wall button[/p]
• [p]Improved item wheel UI[/p]
• [p]Improved character appearance menu UI, especially for gamepads[/p]
• [p]Improved some minor UI elements[/p]
• [p]Fixed pause menu not working using a gamepad, if paused while overview mode is active[/p]
• [p]Fixed characters pushing Logan in the safe house[/p]
• [p]General improvements to gamepad support[/p]
• [p]Miscellaneous improvements[/p]

[p]Bug fixes[/p]

• [p]Tweaked hospital penalties to be less expensive for revived crew members, but more expensive for those left behind[/p]
• [p]Fixed cameras triggering immediately if players had been hit by a bullet[/p]
• [p]Fixed inability to steal loot if police were called while cleaning body parts[/p]
• [p]Fixed ability to disable electrical objects while the power is down[/p]
• [p]Fixed stoves and kitchen grills not able be destroyed by driving the van into them[/p]
• [p]Fixed moving multiple nearby characters at the same time when dragging them to a new target location[/p]
• [p]Fixed a few keybinds showing in the wrong category in settings[/p]
• [p]Fixed the same keybinds not being reset when clicking the Reset Keybinds button[/p]
• [p]Potentially fixed dropped weapons getting stuck in walls[/p]
• [p]Other minor bugs fixed[/p]

If you enjoy the game, consider leaving a review! It helps a lot!


This update presents an upgraded melee combat design for snappier and more visceral close-quarters takedowns. Logan is now equipped with a katana! Why? Because it's awesome, of course.

Store prices have been decreased to encourage more experimentation with different builds and play styles. Some graphical elements have been tweaked, along with minor AI improvements.

Please leave feedback in the comments when you have tried the new melee combat system.
I hope you enjoy the new update!

Changelog:

• Added new animations and sound effects for melee combat
• Reduced store prices to encourage experimentation
• Slightly improved AI behavior in combat with many enemies
  
• Changed sun bloom to not be visible during the player’s death animation
  
• Changed large electronic door graphics to better communicate its function
  
• Reduced stamina cost for door kicking
  
• Reduced screen blur during low health
  
• Fixed enemies sometimes shooting with their weapons holstered
  
• Fixed “Lootbag Full“ text sometimes appearing in a black color
  
• Fixed Remaster Demo stealth music sometimes not playing
  
• Fixed a rare bug where a player’s bullet hitting an explosive barrel after the player had died would crash the game
  
• Fixed cameras immediately triggering when spotting a dead body.
  
• Potentially fixed cameras sometimes triggering immediately after they start detecting the player
  
• Miscellaneous improvements
  

For questions or feedback, you can join the A-Star Theft discord server, or mail me at: [email protected]

If you enjoy the game, consider leaving a review! It helps a lot!


This update brings an assortment of changes I have been working on over the last month. The keycard mechanic has been made more clear by now only opening regular keycard doors. They can no longer open vault doors. Vault doors can instead be opened by using the keypad. Find code segments on the map and piece together the code to open the vault silently. Crew members are now rescued by finding them tied up on the map. This replaces the old system where you had to click on the user interface to make them respawn at your location, which was not properly communicated, not to mention a bit buggy. The lighting have been improved with a new sun bloom effect. This is affected by the time of day, and can make sunsets look very nice and warm. This is somewhat experimental, so please tell me if you like it or not!

I hope you enjoy the new update!

Changelog:

• Added keypads for opening vault doors
• Added a new system for rescuing captured crew members
• Added a new sun bloom lighting effect
• Added ability for thermite to destroy security cameras
  
• Added damage displays for shooting range targets
  
• Removed ability for keycards to open vault doors
  
• Removed the old system for capturing crew members
  
• Improved headshot precision even further
  
• Improved healthbar graphics for crew members
  
• Changed headshot effects
  
• Changed keycards to still function after the police has been called
  
• Increased intensity of sneaking vignette to increase clarity
  
• Updated the cocaine buyer’s visual design
  
• Reduced risk of weapons dropped by enemies getting stuck in walls
  
• Fixed the issue where players could repeatedly press F to start the mission by the van, making the fade animation restart
  
• Fixed infinite cable tie bug
  
• Miscellaneous improvements
  

For questions or feedback, you can join the A-Star Theft discord server, or mail me at: [email protected]

If you enjoy the game, consider leaving a review! It helps a lot!


With this update, I want to put a greater focus on actively using equipment during combat, and have therefore increased the effectiveness of several tools. To further encourage experimentation, access to the equipment store directly from a heist has returned, after previously being removed for compatibility issues with the driving mechanic.

I hope you enjoy the new update!

Changelog:

• Re-added equipment store access from inside heists (this was temporarily removed when driving was added)
  
• Added a new music track which plays on the Extrication heist
  
• Added ability to drive onto a van armor piece to automatically assemble it
  
• Added more gore
  
• Added cue balls to pool tables
  
• Improved user interface by showing electronic door switch connection lines from any distance
  
• Improved gamepad cursor speed consistency at higher frame rates
  
• Increased health for companions
  
• Increased effectiveness of human shields
  
• Increased thermite damage distance
  
• Increased liquid nitrogen slow effect distance
  
• Increased damage range of explosions on NPCs
  
• Decreased player knockback when hit by a bullet
  
• Tripled capacity of the health kit equipment and increased healing speed
  
• Doubled capacity of the ammo bag equipment
  
• Removed ability to use thermite to burn down vault doors in order to balance against the improved drill equipment
  
• Fixed police cars driving over and killing its own driver
  
• Fixed bullets sometimes not dealing damage when near a police car
  
• Fixed guards able to spot hostages from a distance farther than their sight
  
• Fixed ability to walk during minigames after a companion has kicked down a door
  
• Fixed absolutely ancient code in Bloody Hospital file cabinets which did not respect different key bindings
  
• Fixed camera guards investigating vault drill noise
  
• Fixed occasional incorrect explosion position when police drive through walls
  
• Fixed headlamp light visible while driving the van
  
• Fixed a headlamp crash
  
• Fixed a crash which could occur when a guard investigates a camera
  
• Some fixes and improvements to the Remaster Demo
  
• Miscellaneous improvements
  

For questions or feedback, you can join the A-Star Theft discord server, or mail me at: [email protected]

If you enjoy the game, consider leaving a review! It helps a lot!



The Story Remaster version 2 brings tons of improvements based on player feedback. Thank you for answering the survey after completing the demo, it truly does help!

The new demo has player choice at its core, and now allows the rescue segment to be completed with both stealth and action strategies. Both the rescue and arrest segments now encourage player exploration and allows weapons to be used from the very start, if you so choose to do so. Some of the dialog has also been looked at, to better emphasize a consistent tone. Thus, a lot of the more silly dialog has been dialed down and replaced with more appropriate dialog. Logan's narrations has also been tweaked in some places to feel less edgy. I am still looking for feedback on this, so feel free to answer the survey after completing the demo.

Remaster Demo changelog:

• Redesigned several parts of the Remaster Demo to support both stealth and action strategies
• Improved dialog in the Story Remaster
  
• Added ability to punch civilians in the Story Remaster (experimental)
  
• Greatly improved the Arrest segment of the Story Remaster
  
• Fixed a few bugs in the Story Remaster
  

Along with the Remaster Demo improvements, this update also includes many improvements for overall gameplay. Combat game feel has been improved with better visual effects, and a long-standing bug fixed that prevented headshots from registring if hitting an enemy's shoulder first. This meant that headshots were impossible when flanking an enemy. I have also made some difficulty tweaks for larger shootouts.

I hope you enjoy the new update!

Changelog:

• Added a new Hacking Minigame to replace to previous one
• Added recoil indicator on cursor
  
• Added knockback for destroyed fire extinguishers
  
• Made all sprite assets destructible (experimental)
  
• Changed how Low Health Invincibility works - you now must fully heal before regenerating this protection
  
• Increased impact of bloodstains and added more blood effects
• Increased knockback from bullets and melee damage for both player and enemies
  
• Improved companion AI for both stealth and action gameplay
  
• Improved hitbox size on enemies
  
• Improved screen effect for shooting and damaging enemies
  
• Improved civilian interaction interface
  
• Improved sound when tying civilians
  
• Tweaked gunplay camera shake to feel heavier
• Tweaked enemy AI to be slightly more aggressive
  
• Tweaked police drones to dodge bullets slightly slower
  
• Tweaked recoil for all weapons
  
• Tweaked shooting audio
  
• Reduced the size of crew revival texts
  
• Reduced natural health regeneration to encourage taking hostages
  
• Reduced sniper enemy damage
  
• Reduced the size of the intimidation symbol
  
• Fixed strange camera shake effect when in slow-motion
  
• Fixed headshots not registering if bullet hits an enemy’s shoulder first
• Fixed an issue where players would sometimes shoot twice after switching weapons
  
• Reduced frequency of enemies sometimes walking through walls
  
• Miscellaneous improvements
  

For questions or feedback, you can join the A-Star Theft discord server, or mail me at: [email protected]