[p]Happy Friday, Jumpers![/p][p][/p][p]
This post is more or less a written form of our latest Q&A stream this week, which you can watch here.[/p][p](We aim to host these every 3-4 weeks consistently on Discord and YouTube, so feel free to tune in and ask your questions.)[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p]So what did we talk about in the hour-long stream?[/p][p][/p][h3]
Content Update 2:[/h3][h3]The biggest focus of this update will be
stability and network fixes.[/h3][p]
Despite our best efforts, reports of crashes and people in the same houses being unable to play multiplayer arestill all too frequent. We're disappointed that we haven't resolved these persistent problems yet, so we're laser-focusing on stability fixes right now.[/p][p]We're adding an additional programmer to the team so we can stay on top of crashes and network issues from now on. We can still make the PC and Xbox experience much better, and we promise to deliver. [/p][p]That aside, the big things in Update 2 will be the
Player Trait System and
Buddy-Bot Improvements.[/p][p][/p][p]
Player Traits will function using a point system. You have your "budget" of points, and some traits might be smaller and cost 1 point to equip, while others can be big and cost 5 points.[/p][p]The higher your Pilot level is, the more points you will have to spend. This means we might increase the level cap beyond 10.[/p][p]Traits will also unlock through armors and helmets, so once you've unlocked the Hazard suit you can access the "Radiation" trait which might give you resistance to radiation buildup for example.[/p][p]We have a ton of ideas for traits. One might be increasing melee weapon damage. Or traits that affect the Multi-Tool. As long as traits don't pigeonhole players into a specific "class", then we are down to try a bunch of different things.[/p][p][/p][p]We will start with a smaller amount of traits in Update 2, just to see that you like the system, and then add more and more during Early Access.[/p][p]
Important note - You can mix and match outfits and traits. You don't have to wear a specific cosmetic to use the trait.[/p][p]We know a lot of players don't feel a satisfying sense of progression when they aren't the host of the lobby, so Player Traits is one of many pieces we will add to increase the feeling of progression while you're on-foot, and give you something to change for yourself even when you're a guest in another lobby.[/p][p][/p][p]
Buddy-Bot Improvements will involve mainly a command wheel (similar to the emote wheel) where you can turn on and off what actions Buddy can do. Is he wasting your materia on ammo? Turn off ammo crafting.[/p][p]He will also focus fire on whatever ships you ping with the ping button. We're also adding more special weapons Buddy can use, like the shield and targeting module.[/p][p][/p][p]Some other things from the roadmap might sneak in, like Power Grid editing from the hangar if we finish that on time. It depends on how smoothly things go for the next month.[/p][p][/p][p]
Update 2 will arrive before Christmas holidays, and will be the "Christmas Update". Expect a smaller Christmas event like the Halloween one, but nothing crazy.[/p][p][/p][h3]
We moved office![/h3][p]Nothing super exciting, but this ate up some of our time. Expect the backgrounds of each stream and video to change until we find a good room in the co-working space to use consistently.[/p][p][/p][h3]
Feedback from Vendor Update[/h3][p]The Vendor update hasn't been out for
too long, but we're seeing the feedback and will be making some balance adjustments. Overall the response to Sector Modifiers and Melee Weapons have been positive, but the vendor prices aren't fully balanced, and we changed the Materia economy which some players definitely felt the effect of.[/p][p]We're still engaging in the discussions of how weapon carryover should work (should the game feel more like an extraction shooter or be a forgiving roguelite?).[/p][p]It's not too late for us to rework the weapons, skipping the MK system for something that doesn't encourage hoarding or obsessing over "the best weapons". Players might enjoy an attachment or upgrade system more.[/p][p]These are all ideas, and nothing we will act on immediately. We will revisit the Weapon talks next year.[/p][p]We are actively having design discussions about Inventory slots, so you can expect some changes to that sooner rather than later (to address the issue of having to drop something important just to have room to carry salvage back to the ship).[/p][p][/p][p]Our main goal is ultimately not to punish players for failing. We're looking into making your guns not drop when dying on-foot for example, which also prevents losing weapons if you fall down in the
death pits of instant out-of-bounds dying. Any way that we can prevent griefing is also a plus.[/p][p]
We will add partial rewards for abandoning/failing/disconnecting from a mission . This might be 75% of the value of the loot you've collected on the ship so far. So the potential rewards for mission completion would not be included.[/p][p][/p][h3]
Q&A Section[/h3][p]We try to rapid fire answers from chat, so here's a few of the miscellaneous topics we went through. (Thanks to Orange for taking written notes of these)[/p][p][/p]
- [p]3rd ship is being made. It will be the biggest yet, and be heavy-gunner focused.[/p]
- [p]Mission type is under construction where you go into a giant ship and destroy it from the inside. Will show up next year.[/p]
- [p]The auto-completing missions are more frustrating than cool, so we will change those to let you choose when to leave.[/p]
- [p]"Space sharks" has been a community meme on the Discord for a long time, and we acknowledge that we will reference or add this in some form in the future.[/p]
- [p]Server Browser will get improvements in the future, like showing ping or current mission. Maybe lobby codes/passwords as well.
On this topic - we know that instant re-joins is a huge request. This is a technical hurdle, so it will take us a longer time to allow mid-sector joining, but we want that as well.
When we fix the common disconnects in Update 2, hopefully the need for reconnecting will drop drastically.[/p] - [p]Boss enemies are coming, as mentioned on the roadmap.[/p]
- [p]"Raid" missions or weekly challenge missions with a specific generation seed or modifiers. This is definitely something we can do in the future when more of the core game is done and stable.
"Dart ship, railgun only, melee weapons only" for example.[/p] - [p]Higher MKs for each ship, will be added during 2026. You can also pick which MK you want.[/p]
- [p]The Dart ship hatches will not be 100% exclusive to the Dart. Might add to higher ship MKs, or to enemy ships or levels to enable us to make more interesting environments or ship boarding mechanics.
We're working on an animation for the hatch right now, instead of the placeholder teleport.[/p] - [p]We're working on making physics and the football work again, and when that's done we can add grenades to the game.[/p][hr][/hr]
[p]That's it for this week![/p][p]Let us know if you enjoy this format of transparent infodumping.[/p][p][/p][p]We're super thankful for all your feedback and patience as we work to fix the issues! Leave any questions in the comments and we can continue discussing the game there![/p][p][/p][p]- The Keepsake Crew[/p]