Vectorio News

[p]Hello everyone![/p][p]A new experimental patch is now available for testing! You can access it on the experimental branch by following the instructions below if you wish to get access to the changes and fixes now. [/p][p][/p][h3]How to opt into experimental:[/h3]

1. [p]Locate Vectorio in your Steam library[/p]
2. [p]Right click and go to "properties"[/p]
3. [p]Find the "betas" branch[/p]
4. [p]Using the dropdown, select "Experimental"[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Experimental Info:[/h3]

• [p]Testing Cycle: ~1 week[/p]
• [p]Experimental Saves: Disabled[/p]
• [p]Backwards Compatible: Up to v0.3.0-beta.5 (however, recommend starting a new save)[/p]
• [p]Update Type: Experimental Patch[/p]
• [p]Contains Spoilers: Yes[/p][p][/p]

[p]Questions? Comments? Concerns? Let me know below or on our Discord server: [/p][p]https://discord.gg/vectorio[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Patch Notes[/h2][p][/p][p]The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.[/p][p][/p][h3]TETHERS:[/h3][p]A new mechanic designed around adjusting expansion mechanics to be more in line with the tower-defense / resource management systems in the game.[/p][p][/p][p]Here's how it works:[/p]

• [p]When you purchase a sector, a new type of building is placed inside of it called a Tether[/p]
• [p]Tethers require upkeep, needing resource deliveries in order to continue functioning[/p]
• [p]If resources are not delivered to the Tether, the sector will eventually enter a Quarantine. (this is still a WIP, currently the sector is lost)[/p]
• [p]During a Quarantine, there are heightened attacks and buildings (including the tether) degrade[/p]
• [p]If the Tether is destroyed, either from degrading or by being attacked, the sector is lost[/p]
• [p]In the case a connecting sector is destroyed, all sectors not connected to the hub also enter Quarantine, and will eventually degrade if a connection is not re-established.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Why I'm adding it (deeper-dive):[/p][p] Currently, there is no real threat to you or your base. You may lose little bits here and there but you are not at any risk of losing major progress unless you've done something terribly wrong. There is also an abundance of resources, making conquered sectors of cyberspace feel empty and plentiful. My goal is to try and introduce more interesting & strategic decision making into expansion & defending. Grabbing a new sector should not be as simple as "oh I can afford it", it should be an actual impactful decision you have to make, and then deal with the consequences of. (good & bad)[/p][p][/p][p]IMPORTANT: This is still WIP and I am looking to gather feedback at this stage; there will likely be large sweeping changes to this, including the implementation of Quarantines, as I try to nail it down. If it ultimately does not accomplish what I sent out to do, it will be removed.[/p][p][/p][h3]NEW CONTENT:[/h3]

• [p]Re-enabled the following research techs...[/p]
  • [p]Ammo Forge[/p]
  • [p]Pulsar (now with a new unique mechanic)[/p]
  • [p]Plasma Round[/p]
  • [p]Nitrium[/p]
  • [p]Artillery (now with a new unique mechanic)[/p]
  • [p]Artillery Shell[/p]
  • [p]Osmium[/p]

[p][/p][h3]AMMO CHANGES:[/h3][p]Ammo has been re-enabled in this build for Pulsar & Artillery, but with some significant changes![/p]

• [p]Turrets will now automatically pull ammo from your containers, no drones required[/p]
• [p]Any turret that uses ammunition must now abide by the following 2 rules...[/p]
  • [p]1. Has some sort of unique function that no other turret has AND[/p]
  • [p]2. Is good at dealing with specific unit types or resistances[/p]
• [p]If a turret does not abide by BOTH of these rules, it will not require ammo[/p]

[p][/p][h3]XP & LEVELS:[/h3][p]Enabled XP gain and level tiers on the following buildings...[/p]

• [p]Cargo Port[/p]

[p][/p][h3]QUALITY OF LIFE:[/h3]

• [p]Added a new pinning feature to track XP & level progress more effectively[/p]
• [p]Added numerous tooltips across multiple UI panels, helping newer players understand what buildings do at a glance and hopefully partially eliminate early-game confusion.[/p]
• [p]Added a lowres entity renderer, which visualizes entities using a glowing square; useful for seeing enemy patterns and drone setups from a distance.[/p]
• [p]Added the ability to click the heat tracker on the upper-right hand side of the screen to open the heat panel. making it more accessible[/p]
• [p]Re-enabled the ability to open the pause menu with escape, using proper context management to correctly identify when to open, and more importantly, NOT to open the menu.[/p]
• [p]Added a new notification system; this is currently only used by Tethers and Quests, but will eventually encapsulate all major gameplay systems.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]BUG FIXES:[/h3]

• [p]Fixed power incrementing between region switches; this was due to the faction being reset before the module is reset, causing power to not be taken from the player faction.[/p]
• [p]Added an internal epoch signature to events. This blocks events from previous regions executing on a different region. This should not only improve warp time, but fix some minor issues that could arise during that warp process that may have gone unnoticed in prior builds.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]CORE TECH:[/h3]

• [p]Removed the Drone entity entirely, instead delegating ownership of this logic to the port. Fundamentally, this doesn't change how drones work whatsoever, the only difference is that this logic now lives on the port directly, eliminating the annoyances of these two entities relying on each other. This makes things like XP & Upgrades signficantly easier to implement. It may also very subtly improve performance and load times.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]MODULE PROFILING:[/h3][p]While performance has improved substantially on the v0.3 branch, there is still much work to be done. In order to better pinpoint modules that are causing performance issues, a new /profiler command has been added. This can be enabled at anytime to track the performance of updating modules.[/p][p]This is still a WIP as module function can vary in scope & complexity.[/p]

[p]An optional hotix is now available to download on the Experimental branch. (v0.3.0-beta.9a)[/p][p][/p][h3]BALANCE CHANGES:[/h3]

• [p]Buffed Depot storage container size from 25 slots to 40 slots[/p]

[p][/p][h3]BUG FIXES:[/h3]

• [p]Fixed an issue where the save validator would correctly identify missing data, but then proceed to not fix said issue. (this should now auto-repair saves with missing hubs)[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where the save validator would display that the reserved ID for the hub had been claimed even though the hub was already built. While not intended, this isn't technically causing any issues so the debug message has been removed in order to not confuse players.[/p]

[p]An optional hotix is now available to download on the Experimental branch. (v0.3.0-beta.9a)[/p][p][/p][h3]IMPROVEMENTS:[/h3]

• [p]Added a bunch of error proofing and extra fallback layers to the save system. This includes 2 major changes to how saves are saved and loaded...[/p]
  • [p]SAVING: Now runs validation checks while saving, ensuring that bad data isn't passed to the save file. If an error is encountered during this process, it will skip the contents of the chunk instead of stopping the process entirely, and provide debug info on what happened.[/p]
  • [p]LOADING: Now runs validation checks while loading, attempting to fix any missing data that is required to load a region. This may cause some of your regions to reset if they ran into save issues on prior builds, but this should "fix" the save and ensure it doesn't happen again.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]BALANCE CHANGES:[/h3]

• [p]Reduced carrier attack range from 15 tiles to 12 tiles[/p]

[p][/p][h3]BUG FIXES:[/h3]

• [p]Fixed a serialization issue with drone actions that could corrupt a save file.[/p]
• [p]Fixed multiple UI alignment issues on varying monitor sizes.[/p]
• [p]Fixed drones picking up more resources then they can actually deliver.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a visual glitch where a preview line would remain in limbo if escape was pressed while configuring a drone route.[/p]
• [p]Fixed multiple edge cases where ID's could become mismatched across sessions or while warping between regions[/p]
• [p]Fixed multiple edge cases that could potentially cause configuration of a drone to be applied to a different drone; this is uncofirmed however as I have been unable to reproduce the bug. If it still persists I will open a bounty on this bugs head.[/p]

[p]Hello everyone![/p][p]A new experimental patch is now available for testing! You can access it on the experimental branch by following the instructions below if you wish to get access to the changes and fixes now. [/p][p][/p][h3]How to opt into experimental:[/h3]

1. [p]Locate Vectorio in your Steam library[/p]
2. [p]Right click and go to "properties"[/p]
3. [p]Find the "betas" branch[/p]
4. [p]Using the dropdown, select "Experimental"[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Experimental Info:[/h3]

• [p]Testing Cycle: ~1 day[/p]
• [p]Experimental Saves: Disabled[/p]
• [p]Backwards Compatible: Up to v0.3.0-beta.5[/p]
• [p]Update Type: Experimental Patch[/p]
• [p]Contains Spoilers: Yes[/p][p][/p]

[p]Questions? Comments? Concerns? Let me know below or on our Discord server: [/p][p]https://discord.gg/vectorio[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Patch Notes[/h2][p][/p][p]The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.[/p][p][/p][h3]BUILDING XP & LEVELS:[/h3][p]I will slowly be rolling out levels for all the buildings in the game, so you may notice many buildings without levels or not gaining XP. This is intended for the time being.[/p][p]Enabled levels for the following buildings:[/p]

• [p]Repeater[/p]
• [p]Shotgunner[/p]
• [p]Ranger[/p]
• [p]Wall[/p]
• [p]Collector[/p]

[p][/p][h3]ENGINEERING:[/h3][p]I have refactored the engineering UI to be far more intuitive, and added expanded tooltips to help track where mods are equipped and what they do.[/p][p]Added new engineering mods:[/p]

• [p]Deadzone Inversion: Damage increases the closer the target is to the turret.[/p]
• [p]Cull: If a unit is below 30% health, it is immediately destroyed and the turret takes 1hp of damage.[/p]
• [p]Payload Preservation: Doubles the lifetime of projectiles, allowing other project effects to last longer after being fired.[/p]
• [p]Smart Targetting: Bullets gradually home in on their target, making them extremely accurate[/p]
• [p]Thermal Debt: Allows turret to bypass normal operating limits, gradually increasing rate of fire until it overheats.[/p]
• [p]Volatile Munitions: Bullets explode on impact, dealing damage to enemies in a small radius.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]QUALITY OF LIFE:[/h3]

• [p]FInished & enabled cluster throughput statistics, no more guessing! [/p]
• [p]Hovering your mouse over a port will show a preview of its route (still a WIP)[/p]
• [p]Pipetting a port will show the route while it is in your hand (still a WIP)[/p]

[p][/p][h3]BALANCE CHANGES:[/h3]

• [p]Reduced wall price from 80 gold to 50 gold[/p]
• [p]Reduced shotgunner cooldown from 1.5s to 1.2s[/p]
• [p]Increased shotgunner range from 7 tiles to 8 tiles[/p]
• [p]Reduced shotgunner power from 3 to 2[/p]
• [p]Reduced many of the early-game Abyss building costs[/p]
• [p]Various other price/research changes.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]BUG FIXES:[/h3]

• [p]Fixed arcana steel's recipe from exceeding the stack size of resources; a temporary fix until I have time to add stack size modification for recipes[/p]
• [p]Fixed depots from being able to act as a drawing utencil (if you know, you know)[/p]

[p][/p][h3]ABYSS QUESTS - DISABLED[/h3][p]I have temporarily disabled quests past Return Trip, as I want to focus on core gameplay loops right now, giving quests my full attention at a later date.[/p]

[p]Hello everyone,[/p][p][/p][p]Thank you to everyone who has been testing the v0.3 beta on the experimental branch; your feedback has been invaluable as I press forward with development. [/p][p][/p][p]This post is just to educate everyone on what's coming in v0.3.0-beta.9, which should be hitting the testing branch early later next week. I would also like to share specifics on what I've learned from your feedback, mainly from the feedback survey. (if you have not taken this survey, check it out below!)[/p][p][/p][p]https://forms.gle/UdK2QxrtkC2K7yXR9[/p][p][/p][h3]What's coming in v0.3.0-beta.9[/h3][p][/p][p]The next beta build is focused entirely on gameplay & progression. Here's what you can expect...[/p][p][/p]

• [p]Completely refactored engineering UI, to make it a bit more clear how it works[/p]
• [p]New building XP system, designed to offer some shallow build identity[/p]
• [p]Huge changes to the current questlines, mainly pertaining to the quest objectives[/p]
• [p]New enemies & extended heat aggression for both ALTAR & Abyss regions[/p]
• [p]Some new things to find out in cyberspace as you explore[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Building XP [/h3][p][/p][p]All buildings in the game will be able to earn XP by completing certain actions. Some examples are...[/p][p][/p]

• [p]+1xp for Turret's when they hit an enemy[/p]
• [p]+1xp for Collector's everytime they collect a resource[/p]
• [p]+1xp for Foundry's whenever they successfully craft a resuorce[/p]
• [p]+2xp for Turret's if they manage to destroy a unit[/p]
• [p]+1xp for Lab's each time they convert a resource to science[/p]
• [p]etc.[/p][p][/p]

[p][/p][p]Levels panel, coming in v0.3.0-beta.9[/p][p][/p][p]At certain XP thresholds, buildings will unlock a level tier, which can contain anywhere from 1 to 5 possible upgrades to choose from. These can be swapped at anytime, but only 1 can be active.[/p][p][/p][p]The goal of this system is to not only provide some basic build identity, but also ensure that all buildings remain useful in later sections of the game that are significantly more difficult. It can also be used as a balancing tool to improve weaker buildings by offering more upgrades, though this is a last resort.[/p][p][/p][h3]Refactored Engineering UI[/h3][p][/p][p]The current UI for engineering was always meant to be placeholder; not only is not intuitive, it does not do the engineering system justice. In v0.3.0-beta.9, it will be getting a huge makeover.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]WIP Engineering panel, coming in v0.3.0-beta.9[/p][p][/p][p]The goal is to provide a full overview of ALL the engineering mods in the game. This will act as a sort of "collection" screen, where you can track your progress and see what mods you still have yet to unlock. Hovering over locked mods will hint at where you can find them, or, if they're already unlocked provide a much more detailed explanation of what the mod does.[/p][p][/p][p]The top bar will act as your active mod set; remember that engineering mods are unique, so only one can be applied to a specific buildings at one time. Different buildings have varying engineering slots, so this is where the real meat of player-driven build expression will be.[/p][p][/p][p]You'll be able to easily track which mods are equipped to which buildings within the collection grid.[/p][p][/p][h3]What have I learned from the first few days?[/h3][p][/p][p]First off, thank you. The volume and quality of feedback has been incredibly helpful, and it’s already shaping where development goes next. Based on this initial data, here’s what stands out so far:[/p][p][/p]

1. [p]Average playtime is ~2 hours, right in line with expectations.[/p]
2. [p]This lines up with a major drop-off in engagement shortly after entering the Abyss.[/p]
3. [p]The main reason players have reported they stopped playing was due to progression issues or bugs, but I've also noticed a dropoff in engagement with the quests, suggesting that the quest objectives & progression of quests needs work.[/p]
4. [p]Performance is strong: ~90% of players report good or great performance. Huge win here.[/p]
5. [p]Chunk expansion and the research tree are landing well, but the engineering system is not, which is why immediate changes are coming in the next patch to improve this system.[/p]
6. [p]A tutorial is badly needed and is a top priority moving forward.[/p]
7. [p]Game balance is inconsistent, confirming it’ll need ongoing iteration.[/p]
8. [p]The most requested features are Multiplayer and Mods; to me this means that the community really wants a way to share gameplay experiences together[/p][p][/p]

[p]Based on this data, my focus going forward is:[/p]

• [p]Smoothing progression and fixing blockers around the Abyss[/p]
• [p]Improving quest engagement past the early game[/p]
• [p]Reworking engineering to be more satisfying and intuitive[/p]
• [p]Adding a proper tutorial to onboard players effectively[/p]
• [p]Continuing balance passes while keeping performance strong[/p]

[p][/p][p]Being able to adjust priorities & iterate on certain gameplay systems would not be possible without all of you testing & sharing your thoughts, so thank you. [/p][p][/p][p]I know a LOT of you are happy with the improvements in v0.3, but I also know that what's currently in this beta is quite a shallow offering, especially on the gameplay side. That’s intentional for now. My focus is on making sure these new systems have a solid foundation before expanding on themthere’s a lot more coming once that base is locked in. Over the next updates, you can expect deeper progression & more interesting things to work towards as these systems mature.[/p][p][/p][p]I hope you’re all having a safe and happy holiday season. While my time will be a bit split with family over the next week or so, development won’t be stopping, and I’ll continue pushing things forward.[/p][p][/p][p]Cheers,[/p][p]~ Ben[/p][p][/p]