StarVaders News

More bug fixes and a new backup system for save files - in preparation for enabling Cloud Save for Mac.

We're almost done with all the major reported bugs! There's a few things we're struggling with (looking at you performance issues), but we're making progress.

[h2]Save File Backup System:[/h2]

We implemented a backup system that will backup your progress (unlocks, achievements, etc), so that if you lose your main save file, the game will automatically grab from the backup file and restore your progress.

This is in anticipation of enabling Steam Cloud saves for Mac, because Steam WILL delete your save files without warning.

In 1 or 2 weeks we will enable Steam Cloud saves on Mac, so if you are on a Mac, you should definitely play at least once on this patch to make sure your unlock progress will be saved. You will likely lose your run history and any on-going run, so please do backup those if they matter to you!

[h2]Other:[/h2]

• Added optional True Ending to the Daily Run and ALL Challenges
  
• Fixed softlock when you press Random in the character select and go back from Stinger
  
• Fixed Supporter Pack not working on Mac
  
• Stayin' Alive achievement now works with 5 Doom
  
• Fixed Jinx missing a Push tag
  
• Fixed task engine crash involving Mudslide
  
• Fixed True Ending Phase 2 resetting Mana if you have more than the max
  
• Fixed task engine crash with a Void Spawn + Blast Legion interaction
  
• Fixed running out of spells during Spell Reward (actually fixed this time)
  
• Fixed skip same cutscene twice leading to bad transition
  
• Fixed Nessie being messed up by savescum / SL mode
  
• Fixed Hemophage HP bar dissapearing on exit and resume
  
• Fixed crash when clicking deck on exit Min's
  
• Fixed crash when clicking pack on exit Bud's
  
• Fixed certain preview "ghosts" appearing floating in the air next to the display panel (like Turret)
  
• Upscaled barks, tutorial tips and trophies for better readability on Steam Deck.
  
• Upscaled several controller glyphs for better readability
  
• Attempted fix on some of the resolution errors on widescreen
  
• Many localization changes
  

I will also start a BETA branch soon for our first "big" update (1.1) that will come out this summer - stay tuned!

- Axolotl of the Pengonauts

Today is a smaller patch - we've been very busy! We've tackled many of the easier "game-breaking" bugs and crashes so now we're onto the harder ones.

We're aware of some screen resolution issues, lag and stuttering / freezes, those will take some time to solve - sorry about that, but we are investigating. Thank you for all the reports, they are really useful for helping us crack some of these.

[h2]Notable changes in this update include:[/h2]

• Losing during Act 4 now counts as a Victory
  
• Added a toggle for "Pause in Background" (default is to not pause now)
  
• Shelled's Immunity now only triggers during your turn.
  
• Added an Cancel prompt on the top right screen for when you are stuck in a selection and must cancel.
  

[h2]Other:[/h2]

• Added CN localization mention in the credits
  
• Fixed Hook Jab not pulling entities into holes
  
• Fixed Void Rifts spawning Void Rifts onto Charge Traps when you have Scavenger and Booby Traps (they are supposed to avoid traps)
  
• Fixed a bug involving running out of Spells to reroll
  
• Fixed Old Comet not working on end-of-turn discard
  
• Fixed a case where Queen Bees never spawned because of interaction with Swap
  
• Guard Bees now trigger between each repeat of a repeated card
  
• Bombs now pickup pickups on spawn if you have Blast Legion
  
• Fixed an issue where the back button doesn't show up in the credits
  
• Fixed a Dragon task engine crash
  
• Fixed a Phase 1 True Ending on end turn transition crash if there were Blobs
  
• Fixed a Toy Bomb task engine crash when you try to use it while it's dying
  
• Fixed a Shambler task engine crash if you overkill it with left foot jab
  

At the moment we're focused on bugs and optimization to get the game into a as stable of a state as possible, but we do have our eyes on future content updates as well!

Thank you for all your support, suggestions, and bug reports!

- Axolotl of the Pengonauts

Hey everyone!

We honestly can’t believe we’re saying this so soon after our launch but we have just reached over 500 reviews and are now ranked as Overwhelmingly Positive by Steam. This is a dream come true for us, and one that we couldn’t have reached without all of your support!



Thank you so much for reviewing our game, our first few days have been full of reading feedback, planning future content and squashing bugs. Please keep them coming, it helps us a whole bunch!

We've not just been squashing bugs, here's a few other things we've deployed since release:

• Balance Changes based on feedback
  
• QoL improvements for the true ending
  
• Game customization options including a save scumming mode
  

More to come! We're keeping an eye on everywhere, including the Steam Forums and our Discord.

Much Love,

The Pengonauts Team

First up, a warning: IF YOU ARE PLAYING ON MAC, BACKUP YOUR SAVE FILES. We will be adding Steam Cloud support to Mac soon, but are unsure how it will affect the game if you played on multiple devices. Our apologies if something happens to them!

For anyone looking for save files for the MAC version. It's at "/Users/USERNAME/Library/Application Support/com.Pengonauts.StarVaders".

---

Hope you all had a great weekend! Got some great feedback from a very wide range of types of players, they've all been super useful! We're only 3 people on the team (2 programmers and 1 artist), so it will take some time to fix everything, but we're hard at work!

Here are some of the notable changes in this patch:

• 5x Shift
  
• 2x Fire!
  
• 2x Triple Fire!
  
• 1x Nova Bomb
  

Roxy is the weakest pilot on higher difficulties, but her deck is great to introduce the game with - so what I did was keep the tutorial deck the same, but changed her deck after the tutorial run. Gunner struggles a lot because of their weaker movement, so I brought Triple Fire! into her starting deck as an extra AOE option that can target further invaders.



Vengoid+ now moves erratically, instead of giving Shields.

Vengoid Plus is one of the hardest invaders to deal with in Post-Apocalypse +, there's not a lot of time nor leeway to deal with them and the Shield makes it much more tedious to fight against. Shield was a boring ability anyway! Erratic movement now challenges the player in a slightly different way while still keeping the identity.



Hemophage fight has been quite confusing and difficult for a lot of players, and a very long fight as well. We've cut down their health pool, updated their description, and added more visual indicators to be more clear that the "purple" hemocytes should be destroyed since those are the ones that will channel doom. To balance this change, we've also shortened the turn limit.



[Spoiler] The Overseer fight for the True Ending can occasionally be a big pain point for players, particularly if it's the first time they encounter it - it doesn't help that the transitions are kinda badly implemented timing-wise. I've made changes to address some of the issues:

• (from patch 1.0.3) You now draw 3 cards and reset energy on phase 1 -> 2 transition.
• On each phase transition, you now keep all your puppets. (If they were in the "head" zone, they move to the bottom side of the grid)
• The "Assist" cards that drop as pickups to help on the final turn have a glowing visual indicator now.
• I've added more descriptions for the final phase for the Hearts and the Blooms.
• Phase transition's timing has been improved so that you don't get screwed if you overheat / use an end-of-turn attack to trigger the phase transition.

[h2]Other changes:[/h2]

• Noel's Novalanche now costs 1.
  
• Added backup loggerdata in case of steam cloud issues.
  
• Changed order of Act 3 invader unlocks for smoother complexity ramp (Void Rifts before Pulsars)
  
• Fixed Magical Gun not appearing in the pool.
  
• Fixed Parry, now works with Deflector / Reef Assault (the Charge will be dropped as pickup on the grid)
  
• Fixed Echo+ counting Dummy or Ticks for self-destructing
  
• Fixed Helping Hand no longer showing up as Used
  
• Fixed doubled 3D Printers now properly shoes up as Used
  
• Fixed Refresh drawing 5 cards instead of 3
  
• Fixed Pickup Rarity not being shown in the info panel
  
• Fixed Zombie component sometimes causing Haunting to go infinite (the hat kept moving between two summons)
  
• Fixed 0 cost triggers being inconsistent with 0 cost cards with reduced cost (it was because their cost was negative lol)
  
• Fixed Piercing Bullets + Lazer Bullets interaction in Japanese
  
• Fixed Oru's ability not working sometimes.
  
• Fixed an infinite loop caused sometimes by Hook Jab.
  
• Fixed a Task Engine crash involving Nessie.
  
• Ticks getting the Erratic modifier and teleporting.
  
• Recharging a random summon no longer targets unchargeable Bombs with Blast Legion
  
• Polymorph no longer spawns Care Package (a removed item)
  
• Fixed Transmogrify interaction with Warp
  
• Fixed Chronosphere not removing Odeus' bullet attacks.
  
• Many small localization changes
  

Again, thanks so much for playing the game and sending over the bug reports! We will keep working on improving the game, hope you enjoy!

Thanks,
- Pengonauts


HOTFIX -

Heya, another day, another patch.

We really appreciate all the bug reports and the feedback that's been coming in! Some notable changes in this update include:

• A new Save Scum extras option that makes it so when you exit and resume an encounter, it starts from start of the fight instead of where you left off.
  
• [Spoiler]Overseer Phase 2 transition now resets your energy and draws 3 cards for you

Tweaked some of the encounter algorithm to create less "really bad" encouters.

Other:

• Fixed gamepad input resetting when rewinding
  
• Fixed a Nessie task engine crash when it eats a bomb in phase 2
• Fixed Chain Lightning and Translocate, now playable without summons
  
• Fixed Salve causing everything to become free when combined with Cold Star
  
• Fixed not having any rewards anymore when using Infinite Rerolls to reroll rewards for a long time
  
• Fixed some visual bugs in the glossary involved artifact & their completion stars
  
• Fixed a few localization issues
  
• Fixed Red Brand showing up in double artifact reward
  
• Attempted fix on inconsistency in achievement for not picking up artifacts
  
• Hypermode Shun now correctly starts with 2 Battery.
  

Unless there are some serious issues we will likely not have a patch during the weekend, so see you next week! Keep slaying those invaders!

If you are enjoying your time it helps us out so much to leave a review!

We also have a fun discord community you can join here. We've got both long time players and newcomers all discussing strategies and showing off their decks. We will also be starting some cool activities soon inside the discord server!

Thanks,

- Axolotl