StarVaders News

[p]Just wanted to update y'all that the 1.1 update is planned to release on June 24th! [/p][p][/p][p]We are releasing around that time to align with the Steam Summer Sale, during which we will have a discount - keep an eye out for it if you haven't gotten the game yet![/p][p][/p][p]Our Beta branch has been live for the last 2 weeks and the update is almost ready - we're finalizing localization and a few art assets as well as fixing a few remaining bugs.[/p][p][/p][h2]Some More Teasers![/h2][p][/p][p]Min Squish Animation[/p][h2] [/h2][p][/p][p]Play Volley Ball![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Egg[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]If you'd like to play the update early, feel free to join the Beta branch! Access information can be found in our discord server or in the QQ group.[/p][p][/p][h2]Supporter Pack[/h2][p][/p][p]There have been people asking for more Supporter Packs, we really appreciate the support and enthusiasm! But to clarify, our current plan is to continue to add additional skins to the current Supporter Pack. So you'll only need to buy it once but have all future skins available (like the upcoming Kaia skin for the 1.1 update).
[/p][h2]Future Mod Support[/h2][p][/p][p]On discord, one of our players (Slaith) has started working on a modding framework! It's still quite early but it's been great to see it grow. [/p][p]We're trying to support any modders in any way we can, feel free to join our discord if you'd like to help out or take a look! I'd love to see what players can come up with.[/p][p][/p][h2]Future Updates[/h2][p][/p][p]I'm also excited to share that I have already started working on the 1.2 and 1.3 content updates! The current plan is to have the 1.2 update for the Autumn Sale and the 1.3 update for the Winter Sale of this year, but our plans could still change over time depending on the circumstances and beta testing.[/p][p][/p][p]*Our plans may change![/p][p][/p][p]???????????? means i know what it is but we're keeping it a secret for now! I'm really bad at keeping secrets though, I'm not even sure if I'm supposed to share this pseudo-roadmap yet, but i'm too hyped to keep it to myself.[/p][p][/p][p]As with 1.1, the next two updates will also appear on the beta branch early for testing. I'm really excited for the rest of the year, some of the planned content are gonna be very fun to reveal.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Big Thanks[/h2][p][/p][p]We're just on the cusp of 2000 overwhelmingly positive reviews! The reviews have all been so helpful, both positive and negative ones. [/p][p][/p][p]If you have any issues or feedback, please let us know! Even if it's not the majority, I do still listen to all criticism and would like to provide options if possible to help improve the game for every player (like what we're doing with the sandbox settings in 1.1 for example).[/p][p][/p][p]We wanna thank you all for the continued support, which lets us continue expanding the game! Not every first time indie studio is as lucky as us to have found such a passionate user base, thank you so much for giving us a chance.[/p][p] [/p][p]- Axolotl of the Pengonauts[/p]

[p]Hey pilots! Hope you are all doing well!

It's been exactly 1 month since our full release and we've been so happy to see the response from you all! A lot of gratitude for all the feedback and reviews you have left us, they've helped tremendously.

Following that, we're excited to announce that the game is doing well enough for us to continue improving it and adding more content with free updates, starting with the 1.1 update coming in two a few weeks! [/p][h2]Update 1.1: Coming Soon![/h2][p]
We've been pretty busy during release month fixing a lot of the major bugs and crashes that have been reported, but now that things have stabilized a bit better we will be slowling down our rate of patching to work on bigger content updates.

Here are some of the planned new content that will be available in the 1.1 update:

[/p][h3]Sandbox Settings:[/h3][p]
We've added a bunch of customization features since release based on player feedback (such as save-scum mode for example). To expand on that, I've decided to create a whole menu for more customization of the game.

Included in the new sandbox settings will be new options inspired by player feedback such as:

- Add more granular post-Apocalypse challenges with smaller steps in between each difficulty.
- Post-Apoc no longer shortens each act.
- Ban specific bosses from appearing (great for achievement hunting!)
- More...

Did someone say they want more ascensions??

Just to make it clear, the DEFAULT difficulties will not change, but we will be adding new options to customize the difficulty for players.


I'm personally pretty open to allow players to play the game the way they want to play, so if it's not too hard to implement I don't mind adding new options based on suggestions! Let us know what you'd like to be able to customize in game.

[/p][h3]New Cards and Artifacts:[/h3][p]
There will be a new, summer-themed neutral pack, as well as new pilot-unique common artifacts for each pilot!

Vamos a la playa!

I should warn that the new card pack might be based on a potentially controversial mechanic haha, but at least with the Sandbox Settings you'll be able to ban specific packs from appearing too, so if you don't like the new pack you can disable them from in-game!

[/p][h3]Beta Build[/h3][p]
We will be opening up a beta build (probably on Monday) to start playtesting the 1.1 update. More information about that will be shared on our Discord and QQ groups. The beta will also only be available in English and Chinese.

Starting from now, we will also likely be pushing updates and the usual patches to the beta first, before updating the main build. That should prevent some of those awkward hot-fixes for crashes i accidently introduce in the last minute, oopsie.

[/p][h2]Other Additional Notes[/h2][p]
[/p][h3]Steam Cloud Saves for Mac...[/h3][p]
We've tried to enable steam cloud-saves a couple times for Mac for the past few weeks, but everytime we did it, Steam decides it's ok to delete the entire save directory without warning, deleting all progress from Mac users.

We've even implemented a backup folder that is seperate from the steam cloud specified directory to avoid this specific problem, but apparently that entire backup folder gets deleted by Steam cloud too even though it's not in the path that steam cloud is supposed to update... So for now we've disabled Steam cloud saves for Mac and are waiting on a solution from Steam Support so that we can enable it without deleting any progress.

[/p][h3]Optimization Issues[/h3][p]
We've also gotten your reports on optimization issues, potentially some sort of memory leak as well on long playtimes. We haven't quite figured it out yet, but are working on it.

If you are experiencing strange amounts of lag or stutterring, please use the in-game bug report form if possible to send us a report! That'll help us figure out the cause, thanks!

[/p][h2]Thanks for everything - Pengonauts[/h2][p]
A huge thanks again for everyone. To wrap up this too-long news post, we wanted to highlight a few of the content creators that have believed in us, as well as some of the amazing fan-art created by the community so far! Check it out:


Celerity's full-day streams clearing ALL Pilots on Post-Apocalypse

Watch their Twitch VODs here!


Northernlion making bespoke Youtube content for us despite the algorithms.

[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]

[/p][p]
@jmaphis.bsky.social‬



@nat_toes on twitter



Long / longcx

[/p]

UPDATE - I'm rolling back this update for today, there's a critical bug for new bootups. Will update when we figure out what's going on. Sorry about that!

UPDATE - Update is live again!


More bug fixes! And we've reworked some of the Hemophage as well.

[h2]Hemophage 2.0[/h2]

Based on feedback we're smoothening out some of the awkward parts of the Hemophage, and allowing more options to deal with it so it's not a pain to fight.

• No longer becomes Immune while splitting (you can keep hitting it with repeated cards to deal more damage, but it will split into more Hemocytes)
  
• In the "Final phase", no longer recombines with Hemocytes and only keeps 1 HP.
  
• Added more text for describe the Hemocytes.
  
• Reduced total HP again.
  
• Delayed attacks (like Titan Rocket or Auto-Bombs) now correctly trigger before the Hemophage absorbs its Hemocytes.
  

[h2]Other:[/h2]

• Fixed issue with our save backup system, wasn't working for certain OS versions.
  
• Fixed bug where you reload into an empty hand
  
• Fixed bug where some boss timers don't show up
  
• Repeated self-drop cards now keep their rarity (like Claw Trap)
  
• Pilot Album now unlocks correctly with Daily or Challenge wins
  
• Fixed Sygyzy counting twice for Xenn's Relic
  
• Fixed a couple softlock involving skipping cutscenes
  
• Fixed a softlock involving pressing mutliple buttons at once during unlocks
  
• Fixed Old Comet, now doesn't trigger when played.
  
• Fixed bug where Nessie stops moving.
  
• Nessie now heals the tile directly in front of it each turn on Phase 2.
  
• Fixed bugs where Nessie's attack isn't correctly displayed when rerolling during an attack
  
• Fixed generation error where you reroll into the same encounters at the start of an act.
  
• Fixed True Ending working with dailies or challenge on Mac
  
• Fixed Boss room not appearing if you have too many relics
  
• Fixed Eclipse not ending when there are no more waves or enemies. (Eclipse now also ends early if there are only Echos left on its turn)
  
• Fixed Task Engine crash involving repeated Raise Army on Bombs with Blast Legion
  
• Fixed timer not showing up on pause/resu,e
  
• Bombs with Blast Legion can no longer be stealth charged (to trigger Charge Fire).
  
• Fixed visual bug where the Overseer fight is warped
  
• Fixed Witch Fire counting cooldown of destroyed spells.
  
• Made Death by a Thousand Cuts achievement count one less repeat (because it was confusing that you needed to see 11x in game)
  
• Fixed softlock by getting stuck in Pause Menu on a screen outside of a run
  
• Many localization changes
  

Keep the bug reports coming! Thanks!

- Axolotl of the Pengonauts

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