Asteroids ++ News

Decided to release a part of this update because 1.1.8 is taking too long, but I am glad people still enjoy the game regardless. Apologies for slower updates, I was on vacation and had private things in my life to take care of, thanks for understanding and being awesome!

[h3]Features/Changes[/h3]

• Added custom names in recruitments
  
• You can now add custom recruitment names! Head to the modding folder in the game to add new recruitment names!
  
• This file will always change in every update that I add new names, so in the future there will be a way to "select" specific mods that change recruitnment names. While we are at it, added a bunch of newer recruitment names
  
• Asteroids will no longer spawn other asteroids if they have max hp (with exception for bosses, for now...)
  
• Updated SteamWorks API, which introduces less lag and less latency for existing features (achievements / player count etc)
  
• Updated text engine, allowing for extra effects (you can add effects to recruitment names for example)
  
• Added new explosion effects and smoke effects, needs more testing
  
• Changed the loading screen which hopefully causes less stutters during gameplay
  
• Changed achievement Super Skip Payout to be 500 $$$ instead of 1000 $$$
  
• Changed achievement Wombo Combo to be 9 sectors to beat instead of 10 required at once
  
• The ??? is now accessable at level 20
  
• You can pay the bills from level 40 instead of 30
  
• Updated F1 menu
  
• Updated credits
  

[h3]Bugfixes[/h3]

• Fixed some skill tree upgrades
  
• Fixed minor menu problems
  
• Fixed specific crashes regarding many asteroids on screen
  

[h3]Known Issues[/h3]

• Recruitments dont work when trying to target huge asteroids
  
• If there are payment problems with the items, please let me know

I'll continue to bring a new type of common drops! Weapons!
When 1.1.8 comes out, 13 new drops will come out, a player spaceship (that you can use to spawn in sandbox!) and the rifle weapon with 12 levels (you can configure levels in sandbox)

Each level is more rare (level 12 weapon being non obtainable), but each weapon item can be upgradable to the next level if you combine weapons (So if you have two level 7 rifle items, you can combine them to get a level 8 rifle item)



[h2]Crafting![/h2]
You will be able to combine planets into previous drops and turn them into golden planets! Also asteroid crafting will be possible so you can use them in sandbox!

[h2]New Shop Stuff![/h2]
Space Gifts! - UTILITY - Dropped by UFOs or asteroids, gifts will provide small buffs like giving health or increasing a weapons/abilities/utility level temporarily. Each level from space gifts increases quantity per sector, these are useful for making the ship more powerful overtime during a sector
Wave Crunch - ABILITY - Skips 2 waves, makes the following wave harder, but if it has been "wave skipped", the payout is 5X more valuable. Each level increases payout reward.
Hydra Pods - WEAPON - Small rockets dealing mediocre damage, however unlike rockets it doesnt deal splash damage,. Has a fast firerate and seeking abilities which targets the nearest enemies
1UP - PASSIVE ABILITY - Another life! But what happens if you combine it with the clone?

[h2]General Upcoming Features[/h2]
Endless Run - Compete with friends and with the world to see who can conquer the most sectors while choosing randomized shop items!
Level Editor - Create levels, planets and solar systems and share them for free! Use planets from your inventory!
Steam Workshop - Upload your levels online and let players play and rate them!
Co-Op - Planned as local/couch co-op, gather your friends around and each ship would have a different weapon loadout!
More Asteroids - More asteroid variants and types are coming
More Bosses - Planning to add new bosses, as well as change existing ones a bit
New Music - Each asteroid type/boss gets brand new piece of music, which is added in the music kit pool and people who have the Asteroids ++ OST will get a new song for free!
More Planets and campaigns - And then introduce these new mechanics to the table with newly released content!

[h2]Fourth Shop Category[/h2]
?̸̢̛͚̪̅̈͆͛͑͒̽̎̀̓́̈́͂͑?̸̧̛͚̪͇͚̻̹̯͉̾̇̚͜?̷̧̯̙̞̤͇̦̞͙̜̤̰̫̅̐͛ͅ?̸̢͔͇̳̮̰̼̞̗͉̪̃͋̑?̸̧̧̤̞̯͙̤͍̬̖̼͓̇̎̔̾̃͛̉́͆?̷̲͎̯̯͔͌̚͠?̷͔̼͊̒͛͗?̷̙͕͑̍͂̉͐̉͋̈́̚͠͝?̷͚̄̅̉̀̌̐͘̚̕͝?̶̡͈̖̖̭̭͈̝͚͓͚̬̭̟̅̽͐̔?̶̧͉͚̘̟̩̝̽͐̏̑̅́̿̊̍̚̚?̵͉̫͉̬̂̓̈́͊̈́͒͒͊͒̐̈̾

[h2]Balance Changes[/h2]
[h3]Machine Gun[/h3]
Machine Gun had bullet limit problems and it confused too many players, so I removed them, the limit was only there to prevent having too many bullets on screen

• Removed bullet limit
  
• Reduced bullet lifetime in half
  

[h3]Rocket:[/h3]
Changed the rocket price to be more accessible to allow for early start loadouts

• Starting Cost (100>80) Procedural Cost (55>60)
  

[h3]Recruitments:[/h3]
Same goes with recruitments

• Starting Cost (50>40) Procedural Cost (35>40)
  

[h3]Pulse:[/h3]
Pulse was a very underrated weapon and pretty bad in the beginning so prices for it are now insanely cheap at the starting levels

• Starting Cost (50>25) Procedural Cost (20>50)
  

[h3]Shotgun:[/h3]
Shotgun was supposed to be a weapon that acts similarly as the rifle and machine gun, so later levels will be cheaper

• Procedural Cost (40>25)
  

[h3]Hook[/h3]
Hook will get a semi-overhaul, it was too good at collecting coins and made players quickly rich, unbalancing the economy when reaching a high hook level.

• Max hooks that can be spawned on level 12 hook (12 > 4)
  
• Hook Damage (0.4 + hook level
• 0.05 > 0.8 + hook level
• 0.1)
  
• Hook Damage Cooldown (0.083s > 0.166s)
  
• Starting Cost (125>100) Procedural Cost (65>30)
  
• Fixed Hook EXP gain, I'll change how weapons gain EXP in a future update
  

[h3]Dash[/h3]
Nobody used dash, so I made it more accessible

• Starting Cost (75>50)
  

[h3]Timestop[/h3]
Timestop can be exploited in various ways and while I like seeing players use various strategies, it can be too good on higher levels

• Procedural Cost (70>80)
  

[h3]Quad Damage[/h3]

• Procedural Cost (50>70)
  

[h3]Repair Kit[/h3]

• Procedural Cost (20>15)
  

[h3]Orange Asteroids[/h3]

• Orange Asteroids can only shoot the player if the player is nearby
  

- I've made some efforts to fix the linux port, let me know how it works for you (massive thanks to steventrouble, SaltyStan, Onymous, DungeonLord87, pixelpaintbush and others!)
- Texture glitches may no longer occur anymore, but further testing of this is required.

[h3]Other[/h3]
I was going to get the 1.1.7 update focused on the planet collection and planet crafting, but recently a lot of people using linux distros reported many bugs regarding the linux version so 1.1.7 is just going to be a linux fix and all of the planet stuff will be for later

If you noticed a decrease in speed of development, that is because I'm focusing a bit on myself in the recent times but the game is still being worked on! Thanks for playing ❤️

[h3]Features/Changes:[/h3]

• When a hook breaks it will now drop coins instead of not dropping anything
  
• UFOs can now take coins from the hook and destroy the hook if it has anything
  
• Recruitments can also take money from the hook but the hook will not be destroyed
  
• Hook procedural cost 75 > 65 (Buff)
  
• Added new recruitment names
  
• Added an ability for UFOs to have recruitments (yes, just casually dropping that in there)
  
• UFO has different shooting sounds depending on its weapon
  

[h3]Fixes:[/h3]

• Fixed bug where "BOSS" hud wouldnt appear
  
• Fixed crashes for laser and hook during the final boss
  
• Fixed bug where an additional hook wouldn't appear if tier 3 of the hook weapon was gathered
  
• Fixed laser not being able to be used with a gamepad
  

[h3]Features/Changes[/h3]

• Weekly planets can no longer be larger than 4x4, only hard planets
  
• Hard planets get at least 2 extra waves
  
• Quad damage now gives back 0.01s for every asteroid hit instead of 0.05s (Nerf)
  
• Changed skill tree tier 3 Quad Damage to give 0.02s for every asteroid hit instead of 0.1s
  

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• Fixed crash with hard planets
  
• Fixed other crashes with recruitments
  

(Note... linux isnt updated because there are issues with it, also quad damage is still busted on the final boss)
[h2]NEW WEAPON: HOOK[/h2]

• Release to throw, hold to pull! The hook will automatically hook in asteroids, dealing damage, and then pull coins when the hook has reached full capacity. Each level gives an additional hook which gets faster, deals more damage, and can carry more coins. This weapon is supposed to be more of an idle weapon and note that it is extremely expensive.
  
• There is also skill tree available for this new weapon!
  

[h2]NEW GAMEPLAY OPTION: Max Asteroids[/h2]

• This has been added to address performance issues, maximum amount of asteroids can be present on the screen (256-1024, infinite will be added later), while lower numbers may make the game easier, it will take longer to beat sectors if its limited. Only use if the game performance isn't great
  
• In the future, if the limit is set, asteroids wont spawn from bigger asteroids (large, huge, triplet) but instead placed in queue for normal spawning if there is too many asteroids for performance reasons, unless the setting is set to infinite.
  

[h3]Other[/h3]

• Rockets will only seek enemies if it's in range (Nerf), only made to make bigger sectors a bit harder since rocket was broken in them. This also applies to UFO rockets though.
  
• Recruitments will only seek and shoot at enemies if its close in range (Nerf, but this is only made to prevent lag)
  
• Skill tree changes: Increased level requirement for all skill categories:
  

Weapons: 2.5 Levels > 3.5 Levels
Abilities: 3.5 Levels > 4.5 Levels
Utilities 4.5 Levels > 5.5 Levels
In general there is a bigger grind but if you are level 50 you shouldn't really worry about it too much.

• Weekly planet is now perfectly in sync with all players
  
  Oh yeah, final thing, and big nerf here:
  
• Wave skips will now award 5$ per wave instead of 10$
  

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• Fixed issue with hard planets saying it's always "June"
  
• Fixed issue where its possible that the game will say that you've played before but the player launched the game for the first time
  
• Improved recruitment AI so that they better avoid large and huge asteroids (havent tested with triplets, mothership or final boss)
  

[h3]Known issues[/h3]
Machine Gun doesn't work if UFOs with machine guns are present
The game could still crash on campaign, it's much harder to track from where since the common bugs have been fixed, thanks for reporting!

If you have any bugs to report or features to request, click here