PULSAR: Lost Colony News

Hey everyone!

Beta 31.03 is now out!

Additions
- Gamepads can use the on-screen keyboard to type into the chat box by clicking the chat box
- Gamepads can now access the Ship Component Overview screen by pressing left on the d-pad - will require keybindings to be reset
- New key-binding for Keyboard and Mouse setup allows for direct access to the Ship Component Overview screen (V) - will require keybindings to be reset
- Added ambient music to the main menu
- Two new general ambient music tracks should now currently play in the game
- Added the ability to back out of the virtual keyboard
- Improved the Kick Button: There is now a separate Ban and Kick button for the host.
- Added captain notification noting when the ship shuts down due to active virus limit
- Added options to assign keybindings for direct maneuvering thrusters for HOTAS setups - will require keybindings to be reset

Changes
- Slight visual improvements to the Main Menu background
- Sitting Duck virus will now disable pilot boost charging

Fixes
- The Captain’s Scavenger talent should now properly work at the 10% rate per rank instead of the incorrect 5%.
- Fixed an issue with which moons could sometimes cast strange shadows onto planets
- Fixed an error with bot pathfinding that was noticed in analytics
- Fixed an internal error that was noticed in analytics
- Fixed a few problematic probe pickup areas on asteroids
- Fixed an issue where ships could blind jump to hidden sectors that weren’t available yet (i.e. The Wasted Wing)

The Unseen Threat (possible spoilers)
- Fixed an issue with the P.T. Module: Thrust used coolant when it should not have
- The “Strike Window is now Open” mission should properly reference the playership’s name.

Thank you for your time!

Best,
The Leafy Games Team

Hey everyone!

Beta 31.02 is now out!

Changes
- Ships will now automatically shutdown if they are infected with more than 12 active viruses
- Tweaked the math on how ship boosting works. It shouldn’t apply as much drag, so it will be less likely to slow down ships already moving at high speeds.

Fixes
- Fixed a collision issue regarding the engineering system instance and the reactor structure on the W.D. Destroyer-Class starship
- Fixed issue related to active viruses being added to your cargo slots
- Fixed an issue with emissive materials on robot characters

The Unseen Threat (possible spoilers)
- Fixed a handful of reported collision and other visual issues on the Paladin-Class starship
- Fixed a handful of collision issues reported at the Polytechnic Federation hub

Thank you for your time!

Best,
The Leafy Games Team

Hey everyone!

Beta 31.01 is now out!

Fixes
- Fixed a handful of missing collision issues that were reported in the graveyard sectors
- Fixed a floating rock issue reported on the one of the alien planets
- Fixed a missing collision issue found on the Snowy Train level
- Fixed an intersecting mesh issue found on the Borthix delivery mission
- Balmy Gloom, and drink items should no longer have a cooked status
- Fixed an issue involving a grenade launcher that couldn’t be reached on the Bandit Base Planet
- Fixed an issue that would remove any faction alignment after failing a cargo inspection. Now it should only flag you and remove the Colonial Union Alignment. (If you are a CU crew found carrying contraband, you’ll become unaligned with your faction and any missions that require you to be a Colonial Union crew will still fail)
- Fixed an issue that could allow players to bypass the locked ships in the ship selection menu
- Fixed a reloading issue reported on the Carrier and the Caustic Corsair related to Liar’s Dice
- Fixed an item on the Outrider’s lounge table that wouldn’t hide for Liar’s Dice.

The Unseen Threat (Possible spoilers)
- Fixed an issue with the Unseen Eye Death Explosion
- Fixed an issue that wouldn’t properly display the radiated gas on one of the Bosses component parts
- Tweaked the Laser attack to make it slightly easier to dodge
- Fixed an issue with the Horizon Bridge not being accessible if reached during a single run
- The starting AOG rep of the Paladin-Class starship is now 0 instead of -5


Thank you for your time!

Best,
The Leafy Games Team

Hey everyone!

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Beta 31 is out! This update adds a new smaller campaign that can be played instead of the main Lost Colony campaign. It’s a shorter story that explores a new faction, the Polytechnic Federation, a group of sentient robots that have risen from the scrapped and discarded remnants on a waste planet. Don’t let their home fool you--their technology is quite formidable. It is so advanced, in fact, that the W.D. Corporation is out for your parts, and some Alliance of Gentlemen crews wouldn’t mind the payday that your ship would bring them.

The story of this campaign is a fairly simple one; while the inhabitants of the galaxy are hunting for the Lost Colony, they’re unaware of the grave threat heading toward them. The Polytechnic Federation has noticed and is preparing to meet this threat. The goal of this campaign is to get strong enough to face the approaching threat.

Since this is an isolated story that is separate from the main campaign, we decided to try twisting up some of the conventional gameplay expectations. A few of the major tweaks include:
Quick Swap: The ability to swap nearly every ship component as well as upgrade them at any time.
Screens built from scrap: The ship was built from scrapped parts, so to further emphasise this, the screens are also unconventionally built and presented.
The Timer: The Unseen Threat is approaching. It doesn’t wait for you. This campaign introduces a timer that counts down after your ship makes its first jump. We think this adds an oppressive feel to the story; the timer is always counting down, so each decision becomes quite important. We know that this timer might be unwelcome to some players, so we built in a way to disable it in the settings. Doing so will track the number of jumps you make, using that as a countdown instead of real time. We still recommend trying the actual timer if possible.

This update is the last content-focused update for PULSAR’s Beta! We’re pretty excited to share it with you. Our focus over the next series of updates (Beta 31.x) is to fix bugs, add polish, and make improvements where we can to get the game ready for 1.0!

Additions
- New campaign: The Unseen Threat
- New playable ship: The Paladin-Class Starship
- New component type: Polytech Module
- New component: P.T. Module: Shields
- New component: P.T. Module: Damage
- New component: P.T. Module: Quantum Charger
- New component: P.T. Module: Rapid Assembly
- New component: P.T. Module: Crew Repair Nano-bots
- New component: P.T. Module: Thrust
- New cutscene: Polytechnic Federation Intro
- New cutscene: Polytechnic Federation Ending
- New Mission: The Compiler
- New Mission (x6): Technology Ready For Deployment
- New AI priority override: All crewmembers are robots
- New sector: P.T. Hub
- New sector: Horizon Bridge
- 13 new NPCs added at P.T. Hub
- 4 new Polytechnic music tracks
- 3 new Unseen music tracks
- 4 new general combat music tracks
- 2 New Robot body types - Made in the Polytech style
- 5 New Robot head types - Made in the Polytech style

Changes
- Fires from screens and systems will no longer be created when the ship’s O2 level is zero (they would exist for a short period of time before) (Heat volumes and star sectors will still create fires the old way)
- Default AI priorities updated to add better handling for EngBot on crews that don’t require O2
- Added icon for main turrets
- Unlocked ships will now show the requirements to unlock them until you click / open them
- Warp drive screen now shows the name of the sector rather than just the sector number


Fixes
- Fixed issue with repair depot comms that could result in an incorrect repair cost
- Non-human characters no longer consume O2 on ships
- Default AI priorities updated to fix over-prioritization of repairing crewmates
- VR occlusion issues on Lost Colony should no longer happen
- Fixed rendering issue with data fragments rendering on top of the ship log UI
- Fixed an input issue that could temporarily prevent mouse clicks from registering in certain menus
- Fixed an issue with scrapyards that would show a reputation discount when none was applicable

Possible Spoilers
- New sector: Unseen Mothership
- New enemy ship: Unseen Fighter
- New enemy: Adjunct Guardian
- New mechanic: Green Fires



Thank you for your time!

Best,
The Leafy Games Team