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An in-game manual + better difficulty progression?

Hello, fellow commanders!

These few days were dedicated to the most common feedback points so far: difficulty and lack of a comprehensive tutorial.

[h2]Game Difficulty[/h2]

Here is how the difficulties were affected:

1. The first ("normal") difficulty got significantly easier
2. The second ("hard") difficulty is now slightly easier
3. The third difficulty is more or less the same

Also keep in mind that you can always set your custom difficulty by adjusting the individual settings - different people enjoy different challenges. I, for one, enjoy a slower pace game (world progression), but also a very hard economy setting so it is harder to get stronger for me too.

It is not only about adjusting the individual settings, but also about introducing new mechanics into the game. For example, the Cult got a new ability to replace an outdated planetary guard with a new squad, but it will also cost it more points to do so. The player can now deploy AUX units in more missions, sometimes in larger quantities.

The scavenging trait (pilot skill) rework is also going to make the game easier.

[h2]Tutorials[/h2]

This game is meant to be explored with a slower pace. The game will try to give you contextual hints if it knows you're missing something, but at the same time it will also try not to overwhelm you by trying to explain the stuff you might not care about.

With that being said, it is still obvious that it is unfair to expect some pre-existing knowledge of gaming conventions I used in the game. But I can't give you a gentle staged introduction. In the world like this, you get a manual. Well, it's more of a guide as it tries to be short and on-point, instead of going into the deepest details.

You are not supposed to read through all of it. Is is there to fill the gaps if you are stuck at some specific part of the game. For instance, if you couldn't find how to edit the software and play with coding in this game.

Ah, and I'm also improving the tooltips, fixing the wording, etc. The in-game manual is like a last resort thing, if no other clue was successful.

[h2]Changelog[/h2]

* Added "vessel export" option to the campaign
* Made active quest pins non-removable
* Added 2 new government quests
* Added an metaprogression-unlocked item checkmark near the price
* Fixed some crashes (thanks go to the players that sent the crash traces)
* Fixed a fast travel bug - now it should work all the time
* Made cult detector module more affordable, try it out
* Items acquired through quests and missions are now properly saved to metaprogression
* Scavenging can now give you a random enemy vessel part after battle
* Fixed bots weird use of burst-firing weapons at high INT values
* Added some hotkeys to the astroscape (J, R, F - all rebindable)
* Added an in-game manual
* Adjusted the existing difficulty settings and their values
* Introduced more Cult-related limits so they're not as deadly on lower difficulties

The patches are flowing in!



The latest version is 1.0.13, make sure to update

Just letting you know that I'm receiving the crash report sent by you from the game. I usually address them in a few hours (some time to notice it, fix it, and then upload the fix).

I am also trying to address the lack of tutorials and onboarding issues. It's not a simple process as I don't want to make the game insisting too much on teaching you. Perhaps a third kind of tutorial is needed:
1. no tutorial (already exists)
2. context-sensitive hints once in 20-40 days depending on what you do (already exists)
3. a more traditional "let me tell you about XYZ" kind of tutorial

The 3rd option needs some extra care as it can easily be too detailed in some aspects while missing out on some other ones. As a temporary band-aid, a game guide will be published here on Steam - it's not a solution, but a way for players to have more chances with the game now, before a better solution can be implemented.

I also managed to add a bit of new content in-between the fixes: two new drone launchers.
1. Flakling pod for a very low tech drone launcher
2. Hyper trident turret deployer for as a second turret deploying drone in the game (this one is very fun to code)

Also added a new feature to every drone launcher: color controls. Previously, only photon bolter turrets respected the colors: the R color when set to >0 would stop them from firing. Now this trick works with any drone or turret. The G color would do a force-fire command, meaning the drone will shoot right now, even if it considers the target out of range or R is >0. This is extra useful for both turrets as you can have a way to manually fire their indirect-aiming weapons (also works well with rocketlings).

The difficulty curves were also altered a bit, making the normal (first) difficulty somewhat easier.

More goodies are about to come. When I'm done with the highest priority stuff, content updates and modding guides will start showing up.

Feel free to join our discord to share your thoughts and/or leave a comment to this post.

Game is released!



I didn't have enough time to make an announcement before or right after the release, so I guess it's better to do it now than never :D

I read all the reviews, discussions, and some private messages from the players - the stuff I heard about is partially fixed, partially scheduled for the future.

Some updates after v1.0:

* The windowed mode is now much more usable, with scaling and all
* Fixed multiple puzzles in software bundles
* Added some extra hints in some puzzle descriptions
* Made "no" decision in accessible puzzle solutions reversible (see a new gameplay option)
* Added combat popup that describes the bare minimum a new player should know (1-time only)
* Fixed some awkward audio bug - some players had audio turned off by default
* Made "rectangle contains" command description easier to understand
* Fixed some typos (there are still more out there)

The macos support was requested, but it might take more time before it's up. :)

You can send a bug report by using an anonymous feedback button from the main menu. Or you can join discord and tell about it there. The Steam discussions is another place you can go to -- I am trying to react everywhere.

Devlog 6: operation pre-release

This is the last devlog before the release.

It will be less detailed, but I will try to highlight the main changes happened since the previous devlog.

Campaign:
  • Fenero is now a full faction, participating in wars, etc.
  • Added starting vessel metaprogression (can use previously unlocked parts)
  • Added "Cult Resistance" mission as another way to counter the cult influence
  • Added a couple of new quests that interact with cult influence mechanic
  • Added a unique extra plot mission to every starting faction (Radix, Ensis, Cerebra)
  • The Cult can now have a sticky long-term tactics that influence their actions
  • Visitors (player-made vessels) can become AUX units now
  • Added and reworked several missions to include visitors as either allies or enemies
  • Fenero uses visitors for their military fleets
  • Mercenary pilots behavior is now more sticky (unless their skills change)
  • Builtin vessels are now unlockable as a part of metaprogression
  • Can now browse the encountered visitor vessels in a new "Visitors" tab
  • Can vote-up (or install) a visitor vessel right from the game


Programming:
  • Added a script override option to simplify the code reuse between parts
  • Func/prog selection windows now have a name filter input
  • Simulation mode now works better with non-android pilots (the numbers are more precise)
  • Added many debug options (adding allies, enemies, etc.)
  • Removed Call/0 commands - a normal Call commands can now be used in their place
  • Fixed a bug with callee thrashing the state of the caller (it could lead to weird bugs in your algorithms)
  • Added several debug-oriented vessels (they're in a separate "debug" vessel collection)


Steam integration:
  • Added more achievements
  • Generating detailed workshop item description for submitted vessels
  • Added an inferred vessel Tier calculation
  • Added in-game quick feedback form


Items:
  • Added Cyclone weapon
  • Added Double Wingjet engine


Sandbox:
  • A more predictable and persistent vessel sorting
  • Improved interactions between different collections (e.g. usersubscribedbuiltin)


UX:
  • ESC stops the sandbox combat immediately (previously there was a 1s delay)
  • Introduced a textarea-like widget for description inputs
  • Redesigned some older window widgets to make them look more consistent
  • CTRL+click on a layer button moves to bottom/top
  • CTRL+click on a color applies that color to all parts of that category

Devlog: roadmap status update 5



The release is getting closer!

I am planning to ship the v1.0 version of the game on 3rd of December. It's not going to be a GOTY-level edition for sure, but I will follow it up by updates to make it real good.

Programming

Reworked vessel-vs-drone handling in several commands. Instead of having a kludge YES/NO parameter in some and special mode in others, a new FILTER prefixing command can be used now.



Added a line drawing primitive for debugging. Also added multi-color support for other drawing primitives (numbers, circle).



Color-based commands are now have their color components in 0...255 range instead of 0...1.

Added a new command that allows cross-vessel communication using LED colors.



Software bundles now have an information window listing every command it unlocks, along with documentation.



Implemented some debug simulation options.



Equipment

  • Weapon - Charge Gun - the first chargeable weapon. Charge longer to deal more damage
  • Weapon - Lance - another chargeable weapon. A powerful beam that burns everything on its line of fire
  • Weapon - Chaosling Pod - a drone launcher with drones carrying a Chaos Cannon each
  • Weapon - Hellfire Missiles - a new high-end missile launcher
  • 2 new body parts
  • 3 new engine parts
  • 1 new wings part
  • Added many more colors for all part categories


Campaign

Implemented more campaign start options + a custom difficulty setting.



  • 1 new quest
  • Cult Armada is now more dangerous if not taken care of in time
  • Radar 2 research is no longer required for Cult Detector science project
  • Added more Cerebra carrier designs (3)
  • Implemented a quicksave/quickload (F5, F9)


UX

Made it possible to browse multi-form weapons info.



Reworked sandbox arena vessel picker to a much more convenient one.

  • Made negative effects have separate icons (reputation decrease, power decrease, etc.)
  • Mission level (difficulty) is now yellow/red colored if it's considered too dangerous


Steam

  • Added the first batch of achievements (18 + more to come)
  • Added Steam Cloud saves support


Misc

Added settings to the game. Video, gameplay, Steam integration, and even key rebinding.