NebuLeet News

This is a status update for the public roadmap.

Please keep in mind that I haven't updated the demo. These devlogs are a way to fill the gap between the demo and the game that is about to be released in a month or two. I may update the demo if there is enough spare time after the main release is done.

Equipment: added 4 more weapons. Hydra: a split-missile launcher. Fan cannon: a direct upgrade for Trident weapon, firing 9 projectiles in a wide arc. Vessel buster: a space sniper rifle with high damage and range, but slow rate of fire. Ion sprayer: a fast-firing short-range forward ion cannon, it has remarkable DPS and also burns batteries in seconds. Also added 6 new artifacts, 5 engines, and added tracker to the shop lists.

Flagship: reworked trading module (it can now track all resources instead of just 1 per module). Added radar III module.

Avatars: added some new pilot avatar elements. You can see a new hairstyle in this devlog's preview image.

Quests: added more war-related quests. They are available during a dominion war, and they can affect the war status too. Also added some economy-affecting quests (e.g. some of them allow you to change the resource market state)



Bosses: added 3 new boss vessels and 3 more enemy bases (stationary bosses).

Diplomacy: dominions can now capture each other planets. The player can participate in these events: help the planet defenders or help besieging it. This mechanic is connected to the dominion wars described in the previous post.



Missile tracking: missile tracking system was already present in the game, but it was not available to the player. Only some bosses used the Missile Tracker item along with Zappers programmed to shot down the enemy missiles. Now they're in the game in full. Also, some NPC (both allies and enemies) will utilize Zappers to be guarded against missile weapons.

Programming: implemented some long-waited features like ctrl+x cutting for pasting. Added data flow lines when hovering over COPY FROM or data anchors. Made missile tracker-related commands available to the player.

Campaign: a new Cult mission is added. The Cult will spawn a supply squad from time to time. If not intercepted, they can either build a new Cult base or make an existing base stronger by increasing its level. This new markers are detectable via Cult Detector flagship module. Added 4 new pilot traits. Improved enemy pilots auto stat distribution. Improved some missile-related programs for enemies (they will fire more often and with more accuracy).

UX: missiles now have a color-coded diode attached to them. Allied missiles have green color, enemy missiles have red color. This helps to distinguish between the two during a missile-heavy combat.

This is a status update for the public roadmap.

Content: added new weapon with unique mechanics "guided", more weapons with this mechanic will come. New campaign missions and interactions.



Factions: added a Faction starting option. Play as Radix, Ensis or Cerebra hired mercenary. They have different end-game goals, starting bonuses, and gameplay-affecting effects (like different period scoring rules).



Diplomacy: observe the wars between the dominions, or participate in them! The wars have goods and bads: they allow you to earn extra money, but they can shift the dominion power balance too much, and they generally make the dominions weaker. The Cult will use this opening.

Politics: strongly connected to diplomacy, politics feature allows the player to directly influence the way dominions might interact. Make them love or hate each other, plot against a single dominion or make everyone your best friend.

Interactive events: some new missions are interactive. Cult can send caravan interception squads - stop them or raid the caravan yourself. Or both. Dominion wars also mean more world-affecting missions are to be expected.



Guided weapon programming: this new weapon class requires extreme care. They usually have tons of flexibility, but at the cost of the programming complexity. Can you fully utilize their potential? Guided weapons include program-guided missile launchers (custom homing!) and "push to continue moving" weapons like Disk Cutter.

I am planning to focus on polishing next.

This is a status update for the public roadmap.

Content: added more weapons and other equipment parts in the tech level of 18-22. The max planned tech level might decrease to 25 given the amount of items we have for the game already. I still need to add dozens of items to fill 23-25 (end-game) item levels.

Save-load: implemented, including the auto-saving system and limited saves game mode for the campaign. The normal (unlimited) save mode allows arbitrary and unlimited saves. The limited save mode is autosave-only.

A set of final battles: half-done, with a new AUX troops mechanics they're going to be massive. The player will have to win several large-scale battles to capture the enemy-controlled planets.

More missions/quests: working on it. I try to add them as I go.

Upgradable flagship: done. You start with a tiny flagship, and then can expand it. It is also planned to have different flagship designs with their own upgrade trees (they will have different layouts and tiles available to them). For comparison, the flagship available in the demo is an average flagship which is bigger than the new starting flagship, but smaller than the final form available in the full game.

Vessel editor improvements: added some QoL features like "move all parts" key combination.

Programming: new commands related to the new weapon types ("guided projectiles"), finalized the missile tracker command set, added beacon-based sonar-style scanning command, ctrl+x to "cut" selected commands. More to come.

Also added many (hundreds!) of new vessel designs for the computer players to fill the end-game with more dangerous encounters. This includes new unique bosses.

The Cult can now adapt to counter-play against some cheesy tactics. For example, they might notice that you use drones a lot and make more anti-drone vessels.

My next big goal is diplomacy. It will make the dominion-related dynamics more interesting.
After that, it's probably more programming-related improvements.

I should be able to fully complete the roadmap until the release, but we'll see.

Since the demo is out, some of the players might wonder, how different the final game would be. What will be added and what's out of scope of this game is a valid question to ask.

Here is my attempt at clarifying some things. This list may not be 100% accurate, but it's as close as it gets to my understanding at this exact moment.

Overall, I am planning to make the Campaign better by adding more content and variety. Then I am going to focus on a multiplayer (async, offline) side of the game.

[h3]Content (uncategorized)[/h3]

• New equipment parts up to tech level 30
  
• In-game achievements (plus Steam achievements integration for those)
  

[h3]Multiplayer[/h3]

• An ability to play against uploaded player-created teams
  
• Periodical auto tournaments using the global server
  
• Globally accessible multiplayer PvP leaderboard
  

[h3]Campaign[/h3]

• Save/load feature
  
• +1 dominion faction (Fenero)
  
• A set of final battles
  
• Diplomacy and its effects on the world
  
• More government quests
  
• More mission types (especially for the later game stages)
  

[h3]Flagship/base buildign[/h3]

• Start with smaller flagship, unlock/build better ones as you play
  
• Flagships will have different layouts, with different base stats and tiles available
  

[h3]Vessel designing[/h3]

• Better color options (more palettes, custom color input, color all/templates)
  

[h3]Sandbox mode[/h3]

• Pilot editor
  
• Fleet editor (save several vessels as a template)
  
• Combat/arena settings and rules (e.g. arena size, spawn rules, ...)
  

[h3]Programming[/h3]

• Program-level import/export
  
• An ability to set part-specific default scripts
  
• Debug settings: initial HP, allies, enemies
  

[h3]Extra/polishing[/h3]

• Configurable resolutions + windowed mode support
  
• Steam cloud saves
  
• Keymap binding via settings
  
• Mac OS support
  

This update brings lots of new content, balance changes, and new mechanics!

Featured changes:

• A research system. Many things are unlocked or improved via research tree
  
• A better flagship base building. Most modules are now upgradable (need to be researched first)
  
• Government quests - an extra source of missions if you have good reputation with a faction
  
• Pirate root - be their ally or make them your sworn enemy (an optional root with 2 paths)
  
• Artifacts - rare (hard to get) items that grant unique bonuses to your vessels
  
• A limit fuel combat mechanic
  
• New boss-like encounters with immobile enemies ("battle stations")
  
• A semi-automated trading with Market Monitor base module
  

Content additions include new equipment parts (weapons, wings, body parts, artifacts, engines), new missions, new base modules, new pilot traits, and more.

[h3]Research[/h3]

Research system allows a more gradual power growth. Instead of starting with all flagship modules (being overwhelming and obviously overpowered), you can research the ones you want one at a time.

It also provides new player boosts that were not available before. It partially compensates the ever increasing game difficulty (especially at higher difficulties).

The research system has some depth to it - you can pursue different branches and balance the amount of currently active research projects. More active projects is good in the long-term, but focusing on a single research can give you the desired technology much faster.

It also integrates with the world as you can use your superior tech level to boost one (or multiple) dominion factions tech level.



[h3]Artifacts[/h3]

Artifacts are a rare equipment parts that give different unique bonuses.

Some of them give a flat bonus, but other may adjust the existing equipment part stats. Some artifacts may even have a downside that usually allows for an alternative vessel build style.

You can get artifacts from boss battles, as a random (low chance) reward for some quests, and from some missions.



[h3]Quests[/h3]

The "contact the government" option on planets is now enabled. The new feature allows you to take quests at planets if you have a positive (+1 and above) reputation with them.

There are only a few quests added for now, but their amount will increase with the upcoming updates.

The rewards, conditions and even quest resolutions are randomized - some quests have several possible outcomes!



[h2]Changelog[/h2]

[h3]Programming:[/h3]

• Added an implicit YES/NO argument to num_targeters command
  
• Added fuel-related commands
  

[h3]New equipment:[/h3]

• 7 new weapons
  
• 4 new engines
  
• 4 new wings
  
• 6 new bodies
  
• 13 artifacts (a new category)
  

[h3]Campaign:[/h3]

• Start by designing a custom first vessel
  
• Hard difficulty is now even more brutal
  
• Implemented a game over screen - you can be defeated now
  
• Added many more vessel designs, factions evolve for much longer now
  
• Reworked the way missions spawn
  
• Cult spawns missions in a much more interesting and smart way
  
• Improved/expanded onboarding plot missions
  
• New planet events (e.g. Mercenary Duel)
  
• A "stalemate" combat can be restarted for free (0SP cost)
  
• Slow weapon on-hit effect is now cheaper
  
• Enemy pilots have slightly more variety in their behavior
  
• Added pirates-related events and missions (e.g. visiting a pirate station)
  
• A normal (unpgraded) hangar now has a vessel mass limit of 200
  

[h3]Rebalance:[/h3]

• Adjusted panic-based mechanics. Pilots without ammo retreat more reliably now
  
• Reworked Scavenger trait, it should be more useful now (esp. against larger vessels)
  
• Ion weapons deal more battery damage
  
• Engines rebalance
  
• Rebalanced production points generation
  
• Mercenary pilots are now more responsive
  
• Bolter weapons are buffed
  
• Firefly missile gets a slight homing ability
  

[h3]Graphics:[/h3]

• The fog of war in astroscape now reflects the nebula color
  
• Improved engine trails effect
  
• Added ghost effect to the arriving ("jumping") vessels
  
• Improved floating text alpha change
  

[h3]Pilot traits:[/h3]

• Removed Weapon/Navigation mastery traits, now INT controls the accuracy/movement instead
  
• Added new traits (about 5-6 of them)
  

[h3]Missions:[/h3]

• Many missions have different spawning/placement mechanics now
  
• A new mission - Cult Base
  
• A new mission - Cult Ritual
  
• A new mission - Cult Ceremonial Battle
  
• A new mission - VIP Protection
  
• A new mission - VIP Assassination
  
• A new mission - Caravan
  
• A new mission - Pirate Lord
  
• Added new options for some existing missions
  

[h3]Base building:[/h3]

• Most modules have a progressive cost now
  
• Added new modules (e.g. subhangar and more)
  
• Many modules can be upgraded now (Radar, Turbo, Computing Center, etc.)
  

[h3]Sound:[/h3]

• Added button click sounds for most UI elements
  
• Added extra combat music track
  
• Added impact sounds effects for most weapons
  
• Improved some weapon firing sounds effects
  

[h3]Misc:[/h3]

• "Credits" main menu button is now implemented
  
• Added a new tutorial elements (contextual info pins)
  
• Planet tooltip now shows ETA
  
• +1 vessel color palette
  
• Game tracks various stats now (shown at the "game over" screen)
  
• Pilots now have a faction associated with them (with some mechanics taking that into account)
  

[h3]UX:[/h3]

• Scouting (left-click without a mission targeted) now leaves a pseudo-marker for scouting
  
• Tab focuses the camera on player at astroscape
  
• An ability to disable autocamera in combat
  
• Added movement limit aura on astroscape (double-line circle)
  
• Made radar scan area effect more easy to understand
  
• Preserving new game settings between the re-runs
  
• Re-arranged UI elements in astroscape
  
• Added notification pins
  
• Added a ping effect when centering a camera around an object