NebuLeet News

Indie Snowball event is on!

NebuLeet is going to have a discount during this event.

Make sure to check out other indie games from this sale if you are into indie games.

And by the way, the next patch is almost ready. I will need some extra time to test it, but otherwise a new weapon pack is almost ready to be deployed.

This update brings some new weapons and artifacts, some of which unlock a new depth that will be explored further in the updates yet to come.

> Make sure to update your game to v1.0.41

Changelog:
* Difficulty level now affects allied and enemy pilot INT-related behavior ("smartness")
* Added Mendokusa-II weapon
* Added Wraith Gun weapon
* Added 3 new artifacts (keeping those in secret)
* Added 1 new government quest
* Added a new map marker type (mid-late game skirmish kind with multiple choices)
* Balance: Splitter weapon damage is increased
* Balance: Cyclone weapon gets extra damage against drones, but its cost goes up
* Balance: Brain Snipe artifact effects are increased
* Made music player much less likely to play the same song twice in a row
* Fixed a bundle availability bug (reported by Útost Alronbem)
* Fixed mineling pod missing translation key
* Fixed a negative fuel issue - now it's a design error if vessel has negative fuel

One of the new weapons introduces a new effect-type: last-hit HP recovery (e.g. vampirism). An interesting aspect is its last-hit requirement. It is not easy to finish enemy off with a specific weapon if you have more than one, so it needs some careful programming to work to its fullest. One of the new artifact also involves vampirism.

What comes next? It's some new exciting weapons of course :D
Stay tuned.

If you want to share your ideas, feel free to join our discord:
https://discord.gg/xZCM5uNzZu

Build 40 is here!

[h3]Playing sounds from the code[/h3]

As some of you might know, the game uses a custom modular music player. It plays music directly from XM files.

Apart from saving a significant amount of disc space (e.g. 200kb vs 4-5mb per track), it also has synthesizer potential. This update elaborates on that potential by introducing a way to use that modular music player from your in-game programs!

You might be wondering what you could do with that. Well, there are several ways to use it:

• As a debug tool to signal a rare branch execution
  
• As a notification system for a hybrid/manual vessel (e.g. "danger" or "low fuel" sound)
  
• As a time-based notification (e.g. "30 seconds have passed")
  
• As a feedback system that can improve the clarity of what's happening (e.g. an error sound when firing while out-of-ammo)
  
• And of course you can compose your music with it
  

You can treat it as an extra sandbox tool for an already extensive system. In combination with a new diode customization system you can really show your creativity to the community. The Bad Apple cover in NebuLeet is getting dangerously close!

There are 2 new subsystems that are sound-related:

1. A simple "play sound" that is useful for debugging
   
2. A more complex Synth-based command bundle
   

Both reside in separate command bundles you can unlock (new puzzles are included!)

Here is a video that uses the simple "play sound" commands:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTDBWaLzqK0

I will show you something more impressive after we introduce our next new feature.

[h3]Customizable diodes[/h3]

Previously, the diodes only had a functional role - they are a mean to implement a team communication and droneoperator message exchange. Well, you can now use it as an extra vessel visual customization element.

First off, you equip them as an ordinary equipment part:



And then you can set their color like you would before:



Notice that instead of a simple circular diode at the center of your vessel you get your custom diodes to shine.

Given the variety of shapes and sizes, and the fact that they don't weight anything, you can make something like decals with it. But better yet, you can even animate those to make your vessel look spectacular.

[h3]Sound + Diodes[/h3]

You can combine two new features into a cool music livecoding setup:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WZCGBD-b2Q

[h3]Documenting the code[/h3]

The new "comment" pseudo-command can be used to document the code. It also can act as a logical block separator.



[h3]Other changes[/h3]

• Added some new pilot portrait details
  
• Visitor-type (player-made) AUX hiring cost is increased
  
• Added 1 AUX deployment slow to the Cult base assault mission
  
• Lightweight affinity trait is now more useful
  
• Added a new Dronebane artifact
  
• Increased max resource rewards scaling in some quests
  
• Fixed a crash related to a planet liberation followed by an AUX reroll for Fenero faction
  
• Added some missing translation keys
  

This update brings experimental MacOS support!

But wait, there is more!

I added a new secret (and optional) boss to the campaign. In order to fight it, a couple of preparations must be made by the player - and it's up to you to solve that mystery. In addition to a great in-session rewards for that fight, you also get a 100% sandbox items unlock, meaning it is the best way to fill the missing item slots. This boss is intended to be quite hard and difficult to find during your first playthrough (although it is still possible to do it if you know where to look).

Added a new mission - hireable mercenaries. This mission adds an extra opportunity to hire player-made vessels (aka visitors).

Every planet now has a New Year status effect. Some planets have unique New Year effects and celebration traditions, and you also need to pay attention to their year cycles as planets have a very different Sun rotation period. This change will mostly affect the players that do in-game trading: these periodical events add some predictable market changes and can be used to trade more efficiently. I might add more unique events later, maybe even one for every planet.

The vessel selection circle now depends on the hitbox size.

The game now correctly starts in either fullscreen or windowed mode, based on the settings.

The game now has icons on Windows.

Fixed some bugs:
* A "prototype" trait can no longer be assigned to a non-Cerebra android
* The "projectile speed" command is no longer available from the drone launcher program

Plus a bunch of internal changes to make MacOS build possible.

If you enjoy using and/or programming a non-trivial weapon, you're going to like the new toys.

Content:
* Added Plasmaflare weapon - a dangerous engine that leaves a deadly trail, also allows strafing
* Added Plasmaflare drone launcher weapon
* Added Minecaster and Mega Minecaster weapons
* Added Minecaster drone launcher weapon
* Added 3 new body parts
* Added 1 new wing parts
* Added 2 new Cult bosses
* Added 2 new music tracks (remixes done over the existing ones)

Campaign:
* Added a science funding mechanic - it is now possible to research things faster if you have enough credits
* Added extra difficulty options (available through the custom difficulty option)
* Added a cult fleet power value for corrupted planets (hover over a planet to see it)
* Cult will now be much tamer when they are left with 0 planets
* Cerebra now has an extra mission that will grant and Android prototype for free

Descriptions/UX:
* Implicit args (command-embedded) are now highlighted in purple inside command's description
* Added ATK and DEF % info to their descriptions
* Reworked weapon fire arc attr icon - now it's a full swing to clarify the distinction with a half-measure command
* Expanded some sections of the in-game manual
* Added some missing translation keys

Bug fixes:
* Fixed a crash when submitting a sandbox vessel with bound scripts
* Fixed Cerebra final test spawning after being completed
* Fixed a sandbox simulation crashing when using Androids with "cursor position" command

Misc:
* Reworked vessel movement physics - it's now more realistic and preserves both engine and external velocities
* Drones are now considered to be Androids from the game's perspective
* An attempt to remove the annoying cmd window launched along with the game on Windows

Balance:
* Adjusted some recoil values
* Made "full stop" command effect less powerful, it is not scaled with the vessel's engine acceleration value