In The Black News

[p]Today Principal Designer David Wessman and Assistant Producer Al Wood are livestreaming a playtest of In The Black. Join us on Twitch or Discord to chat and ask questions. We're actually going to do two 2-hours sessions with a one hour break in between. [/p]

The next Playtest with the Devs is today! SURPRISE!!! We start at 15:00 EDT. We're going to play for 2 hours. If you have a key, please join in! If you don't have a key you can still check out the action as we'll be livestreaming. You can catch the livestream on our Twitch channel https://twitch.tv/impeller_studios or by joining our Discord channel: https://discord.gg/jgwHXWA

For a chance to win a Steam key, you need to join one of the livestreams. There will be a survey to fill out to enter a random drawing for the Steam key!

Please wishlist: https://store.steampowered.com/app/380110/In_The_Black/

Impeller Studios is hosting another "playtest with the devs" this Saturday, May 10. We're doing things a little differently this time. There will actually be three 2-hour sessions! First starts at 7:00 EDT (13:00 CEST), followed by a 1-hour break, the 2nd session starts at 10:00 EDT, then another 1-hour break, and the final session starting at 13:00 EDT.



Everyone is invited to play or spectate! The livestream can be watched on the Impeller Studios Twitch channel, or by going to our Discord and joining the Playtesting! channel.



The Steam key giveaway will be done with a random drawing. Details to follow.

Hey Mercenaries,

We have been working hard on the game and made some serious improvements to the Scan the Freighters mission so that it is both more fun, and more tense. Check it out if you have gone through it already. Along with that there are a bunch of Quality of Life changes to many different parts of the game. Looking forward to feedback and seeing you guys playing.

Players will now be required to destroy the mounted laser turrets in “Scan the Freighters” to complete the mission.
Changed VO
Many changes to level for better overall experience

Corrected an issue in the Store that would prevent the BUY button from appearing when selecting items.
Removed the FSM converter (For Now)
New UI sounds

Database optimizations for cleaner and more responsive pilot terminal
Various visual and gameplay optimizations
Audio Bugs and cracks removed or fixed
New Explosion sounds

Certification point requirements have been adjusted to be easier to earn
Rewards give the correct amounts now
Rewards have been adjusted to give out credits correctly more consistently
Removed the Dev Console

Hey Mercenaries,

We have a pretty big update coming out today and we are excited to see what you guys think. We are releasing the pilot terminal. This is a pretty big update as the Pilot Terminal contains pilot progression and ship customizations. This means that we are going to reset your accounts and let you start earning your ships. The terminal is in no way finished, and will undergo a lot of changes and tweaks as we continue to improve it. The current progression system is tuned to be on the short side. Progression is intended to be slow, but for alpha we reduced requirements to make sure you guys can get to content. We will also be looking out for your feedback to make sure it’s fun, and not a chore.

There are currently no plans for a premium account system so we want your progress to feel rewarding for its difficulty and skill expression, and not like a grind of epic proportions. Costs of ships and weapons is something else we are looking at, and may change if they are just too daunting with a lower player base. When we bring in the rest of the KS backers we will evaluate and modify then to try and get the progression to feel good with more games being played. As a heads up your account may be reset several times during the testing process.

We have made a video that goes over the pilot terminal in detail and explains how to navigate and use it so that you can actually play the game. The in game tutorial for the pilot terminal is something we are going to add, but not soon. So please watch the video first.

• The Pilot Terminal is now available for pilots to access in the hangar! The following features are now enabled for all players and are interacted with via this new interface.
  
  • Pilot Certification System: Players can now experience progression by unlocking improved ships and equipment through the Certification system.
    
  • Store: Purchase new ships, equipment, fabrication licenses and ship-specific skins using currency earned from completing Contracts.
    
  • Fabrication and Licenses: Using fabrication stock material (FSM) earned from completing contracts, players can construct desired ships and equipment through the Fabricator. An appropriate License will need to be earned and purchased from the Store for each type of constructed item.
    
  • Ship Customization: Players can now edit the loadouts and weapon groups of their ships and equip skins purchased from the Store.
    
  • Pilot Statistics: Allows players to review previous match results, Certification progress and other pilot-specific information.
    
• Some features in the Pilot Terminal may not be fully enabled and will be iterated upon as development continues. Please keep in mind the newly-implemented progression system is subject to change and as the Alpha stage of development continues, player progression may be completely reset if necessary. This will be clearly communicated if and when it occurs in future updates.
  
• For more information about the features of the new Pilot Terminal and the Certification system, there will be a tutorial video posted in the very near future. For now here is an overview.
  

• Fixed a crash that was intermittently occurring when shooting missiles at reactors on the Atlas and Lethe base.