Waterjacked! News

[p]Hey Valley Dwellers! Jacob here, and today it’s finally time to take y’all through the myriad changes that Waterjacked has gotten in the multiple months since our last Demo update! It’s been a hell of a time, and we are all so happy with what’s been improved and implemented since October. Now then, onto the changes!
[/p][h3]Visual Changes and Improvements[/h3]

• [p]New GRID sprites.[/p]
• [p]Replaced or added brand new UI elements when in-scenario.[/p]
• [p]AP is now called "Actions."[/p]
• [p]When editing or placing modules on the GRID, there are now small previews that inform you of the action cost.[/p]
• [p]Updated sprites for the Bumper, Splitter, and EMP modules (goodbye blue bumper, we will miss you).[/p]
• [p]Scenario pips on the map have been re-done to be more responsive and readable.[/p]
• [p]Scenario previews have been re-done:[/p]
  • [p]Now stylized after wanted posters.[/p]
  • [p]View which rewards you'll receive.[/p]
  • [p]Enemy icons now appear if at least one enemy of that type appears in the scenario.[/p]
• [p]Added hanging signs for the Fabricator’s Shop, Water Bill (still WIP), and Map.[/p]
• [p]While viewing the map and shop, your current run stats are shown in the bottom left.[/p]
  • [p]These update in real time as your purchase and sell items that adjust said stats.[/p]
• [p]The Fabricator's Shop has received a visual update:[/p]
  • [p]The Backpack UI has been changed, and now also shows which Augments you own.[/p]
  • [p]Banners and decorations based on the shop item’s rarity have been added.[/p]
  • [p]When recycling an item, you now see a preview of what resources you’ll gain back.[/p]
• [p]Tooltip system added:[/p]
  • [p]A small indicator will appear when hovering over an item that has a tooltip.[/p]
  • [p]Once the indicator fills, a tooltip will appear.[/p]
  • [p]Tooltips are available in the shop and in-scenario for enemies and modules.[/p]
• [p]Encyclopedia system added: [/p]
  • [p]You can access the encyclopedia anytime from the pause menu.[/p]
  • [p]Small info pips are available on shop items that will take you straight to the item’s entry in the encyclopedia.[/p]
• [p]The intro slides at the start of a campaign have been re-done.[/p]
• [p]General alerts have been added at the start and end of a scenario.[/p]
  • [p]Specialized alerts play when the GRID is nearing its collapse state.[/p]
• [p]A damage vignette appears when you are low on health.[/p]
• [p]The pause button is now smaller and colored to match the other HUD elements.[/p]

[h3]Gameplay Changes and Improvements[/h3]

• [p]Tutorial overhauled (and is now functional).[/p]
• [p]Augments have been added:[/p]
  • [p]Can be received as a scenario clear reward, a rare drop from enemies, or purchased from the shop.[/p]
  • [p]Notification system added that notifies you when an Augment is triggered.[/p]
  • [p]Augments are the only items that allow you to adjust your stats.[/p]
  • [p]Augments can also provide a wide range of supplemental effects, such as causing excess damage to hit another robot or the triggering of status effects.[/p]
• [p]Mini-Turret module updated:[/p]
  • [p]The Mini-Turret now shoots a targeting reticle when powered.[/p]
  • [p]Originally, we thought of adding some modules that appear next to the Player on the playfield. We decided against this, and as such, the Mini-Turret no longer appears next to the Player on the playfield.[/p]
• [p]The AP Generator module has been removed, but will be added in the future as an Augment.[/p]
• [p]New enemy: the Puddle Jumper.[/p]
• [p]New system added: GRID shifting.[/p]
• [p]New loss condition: GRID collapse.[/p]
  • [p]GRID collapse occurs when the number of active slots on the GRID drops below three (3).[/p]

[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]

• [p]An abhorrent amount of bug fixes and stability improvements[/p][p][/p]

[p]As a reminder, the Visibility Update will be releasing Friday, February 20th, so keep your eyes on that Steam download queue![/p]

[p]Hey Valley Dwellers![/p][p]A quick announcement for y'all today, we have a release date for the next Waterjacked update: The Visibility Update! It will be going live on Friday, February 20th! There will be a change log post coming soon, but if you want a little sneak peek, check out the first edition of Straight from the Pond, which covers a bunch of the changes we made. This update will be applied to the Waterjacked Demo for free, so all we ask is that you take some time to play it and let us know what you think.[/p][p]See you on the playfield![/p][p][/p]

[p]Hey Valley Dwellers![/p][p]The first edition of Straight From The Pond, our monthly(ish) newsletter, is out! It covers what we've been working on for the past few months, and what y'all can expect in the future.[/p][p]What have we got in store today? We’re showing an early look at the first two of Waterjacked’s four major updates: The Visibility Update and the Elephant Graveyard Update. The Visibility Update will arrive in February, followed by the Elephant Graveyard Update, which has yet to receive a launch window.[/p][h3]Read more here![/h3][p][/p][p][/p]

[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3][p]- Fixed a crash when healing over max health.[/p][p]- Fixed power not being freed after the Guzzler steals a module.[/p][p]- Fixed player health not showing empty pips when moving between scenarios.[/p][p]- Fixed the vignette not appearing correctly when opening the toolbelt.[/p][p]- Fixed a crash caused by clicking the scenario GO button multiple times very quickly.[/p][p]- Fixed a crash that occurred when dealing more damage to an enemy than they had health remaining.[/p][p]- Fixed a bug when exiting to main menu when in the middle of a level, marking that level complete when you loaded back in.[/p][p]- Fixed a slew of saving and loading issues. Your save data is now properly tracked through a run and marked invalid once you lose.[/p][p]- Fixed a bug when finishing the tutorial that left your backpack not updated correctly.[/p][p]- Fixed a soft-lock issue when losing the tutorial due to saving/loading inconsistencies.[/p][p]- Fixed a bug that prevented the tools menu from appearing when scrolling back to the grid after leaving the toolbelt open (shoutout to TheZeldaMuse for spotting this!)[/p][p]- Fixed a slew of issues regarding saving/loading. [/p][h3]Adjustments[/h3][p]- The demo popup now only appears once per-launch, instead of each time you return to the main menu.[/p][p]- The tools UI now has a toolbox that rolls out on mouse hover.[/p][p]- Due to how often and how many changes we'll be implementing, saves will not carry over between updates for the foreseeable future. The game will force new games, so there's nothing you have to do on your end.[/p][p]- In case there are any issues with your saves, we have added an option in the settings menu to wipe your save data.[/p][h3]Content[/h3][p]- Added some new shape generation options for levels, which our designer implemented into a few of the demo levels.[/p][p]- The player shield effect has two new animations for when it absorbs damage and is broken.[/p][p][/p][p]- Added basic tooltips for buttons on the main menu and map view.[/p]

[p]Hey everyone! 🌵 Wyatt here to discuss our plans for Waterjacked now that we've got the demo release behind us.[/p][p][/p][h2]Updates[/h2][p]From this point forward, we will be releasing free updates for the Demo. You can expect patches addressing bugs and balance arriving as-needed. New content, such as improved animations, new modules and enemies, and other unrevealed features, will arrive later, once we announce our update roadmap.[/p][p]This is our first project we're bringing to market, so we're constantly learning how to be more efficient in our development pipelines. With that said, we may run into hiccups and have to delay updates due to unforeseen events. A lot of the team works a day job (myself included) on top of the work at AFP, so sometimes we may not have the time to implement everything we want, for example.[/p][p]Regardless, our primary goal is to adjust features and mechanics to what Players are recommending or enjoying. If you come across a weird bug or have some neat ideas or criticisms, please share them with us in our Discord![/p][p][/p][h2]Release Window[/h2][p]While it is still early on, we expect to have a final (or nearly final) version of Waterjacked! released on Steam during Q1 of 2026. We don't have an official date yet, but you'll hear from us as soon as we have one locked down.[/p][p]We will be working on the Waterjacked! Demo until it resembles the final game's vision. Once there, we will pivot from updating the Demo to providing beta keys to Players to test the game. Once ready, we will release the game, but the demo will be freely available indefinitely. It is one of our core principles to allow Player's the opportunity to make educated purchases through free demos that accurately represent the full game.[/p][p]We plan to list Waterjacked for 7.99$ upon release, and run a 25% launch discount for the first week of release. We also have plans for post-launch updates, as we are sure there will be some extra pieces of content we'll want to add. These updates will be free, and as of writing, we have no plans for any paid DLC.[/p][p][/p][h2]Roadmap[/h2][p]We're currently working on a roadmap that will detail in specifics what content the full release of Waterjacked will include. This won't be ready until late December, early January, as we want to assess player responses to initial updates and how the game evolves from them. Keeping this update short and sweet. See you next week for an update post! - Wyatt 🪷[/p]