Approaching Infinity News

[p]Greetings space captains. Today version 2.0.20c1 is released for all players. I hope it will be the stable standard while I plan out the next few months of continued development.[/p][p][/p][h3]So what do you get in 2.0.20c1?[/h3][p][/p][p]I talked about these at length in the last beta update but they apply to everyone now. Suffice to say you can take creatures from cages on shipwrecks and sell them to stations or release them into the wild. And you have new options for managing your ship components, devices, and away team load-outs.[/p][p] [/p][h3]"Cheats" are out, "Mods" are in![/h3][p][/p][p]When starting a new game, cheats are now called mods (because some of them are actually harder), and starting with asteroid bases has been moved to this screen.[/p][p]But we also have 3 totally new options:[/p][p][/p][h3]Random Races[/h3][p]Ever notice that you always encounter the same few factions in the early game, but the Firax and Unifiers are out in the high 20's? Sure it's random to some degree, but it's also predictable.[/p][p]Not with "Random Races"! Any race can appear in any sector. I highly recommend checking the warp screen before you go someplace new, and be on guard! I've seen Narcratu and Eaters in sector 1.[/p][p]But it's FUN. Try it.[/p][p][/p][h3]No Level Limits[/h3][p]This is another one that will drastically affect your early game. Normally, monsters, weapons, and devices all have "minimum sectors" where they appear, giving the game a certain amount of natural progression.[/p][p]With "No Level Limits", those are (mostly) removed. You could potentially find a singularity launcher in sector 1, but also meet a lava-blob or caerban in sector 2... The only limit that still applies is that you can't encounter really big ships for the first few sectors: they can one-shot you[/p][p]This mode removes other more subtle limits too, like ones affecting what kinds of sectors and quests can be generated. This will change your game.[/p][p][/p][h3]Finite Resources[/h3][p]Are your red-shirts really just a meat-shield? Well, not if there were only so many crew for hire in the whole galaxy! [/p][p]"Finite Resources" mode limits the total number of crew and supplies that you can get from every station, and they never replenish.[/p][p]It will definitely add to the challenge...[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]I'll admit it: Approaching Infinity is pretty easy if you know what you're doing. Spending 40 hours in Jupiter Hell really helped to drive that home. They're 2 vastly different games, and I have no desire to emulate that game. But I like to have something for everyone, and that includes players who want more challenge.[/p][p]So no rest to heal on away missions in hard and insane games.[/p][p]Unless of course you have the "self sealing suits" device, or the "field medic" skill. Or a medkit. Or the "heal" cyber-skill. Or a healing artifact. Or the operative's "fieldcraft" skill... [/p][p]As it turns out, there are quite a few ways to get healing. This is just one more way I'm trying to improve the lives of those poor red-shirts and make you FEEL THE BURDEN OF COMMAND![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Planets now have smells! It's just flavor text. Aroma text? Anyway, this is mostly apparent on terran planets, especially disease-free UHO ones. Go ahead, open your helmets! You might also smell something if you get a suit puncture on another type of planet.[/p][p]Maybe someday it will be an achievement: "Smell 10 Planets"... 🤣[/p][p]This was inspired by a book I read in the hospital in the 90s. I swear it was one of the Foundation books... they talked about how every planet had a unique scent.[/p][p][/p][p][/p]

• [p]When a faction is "on a search mission" on a shipwreck, you might find what they're looking for in a container, and they will offer to trade for it. If you decline their offer, you can instead take it to their enemies (a certain other faction). If you make it out alive after they all turn hostile...[/p]
• [p]Knife, sword, hammer, and eviscerator can now automatically destroy pricklers when you more into them.[/p]
• [p]I had to reduce the level of items you receive from degrokking, and the credits reward for "I need a gun" quests. They were too much.[/p]
• [p]I moved the "Automation" section much higher in the Options menu, for things you might want to change more often.[/p]
• [p]Sector power levels are now displayed on the warp screen and scans of planets and shipwrecks. Those power level numbers can be compared to your space power and away team power levels.[/p]
• [p]More kinds of planets will get stacks of resources: toxic & corrosive planets get stacks of chemicals. Barren & molten get stacks of ore. Irradiated planets have transuranium stacks.[/p]
• [p]I adjusted the spawning of holeworms and buccarana in sinkholes, and they can have different spawn rates on different screens of the same planet. If there is no chance that a monster will spawn from a sinkhole on the current map, your crew will occasionally give little barks like "nobody's home" when close to them.[/p]
• [p]Insane archaeology quests should no longer happen before sector 10 (except with "No Level Limits").[/p]
• [p]The "Learn" button now appears on the market screen at stations so you can more easily use data to learn commodity price grades.[/p]
• [p]Consumables sold at stations are now sold in bundles of 1-10, depending on difficulty (10 for easy, 5 for medium, 3 for hard, 1 for insane), and they can only be bought once in each station.[/p]
• [p]Syndicate Shakedowns : when you're carrying a big load of valuable cargo into a sector, you might be surrounded by syndicate ships who try to extort you. You will have options... But I'm warning you now, they are no joke.[/p]
• [p]The Zasquat can no longer be captured by the naturalist, but if you do manage to get one, it will drop something unexpected...[/p]
• [p]Amoeba Scoop device now works automatically by proximity, not by bumping into the target. And the range is dependent on the power, so higher levels matter.[/p]
• [p]Beyond sector 9, stations now sell 3 additional devices each.[/p]
• [p]Beyond sector 33, in "normal" sectors, there can now be 2 embassies, as long as the 2 factions aren't actively hostile to each other.[/p]

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[h3]The infinite galaxy awaits![/h3][p][/p][h2]But what is your mission?[/h2]

• [p]Planetary exploration?[/p]
• [p]Bounty hunting?[/p]
• [p]Asteroid mining?[/p]
• [p]Trading?[/p]
• [p]Salvaging shipwrecks?[/p]
• [p]Recovering powerful alien artifacts?[/p]
• [p]Destroying the galaxy?![/p]
• [p]Avenging your ancestors?[/p]
• [p]Tourism??[/p]
• [p]Animal rescue?[/p]
• [p]Cure diseases?[/p]
• [p]Help aliens?[/p]
• [p]Become a master craftsman?[/p]
• [p]Solve ancient mysteries?[/p]
• [p]Kill lots of aliens?[/p][p][/p]

[p]Choose any or none* or just make up your own goals. [/p][p][/p][p]*Note: killing aliens isn't really optional... [/p][p]**OK, maybe, MAYBE, with the right set of skills you could retire without ever killing a single alien, but I doubt it...[/p][p][/p][p]If you grew up with Kirk, Picard, Adama, or Sheridan, then these are the droids you're looking for.[/p][p][/p][h3]But don't just take my word for it, here are just 3 of the hundreds of overwhelmingly positive reviews from players like you:[/h3][p][/p][p][/p]

[p]Everything you're about to see is in the "betafromnowon" branch, but should reach all players within a week, as long as everything checks out. Anyone can play the beta branch, and it won't break your saves.[/p][p][/p][p]Last week, someone here on Steam mentioned have switchable device load-outs. I had tried that over a year ago and ran into problems, but my mind was in the right place now: I came up with a new approach, worked 8 hours straight, and got it. I spent the rest of the week testing it. It's in beta now.[/p][p][/p][p]Builds are permanently unlocked once you reach sector 10+ in your current game, or if you've ever reached sector 100+. This is to avoid confusion for new players, since there's already so much to learn.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]There are 9 "build" buttons in total: 3 for ship components (weapons, defenses, engines, etc), 3 for ship devices, and 3 for away team gear. This allows for maximum customization and purpose-built load-outs.[/p][p]Change your focus to missiles or beam weapons, stealth, efficiency, cargo, power, or crafting, all with the push of a button.[/p][p]You can find info about builds in Options => Help => Items & Stats => Builds[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]This is a new ship device that lets you rescue those poor creatures trapped in cells on shipwrecks, without having to kill them. You can then sell them to various stations for money, or you can release them in their natural habitat for an XP boost. [/p]

• [p]One Creature Cage device can hold any number of a single species.[/p]
• [p]I added information popups regarding cells on shipwrecks.[/p]
• [p]Intelligent beings can not be put into creature cages![/p]
• [p]Creatures in cages no longer count against being able to tow a shipwreck.[/p]
• [p]Each faction prefers a certain kind of creature, but they also despise some kind. For instance, the Gruff prefer predators but hate prey. The Limoquee like insects but hate silicon life (go figure).[/p]

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• [p]I fixed a bug where all uniforms were not shown on the officer change uniform screen.[/p]
• [p]I fixed the math to agree with the words : resistance stations can train your officers up to level 12[/p]
• [p]I fixed the visual bug in crafting that says you're missing parts but doesn't take into account your "essence efficiency" power.[/p]
• [p]I fixed my previous changes to cloaking: with proper powers, you can make your ship basically undetectable to all but the most powerful scanners.[/p]

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• [p]Knives, swords, and hammers now have more than 1 possible icon image.[/p]
• [p]If you do a lot of smuggling, eventually Limoquee will create "patrol" and "scanning" ships that break cloak much more aggressively.[/p]
• [p]Scanning ships can partially see through smuggler's compartments, cutting their power in half![/p]
• [p]Beyond sector 9, stations now sell 3 additional devices each.[/p]
• [p]Beyond sector 33, in "normal" sectors, there can be 2 embassies.[/p]
• [p]The Sil, when "appeased", will drop more antimatter and leave you alone for longer. They'll also vacate sectors where they were previously hostile.[/p]
• [p]Amoeba Scoop device now works automatically by proximity, not just by bumping into the target. And the range is dependent on the power, so higher levels matter.[/p]
• [p]In inventory, in "list" view (Options => Text => Inventory (List) ), you can see how much cargo space each item takes up. Zero is not shown.[/p]

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[h2]Greetings space captains! [/h2][p]Development continues, 12 years and counting.[/p][p][/p][p]Approaching Infinity has been found to be "playable" on the Steam Deck.[/p][p][/p][p]You may have already known that, since there are thousands of deck player-hours... But do you know there's a "Big Text" option (options => Text/buttons => Big Text) that makes text bigger? Mostly for the deck players but anyone can use it ;)[/p][p]The Steam Team has given me a list of requirements needed to get it up to "Verified", but I honestly doubt that AGK is up to the task of fulfilling all of them.[/p][p][/p][p][/p]

• [p]S.O.S. beacons can now give "rare plant" quests, where you need to find 2 different kinds of rare plant (which are now detectable from scans).[/p]
• [p]Beacons can also give "Merc needs a gun" quests. I urge you to read these if you get them. This is great for players who like crafting, because you can usually build what they need...[/p]
• [p]There's a new mini-quest through a hail interaction, where an alien ship needs a replacement component (engine, sensors, etc.) and they are willing to trade. You've got your choice of rewards with this one, I hope you find something you need ;)[/p]
• [p]Another new hail quest, this one from stations: they need a certain consumable that you either have or can build, and are offering a choice of rewards. Some of the problems can have serious consequences...[/p]
• [p]Finally, if there are space monsters in the sector (amoebas, nebula fleas, etc.), a station might hail and give you a quest to remove them. They'll also give you hints on how to do that, so you could learn a thing or two.[/p]

[p][/p][p]The Force Drill: a consumable that destroys 1 tile of force field in space, red, blue, or yellow (not purple). Found on the 6 level of narcratu hives.[/p][p][/p][p]The Firax Cipher: a consumable that eliminates 3 wrong choices when identifying an artifact! Found in galactic megastructures.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Distillery: a device that gives 1 extra essence when extracting, and also 1 additional jitter juice or rage-a-hol when creating those consumables.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Multi-Tool: a device that gives a 50% chance to not consume parts (repair kits, gadgets, crafting parts) when repairing shipwreck systems.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Supply Converter: a device that gives 5x the amount of supplies when burning commodities in your reactor.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]This is a new area that is both "a narrow dangerous passage" and a desecrated, corrupted place. It is completely taken over by the Narcratu. Do not go there unless you are ready to lose your game. I died 4 times in one I thought I was ready for. There are new enemy ship types. Look on the warp screen![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]You can now see certain special sector types right on the warp screen before you go there. You'll also get popups explaining what those are. Additionally, the inhabitants of sectors are now shown in all sectors (it used to be only up to sector 33).[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]With magnetic boots, you can walk on the outer hull of shipwrecks. But until recently, there wasn't much out there. Sometimes you could use it to get to previously unreachable areas, and exploring it gives data, but that's about it.[/p][p]That changes now.[/p][p]There is a new kind of monster out there: the "Sparnacle": an unmoving lump of silicoid life that is full of rare essences, if you can manage to harvest them before they float off into space (the grappler gun is a blessing here).[/p][p]There are also new exterior components (including a lootable "hull locker") and stuff like solar panels, which give bonus points when using a ship as your own. If there are items on the outer hull, there is guaranteed to be a "hull access" door that leads out while maintaining the atmosphere.[/p][p][/p][p]On top of that, auto-explore has been revamped to ignore the outer hull until the inner area has been explored. That was a player request. You're welcome ːsteamhappyː[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p][/p]

• [p]I think I have finally, no really this time, eliminated the "red switch behind yellow forcefield" problem. It's not released, but I've seen it in action several times now, it works.[/p]
• [p]Silent Running and Stealth Coating can now reduce the distance you can be decloaked to 0.[/p]
• [p]I made "Haste" away team cyber skill more effective.[/p]
• [p]Disease cures cost less in early sectors (this was supposed to be a thing but the math was wrong!)[/p]
• [p]Scrambler weapons now destroy nanostructure in a radius (not just plink 1 at a time!)[/p]
• [p]I improved the spawning of sprawling planets: the areas will be more varied in both structure and terrain images.[/p]
• [p]Unlearnable recipes should no longer show the "recipe unknown" icon.[/p]
• [p]Shooting Vacuum Amoebas with various weapons now gives popups and suggestions.[/p]
• [p]Antimatter now destroys vacuum amoebas in a 2-tile radius (5x5 area). [/p]
• [p]Astral Phoenix now also has popups and suggestions because blister beam heals it and spinal driver kills it permanently.[/p]
• [p]Space monsters (not ships) now drop essences[/p]
• [p]I wrote one-time popups for 13 different sector types, the first time you see them on the warp screen. Many come with warnings.[/p]
• [p]I found and fixed a few things that weren't obeying the "Ignore 3rd Party Attacks".[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][p]Hitting "overwhelmingly positive" after launch was a great milestone and helps bring in new players, which in turn makes sure the universe will keep expanding for years to come.[/p][p]Please keep those positive reviews coming! [/p]

[p]Work continues, and it's equal parts bug fixes, player suggestions, and crazy developer tangents...[/p][p][/p][p]One of the biggest complaints of the past few months is diseases. They're supposed to be terrible, but it turns out they're UN-FUN, and that's not cool. They make some players feel like they just had to wait hundreds of turns for symptoms to show up or get better. So I've made some changes.[/p][p][/p][p]The virologist skill (science officer) has always existed, and it does work to cure your diseases over time. But there has never been any indication of when that would happen (and that's because it has always been like a 1% chance per turn. nobody knew when it would happen!)[/p][p]Now that skill (and the "Immunization Station" and "Med lab" devices) actively work to cure your diseases, and you get a read-out right on screen of their progress, it's displayed in the status icon as a "% cured".[/p][p]Higher levels of Virologist also do something totally new:[/p][h3]They offer a way to cure your disease with medicinal plants. [/h3][p]And if you have level 3, you get another self-cure option that involves a lot of other resources and crazy processes. Both of these cures are presented as quests so you can keep track of them.[/p][p]Of course the old "pay for a cure" option still works, but the cost has gone up dramatically. I suggest getting yourself a way to treat your own diseases, or better yet, use an Immune Booster consumable at the first sign of zombies![/p][p]And there are 2 bonuses to curing your own diseases:[/p]

1. [p]There is no "remission period" at all. It's just gone.[/p]
2. [p]You become immune to that disease! (This is not realistic, but it could be useful...)[/p]

[p][/p][p]This is the crazy developer tangent I mentioned...[/p][p]Years ago, David sent me lots of new monsters that still aren't in the game. I was looking through that and got inspired. So now, somewhere after sector 15, you might start finding clues about a mythical creature that probably doesn't even exist... [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Everything else since the last update...[/p]

• [p]Auto-explore no longer gets stuck in an endless loop when there are 2 nutrition cubes and you're at full health...[/p]
• [p]Pirates now use missile weapons, except for the profiteering beam, which is... a beam.[/p]
• [p]Orbital Bombing cyber-skill can now be used to destroy shipwrecks. It produces less loot, but there are valid use cases.[/p]
• [p]Orbital Bombing now affects the first level of caves, and the side-areas of sprawling planets. It also hurts monsters within damaged areas.[/p]
• [p]Randomly creating heavy, light, rapid, etc. versions of ship weapons while crafting now only happens when you use both data and double parts.[/p]
• [p]No more environmental damage warnings when returning to the central map on a sprawling planet.[/p]
• [p]Pirates, Mercenaries, and Bankers now target your officers directly (their attacks have a chance of injuring officers regardless of away team HP).[/p]
• [p]Many traps (cave-ins, laser gates) also have a chance of injuring officers.[/p]
• [p]Hard Hat now prevents officer injuries from cave-ins.[/p]
• [p]Radiant Reflectors prevents officer injuries due to laser-gates.[/p]
• [p]I reduced the cost of cyberskills for sale in stations.[/p]
• [p]Rally skill now has a status icon on the right with duration counter and tooltip information.[/p]
• [p]Repair Terminal now displays reasons why auto-repair isn't available (not enough this, too many that, etc.).[/p]
• [p]I fixed a bug that spawned embassies in sector 1 (and probably 50 and 1000 \[:facepalm])[/p]
• [p]I introduced a new class of rare plants called "medicinal". They have their own sort option in the Herbarium (Infinipedia).[/p]
• [p]Blaster will no longer try to opportunity attack allies.[/p]
• [p]I created a new type of cave level : the underground lake.[/p]
• [p]I'm forcing stairs to exist in caves if the final depth is greater than the current depth (should already happen, but some reports say otherwise...)[/p]
• [p]Spelunkers who know the final depth/max of a cave will now see that in the location name at the top of the screen "Sector 73, Caverns (depth 3/10) of Voxivegoloron"[/p]
• [p]Narcratu are no longer resistant to Cryo[/p]
• [p]The away team can no longer be slimed while standing on liquid (water, lava, etc.)[/p]
• [p]The away team can't use stairs when slimed or webbed.[/p]
• [p]Golden pollen now increases less when found, but is decreased more slowly and provides better healing.[/p]
• [p]When working to cure a disease and your science officer is on the away team, you'll get a once-per-game popup suggesting you leave them on the ship to work on the cure.[/p]
• [p]Rare plants can now be detected from orbital scans.[/p]
• [p]I may have fixed the problem of allies remaining behind on old maps[/p]
• [p]You become immune to diseases you cure yourself.[/p]
• [p]I fixed a bug where standing on mountains would basically stop monsters from being able to move (!)[/p]
• [p]I haven't introduced a new monster that only lives in heavily forested side-areas of certain sprawling planets...[/p]
• [p]Grappler-type away team weapons can now be used to pick up items![/p]
• [p]Dying on the outer hull of shipwrecks causes tombstones to float off into space![/p]
• [p]Stations are now 9x as likely to sell cyber-skills so you can complete your collection. They'll even sell multiple ones in a row.[/p]
• [p]I fixed many bugs related to the "ammo belt" power.[/p]
• [p]I fixed a bug where algae harvester and oxygen conservation caused your oxygen reserves to skyrocket (sorry)[/p]
• [p]I fixed the power "cross both mountains and water".[/p]
• [p]I introduced a new monster power : The lower its health, the more melee damage it does! (Nothing has this power yet but it's there, waiting...)[/p]
• [p]I added a new code to re-lock all your ship and officer classes, in case you want to have less stuff and/or do it again. It's "Relock".[/p]
• [p]I added a new setting to automatically use the tech extractor device on ships with less than 3 decks.[/p]
• [p]Parts Junkie asteroid base room prices are now more in line with space station crafting part prices.[/p]
• [p]When selling large amounts of data, entering 0 or pressing escape will no longer sell all your data! 😮[/p]
• [p]I've made several changes to the spawning of quest items for Bankers quests, to make sure you find what you need![/p]
• [p]Bankers quests now pay higher rewards based on your reputation with them and their faction power. They reward loyalty. Doesn't make it right though...[/p]

[p][/p][p]I should take a break. [/p][p]I won't.[/p][p]Because I'm already almost done with another update, this time for the people who hate the fact that magnetic boots + auto-explore makes you go outside the ship...[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p]