Approaching Infinity News

[h3]I spent the week plugging some holes in the "final" release of 1.8 , here is a list of changes:[/h3]

• I updated the description of the fake id device.
  
• I made sure that illegal commodities weren't selected for Sigorn trade missions.
  
• I made more checks to keep trade quests from pointing to sectors without stations.
  
• I've made it so that the sigorn trader and pirate smuggler should only ever hail you once, instead of repeatedly.
  
• Time between Sigorn trade quests has been extended, and they should not point to sectors with existing quests.
  
• I have probably fixed the inconsistencies with asteroid base items.
  
• I also lowered the prices of those items.
  
• Rooms that are ready to build in the asteroid base are now green in the list on the left:
  
• Mercenary skill "nemesis hunter" now does +25% damage per level against bosses / big bads
  
• Fixed a bug where "auto-fire" wouldn't decloak your ship or trigger the stealth runner quest.
  
• I limited the kinds of items that will make salvage teams angry if you pick them up. (for example, taking credits or devices angers them, taking blood stains will not)
  
• I made sure that aliens on salvage missions would pick things up.
  
• I've added a "seen / unseen" condition indicator to the away team gear panel, based on whether anything else currently sees you.
  
• When repairing machines on shipwrecks that require gadgets or repair kits, you will now be asked "this requires X and you have Y, do you really want to fix it?"
  
• The flashing colored warnings around the edge of the screen for things like low hull, supplies, oxygen, and HP can be SHUT OFF using the code "nopulse".
  
• This will also stop hypno-flowers from flashing.
  
• Monsters on away missions may no longer be able to shoot you from around corners. may.
  
• I have finally Finally. FINALLY! Fixed the items on the map that appear as white squares until you light them up.
  
• Bankers now pay triple for surveys of "former human colonies" , but it can hurt your reputation with the Resistance...
  
• Selling a Firax artifact in an embassy pawn shop will increase your rep with that race by 10
  
• But it reduces your rep with the Firax by 5, except:
  
• Selling an artifact to the Firaxughinians boosts your rep by 20.
  
• Ships will no longer "pick up" quest items and other important stuff.
  
• I removed debug text when tooltipping item on map.
  

[h2]After 6 months of big changes and 6 weeks of beta tests, version 1.8 may be complete.[/h2]
How will we know? Let's check in with Starmap 1.8, created long ago to guide this part of the journey.

[h2]Looks like a big ✔ next to all the major points.[/h2]

Here are some of the final touches coming to all players as of today:

• NPC ship captains exist :O
• You can get trade missions from a Sigorn captain (if you're friendly with them).
  
• Pirates can offer missions where you smuggle illegal goods into Limoquee space.
  
• Alien corpses found on planets will sometimes have stories explaining what happened to them.
  
• The Eaters will now judge you based on how many other factions you're friendly with.
  
• New feature: "Mark for Transport". Tired of making multiple trips to the shuttle when you find lots of big loot? Just mark it for transport and those days are over!
  
• Once unlocked in any game, rare plants will spawn in all games, but not much in lower sectors.
  
• "Fake ID" and "Credentials" now require you to pay a bribe to get into stations where you otherwise would not be welcome. Higher levels reduce the effect.
  
• Docking at faction embassies can reduce your reputation with their enemies. (For example, docking at a pirate base can reduce your rep with the Sigorn, Bankers, and Limoquee.) This happens once per sector.
  
• Pirates and Eaters will actively go after big stacks of commodities left on the map.
  
• Cyber-skills picked up are now automatically equipped to any officer who can use them.
  
• Nebulas are now continuous clouds with nice round edges.
  
• I changed how away team hit points are calculated so small away teams aren't so useless ;)
• I introduced "pay it forward" daily codes.
  

There are, of course, the usual host of fixes and quality-of-life changes. Enjoy!


What's next?


1.9 will be the final push to (let me check my math...) 2.0 , which means



That's probably still a year away...


1.9 is going to start *big*. The long awaited, much requested, feared-and-lamented-by-me


The plan is to emphasize the play area and keep the UI as sleek and out-of-the-way as possible. Here are some mock-ups we've done:

Space, with the map zoomed out:

The new installation screen:

Zoomed in on the away team:


[h3]For those who are perfectly happy with everything the way it is...
Right now, the plan is to offer a "classic mode"... check it out:[/h3]




And for everyone who uses the UI DLC, don't worry! We'll make lots of special UI skins for the new UI too.

Other plans for 1.9 include:

• A mega-quest about the Narcratu invasion
  
• Learning more about the Engravers
  
• Finding a way to fight the nano-pocalypse
  
• More rooms and quests from asteroid bases
  
• Crafting system overhaul
  
• Introduction of "commerce planets"
  
• Much much more...
  

[h3]If you enjoy Approaching Infinity and all the work I've done over the last 3 years, please leave a positive Steam review... Thanks, it really helps![/h3]

[h2]Version 1.8F6 is live in the beta branch now, with the following changes:[/h2]

• Cyber-skills you pick up are automatically equipped by any officer who can use them.
  
• After you've unlocked rare plants once, they'll be unlocked in all future games.
  
• Ant-hills now spawn ants when damaged.
  
• Nebulas have rounded edges.
  
• Fix: "Close your account" achievement should now trigger.
  
• Fix: NPC ship captains will now properly surrender.
  
• Fix: You can no longer accidentally click through from the quest success dialog.
  
• Fix: right clicking to drop cargo no longer crashes the game.
  

[h2]Last Words[/h2]
You may have found the occasional cluster of alien corpses on away missions and wondered "what happened to them?" Sometimes you can figure that out for yourself, but now sometimes you can find their final log entry.

Maybe it's related to nearby monsters or local diseases. Maybe it was the environmental conditions, running out of supplies, or a crew member that turned against everyone else. Plenty more stories to find, and as with many systems, I'm just scratching the surface of what can be done with this ;)

In case you missed it, there were some big changes to away team HP, and a new kind of daily code. Check out update #133.

Have fun, space captains!

[h2]Away Team HP:[/h2]
The base HP of all space suits has been greatly increased, but your HP will no longer be multiplied by the number of crew on the away team.

Having more crew will still result in being able to take more total damage, but in a much more reasonable way. For example, in previous versions, an away team with 24 crew would have 30 times as many total HP as one with only 4 crew! Now the difference is only 6 times (24/4=6).

If this isn't making sense, don't worry! It will all just happen and look normal when you play.

[h2]New Daily Codes:[/h2]
I've added a new type of daily code: it adds directly to your "Pay It Forward" account, which is money you can withdraw when you start a new game (optional,of course). There are also codes that give equipment, devices, or credits. There are even codes that can save you from danger! These are shared regularly on our Discord, and also in this steam thread.

To get you started, here are 3 Pay It Forward codes, each for 1 million credits:
RQacGRBS (Sept 9)
OXR6%F3K (Sept 10)
RQAm2fx4 (Sept 11)

• You can only use one daily code per day.
  
• They are only good for the date listed.
  
• They're entered from the in-game options menu.
  
• You can cut-and-paste the codes (they're all 8 characters, so don't include the date or spaces).
  

This version also includes several bug fixes and minor QOL features. Enjoy!

[h2]It's the final hours of the Steam Strategy Fest,
don't miss your chance to pick up this
unique space exploration roguelike at a discount.[/h2]