Approaching Infinity News

Greetings space explorers! After working on the bestiary and its new "full screen" design, I wanted to try updating some of the other functions, and I may have started with the hardest one:[h3] Installation[/h3]

• Items are arranged in order by which slot they go in (instead of random)
  
• Icon size adjusts to guarantee your entire cargo fits on the screen (instead of multiple pages)
  
• You get full details of the item you're looking at (instead of abbreviations)
  
• It tells you how to "favorite" an item (new)
  
• Do you know the crafting recipe? (new)
  
• Details on what's already in that slot, if anything (new)
  
• Points out slots that exist but aren't available, due to your reactor (new)
  
• Allows easy mouse or keyboard control (new)
  

I've been working on this for a few weeks, and beta tested several versions. This one does everything quite well. Of course if there's anything missing, let me know!






Did you know David sent me over 70 additional creature sprites? Now I need names! Adding new monsters (and unique powers for them to use against you) is my next project.

We've already done one round of this in the Discord, but here are 12 more creatures in need of names.



Pick a few or do them all, in any order, in the comments... have fun!

You probably never realized just how many creatures are gunning for your away team. What you need is...






[h3]Everything you've learned about every monster, all in one place. And the best part? When you've collected enough information (whether thru DNA samples or good old fashioned "what does this gun do"), you get a 25% chance to score a critical hit![/h3]





Available for everyone, right now!

But wait, there's more. If you call in the next 10 minutes you'll get...






This is just a small sample, but David has not only created unique icons for every type of damage, but also made 10 sets of every kind of gun, and we put them together so your toxic cloudgun has a very different appearance from your lightning rifle. And hammer grenades. What?! OK, look at the picture. It's actually a "concussion" grenade, but it does "smashing" damage, so yes, hammer grenades!


All this and so much more awaits you in...






(I feel like I'm doing a cheesy late-night commercial from the 80s, I don't know why.)


If this news wasn't long enough, or you're curious about the past and future development of the game, please check out my [2023 in RoguelikeDev] post ;)

I'm done.

Live now in the beta branch (free to join, doesn't break saves) you will find these new features:



There are about 25 different kinds of exotic sci-fi damage in Approaching Infinity, and over 130 creatures you can encounter on away missions. Figuring out the fastest way to deal with these threats ("kill") just got a whole lot harder (and easier)!

What?!

First, we erase your omniscience about monster's resistances and vulnerabilities:


Then we keep track of what you learn, and display it in the bestiary:


By default, this new information is shared across all your games, but it's possible to turn that off when you start a new game, if you want an extra challenge.

How does it work? Every time you try a new kind of weapon on a monster, you "learn something". This info is stored and displayed in the bestiary. It's also possible to learn about monsters by analyzing their DNA, or reading reports where alien races have studied a creature in their lab.

If you gather enough information about a particular species then you...



To "grok" is to deeply understand something, and when it comes to enemies, that means you really comprehend the fastest way to kill them. Therefore, grokking results in a 25% chance to score...



That's right, for the first time ever in Approaching Infinity, you have a chance to do double damage with every gun or melee attack. All you have to do is shoot every monster with 10 different guns.
FOR SCIENCE!

And to make what's going on just a little more transparent, I've added some quick visual feedback: little floating symbols when you strike a monster and it is either resistant or weak to your attack, or if you get a critical hit.



To make all this shooting even more exciting, David has made a wealth of new weapon art, as well as icons for all the different damage types. So now, instead of "all shotguns look the same", we get things like these:


From left to right: toxic cloud-gun, shock rifle, nano-launcher, and concussion grenade. Yes, the grenade hits you like a hammer.



[h3]All this and more is in the beta branch right now. [/h3]


[h2]Like what?[/h2]

• The warp screen now shows a mini-map of the target sector (if it's explored).
  
• Tool-tips and warp screen show which rooms are available in the local asteroid base.
  
• All known tiles inside asteroid bases will always be lit (easier to find the store you want).
  
• Blowing up a shipwreck for scrap will now drop way more loot.
  
• I Doubled the base damage of launchers!
  
• Planet and shipwreck scans may make load-out suggestions based on life-forms detected and weapons in your cargo.
  
• But scans won't reveal the names of monsters you haven't me yet!
  
• YOU
• CAN* GET ACHIEVEMENTS WITH PERMA-DEATH OFF!
  
• The criminal syndicate has been weakened somewhat (they have been way OP forever), but the Assassin now does triple damage!
  
• The amount of cover provided by terrain is now displayed in tool-tips.
  
• There is some temporary "zone transition background" art right now, but the real ones are coming and they are WOW!
  

After months of work and vigilant beta testing, all these features and so much more are now available to everyone in the main branch:

• Go on a randomized multi-step quest with over 100 variations to obtain...
  
• Over-powered away team weapons with high-level artifact powers!
  
• Visit new locations, perform new tasks, and get killed by new monsters
  

You can start the legendary weapon quest by searching corpses in shipwrecks starting in sector 5.




It is now possible to build and encounter unlimited asteroid bases, so the "syndicate" will follow your exploits as far as you go! Here is a list of the new rooms, each one either offering quests or selling vital equipment:

• Transportation Safety Board
  
• Ship Tuner
  
• Gun Runner
  
• Device Dealer
  
• Suit Up!
  
• Bombs Away!
  
• Cybernetics Emporium
  
• Virologist
  
• Duelist Depot
  
• Gal-Tran
  
• Spacer's Rest
  
• Starfighters!
  
• Core Systems
  

The "Transportation Safety Board" wants to install escape craft on all spaceships, so crew can survive when ships blow up. Help them gain support for this project from alien governments and find a way to cheat death one more time!






Spacer's Rest is a place where tired captains go to *not* die... just fade away. This new way to "win" doesn't save the galaxy, but it doesn't destroy it either.




Firax Vaults have always existed, but there's finally a way to *find* them: insane acolytes in star temples can drop notes about their location. They are found in the deepest of caves (around depth 20), so if you find a really deep cave system (or notice acolytes on planets), you might want to leave a note...

These vaults are among the most difficult and deadly places in the game and require high level skills and equipment. It is possible to encounter them in early sectors, but it is NOT advisable to attempt them too soon ;)




This is another thing that's been in the game forever, but they were taken out during the shipwreck overhaul earlier this year. Now they're back, and in addition to the original 30 there are 40 new ones designed by players like you using the built-in level editor!

• New cheat mode: install anywhere
  
• New unexplored tiles, to make it more clear where you've been and where you haven't
  
• Quest pointer arrow shows the way to known destinations within a sector
  
• Permanently install one device in a space-suit
  
• New tool-tips and log messages
  
• Wow, so many bug fixes and added features!
  

...and...



...available on the Steam page... if you're curious, try it out!

Wait no more:


Satisfy your need for strategic galactic exploration, alien diplomacy, or xenocidal aggression right now, risk free! The download button is on the Steam store page.

That's it. That's the tweet.