Approaching Infinity News

This week is just a small update, with a few bugfixes and background preparations for upcoming changes.

Before I get into anything else, I'd like to mention that Approaching Infinity will be featured on the Space Game Junkie podcast November 10th, at 10am PST.

The improvements to crafting were a big hit, and players have asked for more! For example, when crafting ship weapons, do you want to focus on long range, high damage, fast rate of fire, or maybe even low supply usage? I think these are great possibilities and you can expect to see them in the future.


That's the major focus of development right now, and it's going well. I've written a lot about the process on Reddit (like this one, or the one from today), but in general, the idea is to divide shipwrecks up into rooms, and then fill those rooms with *stuff* according to what kind of room it is supposed to be. There's a level of design above that, which answers the question "what is the purpose of this ship, anyway?".

Here's an example of placing the "bridge" area, and the ship's "major systems" (things like propulsion, energy field control, life support, etc.)



And here are some randomly "furniture-ized" shipwrecks (this only uses a small portion of the available images and room types that will exist).




All these ship systems open up a lot of future possibilities... But none of this is actually playable right now. I hope to have a new version in the beta branch by next weekend.

• Fixed a bug where picking up and installing an away team weapon would clone one of your old weapons, and then really weird things would happen...
  
• Fixed a bug where uniform pickups would appear as a wall image!
  
• Fixed a display issue where items on top of undiscovered mines would give a hint of the mine's existence.
  
• Fixed an annoyance where the grenade target would always default to the mouse's position, even if you weren't using the mouse.
  
• I may have fixed an issue where, in a 2-monitor setup, the game would always appear on monitor 1. Maybe. I can't test it, and I said I couldn't do anything about it, but hey, let me know!
  
• Nano-swarm now decreases twice as fast on corrosive planets.
  
• Lockers may now spawn on upper and lower decks on shipwrecks.
  

[h3]Get out there and explore![/h3]

It was recently brought to my attention, both here and on AI's Discord, that achievements are currently broken. SORRY! This update fixes them.

I wasn't going to release this yet, but I can't stand idly by while your kills and uniforms and victories aren't being tracked.

But this doesn't sound like a "power", so what's the deal?



"Cyber-Gel", the stuff that keeps your cool-down skills "cool", can now be used as much as you like.



Please note the flip-side of this, which is Gel is no longer automatically used! That means that your cooldowns will start out twice as long. But if you're in a safe situation and you don't *need* that skill again for a while, you get to hang on to your precious gel.


Keyboard players can press (see what I did there?) to use gel. This key is not currently re-bindable, but it's not a default key, either. But if YOU use "U" for something, it will immediately switch to [Control+U] for you to control it ;)

Depending on how many skills are on cooldown, you may be asked a series of questions to use the right gel. Or you can just use the mouse to click the skill in the info-window and the proper gel for that skill will be used:


Why?

[h3]Player agency. [/h3]

Before, "gel" was just a limiting factor. But it wasn't even a complete limit, because you could still use skills, just with longer cooldowns. Now it's up to you. If you want to spend 5 gels to cool down a skill immediately, go ahead! If you just need to do a quick repair on a shipwreck and don't need that skill again, why waste your precious gel on it? You make the call!

But take note: you can only use one gel of each color per turn. So even with unlimited gel, it will take a few turns before you can use those skills again (I was able to teleport again after 8 turns).




I've added a new "sprite layer" to the visual display, above "terrain" and below "monsters": a dedicated space for items and furniture. Items and monsters used to share a layer, which meant that if there was an item and a monster on the same tile, you'd only see the monster. (This was a result of 2006 principles being used in a 2013 design that is beyond outdated in 2021!)

This is more of an internal thing, but it ends up with several tangible benefits:

For one thing, if you occupy the same tile as an item you can't pick up, a bench, or more importantly a transit tube, you can now actually *see it*. Another exciting result is that you can now remember previously-seen items even when they're out of line-of-sight!

So commodities, asteroids, and area-transitions will now remain visible once discovered! Note that when you get back, they might not be there (you don't have current knowledge, only "memory").




A long-time AI player recently said something like this to me: "Oops, I accidentally built a chainsaw", referring to how sometimes you never know what you're going to get when you're crafting. That really spoke volumes to me, so I've made the first change to crafting (there will be more at a later time, allowing you to add specific powers to weapons, among other things.)



For away team ranged and melee weapons, you can now choose exactly what you want. In the future there may be more limitations (for example, you might need to dismantle a cloudgun or eviscerator to know how to build them), but for now, go ahead and build yourself that launcher you've always wanted.




The main focus of the first part of version 1.7 is the Shipwreck Overhaul (you may have heard me mention that before). None of the planned changes are live right now, and they won't be for a long time, because the entire *thing* has to be done before it will work... it can't come out a piece at a time.

So if you want to know more about what's going on with that, you can check out this blog post I wrote last week: "Post-Generation Algorithmic Room Assignment (LOL)"

I did more theoretical work this week (outlined in this Reddit post), and I have plans for a future article in this series, tentatively titled "Teaching Furniture How To Arrange Itself".

This won't mean anything to most people, and it'll sound silly to everyone, but I recently did a batch replace to fix a potential dangling pointer hiding somewhere in 105,000 lines of code (I actually added it all up today, wow, I had no idea!).

Which accidentally affected daily code generation. Someone posted a code with spaces in it, and that's when I knew it was messed up. So the currently posted batch of daily codes probably won't work for now, but once you upgrade to version 1.7a5, any *new* codes generated will work fine.

I also took the opportunity to remove certain problematic characters (like lowercase "L" which looks a lot like capital "i"). Might as well get that taken care of all at once.

There are 6 days of rescue, item, and device codes at the bottom of this announcement to help get you through. I hadn't intended to release an update this soon, but it does give me a chance to show off the last few days of work:





Each cool-down skill now has it's own icon! They're displayed in the skill window (pictured above), and also that's how you'll find them on away missions most of the time now. This feature isn't complete yet, but it's a nice visual addition.




No explanation necessary...







This is the final full day of the "Price Increase Sale", your last chance to get AI for yourself or a friend at this low price. The new price of 12.99 USD is scheduled to take effect later this week.





As promised, here are daily codes for the next few days:

October 5th:

• Rescue Code: zRmZOe&z
  
• Item Code: %#mF*65m (cloaking device)
  
• Device Code: 5YmDBV6g (plasma lance)
  

October 6th:

• Rescue Code: o#cZRqi7
  
• Item Code: 9YK4qrj4 (heavy ship weapon)
  
• Device Code: u#cwmZ@R (hull shears)
  

October 7th:

• Rescue Code: r@hf&3iC
  
• Item Code: ^#OjSBR5 (melee weapon)
  
• Device Code: a#ODQGd% (hand scanners)
  

October 8th:

• Rescue Code: ^De3!Pzn
  
• Item Code: b#eJOr*E (sensors)
  
• Device Code: VRuBZWiN (SAVIOR BEACON!)
  

October 9th:

• Rescue Code: u#ai4qAc
  
• Item Code: B@aFNpqe (ship weapon)
  
• Device Code: &#GBc7@Q (credit karma)
  

October 10th:

• Rescue Code: QYEfppoJ
  
• Item Code: i#RjPBWs (engines)
  
• Device Code: N#RBuqnF (self-sealing suits)
  

I'll be posting these in the "Codes" sharing thread here on Steam, as well as in our Discord. Remember, you can only use one code per day per run.



So, sorry I screwed it up, but hopefully those massive weapons, savior beacons, and self sealing suits will make up for it ;)

[h3]Enjoy![/h3]

Approaching Infinity has been under constant full-time development on Steam for over a year now, and taking stock, I believe it's time for this. I've stated from the beginning that the final price, once it reached version 2.0 and full Steam release will be higher than the current early access price. (I've also said that it will never be as high as it once was!)


I haven't settled on what that "full price" will be, but somewhere within the 14.99 to 19.99 USD range.



Instead of making that jump all at once, I've decided to make a smaller increase to 12.99 now, and that the public release of version 1.7a is the perfect time to do it! I know that's exciting, most people haven't seen the awesome new stuff yet, but let's talk about something else first:



This is your last chance to get Approaching Infinity at the introductory price of 10.99 USD, which on sale is less than $10.



Even if you already have a run going, I recommend a new game, because the starting ship overhaul is something you're going to want to see!



Even the most basic ships have been completely reworked to ensure maximum uniqueness and individuality between the classes: The Assault Scout can now see all ships in the sector at once! The Asteroid Miner's away team starts with the excavator device! The Monk Counselor can immobilize enemies with every shot! All this and so much more is waiting for you right now.


And then there's the "Lower Decks" feature announced last week, which expands shipwrecks to up to 5 maps instead of just 1. And unlike what was said in the beta, they're now populated.


Shipwrecks are being reworked from the ground up, and that will add a ton of content and some exciting new systems to the game. Take a look at these new machines you'll eventually encounter, which can be a lot more than just "set dressing":


But that's not all you'll find in the development of 1.7 (Check the Starmap!) Approaching Infinity has a looooooooooong way to go to reach its full potential.

Greetings space explorer!

It's time for everyone to experience the last 6 weeks of development. Version 1.7a3 is now in the main branch, and here's what you get:



Not only has every ship been given new powers and equipment (giving each one a unique play-style), but the amount of information you get has gone from 10 lines of tiny text to an entire panel full of details.

In the past, the majority of your ship's equipment was randomly generated, and most of it was limited in functionality. Now you'll know exactly what you're getting. Some ships start with really powerful weapons or shields, but even things like warp drive and sensors are tied to ship class. It's awesome!




The days of being friends with all the alien races at once are coming to an end. Now when one of them feels like they can trust you, they'll ask you to fight on their side against a common enemy. Hopefully that "enemy" isn't one of your other friends. Time to take sides...




The next big part of 1.7 development is all about shipwrecks. Similar to the complete re-design that planets got a year ago for version 1.6, shipwrecks are being re-designed from the bottom up.


The first step of this is the addition of upper and lower decks on shipwrecks, accessible by "transit tubes". The *next* step will involve the routines that populate the ships with loot, monsters, set dressing, and other items. It's going to be a long road, but the payoff will be HUGE.




If you're part of the Beta crew, you're probably aware of all this, but for the majority of captains, it's news. This isn't everything that's changed, but it's a pretty good list:

• You can now click the minimap to auto-move to that location.
  
• Introduced several new devices inspired by the ship redesign (savior beacon, extortionist weaponry, motion tracker, etc.)!
  
• Each officer class now starts the game with a specific cybernetic cooldown skill and 5 gel to power it.
  
• If you continuously try to dock at a space station where they don't want you, they'll eventually spawn a ship to persuade you otherwise.
  
• Your crafting level now appears on the crafting screen (?!)
  
• The internal working of the shipyard (where you can buy different ships on stations) has also been redesigned. It should be more satisfying.
  
• The away team now makes different "walking" sounds, depending on the terrain.
  
• When loading a game, the list is now sorted by the most recently played save.
  
• Alien space ships that have always been described as "large" are now actually bigger on the map!
  
• Gave slots machines a "ding ding ding" sound effect.
  
• Officers who die on away missions now generate "obituatries" as texts you can find in the future.
  
• Added "rare part boxes" that contain one of the 5 crafting parts you can't buy.
  
• Reduced the supply cost of all ship weapons.
  
• Improved the quality of the TRADIO by giving real-time information about prices everywhere.
  
• Reduced the number of crafting parts required to 6 (not 7) as a base.
  
• When experimenting in the crafting lab, wrong parts are automatically removed after each test.
  
• Away team device "Bio Filter" now allows breathing forever on any planet with Oxygen as a major atmospheric component.
  
• Radiation resistance now gives half damage on irradiated planets, but it only exists as a suit or artifact power (not a device or skill). (it's more in keeping with the theme of the power, than anything actually currently useful.)
  
• "Pushy" monsters now hurt you before they push you away (except Greeters).
  

[h3]Explore the ever-expanding universe of Approaching Infinity today![/h3]