Approaching Infinity News

Today Approaching Infinity 1.5i was released, and it fixed considerably more things than it broke! This is in fact the 5th update the game has received in it's first week on steam. I've already included no less that 20 user-suggested features. Turn that text red, give me button for this, I want, no i need more oxygen...

I hear you! All those little fixes and improvements are part of the reason this game is on Steam Early Access. It's also giving me time to pump out Steam Guides so you actually know what you're doing ;)

But the other big reason is adding brand new interactions, features, areas, and stories. This is all well and good, but what exactly are we actually talking about here?

Well you've probably met more than half of the 12 alien races in the game, but I haven't seen a single report of a victory here. So you folks have your work cut out for you too...

But now

Presenting

The Roadmap To Infinity:




We're in 1.5 right now: Bug fixes and tiny tweaks. This is where you point out the problems and I find them and fix them. Note that not everything you think is a bug is necessarily broken. It might be that you just don't have all the information yet ;)

I expect 1.5 to continue for 2-3 more weeks. I will *ALWAYS* fix what's broken, but it will be time to move forward relatively soon. Cloud saves and certain other steam features might be implemented in this phase, or 1.6


This phase will be all about rebalancing the existing game. How fast things happen. Keep in mind, Approaching Infinity was originally designed to keep presenting you with new and interesting places and challenges well up to sector 100.

For anyone out there who says "there's not much to see", well, oh yes there is, you just haven't gotten that far yet.

However: From an indie developer point of view, I also understand that how you feel about my game (progression too slow, etc.) is realy really important! I don't want *anybody* to put it down before they've had a few good surprises. (And a few bad ones i suppose).

So 1.6 will be all about getting the flow of challenge and power correct. That, and any more quality of life improvements that get suggested and approved.


You've seen those planets, right? The ones that say things? What's the deal with those? Well this is where you'd potentially find out. Learn the story of the Engravers, why they did what they did, and where they went afterwards.

And what about those insectoid aliens, the Narcratu? Have you met them? What are they doing in this part of the galaxy? Why can't you understand them? Again, this development phase would explore their story as well.

Oh, and what about sector 50? What's in there? You could find that out in 1.7


DEEPER INTERACTIONS! Now this is where things get really interesting. Do you like those roguelikes where the world is deeply simulated and you can do all kinds of crazy things with all your stuff? Well, AI is never going to be DF or CoQ. It's very much its own thing. But there is plenty of room in the galaxy for expanding and deepening the way systems work together, and giving players more choices.

And speaking of choices, what about non-violent play? This game is pretty combat focused, right? Well, it's actually diplomacy focused where everyone just starts out not trusting you and being at odds with each other. But anyway, what about purely non-combative play? Well: science missions, animal preserves, research, item collection (including 3 race-specific art collection quests), etc.


Give the People what they want!
I've been listening to (and incorporating) player ideas from the first day. This game was originally a Kickstarter project, and literally hundreds of people have contributed to the universe you're exploring.

But now it's your turn. What do you want to put in? Well, what can you do? Let me know!
You want a name and a face and a history for every single crew-person you hire? Maybe that's a great idea! You want consumables like potions and scrolls in fantasy RLs? You want a whole list of items, powers, and upgrades? Well really, so do I, so let's talk!

When I feel like this game has really met its potential. When YOU feel the same. Then we hit 2.0 , and get out of Early Access.

But look:
[h3]2.1[/h3] [h2]3.2[/h2] The numbers keep going! What do you think that means?

[h3]NOTE:[/h3]
When we hit version 1.6, I will switch from doing rapid updates every other day to approximately once or twice per week, and those builds will go to an optional beta branch first, so that you can feel confident that your game won't change so much day by day.

Version 1.5i was released today. Here's what that changed:

• Component cooldowns are now in red.
  
• Bloom caves no longer showing "unavailable".
  
• Nerfed limoquee corvette.
  
• Added popup to early embassies. Don't press your luck.
  
• Further tried to keep "lurkers" (ships that don't move) off of important things.
  
• Oxygen tanks refill completely, instantly. This was a desgin choice. I've unchosen it because it doesn't make sense.
  
• Raised oxygen one more time, after watching streamers painfully tethered to the shuttle. I'm sorry folks!
  
• UHO sign now spawns adjacent to shuttle.
  
• Armor now shows max as well as current.
  
• Greatly reduced cooldown on cloaking device (complete re-design) Is it OP?
  
• Kept shirkhana from spawning on land!
  
• Also put a max cap on # of breeders bred per map.
  
• New officers now start with some XP, and more in higher sectors.
  
• Added periodic "ready for promotion" messages.
  
• Added "custom cursor" setting in options menu
  
• Fullscreen / Windowed mode is now in options menu, and is saved between games.
  
• Star temples now affect your mind. Badly.
  
• Added new issues of the terran times.
  
• Added 'x' to the crafting component list to try to communicate how many you have.
  

Enjoy!

(I guess now you'll understand why those acolytes are so insane...)

Approaching Infinity has already blown past my expectations, and it's being well received by the Steam community. Big thanks to all the supporters out there, those who spread the word, wrote reviews, and joined in the conversations. And you too, just minding your business, chilling out to the awesome soundtrack.

[h3]Now what's this about turning it up to 11?[/h3]

Well, for one thing, more content! If you're involved on the Steam forums or the Discord, you've probably seen something that somebody suggested, and then, *bang*, it's in there. I like to give players what they want, as long as it doesn't break the game.

I've also started posting Steam Guides about some of the more arcane aspects, because there is so much information about Approaching Infinity that can really come in handy.

But also, the launch week discount is almost over. Right now, it's less than $10. But on August 12th, it goes all the way up... to 11 !

$10.99 actually, but still. If you're on the fence for some reason, but you feel like this is your kind of game, I encourage you to take a chance. There are a lot of big plans for this game, and you can be a part of shaping how that turns out.

[h3]What kind of content?[/h3]

Well, "A.I." was always designed with forever in mind, meaning that the player can just
k e e p g o i n g in the universe for a really long time, and still see new things, find new items, and fight new enemies.

But that has pointed out the fact that it can take a long time for the game to really get going, especially for new players.

Now I don't just change everything that everybody says, all the time. But this is a serious concern. If people aren't seeing enough cool stuff in their first few hours with the game, I'm going to change that. In fact, I've already started, and vocal players are happy about it!

Here's what happened in the latest build:

• v1.5h
  
• Properly identifying artifacts now gives them a bonus!
  
• Fixed a tutorial bug that a previous fix introduced
  
• Updated more monster images, as well as their files
  
• Items on wormholes are now destroyed, as long as they're not too important.
  
• If a planet is fully explored, the landing party no longer gets passive XP.
  
• Tried to squash a bug where players would get stuck in a loop, endlessly getting hit by monsters.
  
• Addressed insta-kills. sorry for your losses.
  
• Nerfed button mashing to uselessness.
  
• Increased items progression
• a bit* (get better stuff sooner)
  

But what else does AI need? Let's talk about it!

Yep, 2 days on steam beats 1,825 days somewhere else. Welcome new players! I have been listening to your feedback, and changing or fixing things where I can. Today I've pushed out a little update, and any Tenacious D fans will hopefully get a little kick out of the name...

Here's what I'm asking you to do right now: Talk about Approaching Infinity. Whether it's on twitter, or reddit, or discord, or here on Steam. Just let the world (and me!) know what you think about it. Leave a review when you can. But if it's going to be a "thumbs down", let me know, and if it's something that's truly wrong or missing about the game, I'll definitely put it on The List

Hey, I said Discord, right? Well we've got our own little "space" on the Roguelike discord. I'm crazy busy managing this launch, but I will still get in there a few times a day. Come say hi.

Right, the update:
v1.5f+

• You now get a warning on the warp screen when your supplies are
• And speaking of supplies, your crew will now do something drastic to avoid running out...
  
• Crafting lab should now disappear when you install one. But if it auto-installs, it might still be there. Feel free to replace it, it's not needed anymore.
  
• I hear you about the oxygen! It has been increased. Some. But that is definitely part of the game.
  
• Corrupted sector maps should now be auto-deleted (and should not be generated at all)
  
• "Walks" have been restored to their original functionality: Waterwalkers allows you to walk over any "amount" of water, etc.
  
• Officers will heal when you are on away missions. I don't know how that got broken, but it's fixed, even if you didn't notice.
  
• Base crafting level is now displayed at the bottom of the main crafting interface
  
• DIFFICULTY: Some "handholding" features were enabled in hard and insane difficulty. Now they're not, so look out!
  
• More monster types appear earlier on planets. You asked for it.
  

Honestly, this game was always intended to keep you exploring to at least sector 75. Everything is paced and introduced over time. But maybe it's too slow. We'll work out what's best, together!

Have a good weekend,

Bob / IBOL17

It really has been an amazing launch day, and that's thanks to all of you, but I seriously need to get to bed!

Before I go, you should know I've already put out Hotfix #1 to address some of the issues you intrepid explorers found today. Thanks everyone for your diligence and understanding.

• We went to version v1.5f
  
• I fixed the clicking captain portrait crash
  
• You can now Press [HOME] to toggle full-screen/windowed mode (not a final solution, but should help with screen-related issues)
  
• I further chipped away at a bug that saves a planet or station map as space (FREAKY!)
  
• I looked into a reported station pause/hang/crash. i could not reproduce it, but i
• did* look at some likely culprits.
  

Now here are some responses to general comments and things:

• I'd like to assure folks that the names of planets you're submitting will be
• curated*. They don't go right into the game.
  
• Keep in mind that you're not expected to do everything at the start of the game. Power will come in time!
  
• Did you know: you can add your captain to the away team by assigning them in the Officers screen?
  
• When you have a monster targeted, you get more information about it in the upper right.
  
• There are 7 different information windows, select what you want at any given time, including #7: The Map Legend.
  
• The options menu contains a setting called "tooltip everything". If you want more info, try that.
  
• You can also change how sensitive the auto-explore is, or how the unexplored areas appear, etc.
  
• Steam cloud saves and player-defined key-bindings are in the first planned update.
  
• Have fun!
  

Due to an unexpected lack of problems, the launch date has been moved up.

"Wait, you mean there's a delay, right?"

Nope. Launching sooner than expected.

So now, on Wednesday, August 5th 2020, you can begin exploring the immense procedural universe of Approaching Infinity!

Start your career as a pirate hunter, trader, scientist, or asteroid miner. Or unlock new ships and character classes through your achievements!



Scour space for unexplored planets.



Then lead your away team to bring back the goods.



Follow clues to ancient temples. Battle implacable foes who refuse your hails. Befriend aliens and learn about galactic mega-structures. Fly into a black hole? Contract alien diseases?!



Approaching Infinity is still growing, and you can be a part of that. I am actively seeking input, contribution, and collaboration for the game's growth and direction. Join me on August 5th!

Bob / IBOL17
Creator, Approaching Infinity

PS: I will be joining the Space Game Junkie Podcast on Tuesday July 28th to talk about Approaching Infinity!