Approaching Infinity News

A few small but noteworthy fixes:
[h3]

• Triggering short circuits should no longer make aliens hostile towards the player.
  
• Path arrows in "Uncountable Infinities" mode now require you to activate them like all other area transitions.
  
• Fixed a bug where having the regeneration buff would prevent your captain from dying on away missions.
  
• Upper and lower decks of shipwrecks should no longer generate with unconnected areas.
  

[/h3]

The big main branch update is finally here! But let's start off by fulfilling a promise I made last year:


Warning: this experimental game mode may drive completionists INSANE.

In the base game, the explorable part of a planet has always been just a single 30x30 map. It was never meant to represent the *entire* planet, only the most interesting part.

Uncountable Infinities changes all that:
Somewhere on each edge of the map, a green arrow may spawn. If you touch that arrow, you'll travel north, east, south, or west (depending on which edge of the map you're on) to a new part of the planet, that is mostly similar, but new and different.

This mode is not "balanced" with the rest of the game. You can indeed collect too much loot and XP. But get out there and do it anyway, you won't regret it! The code to enter in order to activate this new experience is:

"tripleinfinity"

Why "triple infinity"? Space was already infinite, so that's the first one. Now planets are infinite, so that's 2. But what else? CAVES! Not only can you travel NESW on the surface, but you can do it in caves too! Wow. This code will work until the end of March and then Uncountable Infinities will go away... until it comes back later as a more balanced, less infinite but permanent change.



I've been talking about this for a long time, now it's finally here.

If you find a shipwreck with 3+ decks with a working life support system, fix all the damaged walls, floors, and vital systems, and remove all the aliens, you can transfer all your equipment over and USE THE SHIP FOR YOUR OWN!

Approaching Infinity comes with 20 standard ship classes, and those are what you can fly. You might buy an upgraded version of one of those ships at a station, but they're always the same basic flavor.


(This readout appears when you visit a "repair terminal".)

When you take over a shipwreck, you get to pick from 3 potential stack blocks (hull, speed, cargo, crew, and supplies) that the ship could reasonably be configured into (based on what kind of ship it was to begin with).

But the best part comes a little later, when you get to choose your own pair of "built-in devices". They don't take up slots and are always 'on'. Want infinite supplies? Install a "nebulizer" and a "ram scoop". Or choose a "resource extractor" and an "orbital mining beam" if you want to strip-mine planets. If you can find it, buy it, or build it, you can install it here and define your *own* class of ship!

You're going to need resources to accomplish this.

Unless you find a shipwreck with no discernible damage, you will need a combination of scrap metal, repair kits, crafting parts, and gadgets to get everything back in order. You'll probably also want to refrain from using corrosive or explosive weaponry while clearing out any nasty alien infestations you might find...

You even get to pick what your new ship looks like!



https://youtu.be/oBxT-eV1nmM


OK, but what if you don't want to put in all that work?



You still need to visit every deck and you still need to get rid of the monsters. But you don't have to make any repairs. You could even blow the inside to hell. But on the way out, you might get the option to tow it to a station, where someone will hopefully pay a lot of money for the junk you're hauling.


(Here I am in my custom ship, towing the remains of another ship I explored.)

Towing will slow your ship down. A lot. And it will keep you from warping, landing, or docking anywhere *until* you actually sell the salvage. So don't do it in a sector where you're badly outnumbered or outgunned.

But it's a great way to make some extra cash, and it even lets you tidy up the sector map a bit. But just in case you can't deal with all the aliens, or be bothered to explore more than 50% of the ship...




Yep. You found a weak spot you can exploit to make it come apart and spill its guts into space. As soon as you move away, it will blow. Collect the spoils!


These features represent a major milestone in the shipwreck overhaul, which is a big part of version 1.7 (but there are at least 4 other big parts of 1.7, so *WAY* more galaxy-shattering revelations to come.)






Like, *way* shorter. I'm still trying to find the proper balance for cybernetic gel (which cuts activated-skill cooldown times in half). The previous idea was that using skills was very rare, and using gel was even rarer.

But for now, we'll try this: skill cooldowns aren't very long at all, and using gel will significantly shorten that time, allowing you to possibly use the same skill twice during an encounter, if you feel the need is great enough.




A while ago, I introduced the beautiful alien species portraits that @kennydalman made, but they weren't actually in the game yet. Well...



Wait, those aren't exactly hails, what are they?




When you board a shipwreck with sentient aliens on it, they're not just "there" anymore. They're *doing* something. Maybe they're on a mission and don't want to be disturbed. Maybe they need your help fixing the ship. Or maybe they just want you to stand still for a second. Anyway, the universe keeps getting more "alive", and you've got to deal with it.

• You can now shelter in the shuttle on planets that cause environmental damage.
  
• "Stun" weapons got a speed boost.
  
• A lot of things were fixed that caused other things to break, and then those things got fixed too.
  
• Take my word for it.
  
• If you raid a Firax Vault (found at cave level 12 or deeper), you're in for a tougher time and some lasting consequences...
  
• Air pressure is restored much more quickly when you have working life support and 100% hull integrity.
  
• YOU CAN BUILD DOORS IN WALLS USING RARE CRAFTING PARTS!
  
• When starting a new game, the order of officer classes has been adjusted sequentially by division (curiosity, combat, systems, etc.)
  
• You also get tooltips on how to unlock any playable officer classes you're still missing.
  
• Added 13 new pieces of alien art to find.
  
• more More MOAR...
  

[h3]All this and much more awaits you in the ever-expanding universe of Approaching Infinity...[/h3]

I hope you've been collecting repair kits, scrap metal, gadgets, and crafting parts, because



If you find a shipwreck with at least 3 decks and a life support system, that's a good start. Then you need to fix all the damage (walls, floors, short circuits, consoles, mainframes, vital systems) and clear out any life-forms that might be there. Repair the hull, restore air pressure, and make sure there's no radiation.

And then you can get yourself a custom ship!



Depending on what the ship was originally (cargo hauler, gunship, science vessel, etc.) you'll have 3 choices of stat blocks for Hull, Speed, Crew, Cargo, and Supplies.

There are new "repair terminals" on each deck of a ship with 3 or more decks. They don't guarantee that the ship is repairable, but it's a good start. Visiting one of these terminals will give you a to-do list and also let you know what you might end up with.

This feels like one of the most exciting systems that has been added to the game in a long time. And you know what else? You get to choose which 2 devices you want to be "built in" (they're always 'on' and they don't take up a slot)!





This went out last week but didn't get an announcement, yet it's still really exciting: When you encounter intelligent aliens on shipwrecks, they will now tell you their business:

• "Help us evacuate" (you have to find all the aliens on every deck of the ship)
  
• "We're on a mission" (we won't mess with you if you don't mess with us)
  
• "Don't touch our stuff" (if you pick anything up, they'll attack)
  
• "Leave or die" (you have to the count of 10 to leave, or all become hostile)
  
• "Help us repair" (explore their ship and fix broken machines)
  

Towing of shipwrecks to sell at stations has also been implemented! If you have enough scrap (don't want to blow it up) but it's not worth fixing up, you can take it to any space station and bring in some cold hard credits. Anyone can do it right now, give it a try.






There's another change so HUGE that I won't even spoil it by showing you a picture. I'll just let you discover it for yourselves. But it's only available in the beta branch for now...

New version 1.7c1b fixes 2 fatal crashes that were discovered overnight:

• When landing on former human colonies.
  
• When exiting a shipwreck too overloaded with loot.
  

It also makes star temples spawn loot when they're destroyed, and using "hull shears" will now spawn 1 scrap metal. Thanks to the Discord folks for those bug reports and feature suggestions!

Finally some new features!


In December, I said I'd let everyone try out God-Mode... Well here's the super-secret code:
Godmode For Everyone

From the in-game options menu, select "Enter Code", and paste or type that in.

Warning: you will be invincible. Also you can reveal the entire map (and erase all your cooldowns plus more) by pressing the [CTRL] key. The list of features is too long to get into here, but you do 99x damage, get 99x XP, star temples and shipwrecks spawn like crazy, etc., more, blah blah blah!

God-Mode is what I use when I need to test something without worrying about silly little things like dying. For you, maybe it's the way to find out just how deep the rabbit hole goes...

Warning 2: god-mode is not like a super-powered rescue code. There is no going back. Once activated, it can't be turned off. (This is run-specific, meaning you can have a god-mode game and several non-god-mode games.)


In the last update, I mentioned a new type of loot... It's "Gadgets"!
Bohr Cage, Cosmic Sextant, Klein Pump, Planck Tuner, Zylon Battery

These esoteric little contraptions can be used to fix machines on shipwrecks right now, and will be used in several other game systems that will occur in the future. Gadgets are much harder to come by than other similar loot types, and will most often be found in shipwreck rooms that are related to crafting, engineering, or scrap.



And speaking of "scrap", what is it? It's just this unassuming pile of metal that can now be collected and used to repair shipwreck interiors. There have always been ways of fixing damaged walls or floors, but with scrap metal, you can build whole new wall sections! You need to be standing on a floor next to space (actual "space", like the deadly outside vacuum thing), and press the brand new "build" key (which is re-bindable, but defaults to ).

And the Build/Repair key now works for fixing other things such as control consoles. This *replaces* the "smart action" key (space bar). There's also a new "repair" button on the lower middle of the user interface.




Ooh, good question! Well, the next thing I intend to conquer is being able to sell off a fully explored, cleared-out shipwreck. I haven't quite nailed down the exact method of this (will it be just like planetary surveys, or something cooler?), but it's definitely coming.

And after that, there's the planned ability to fully repair a shipwreck and USE IT AS YOUR OWN SHIP. This system might even involve getting to choose which two built-in devices you want it to have. Imagine the customization!




For now, the option you have for a completed shipwreck (it will trigger at anything 75% or higher), is to blow it up for parts. If there's nothing you want to come back for, just see what falls out when you make it explode!






Are you tired of cluttering up the sector map with cargo that spills out of your spaceship after exploring a particularly wealthy planet?



Well "stacks" are now a thing!

Commodities (from boxes to antimatter) can now be dropped in groups. The abandon screen has been updated with a "drop all" option for anything you're carrying a lot of. It's one more little quality-of-life feature. But why, exactly?

Have you ever found a shipwreck with more supply canisters than you can carry? Now you can pick up those excess supplies, and they'll be dropped in space, in a stack, when you exit. You can create little supply caches that you can come back to, and they'll be immediately recognizable on the map, alleviating that "where did I put it?" feeling.

Just look out because pirate ships will sit on your stacks and eat them up!

• Improvements to the auto-explore (like when you're immune to radiation, your ship won't avoid it anymore)
  
• Improvements regarding the "warp breach", including mouse interface (click yourself!).
  
• Moving on top of a deactivated machine will now activate it.
  
• Junk piles are now searchable, and can spawn a variety of items.
  
• If you're trapped in a web, attempting to fire your weapon will break the web (but it still takes your turn).
  
• Key repeat speed and text animation settings are now stored between games.
  
• Former human colonies now use the new furniture types, and have a wider variety.
  
• Further checks are in place to make sure a shipwreck has all the decks the scan says it should.
  
• I think I fixed the rare but persistent "can't salvage force-uninstalled weapons" bug.
  

Get out there and explore the universe!