Approaching Infinity News

A beta test just for a font?

Yep.

There's a lot of text in the game, and I'd like to make sure it's all working properly. But more than that, I want it to be *readable*. The thing we have the most trouble with is daily codes (is that an eye or an ell or an exclamation?). I'd like to standardize the text.

So the game will look a bit different, but mostly the same. Please let me know what you think.



Mostly the same, unless you play with permadeath *off*. Then you'll probably realize that David remade ALL the interface elements in a nice bright blue (not just the big panel on the right). This is part of the work that I hinted at last week, and it paves the way for future UI expansions and differentiations.

Here are some other changes:

• Pressing Control+M will change how messages are displayed in the log (whether new messages appear at the top or the bottom)!
  
• Fixed
• another* bug with multi-fire weapons!
  
• Fixed EMP skill not affecting the right monsters. It's more useful now ;)
  
• You will now not pick up supplies on away missions if the ship is already full (save 'em for later!)
  
• Added some new cave floor-tile art.
  
• Added DPT (damage per turn) to ship weapons! It's listed in parentheses after the normal damage number.
  

If any of those things up there were your idea, well hey, thanks!


OK, so how can you get into the Beta branch? It's no secret, and it's not password-protected. Just go to
Steam Library > Manage > Properties > Betas > betafromnowon
This won't ruin your saves or anything, and it's just as easy to opt back out of if you want.

Enjoy, and after you've spent some time with the new font, tell me what you think, ok?

Thanks to a bug report here on Steam, I have fixed multi-fire ship weapons.
What? You didn't know that was a thing? Well...


Starting in sector 18, there's a small chance that any ship weapon spawned will be able to fire at all hostile targets in range :D It'll have a name like "Gatling Laser" or "Missile Battery" and you'll see that special effect in the tooltip. Just be careful: every shot uses supplies!

Other changes:

• Plasma-lancing someone is guaranteed to make them mad at you!
  
• Adjusted the price and "sector of first appearance" of many devices.
  
• Fixed a bug where you could start fires in space!
  
• Increased intimidate skill blast radius to 5 tiles (from 2), cooldown reduced, and monster flee time increased.
  
• Stopped the floors from being completely destroyed in star temples.
  
• Fixed a bug where asymptomatic diseases were being improperly displayed on the stats screen.
  

David is currently subtly altering the existing user interface, and in the process I'm laying the groundwork for further UI differentiation and improvement down the road.

This will include a rework of all existing UI elements, as long as a completely new set for the "non-perma-death" games (currently the right half has a different color, but in the future, I think all interface elements will match it.) These changes probably won't be earth-shaking, but they'll look nice! (I've seen a hint, and yes they do!)



No, I'm not launching a Kickstarter... I did one years ago.

I just wanted to use this space to thank all my KS Backers, once again. Approaching Infinity might not be here if it weren't for you. I'm saying this now because I've recently distributed Steam keys to all those who are still paying attention (and I found out that some of them had already bought the game, extra thanks for that).

I really look forward to hearing what you have to say, especially since you've seen the game develop from a tiny little alpha-version to the sprawling space adventure that it is now.

THANKS EVERYONE!

Bob


PS: The planned release date for the completion of version 1.6 is rapidly approaching... If you haven't yet, take a look at the roadmap (Starmap 1.7) for some of the exciting changes on the horizon.

I'll be warping all over the internet in the next 24 hours on my Patreon Launch Tour, but first let's start off with a few updates:

• Reinstated "Thanks" page. (With some new additions!)
  
• Added a 14th cactus. Whoah!
  
• Made lava redder (to differentiate from hydrocarbon sludge).
  
• Fixed a bug where monsters weren't affecting planetary terrain. (worms not eating plants, etc.)
  
• Increased damage reduction on mid-to-late sector suits, so you can explore more planet types!
  

Added Hidden Functionality for the...



Everybody gets something!

• Get codes to experience 2 new game modes, including "God Mode"!
  
• Get your hands on some flashy new UIs for perma-death games.
  
• Access free and patron-only articles and videos.
  
• Support your local gamedev!
  
• ...and everybody gets...

Rescue codes for the entire month of July!

Steam is the very first stop on my Patreon Launch tour, and I have miles sectors to travel before I sleep...

Enjoy,

Bob / IBOL

PS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnY3H5Xi4wA

PPS:

I spent most of the week enjoying the great outdoors ("camping"), so there isn't a huge amount of development to report.


You won't normally find such a huge graveyard, but I needed to illustrate the point...

When you find human remains there is now a chance that they will spawn useful equipment (or cold hard cash!). Just walk over them and see what happens, but try to be respectful about it, OK? That's one more reason to check out those former human settlements...



Somehow, there were no spiders. For 8 years. There are now. And their attacks can sometimes trap you in webs, so look out!



I recently added images for the racial shipwrecks, and when David saw them he immediately set out to make better ones :D They're in there now, including new ones for mercs, narcratu, and sil.


If you particularly enjoy killing intelligent beings in video games, there's an officer skill dedicated to creating more intact shipwrecks. It's an operative skill, and it's called "Crippling Shot". The operative is a social-division class that isn't immediately available, but is easy to unlock by visiting an alien embassy.



I've been talking a lot lately about the "Amulet of Yendor" victory, and making it more difficult. I had another idea about how to do that, and I recorded my first live development stream about making it happen. Check it out on Twitch and get an inkling of what makes this thing whole thing tick.

And you know there are 8 other ways to win, right? Get out there are talk to those aliens!



I was alerted to a few bugs on the Approaching Infinity Discord, and I handled them quickly:

• Fixed an out of bounds error in the new warp screen.
  
• Fixed the progress bar not going away in the map editor.
  
• Fixed racial offense carrying over from game to game (retribution strikes in sector 1!)
  

That's it for now. I'm going to spend the week further tidying up version 1.6 and getting ready for some really big things coming up... You know about some of them from the Starmap, but others should still be a surprise ;)



ENJOY THE STEAM SUMMER SALE!

For anyone playing in the beta branch, this is old news. But for the rest of you, hold on tight!

Monsters on away missions can now have more than 60 new stat modifiers and powers. Here's a sampling:

• Sturdy : Has a 50% bonus to HP.
  
• Perplexing : Attacks cause confusion.
  
• Avenging : Automatically returns melee attacks (strike-back).
  
• Disappearing : Able to become invisible!
  
• Squishy : Weakness to smashing damage.
  
• Elite : An experienced combatant.
  

Most modifiers are only valid on certain types of monsters: you won't find any squishy robots or elite plants. But there's already a huge variety of possibilities, and the further you go, the more likely you are to encounter them.

You can easily recognize modified monsters by their red health bar. Then you can mouse over or use the Peer (look) command to get detailed information, including a description of whatever new abilities this creature might have.

All this makes it much more likely that your...


A few months ago there was a big change to the way crew deaths happen on away missions: when you take enough damage, a crew member dies immediately. That reduces your maximum hit points, but also raises your current total to about 75% of that new max. Temporary healing with a permanent down-side.

But when you were out of crew ("Red-Shirts" specifically) but still had some *officers* left, the next time your HP got low enough, the entire party was killed. But this was inconsistent with the new rules, so...



From now on, your officers can drop one by one, just like your poor no-name crew.

More dire consequences, but possibly longer survival times... we'll see...



When you're visiting a space station, the starship outfitter (equipment store) can be restocked for a small but ever-increasing fee. On the one hand, this sometimes allows you to find that one special item you just can't live without. And I only ever really paid attention to that one hand...

But this was recently discussed here on the Steam boards, and it was pointed out to me that this can often take away from the joy of defeating a powerful enemy and getting an awesome loot drop. Why bother if you can buy something better?

So we're trying something different.



From now on, the cost to restock the store has been GREATLY INCREASED.
'Wait, so what am I supposed to do about equipment?!'

Well,

The way enemies drop loot has been completely remodeled!

Each type of enemy that would be capable of dropping a particular type of item can now do so (randomly). Animals don't drop technological items (this isn't Pandora!), but intelligent enemies, as long as they're capable of wearing or wielding items you could use, will now drop them more often!

This is true both in space and on away missions. And there's a tiny new feature inspired by this: you can install ranged and melee weapons that you find (including grenades, but not suits) even when you're not at the shuttle! This is an experiment, so certain parameters might need to be tweaked, but..

THIS IS NOT A SHOPPING SIMULATOR!

It's a space exploration rogue-like.

[h3]And speaking of RLs, what's more rogue-like than...[/h3]


As I mentioned last time, I recently started a new Youtube series where I pursue the fabled AoY in my fast and sneaky Stealth Runner. Well, the whole series hasn't been released yet, (playlist here) but, Spoiler Alert...

I succeed!

At the end of my final video, I really started to ask myself, was that too easy?. At first, I wanted to chalk it up to careful planning, preparation, and LUCK. Those things certainly were factors. But I got the feeling that maybe the bugs were actually helping me this time.

They were.

So anyone who has already done the Amulet of Yendor, well, congratulations, but you had it easy.

No more!

All those aliens that are supposed to be hell-bent on destroying you? They're coming for you now. And have you ever met a "retribution squad"? Well, you might now :D The amulet affects your warp drive and cloak now too...and they're not positive effects.

But hey, the Bankers are super happy you're doing this. They might even give you a discount...




What, you didn't know there was a hidden way to win Approaching Infinity? Yep. And there's absolutely no mention of it anywhere in the game. So where is it?

Let's talk about that: The Amulet of Yendor is located on a planet in sector 20, at cave level 5.

Today I added 2 new Steam achievements related to the AoY: "ROGUELIKE!" and "Is it an amulet or a ring?". I'm the 0.1% of players who has that first achievement. AFAIK, no one has the second one yet.

[h3]So get out there and find that Amulet! [/h3]

You'll have a few options when you pick it up, so choose wisely (or in one case, choose very unwisely but selfishly). Who can be the first to get the other achievement? How many wins can we record in the next few weeks before 1.6 is finished?

Ooh, and Steam achievement bonus: the game will now retro-check that your Steam achievements match up with your local ones. (Note that not all Steam achievements have been added yet.)



I'm going to start streaming on Twitch! In a year, I'll probably know what I'm doing. Laugh at me (or with me) as I figure out broadcasting, play AI, and (try to) fix bugs LIVE ON AIR...Follow me!
https://www.twitch.tv/ibol17



Months ago, someone asked me about creating an all-IBOLOGY bundle. At the time, it sounded like a good idea, but I didn't know how it worked, and I was way too busy just doing my day-to-day dev to give it much serious thought.

Then a few days ago, the world renowned Space Game Junkie pinged me on his Discord, where lots of other space game developers were talking about putting together a bundle. After talking with them I decided to join, *and* I learned just how easy it is to put one of these things together.

So now, I offer you not one but TWO:

The IBOLOGY bundle, which includes Approaching Infinity, The Curse of Yendor, and XenoBloom (all games I made).
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/21576/IBOLOGY_Bundle/

The Independent Space Alliance bundle, with 10 awesome space games of all descriptions!
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/21546



I'll be going camping in Pennsylvania soon, we'll see whether I can still handle that...
Have a great weekend, and let me know of any bugs *before* I leave :D