Solar Purge News

v0.5.1.1

• Gameplay
  
  • Disabled prototype character skills still in development
    
  • Fixed missing skill upgrade descriptions in flyout menu
    

• UI
  
  • Fixed an issue causing a permanent black screen while attempting to abort mission from the pause menu. This occurred on sub-levels of campaign planets
    

• Lockjaw Mining Floor
  
  • When engaging the damaged Warden the door now locks behind the player as intended
    

• Genesis II Station
  
  • Solved a bug causing a strange shadow to appear on the floor of the Archives
    

• Titus
  
  • Corrected a potentially game-breaking issue where the drill at Site Five near the southwest corner of the map required zero batteries to restart but still removed one from the player’s inventory; this could ultimately prevent the player from ever reaching the boss
    

• Oterion Lost City
  
  • Updated collision by the elevator at the end of the level
    
  • Fixed floating art near the stairs leading from the swamp into the ruined city
    

• Oterion Ruined Sanctum
  
  • Optimized lighting in the Antechamber which should slightly boost framerate in the early part of the level
    
  • Hopefully completely solved the unintended enemy overleveling issue:
    • Some enemies in the Combat Path have been allowed to overlevel slightly, especially at higher difficulties and for high level players
      
    • The miniboss encounter has only had its leveling math error corrected as it needs to remain a major threat, but underleveled players should now have a much better chance here on easy and normal difficulty settings
      
    • Join the Discord to discuss these and other balance adjustments
  • Added collision by the elevator at the beginning of the level to prevent the player falling out of the level bounds
    
  • Improved the return elevator rides and transfers for the Inner Court trial paths
    
  • Slightly updated level art by the final return elevator on the Combat Path to better guide players
    
  • Adjusted the starting position for a waterfall at the end of the Combat Path
    
  • Expanded the fungal infection in the Combat Path large switch room
    
  • Fixed minor Halloween art errors throughout the level
    

• Oterion Guardian Sanctum
  
  • Updated collision in two areas on the edge of the level where players could fall out of the level bounds
    
  • Fixed a collision bug where players could walk in the air over a broken floor at the edge of the level
    
  • Updated art in both the boss arena and the lower chamber
    

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v0.5.1

• New Level: Queen’s Nest
  
  • To future-proof Titus for a major update later this year the Spyder Queen boss encounter has been moved to its own unique level
    
  • This includes a much improved intro cutscene and some big art updates but the most interesting parts of this change are still under the hood for now
    
  • Look for one final area to explore here in another future update!

• Preproduction on Upcoming Campaign Levels
  
  • Planet [REDACTED] is moving steadily through its initial blockout phase
    
  • This Campaign Planet will feature new environmental damage systems and at least one new weapon manufacturer, Vecu Armaments (possibly more…?)
    
  • Planet Sentinel (already playable in Holochamber mode) has completed its Campaign blockout phase and has entered early art and dev testing!
    
  • This penultimate Campaign Planet will feature new enemies not yet seen in Holochamber and a major new weapon manufacturer, Olorun Defense Systems
    
  • (Please note that each of these planets will take several months to fully implement, test, and go live, but this last cycle’s progress represents a major milestone for Phase Four!)
    
  • Watch the Discord channel to stay informed with the latest screenshots and dev news
    

• Halloween Event is Active
  
  • The Nova Genesis System will be haunted for the next two weeks
    
  • Core gameplay is unaffected, but watch for secrets and other spooky changes
    

• Juggernaut Skills and Stats Update
  
  • Skills
    
    • Based on player feedback we’ve made a major overhaul to Laser Core
      
    • Mobility has been greatly increased (although this will be further adjusted after player testing)
      
    • Damage scales with the Offensive stat and player level, but even the initial output is devastating!
      
    • Updated Overcharge skill Level 2 and and 3 shield regeneration delay to 0.25 seconds
      
    • These changes should seriously improve Juggernaut’s viability in combat
      
    • Share your thoughts and suggest other improvements on our Discord
      
  • Character Stats
    
    • Updated shield regeneration delay from 2 to 1.75 seconds
• Stryker Skills Update
  
  • Updated shield regeneration delay from 2 to 1.75 seconds
    
  • New art for Remote Charge Skill
    

• Gameplay
  
  • Fixed an issue where the game could become unplayable when three or more players are present
    
  • Solved an issue that would cause a stranded copy of Player 1 to appear at the start of a mission
    
  • The “Level Up!” fanfare will no longer trigger upon loading from a save file
    

• UI
  
  • Streamer window UI testing continues
    
  • Check out twitch.tv/hitscangames to see it in action and offer feedback
    

• Main Menu
  
  • Spooky for Halloween Season
    

• Genesis II Station
  
  • Updated the rotation and position for Titus to improve visibility throughout the station
    
  • Improved the collision for the projector in the Archives
    
  • Expanded art in zones still under construction
    
  • Fixed logic causing the System Map to load the wrong campaign sub levels
    
  • Updated Halloween NPC dialogue
    

• Lockjaw Cell Blocks
  
  • Added new structural art to the Distribution Hub area between the Oxygen Generation room and the Military Warehouse
    
  • Added new post processing and screen effects
    
  • Fixed an art error where a floor tile in Y Block had partially vanished
    
  • Known Issue: some minor art streaming errors still exist in Y and Z Blocks on lower floors
    

• Titus
  
  • Updated art throughout the level
    
  • Added new collision on the approach to the CommsNet Tower
    
  • Adjusted staircases throughout the level to get them more flush with the terrain
    
  • Minor dialogue updates
    
  • Added a CommsNet node at Drill Site Five
    
  • Made CommsNet nodes adaptive to player behavior; as the network expands each tower will react
    
  • Updated art in the Site Two Sinkhole for better consistency with the other Drill Sites
    
  • Inserted new cutscenes at various points in the level
    
  • Added vista points throughout the level (these will tie into a future update but have been enabled early)
    
  • Cleaned up navigation volumes in the Broodwatcher chamber
    
  • Updated art, lighting and navigation in and around the Broodwatcher chamber
    
  • Fixed a bug where the player was not spawning in the air when entering the Sinkhole
    

• Oterion Jungle
  
  • Updated the loot table for the B3-L1-4L miniboss battle with a consolation prize for non-completionists
    

• Oterion Lost City
  
  • Added rain screen effects and post processing
    
  • Added ambient sounds to forested areas
    
  • Fixed a bug where players could fall into an inescapable pit during the final corridor
    

• Oterion Ruined Sanctum
  
  • Art streaming optimization should slightly improve framerate and performance throughout the level
    
  • Fixed a serious bug where enemies were spawning at levels up to 15 higher than intended
    
  • Updated the moving platforms to better cascade in difficulty from the beginning to the end in each chamber
    
  • Slightly raised the baseline time that all platforms stay up
    
  • Adjusted some art near the end of the puzzle path sequence to better showcase the guide lines
    

Join the community at discord.gg/solarpuge

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v0.5

• New Level: Oterion Guardian Sanctum
  
  • Unearth the ancient mystery buried beneath the Ruined Sanctum
    
  • Face off against a massive threat protecting this realm
    
  • Discover the key to the forgotten history of Nova Genesis
    

• New Vault system available through the Flyout Menu (appears on the far right tab with the backpack icon)
  
• To add a weapon to the Vault the player must stand over it and press D-Pad Right (Controller) or the B key (Keyboard)
  
• Pull and equip weapons from your Vault while in specified "Safe Zones," including the Space Station and Holochamber Starting Zone (New Safe Zones will be added throughout the game as needed)
  

• The game is now running on the latest and last version of Unreal Engine 4, which should improve performance on many players’ machines
  
• Lots of systems have been tweaked, modified on completely changed in order to get the game running on this latest version
  
• Please report any bugs you find at discord.gg/solarpurge or through the game’s main menu or pause menu
  

• AzTek
  
  • Updated the weapon naming text to the correct ‘AzTek’ case usage (this was not possible in the earlier engine)
    
  • Made minor art updates to the company logo for better size scalability
    

• Engine
  
  • Reduced the game's install size by nearly 50%
    

• Gameplay
  
  • New reload animation for Minigun
    
  • Fixed an error when talking to stationary NPCs without behavior trees
    
  • Fixed NPCs snapping while turning
    
  • Fixed a long-standing issue with NPCs bobbing up and down when blending between movement and idle animations
    
  • Fixed AOE strobe bug
    
  • Updated majority of old AOE materials to match the newer "exploding barrel" style
    
  • Fixed player interactions for computer consoles and misc interactables
    
  • Updated stone doors to use the intended sound effects for opening and closing
    

• UI
  
  • New graphical options have been added including:
    
    • View distance quality
      
    • Shadow quality
      
    • Post processing quality
      
    • Texture quality
      
    • Effects quality
      
    • Foliage quality
      
    • Resolution scale
      
    • Anti-aliasing quality
      
    • Frame rate options
      
    • Motion blur options
      
    • Chromatic aberration (fringe)
      
  • Updated logic and buttons for Skill Upgrade Menu
    
  • Incorporated a new game font to add more sci-fi style
    
  • Added new menu button textures
    
  • Updated keyboard input icons
    
  • Included new Xbox controller input icons
    
  • Improved the character selection screen
    
  • New dialogue box animations
    
  • Updated loading screens
    
  • Expanded the size of the dialogue text box
    
  • Renamed the ‘Emergency Bulwark’ Perk to ‘Palisade’ to fit within the UI
    
  • Renamed the ‘Efficient Fuel Intake’ Perk to ‘Fixed Position’ to fit within the UI
    
  • Fixed the “Press A to Play” bug
    
  • Solved an issue causing trigger volumes to not display input correctly
    
  • Fixed a bug causing enemy health bars to not update after being healed
    
  • Fixed navigation logic for graphics options
    

• Holochamber
  
  • Updated the Manufacturer Function kiosks to use the associated weapon manufacturer logos
    

• Main Menu
  
  • Improved lighting and reflection captures
    
  • Added character animations and updated lighting for the character selection screen
    

• Genesis II Station
  
  • Improved the materials used on Titus as seen from space
    
  • Updated the planetary data in the System Map
    
  • Changed the enemy data language for clarity
    
  • Fixed the logic for unlocking Oterion in the System Map once Titus has been completed
    
  • Fixed an issue causing save files to become corrupt when loading into the Training Room from the Space Station and back
    
  • Corrected an error causing players to return to the Hangar rather than the Archives after exiting the Training Room
    
  • Fixed a navigation issue blocking players and NPCs in the Command Core
    
  • Updated the character icons for the Aesrenan Elite Guards
    
  • Updated Trooper Uthste into his officer’s armor
    
  • Moved some NPCs in the Command Center and adjusted some animations accordingly
    

• Training Room
  
  • The Training Room now loads as a separate level, which may slightly increase loading time but solves multiple critical bugs related to the saving and Vault systems
    
  • Updated the Target Dummy to face the player
    
  • Made major changes to the Armory weapon spawners:
    
    • Fixed a long-standing bug where the Armory spawners were pulling from the old, soon-to-be-deprecated weapon spawn system and naming pool
      
    • Currently these spawners are hard-locked to a single manufacturer, but this will be updated as more manufacturers and weapon types are released
      
    • Temporarily disabled the burst grenade launcher spawners while we redesign their projectile logic and role in combat
      
  • Solved several art-related bugs causing floor patterns to break
    
  • Disabled Vault connectivity inside of the Training Room
    

• Lockjaw Mining Zone
  
  • Updated lighting to match the style of Cell Blocks (should also grant a slight performance boost)
    
  • Fixed some navigation errors
    

• Lockjaw Cell Blocks
  
  • Updated art on the surface level to be more in line with the floors below
    
  • Adjusted the final hangar hallway to be centered against the door
    
  • Fixed a bug causing the game to crash when entering a level streaming volume near the Fan Control Room
    
  • Fixed a missing art issue in the Fan Control's back corner
    
  • Corrected a level lighting bug causing many art assets to appear very dark in-game
    
  • Fixed a missing material on Prison doors
    
  • Fixed an art clipping issue on a diagonal wall in the Tram Station
    
  • Fixed a similar clipping issue in the Oxygen Generation room where water planes were overlapping
    
  • Closed a gap in the Elevator Shaft wall visible from the south end of top of the Elevator Shaft
    
  • Updated the dialogue for the Skorlac Pirate in the Fan Control room
    

• Titus
  
  • Improved frame rate performance across the planet
    
  • Updated all human characters’ icons to match their in-game models
    
  • Greatly expanded on the art in the Crystal Gorge
    
  • Moved the water tank engineer to be more visible
    
  • Fixed navigation issues in the Underground Caverns
    
  • Fixed drill progress radius decal overlap
    
  • Disabled shadows on stalactites in sinkhole
    
  • Fixed crane, ship landing and HQ door audio sound classes
    

• Oterion Jungle
  
  • Fixed some level streaming bugs causing visual glitches when players looked at the AzTek Facility from the Boomtown side of the broken vehicle bridge
    
  • Altered the AzTek Facility checkpoint pylon to not interrupt players while exploring the upper levels
    
  • Reduced the number of Data Modules required to finish the quests in the Wetlands and Forward Operating Base
    
  • Expanded dialogue from Dr. Hadley to better explain the Data Module questline
    
  • Improved the logic for detecting and counting the collected Data Modules
    
  • Updated the character icons on all survivors in the Boomtown
    
  • Added a “character” icon for the AzTek decoder terminals
    
  • Updated the character icon for B3-L1-4L and updated the quest requirements for the weapon drop for completionists only!
    
  • Updated player navigation to prevent clipping into the walls near the exit of the level
    
  • Included art updates in the Forward Operating Base to match the dialogue (this is not yet an official pickup and is not required to progress in the level)
  • Fixed a problem with floor panels clipping into the rock at the end of the level
    
  • Solved a serious bug preventing some players from successfully opening the door to the Lost City
    
  • Fixed an issue causing players to fail to spawn sometimes in Boom Town
    
  • Fixed issue causing Jungle maps to crash on load
    

• Oterion Lost City
  
  • Updated artwork at the level start to better match the ending of the previous level and to prevent players from seeing out of the level bounds
    
  • Fixed a persistent navigation bug allowing players to clip into certain walls in the Sunken Corridor
    
  • Slightly raised the water level in the Waterworks to prevent some clipping errors
    
  • Improved player and enemy navigation around several piles of rubble and debris
    
  • Adjusted art in and around the Sunken Corridor to prevent players from seeing outside of the level bounds
    
  • Fixed Lost City waterfall material
    

• Oterion Ruined Sanctum
  
  • New area - the Infested Corridor combat encounter section has been added after opening the Inner Sanctum doorway
    
  • Updated art around the Sanctum Door to give players more room to maneuver in the Corridor
    
  • Finalized the art for the Ancients’ thrones
    
  • Fixed an issue where some waterfall sources were visible to the camera at high elevations
    
  • Improved player and enemy navigation around rubble piles throughout the level
    
  • Expanded the “guideline” art from the early parts of the level into the Inner Court, which should help improve player navigation on the Combat Trial Path
    
  • Slightly altered some art in the Puzzle Path to accommodate the new “guideline” art
    
  • Changed the locked doors in the Combat Trial Path for consistency - now all use a switch to both unlock and open
    
  • Added individual health bars for Infected Toads
    

Join the community at discord.gg/solarpuge

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Hello everybody! Today, Solar Purge is having its second anniversary in Early Access on Steam! This game has been a long passion project for us at Hitscan, and we are very excited to finally hit our latest milestone with the upcoming massive Update 0.5!

At Hitscan, we want our players to have the best game experiences out there. For us quality is king. We’ve made a ton of changes including upgrading our engine to the latest version of Unreal Engine 4, building the final level to the Oterion Jungle campaign mission, and huge improvements to art, lighting, UI and gameplay overall.

The end of the tunnel in version 1.0 is in sight, and our vision for the future of Solar Purge is bright. We could never have gotten this far without our awesome community. You all have supported us from the very beginning and it means the universe to us. Thank you for being an integral part of this journey.

The long forgotten era of couch co-op and twin stick shooters is coming back. So grab some controllers, grab some friends and blast away with us.

Oh… and here’s a sneak peek at Update 0.5





[h2]Oterion Jungle Part 4 - Guardian Sanctum[/h2]

• Discover the ancient secrets hidden deep in the Ruined Sanctum
  
• Face off against a massive threat
  

[h2]The Vault[/h2]

• New Vault system available through the flyout menu
  
• Pull and equip weapons from your vault while in specified "Safe Zones" including the Space Station and Holochamber Starting Zone (New safe zones will be added throughout the game as needed)
  

[h2]UI and Graphics Options Update
[/h2]

• New graphical options have been added including View distance quality, shadow quality, post processing quality, texture quality, effects quality, foliage quality, resolution scale, anti-aliasing quality, frame rate options, motion blur options, and chromatic abberation (fringe)
  
• New in game font
  
• New button input icons
  

[h2]And Much More![/h2]

Join the community at discord.gg/solarpurge

v0.4.4

• New Level: Oterion Ruined Sanctum
  
  • Enter the sealed temple beneath the Lost City
    
  • Face fearsome new enemies and lethal traps
    
  • Overcome the trials to unseal the Inner Sanctum
    
  • Uncover the secrets of the planet’s ancient past
    

• The Boon system has been reworked and upgraded into the new "Holochamber Functions" system!
  
• Holochamber Functions have been tuned to provide more variety and improved effect over the previous system
  
• Each kind of Function can appear at different Quality tiers, with higher qualities providing better effects
  
• Holochamber Functions are broken up into three categories: Standard, Sinful, and Supply. Players can select one Function from each category before each floor
  
• Standard Functions: Functions that give a small benefit with no downside. Standard Functions include:
  
  • Attrition
    
  • Efficiency
    
  • Fortitude
    
  • Knowledge
    
  • Ordnance
    
  • Perseverance
    
  • Riches
    
  • War
    
• Sinful Functions: Functions that give greater benefit at the cost of a debuff to the players or buff to the enemies. Sinful Functions include:
  
  • Avarice
    
  • Envy
    
  • Gluttony
    
  • Lust
    
  • Pride
    
  • Sloth
    
  • Wrath
    
• Supply Functions: Functions that guarantee weapons of specific manufacturers will drop at an improved rate. Supply Functions include:
  
  • Chatka Supply
    
  • Kadru Supply
    
  • Nazuna Supply
    
  • Wolf Supply
    
  • Zheng Supply
    
• For more information on the Functions and their effects, check out our Holochamber Functions Master List

• B3-L1-4L’s Flame Rebalance / Weapon System Update Prep
  
  • Replaced Bulwark Perk with Emergency Bulwark
    
    • Damage bonus now begins at 40% health rather than 50%
      
    • Damage bonus has been reduced
      
  • Replaced Focus Fire with Efficient Fuel Intake
    
    • Damage bonus has been reduced
      
  • Big improvements to the weapons system are coming later this year and unique weapons need to be future-proofed for these updates
    

• New Enemy
  
  
  Infected Toad
  • Hitherto unknown species from the underwater caverns of Oterion
    
  • Severely mutated from long-term exposure to Gorgon Spores
    
  • Capable of expelling large spore clouds that heal themselves and damage players
    

• Gameplay
  
  • Major update to campaign enemy spawners: under-the-hood fixes now allow for much better enemy level scaling in terms of player level and difficulty settings (this will be phased into Lockjaw, Titus, and already existing sections of Oterion over time but will be part of all new levels from the start going forward)
  • Updated the placeholder material on the underlayer of the stone ruins to use the intended texture; this will affect all levels on Planet Oterion
    
  • Improved the art and materials on the floating pillars to prevent stretching
    
  • Fixed an issue that could cause weapons loaded from a save file to regenerate ammo infinitely when picked up
    
  • Fixed an issue where the Healing Drone skill would be named 'Skill' in some areas
    
  • Optimized functionality and entity detection of some sliding doors
    
  • Optimized priority handling of multiple players and interactables happening simultaneously
    
• Holochamber
  
  • Prison Turrets now despawn correctly in Holochamber: Arcade
    
  • Fixed an issue that could prevent players from receiving experience points after defeating the first boss in Holochamber Arcade
    
  • Updated starting room geometry in the Lockjaw Mining Holochamber to fit more in line with other Holochamber levels
    
  • Non-Boss enemies in HC boss rooms will now only drop health and ammunition
    
  • Reduced Healing Pickup drop chance in Holochamber: Arcade
    
  • Dungeon Missions are now called "Dungeon Protocols". The activities themselves are unchanged.
    
  • The Security Gate(s) that lead to the start room now open after opening the Champion Cache
    
    • All active Functions are cleared after opening the Champion Cache
      
  • Removed Credit Caches from all Holochamber start rooms
    
  • Adjusted spawn point and kiosk placements in all Holochamber maps
    
  • Removed Floor Down kiosk from all Holochamber maps
    
  • "True Power" kiosk has been updated in the Titus Holochamber
    
  • Increased cost of "True Power" kiosk from 20,000 to 60,000
    

Genesis II Station

• New voice overs for several NPCs (Work In Progress)
  

Titus

• Fixed an issue where several egg sacs in the Caverns were not hatching correctly
  
• Updated some navigation at the Sinkhole to help with enemy path-finding
  
• Added a new checkpoint tower at Drill Site Five; this should prevent an outside case where players could die during the reboot sequence and respawn all the way back at the Crystal Gorge if they took the long way around the west side of the level
  
• Solved an issue with floating rocks on the southern wall at the bottom of the Sinkhole
  
• Fixed map errors allowing players to see underneath the level at both the bottom of the Sinkhole as well as in the first Egg Sac room nearby
  

Oterion Jungle

• Updated all of the encounters in the Wetlands on the Data Module quest; these should now scale correctly with both player level and difficulty setting by using our new enemy spawners
  
• Continued to phase-out old style enemy spawners throughout the Wetlands (this is a work in progress and these “endless wave” combat encounters still exist in areas off of the main pathways; this has actually been going on since the previous update but only in a few zones)
  
• Minor art and collision updates in the colonial ruins and the AzTek Facility
  

Oterion Lost City

• Solved several collision errors in the Waterworks’ lower level
  
• Overhauled the art at the beginning of the level to match the end of the previous one
  
• Fixed some navigation bugs at the entrance to the Grassy Clearing where players could get stuck in the ruined staircase
  
• Minor art and collision updates throughout
  

General

• Bad Luck Protection has been added to world drops across all game modes
  
  • The chance of dropping a weapon from each category (Primary and Special) increases until one is dropped
    
  • Once a weapon in a given category drops, the drop chance goes back to its default value