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Steam News4 August 202612d ago

Build 0.21.1 - Lighting overhaul and UI upgrades

The August playtest is open. Sign up on the store page and jump in! Discuss this update: https://steamcommunity.com/app/3739840/discussions/ Join on Discord: https://discord.gg/hcvGzeWCG3 Welcome to build 0.21.1!

In this update10

Full notes

Full Battlecaster 2 update

Read the full published notes in a cleaner layout. The original post stays linked below.

What changed

3 fixes3 additions6 changes1 removal
  • Store
  • UI and audio
  • Gameplay
  • Maps
  • Fixes
changedThe August playtest is open. Sign up on the store page and jump in!Discuss this update: https://steamcommunity.com/app/3739840/discussions/ Join on Discord: https://discord.gg/hcvGzeWCG3
changedThe August playtest is open. Sign up on the store page and jump in!Welcome to build 0.21.1! A small one in terms of density of changes, yet a large impact on overall game feel. Based on your feedback from the ongoing 0.21 playtest.
addedThe August playtest is open. Sign up on the store page and jump in!A key point we heard was the game is too dark. In game development, it's easy to calibrate lighting settings according to developer monitors. But monitors come with a wide variety of brightness and vibrance settings, so we need to adjust to those. We've made the game brighter overall and added a slider to adjust, while preserving the dark atmosphere and pitch-blacks at the corners of the screen. These results aren't final, but let's check it out!
changedFeel and visualsHuge visual pass on talent grid, item holders, health crystals, shield barrier, weapons, and gem UI. Better impacts and visual feedback overall for the player UI. Stepped up the UI game feel/"juice" as much as we could.
addedFeel and visualsVisual pass on Ring 1 fortress nodes, with new wall models and new wall spawning
changedFeel and visualsChanged the audio clips for some UI transitions

Battlecaster 2 changes

changedDiscuss this update: https://steamcommunity.com/app/3739840/discussions/ Join on Discord: https://discord.gg/hcvGzeWCG3
changedWelcome to build 0.21.1! A small one in terms of density of changes, yet a large impact on overall game feel. Based on your feedback from the ongoing 0.21 playtest.
addedA key point we heard was the game is too dark. In game development, it's easy to calibrate lighting settings according to developer monitors. But monitors come with a wide variety of brightness and vibrance settings, so we need to adjust to those. We've made the game brighter overall and added a slider to adjust, while preserving the dark atmosphere and pitch-blacks at the corners of the screen. These results aren't final, but let's check it out!
changedHuge visual pass on talent grid, item holders, health crystals, shield barrier, weapons, and gem UI. Better impacts and visual feedback overall for the player UI. Stepped up the UI game feel/"juice" as much as we could.
addedVisual pass on Ring 1 fortress nodes, with new wall models and new wall spawning

The August playtest is open. Sign up on the store page and jump in!

Discuss this update: https://steamcommunity.com/app/3739840/discussions/ Join on Discord: https://discord.gg/hcvGzeWCG3

Welcome to build 0.21.1! A small one in terms of density of changes, yet a large impact on overall game feel. Based on your feedback from the ongoing 0.21 playtest.

A key point we heard was the game is too dark. In game development, it's easy to calibrate lighting settings according to developer monitors. But monitors come with a wide variety of brightness and vibrance settings, so we need to adjust to those. We've made the game brighter overall and added a slider to adjust, while preserving the dark atmosphere and pitch-blacks at the corners of the screen. These results aren't final, but let's check it out!

Old

New W.I.P.

Old

New W.I.P.

Lighting and Atmosphere

  • There's a brightness slider in the settings now. You'll be prompted to set the brightness on first launch.

  • Overall brightness is up across the game

  • The player has a halo light, so you can pick yourself out of a crowded fight

  • Big rework to the atmospheric system. Environments set their own mood now instead of all sharing one.

Feel and visuals

  • Huge visual pass on talent grid, item holders, health crystals, shield barrier, weapons, and gem UI. Better impacts and visual feedback overall for the player UI. Stepped up the UI game feel/"juice" as much as we could.

  • Visual pass on Ring 1 fortress nodes, with new wall models and new wall spawning

  • Changed the audio clips for some UI transitions

The map

  • Nodes are bigger, and the node art scaled up with them

  • Brighter background behind the map

  • Added a sheen effect for nodes we want to draw your attention to

Conduits

Attribute gates are gone. A Conduit no longer sits dead in your grid because you don't have the Strength or Intellect it wanted. The plan is to replace gates with bonuses that pay out when you do have the attributes, but that isn't in yet, so for now they just always work.

Fixes

  • Melee swings could disjoint from your weapon if you rotated quickly, fixed.

  • Camera capture was flipped vertically for one frame on some transitions

  • Fixed a bug that could put the player into the tutorial level inappropriately

Source

Steam News / 4 August 2026

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