The Expanding Horizons Update has Landed

The Expanding Horizons update is now live!

Here are the major new features you can expect from this Expanding Horizons update.

• New Environments

• Mining Lasers, Megastructures and New Content

• New Pick-up Mechanic

• Damage Mechanic Overhaul

• Leaderboard Overhaul

• Richer Sound Scape

New Environments

Three new environments are now available, each offering a unique atmosphere and mood plus increasing difficulty as you progress. The first, Betelgeuse, puts you in the vicinity of an unstable supergiant star and bathes you in yellow orange light. Trappist-1C, a desert wasteland planet includes a large population of dusty orbiting asteroids. Finally we have an ice ringed planet in orbit of the massive black hole Cygnus X-1. Each new environment comes with new pod skins and achievements to unlock.

Mining Lasers, Megastructures and New Content

New to this update are added obstacle types, and with procedurally generated levels, the new obstacles provide unique piloting situations to challenge your skills.

You’ll encounter industrial mega structures which span the play area and segments which block half of your route. You’ll need to make split second decisions to navigate these hazards or suffer catastrophic failure upon impact.

Operating in space means items need to get into orbit. Watch out for the new heavy lifting rocket addition which ejects its payload fairings creating multiple threats. You’ll also encounter new space craft which perform roll maneuvers presenting a new danger.

Space based industry is hard at work and mining craft are busy blasting minerals off of asteroids with powerful lasers. Try not to intersect a laser beam with your pod as this will void your pod’s warranty.

These new hazards now spin in random directions at random speeds. This makes each encounter unique so you’ll need to assess each situation and decide how best to navigate the hazard.

New Pick-up Mechanic

The Expanding Horizons update now includes pick-ups which adjust the behaviour of your space pod. There are three types, a shield which will phase shift your pod out of normal space allowing you to pass through solid objects. A retro rocket pick-up which will slow your pod by a percentage for a period of time and a repair pick-up with nanobots to put out fires and to fix up any unsightly scratches.

Damage Mechanic Overhaul

On the subject of damage, this mechanic has been overhauled. You’re free to crash through as many solar panels as you desire but beware, this causes damage, as does just grazing other objects. You’ll want to keep an eye on your hull integrity and seek out repair pick-ups whenever needed.

Leaderboard Overhaul

Descent Vector is as much about competing against the global leaderboards as it is navigating your way through hazardous space. With this new update comes new leaderboards, one for each mission environment. In endless mode you can see when you pass players near your level as their visual markers are now visible in-game. At the end of each endless mission you can now see your standing in the leaderboards without returning to the main menu.

Richer Sound Scape

To add to your experience you’ll find navigating through space is a much richer experience with the addition of new environmental sounds. Space stations, industrial structures, mining lasers, and other objects all have their own sounds creating a rich auditory environment and a more full feeling experience.

One More Thing...

Finally for this update the HUD has been reworked so you can better visualize damage, speed, and distance to landing. The menu is now easier to use, especially for controller users, and the PS5 DualSense controller is now officially supported along with the PS4 and XBox controllers.

Final Thoughts

We’re extremely excited to get these new features in your hands and can’t wait to see your new scores on the leaderboards.

If you haven’t already, join the discussion on the Steam community hub, share your screenshots, and thoughts. Follow us on Twitter or join our official discord to meet other space pod pilots and chat with the dev.