Update 3: Graphics Improvements is now live!

Hi everyone!

We have released a new update that comes with with a lot of graphics improvements, new weapons, new editor assets and fixes.

Graphics Improvements

Campaign levels:

• AdjustedImproved DecorationsWe improved the decorations of all 13 campaign levels with extra vegetation, rocks, plants, decals, small props, etc.

• Better reflections: Water now has special shaders that provide environment reflections and shorelines which gives it a much more natural look.

• AddedImproved ground shadersAll campaign and community levels now have custom PBR shaders and new textures which allow us for example to create specular reflections on the floor for greater realism.
• AddedEnvironmental EffectsWe added dust effects, snow effects, volumetric fog, local dimming volumes (with automatic flashlights), and rain to different levels in the campaign.

• Anisotropic filtering: Ground textures now have higher anisotropic filtering values to improve texture visualization at low angles which improves the terrain fidelity.

• AddedMetallic shadersCreated new metallic shaders that improve the scene realism over the standard Unity shader/reflection spheres.

Community Maps:

• AddedRealtime shadowsWe added real-time shadows and automatic ambient lighting adjustments to all community maps.

More complex shaders and better texture resolutions:

• We have added tri-planar shaders that auto-activate when players stretch assets too much along an axis.

• Cliffs now have special shaders that increase the texture resolution when the player gets close to them.

• Water planes have now tri-planar mapping, so they keep the same wave size independently of the mesh size.

Galaxy Changes: Our secret service reports that the overmind has discovered an ancient weapon of mass destruction capable of destroying all life in the galaxy. The device needs enormous amounts of perovskite to set off which gives us some time to stop the enemy, but there’s no time to lose.

• Guardians have to conquer all planets in less than 21 days to Win.

• A counter with the days remaining will be displayed on the Galaxy tab.

• New players will only need 100 influence points to get the reward (as they usually play on normal or hard).

• Advanced players (>Master) will need 250 influence points (as it is now)

• If Guardians don't win, nobody will get the reward of that Galaxy.

Friends List Improvements:

• Join friend: You can now automatically join a friend’s game from the friends panel!

• Custom Messages: Also send them messages even if they are offline.

Environment effects:

• Added the possibility to procedurally activate effects such as dust, snow, and rain in all community maps. The game automatically places those effects on the map at runtime and controls their activation when the player is nearby.

Tech Tree: We added two new tech improvements:

• Mineral Collector LvL1: Extra HP

• Mineral Collector LvL2: Extra Collection speed

• New: Powerup - Double your unit HP for 2 minutes.

New weapon: Plasma Machine Gun:

• We have added a powerful machine gun to the Guardian's arsenal. It has slightly more damage per bullet than the AK6 but fewer bullets per mag and a bit less recoil.

New avatars:

• Added two new galaxy avatars:

Galactic Encyclopedia:

• You can now find information about the bug race on the computer screens of the main menu.

Other improvements:

• Added tooltips when selecting a conquered planet to explain which planets are available to attack.

• New Improved spaceship hero props with much higher polycounts and details.

• We now automatically remove the dying effect after a few seconds.

• Capsule