Heroes of Science and Fiction - Post-release recap

Hi everybody, with just over a week since the launch of the full version of Heroes of Science and Fiction, we have a quick update for you about how everything went - plus some more related news!

First, big thanks to everybody who got the game at launch, welcome to the community! Generally, with close to 10 000 new players, it went better than expected (also, better than the EA launch in 2024). We hope you'll enjoy the game for a long long time and that this positive trend will continue in the long run! :)

Patches and future updates

We have already released three quick patches with fixes of recently reported issues and we keep working on the remaining bugs, optimizations and improvements. You can also expect a roadmap update soon with details about future DLCs and free updates!

Soundtrack update

The official soundtrack has been updated to match the music included in 1.0, now there are 36 tracks, including new campaign music, the ambient track for orbit and a few misc tracks. Enjoy!

Release notes: The current game version (042ca203)

• AdjustedOptimizationheavily improved the overall memory usage by textures, enabled textures compression for more environments
• AdjustedOptimizationimproved memory garbage collection stutters on the map especially when just moving around

• Added reset button to keyboard shortcuts

• FixedMPfixed starting resources of other players than the host affected by difficulty as if they were AI

• Fixed replay of opponent's turns

• Campaign fixes/edge cases: Fossorians, mission 3 - Muff carried over to the next level, Sovereign Fleet, mission 4 - some checks that Fossorians will teleported properly and forced to proper area, Fossorians mission 4 could get stuck, Crusaders campaign: better music sync to events in the story, improvements to some texts and formatting

Version: ef60863b

Changes

• Added borderless window mode to options, fixed inconsistency in fullscreen mode between switching the fullscreen option and switching resolutions

• Added automatic switch from 4K to HD textures during first start of the game on machines with 1440p and lower resolution screens, added automatic switch to large UI on the Steam Deck, set hero textures to be always loaded in highest quality

• Implemented synchronization of ingame achievements on multiple PCs

• Enabled quickload shortcut

• Version text can be disabled in Tweakables.xml with TWEAKABLE_SHOW_DEBUG_VERSION_TEXT (proper solution upcoming)

Fixes

• MP Fixed more cases of a client getting attacked by an AI player triggering the battle for the wrong player

• Fixed Memory Wiper used by AI players was moving camera to the position of the affected object

• Fixed 'Fusion saving' achievement not obtainable when building a new mine

• Fixed fast cast abilities in combat can be cast without sufficient energy

• Graphical fixes of a couple of map objects & vfx

• Fixed old saves from Fossorian campaign level 4 couldn't be loaded

• Campaign fixes and improvements in Crusaders campaign lvl 1 (resource and UNSS base), Crusaders campaign lvl 4 (ship), Sovereign Fleet campaign lvl 4 (Annika can beat the False Mother, mission details), Fossorians lvl 2 (balance changes for all crusaders commanders)

• AI fixes: AI could attack allies, AI hero could go through closed gate if there's free passage nearby

Version: 553ad8fe

• Cleaned roadmap and one mention of "Early Access" in loading screen text

• Fixed AI moves can be interrupted too early on slow PCs

• Fixed progress of achievements not shown on Steam

• Fixed achievement list not updating fonts properly

• Fixed new buildings not available in map editor

• Fixed Void Walker offering wrong area to teleport to after being defeated

• MP fixed error/disconnection when two players not including the host use abilities in battle

• MP Fixed battles where an AI player attacks the host who previously swapped themselves with somebody else in the lobby were triggered as network battles instead of running locally

• Updated how many Aura Coins the Pinpointer item gives

• Crusaders campaign mission 2 - Far away watchtower visible through FOW

• Fixed a few more recently reported issues in Fossorians campaign mission 2 and Crusaders campaign mission 1

Discount is still active - and a reminder about price update

After the launch discount finishes next week, the price will get adjusted to 30 EUR/USD to reflect the amount of content and improvements that made their way into the game over the ~17 months of EA.

Community discord server

We'd be happy if you joined us and the community on our Discord to discuss feedback, help us with bug reports or just have a chat with other players!

Steam post image