Powerups, sounds, and QoL

Hustle Together Alpha 89 is here. Most visible changes are to the targeting / FoF reticle and loot drops, which once again can include weapons, but also a handful of new powerups. Additionally, restoring save files will now return the players to the system that the game was saved in. A number of smaller bug and content fixes were also applied. The demo version remains in A86 for now, I intend to update it about every other main version.

Current drops include:

(old)

+Bling: with visible size difference denoting different values, which depend on the bot's max HP.

+Max Health: adds 25 to maximum HP

+Health: adds 50 to current HP

(new)

+Shield: adds 100+ to current shield. Shield decays over time, and has a maximum value equal to your hull strength, so at maximum strength, it doubles your durability. Tougher bots will drop more potent shield bonuses. There is also now a purchasable shield charge, but remember, just like the pickups, it decays over time, so it's only a temporary advantage.

+Turbo Time: Adds 600 (10 seconds) to Turbo Time, during which most weapons will fire about twice as fast. Some fast firing weapons will not be affected.

+Boost Time: Adds 600 (10 seconds) to Boost Time, during which thrusters will be twice as powerful, making you generally twice as fast. Brakes are not affected.

+Qx Weapons: IF the player has the Bling Salvage Bot upgrade, the player will receive a Qx series weapon (potency depends on bot difficulty). Otherwise, it will just give out a larger than normal amount of bling.

+Bot Weapons: IF the player has the Bling Salvage Bot upgrade, the player will receive a mutated version of the weapon that bot was using against you. Otherwise, it will just give out a larger than normal amount of bling.

Normal, purchasable weapons are no longer possible to salvage from destroyed bots.

A86 update includes new sounds, music, lots of fixes, balance, and QoL improvements. Some notables:

-Braking graphic+sound

-Shop inventory rebalance for randomized shops

-Changed shop inventories for non-randomized shops for a smoother power curve

-Added a storage facility where you can deposit weapons.

-Added new weapons (total is now 163)

-Added and changed some weapon graphical effects

-Upgrades now indicate the magnitude of the improvement.

-Weapon previews show a ship outline to help illustrate that it's a preview.

-Weapon sounds now less annoying on average.

-Many more pocket systems that create shortcuts between systems.

-Music plays when entering a system.

-Bling and other dropped bonuses now collide and bounce off of planets/moons/etc.

-Healing bonus drops added

-Comms radio has unlimited range, and radio targets don't move around on the list depending on distance.