DEMO 0.6.1 Release & Development Update

I want to start by thanking everyone who provided feedback on the initial release of the demo. There were a lot of issues and, to a certain extent, there still are in this version...

I've encountered a variety of bugs big and small, but most of the larger game-breaking stuff has been patched out and I've worked to smooth over some of the game's rougher edges. There have been major improvements over the last couple weeks. I am a lot happier with this build than I was with 0.6.0. Obviously; it's still pretty early, but I think it'll do for now.

Kickstarter?

I've mentioned a few times in the past that I might do a Kickstarter for the game to help fund additional things like more voice acting, art, combat music, etc. I'm still considering it, but whether or not I try to do it will depend on how the next few weeks go with the demo.

(ie. If the game only gets played by like 30 people, there probably won't be much of a point in launching a campaign.)

Regardless of whether or not I actually do the campaign, I'm still pretty confident that I'll be able to deliver the game by the end of the year.

Post-Demo Plans

I will begin work on Weeks 3 and 4 of SCAVENGER ZERO as soon as NextFest is over. Some content for Weeks 3 and 4 has already been finished, but isn't included in the demo since it ends at Week 2.

I'll be making it my primary goal to deliver a playable Week 3, 4, and some of the game's final bosses to playtesters by the end of July.

As for the demo? I'd like to leave the demo up after NextFest, and I will also update it from time to time as the full game gets major patches (ie. for 0.7.0, I will try to make an equivalent 0.7.0 demo; however, updates to the demo will not be as frequent from July onward).

Anyway, enough of post-demo stuff. What's actually in 0.6.1?

0.6.1 Demo Changelog

Update Size: 228.5 MB

Developer Note(s):

• Changelog here might look different to the changelog in-game!

• So, it turns out I was a bit off in my initial estimates of how long it would take to see everything in the demo. It will actually take roughly 10-18 hours to see everything, as opposed to the initial estimate of 5-6. Oops!

KNOWN ISSUES 💀

• Aquarius has some visible seams in the terrain generation.

• Some parts of the game are still a bit unbalanced.

ADDITIONS & CHANGES 🤖

• Reworked loading screen. Screenshots and tips have been added to it.

• AdjustedAquarius ReworkImproved visuals on Aquarius significantly. Added underwater crates to Aquarius.

• More structures will generate on Aquarius, Elysium, and The Abyssal Belt.

• New options on the mission results screen. The player can decline the mission payout for a higher reputation boost, evade their taxes, or sell mission scrap yield for extra cash.

• Reworked item drop rates.

• New events have been added for working with Mankind Interactive.

• Orbital Railgun ''SANDMAN'' added in honor of a player who helped fix the CultureInfo bug identified yesterday. There is literally no possible way we would've been able to find that bug out without someone outside the team discovering it.

• Reworked the Combat Daggers item. It is now just ''Compact Knife.'' It has higher damage per hit and is a bit more responsive.

• Added ''CQC Blade'' item. Reduces the cooldown of all equipment upon performing a successful melee attack.

• Added ''Impact Armor'' item. Allows you to deal damage by boosting into an enemy.

• Email Headers added to select emails. This should add a bit more personality to text fields.

• Shoulder weapon cooldown indicators added. I'll add a bit more flair to these later, probably a flash effect when they are charged + an audio cue.

• When reaching a mission checkpoint, you now get a free heal as if you used a repair kit.

• Mech Thruster VFX were updated by Nick of Facewall games. They look much better now.

• Brand new weapon selection UI.

• If you fly high enough, you will now end up in space! This acts as a vertical height limit and is a bit harder to reach now.

• The responsiveness of the Quick Melee hotkey has been improved. Dropped inputs / instances of your mech pulling out your melee weapon only to not actually swing it should be greatly reduced.

• When attempting to purchase an item you don't have enough chips for, the chips count in the currency UI will now flash red instead of opening the purchase menu.

• Automaton Heavy Drones have been reworked. They now do a new circular projectile attack and use the same flying AI as prospector drones and Union helicopters.

• The descriptions of multiple items were updated to be a bit more clear about what they do.

• Community Discord button added to the main menu.

BUGFIXES 🐛

• Fixed potential save file corruption that could occur if the player Alt F4'd during a loading screen.

• Fixed Blabbleblub trades having absurdly high drop rates for Epic Items. (it was like 20%??)

• Fixed a projectile loading issue with the Lever Action Shotguns.

• Fixed an out of bounds spot in the game's tutorial.

• Reduced the chance of the player dying multiple times at once. (This bug may still occur if you are experiencing significant lag.)

• Dying will no longer count as abandoning the mission in certain instances.

• FTCM Default Invasion Chance (Rep 40 or lower) is now 50% instead of 70%.

• Fixed an issue where setting resolution to "Native" would instead default to 1920x1080.

• Fixed multiple error messages created by held weapons.

• Fixed Surprise Mechanic projectiles inheriting the speed / movement properties of the base weapon. (This was unintentional, and was reducing the effectiveness of the item significantly.)

• Fixed Surprise Mechanics sometimes referencing broken projectile data.

• Weapons will now properly generate.

• Fixed a missing material bug with certain UI elements.

• Items on the workbench menu should no longer return null soundclips.

• Fixed weapon unlocking validation issues. This should make the Autocannons obtainable if you complete the FTCM questline.

• Improved loading order for some assets. I realized that PCs with high end CPUs might've been loading the game too quickly, breaking some script execution order.

• Yeehaw Hammerhead now displays the correct number of projectile bounces.

• Fixed the CASH 4 TRASH pawn shop not giving the player the correct amount of money for sold items.

• Fixed an issue where you couldn't accept free email item offers if you were in debt.

BALANCING ⚖️

• Burst Pistol, Explosive Fleet Rifle can now be fired by holding down the fire button and do not require you to click per attack.

• Compact Knife now has an aim speed of 20 instead of an aim speed of 5, which should make it more responsive.

• ''Energy Barrier'' Shoulder Weapon is now less effective for NPC Mechs. (Barrier strength reduced by 2000, Cooldown increased from 120 seconds to 200 seconds.)

• The ANTI-MAT bullet now has a larger hitbox. This change also applies to the new railgun.

• Homing Missiles now move a bit faster. They deal less damage on contact but greater explosive damage.

• FTCM Pilot "CRISIS" is now significantly stronger.

• Stream Missiles have doubled in speed.

• Item ''SCOPE'' has been nerfed a bit. (Base crit rate 5% > 2.5%. Scaling rate 1%/level to 0.5%/level.) I think the item was just a bit too strong for the tier it was in, often out-DPSing even Legendary Items.

• Item ''GRENADE EJECTOR'' has been nerfed. (Explosion damage reduced from 400 > 200). Again, it was doing way too much damage for the item tier it was in.

• Item ''INCENDIARY ROUND'' has been changed. (Base scaling of 30% damage increase reduced to 15%, however the scaling has been increased from 5% per level to 5.75% per level. This means, by +20, the item will be as strong as it used to be but the player needs to invest into it a bit.)

• Most shoulder weapons are now a bit slower. Although some (such as the radar) are faster.

• Damage of the Shoulder Minigun has been reduced. It was way way way too good compared to other shoulder weapon options.

• Damage of the Shoulder Flamethrower has been increased. It was way way way way too bad compared to the other shoulder weapon options.

OPTIMIZATIONS ⚙️

• Game-wide loading time optimization. (ie. Aquarius loading time cut down from 50-70 seconds to roughly 10-15.)

• Fixed an issue in the mech customization menu where buttons were updating graphics on every single frame.

• Optimized some of the UI Canvases to avoid excessive UI reloading.

• Optimized the firing of Autocannons. They will no longer cause extreme lag, although they are still fairly intensive if paired with projectile duplicating items and high fire rate builds.

Small patches / individual hotfixes may be released during NextFest itself as issues appear. However, I will not make individual announcement posts on Steam for these. I will likely just mention them on social media or something. Anyway, that's enough from me. Bye for now!