Testing Branch Updated to Version 5.5.2

I have resumed work on the latest version of Star Explorers. Thanks to the success of Cyclopean: The Great Abyss, I have been able to set aside the next two weeks to focus on Star Explorers.

I have abandoned the Pre-release version 6.0 that I was working on because it acquired too many bugs to deal with.

Now I have taken up the default version and have been re-applying the changes in a more slow and methodical manner. I scrapped the new database and mapping system for now. It proved too complex and was somehow not able to remain compatible with the main code base ... all my fault.

New Features

So I have been able to update a lot of the things planned for the 6.0 release into this version. There are three main ones, and a few minor fixes.

Fruits

I have alien fruits working in this version. I still have to tweak them a bit, but the basic functionality is there. You can watch them jump around and display their unusual behavior, or capture them and see what they taste like.

New Inventory

The new inventory system is also implemented. This was a major overhaul of the whole way inventory works, but it is much more efficient now. It also has new, nifty graphics to enjoy.

I have also incorporated these graphics into the quests system, to keep it looking consistent.

Smoke Beasts

I've also incorporated these new kinds of random creatures I call smoke beasts. In the current default game, they are all just white smoke, but now they come in different colors and a number if unusual patterns. Steam post image

Other Fixes

As mentioned before, in the process of updating, I have found a lot of little bugs to fix along the way. Missing files, weird crashes that happened under very specific conditions, and things like the costs of items appearing inconsistently, have all been addressed.

I will continue to add new stuff that has been in the works, and fix bugs along the way. In about two weeks I plan to set this as the "real" Version 6.0, and make it the default.