Balance and Performance (v0.7.05)

This update was supposed to be a hotfix, but I ended up adding so much to it that it’s basically become a set of balance overhauls based on some recent feedback. The abridged version is that you’re no longer allowed to die in less than 320ms, and when you reach the end of the content and start hitting New Game+, enemies are tankier but deal less damage.

Enemy Refactor

Enemies get stronger at higher levels using an exponential scale because players get better weapons, more upgrades, and more build synergy... so enemies have to be adjusted to remain a challenge.

The issue is that I was primarily adjusting enemies by increasing their damage. The result was that you would get swarmed by lots of glass cannons, and it felt like an Unreal Tournament match set to insta-gib.

Steam post image Endless Battleship Design by Endless (https://star-vortex.com/ships.php?view=130)

Now, they still deal more damage... but about half as much, and they have significantly more shields and hull so they can tank more of your damage. This should lead to a more satisfying endgame experience.

Damage Cap

Sometimes lots of enemies will synchronise their shots, resulting in death before you can react. This has long been known to be an "unsatisfying" experience. Early games used invulnerability frames, where your character would flash white for a few frames and be immune before being hit again.

I tried this approach, but the result was too powerful and doesn’t really work for a space shooter.

Instead, you can no longer take more than 5% of your maximum hull in damage within 16ms. The result is a minimum of 320ms to be destroyed if you’re at full hull. I figure humans have a 0.2 to 0.25 second reaction time, so that should give you time to dodge before you die.

Tanks are now Tanky

The Hull Points upgrade in the Warden secondary class now grants +20% extra hull per point instead of +5%. I’ve also increased the strength of all shields (and the hull points from the Internal Shield) by a massive +50% across the board.

Steam post image The Eye Design by Industrialus (https://star-vortex.com/ships.php?view=154)

I’ve tested it on my Warden/Sentinel Dreadnought against higher-level enemies, and I finally feel like a tank. Pairing it with hull leech weapons is a bit overpowered, but that’s a problem for another day.

Hit and Run Enemies

I won’t list them all, but different enemies have different attack patterns. The ones designed for hit-and-run tactics have had AI improvements and a significant speed boost.

So if enemies are whizzing past you drive-by shooting style, that’s them. I hope you played a lot of Duck Hunt as a kid and have good aim.

Performance

I’ve been profiling the game in various places to improve performance. Short version: lots of objects that were created on the fly are now “pre-warmed” into the pool during loading, and the damned mini bars that have plagued me for years with terrible performance now render onto a single UI canvas... with a single draw call... from a sprite atlas. If they’re still slow, I’m going to cry!

Ship Designer Unlocked - Example Mod

I’ve added a second example mod. This one shows how to patch code in the game using HarmonyX. More example mods will follow, as I’ve already been given a long list of requests I plan to work through.

View on Steam

Sector 4 - Phase 1 Hitting the Test Branch

In the next week, I plan to add Sector 4 - Phase 1 to the test branch, which includes more storyline, a new sector, and some new enemies.

Completing it will also unlock Species-XI parts for use in your ship designs. If you want to help test it, jump into the Discord and let me know. I’ll tell you how to access the test branch once it’s up.

Oh yeah, there’s a new avatar for you to pick when you’re creating players as well. Enjoy!

Patch Notes

New Features / Content

• Added a new player avatar of an old dude.

Balance Changes

• Shield capacity increased by 50% across all shields.

• Hull Points upgrade now grants 20% per level, up from 5%.

• Damage taken is now capped at 5% of your maximum hull per 16ms (320ms from full).

• Asteroids no longer spawn in nebula encounters as they were frustrating.

• Beacon ships summoned by the player now fire through each other.

• Enemy damage scaling reduced; late-game damage roughly cut to a third.

• Enemy hull and shield scaling doubled; late-game enemies much tougher.

• Enemy base hull and shield increased by 50%.

• Early-game enemy damage ramp extended from level 10 to level 15.

• Fights should feel more sustained, with less instant kills.

• Hit-and-run enemies accelerate faster and reach higher speeds.

• Mixed squadrons break formation so hit-and-run ships can hunt solo.

Quality of Life / Accessibility

• Beacons now show total DPS in their item stats.

• Doubled size of Arrow Launcher projectiles so they're easier to spot.

• Increased the light in the game scene by 25% so distant ships are more visible.

• Sensor arrow distance is now measured from the arrow to the target.

Performance

• Nebula vent smoke particles are now pooled for better performance.

• Weapon projectile pools now prewarm to cover 10s of fire to reduce stutter.

• Weapon projectile pools now includes shot counts for multishot weapons.

• Menu background ships now prewarm their weapons to reduce menu hitches.

• UI and HUD sprites are now packed into atlases to cut draw calls.

• FPS display no longer allocates memory each frame it updates.

• Mission tracker only rechecks uncollected missions when something changes.

• Ship parts are warmed up on the splash screen to prevent spawn hitches.

• Ship shield and hull bars now share one canvas to speed up UI drawing.

Bug Fixes

• Nebula vent smoke now fades out naturally when vents are closed.

• Roaming drones now advance through obstructions blocking their weapons.

• Background menu ships now reduce the brightness of lights in custom designs.

• Beacon ship stats no longer vary by star map location when used by the player.

• Beacon stat bonuses now apply to all summoned ship weapons, not just the first.

• Fixed beacon ships ignoring NPC base damage scaling.

• Fixed fast projectiles sometimes passing through enemies at low framerates.

• Destroyed ships no longer leave stray smoke from previous positions.

• Fixed some display issues with the trails that follow Arrow Launcher projectiles.

• Layered ships no longer emit light from their invulnerable lower layers.

• Fixed layered bosses wobbling when you aimed at them.

• Attached enemy ship velocity now adapts to AI tick rate, fixing Carrion spasms.

• Fixed an error on the loading screen during ship part animations.

• Fixed boss body segments and orbiting drones spawning out of formation.

• Fixed player becoming immune to damage during friendly-assisted boss fights.

• Enemies now retarget the next threat when their current target is immune.

• Sensor arrows no longer vanish before structures enter view.

• Dodge afterimage now shows overheat, burning, and other status tints.

• Nebula stamp buffer expanded so all ships correctly clear away nebula fog.

• Fixed stretched vent smoke on ships after hyperdrive jumping into nebulas.

Modders

• New public const GameShip.maxDamagePerTickPercent (0.05).

• Added obstruction selector to the sandbox.

• Ship.Build() has new optional param: skipDifficultyScale.

• Fixed damage smoke trails appearing from the wrong position.

• MiniBars.Init second parameter changed from HUDController to HUDMinibars.

• New HUDMinibars IHUDComponent now owns miniBarsPrefab and minibar lifecycle.

• HUDController.AttachMinibars and RemoveMinibar now forward to HUDMinibars.