v1.5.7 - Boss Stability and Sound Hotfix

Overview

Version 1.5.7 is a stability and polish update focused on critical bug fixes, enhanced boss fight visuals, and improved audio feedback. This release addresses several data loss issues and adds visual spectacle to the Galactic Inspector boss encounter.

Key Highlights for v1.5.7:

• Critical fix for prestige data not saving correctly

• Epic visual enhancements to the boss fight

• 16 new sound effects for better audio feedback

• Brightness/contrast display settings

• Enhanced camera controls with trackpad support

• Decorations tab now more visible with animated styling

Critical Bug Fixes

Save System Fixes

• Fixed prestige data not persisting - Prestige tokens, total prestiges, and purchased upgrades were resetting to 0 when closing and reopening the game. The data was saved correctly but wasn't being loaded properly.

• Fixed critical data loss during prestige - Removed dangerous delete_save() calls that could cause total progress loss if the game crashed during prestige.

• Unified save migration required - Legacy save fallbacks have been removed. All saves now go through the unified save system which provides atomic writes and automatic backups.

Boss Fight Stability

• Fixed critical hit race condition - When 50+ fighters landed critical hits simultaneously, the time-freeze effect could cause performance issues or soft-lock the game. Added static lock to prevent race conditions.

• Fixed crash at 60-second mark - The inspection animation was creating 50-100+ simultaneous timers causing a massive garbage collection spike. Replaced with a single batched operation.

• Fixed Ctrl+P crash - Debug force-prestige key could crash when managers weren't ready. Debug keys have been remapped to F-keys with null safety checks.

Boss Fight Visual Enhancements

HP Milestone Effects

The Galactic Inspector now reacts dramatically as you whittle down their health!

• Milestone thresholds at 75%, 50%, 25% HP

• Screen flash effect at each threshold

• Strong camera shake

• Boss rage glow animation with particle aura

• Dynamic milestone messages ("THE INSPECTOR IS WEAKENING!")

Enhanced Attack Shockwave

• Multiple expanding shockwave rings (3 waves)

• Stronger camera shake (12.0 intensity)

• Screen edge vignette flash

• Fiery gradient particle burst at center

Fighter-Specific Attack Effects

• Melee fighters - Quick white slash particle arc

• Ranged fighters - Coffee projectile with trailing particles

• Mystic fighters - Purple glowing orb with particle aura

Critical Hit Fanfare

• Brief time-freeze effect (0.2x for 0.03s)

• Yellow starburst particle explosion

• Bigger floating "CRITICAL!" text with shake

• Enhanced sound effect

Audio Improvements

16 New Sound Effects

• Brewing sounds - Start and completion audio cues

• Purchase sounds - Improved unit purchase/sell feedback

• Milestone sounds - Major milestone fanfares based on tokens earned

• Rush hour warning - Dedicated anticipation sound before rush hour begins

• All sounds mapped with consonance for pleasant audio experience

Visual Settings

Brightness & Contrast Controls

• Brightness slider - Adjust overall screen brightness

• Contrast slider - Fine-tune visual contrast

• Shader-based post-processing for smooth adjustment

• Previously hidden, now enabled in Video settings

UI Improvements

Enhanced Camera Controls

• +/- keyboard zoom - Use equals/minus keys or numpad to zoom

• Trackpad pan support - Two-finger pan gesture for laptop users

• Horizontal scroll - Scroll wheel panning support

Decorations Tab Visibility

• Purple accent styling - Decorations button stands out more

• Pulse animation - Subtle animation draws attention

• Enhanced states - Distinct hover/pressed/focus visual feedback

Basketball Stats Reset

• Now includes confirmation dialog before resetting

• Stats properly saved to unified save system

Balance Adjustments

Unit Scale Normalization

Deck 2 robots and drones were appearing much smaller than intended. Scales have been adjusted based on actual sprite sizes:

• Supply Drone (Deck 2) - Significantly larger for visibility

• Cargo Loader (Deck 2) - Moderately increased

• Deck 2 Technician - Slightly increased

• Ranged/Mystic fighters (Deck 6) - Adjusted for consistency

Technical Improvements

• Debug keys remapped - Changed from Ctrl+ combos to F-keys (F1-F7) with null safety

• Removed WorkshopManager - Cleaned up unused code

• Simplified boss fight - Removed periodic inspection stun mechanic (knockback attack provides enough disruption)

• Unified save architecture - Atomic writes prevent data loss, automatic backups on every save

Compatibility

• Full backward compatibility with v1.5.x saves

• Legacy saves automatically migrated to unified format

• All progress and achievements preserved

What's Next

We're continuing to polish the game based on player feedback. The v1.5.7 update addresses (more) critical save issues and adds visual excitement to the boss fight. Thank you for your bug reports - they help make Starbrew Station better for everyone!

Brew on, Commanders!

o7,

David (HeartCoded)