Welcome starchasers! It's the first week of Steam's Space Exploration Fest, which we're proudly in, and with it comes our next milestone update: [b]Faces in the Fog![/b] [previewyoutube=LIKVMUbPuy0;full][/previewyoutube] This is a massive update that I've spent months prepping for and that adds a huge amount of new content for players of all levels. It's been quite a major task getting it all out, and my cats started to freak out over my own stressing out, of course. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/35321791/68c4c47133fea8bb3e1f86bc9be57c09331bfb65.jpg[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/35321791/73fbb4d5ba8ec1435e3d61cc24f776f9f44cffc8.jpg[/img] But it's here now, and oh my sweet space baby lord dying-as-they-circle-a-singularity if it ain't a big one. Let's get into it! [h1]UPDATE HIGHLIGHTS:[/h1] [b]First off we have bounty hunting![/b] You'll find various bounty boards throughout the galaxy that can be accessed now, which will give you regional postings about various felons, ghosts, and evil clowns that require the tender touch of magical laserfire. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/35321791/678a97982ce0cba9f36e1eab59bafa8c34c5c906.png[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/35321791/12b0cfba57fb0bd6f2c601846be826b4adc6d887.png[/img] These bounties give you the chance to experience static versions of many storm bosses (such as snakes, living mines, ghost ships, you know the deal), as well as static spawns for many ace pilots and ships with special abilities. But there's more! Taking on the strongest bounties can net you special new rewards, including ingredients for new weapons and our newest class of heavy weapon: Dynamos! When dynamos are active your ship is far faster and far more dangerous, able to ram through nearby ships for tons of damage or send out an absolute mess of deranged missiles. It's one of our most requested weapon types, which makes me worry about all of you. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/35321791/d98163037a589e9cb06a15773bf473eeebd4b9af.png[/img] [b]Next up is quests![/b] Quests! You know, where the actual content is. We had many many quests and bits that weren't ready to be implemented at launch, and now finally are ready and finally here. Escape from supernatural space prisons, help assist a group of ex-military soldiers take revenge, perform space rituals, solve a medical mystery, rob a starship convention, and more! [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/35321791/48703f712a9f09dacdc17a594d12ebb98e7b6ebb.png[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/35321791/b47edef8099dbeca851e3e1bea5d50bdde86aa93.png[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/35321791/6a08119c17e900c7d03e77ba3175ab70488333db.png[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/35321791/651737b1139cb1e5d05e99583a288d7e132e0772.png[/img] There's new rewards, new sights, new finales, and of course, new monsters to face. New quests also mean new dialogue, and there's a ton more ambient dialogue across the galaxy to find. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/35321791/a7412353f40dff457663ec7e36e7deff5e3ea990.png[/img] [b]And finally, party members![/b] All six party members now have their full dialogue trees implemented, but more than that every single one now has certain things they want to do with you on their adventures. Take them where they want to go, learn their life story, and you'll find yourself able to take on new party specific quests. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/35321791/eabd26e6d946dff5bad1968d69dd4293e8b68857.png[/img] These character centric stories, once completed, will let you upgrade your existing squadmates, giving them new appearances, new abilities, and new dialogue (of course). Onto the full patch notes! [h1][b]Changelog is as follows:[/b][/h1] [h2]NEW FEATURES[/h2] [list] [*] Added over 80 new bounties to the game. You can access bounties at bounty boards, after which they can be tracked in your objective UI and can set waypoints to the last known bounty’s location. [*] Added static versions of random storm bosses via the game’s bounty system. [*] Added guaranteed spawns of certain ace pilot types via the game’s bounty system. [*] Added 20 new quests to the game, including conclusions of regional storylines and new party member quests. [*] Party members have greatly expanded dialogue. [*] Party members can now be upgraded via their personal quests, which can be activated by taking them to specific stations that they hint or directly request. [*] Added new dynamo heavy equipment, via the bounty system. [*] Added recipes and materials for new heavy launchers and exploders, via new quests and the bounty system. [*] Added many MANY new conversations to the galaxy, including new NPCs to talk to on stations, hidden dialogue and hidden lore-heavy NPCs out in space to converse with. [/list] [h2]CHANGES AND REBALANCES[/h2] [list] [*] The mission UI has been revamped slightly to be in line with the rest of the game’s UI. I’ll leave you to figure out what that means for future mission content. [*] The Matta Platform now has much more detail in its various rooms and corridors. [*] The Well now contains better textures for the characters found within. [/list] [h2]FIXES[/h2] [list] [*] Fixed issue where the Exposure achievement would occur too early. [*] Fixed issue where the bar warp on the Matta Platform would warp you to its hallways instead. [*] Fixed issue where the player could thrust even with no afterburner energy. [*] Fixed issue where many boss-level items were being sold by mistake at stations. [*] Fixed issue where loading a save wouldn’t clear any active missile alerts. [*] Fixed issue where loading a save wouldn’t clear the old game’s dialogue history until you reopened your menu. [*] Fixed issue where loading a save on the Axle would cause the player to fall into the unfeeling void. [*] Fixed some mismatched icons during the White Fleet. [*] Fixed softlocks caused by saving weirdly. [*] Fixed issue where autoturrets would sometimes stop targeting ships for a couple of seconds. [*] Fixed camera softlock that occurred when loading a save during a takeoff or landing cutscene. [*] Fixed some animation errors with Veiler models. [*] Fixed some small issues with music overrides. [/list] And now we move to onto new content and updates! We'll probably have a smaller patch this month putting in some extra goodies related to Faces in the Fog, but our next big upcoming milestone update will be closer to the end of the year. This will be heavily interior-centric, featuring things like a cockpit overhaul, finishing up models on planets and stations, adding player housing, more character customization. You get the deal. No screenshots of anything there yet, so have some cat. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/35321791/a3088808a8cfc77f2ba5d9e0702e51cb33c72932.jpg[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/35321791/3070d7d769e8a356e06af0ddbb902291a020627d.jpg[/img] Lastly, on the subject of [b]Steam Deck support[/b] I managed to track down of the people who get mad at these cat posts and beat the living snot out of them (their bones were basically made of popsicle sticks so it wasn't hard) and managed to acquire from them a Steam Deck! We'll be analyzing its esoteric innards to find a way to have some better support there,