v0.47.1 Game Status (Patreon)

Evening all, hope you enjoyed your weekend! It's time for the second release of the month, and this one has...a lot. I finished up the final pieces of the mid-game phase, finished off my list of cleanup items, made another list of cleanup items, and then finished that. That doesn't mean everything is in a perfect state (for example, a complete Gallery overall is on my list to get to eventually), but it does mean the pathway is cleared to start work on the endgame phase, which I'll be talking about more in a few days.

So, let's go through the list. The final scene requirement checks are now activated, with various department scenes now checking if you're actually in a suitable position to proceed. These checks aren't exactly balanced across the departments, I'll admit, but serve to reflect the plotlines I was going with for each. This officially marks the close of the mid-game development checklist!

Second, new content. We have a new CG set in this release, the first CG for a random citizen encounter, and also the first one featuring a Terran other than Hellfire. Additionally, we have new music! I'll admit to generally playing with music turned off, myself - even I can only listen to the same track loop so many times over a couple of years. However, if you find yourself diving into any missions in the near future, I recommend turning music on and checking out the new tunes as you do so. These tracks are by Dark Fantasy Studio, who I'd like to point out was kind enough to modify their license terms to allow the use of their work in obscenity. :P I have noticed this adds on an extra second or two to the mission load time, and may have to put in a loading message for that down the line. The Codex is also all freshly polished up, with the final placeholder entry finally being filled, and a number of other additions and bug fixes in that area. If anyone thinks there would be additional topics that would be good to add in there, feel free to let me know.

And finally, an assortment of other bug fixes have been added, including the one to ensure that Specialist Loyalty missions make proper sense even with the semi-randomized maps. Unfortunately these are still one-time-only bits of content, so if you feel you missed something on your first run through them, you'll have to check them again on a new run.

As for what's coming for the rest of the year, I'll be talking more about that on Weds night, so check back in soon! For now, patch notes below, game links to follow. Enjoy!

v0.47.1 Change Log

Game Functions:

• Functionality to support CGs in citizen random encounter scenes.
• Recruit Assignments are now required for appropriate Department scenes (Commandos 5, Roboticists 5, Propagandists 5, Pilots 5).
• Continue and Cancel buttons on Recruit Assignment screen have been adjusted.
• Impersonation skill checks are now required for appropriate Department scenes (Commandos 4, Roboticists 4). The option to Continue will only be available if you have the required skill level.
• A 'Return to Office' button has been added to Hellfire's office.

Mission Content:

• Music has been added to the missions, with one track for each of the four location types.

Scene Content:

• None

Art Content:

• 'Librarian' citizen random encounter CGs added to scenes and gallery (4 variants).

Codex Entries:

• 'Specialists' entry added.
• For 'Race' entries (other than Terrans), buttons have been added to display representative members of the species.
• For 'Specialist' entries, a button has been added to display their portraits.

Bug Fixes:

• Loyalty mission encounters will now occur after a specific number of moves rather than being assigned to random map locations, to ensure that all story encounters are met and in the proper order.
• A number of typo and gender/text color switch fixes, particularly in random citizen encounter scenes.
• The Codex button will now only be available while in the office, to avoid various overlay and button issues.
• The scrollbar in Codex entries will now reset to the beginning when switching entries.
• The button leading to a placeholder scene in Hellfire's office has been removed, until such time as a full scene may be added.
• Fixed a bug with mission encounters, where instead of using an encounter-specific morph meant to reflect your selected mission gender, it would default to male.

Known Issues:

• TTS dialogue cannot be interrupted once begun. May have issues if triggered on multiple screens at once. TTS support is 64-bit Windows only.
• WebGL Issues: Be warned that save game data in WebGL mode is less permanent than PC standalone. May also be more prone to memory and other issues.