Last Thursday we released Update 0.2.1 and I wanted to go over some of the gameplay changes included, but first, BUGS!
• Bug Fixes:
Bugs are the reason why this update did not release on our usual preferred day. With the implementation of Gamepad Support, we had to revamp our input system. This resulted in 2 different bugs popping up in regards to our cutscenes. The first prevented the player from progressing the cutscene that plays when they fail to pay back their debt on time. Thankfully you could still skip the cutscene and continue playing the game, but obviously that is far from ideal. The second bug made the dialogue for the cutscenes progress when you let go of the Left Mouse Button. So if you were just clicking to progress the cutscenes, it would skip every other line of dialogue. I squashed these bugs right away and we decided to push out a patch that we already had been working on as soon as we could. Hence a random Thursday update!
• The Space Jump Drive:
Now onto the gameplay changes we were working on! In this patch we upped the speed at which the Jump charges while at Level 2 and 3 Engines. For Level 2, 25% was buffed to 50% speed and Level 3, 50% to 75%. We made this change to punish players a little less for not being able to keep their engines at Level 4 (130% charge speed!) constantly. Level 4 is still the far superior choice for charging the jump quicker, and thus getting to your next client quicker, and THUS paying back Lady Styx quicker! But the increased obstacle damage that comes with it can make piloting at Level 4 a difficult challenge for less experienced pilots. So this should allow a little more wiggle room for players to switch up their engines more as the situation requires it.
• Accessibility Options:
We had recently gotten feedback over some of our visuals and realized that we could easily extend our current Graphics Accessibility options. So we added in toggles to disable a few different visual effects in our game that may be a bit jarring for some players. These effects are:
– The Ship UI shaking when the player takes damage
– The Speed Lines that help show that the Chaser’s speed is different at different energy levels. (These exist since we refuse to have the space background behind you scroll, as that is a pet peeve of ours for space games.)
– The Warp Lines that flash across the screen while you’re Mid-Jump.
If anyone notices any other effects that would benefit from a toggle, please let us know! We really appreciate all the feedback we get!
• Voyager Mode Options:
The above bugs reared their head as I was partway through adding more options for Voyager Mode. Before this update, there were three different options (Overall Damage Taken Modifier, Shield Damage Taken Modifier, and Hull Damage Taken Modifier), but we’ve been wanting to expand Voyager Mode’s customizability with some options not directly related to the amount of damage you take. The newly added sliders modify the rate at which Systems break when the Chaser takes Hull damage and the rate at which Systems are depleted when the Chaser is struck by Ion Weapons. As with the previous damage options, both of these can be set anywhere from 0 to 3 times the default rate! We also went ahead and slightly rearranged the layout of the existing Voyager Options to make room for these new options and future planned additions.
That covers all the major changes in last week’s patch, but there a few more minor changes that you can read up on by visiting the official patch notes here!
You can also follow us on Twitter and join our Discord for more news and to give feedback! If you wish to play The Chaser’s Voyage, you can buy it while we’re in Early Access on Steam:
