This patch includes several new features including a brand new tutorial system, configurable difficulty settings, a sandbox mode and a whole host of fixes and improvements!
- NEW: Interactive Tutorial
Based on player feedback and our own assessment, we realised soon after launch that the old tutorial system was sub-par, and we have developed a completely new interactive tutorial that guides you through several stages of the game:
Note: The 'Space Monkey' achievement now requires this tutorial to be completed, rather than the old prompt tutorials. Players who have already unlocked the achievement will be unaffected.
- Introduction
- Launching & Customizing Satellites
- Completing DeepSpace, Debris & Sun Missions
- Researching Technology
- Docking & Modifying Orbit
- NEW: Playlist / Difficulty System
We have developed three new playlists for the game with varying difficulties. You can now start a session in a more forgiving Casual mode, the default Normal and a brutal Hardcore mode.
Leaderboards are only available for Normal and Hardcore modes, while Achievements are available for all modes. Note: Existing Save Games will default to the 'Normal' difficulty.
- NEW: Sandbox Mode
Should you wish to experiment or play the game without the hassle of maintaining your agency, you can play our all-new Sandbox mode. Everything is free and you can fail as many contracts as you like!
Leaderboards, Achievements & the Catalogue are not unlocked or available in Sandbox Mode.
- NEW: Updated Agency Overview
The Agency Overview interface has been overhauled to contain additional information, such as details about your reputation and whether advanced contracts will generate or not. This should allow players to make more informed decisions about the technology they should be researching.
- NEW: Keybind-Sensitive Text
We have updated the tutorial interface, so that your current keybindings are reflected by the text. Any keys that have been rebound will properly display in the tutorial.
- NEW: Context-Sensitive Orbit Panel
You can now preview the changes that will be made to an orbit before firing the Satellites main engine. Hover over the buttons in the Orbit panel to see the preview arrows.
- NEW: Orbit Intersection Indicators
The Intersection area for two orbits is now highlighted as an orange zone in the world. This should make Docking and Orbit missions more intuitive and easier to understand.
Orbit Intersection Zones are fully explained in the new tutorial.
- Other Changes
- Orbit Delta Arrows now use the orbit focal point as the orientation axis, instead of world origin. This improves their alignment for highly eccentric orbits.
- Refactored Prompt Tutorial System.
- 'Missions' are now referred to as 'Contracts' throughout the entire game, to prevent confusion caused by mixing up the terms.
- Save Game list item now displays the difficulty of the gamemode.
- Removed 'How To Play' from the pause menu and replaced with a 'Return To Game' button.
- 'Return To Menu' has been renamed to 'Exit To Menu' in the pause menu.
- Added Unreal Engine disclaimer to credits.
- Contract Browser uses an improved interpolation method for contract details.
- Space Docking Achievement will now unlock even if the Docking widget is not opened.
- User-Interface now indicates when the game is paused, either by the tutorial or a full-screen widget.
- Reputation Bar & Credits are dimmed in the UI when they are not checked as fail conditions.
- Contracts will now display medal requirements as a deadline rather than a timeframe.
- Bugfixes
- Fixed an issue where keybindings would stop working after upgrading a Satellite Property.
- Fixed an issue where keybindings would stop working if the player cancels a rebind.
- Fixed an issue where keybindings would stop working if Time-Warp was used.
- No longer saving redundant ISS State Vectors to the World Save file.
- Fixed an issue where docked Satellites could be released with a lower upgrade tier than what they docked with.
- Fixed a crash caused when a contract generates while the contract browser is closing.
- Fixed several cases of delegate bindings not being correctly cleared, resulting in interface widgets crashing to desktop.
- Fixed an issue where Satellites would remain selected when docked, potentially allowing commands to be issued while docked.
- Fixed an issue where the Game Failure widget wouldn't be closeable on game failure.
- Fixed an issue where the 'New Mission' sound effect wouldn't be affected by UI audio settings.
- Fixed an issue where cummulative achievements wouldn't register on Steam and unlock if the cummulative value is greater than the achievement value.
