Hello everyone,

Thank you to everyone who has been testing the v0.3 beta on the experimental branch; your feedback has been invaluable as I press forward with development.

This post is just to educate everyone on what\'s coming in v0.3.0-beta.9, which should be hitting the testing branch [strike]early[/strike] later next week. I would also like to share specifics on what I\'ve learned from your feedback, mainly from the feedback survey. (if you have not taken this survey, check it out below!)

https://forms.gle/UdK2QxrtkC2K7yXR9

What\'s coming in v0.3.0-beta.9

The next beta build is focused entirely on gameplay & progression. Here\'s what you can expect...

• Completely refactored engineering UI, to make it a bit more clear how it works

  [/*]

• New building XP system, designed to offer some shallow build identity

  [/*]

• Huge changes to the current questlines, mainly pertaining to the quest objectives

  [/*]

• New enemies & extended heat aggression for both ALTAR & Abyss regions

  [/*]

• Some new things to find out in cyberspace as you explore

  [/*]

Building XP

All buildings in the game will be able to earn XP by completing certain actions. Some examples are...

• +1xp for Turret\'s when they hit an enemy

  [/*]

• +1xp for Collector\'s everytime they collect a resource

  [/*]

• +1xp for Foundry\'s whenever they successfully craft a resuorce

  [/*]

• +2xp for Turret\'s if they manage to destroy a unit

  [/*]

• +1xp for Lab\'s each time they convert a resource to science

  [/*]

• etc.

  [/*]

[img src=\"https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/43512720/8748af9713243350460126d1e41f402e44d290ae.png\"][/img]

Levels panel, coming in v0.3.0-beta.9

At certain XP thresholds, buildings will unlock a level tier, which can contain anywhere from 1 to 5 possible upgrades to choose from. These can be swapped at anytime, but only 1 can be active.

The goal of this system is to not only provide some basic build identity, but also ensure that all buildings remain useful in later sections of the game that are significantly more difficult. It can also be used as a balancing tool to improve weaker buildings by offering more upgrades, though this is a last resort.

Refactored Engineering UI

The current UI for engineering was always meant to be placeholder; not only is not intuitive, it does not do the engineering system justice. In v0.3.0-beta.9, it will be getting a huge makeover.

[img src=\"https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/43512720/9fc9013fba4c149db7e8bc770c9df8e273dc0638.png\"][/img]

WIP Engineering panel, coming in v0.3.0-beta.9

The goal is to provide a full overview of ALL the engineering mods in the game. This will act as a sort of \"collection\" screen, where you can track your progress and see what mods you still have yet to unlock. Hovering over locked mods will hint at where you can find them, or, if they\'re already unlocked provide a much more detailed explanation of what the mod does.

The top bar will act as your active mod set; remember that engineering mods are unique, so only one can be applied to a specific buildings at one time. Different buildings have varying engineering slots, so this is where the real meat of player-driven build expression will be.

You\'ll be able to easily track which mods are equipped to which buildings within the collection grid.

What have I learned from the first few days?

First off, thank you. The volume and quality of feedback has been incredibly helpful, and its already shaping where development goes next. Based on this initial data, heres what stands out so far: