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Hi everyone!

Cell Sword (my comedy scifi shooter) is OUT NOW and I have snuck in some Liberation time to push a new release.

This update I am pleased to add basic VR support for Liberation! Tin Man Games, a game studio in Melbourne, have loaned me a VR kit (a HTC Vive) for a little while. I was unsure how difficult it would be to retroactively add support for PCVR but the game was largely architected with this option in mind so the main hassle has been the HUD and stuff like pop up windows. I must admit it is super cool to fly around a retro space adventure in 3D (I am feeling a bit queasy as I finish up this coding session however).

Please consider this experimental VR support and not a full finished release. Here are the limitations at the moment:

• the game CAN NOT be saved in VR mode

• some parts of the interface may be unreachable (eg news articles)

• the only inputs are keyboard/mouse and gamepads. I recommend gamepad when using VR

• the on screen targeting is wonky in VR (it also doesn't show ship names)

I am pushing it out to get early feedback from people who have more experience with VR than me. Please fly around the first few systems and then add your feedback in the forum on what you'd like to see. I will not turn on Steam's "playable on VR" tag until a minimum quality threshold is reached (and we may never reach it -- I can never promise future updates). To use: turn on SteamVR, start Liberation, enter the menu, turn on XR and restart the game.

BUT enough about my magical adventures in a whole new dimension of amazing gameplay... you, the common flatlanders, are still my people and I haven't forgotten about you. This update includes some tasty treats too.

The big one is that gamepad input has been polished. I gained some new experience from Cell Sword (available now!) and have fed it back into Liberation. The gamepad deadzones are more reasonable and the input is now logarithmic, which means small movements on gamepad mean much smaller movements in game. This provides a much MUCH better experience on gamepad.

If you play Liberation on a portable device, you can now cap the framerate to reduce battery drain.

Finally, in my quest to make the star systems each more unique and interesting, there's a few new cosmetic things in the game for people to discover.

Thanks for playing Liberation (and your future purchase of Cell Sword (have I mentioned it's out now?)).

As always, any shares/boosts/reviews you can throw towards my games really helps me make more of them.

Regards,

Luke

PS. Tin Man have made a couple of table top VR games and the classic Warlock of Firetop Mountain which I recommend people check out

Add

• Mouse button can be used on title screen to start game

• Add FPS capping. Players can now force the game to target a specific framerate. On a Steam Deck on a long trip? Cap the frames at 30 for a battery saving. Really want to recreate the Acorn experience? Cap Liberation at 12fps for a good time

• Add framerate cap slider to menu

• Add anti-aliasing options to menu

• Add controller deadzone slider to menu

• Some new dialogue for Galfed Broadcasting Corporation host

• The algae bubbles on Algaeus now bounce when fired on

• Add ground telescopes to Bellian

• Add basic OpenXR support for headsets. NOTE: This is an experimental draft. The game can not be saved in VR mode and some parts of the interface may be unreachable

• Add VR submenu with some configuration options

Change

• Changing resolution now forces the UI to refresh, this is better in most ways

• Update to Godot 4.4.x

• Reduced controller deadzone to 0.16 by default (it was 0.5 before ewww)

• Gamepad inputs are now logarithmic

• Final switch over to my current universal build pipeline

Fix

• Fix to loading on faster computers

• Algae bubbles on Algaeus sit better on surface

Hi everyone! I've been really busy working on my next game, Cell Sw--- ok I've been sitting around watching Andromeda (there's only so many times a person can rewatch Babylon 5). I was initially a bit hostile to it (how many times can they say the word Nietzschean in one episode?!?) but it's OK. I have a small update I wanted to push for Liberation sooner rather than later (some of these changes have already gone live). The main change is that the player now gets a reward (I'm not saying what) for winning the Death Race. I have fond memories of watching The Running Man as a kid (I hear they're remaking it?!?) and Death Race is kind of the same vibe hopefully (how many bracket comments can I add to one post?). I hope your 2025 is awesome! Regards, Luke

Update

• add: reward player with an extra system slot upgrade if they win Death Race
• add: Death Race host contacts player if player wins Death Race
• add: allow keyboard Fire command to be remapped
• change: add a 10s cooldown to story mode blast weapon when entering a system (this should resolve issue with blast weapon killing hostiles before system finishes locking)
• change: switched over to my universal build system
• fix: always reset Etain asteroid on abandon game

Liberation is one year old today and to celebrate I am sharing a short story set in the Liberation universe. It's titled "Murder on MegaPlanet". The last year has been amazing and the game has done really well. Thank you for your support! Please consider leaving a review for Liberation and also wishlisting my next game, Cell Sword. Murder on MegaPlanet Synopsis: By all appearances, Eden Towers is a standard apartment block on MegaPlanet. School pods are well occupied, elevator rage is under control, and employment is mercifully low. Except Eden Towers has a big problem. Its community credit score is dangerously low and nobody can understand why. if it falls any further the building is in danger of being recycled... with the 200,000 residents still inside! So when a high ranking government official is found dead, the desperate citizens are forced to rely on an unlikely hero, a servo bot with the ability to clean up the crime scene. However, B31-T12 has a dream of its own... to be the Galactic Federation's greatest detective. "Murder on MegaPlanet" is a darkly comedic tale by Luke Miller set in the universe of Liberation, the retro space adventure from Classyk Games. It is available for free from this google doc link. You can read it in the browser or go to File->Download and get it as PDF, epub or TXT. I hope you enjoy this little insight into one of the many worlds in the game!

Hi everyone, I'm back with probably the biggest patch Liberation will ever get! Liberation is meant to be just a small fun game that surprises and delights and that's the focus of this update. The big changes are: [olist]

Police are OUT and Space Rats are IN. Before, if you attacked civilians the police would launch. The problem is that it would take forever for them to reach the scene of the crime! So I thought about it and decided to remove them. Instead there is an entirely different mechanism. Each system you enter you may encounter roving gangs of hooligans, known as Space Rats. It's just a bit more fun (hopefully) and that's why I'm here!* [/olist] One new mission of which I'm really proud happens about half way through the game in a big facility. The lights go out and for a few seconds you get some classic wireframe gaming.
Anyway, there's also lots of great little fixes and quality-of-life changes. Finally, I am working on a new game! It's called "Cell Sword". Cell Sword is a 6DoF game like Descent (1995) set inside the human body. I'm going for Descent meets Inner Space meets Fantastic Voyage meets Omni Consumer Products from Robocop. The premise is that in the future, instead of playing video games, players remotely pilot microscopic craft to kill hungry nano drones left over from a war. I've learned a lot making Liberation and I think Cell Sword is going to be different but in a good way. The steam page is up and there's a trailer too. Thanks for buying the game -- your support is making Cell Sword happen! Another way to help is to leave a review of Liberation... it would mean a lot. Regards, Luke * I don't want to trash talk other space games but I really loved the Krait silhouette from the original Elite (1983) so I was shocked when I saw what they'd done to my boy in Elite IV! The Space Rats are my attempt to put it right.

Add

[olist]

Hi everyone, To me, Liberation is a tight little game that lives or dies on how successfully it explores the concept "retro space adventure meets classic UK sci-fi". Generally I am thrilled with the game. It has far exceeded what I thought was possible and the reception has been fantastic (please consider writing a review!). But as I watch people play several common negatives keep popping up: [olist]

Hi everyone, A decently large update. Some really nice quality of life improvements, bug fixes and cosmetic changes (including new ships, new planetary features and new items). Liberation has always been a tight little game and it's cool to get to cram some of the corners with extra details. I can't give too much away as they are spoilers! Liberation is starting to get some good polish going on. I can never promise future updates but after this patch I can kind of see where I would want to go... a few new missions (the foundations are in this update) and more zestiness. If you're liking the game please consider leaving a review or a suggestion on what you'd like to see in an update (for example, someone mentioned VR... that would be cool!) Regards, Luke

Additions

• add SFX to reactor boost
• add planet-wide metrolink to MegaPlanet 1
• add heat vent tunnel through MegaPlanet 1
• add dirigibles to MegaPlanet 1
• add hover car traffic to MegaPlanet 1
• add new ship: the garbage scowl
• add garbage scowls to Morloc
• add more specific joypad icons (eg R1, R2) for sony joypads
• make dock control show target icon if mission objective is at this port
• add new billboards that display any inspirational message (not just RELAX, OBEY, CONSUME)
• add billboards to MegaPlanet 1
• add ionised broiled lobster to Thantis Holiday Port market
• add article about deadly ionised broiled lobster food poisoning outbreak

Changes

• make speed boost much faster (from 220 to 300+) and reduce energy drain
• buff reactor booster from 2.3 to 4.0 but duration cut from 15 to 8
• reduce auto target effectiveness from 0.1 to 0.07 in Vantinov Clouds
• make bliss farms rotate
• reduce number of bliss reactors
• move body pointers over the docking port if body has a docking port
• prioritise exotic controllers over xbox when auto detecting template
• turn off docking on the Endurance at Muturoa
• move Jumpgate Judge super close to entry gate
• rework input mapper to make more universal
• massively buff health of jumpgate judge
• reduce general autotarget gimbal effectiveness from 0.1 to 0.09 (10%)
• move player target release to start of explosion not end when target is destroyed
• buff Hawk attackers on Lostmon
• allow space ports to override available market items
• change pitch on each jumpgate
• rework Quatermatter conversations
• add another mining ship to Etain
• change Thantis Holiday Port to only sell non-offensive ship upgrades
• punch up some mission texts
• only allow The Endurance to reserve the Nyria Jumpgate during Boucher Plague mission

Fixes

• fix shudder on docking computer
• release mouse lock on galaxy map
• release mouse in target slide out and other slide outs
• release mouse in dock control
• release target lock on destroyed items such as missiles
• fix bliss reactors target locks
• make sure target clears after missile explodes
• stop auto targeting destroyed attackers after their attack reached you
• stop target slide out showing ships that have been destroyed
• fix mission target issue on medusa mission
• fix mission target issue on plague mission
• turn off docking rings when docked
• start Braben Station rotating
• add Dradus Relay pointer over docking port
• reduce vertex collision on Apostilico temple
• add missing joypad icon on save button on sony controllers
• hide galaxy map info box if empty
• make changing device template less sensitive to joypad drift
• make civilian ships have smoother turns and docking
• let player buy consumables (eg mocktail) when ship slots are full
• prevent ships with docking ports docking with themselves (this was tough to debug)
• delay removing missiles from scene until they have finished exploding
• signal destruction correctly when research ships explode
• keep Etain jumpgate open during escape from Thantis mission

Hi everyone, I'm really excited to share this release of Liberation! In my career as a software engineer I've always believed that "people don't have accessibility issues, software has accessibility issues". Why care about accessibility? Well, it's the right thing to do. As the good folk at the Game Accessibility Guidelines write, developers should "avoid unnecessarily excluding players, and ensure that games are just as fun for as wide a range of people as possible". A game built to include people is simply a better game. I guess I've always had a bit of a theoretical view of it. Like an architect doing ramps without needing them themselves. However, for Liberation I've had one real life design aim: To get my Dad to play it. My Dad is 80 years old now and his mobility is not so good. We played the original Elite together when I was a kid and one of the reasons I wanted to make Liberation was because he is terrible at Elite Dangerous. There is no "correct" way to play Liberation. If people want super hardcore twitchiness, turn the difficulty up to "Dangerous" and go for it. But with this release, Liberation can basically be played as a turn-based game if that is more your speed. [olist]

Hi everyone, Liberation is not just a game that looks retro, I also want to provide an authentic retro gaming experience. There's a lot of interpretation in that goal. I'm not necessarily here to recreate old gaming mechanics exactly, rather I want to capture the *feel* of playing an early generation space sim. To me that means a sense of wonder, a sense of entertainment, a sense of freedom with not much hand-holding. At launch, Liberation used a flight scheme similar to the original Elite from 1984. To fly you pitch up and down and rotate your ship. There is no turning (fancy name: yaw). I love that control scheme -- it feels so floaty to me, there is no up or down and space battles become these wonderful swooping and rolling affairs. However, based on feedback I have decided to use a more modern flight scheme for Liberation. Here's why: [olist]

Hi everyone, Liberation came out a few weeks ago and it's definitely been a busy time. The main purpose of this release was to add remapping for joypad/gamepads/joysticks/controllers but as I worked on it more and more fixes and changes snuck in until it became a pretty massive release. I definitely prefer to do small releases but occasionally it can be fun to make hundreds of changes and release them all at once. The biggest request by far from players was for controller remap support. Have I got it right? Probably not first go but I think we're on the right track for sure. The biggest changes this release:

• AUTO-TARGETING. When attacked your ship will lock on target.
• WEAPON GIMBALS. Your lasers will follow the target inside your cross hairs a bit. This means you will hit the enemy ships a lot more.
• GAMEPAD REMAPPING. In the menu you can remap the controller inputs.
• AUTOSAVE. When docking game will save progress in first save slot.

• prevent keyboard echo on low performance machines on first load
• add name to Kaneel spaceport
• make abandon game clean up more systems such as messages
• fix a few spelling mistakes (I wish editor had a spell check lol)
• decrease number of hostiles if the hostile leaves through a jumpgate during a fight
• clear message history on load from save game
• restore UI correctly after load and instant docking
• stop Council giving second warning when leaving Ecrondal
• fix to civil war orbit egg mission (no spoilers)
• stop Balaantra command ship firing after event (no spoilers)
• prevent docking at Etain station during a mission
• make ship UI health bars for energy, hull and shields accurately show upgraded values
• fix a few spelling mistakes in articles and advertisements
• stop civilian ship messages after escape Thantis mission ends
• make The Lancaster missiles detonate if their target is destroyed
• stop arriving ships giving exit messages
• stop Nyria system relocking after battle
• apply lots of fixes to reactor boost system
• make command cruiser fire on ZED-11 during a mission (no spoilers)
• fix system slide out gamepad navigation
• make cooldown buttons lose focus when pressed
• prevent Boost spawning multiple events on low performance machines
• stop cockpit being viewable on launch on low performance machines
• clamp racer top speed in Death Race
• stop Lostmon system relocking after battle
• stop Kaneel (and mine field) relocking after battle
• allow targeting of mining stations
• stop Death Race lasers causing null targets
• stop plasma bolts causing null targets
• prevent exploding ships from being able to be targeted
• add ad theme to aliens ad

• make comm messages appear on screen faster
• aim Khaldir station towards Tycho jumpgate
• make ZED-11 lasers no longer can fire when comms open
• unlock Etain when you visit even though it has no hostiles
• reduce speed of Thantis fighters
• make Thantis fighters attack you if you attack them
• make hacking unit cost energy to use (15 units)
• lock Endurance dock when transiting Boucher
• make ships attack ship that launched the missile
• update bliss mission text
• update holo-cast mission text
• show message when Siltz sends credits to your account
• make landers give zero bounty if they make it to spaceport
• make rebel mining station mission text clearer
• stop allowing targeting on non-important bodies
• update pacing of void mission (no spoilers)
• buff Ecrondal travel machines
• give Ecrondal travel machines names
• move Laveesti gate on Apostilico to create better view on approach
• update void mission text
• update Algaeus mission text
• reduce gradient fade on comms message history
• make scanner in Vantinov Clouds show distance when objects are close
• reduce civilian traffic at Thantis
• move Braben jumpgate closer to everything on MegaPlanet 1
• move jumpgates on Kaneel closer to each other
• rework Death Race advertisement
• change icon background colour in market place
• limit number of raiders in Boucher transit mission
• rename London ship to The London
• reduce damage from missiles in story mode
• make raider hit area much large
• reduce raider speed
• add hacking animation to fighters
• add hacking animation to heavy fighters
• add hacking animation to ZED-11
• buff reactor boost from 10s to 15s, reduce cooldown from 50s to 42s
• buff hacking unit duration from 5s to 12s
• change way civilian ships are named, stops duplicate names
• remove reactor booster, EMP and hacking unit from Thantis Stadium market
• increase speed of docking computer when approaching jumpgates and stations from 10 to 30
• rework Boucher hostiles to give more personality
• reduce speed of raiders at Boucher
• rework Boucher transit mission text
• rework Thantis holo-cast mission text
• rework MegaPlanet 1 hostile to give more personality
• rework Braben hostile to give more personality
• rework informant mission text
• reduce resources required by galfed map when emitters turned off
• preload more music for low performance machines
• move default gamepad mapping for ROLL to RIGHT STICK (was LEFT STICK)
• auto target when attacked
• make missiles explode if they lose their target

• gamepad remapping
• add auto-targeting
• give ZED-11 lasers a gimbal so they follow targeted ships inside crosshairs (makes it easier to hit)
• add massive civil war battle to Ecrondal orbit
• add messages from before current play session into comms panel when playing from save game
• add more metal to Morloc to make it more epic
• make "not enough energy" messages show energy levels
• add hacking animation to landers
• add taunts and chatter from racers when doing Death Race
• add auto-save when docking
• add arrival messages when a civilian ship exits jumpgate
• add space station to Nyria system
• add icon to executable
• add banter to Boucher hostile
• add hour and minute to save game thumbnails
• add SFX to more UI elements such as buttons and slide outs
• include the source code with the distribution
• on various UI elements such as cooldown buttons, show controller input instead of keyboard input if controller detected

Hi everyone, Liberation came out a week ago and I'm pleased to upload the first big post-release patch. This is largely based on feedback from the community at Space Game Junkie. Thanks for your suggestions! Please note, gamepad support is really only for xbox one (or similar) controllers at moment. It might not work with other type of controllers/layouts. This is the next big issue I want to tackle. Delivering better gamepad support (maybe even remapping) is the dream but it is not something I can rush. Fixes

• make entering jumpspace cancel boost and target and docking computer
• make menus be on top of the galfed map when opened
• prevent player entering or exiting atmosphere when traversing jumpspace
• fix tutorial popup from showing each time you enter Penhryn
• make cooldown buttons reset on reset game
• reset system information between games
• reset galfed map update between games
• stop delayed comms opening when game over
• make menu exit manual and control sub menus correctly
• make docking computer understand how to approach liners and dradus relay
• fix nasty bug with invisible message box blocking buy and embark buttons
• fix reactor boost text
• fix docking computer text
• fix Muturoa and Ecrondal jumpgate connections
• fix jumpgate connection between Apostilico and Laveesti
• hide map labels when closing galfed map
• fix gamepad echoing when activating toggle buttons
• fix reset game when abandoning game
• fix missile avoid radius issue when avoid radius is zero

• make shields and battery drain and charge when docking computer active
• make blast weapon gives bounty
• make it so limpet mines can be destroyed with missiles
• double size of limpet mines so they are easier to see and shoot
• improve spacestation ultra docking and collision shapes
• prevent player boosting in jumpspace
• fade ship chatter when ship is behind player
• make Penryhn launch point no longer depend on initial mission being unfinished
• add docking nodes to liners and dradus relay
• remove unused worlds
• remove WIP from market title
• improve game over
• make blast weapon less effective during egg mission
• update egg mission and void mission (no spoilers)
• stop reactor boost system boosting when in cooldown lol
• rename Vantinov system to Vantinov Clouds
• now have The Endurance visit Vantinov
• make Vantinov clouds less dense
• reduce speed and roll and pitch when comms panel is open
• reduce speed of first guard in first mission
• give zero bounty when cruisers destroy
• give no experience or money from zero bounties
• make is so during escape from mining station command cruiser will now fire on player
• change planetary descriptions to Bellian and Apostilico
• change it so that player can not save game while docked with The Endurance
• change galaxy map so label and lock do not scale

• improve hull repair in market place, price now depends on damage, price is zero if hull is pristine
• display an icon when opening market item
• add icons to items in market
• flash dock upgrade buttons when upgrade points available in market
• add a confirmation popup when players goes to abandon game
• add death animation and sounds to egg mission
• update credits
• rework pacing of Muturoa void mission
• add particles and sfx to egg when attacked
• avoid repeated signals when destroying a body or loading a scene on low performance machines
• make crime boss mention Tycho jumpgate in first mission
• add three new music tracks
• hide hidden systems on galfed map
• arm command cruiser with turrets
• add animation so command cruiser now explodes
• add no saving message when save not available at dock
• add article about The Clarke
• add some new civilian ship names
• make it so docking ports can be inactive
• scramble scanner when at Vantinov
• update hunter and post hunter missions (no spoilers)
• add custom model for The Clarke ship
• offer tutorial on start
• update shipyard mission (no spoilers)
• add new shipyard reactor mission
• add shipyard reactor model
• add more wreckage orbiting Laveesti
• add careening cruiser to Laveesti

Hi everyone, Here is the first post-release patch of Liberation, my retro space adventure. Changes

• add option to disable listening for gamepad/hotas/joystick input (Menu->Controls->Gamepad Input)
• add a slight displacement to each pointer overlay to assist readability

• change Boost so that player can not reduce speed while boosting
• change Boost by allowing player to rotate faster

• fix issue where docked ships are sometimes undocked after loading from save
• fix system icons update when loading from save
• fix when starting new game with story mode enabled to immediately give blast weapon
• fix returning to Penrhyn will not restart original guard

Hi, I'll be playing/poking/debugging my new game, Liberation. Hope you can join in.

I'm pleased to share a pre-release demo of Liberation! Download it for FREE on our steam page. Liberation is a retro space adventure where you pilot an elite stealth ship as you take your revenge against the evil Galactic Federation (GalFed). Upgrade your ship with a variety of weapons and systems. Engage in high-stakes dogfights, dock with space stations and planet spaceports, and work with heroes and villains to destroy GalFed. Liberation is a lovingly crafted single-player open-universe RPG, inspired by classic science fiction such as Blake's 7 and the original 1984 BBC Micro version of Elite. After you play Liberation, I'd love your suggestions in our steam forum. Luke