Hey everyone! Beta 18 is now available! Also for the next week the game is available for 40% off! Devlog #74: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx6m8wcNlHw This update is focused on revamping the character art in PULSAR and adds two new playable races: the Sylvassi and robots! Player and NPC models have been replaced with a new, slightly more stylized look. This style allowed us to make a lot of extra improvements that we feel will better the experience of the game. It's different, but we're happy with the new characters and hope you guys like them too! New Races: The Sylvassi are an alien race that were embroiled in conflict with the humans during the Old Wars and are still recovering from those days. They possess a cloaking ability that allows them to go "invisible" for a short time, letting them flee from or reposition themselves in combat. They need a liquid methane environment to survive and are immune to extreme cold, but as liquid methane is highly flammable, they take extra damage from fires. Sylvassi home worlds are cold and comprised largely of liquid methane, though many Sylvassi have grown up enclosed in their suits. A good number alive today are part of the first generation born free of the W.D. Corporation labor worlds since the end of the Old Wars. In the past century, more Sylvassi have begun to forge their own paths; some have joined the Colonial Union, others have found sanctuary in the Alliance of Gentlemen, and others still have pursued their own ambitions and joined the W.D. Corporation by choice. Humanoid Robots are common in the galaxy, but are just beginning to branch out as full time crewmembers on starships. They don't gain nourishment from regular food, but a repair tool can patch them up. They are immune to all hostile environment types (no oxygen, extreme heat and cold, toxic atmospheres), though they are still susceptible to radiation. Often employed for automated trading stations or labor in conditions that are otherwise dangerous to living organisms. Recently, however, there has been a rise of seemingly sentient machines who are joining crews and fulfilling roles that have been traditionally performed by biological persons. As robots are particularly resistant to hostile environments, they are well-suited for planetary missions and the unexpected perils of work aboard a starship. Humans now have a special ability as well. They tend to cling to life, and once per jump a fellow crewmember has the opportunity to revive a fallen human. Humans have recovered some of their former glory since the dark ages after the Old Wars, and they have become a prominent intergalactic presence. Their innate drive for exploration has propelled them across many galaxies, discovering new worlds and paving the way for those who would follow. Though they are ill-suited for many environments, their tenacity, ingenuity, and will to survive rival even the most resilient of species. As for the updated character models, we wanted proper uniforms for each faction, crisper silhouettes, more customization options, and characters that could work well in nearly every lighting angle we could throw at them. Because the new style doesn't use traditional texturing techniques, it's quick to make and cheaper on the CPU. We've made an interesting shader that allows us to forgo many of the textures the previous characters needed, which reduces the number of draw calls per character. We optimized the NPC character rigs for the same effect. We’ve also taken a look at player progression and offering new customization unlocks for certain accomplishments or milestones within the game (no micro-transactions or loot boxes needed). Flaunt your accomplishments, if you so choose. Additions -Play as Human, Sylvassi or Robot crewmembers -New appearance menu and more unlockable cosmetic items -Sylvassi can cloak themselves to prevent enemies from targeting them for a short time, this personal cloaking field is shut down if the player shoots their weapon, similar to ship cloaking. -Robots can be healed with repair tools -Humans can be revived once per jump -New Statistics menu that can show various info about your time playing the game. This can be accessed from the main menu. -You can now access the character appearance / customization menu from the main menu -The Barber is now a place where you can change your race/appearing during play. Since there are mechanical differences to each race now, we’ve decided to only allow in-game changes through the Barber located in the major hubs of the galaxy. -New AI Behavior: Revive Crewmate -New AI Behavior: Repair Crewmate - Sylvassi AI characters should cloak themselves automatically when their low on health -New AI Custom Event: Repairable crewmate is nearby -New AI Custom Event: Repair gun is equipped -New AI Custom Event: Nearby crewmate can be revived -General AI Tweak: The “Close To Captain” Behavior stops bots from continuously running around when they are near you. They are more likely to stand near you calmly now. -Status screen has been added to Outrider engineering bay -Added a splash screen with various logos and a photosensitivity warning -Game Options menu now contains option for profanity filter. It will be on by default. Character Art -3 Human Male Faces -3 Human Female Faces -10 Human Skin Colors -11 Male Hairstyle Options -8 Male Hats -10 Male Facial Hair Options -12 Female Hairstyle Options -8 Female Hats -26 Human Face Prop Variants -New Uniform: Colonial Union (Human male and female) -New Uniform: W.D. Corporation (Human male and female) -New Uniform: Alliance of Gentlemen (Human male and female) -New Uniform: Fluffy Biscuit Co. (Human male and female) -New Uniform: 2 Civilian variants (Human male and female) -3 Sylvassi Faces -10 Sylvassi Skin Colors -7 Sylvassi Head Markings -7 Sylvassi Face Props -New Uniform: Sylvassi Suit and Helmet -6 Robot Heads -10 Robot Paint Colors -New Bodies: 4 Robot Humanoid Bodies -New shoulder light and flight pack meshes -New player movement animations -New interaction animations -Over 400 NPCs have been replaced with the new style and animations across all planets, stations, ships and hubs. -All metal bandits have received the art update too Changes -Colonial Union hub “Outpost 448” has been revamped. It is slightly more consolidated and now includes Sylvassi quarters, a hydroponics lab, and a Fluffy Biscuit shop. Certain NPCs have been changed, removed, or had their dialog updated. -NPC names now show up over their heads when looking at them -New mission visual indicators when an NPC has a mission available -New mission visual indicators when an NPC has a mission to complete -Handheld scanner also displays mission indicators to help you find important NPCs -Added more props to certain sections of Cornelia Station -You can now see your character during the class select menu and can make modifications to your appearance before joining the game. -Status screen has been added to the engineering section of the Outrider-class starship -All Exotic shops will now deal in Contraband items (selling and buying them) Fixes -Fixed visual issues that caused players to disappear when on ships -Temperature fixed in abandoned WD Destroyer -Dark Drive should now show up for sale in exotic shops -Fluffy Biscuit factories now sell biscuits -Fixed a collision issue found on a WD toxic waste planet -Fixed a collision issue on CU toxic planet -Fixed a visual error on the CU warp coil refinery -Fixed a visual error at the interdimensional research station -Fixed a scrolling UV issue in the borthix lab on the Estate -Fixed some potential typed input issues when typing in the chat box -Fixed a collision issue found at the Burrow -Fixed a visual issue found at the Burrow -Fixed a visual mismatch for a nuke ship component Thank you for your time! Best, The Leafy Games Team Beta 18.1 Release Notes Fixes -Sylvassi cloak input binding no longer requires resetting input bindings -A few small changes to prevent some internal exceptions that were reported Beta 18.2 Release Notes Fixes -Fixed Fluffy Biscuit ship ranking board -Scanner IK / animation updates to improve positioning Beta 18.3 Release Notes Fixes -Fixed extractor UI Beta 18.4 Release Notes Fixes -Fixed Fluffy Biscuit creation station UI on Fluffy One -Improvements to help avoid teleportation issues and stuck in ground issues -Fixed bots targeting friendly ground turrets Beta 18.5 Release Notes Fixes -Fixed Fluffy Biscuit crate remaining UI on Fluffy One -Tweaked camera properties to make handheld scanner more visible when using it -Fixed AI priority override menu issue preventing edit button from appearing