Version 0.3.0 of Masteroid primarily focused on more interesting and exciting combat. First I fixed a common player complaint: selling your ship also sells all of your weapons. I implemented an inventory system and an Equip menu. Now players can buy various weapons and try different loadouts on their ship. If you sell a ship, the weapons will be returned to your inventory on the Equip menu. You can equip and unequip weapons from your ship’s turrets as well as sell unwanted weapons.
Next I added fleets. Why? Because they are just cool! Fleets are usually a large ship accompanied by a variety of smaller wingmen. They are awesome and dangerous. Attack one and you will probably die. However, I also improved player survivability. Players now have a “Boost” ability that helps you get out of a sticky situation quickly. Players are also warned of low health: the game goes into slow motion for a few seconds an the edges of the screen turn red.
I also added a new energy system for weapons. Previous weapons had a level and you could only equip certain weapon levels to your ship. However, I find flying tiny ships with big weapons fun! So, weapons consume energy. Your ship can be equipped with any weapon but if it doesn’t have the energy to power it you won’t be able to fire.
Vic Chelaru, the creator of the FlatRedBall Game Engine jumped in and helped out with Xbox360 and Xbox One controller implementation. He also helped with a ton of optimization so I can cram way more sprites on the screen.
Finally, I did a bunch of behind-the-scenes stuff and a few Quality of Life things. The HUD now spans the top of the screen and shows your current sector name. There is also a station indicator that shows the direction of the sector station. I overhauled AI to make it easier to make more complex and smarter NPCs. I overhauled particle effects and weapon effects. I added engine trails to ships and fixed tons of bugs!
Here are the bullet points:
- Game now has a station indicator: easier to find the sector station
- Can now equip and unequip weapons on the Station Equip menu
- Selling ships now returns equipped weapons to inventory
- Weapons now have an energy requirement instead of a ship level requirement
- Ships now have an energy bar
- HUD now shows current sector
- Weapon menu now shows shot icon
- Particle effects have been overhauled: 87.36% sexier!
- Major performance optimization, fewer frame dips and smoother performance
- AI Overhaul: NPC ships are now smarter
- Fleets now spawn in sectors: Wingmen defend their fleet leader at all costs!
- Game now warns player when close to death and goes into slow motion for a few seconds
- Player now has Boost ability to get out of danger quickly
- PC Version now supports Xbox360 and Xbox One gamepads
- Game now only offers resolutions your graphics card can support
- Lots of bugfixes
I work hard to release regular updates that add content and gameplay. All updates on Itch.io are free. Buy the game now and enjoy it today and into the future!
Thanks,
Justin
