My plans to do a quick post-jam update for Stellar Voyage quickly exploded into a bunch of work which is surprising to exactly nobody. But it was a satisfying adventure into project-wide refactoring and fleshing out my understanding of Godot as an engine. Armed with all the feedback fellow jammies contributed, I've made quite a few updates and am much happier with the experience as a whole now.

Thanks for playing and if you have a chance, follow me here or on twitter @dwdraws. I'm just getting started with this whole sharing stuff with other folks which is a bit uncomfortable but you gotta start somewhere. I think I'm going to shift gears back to Sapling as it also never got a post-jam update and I really enjoy that game's core mechanic and atmosphere. Hopefully I'll have some new stuff ready to go in a week or two.

Anyways, I'll get to the juicy patch notes now.

• Generation of sectors is more intentional and less random from run to run.
  • Each sector has defined ranges of systems, objects, mods and resources based on the number of sectors you've traversed so far. This should make runs pretty forgiving early on and more challenging in the later sectors. Some sectors are sparse with high-value systems and objects, others are very populated but lack dense resources, and everything in between.
  • Player, system, and objects now have defined spawn areas. Systems will no longer spawn on the very edge of the star map. And the player's spawn location is more central making the choice to explore in one direction or the other more common.
• Mod upgrade rework.
  • All new mods, Ship Speed, Probe Speed, Fuel Max Increase, Material Max Increase.
  • Mods are no longer totally random. While the complete randomness could be fun and ridiculous, it didn't feel like you had much agency. You were really at the mercy of RNG just hoping to come across high-value mods or getting too many high-value mods removing any challenge.
  • Reaching a mod now allows you to choose between 1-3 different mod options. You can now make choices based on the context and situation you find yourself in.
  • Mod types now have rarity. Higher-value mods like fuel efficiency or reduced probe cost will appear less often than lower-value mods like expanded fuel max, but don't underestimate the value of fuel max.
  • Mod bonus values also have odds where you can on the rare occasion get a higher or lower value.
  • Mod bonuses scale based on how many of that type you've stacked. The more you stack a bonus, the lower the values will get as you collect more. This scale varies based on the mod type.
• In-game UI additions.
  • New mod selection screen.
  • Values are expressed as in-universe, such as lightyears and days.
    • Mod selection will show % increase to help with decision making.
  • Mod icons, titles, and descriptions.
  • Mod summary at the bottom. Displays cumulative mod counts and bonuses.
  • Fuel and material bars for better feedback.
  • Warnings for 'low fuel' and 'not enough material'.
  • Stats for tracking run duration, probe cost, fuel efficiency, ship speed.
  • Abandon run option available via the settings screen.
  • Transparent game over screen.
  • Collected run stats when you complete a run such as run time, systems scanned, probes fired, etc.
• More stuff!
  • I always envisioned the game to take place on a display on the bridge of a ship. I've added a shader (via godotshaders.com) to push that atmosphere.
  • On the same note, you can turn off this shader in the new Settings screen accessible on the main menu and mid-run. Various audio settings have also been added. Settings are saved so you won't have to change them if you play more than once.
  • New cursor
  • Quit option (desktop only)
  • Windows .exe icon
• Dozens of bug fixes, old and new, that would be impossible to recall.