Development Update - May 2026

Dear Backers,

As we approach the launch of our Steam Store page, we’ve prioritized any remaining visual improvements and gameplay features we want to capture in our launch trailer, as this will be critically important to all our marketing efforts going forward. A gameplay trailer is often the first exposure someone will have to any game, so it’s important we make a good first impression to prospective players.

On the space side, we’ve refreshed our ship thruster effects with much higher fidelity engine plumes, with more meaningful and visually obvious differences between half and full power. We’ve also added a bit of screenshake while ships accelerate that really conveys the magnitude of power needed to move these massive vessels.

Stop / Half / Full Thruster Effects

Early playtesting revealed that some players struggled with sharing their focus between maneuvering their ship and lining up their shots with the minimap in combat, and so Isaac created and added firing arc affordances directly onto the ships themselves. The new indicators change color when an enemy is in range and when that sector is reloading, making the space combat experience even smoother.

Cannon Firing Arcs

We’ve also introduced a new, cargo focused ship. The Fluyt trades durability to boast a massive cargo hold, without sacrificing too much speed, its five oversized engines delivering respectable thrust for a ship of its size. And while it can’t outrun a cutter, it boasts double the firepower of one, which will hopefully be enough to deter any vultures looking for an easy mark.

Sailing across the Cortesia system has never looked better. The generic tartane model has been replaced with the model of your actual ship (including its thruster effects!) when navigating between planets, and the placeholder navigation UI has been updated with final assets.

New Navigation UI and Ship Model

Ground gameplay received similar love and care, with various animation and UI improvements. In addition, we’ve increased the impact of a character's Luck attribute to have more of an effect in combat. Now, characters with high Luck will find themselves hitting difficult shots more often than those without. We’ve also added additional AI behaviors for enemy squads that have not yet located the player’s party. Now, enemies who have not yet entered combat will take up defensive positions where they suspect the player will advance, or patrol around in search of the player if more aggressive.

Last but not least, the Ice Planet Nix that debuted back in January received a nice update to its layout to bring it more in line with its established lore. Residents of the permafrost planet weather the perpetual cold in subterranean dwellings, and can enjoy the simulated climate of a hospitable planet under the canopy of their domed arcologies, basking under the light reflected from Nix’s twin moons.

Snow falls over the Nix Spaceport

This month, we’re beginning game trailer production. We’ll be prioritizing adding additional features that we want to showcase, including more planetary locations, and expanding our combat gameplay with new features like asteroids and other obstacles in space combat and combat drones in ground combat. As always, thank you for your continued support. Check out the full changelog below

Best Regards,

Vincent De Tommaso

Game Director

Full Changelog

RPG Mechanics

• Captains Quarters Messages - implemented the system for receiving messages in your captains quarters

  
  

• Message Log Hidden Messages - game designers can pre-populate the message log and set the conditions for when messages are revealed

  
  

• Text Overlays - game designers can add text overlays to objects and NPCs that can be displayed automatically when the player gets near, or when the player clicks on the object/npc

• Character Creation Background Selection - character creation system now supports “early life” selections, which impact your character’s starting attributes and can provide additional insight in certain situations

• Messages Support Images - messages can include images

  
  

• Hair Highlights - character hair models now support highlight colors

• Character Creator Slider Supports New Hairs - character creator updated to support new hair models

  
  

• New Hair Material Supports Recoloring - new hair textures support recoloring

  
  

• Support Hair Blend Shapes - support blend shapes for long hair models to prevent clipping through outfits

  
  

• Officer Conversations - captains can now summon their officers for a chat in their office

  
  

• Officer Conversations on Planet - captains can now converse with their officers while on planet

Ground Gameplay

• Interactable Objects Inside Obstacles Can Be Interacted with Outside of Combat - improved interaction code to ensure objects that can be interacted with in combat also work when not in combat

  
  

• Units in Full Cover Face Correct Direction - units taking cover now face the direction they will be shooting

  
  

• Luck is Re-roll - reworked how the Luck attribute impacts shooting attacks for greater effect. Characters with high luck will miss less often than those with low luck.

  
  

• 1h Pistol Animations - added animations when equipped with a pistol in 1 hand

  
  

• Unrevealed Enemy Groups Won't Go Into Sentry - enemies who are not in combat will not all go into sentry mode

  
  

• Unrevealed Enemy Group Behaviors - enemies who are not yet engaged in combat will behave differently than those in combat

Space Gameplay

• New Ship Type - Fluyt Class Cargo Ship added to the game

  
  

• Hailing other Ships - players can now hail other ships they encounter while sailing and request assistance or threaten them

  
  

• Add very minor Speedshake when Ship Moving and Accelerating - added screenshake to space combat while ship is under power, and gameplay settings option to disable it

  
  

• Allow Player to Reduce Time Dilation below Auto-Threshold - players’ manual time dilation settings are no longer immediately overridden

  
  

• Increment Crew Boarding Skill after Returning to Space from Boarding - your crew gains boarding experience upon completion of a boarding action, more if successful.

  
  

• Add New Thruster Assets - replace ship thruster effects with better assets

  
  

• Change Retreat and Disable Threshold from Percentage to Set HP Value - each ship class has its own individual threshold to decide when to retreat from battle for more consistent behavior

  
  

• Improve Space Combat Cannon Audio - reduced the multiplicative effect of multiple cannons firing simultaneously

  
  

• Overworld Ship Model Uses Current Ship - the overworld ship model now represents your actual ship rather than using a generic model

  
  

• Simple Pause Menu in Space Combat - space combat can now be paused and basic game options accessed

UI/UX

• Add Hotkey and Close All Button for Tutorial Pop-Ups - added a close all button to close multi-pane tutorial panels without having to click through all of them

  
  

• Second Weapon Sprites - added angled inventory sprites when dual wielding weapons

  
  

• Armor Breach Indicator - added a unique armor breach sprite for the ship status display

  
  

• Equip/Unequip Items by Dragging to Slot / Inventory Panel - fixed an issue that prevented equipping and unequipping items by dragging them to the desired location

  
  

• Update Dialogue Prefab with New Assets - updated dialogue window placeholder art with final assets

  
  

• Show Available Funds in Engineering Upgrade Pop-Ups - players can now see their available funds when viewing possible ship upgrades in the engineering menu

  
  

• Change Crew Count Text Color when below Penalty Threshold - crew count text color changes if current crew count is below the penalty threshold for insufficient crew

  
  

• Replace Temp Overworld UI parts - updated the overworld UI with final assets

  
  

• Bug: Dialogue Options Initially Highlighted - fixed a bug where all dialogue options would be highlighted when starting a conversation

  
  

• Space Combat Camera does not Rotate with Ship - space combat camera now decoupled from ship rotation

  
  

• Enemy Indicators don't Overlap Tutorial - enemy indicators no longer overlap tutorial panels

  
  

• Display Firing Arcs in 3D Space - added a UI affordance to show firing arcs in real space, so players no longer need to solely rely on the mini-map indicator and can keep their focus on the action

  
  

• Add Requirements to Engineering Upgrades Pop-Up - ship upgrades now note if they require upgrades to the power system first

  
  

• Add Cargo Type labels - cargo items now labeled by type (consumable, trade good, weapon, or mission item)

  
  

• Rework Ground Combat Camera Zoom - improved the way the ground combat camera zooms to provide better visibility and reduce the chance of inaccessible areas being viewed

  
  

• Change Unit Selection Disk to Decal - changed the unit selection indicator to a decal so it no longer clips with some floors

  
  

• Weapon Tooltips for Party Selection Equipment Preview - added equipment tooltips to the party selection window so players no longer need to memorize every weapon icon in the game

  
  

• Improve Overworld Ship Indicator - Less intrusive ship chevron to better display the ship model

  
  

• Officer Top Bar Sorts by Current Selected Party - the officer selection bar now sorts by the currently active party to make it easy to find the specific officers in your party first

General

• Option Menu - added game options to the system menu

  
  

• End Turn if All Units have Expended All Action/Bonus Action Points - added a game option to automatically end turn when all units have performed their actions

  
  

• Difficulty Toggle: Can walk through friendly units - added a game option to allow walking through friendly units

  
  

• Difficulty Options - added support for various difficulty options to make ground combat, space combat, and ship management more or less challenging

  
  

• Randomize Number of Sailors Available in Taverns - taverns now offer a more randomized number of sailors for hire instead of the same amount every time