Phobos Down 0.0.9 alpha released

It's time for another Phobos Down alpha update!

I had a very loose plan for the content of this update. Some changes are based on tester feedback, others are random things from my task list and as usual, there are changes I never planned at all. Despite the lack of planning, this update brings many significant improvements.

Score items dropped from killed enemies are now always automatically picked up, so there's no need to go collect them manually.

There is a completely new enemy type called "tank" with differently sized variants. It's a quite rare boss type enemy with special weak points that can be destroyed in order to deal huge amount of damage and to slow down the enemy.

Another noticeable addition is data storage devices fallen from the wreckage that contain confidential data and can be destroyed for additional score reward. These devices also reveal tiny bits of backstory as text excerpts.

You'll also notice that drop pods have changed. They have a new model and instead of exploding on ground they now return to the support ship in orbit. This makes more sense than having an infinite supply of drop pods on the small ship. The devices delivered by the drop pods have different models now to make it easier to tell them apart.

Weapon management UI has also changed a bit. It now shows the total change in weapon properties when assigning a modifier to a weapon, taking into account the original modifier that will be replaced.

Here is the full change log since version 0.0.8:

• Made the "free" mouse aiming mode the default.
• Properly capture mouse cursor in photo mode when using "free" mouse aiming mode.
• Fixed small error in distance calculation when applying damage from explosions.
• Increased score item attract distance to cover whole mission site.
• Improved enemy shoot recoil handling.
• Adjusted enemy gib size and count to better scale with enemy size.
• Fixed explosions with origin inside an enemy body not causing damage.
• Added two variants of a new rare "tank" enemy type.
• Show total modifier effect on weapon properties in weapon UI.
• Force walkers to step their feet if they stretch too long.
• Fixed first walkers sometimes spawning without legs.
• Added a new evasive floater enemy variant.
• Removed score cost from all devices.
• Added separate sound effect for score penalty.
• Use the normal terminal sound when displaying score messages in-game.
• Updated models for drop pods and all devices.
• Refactored droppod and device handling to make adding new devices easier in future.
• Fixed artifacts at edges of device and modifies icons.
• New much better device destruction sounds.
• Added data storage devices that can be destroyed for score bonus.
• Fixed screen edge indicators not getting drawn in priority order.
• Drop third medical station device if player's health falls below 25%.
• Show screen edge indicators for medical station devices already below 50% health.
• Fixed melee enemies not always getting close enough to player to attack.
• Emit smoke particles from damaged containers.
• Improved thruster plume shader.
• Fixed broken dust particle placement inside explosion volume.
• Fixed drop pods spawning in front of camera with low FOV setting.
• Made orbital strike device indicator show the time to missiles hitting the ground.
• Fade out world grid as the camera zooms in at mission start.
• Fixed camera FOV setting affecting sound volume level.
• Hide device icons and time indicators in photo mode.
• Replaced directional camera push from explosions with more traditional shake.
• Added a subtle camera push on player weapons firing.
• Added menu setting for strength of camera shake effects.
• Removed camera FOV setting from menu.
• Improved gamepad vibration effects.
• Play heartbeat sound when health is critically low.
• Fixed menu move sound playing everytime the game starts.
• Prevent undodgeable enemy ballistic attacks at very close range.
• Prevent enemies spawning directly under obstacles or characters.
• Delay failed mission info box a little after player's death.
• Lower the damage applied to the player when already badly hurt.
• Scale enemy projectile size based on the size of the shooting enemy.

As usual, all feedback is welcome! You can contact me through the contact form here or leave a comment on Itch.io page.

Downloads are available on Itch.io:

Back to home

Posted on 2024-07-31