The latest patch brings major progress to both the Crusader Room system and the long-awaited Campaign Mode—plus, tons of new combat updates, visual improvements, and early cinematic work! Check out everything that’s new below:

🏠 Ruby’s Crusader Room is Now Active!
You can now enter Ruby’s personal Crusader Room.

Feed her Cores to build your Starlink Rank, unlocking progress, and future gameplay rewards.

📖 Campaign Mode Now Available
Campaign Mode has been added to the main menu!

The Red Faction's campaign is currently available, featuring a single playable chapter.

Additional factions and chapters will follow in future updates.

🔹 Note: Short cinematics have been added to provide visual context. These are in an early, rough state and will be improved in future passes.

⚔️ Combat & Crusader Updates
Dash stutter has been fixed – movement now feels much smoother and more responsive.

New Combo Attacks added for Sapphire and Queen, expanding their melee combat options.

Sapphire's Blue Damage has been reduced for better balance, particularly with her status-based build-up playstyle.

🎨 Visuals, UI & Map Improvements
Green Faction Units have been visually overhauled, improving their clarity and style.

Blue Faction Units have received updates to highlight personality and design variations between unit types.

Lighting has been improved across several maps for better mood, visibility, and fidelity.

Cel Shader Update:

Improved overall color correction and visual clarity of the game’s signature cel-shaded look.

🖥️ UI & Performance Improvements
Menu Screen Optimizations – Reduced resource load and improved responsiveness.

New Visuals on Menu Screen – Includes updated backgrounds, UI elements, and minor animated effects.

Optimizations to Spawned Units – Improves in-game performance, especially on larger-scale skirmishes.

🗺️ Coming Soon
This patch lays the groundwork for more Crusader Rooms, campaign chapters, and cinematic storytelling. Additional polish and features are on the way—thank you for sticking with the game and helping shape its evolution!

💬 Developer's Note
With Ruby’s room now active and the first campaign chapter launched, Starmetal Crusaders is entering an exciting new phase. There's still a lot to improve and refine, especially in narrative and cinematic areas, but the vision is coming together.

As always, your feedback is welcome! Join the discussion on Steam or Discord and let me know what you'd love to see next.