Introduction

Hot on the heels of Main Update 14 last week (announcement here) came a flurry of little patches to quickly address some smaller issues and now we have a much bigger one. Combined they offer new features, new crafting, and even more QOL improvements in preparation for the upcoming demo release. Other than a few minor bug fixes all the changes since Main Update 14 can be seen below.

Don't forget you can come join us on Discord now for all things Space Bob and to keep up to date on the development of the new game. I'll even be offering the community the chance to create some of the new game's content sooner than you may expect.

Patch 1.443 - New Features & QOL improvements.

• Default max grapple length reduced from 40 to 30.

• New Craftable Upgrades Added.

• Grapple Length Extender (doubles max grapple length to 60)
  
• Grapple Length Maximizer (triples max grapple length to 90)
  
• This allows grapples to reach the planet from orbit and opens up new gameplay options and strategies.
  

• The grapple physics system has been reworked and tightened up to resolve some edge case issues and ensure consistency throughout all actions.

• Fixed unintended grapple pull speed reductions witnessed with very long grapples.
  
• Grapple pull speed is now consistent at all lengths. This makes upgrading grapple pull speed far more noticeable.
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause long grapples to extend when viewed at large distances under heavy load.
  

• QOL - The grapple gun and the grapple rope selection systems have been redesigned, rewritten, unified and improved.

• This is a big qualitiy of life improvement that makes selecting grapples easier, faster and more intuitive.
  
• The grapple attached to the players grapple gun now highlights whenever it is the active grapple line for consistency.
  
• Cycling through grapple connections now includes the grapple line attached to the player's grapple gun.
  
• The active grapple now highlights green when idle or expanding, and yellow when shrinking.
  
• Using either grapple cycle hotkey will now automatically highlight and activate the last previously highlighted grapple.
  

• Bob's jetpack thruster audio now cuts out correctly when he has no jetpack fuel

• Bob's jump height has been increased. This is most noticeable when his jetpack is out of fuel. Increased from 25 to 40.

• Further refined and tweaked the new system that automatically slows Bob near points of interest in the refinery ship (added in patch 1.434 below)

• Fixed issue where some text elements could randomly disappear on the System Map panel at specific windowed resolutions.

• Dave's first message, after starting Act 2 for the very first time, has been rewritten to give the player a better sense of what is happening and what they need to focus on next.

• When extending a grapple line, the grapple ghost no longer disappears when reaching maximum length.

• Fixed a bug introduced in Main Update 14 that caused Steve's messages to slide off the screen on a timer like Dave's messages. This was unintended and they now correctly remain on screen until the player presses the 'Continue' hotkey.

• Fixed a number of typos (please report all typos. Screen shots really help to track down the most obsure mistakes)

• Replicon spiders can no longer change direction multiple times per second. This prevents them from twitching uncontrollably when trapped in a tight space.

• All Replicon base stations now appear at the start of the game when starting a game in Act 2 or later. This gives players starting in Act 2, for the very first time, a more obvious new place to explore. The central station has a '!' icon on the system map from the very start of Act 2 now.

• Added fuel as a refinable resource to a few additional wasp, rask, and spider drop pod loot pieces that appear after they are destroyed. Helps to recover when out of fuel. Replicon loot already has plenty of energy.

• Rask damage tweaked again.
In Main Update 14 Rask damage was reduced from 2.7 to 1.3. Further playtesting showed this was a step too far especially with the newly lowered default difficulty setting. Their damage has been increased to 2.0.

• Crafting Recipe Changes

• Due to Main Update 14 reducing the default difficulty (with 50% damage reduction) the recipe for the various armors has been slightly increased.
  
• The illmenite requirement for Carbon armor and the boot upgrades has also been slightly increased.
  

• The music now transitions more slowly, from calm through to intense, while playing on the default easiest difficulty now.

• This is to balance with the slower replicon expansion speed on lower difficulty.
  

• 20% of Wasps will now fly away from Bob when below 50% health. This can be exploited to gather groups of these 'scared' wasps to form the equivalent of a hot air baloon for carrying Bob or loot. Have fun.

Build 1.434 Patch notes:

◦ Bob's suit no longer takes minor damage when bumping into the walls of the refinery ship or his own lander. (Thanks twitch/ClimateChanj for playing the game on 3 hours sleep and getting irritated by little things, hehe).

◦ Improved the system to allow Bob to escape if trapped by physics related glitches.
It now detaches all grapples from the lander, and teleports the lander and Bob back to he refinery ship.

◦ Bob now slows down automatically when near points of interest, or narrow spaces, in the refinery ship

• Main Update 14 increased Bob's acceleration and movement speed to make his movement more responsive. A side effect of this meant that he moved too quickly to feel comfortable inside the refinery ship.
  
• This new system is a quality of life improvement to solve that.
  

◦ To avoid confusion, the hotkey labelled "Cancel / Back" was renamed to "Cancel Grapple / Back"

◦ Fixed an issue that could cause the 'Continue' text to disappear at some window resolutions

Build 1.432 Patch notes:

◦ Fixed an issue with the WR display on the speedrun overlay,
◦ Fixed some text on the newly updated Recent Salvage panel from not displaying at some windowed resolutions.