ARRIVAL: ZERO EARTH Playtest update for 1 September 2022

Changed in 0.9.0

Btw. The early access date is now announced (11 October 2022)!

FEATURE CHANGE: Shorter Runs

The default run now has 12 levels instead of 20 levels. There has not been too much feedback about this, except for a few feedbacks and I was a bit doubtful if the runs should be shorter or not.

Usually players are willing to go the level 20 on a single run, unless they die before it. With longer runs there is more action further you get in a single run.

Now that the boss fight is a bit harder, probably the average runs will be shorter after this change.

The downside with the 20-level run it might feel a bit of a "chore" if you are on level 5 and you see that there is still 15 more levels to go. I think this might stop some players even starting a run.

I think these shorter runs are a positive change, even if there are currently a few downsides.

I'm thinking about ways so that the players could have longer runs if they want. The game could also be tweaked in different ways, so that the action picks up a little earlier.

If you have any feedback about this, I would like to hear your thoughts.

NEW FEATURE: Steam Achievements

The full version now has a Steam Achievement for each unlock.

Achievements are not in Playtest or Demo version, but all unlocks will move between different versions, so if you have unlocks in the Demo version for example, those unlocks will be also unlocked in the full version and you will automatically get those achievements.

NEW FEATURE: Continue abandoned runs later

You can now continue abandoned runs from the main menu. The state of the game is saved at the start of each level, so if you abandon the game and the end of a level, any new items or units you got during that level won't be saved.

So it's best to abandon the runs at the start of each level. The Continue Run button won't be displayed if you abandoned the run on the first level.

FEATURE CHANGE: Flying Chests now do damage to units

The "Flying Chests" now do damage to the units, if the unit members stand under a flying chest when they impact the ground.

I'm not expecting this to make the game much harder, but I hope it adds a little bit of extra excitement and energy to the opening of the chests.

FEATURE CHANGE: Removed the camera rotation feature

Previously the game had a feature where you could rotate the camera, but I think this feature was rarely used, and now that it's easier to tell where the units are, there is not much of use for this feature.

OTHER UPDATES:

• Show the Steam Early Access date on main menu
• Disable camera rotation
• Shorten the runs from 20 levels per loop to 12 levels per loop
• Small re-adjustment on how stats are shown on the right sidebar on a level
• Show the loop number on the sidebar and make the level number start from 1 when entering a new loop
• Flying chests now do damage to units that stand under the chest when they fall
• [Community Feedback] Fixed "bazooka unit" description to say they are targeting heavier enemies, not heavier units.
• [Community Feedback] Make the outside of the boss fight ring walkable again, once the boss fight is completed
• Add the possibility to continue previously abandoned runs from the main menu
• Add support for Steam Achievements

• jounitus