Since the last post, Orbit has come a lot more alive. Here are the highlights from versions 0.138 to 0.147:
A sky that lives
Every ring of Orbit has its own sky: an ice world and a ringed gas giant on the outside, a toxic green world and an ocean planet in the middle, and a lava world with glowing veins at the heart. The planets slowly rotate. The gas giant’s bands drift against each other and the ocean world’s clouds sweep over the land. Now and then a comet streaks through the background. If it passes too close to a planet, gravity bends its path, and sometimes it crashes in. Decommissioned stations, gates and guardian wrecks drift in the distance.
Guardians as warships
The guardians are now real 3D ships: the Blade, a dagger with claws at the bow, and the Hammer with its glowing reactor ring. They trail plasma plumes, their eyes glow, and their armour flares up when hit.
Components from wrecks
Shoot wreckage and you’ll find components: Armor Plate, Plasma Coil, Thrust Nozzle, Quantum Chip and Energy Cell. Your tractor beam collects them and they stay in your depot for good. In the Hangar, every upgrade from the second level on needs a few parts from its area.
Weapons in balance
We measured the damage of every weapon and every path in seven situations: close, far, single target, focus, cluster, scattered and evasive. Then we balanced them. Every weapon now has a situation where it shines and one where you’d rather switch. On top of that, the Pulse Gun paths feel completely different: the Frost Cannon fires heavy single shots, the Incendiary Core relies on burning and the Railgun Core fires beams with an impulse wave.
Also new
- Asteroids are a resource in Orbit. Only the drill laser mines them, and a scan shows the ore inside the rock.
- An options menu with damage numbers, health displays, less shake and fewer flashes, and separate volume controls.
- The warp jump (hold C) gets you out when you’re surrounded.
- Hexagon shields instead of circles, a new shield impact and a sharper picture on large monitors.
All details are in the patch notes.