Approaching Infinity 
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2.0.10 , New DLC , TBT FestJun 2, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsOne Month After Release After 12 years, I don't know how to stop. This is my "Star Wars", my "Stellaris". My game's universe is always on my mind. What stories can I tell? What features can I offer? And there's another important question I must ask: How can I continue living my life as an indie game developer?! Getting to 500 Steam reviews and hitting "overwhelmingly positive" would help greatly. We're almost there. But that's something I can't directly control. I plan to strike a balance between continuing free updates and paid DLCs, for as long as you continue to reward my hard work ;) There have been a lot of additions, fixes, and changes over the last month, but first: TBT Fest! Approaching Infinity is finally part of Turn Based Fest! This week-long event features over 400 turn-based games and is brought to you from the same people who host Turn Based Thursday on Twitter and Bluesky every week. Approaching Infinity has 2 streaming events during the fest: BlindiRL : Tuesday, June 3, 5:00 – 9:00pm EST Ic0n: Wednesday, June 4, 6:00 – 7:00pm EST Approaching Infinity - Classic Plus DLC: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3723910 Released today, just in time for the big event. You get Hats for your officers Selectable ship images Unlock all ships and officer classes (optional) The complete original version of Approaching Infinity from before Steam It's surprising how fun and challenging the older version is. It lacks a lot of modern convenience and social features (there's no hailing, surrender, or planet scanning) while still having all 12 major faction quest lines. Officers have different skills, and both ship and away team weapons function differently. But there are no grenades, consumables, or activated skill modules. You know how it's going. See how it started! https://youtu.be/vO9qlKxjCDY The DLC comes with selectable ship images for the main game: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38088504/2e244c07bfa5542e6b8fb1f14be84fd49ce074e0.png And hats: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38088504/01824a147fa919163eedfbc9ee3724a8c3cc7ee6.png Fixes and Changes for Everyone: ...an insanely long chronological list of updates since launch, compiled from my Discord Dev Log: Crafting key now works on away missions when standing on shuttle., I tried to disallow "blank" items from being sold by the schematics dealer., Repair skill should now properly repair floors., It was reported that having a knife (auto-attack on adjacent move) with the "naturalist" skill still attacked monsters. Could not duplicate, but added additional check., Using the Naturalist skill to examine a creature now gives that character 1 XP. Sometimes the player will spawn in a wall at the bottom right in caves. There is now a fix for that. "Hazardous Materials" skill now also increases environmental resistance (reduces planetary environmental damage)., Xenocide gas now spawns again!, The spawn rate of Engraver Waystations is somewhat reduced., When the crew of stationary space enemy is all dead, they will now just blow ...2.0.02May 7, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsIt's been a week since launch and I'm still hard at work to bring you new features and fixes. As I said, I don't intend to stop ːsteamthumbsupː so let's take a look at what I've done so far. All these changes are released for all players. Real Time Events => Turn-Based Over the years I've had a few complaints about the rare real-time effects (like amnesia and explosive decompression). I stand by those choices. But I also tend to provide cheats and settings that allow people to turn off certain things that would otherwise be deal-breakers for them. So: If you don't like the real-time events, go into Settings > Misc, and all the way at the bottom you will be able to turn off real time events. They'll still do things (lose a turn, or move you a space, etc.) , but it's less out-of-control. It's turn-based! Hull Shears Plus Having 2 sources of hull shears (device, wreck tech skill, artifacts) allows you to remove undamaged shipwreck walls by walking into them. There is a setting in options under automation for this wall-removing power. Default behavior asks if you want to do it, but you can set it to 'always' or 'never'. Exploits Removed I closed a loophole that allowed you to endlessly level up your crafting skill by purchasing and salvaging gear from an asteroid base. You can still buy it and salvage it, but the tech level of the gear will stop increasing beyond a certain point. I also made it so the parts junkie in the asteroid base will eventually run out of parts, so you can't endlessly buy parts, craft items, sell the items, and buy more parts. Other Fixes Playing the tutorial will no longer delete your selected cheats! "Retribution squads" are working again. Don't be a jerk to your allies 😉 The Explorer's "Eco-Examiner" skill's special ability of gaining +100 data for each kind of plant or tree touched WAS BROKEN. It is now fixed. Finally truly fixed the "hire crew" achievement. Also fixed the sector 100+ achievement which I didn't even know was broken. Fixed some weird behavior when your ship's armor is destroyed. I fixed the choppy rotation of pulsars and some janky movement when a searched computer yielded a clue fragment. Fixed an infinite loop in asteroid base generation. Changes "Hazardous Materials" skill now also increases environmental resistance (reduces planetary environmental damage). Xenocide gas now spawns again! The spawn rate of Engraver Waystations is somewhat reduced. When the crew of stationary space enemy is all dead, they will now just blow up. Large station-like enemies now have a limit to the number of support ships they can launch. Any vessel that fires on you loses its "surrendered" or "victorious" status, making it fair game to shoot back. On shipwrecks, isolated floors near space but no other floors will be automatically destroyed upon map load or accessing repair terminals. In crafting screens when highlighting essences, faction embassies will be added to the list of sources. Modding a grenade to increase its max amm...Star-trekking sandbox roguelike Approaching Infinity launches after more than 12 years in developmentMay 4, 2025 - PC GamerUs old-school rogue-likers are eating good. It feels like we've barely had time to digest the fantastic 'final' version of Caves Of Qud (there's more coming, of course), and already we've got another massive indie roguelike passion project to dive into. Approaching Infinity by micro-indie outfit Ibology has been in development for over twelve years now. It's a massive turn-based sandbox heavily inspired by classic Star Trek, and now freshly launched out of early access after many an update... Read more.Steam Deck CompatibilityApr 29, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsAs a solo indie PC developer, I don't focus on handheld gaming... But I know lots of you do! ːsteamhappyː The good news is ːsteamhappyː Many people already enjoy Approaching Infinity on the Steam Deck. It's definitely playable. And there are a few control schemes out there designed by the community. ːsteamsadː But the bad new is ːsteamsadː Due to the language the game is written in, Approaching Infinity will probably never receive the coveted "Verified" rating by Steam. AND I don't even have a button on my Steam page to submit it for their testing, it hasn't reached their "certain automated heuristics" threshold yet... If you're really concerned, try the free demo. It's basically the full game with some limitations. Anyone who has or knows of a good control scheme, please share here. Approaching Infinity is OUT NOW!Apr 29, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsAfter 12 years, my labor of love "Approaching Infinity" is OUT NOW! Hi, I'm IBOL, and Approaching Infinity is my life's work. I've worked early mornings, late nights, and weekends for over a decade to bring you this, my indie sci-fi passion project. I've had help along the way, most notably from my friend David Gervais who made the majority of the art, and the Discord and Steam communities for ideas and bug reports. THANKS! It's time Explore an infinite procedural universe. Meet strange new aliens. Kill them if you have to, but maybe make some friends too... Upgrade your ship and officers forever, or play a quick focused game. I don't know what else to say... ENJOY! Tell your friends. Tell your favorite Youtuber or Twitch streamer. Write a review: let's get this thing over the 500 mark and put it in a whole other category on Steam's algorithm! Sector 50 CompleteApr 4, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsSector 50 Mystery Beta For over a decade, no one has been able to get into sector 50. WILL YOU BE THE FIRST? Download the latest beta version 1.9F and find out... 9 new quests 3 new NPCs, with over 75 lines of new dialog total 4 new cave map types The Firax Infusor and Firax Mutator, found in caves, with effects related to artifacts 2 new potential powers that don't exist anywhere else in the game Some new powers and weaknesses for space enemies The chance to earn a lump sum of 100,000 XP Deep lore about a major faction... and the universe itself! This is in the beta branch right now. Anyone can join, and it won't break your saves. THIS IS THE LAST MAJOR CONTENT UPDATE BEFORE LEAVING EARLY ACCESS! Can you tell I'm excited?! You should be too!The Nanopocalypse Resolution is Here!Mar 3, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsThe Nanopocalypse Resolution is Here! Nano-structure got you down? Fear not! Now you can unite the factions against a common enemy and deal with this problem together. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38088504/b910c26d80b0ba6237ab2d77b4e02263aed9f37f.gif Work your way through 10 new quests. Enjoy a temporary respite from the constant inter-faction bickering. Build up an allied fleet, get a new weapon, learn more lore about the local aliens, destroy entire planets, and even lead a small army on away missions! LEAVING EARLY ACCESS SOON! Like sooner than previously stated. So get ready. Nanopocalypse Resolution Coming SoonJan 17, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsThere's an unlikely series of events that can cause you to lose control of an entire sector as it's taken over by self-replicating nano-machines... {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38088504/b910c26d80b0ba6237ab2d77b4e02263aed9f37f.gif It doesn't really happen that fast, but it's currently unstoppable... Right now, I'm working on a way for you to fight back. Several, in fact. It's not released yet, but by some time in February, you should finally be able to get that last achievement... You'll journey to new locations on unique missions and have a chance to earn upgraded equipment. You might even get to witness this: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38088504/66c122046606e3efe3381e3ec33eb8aebf59119b.png But that's for later... Now, did you know that The Engravers quest line is finally complete and released for all players! https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/551620/view/496056633029298225 (it says it's the beta branch, but it's out for everyone!) Officer level 99+ crash fixed: The average level of a game-winning captain is 9. Once you hit level 11, you can go beyond all the limitations of "how many levels a skill has" and make yourself crazy-OP. And Approaching Infinity says "level up forever". It'll take forever but sure, go ahead. But. When you try to go to level 100, the game crashes. Well, today I fixed that. It's not released yet, but you folks are now able to keep leveling up until some other number goes out of bounds... I'll guess we'll see what happens ;) Allies Something else I did today, in preparation for a special nanopocalypse quest: I made it possible for you to have allies follow you around on away missions, fighting on your side! Here's a quirky little space sim crossed with traditional roguelikeDec 30, 2024 - PC GamerI'm always on the lookout for an odd little roguelike, so imagine my surprise when I see one that's years old and I'd never spotted before, and it's the oft-ignored space roguelike to boot? Well, that's Approaching Infinity, a sci-fi dungeon crawler that's looking pretty interesting after a few years of solo developer toil in early access release. (Though they've been working on it, on and off, since 2013.).. Read more.The Story of The EngraversDec 28, 2024 - Community Announcements(This update is now out for all players) Have you ever found a message on a planet? Not like a data-pad with an old captain's log on it, But a message spelled out in the mountains? {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38088504/296ccbd3978b2321f404a828c9df8abf96898d7d.png What's up with that? It's time to find out! After all this time, The Engravers have arrived and are waiting for you. If you find enough of those planets, the messages change and start to tell a story. When that part of the story is complete, you will receive instructions on where to meet them. The game used to warn you: DON'T GO YET! But they're there now, waiting for you. You'll probably encounter a new enemy along the way, and you'll have to travel through a new kind of area... stock up on supplies now! When you meet the Engravers, you'll unlock a new powerful starting ship. You'll also have some other game-altering choices to make. It's worth the trip ;) This is only in the beta branch right now (free, doesn't break saves), but will be coming to the main branch soon. Other Changes: I increased the number of essences purchased at stations from 5 to 25 (cost goes up as well) The concept of paying officers (other than at hiring) is no longer a thing Tentaculon ships now take 1/2 damage from beam weapons Gruff ships now take 1/2 damage from cannon weapons. I changed the size of the message log text to fit in the box better while still being readable. I increased the amount of hull and supplies (stats) that salvaged shipwrecks get. I increased the benefit of salvaging (taking over) a shipwreck with 4 or 5 decks (better stats). I doubled the hull of player starting ships. I halved the percentage bonus from all armor components. I increased the supply cost of away missions that land on a planets. I drastically increased the amount of supplies granted by ram scoop / nebula scoop effects. I increased the power of supply-use-reducing devices and skills. With the right combination of powers, you can potentially generate supplies every turn. I created a one-time popup message for when your cargo hold is full. I created a new rare sector type: the black star minefield. Level 3 credentials/"Fake ID" lets you do quests for any race. I did a lot of work on items that spawn in stations, to make sure they don't offer you 3 of the same kind of weapon. I created a special ending if you run out of supplies in the Unprecedented Void (it's still game over, so don't risk it!) Quicker Picker will no longer try to pick up poison and radiation (which would hurt you) Winter SaleDec 20, 2024 - Community AnnouncementsApproaching Infinity is part of the Steam Winter Sale, and you can get it at the best discount ever! Get it in the IBOLOGY or Cosmic & Arcane bundle and save even more! Approaching Infinity is 1 half of the new "Cosmic & Arcane: Epic Roguelikes bundle", along with Terra Randoma, a game I've been following for a long time, and in fact my second-most-played game this year, slightly behind a certain other game... {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38088504/16a7825cbf089697e60c18584b2075d0060f2f3a.png It's quite a different game from mine, but with a lot of the same aesthetics and attributes.,, Not to mention the 6 years of continuous development. So if you've been curious about it, now's the time. What's in development right now, anyway? The Engravers! Have you ever seen these kinds of planets... {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38088504/296ccbd3978b2321f404a828c9df8abf96898d7d.png And wondered what the heck is going on? Very soon you'll be able to find out :D This massive quest will introduce a whole new region of space and a new enemy, take you places you've never been, and give you universe-altering choices to make. It will also unlock a new over-powered starting ship... if you can get there! Entering beta in time for Christmas, it will hopefully be released before the year is up! Update #159Nov 27, 2024 - Community AnnouncementsNovember didn't have a singular goal. Instead I tackled a lot of little things: Past Lives People have been asking for this feature for a while. Long time players may remember that it used to exist. Well, the past lives screen got overlooked in the UI overhaul. It's back! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38088504/fd4cf3e147d14db860bf4670336349e8032f1eb1.png It's been keeping track of your deaths and wins all this time, and now you can see them. You may notice in the image the captain's picture. That wasn't saved in the past, but it will be for all future games. Your ship will appear too! And of course the screen can be sorted according to date, score, win or lose. Asteroid Base Updates The most exciting development here is starting a new game with asteroid bases already unlocked. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38088504/7d385b724afa52d22255462b1257182f5f41e35e.png If you have ever unlocked unlimited asteroid bases (by completing the first and second asteroid base), you will have the option to start a game where the asteroid base faction is already established, and you don't have to meet them in sector 9, or go through any of those initial quests. They will spawn ever few sectors, and half of their rooms will already be built, and you can choose whatever you want for the other half. I also added a few new rooms: Holopaint Tech allows you to change your ship's appearance. Schematics sellers sells schematics (obv). And now the Architect gives you $750k to build new rooms, instead of a paltry $250k. You can turn in disaster records at any Galactic Transit Authority office. Caves There are a lot of special cave types, but their appearance has been largely random. I've locked down some rules: Merc bases will now occur whenever certain kinds of planet has caves of exactly depth 1. Higher levels of Mercenary Card skill will cause merc bases to also be spawned at depths of exactly 2 or 3 (by your skill level) , when appropriate. Top level Merc bases will also have their own special entrance graphic on the map. Bloom caves will now occur on toxic and corrosive planets, every few levels, but not deeper than 10 Buried Silver Cities always and only occur at a terminal depth of exactly 11. Narcratu Hives will now occur on irradiated planets with ultimate depths of 3,4,5,6, beginning at depth 3. Merc bases will be forced to exist every few sectors, in case you want to do their quests. Knowing where bloom caves are will help you reliably gather resources for higher-level item modification (red honey and golden pollen). Vacuum Amoebas After re-watching the Star Trek original series episode "The Immunity Syndrome", I've made some changes to vacuum amoebas (they were originally inspired by that episode). They have a new unique power that sucks in energy from all nearby ships. They also absorb energy from most beam weapons. They can even suck up energy from planets... All this energy makes them grow (they breed more amoebas!) Antimatter kills them very well (unless you previously decided anti...Auto-Explore, Artifacts, Away Team Combat, and MoreNov 1, 2024 - Community AnnouncementsAuto-Explore This was the big focus for October. Maybe it seems like a small thing to devote a month to, and maybe it only took 2 weeks to perfect, but it was sorely needed! It was so unreliable, I actually had this warning the first time you used it: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38088504/079a2604c3d8d6bbca8cd96fbbcd0457fe0349ee.png Thanks to (your) patience and (my) hard work, it has been more than repaired, it's actually pretty amazing now. And there are 3 settings: calm (default), terrified, and reckless. It won't fight for you, but it also won't get you killed. Check it out: https://youtu.be/KwlOXdv4rtA Artifacts Firaxughinian ("Firax") artifacts are probably the most sought-after items in the whole game, and not just by the player. They are powerful, mysterious, and difficult to obtain. But they've always had the same green icon, and no description beyond a cryptic name. No more! There are now 59 different artifact images, each with its own description that gives you a deeper look into the insanity they invoke in whoever possesses them. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38088504/9d7a6fa569dafc4e0779caec5d7804c68ba9bf9d.png Something else to note about artifacts: They used to have a screen in the infinipedia as well as being available in the inventory. They are now *ONLY* in the Inventory, under "Miscellaneous". Maximum Effort! Every once in a while a player would find themselves stranded, often do to the changeable nature of terrain (like you blew up the door of the tiny room you walked into, a water-monster pulls you onto an island, or a cave-in places debris in the only path). Now if you find yourself unable to return to the exit, the away team will be capable of super-human feats, like swimming (through acid) or clearing obstructions even without the proper equipment. There will be some damage, and quite possibly oxygen loss. But you shouldn't lose an away team or an entire run because of it. Away Team Combat Away team combat (monster HP and damage) use to scale much faster than space combat, and often faster than your equipment could keep up. That is no longer the case, since I have rebalanced the entire away team combat side of the game. That includes all suits, guns, melee weapons, grenades, and all 170+ creatures. Bluesky I have finally abandoned the hellscape and discovered the beautiful blue skies of...well... I'm on Bluesky now. If you're there too, come say 'hi'! If you haven't made the move yet, I encourage it. https://bsky.app/profile/ibol17.bsky.social Other changes I had 2 solid weeks to tackle random issues, so here are the highlights: The Herbarium (Infinipedia sub-screen) is no longer "coming soon"... It's here! You can now mod installed items with no penalty. Electrocution warnings be damned! Shotgun now does hybrid damage instead of piercing The Beamer (away team gun) can no longer be dodged (except by one creature). Subspace Inverter (ship weapon) now does +50% damage at range 6+ "Life Support" can now be built via a consumable, in case a shipwr...Roguelike Celebration 2024Oct 17, 2024 - Community AnnouncementsRoguelike Celebration I've loved roguelikes since 2006, when I was forced to find something to play on my wife's low-spec laptop while saving for a new PC. I released my first ASCII roguelike, Random Realms, in 2009. But the thing that really got me going was 7DRL (7-day roguelike), a game jam I competed in for 8 years. This genre is a big deal to me. In 2015 I got a chance to talk about an early version of Approaching Infinity at the International Roguelike Developers Conference (IRDC) in Atlanta. It was such a great time to hang out with all those other roguelike developers. Now we do things virtually: Easier to attend ːsteamhappyː, but far fewer burger quests with new friends ːsteamsadː "Roguelike Celebration" is a 2-day event (Oct. 19th & 20th) that takes place inside a custom-built environment that's a cross between a traditional roguelike and a MUD (multi-user dungeon), because all the attendees move @s around the ASCII space to visit various rooms with content and talks. I LOVE IT! They've got some really interesting topics lined up this year. I will be there (but I'm not presenting). Auto-Explore My recent work on the auto-explore has been a huge success. It's faster than it used to be and much smarter. It opens containers, gets loot, harvests plants, explores all areas, and avoids danger according to your settings (calm, terrified, or reckless). You can even tell it to not pick up certain kinds of low value or illegal commodities. $ Price Increase $ After 4 years on Steam, 11 years in development, and as soon as this Roguelike Celebration Sale is over, Approaching Infinity's price will increase. I've put an incredible amount of work into this game, and players *notice*. People play for hundreds of hours and still find new things. Heck, you can get at least 40 hours of unique experience just from the free demo! I've looked at games that offer similar experiences. Approaching Infinity is under-priced. So to support continued development (and my family!), the price will increase. (It will go up again before full release in August of 2025.) This is your last chance to purchase at this discounted rate. But once you start your great space adventure, you'll forget all about that one supreme pizza or half-tank of gas you could have bought instead...New Crafting System!Oct 4, 2024 - Community AnnouncementsApproaching Infinity's crafting system has been completely reworked. I listened to players, read articles, played crafting-centric games, and watched videos. Then I took what I learned and translated it into my universe. There are only 14 crafting parts now, 9 are manufactured, and 5 are natural and obtained from various reliable locations throughout the galaxy. You can learn all about them on the new crafting menus with easy-to-follow rules right on the screen. Here's a 5-minute demonstration: https://youtu.be/o6eVeiSGnYc (Warning: contains secret code) You can also modify existing equipment, including changing the damage type of your away team guns! If you need more convincing, check out my modified PARTICLE BEAM: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38088504/7afda3d071d01d1a0d2e94d36699989f64f972d1.png But honestly, I think you should just go play it. And if you have an existing game, don't worry! All your old parts and recipes will carry over to the new system. I got you.Turn-Based RPG FestSep 30, 2024 - Community AnnouncementsWith endless character and item progression as a core principle, Approaching Infinity was destined to participate in Steam's Turn-Based RPG Fest. Unfortunately, due to a conflict between the previous Space Exploration Fest and the upcoming Roguelike Celebration, the game could not be discounted.ːsteamsadː Crafting The month of September was spent on completely reworking the crafting system, and it's almost ready. We're testing it in the beta branch right now, and everyone is welcomed to join. As an incentive for beta testers, *this week only*, I'm giving you a Code for free crafting parts and essences: Go to Options > Enter Code , and type or copy/paste free crafting parts That will really come in handy for the latest exciting feature: Item Modification! Now you can use crafting materials to enhance and upgrade your existing gear! Do you find that your prized disruptor blaster from 10 sectors ago just doesn't pack the same punch against the enemies you're fighting now, but you know you'll never find another one like it... MOD IT! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38088504/c539fdb6151f06318ac36d9d5fa699509e01086c.gif Every kind of item has a list of mods to draw from so you can customize your gear for some very specific builds. And the long-awaited ability to change the damage type (incendiary, cryo, corrosive, etc) of away team guns is finally here! And that's not all... Cyber-Skills can be upgraded too! Do you find "Cryo-Blast" underwhelming? Want to teleport more often? Level up your activated skills to increase radius and duration while reducing cooldown timers! OVER-POWERED, HERE WE COME! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38088504/7afda3d071d01d1a0d2e94d36699989f64f972d1.png (My Particle Beam +87 does 5 million damage and is worth 1.8 BILLION credits!)Crafting Beta Begins!Sep 20, 2024 - Community AnnouncementsIt's finally here, the crafting beta starts today! Join the beta branch now (free and open to all, doesn't break saves) to try out the new user-friendly crafting system. https://youtu.be/ynff1lkY7DY Major Changes: There are fewer parts, but each one is special ;) There are more recipes, allowing you to specialize You will see exactly what you're going to build *before* you build it You can add extra parts or data to get a crafting level boost! Some recipes require essences (harvested from creatures and rare plants) There is plenty of built-in help! You can buy schematics and essences at stations Crafting: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38088504/4fe917471d79b8e9425da6f456737bc52cf17673.png Salvage: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38088504/cc2c289a9d5c81bb8927a4cdea8f59bb0ca7b2c5.png Essence Extraction: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38088504/1955165d996120d2568e9ed1dcc82cc97a1a8391.png What's Not Done Yet? The "Mods" system. This is where you will be able to upgrade the stats of existing gear, or change the damage type of your away team guns. Cool stuff. But I need another week to get it running, and this way you can test what I've done so far while I get mods together. It's another level of multi-tasking for me. What's after that? Re-writing the auto-explore! Update #153Sep 13, 2024 - Community AnnouncementsFixes: I really really fixed that monster image not found issue I discovered that pacified carnivorous plants are walking around! (fixed) I made DNA/essence drops from stationary creature not appear on their own tile 😉 I fixed an issue where knowledge of alien ships wasn't being saved. I Fixed "art with no window" bug. Changes: I gave the extractor melee weapon its own sound. Clearcutting will not damage plants that are pacified by the naturalist I'm allowing the grappler to work on aquatic creatures 😄 (Fishing season!) Aquatic-only creatures will take damage if they are not in water. I made tooltip backgrounds fully opaque. Dead Vordalene now have a 50% chance to spawn some basic crafting parts. I hate to make them targets but it makes sense to me... Virologist skill is now twice as strong. I made diseases less prevalent in easy-difficulty games, and more in hard and insane. Some essences (mass, luster, shock) now spawn in space in appropriate locations. I created the salvage lab device which will give back more parts when salvaging items. All of the about should be available for all players, version 1.9a6. Crafting Work: (Crafting is still disabled. It even says so on the title screen, in red.) But even if you can't play it, check out these work-in-progress shots: The new crafting screen, with a list of recipes, the ingredients that go into that recipe, a tooltip explanation of an ingredient, and a preview of the exact item you will craft. You can even choose among 3 versions, and use extra parts and data to increase the level of the item you'll make: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38088504/4fe917471d79b8e9425da6f456737bc52cf17673.png The salvage screen, with all available equipment, icons displaying whether or not you'll learn a new recipe and also how much your crafting level will increase, and the center column displaying exactly how much of each ingredient you'll obtain by salvaging. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38088504/cc2c289a9d5c81bb8927a4cdea8f59bb0ca7b2c5.png There are still 2 more crafting-related screens that need to be made: "mods" and "extract". I'd like to release a crafting beta next Friday, but we'll see how it goes. I still feel good about completing this cycle by the end of the month. And here is the art for the new "consumables" you'll be able to make and use: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38088504/264552a06b0aa4b8bedb07413ad9ff2f1dba4027.png Video Review: Dr. Incompetent has been doing beginner guides for games for a few years now, and (unknown to me) during the space exploration fest, he started one for Approaching Infinity. Today I was looking for the link (here it is), but what I found was even better: a video review, released just today! https://youtu.be/Egqb_c62jD8?si=uSwUm0az3pkfAQgj It really makes me feel like all my hard work is paying off. Take a look, leave a comment, maybe subscribe? He's got a very relaxing voice ;) Update #152Sep 9, 2024 - Community AnnouncementsHotfix Somebody got killed by an image not found. In fact, that thing has taken several captains down, both in space and on planets. Then I found out that tooltips didn't work in the officers screen anymore. Even though I'm in the middle of this crafting project, I can't stand to see these kinds of issues. So I released a hotfix. You'll notice a few cosmetic changes, and also get to see some (but not all) of the new crafting work. New Skill The science skill "Ship's Surgeon" hasn't had a valid effect since 1.9 began, I just never told you :O So it has been replaced with "Naturalist" (thanks to members of the Discord helping me to flesh out this idea!) This new skill is all about being at peace with nature (yes, seriously) "Some creatures become non-hostile. level 1: plants and prey animals. Level 2: insect, aquatic, and silicon life-forms. Level 3: predators, slimes, and apex creatures. If you move into their space, you examine them for DNA (25%/level) and essences (10%/level)." "What are essences?" you may ask. Well, let's talk about... Crafting (Not Released!) As you may know, the current project is a complete reworking of the crafting system. You probably don't know many details. Let's fix that! There are now only 14 crafting parts instead of 25. Each one is more unique, and 5 of them are actually naturally-occurring things you can collect from various environments. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38088504/e6b71807d80e76d2d0bc215a66d32e9d6515dcd5.png Crafting recipes can now have as few as 2 ingredients for really simple things, all the way up to 11 for crazy-high-tech things like the Singularity Launcher or a quantum shield (though the most anything has at this point is 9). This solves a long-time problem the game's crafting system had: a knife was just as difficult to build as a warp drive. Not anymore! Some of the more esoteric items will also require "essences": distillations of natural qualities like heat, speed, and reason. These can come from rare plants, monsters, and even planet surfaces. They're spawning now, so you can start collecting them for later. There's even a new melee weapon that guarantees you extract essences from plants and creatures. I just built my first weapon with the new crafting system yesterday. Here's how it looks: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38088504/33e42b7d58446d165468d62dacb81256a1d23da1.png Sale Ending The Steam Exploration Fest has been really great for Approaching Infinity, lots of new players, Discord members, and more positive reviews. In fact, it's the 4th largest period of wishlist additions ever. THANKS! But the sale is ending today. If you're on the fence, this is your best chance to get the game at a big discount. But hey, I've been doing this for a loooong time and I don't plan stop. Approaching Infinity will be here when you're ready ;) Space Exploration FestSep 2, 2024 - Community AnnouncementsAs part of Steam's Space Exploration Fest, Approaching Infinity is 25% off! These last 4 years of Steam Early Access have been quite a journey, and the end of this 12-year project is in sight! Full release is planned for August 2025 (next year), and you can see all the major steps that need to take place right here in the Starmap: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/551620/view/3714965613418825879 I just finished the complete user interface overhaul, 9 months of grueling work bringing the game up to modern user-friendly standards. And the feedback from that monumental undertaking has been 100% positive. I'm glad I did it. Here's the trailer: https://youtu.be/-dVKi-Alj5U?si=eGwYw2QezhJVkGaE Next stop is reworking the crafting system from the bottom up, and that has already begun. You can follow development and contribute feedback and ideas on our discord: https://discord.gg/mWymeRz37n Join me on the journey to 2.0 and beyond!
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