Well, the last progress update was going to be the final one before our preview and release, but I've decided to not put out Alpha 15 next week and instead spend
one more week on it, so it's worth updating everyone on this development now. Pretty much every release has gone out with me postponing some little features I'd wanted to get to, forcing them to wait until some other release down the line. But no longer!
This time I'm going to finish the entire Alpha 15 list as it is, and maybe even have time to pick something off the optional "bigger features" list (the kinds of things that alone take a day or two to complete).
Rather than gearing up for automated testing yesterday like I normally would be about this time before a release, in just the past couple days I got to give the Data Miner some new content, added a new event to the Mines, created another method to gain access the Deep Caves, changed the way Waste works, and flew through a slew of QoL bonuses.
Since you'll see most of the upcoming features in the preview I won't post that stuff now, and instead use the opportunity to show some dev shots--stuff you wouldn't normally see in a feature list:
An army of Mapping Drones exploring an entire Materials floor.
Visualizing actors' relative time.
Overlapping utility activation animations.
...
Okay I can't resist... here's a feature sneak peak:
Firing a single volley at multiple targets if the first is destroyed with guns left to spare
(guns only!)
...
Now I can say that the next announcement will be the release preview.
