Hey everyone,

in this Devlog I want to go over the changes and updates made in the latter part of September. This log will be my entry into Improve My Game Jam 41 as well as my first post for #Devtober. If you're already playing the game and keeping up with Steam announcements and discussions you'll know most of this stuff already, but I'll also dive into some upcoming changes that aren't live yet. For everyone else: welcome! Catharage is a stylized space tactics roguelite that I solo develop in my spare time. The game will be on NextFest but already features a substantial demo on Steam.

Over the past couple of weeks, Catharage development has focused on smaller Quality of Life changes, responding to player feedback and improving onboarding and general playability. Demo content is already significant - I've been surprised at just how long the players that really enjoy it end up playing for - but lots of smaller issues have remained. The updates made during the jam period sought to address multiple of those:

• A new way to control the game has been added on September 28th. One of the most common feedback items has been the difficulty of the control scheme. Catharage is a 6DOF game set in a true 3D environment, where going up and down (in addition to horizontal movement) is critical. This means traditional plane-based movement modes like you'd find in games like Rebel Galaxy don't work. The game is also focused on large, slow ships that require the controls to transport that feeling of size through inertia and delay. My solution for the controls ended up being a flight-sim-style plane control scheme, where WASD handle pitch and roll while ZX yaw. Many players and testers have struggled and continue to struggle with this, usually due to unfamiliarity with plane-style controls or difficulties situating themselves in 3D space. This update added a new way to align the ship using the mouse: Instead of manually rotating the ships, players can now toggle an alternate control mode that allows them to click the mouse into space and have their ship turn that direction automatically. This turning is less efficient than doing it manually, and more complex maneuvers like orbits are difficult to perform, but it does lighten the load of turning itself significantly.
• Tutorial improvements have been made throughout the end of September. The tutorial, which consists of a special guided encounter with interactable buoys that display information text, has been updated to feature a persistent objective display guiding players to the next tutorial section, named and numbered "signs" in space that point to where to go as well as a new information panel that informs players about the two camera and input modes available in the game. A lack of feedback from players that bounce off the game is a constant issue, so knowing what exactly is missing or insufficient in the tutorial has been a problem - this is something I hope NextFest can help solve.
• Balancing changes and bugfixes are always happening, during the IMG period I have worked on the following smaller items:
  • Text that shows in the map-like overview mode and the minimap is now properly aligned to the player's camera at all times. Previously, this text was aligned to the horizon, meaning it would be unreadable when the player was using ship-aligned follow camera mode (which was also the default mode)
  • Interaction between photo mode and the recently added minimap has been improved, previously photo mode would keep the minimap on screen, obstructing part of the picture
  • Throttle control has been fixed to work properly with mouse-control mode, previously only the breakpoint shortcuts (1, 2 and 3) would actually change throttle while in this mode
  • Cross-session persistence has been added to the movement mode choice and minimap toggle state
  • Mouse movement has been made to work in Overview mode - previously this interaction would lead to a 180° inversion in steering target
  • The tutorial has been updated to always start in the ship-aligned camera mode regardless of "normal" camera settings, in case players choose to play the tutorial after already having spent significant time with the game
  • (in-progress) The in-run upgrade "Forges" have been nerfed to provide less powerful bonuses, as their exponential nature could lead to extreme power gains
  • (in-progress) Mission enemy groups have been expanded to feature more difficult ships at latter stages of the game

Looking to the future, the next update that I'm working on right now and planning to get out before NextFest will feature the following changes:

• Reward preview for missions: A small text will show the credits to be awarded upon mission completion
• Drone upgrades: Drone hull and armor will be upgradeable to make these more viable

For the full version releasing in December, I had planned to finish the 3D version of the Starmap, my equivalent to the node maps commonly found in other roguelites like Slay the Spire, but I've been busier with outreach than expected and also had some personal IRL stuff that took a lot of my time. Work on this feature continues, and many of the content pieces necessary for full release, such as new player and enemy ships, new space environmental elements like megaliths and asteroids as well as new menus are already either prototyped or nearing completion. I expect to spend most of October addressing NextFest feedback and to have a final release candidate ready by mid-late November. More devlogs will follow as part of #Devtober and as regular announcements on steam of course.