We've successfully migrated the game from GameMaker 1 to GameMaker 2! This is a huge leap forward in stability, portability, support, and performance. Additionally, we can now compile to Linux and OSX using the native compiler, and its a step closer to console ports!

Naturally, with an engine transition comes different problems for different hardware configurations and software. I can say with confidence that more people are now able to play on this version than than before, but some people did encounter new problems. Most of them have easy solutions, such as restarting, disabling third party software, white listing on antiviruses, or reinstalling. Problems with OBS can be solved through OBS configuration settings. Failing that, please contact Chimeric directly with problems:

Email: chimericgames@gmail.com

Discord: https://discord.gg/Zp2MkPJ

Construct Balance Changes

• Made a large revision to how construct rate of fire and assembly speed modifiers are applied. Modifiers now actually do what they say they do. Previously, a large amount of this was misleading and resulted in the critical mass of construct power we saw in the previous patch
• Constructs now aim at targets using a PD (proportional-derivative) controller. It gives aiming some ease in and ease out (Its smoother in appearance)
• The Engineer and the Architect have been further balanced. While there may appear to be a huge defensive gap between them, this comes as a result of the comparatively huge "effective defense" increase of spamming constructs everywhere. Additionally, Architect's overlarge size has been considered
• 90 -> 85 Engineer base hull strength
• -10% -> -15% Engineer shield durability
• 40% -> 50% Architect construct bonuses
• 115 -> 120 Architect base hull strength
• Overclock now ramps up-- and back down-- more gradually
• +50% -> +40% total rate of fire increase from Overclock
• 180 -> 150 Ally hull, back to their original hull values (to compensate for their enhanced functionality)
• Ally basic weapon rate of fire 3/s -> 2/s
• Overseer has lost its generic 10% increase to assembly speed, but retains the scaling aspect
• Shielded Constructs +10 to base hull becomes +5 to base hull and +5% hull strength
• Amp shield's effect now fully benefits shielded constructs, gaining additional benefits from being near hazards. Note that this works for Blade Drone
• 25 -> 22s Turret assembly time
• 32 -> 30 Ally assembly time
• 8 -> 7s Drone assembly time
• Turret hull strength 70 -> 100
• Pursuit formation drone speed 2.5 -> 5

Gear Balance Changes

• Research has been overhauled, and no longer provides an experience bonus. It turns out this benefit was mostly illusory anyway, due to the nature of the exp curve. Instead:
• Research now allows you to banish mods from the mod pool by spending a reroll
• Research no longer gives you double rerolls
• 70 -> 85 Research base hull strength
• -30% -> -15% Research shield durability
• Added a banish tutorial element / button
• Torrent has been overhauled, and is now handled as a "twin" projectile, like the default Blaster. The following changes make it less "spammy" and more performant, while remaining effective with greater damage and more useful bullet positioning
• Torrent spread now affects pairs of Torrent projectiles, and not individual projectiles. This results in a more aesthetic and useful spread, especially at very high projectile counts, or when used with spread-reducing mods
• 8 -> 3 x 2 Torrent projectiles
• 16 -> 20 Torrent damage per projectile
• 5.25 -> 4.25 Torrent velocity
• Torrent projectiles degrade more slowly, but also start slightly less large. They are overall more persistent.
• Targeting rate has been accelerated for fleeting projectiles which degrade (Torrent, Flak, and especially Pulse secondary projectiles)
• 65 -> 75 Grenade base damage
• 10% slower Grenade base fire rate
• Grenade proximity detonate radius 25 -> 20 (trying to find the right balance between utility and allowing the enemy inside the blast radius)
• Grenade clusters have ~5% more range
• 16 -> 17 Split Shot base damage
• 11 -> 13 base spread / projectile for Railgun
• 6.75s -> 7s Amp shield cooldown (Still tier 1, but tied with Warp)
• 7s -> 7.5s Default shield cooldown (Still tier 2, now tied with Halo)
• 18% -> 15% velocity and spread improvement for the Assault body

Balance Changes

• Changed the way Blast Radius works for non-blast innate weaponry. The added splash damage now ignores the original target (As a result, Blast Radius no longer results in Corrosion getting double the stacks for such weapons)
• Blast Radius no longer decreases the damage of the initial hit at all
• Splinter projectiles now exclude the original target as well. Screen wrapping projectiles are able to hit once again. This also helps with Torrent's corrosive tyranny
• Corrosion spread works differently now. When an enemy with corrosion stacks dies, it adds stacks equal to its hull times .02, and then divides the stacks evenly across all targets in its radius
• Corrosion radius increased 160 -> 175
• Corrosion base damage per stack .02 -> .035
• Corrosion decay rate factor per duration .92 -> .85
• TL;DR Corrosion changes: It's less extreme with spammy weapons, and less bad with heavy weapons. Blast radius matters far less for optimizing it. Its worse at single target damage and better at proliferation and clearing, though it no longer proliferates out of control
• Hidden power, regenerative shields, and several upcoming Wild Mods now use a new percentile modifier to regeneration rate instead of adding a flat rate like other regeneration mods
• 12 -> 15% Convergence velocity and rate of fire penalty
• +50% -> +75 weapon spread increase from Convergence
• 0 -> +10% weapon spread from Homing Strike
• Rancor's charge boost has been reduced considerably
• 25% -> 20% total damage boost for Blitz
• -18% -> -20% hull and shields for Apotheosis
• 4 -> 3 base rerolls
• 35% -> 30% of your shield cooldown for Emergency Systems' minimum duration
• 9000 -> 9001 singularity damage per second to enemies, as per request
• Seraph boss warp blast radius increased
• Scion boss accelerates after spawning a black hole
• Scion are now immune to the pull of black holes
• Scion spawns Beamcasters slightly more often
• More hull for Pulsar, Spitfire, Scion, Tesla Mine, and some Warbringer parts
• Pulsars and Wardens enter with less speed
• Less hull for Constructor Barrier-Drones
• Champion Serpents turn less quickly while firing their laser
• Enemy speeds and chances to become elite or champion above wave 100 advance faster. This is a temporary solution until stronger enemies and uber bosses are added
• Set a new, more consistent precedent for Splinter Shot's projectile count and power levels

Additional Changes

• The game settings now have a new toggle for controls style: Analog and digital. Digital is how it previously worked. Analog lets you get a little ramp up on keyboard, and on Gamepad it utilizes the stick sensitivity. Analog controls allow finer aiming, but take some getting used to
• Added a few more tips to the game over screen
• The Warbringer music "Ares" has been updated
• Random asteroid adds are 10% more frequent
• Comets spawn with greater position variance
• Dozens of optimizations and improved game structure
• Toned down the brightness of the red sun background element which was causing visibility problems
• Hidden Power and Mastery now have more useful descriptions

Bug Fixes:

• Thanks to the engine migration, the game no longer crashes at restart or game end!
• Interceptor's bonuses were accidentally applied in Integrated Weaponry instead of Interceptor, this has been fixed
• Turret no longer cease fires at very high rates of fire
• Fixed a Blade blast radius interaction crash
• Fixed a problem with Scion and the temporal effect
• Fixed a problem with Terminate proccing over and over on Station Omega (and actually potentially healing it!)
• Rapid Reconstruction no longer blocks Emergency Systems from being selected
• Fixed a crash with emergency systems being unable to find a dead player
• Retribution no longer bypasses Architect's one construct limit rule
• Fixed a bug with Railgun blast radius scaling from damage for both the base size and the growth rate
• Fixed a problem with Splinter and Homing Strike projectiles escaping the screen boundaries
• Fixed massive slowdown encountered at very low fire rates with Discharge. This is also a general optimization to Discharge
• Blade splinters can no longer be an emitter for discharge using Shielded Constructs
• Rewrote the high score save system, fixing a problem with saved scores being scrambled or misrepresented. Unfortunately, we cannot restore previously corrupted scores
• Removed the Early Access buttons until we can prevent the game from being flagged by antiviruses for opening links
• Fixed a problem where the player could be deleted if you paused during a certain time inside a black hole (!)
• Fixed a problem with the pause menu being invisible at a certain time while inside a black hole
• Players inside a black hole are invulnerable to further damage from other sources once they've entirely lost control
• Hives should no longer get stuck off screen
• Fixed dozens more caused by the transition from GameMaker 1 to 2. Too many to list

Progress Update:

• Nearly completed the upcoming changes in the following mod trees: Movement, Energy Manipulation (formerly Efficiency), and a new tree, Kinetics. This change includes restructuring of these trees, and four new mods: Kinetic Boost, Blink, Regression, and Conversion. These changes are coming soon
• Made some progress on the upcoming Wild Metamorphosis game mode and Dart weapon. 7 Wild Mods have been completed.
• Created an upcoming Super Mod: Barrage
• Coming soon™: Directional facing controls as a third option for Analog and Digital control styles