Long time no post on Itch! The game is out as a Demo now on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1891010/Expansion_Core/

Other than that, there have been so... so many updates from the last version here on Itch. As such, I'll post each update in order from the last update! Please check out the Demo on Steam, as that's where I'll be posting all of the major updates first. Thank you all!

Beta 0.16:

Hello! If this is your first time reading the patch notes, sorry in advance. I tend to get super granular, but I know at least one of you will appreciate it. This Demo update is a pretty big one in terms of stability. Lots of bug fixes and tweaks to make the start of the game more or less not absolutely broken. Other than that I also added LORE in the form of data pads that have various text logs. Expect to see more in the future!

Major Features:
- LORE! I've worked on adding some interactable data pads around the map. In total there are 15 different data logs. Some of them are really hard to find, so please don't go crazy trying to find all 15. If you do find all of them, I'll be really impressed.
- More arm animations! I had some fun and started adding a bunch of new arm animations to make the moment to moment gameplay a bit more fun to look at. I'm planning on adding more animations for various actions in the future too.

New Features:
- Updated the visuals of the opening tutorial room! I think it looks nice, but there's still plenty of work to do.
- Added unique icons for Cores as well as Blueprints on the compass so that it's easier to keep track of things.
- Added links to Discord and Twitter on the main menu for new players.
- Revived allies now automatically follow the player.
- Trade pods should now save and load their inventories.
- Added an arrow that points at the module slot that you're building when adding modules to the Mobile Base.
- Added a tooltip for the Mobile Base Upgrade.
- Modified the text of Trade Pods to be more clear as to what's the storage and what's the launch interface.

Demo Locks:
Sadly, some features are still half-baked and won't make it into the Demo. That just means there's more to look forward in the Beta release!
- Transfer Bots: They technically work, but all of the UI is confusing, their actual usefulness is limited due to their bad AI and in general they're just not ready at all. I'll be reworking the logic behind them in the coming months and hopefully they'll be more of a fun feature than a broken mess.
- Mobile Base Tier Two: I've locked off Tier Two because it's kind of a spoiler for the main game and I don't want to give everything away in a Demo. It's also likely going to get a rework along with the other Mobile Base variants in the coming months. If not, I'll just add a Tier Three Mobile Base or something.

Bug Fixes:
- Enemies' dropped items should now hopefully no longer fall through the ground.
- Fixed a bug that was causing all allies to fully reset their HP when loading saves and repairing with energy fragments.
- Finally made it so that if you skip steps in the tutorial quest line, it no longer breaks (hopefully).
- Charge beetles now charge for the correct distance. Also they shouldn't charge after death now.
- Nudging allies by attacking them should now move them to a better location to get out of your way.
- Stockpiles now rotate to the ground instead of clipping through.


Beta 0.17:

Hello again! I've been busy fixing bugs and making sure that the Demo runs as smooth as possible. Like before, I'm not adding any major new mechanical changes or anything like that just in case it completely breaks the Demo at the finish line. This patch is mainly targeted towards fixing some of the visual issues that always get brought up in testing that I've been too lazy to fix. I've also adjusted enemy spawning so that it should be a little more dynamic and require less aimless wandering.

New Features:
- Updated the Enemy AI to attempt to strafe left, right or back in between attacks for a bit more dynamic combat. Nothing groundbreaking, but at least it looks a little less static overall.
- Both Mother Beetle's and the Evolved Mother Beetle's spawns now spawn with half health. This will make the Mother's still as dangerous, but their spawns less of a slog to beat. To make the Evolved Mother more powerful to make up for this, they now also have the AOE shock ability, as well as spawn Evolved Beetles instead of regular Beetles.
- Added a whooshy sound effect for checking the local mutation when holding right mouse button.
- Made logs and branches for trees match their parent tree's bark and wood colors.

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed an issue where the Mobile Base's healing aura could revive dead allies.
- Health should now be properly rounded for the player and mobile base's health bars.
- Fixed an issue where melee enemies would ram their faces into short allies and bounce off of them (for the most part).
- Moved some of the Main Menu UI around.


Beta 0.18:

Finally, the day has come! Technically, the day is in like three days, but I'm impatient. So it's released! This patch has some Demo-specific content, mostly for handling adding a temporary win state. If you complete all 9 beacon events, you technically win! Obviously this will change in the future, but for the Demo it should be loads of fun! There were also some visual updates that are hard to miss.

New Features:
- Temporary Demo Win State: Added a win screen for when you complete all 9 of the events. I'm not going to be lame and lock the game after that, but for the most part, that's the "end" of most of the content in the Demo.
- Wrist UI Update: Added follower count, beacon count, and updated the time stat on the right click wrist menu.
- Replaced the stars with a much more interesting galaxy.
- Rebalanced many of the ally chassis recipes so that they should be more interesting and difficult to create.
- Added more details to the spawn text to be a bit more tied into the world.


Beta 0.19:

Hello again! Looks like it’s already time for another update. There were some pretty big bug fixes for the RTS controls, as well as many minor changes. I also adjusted the ally AI to have weights for pushing each other out of the way with some fancy math. Other than that, I hope everyone’s been enjoying the Demo!

New Features:
- Allies now have a weight depending on what kind of bot they are. This basically means that the Mobile Base will try to move to the front of the pack, then melee bots, then storage, etc.

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed a major bug with drone/RTS commands originating from the player’s body location, rather than the drone camera.
- The Use and Drop buttons in the inventory should now update their text to match the user’s key binds properly.
- The gap in the Tutorial cave’s roof is now filled, so no more peering into the void.
- Some of the large rock collisions have been fixed, making them act as terrain. This will allow allies to rotate to match them.
- Fixed the required item text box to fit the text wrapping.
- Small items’ hit boxes have been increased so they should stop falling through the ground.
- Made the defend location command have a bigger ring of influence so that allies bump into each other less.
- Mother Beetles should now spawn beetles correctly now instead of just menacingly staring at their target.
- Spitters now all have their correct colors to help differentiate them.
- Fixed a bug that was causing group commands to always command all allies.