Beta 9.3 "RPGLIKE" Early Prerelease (X2)

Well that was fast :P

I spent all day working on balance tweaks and later on the missing sfx, and now Beta 9.3 is pretty close to its normal prerelease state. There will definitely be some more work on it, but it will only be 1) to solve any serious problem that might come up or 2) just the few fixes and little optional things left on my list, if I have time for them.

So that also means there will still be a prerelease of the actual 9.3 build before this goes live, but this technically isn't it. However, X2 should be gameplay complete. A few players already gave X1 a spin on its first day and I've since incorporated their feedback and observations into X2 along with my other priorities. Hopefully at this point it should more or less play as the 9.3 release will.

Some of the modifications unfortunately required breaking save compatibility with X1, so in order to play X2 you'll need to finish your run first and/or just jump over if you want. Due to the save incompatibility, I've put X2 on a separate branch on Steam, beta93x2, which is accessed using the same code as before ("CogmindLikeRpg"). Although it's the same code, it seems you need to enter it again before it will show you the second additional beta branch.

(I've emailed those of you who already had the DRM-free X1.)

Content!

You can get the initial Beta 9.3 overview in the original X1 release post. Here's what's new today:

• Sound effects! I added sound effects related to the RPGLIKE interface, upgrades, and Protomatter, so those will now give proper audio feedback.
• Protomatter usage has changed, and is now applied on a per-turn basis. See its description for details, but you need to wait while standing on it, and you can hold the wait key, as it will properly block when you've finished restoring integrity or it's been depleted.
• The size of a Protomatter cluster now has an upper limit, no more getting ridiculously-sized clusters from some robots.
• KI/TH/EX damage resistance upgrades no longer stack with resistance-conferring parts--only the higher of the two is taken!
• The build type classification system considers your RPGLIKE upgrades as well

I've been considering dropping the Protomatter repair rate from 1:3 to 1:2, but I already removed resistance stacking which was a big source of defensive cheese, so won't move on the ratio just yet since that extra value is probably needed. It may likely be balanced at this point (1:2 is also quite hard, I found in my earliest test runs).

Update 191215

The final version of Beta 9.3 is ready! I uploaded it to the same branch as X2 since saves are compatible, so your run should just convert over if you're in the middle of one. Since X2 we have mainly bug fixes plus some nice QoL for RPGLIKE, including the HUD reflecting damage upgrades for your weapons :D

I've also already emailed those who had the DRM-free X2.

Note the changelog itself hasn't been edited yet, so that will technically need to be updated before the official release in a couple days.