Phobos Down 0.0.14 alpha released
Another alpha update to Phobos Down is out! A lot has changed under the hood and there are some significant visible changes as well.
The input handling and weapon UI implementations have gone through major refactoring. This should not cause many visible changes but makes further development easier and enables touch input for a mobile version. The weapon wheel UI now uses more traditional point-and-click style interaction when playing with mouse.
A lot of the work since the last alpha update has gone into adding support for ballistic weapons and aim assist that makes hitting moving targets with them possible. The old "laser sight" weapon feature has been changed into a "trajectory display" that can visualize ballistic trajectories as well. The result of all this is a new "grenade launcher" modifier for the launcher weapon.
Another addition is a "fragmenting explosive" device. It is similar to the existing timed explosive device but shoots directed fragments at nearby enemies, dealing extra damage and extending the area of effect.
To add more ways to earn extra score, I have added hit streak bonuses. Extra score is rewarded for continuously shooting enemies with the rifle or shotgun without missing any shots. This can be combined with the usual termination streak score bonuses.
A couple of weeks ago I took my Phobos Down arcade cabinet to a local IGDA gathering and got a lot of useful feedback. Some minor issues were also found and most of them have already been fixed in this update.
Here are the changes since version 0.0.13:
- Major input handling refactoring to allow touch input later on.
- Always capture mouse cursor while in-game.
- Use traditional point & click mouse interaction with weapon UI.
- Reimplemented "constrained" mouse control mode with adjustable range.
- Improved modifier info box scaling.
- Added constant screen edge indicators showing off-screen container locations.
- Fixed auto-aim lock reticle not dimming when line of fire is blocked.
- Replaced laser sights with new trajectory display that supports ballistic trajectories.
- Properly hide all message texts in photo mode.
- Added grenade launcher modifier.
- Renamed "missile guidance" modifier to "target homing" now that it applies to grenades too.
- Default to gamepad controller mode on Steam Deck.
- Spawn all three medical station devices already at mission start.
- Blink medical device lights and screen edge indicators while player is badly hurt.
- Apply pending kill streak score bonus when player dies.
- Give score rewards for hit streaks without missed shots using projectile weapons.
This update is now available on Itch.io and Steam.
Posted on 2025-05-19