- ASTRALODE Freeminers v0.95 Patch Notes + OST Released! - 24 October 2024
So this has been a looong time coming, but ASTRALODE's soundtrack is finally out! Some new music has joined the party and an update's gone live to reflect that, making for a total of 6 tunes to swap between at your starmining leisure in this latest build. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1251810/ASTRALODE_Original_Soundtrack/ In addition to checking it out here on Steam, the full OST can be listened to on the Drixxel Soft YouTube channel courtesy of a full album stream I've just put up: ...as well as track by track on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/3XQu2sneFia2cd2zgAFpkV Now that this terribly procrastinated on thing has been completed at last, I'm hoping to get back into the meatier features yet to come. Thanks for playing! :D - Drixxel
- ASTRALODE Freeminers v0.94 Patch Notes - 8 July 2022
Hey there! It's been an awfully long time since this thing's been updated. There are a number of tweaks and changes I've been sitting on for an eternity, some small, some pretty big. They go a little like: Ore upgrading is now significantly more forgiving! Bombs can be safely detonated directly on ore, making it far easier to pull off an upgrading explosion and much harder to make an ore-ruining mistake. Burnt ore is the exception, a direct hit with a bomb will still ruin the ore if it has already been overcooked. An indicator of ore harvest & mining progress in the current asteroid now appears in the main game window below the ship, rather than needing to be checked in the pause menu (but the detailed list of exactly which ore have been collected still resides there in the pause menu). The origin of the Lazer Boomer's 4-pane AOE is repositioned to more sensibly align with where the too…
- ASTRALODE Freeminers v0.92 Patch Notes - 25 June 2020
Here's another small patch of mostly minor fixes and tweaks: top-to-bottom (and vice-versa) looping added to navigation of the pause menu frequency of rare ore spawns increased an input bug where use of an XBOX controller (360 + XB1) would set the deadzone to a level that made it virtually impossible to detect analog movements fixed a display error with the in-game leaderboard where entries would spill over on the 2nd page fixed a bug where gameplay wouldn't properly pause while the Steam Overlay is active fixed a bug where laser tool power-up icons could stop animating after use of a Rock-A-Roller fixed a bug where the point-of-no-return red line would fail to appear when playing tutorial lessons 2 to 4 fixed a bug where the copilot dialogue for first harvest of an ore could be triggered by ruining an ore fixed Thanks for playing ASTRALODE Freeminers! Be sure to report any bugs you fin…
- ASTRALODE Freeminers v0.91 Patch Notes - 24 June 2020
Just a quick patch here to tidy up a handful of things: menu transitions have been sped up floating text, such as during the tutorial, can now be skipped through quicker, so jamming the confirm button will speed through lines of text faster a bug where menu item descriptions in the pause menu could overlap fixed a bug where the task icon checkmarks at the certification guide subscreen would get glitched after the first viewing fixed tutorial lesson 4 - stage 3's layout has been edited slightly to better ensure a 10+ tool chain is unavoidable a number of small tweaks and fixes Thanks for playing ASTRALODE Freeminers! Be sure to report any bugs you find on the forums over here (https://steamcommunity.com/app/1273010/discussions/0/2523653167134915687/), and please share whatever suggestions or feedback you have :) - Drixxel
- ASTRALODE Freeminers Released! (v0.90 patch notes + roadmap) - 23 June 2020
Alright, ASTRALODE Freeminers is live! Thanks for taking a look at this asteroid mining puzzle thing, hope you have a bit of fun harvesting ores and generally pummeling the heck out of wild space rocks :D There are inevitably going to be a number of minor bugs and rough edges to smooth out which I'll be patching up as the week goes on, so please do report anything you find on the forums over here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1273010/discussions/0/2523653167134915687/. As it stands right now, Freeminers is a stable and self-contained 1/3rd chunk of the full ASTRALODE, but launching as v0.90 leaves a bit of room to grow. Plus, there are a number of cool features in the pipeline for this standalone free version! :) I've decided to add the rest of the Azimuth Starminers to the roster available in Freeminers, building onto the opening 3-piece of Griff, Lorelei and Tentax. Each of the lock…
- ASTRALODE Dev Update #5 - 15 June 2020
Hello! In this dev update, I'll be going into the details of each of the 10 standard power-ups available in ASTRALODE :) As covered in update #4, power-ups are earned by either harvesting ore or getting long (10+) chains, both of which contribute to your p-meter. Fill the p-meter and you'll be presented with a randomized selection of consumable power-ups to pick from. In addition, each of ASTRALODE's 10 copilots bring one power-up each with them into the run. Restorefier All burnt ore is reset back to green grade (burnt rare ore is made whole again) Goldenizer All unburnt ore is pushed forward to golden grade (unburnt rare ore is unaffected) Defreezinator All frozen chunks are thawed Stroidquaker All thawed chunks receive 1 damage Blunder Cleaner Wipes out the current lost tools tally Rock Roller Forces the asteroid to rotate or flip however chosen Tractor Bomb An energy cone that harve…
- ASTRALODE Dev Update #4 - 8 June 2020
Hello! So in this dev update, I'll quickly run through ASTRALODE's chain scoring system and power-up cycle. The two of these are quite closely linked, so let's get into it :) During Arcade mode, the green clock-lookin' thing hanging in space to the right of your mining vessel is the P-Meter. Each ore harvested caused your P-Meter to tick up a point, and when your P-Meter is completely filled at 12 points, you'll earn yourself a consumable power-up. Another way to fill your P-Meter involves stringing together unbroken chains of tools, where every 10 consecutive tools that earn $core (without ruining any ore or getting shot off into space) add 1 point to your P-Meter. So, let's imagine you launch 20 tools in a row without making even one dud move in that sequence - that'll add 2 points to your P-Meter. Once your P-Meter is completely filled to the 12-point mark, your copilot will bring th…
- ASTRALODE Dev Update #3 - 1 June 2020
Hello! So I thought it might be useful to go a little into how ore upgrading works in ASTRALODE. It's a major part of playing like a pro in Arcade mode, and anyone who wants to maximize their score is going to want to upgrade as much ore as they can :) There are 4 grades of standard ore: Green (worth 10 $core) Pale (worth 20 $core) Golden (worth 30 $core) Burnt (worth 5 $core) Ore that gets hit by an explosion will be pushed into it's next grade, starting from Green and ending in Burnt. As you can see by the point totals shown above, there's a sweet spot at the Golden ore grade that you don't want to overshoot if it can be at all avoided! It's not all hopeless if an ore gets a lil' toasty, though. One of the starter power-ups, the Restorenizer, refreshes all Burnt ore in the asteroid you're currently mining back to Green. In order to actually realize the value of an ore, it must be harv…
- ASTRALODE Dev Update #2 - 24 May 2020
Hey! Just wanted to quickly run through a little of how ASTRALODE's Arcade mode works, as it's nice to have a more detailed written description of what's going on in screenshots and video :) So an Arcade run starts by selecting your copilot from among those you've unlocked. Only a few are available from first launch. Your copilot determines which power-up you start the run with, and they'll comment on your run as certain milestones are met. All ore harvested while running with a copilot contributes to their level, which results in an increasingly fancy badge displayed next to their name and a general warming up to you. Once the run begins, you'll be presented with a randomized asteroid loaded with ore. Your copilot-determined power-up is here hanging out to the right of your mining vessel, and a preview of your first tool cluster is projected in the mouth of your vessel's tool generator…
- ASTRALODE Dev Update #1 - 17 May 2020
Hello! Thanks for checking out ASTRALODE Freeminers :) This thing's getting close to release ready, and you might have noted on the store page, the planned launch for ASTRALODE Freeminers is coming up quick. That May 28th release may end up getting pushed back just a smidge, maybe a week or two to allow me enough time to add more to the metagame and tighten some technical things up, but the core game is thoroughly tested, rock solid and ready to play. Have a peek at this handful of GIFs showcasing how the game's looking right now. Copilot selection: Mining action: Power-up unlocks: Rare ore collecting: On the topic of testing, some cool folks have been kind enough to spend a bit of time with the game and I've gotten lots of valuable feedback. This has definitely improved the game's feel and fun, and now, I'm hoping to get more scores onto the main leaderboard to stress test it. If there…
