Version 0.0.2 - UI, Re-Balance, QoL

Hi, BitGrinders!

I’ve barely slept since the launch of the game as ideas kept coming, so I turned them into an update. This patch brings a new progression feel, some re-balancing, and a bunch of QoL tweaks. Let’s dive in:

System Upgrades & Sectors

• System Upgrade UI completely reworked – it’s now a skill tree.
• The game now remembers your camera position and zoom in the System Upgrade screen between runs.
• Sector Selector improved:
  • When you have enough bits to unlock a new sector, that sector flashes blue.
  • The Sector Selector gets a [ ! ] indicator to alert you.

I.C.E. & Skills

• Luck Optimizer is now its own separate skill.
• Added I.C.E. Jammer skill.
• Added I.C.E. Radar skill. (I like this one a lot)

Visuals & Feel

• Background improved – it now subtly reacts as you pass through letters/symbols.
• Enemies now glow, similar to the player and units, making danger easier to read.
• CRT effects removed from the UI for a cleaner, sharper look.
• Added a typewriter effect to the Tactical Advisor text.

Balance Changes

• Starting Integrity reduced from 3 → 1.
• Enemy spawn rates lowered, along with max enemies per zone and enemy speed.
• Enemies now have health that decays over time, eventually killing them and spawning new ones to prevent players trailing all the enemies.
• First Sector breach timer increased from 5 → 10 seconds to give new runs more time to gather bits.
• Many upgrades re-balanced for smoother progression.
• Sector yields greatly increased - higher risk, higher reward.

Saves & Audio

• Added a save mismatch warning:
  • On load, the game checks if your save comes from an older version.
  • If it does, you’ll be warned that starting a new save is recommended (old saves will be migrated forward with no rollback).
• Added a new enemy death sound.
• Certain sounds now have pitch variation, so they don’t feel as repetitive.

Unfortunately as the updates will keep rolling out players sometimes will have to purge data and start a new save, I hope you understand. It's very early version of the game so loads of things will be changing.

Thanks to everyone who played the initial release version, and special thanks to those who left comments as well! I will be working on adding more upgrades and different enemy types next. Let me know if you want me to add something specifically!

Enjoy,

Tricky