QOL, or how to make a new game playable

Since releasing the first version on itch.io two weeks ago, we're already on the 5th update: v2023-08-03.

At this point, most changes have been making the game playable quality of life improvements, These include some critical improvements that prevented some people from playing, such as:

• HTML5 version: still a prototype, does not work on all platforms
• having a reasonable default resolution. The original version sometimes didn't fit lower resolution screens
• handle non-QWERTY keyboards

Other changes make things much friendlier: autosave, better shortcut keys, some more buttons here and there.

The big three helpful changes to make the game easier to understand and manage:

• help section, currently showing information about all entities (bots, wrecks, and buildings)
• bot list: shows all current bots along with status and equipment
• task list: shows all current tasks and assigned bots

Of course, we can't forget some actual content added since the launch:

• auto repair feature: repair items if current amount of chips exceeds a minimum
• auto random explore: randomly move around to discover a level (very inefficient but fun to watch)

Full release notes for all versions can be found on GitHub.

Feedback and suggestions are very welcome as GitHub issues, itch.io comments, or on Discord. Feedback helps prioritize bug fixes and identify pain points or desired features.

I'll leave you with the first draft of the help screen: feast your eyes on this monochromatic masterpiece: