Warning, this update will wipe your progress
I learned that this update will wipe your progress. I apologize to anyone who loses a significant amount of progress from this update. It appears that adding the extra level is likely making the old game save not compatible with the new save system.

This is the final major update of the game! The two main new features are Survival Mode, which is an endless map with procedurally generated waves.

This adds some story to The Ironbourne character and two new achievements. This map plays very differently from the campaign. Waves can stack. Perk upgrades are available. New turrets and enemies! You will be rewarded with a story cutscene and an achievement.

Hot keys are now available for the player abilities. They are assigned to the number keys above the alphabet keys on your keyboard. This allows for quick access to the player abilities for faster reactions.

I've listened to the fans and I've made some adjustments to Level 6 as well as made the Orbital Strike more powerful. The adjustments aren't too major, as the game should still be challenging, but it should feel more fair now.

Here is a rundown of all the changes.

• Adjust Level 3 final wave to have less Chargers spawning at the end
  
• Lowered opacity of red enemy path indicator
  
• Added Hotkeys for player abilities
  
• Changed tank models to look less old fashioned
  
• Changed icon for Tesla Tower to be different from Energy Icon.
  
• Added impact effect to Orbital Strike
  
• Increased radius of Orbital Strike from 5.5 to 6
  
• Increased Orbital Strike Min/Max based damage from 80/130 to 150/200
  
• Reduced Orbital Strike energy cost from 60 to 50
  
• Increased Wave Cleared bonus money for Level 6
  
• Decreased health of some units in final wave of Level 6
  
• Added Stunner enemy, truck with a stunning attack for Endless mode
  
• Added tank that shoots, exclusive for Endless mode
  
• Perks for Endless mode
  
• Added Meteor Turret which has 8 levels
  
• Added New blockade for Endless mode with upgrades to Resource Tower, Support Tower, and Tesla Tower
  
• Added new Transport flying creep that spawns Crawler creeps for Endless mode
  
• Added Thaddeus, boss enemy for Endless mode
  
• Removed build time from land mines

I wanted to get this fix out immediately after I found the cause of the level unlock bug. Many players were having trouble unlocking the levels on the level select screen, due to the save system not registering what level they were on. This should be fixed!

Aside from that, I added a "Skip Story" button for the story segments, Press the ESK key to bring up the pause menu during the story segments and you can now skip to the next level.

I did some performance optimization to help improve performance for lower performance builds.

I've made balance changes to both the boss fights.

Check out the Change Log below for details on all the changes.

• Added selector arrows for resolution
  
• Slight reduction of Deathbringer's HP from 40000 to 32000
  
• Added Pause Menu to story segments with Volume sliders and Skip Story button
  
• UI slider added to audio sliders
  
• Fixed some Nullreference errors
  
• Added Pause screen with skip story button on the story segments
  
• Removed numbers from the audio settings on the main menu
  
• The Ironbourne Form 3 decrease on attack time cooldown from 1 second to .6 seconds.
  
• The Ironbourne Form 3 increase in attack targets from 2 to 3
  
• Reworded tooltip in Level 3 to make it more clear that if boss gets through, you lose
  
• Added "Press ESC to Skip" to first story scene to inform play that story can be skipped
  
• Combined meshes in all maps for optimization
  
• Created atlases for all maps for optimization
  
• Setup object pool for all maps for optimization
  
• Added code to force Save Manager to recognize correct level number to properly unlock levels when completed

Small patch to fix achievements unlocking even if player loses.

• Slight adjustment to Level 5 money, air unit spacing and tank hp for early game
  
• Code fix to assure achievements only unlock when level is won

I'm happy to announce that we've added new features to the game. First off, many have noticed that the audio sliders were not present in the main menu, and the audio settings didn't always carry over from one scene to another. The sliders were intentionally not included in the main menu due to technical issues pre-launch. Not only have we fixed the issue of the settings carrying over, but the audio sliders have been added to the main menu.

We've also added Steam Integration with Achievements. This has been a learning experience, and my first time using Steam Achievements in a game, so the achievements are very straight forward, completing each level. I have good news for early supporters of the game. For those of you who already own and played the game, you don't need to replay the entire game to earn the achievements. Every achievement for beating a level, will also unlock all the levels before it. So if you have all the levels unlocked, all you have to do is beat the final level and you'll get the achievements for all the previous levels.

Aside from these two features, this update includes some balance changes for those who have had difficulty with certain levels.

• Removed extra sounds from prefab effects
  
• Removed UI sound volume
  
• Added Volume mixer and mixer groups
  
• Added Master Volume slider
  
• Added Volume sliders to main menu
  
• Fixed persistent volume bug
  
• Added volume sliders to main menu
  
• Removed graphics settings that didn't work
  
• Added additional tool tip to defeat Deathbringer
  
• Reduced Deathbringer movement speed from 0.3 to 0.2
  
• Added more money reward in Level 3 to wave 6
  
• Removed 2 waves from Level 2
  
• Adjusted code logic so the level unlock score is applied at the end of the scene before the new scene is loaded
  
• Added Steam integration with Steam Achievements
  
• More money after Level 5 wave 4 and lower hp to tanks in Wave 5

Thank you for your support, and remember to please leave an honest review on Steam to help support the game!

Day 1 hot fix. Many minor fixes and balance changes but the primary change is fixing the level unlock system which was not unlocking any levels after level 2. I apologize to anyone who lost their save or never got their progress saved, but the issue should be resolved now.

• Fixed issue with Dual MG not turning it's model towards target
  
• Fixed Dual MG pivot point
  
• Fixed typos in dialog
  
• Adjusted stats of Level 3 wave 7, 8 and 15
  
• Fixed issue with a portrait of Astraea not turning off properly in Story Scene 1
  
• Reconfigured level manager to address level unlock bug
  
• Fixed Level Manager to not force scene change after player obtains win parameter
  
• Fixed Story Segment 1 not always activating images properly

If you are having issues with the level unlock system and your installed the game on Day 1, please try the following:

1. Launch the game and go into Settings. Then on the bottom of the settings menu, delete the game save data
   
2. Exit game and uninstall the game
   
3. Exit Steam and relaunch steam
   
4. Reinstall the game, when you reinstall after you relaunch steam, it ensures you're pulling from the latest build
   
5. Beat level 1 and 2. Once you get to level 3, pause the game, go to the main menu. Confirm that level 3 is unlocked.

If these steps did not fix the level unlock system for you, please reach out to me:
info@sabrpath.com

We are thrilled to announce that Nexus Defenders is now live on Steam!

Nexus Defenders offers a single-player campaign that combines classic tower defense gameplay with a deep, sci-fi-themed story. Prepare to defend against waves of invaders using a variety of towers and special abilities, all while uncovering the mysteries of a universe on the brink of chaos.

For those who love a story with their strategy, Nexus Defenders is designed to deliver a narrative-driven experience. This story is derived from my person experience, when I injured my spine and I felt like my life would never be the same.

To show our appreciation for our early supporters, we're offering a 10% discount for the first 7 days following the launch. It's our way of saying thank you to the community that has supported us through this journey.

As the solo developer behind this project, I've put a lot of effort into creating a game that not only challenges your strategic skills but also immerses you in a narrative-driven journey across the stars. I encourage everyone who checks out the game to reach out to me with feedback so I can continue to improve the experience.

Thank you for your support, and welcome to Nexus Defenders.

During the week of Feb 5 - 12, Nexus Defenders is part of the Steam Next Fest Event. For this event, we're updating you with the following:

• New gameplay trailer that reflects changes to gameplay and unreleased footage
  
• Announcement of the Feb 19 release date

• New demo only for the week of Steam Next Fest
  
• Includes an additional level that wasn't in the previous build of the trailer
  
• Game play balance update
  
• Deployment of towers has changed from click and drag, to clicking the tiles
  
• Bug fixes

• Gameplay and commentary will be broadcast over Steam
  
• Complete playthrough of the demo