Today Kronosaur Productions is excited to announce the immediate release of Transcendence 1.9, a major new update of our epic-scale indie space opera. This release contains major new mechanics, graphical improvements, and hundreds of stability and quality fixes.

Version 1.9 was designed to attract new players and turn them into experienced ones. We aimed to keep the core mechanics and depth that we love, while sanding down the rough edges.

At the beginning of the game, you can now choose a level of difficulty:

• Story Mode: All attacks against the player do 1/10th damage. All Attacks by the player do 10× damage.
  
  
• Normal Mode: All attacks against the player do half damage. All attacks by the player do double damage.
  
  
• Challenge Mode: All attacks do normal damage (equivalent to 1.8).
  
  
• Permadeath: Same as Challenge, but you cannot resurrect if you die (other than via insurance, etc.).

The Raisu station mission in Eridani was always meant as an introduction to both the game mechanics and the universe of Transcendence. In 1.9 we expand this story and give the player a new choice: make peace with the Centauri warlords or end their threat once and for all.

We've also added missions to other stations. For example, Starton Eridani now has a Militia HQ to introduce you to the Commonwealth military. We've even added a new planet at the outermost edge of the system.

1.9 adds many quality-of-life improvements:

• Asteroid mining is a lot easier with the miner's cargo hold, which displays onscreen markers to keep track of which asteroids you've checked.
  
  
• A new squadron UI lets you keep track of all your wingmates and autons, even if you've left some in a different star system.
  
  
• Selected stations show a UI to track your rank and progression. For example, at the Sisters of Domina you can see how far you've progressed in your relationship to Domina.
  
  
• The invoke menu now shows cooldown progress bars.
  
  
• Items now show all enhancements, including those received from devices, hull properties, etc.

You can now add the Near Stars to the map in The Stars of the Pilgrim. Visit Sol, interact with the Four Powers, and fight the Dreaming Horde as a pilgrim.

We've completely redesigned the Jiang's Star System to more appropriately represent the capital of the Sung Slavers.

Version 1.9 adds several new missions, including new Commonwealth militia missions, Commonwealth residential missions, a Ferian miner mission, and Sisters of Domina missions. There's also a new Black Market mission arc that culminates in a new wingmate.

• We've added Steam achievements (finally!)
  
  
• Don't panic if your autons are destroyed. You can salvage them and repair them with the Auton Bay or at a Corporate auton dealer.
  
  
• There are new playable ships (available at shipyards). For example, the Rasiermesser Helgoland class comes with an omnidirectional turret.
  
  
• Unknown items are now identified at stations selling them. No need to waste an analyzer charge on them.
  
  
• Abbasid outposts have been reworked: they defend themselves with armored walls, but if you can punch through, you'll reach the soft center.
  
  
• Beware of the mine field defending Sapiens stations, they hoard radioactive waste for a reason.
  
  
• Heliotropes now use their surfeit of energy to defend their stations with massive shield generators.
  
  
• Deep in the Outer Realm, the Ranx Empire keep their stations supplied with ammo using a new armored freighter.

This development build adds Steam achievements:

Let us know what you think!

Transcendence 1.9 is an important release for us. Transcendence has always been a niche game—a hidden gem—that takes some effort to appreciate. 1.9 is designed to attract a larger audience. We will fix most of the unpolished parts of the game while doubling-down on what makes the game great: exploration, interesting mechanics, and a fully realized universe.

In this video, developer George Moromisato talks about some of the new features in 1.9 Beta 4:

Here's a list of the major features:

• Radiation mines for Sapiens: Sapiens are the only sovereign to use radiation weapons. In Beta 4 I’ve given them radiation mines to protect their stations.
  
  
• Dwarg missile defense: Dwarg stations now have a way to disrupt tracking missiles causing them to veer away.
  
  
• Shields for Heliotropes: Heliotropes are masters of energy production and can afford to power massive shield generators to defend their stations.
  
  
• Ranx freighter: The workhorse weapon for the Ranx is the Akan 30, which requires large amounts of ammunition. In Beta 4, Ranx freighters move through the system supplying stations.
  
  
• Domina powers UI: Beta 4 improves the user interface for invoking Domina powers (and CDM shard powers). In addition to showing an icon for each power, we show a cool-down timer to tell when the power will be available again.
  
  
• Squadron UI: The new squadron UI integrates the communications menu and the auton bay screen. You can now deploy, command, and view wingmates and autons from one screen. The new screen even shows you ships that you’ve left in other system.

1.9 Beta 4 will be the last major beta before the final 1.9 release. We'd love to hear your feedback. Let us know what you think!

1.9 Beta 3 is now ready for testing. You can access it by selecting the NEXT branch on the Betas tab. This release has the following changes:

• Eridani has some new missions, including access to the Centauri settlement.
  
• The Ellen Quinn mission arc is now complete. Join the Black Market and get promoted to Sindikat member to start the mission.
  
• We've made improvements to Black Market missions.
  
• Outlaw miners now have additional defenses.
  
• We've added new missions, including one for Commonwealth residentials.
  
• The invoke menu UI is improved. NOTE: Eternity Port has not yet been updated to use this.
  
• Added new images for Black Market stations, Tenhove sentinels, and others.

We recommend that you start a new game with this version (rather than continue an old game created with the previous version).

The full list of fixes is on Ministry: https://ministry.kronosaur.com/program.hexm?id=1&status=closed&tag=129

Thanks to everyone who submitted bugs and suggestions for this release!

The magnificent walled stations of the Sung float among scorched asteroids, lit by the relentless glow of a red giant. Welcome to Jiang’s Star!

Even in the earliest design specs, the Jiang’s Star system was meant to be the capital of the Sung Slavers. Just as Charon is the climax to the New Beyond, Jiang’s Star was going to be the climax to the Ungoverned Territories. But everything takes longer than I expect, and even in version 1.8 there was nothing special about Jiang’s Star. Depending on the vagaries of the RNG, there might not even be any Sung stations there.

In 1.9 I’ve redesigned Jiang’s Star to be a unique system, filled with Sung stations. In this newsletter I will show off the new system and talk about the future of the Sung.

The Sung Civilization (called the “Sung Slavers” by the Commonwealth) colonized the Ungoverned Territories about 150 years ago, displacing the Huari Empire. They are the primary enemy in that region, much as the Charon Pirates are the primary enemy in the New Beyond. Their distinguishing characteristic is their mastery of cybertechnology and their use of slaves to provide the vast processing power required for their systems.

I haven’t fully fleshed out their lore, but here is a brief outline:

• Slaves entombed in sophisticated “slave coffins” form individual nodes in a vast distributed computing grid, known as the “Celestial Grid.” The Celestial Grid is more powerful than any other computer system in Human Space. Even Eternity Port pales in comparison.
  
  
• The Celestial Grid hosts a number of AIs called “Devas,” who guide the Sung in making decisions both large and small. It’s common for people to ask the Devas for guidance, which results in a cohesive and coordinated society.
  
  
• The Devas are programmed to be utilitarian maximizers: they optimize for the greatest good for the greatest number. This is how they justify having slaves: the good of the many outweigh the suffering of the few.
  
  
• The Sung believe in reincarnation. For example, when the Sung emperor dies, they will use the Celestial Grid to search for the same brain patterns in a new-born baby. The baby will then be conditioned and trained to become the new emperor.

In this video, I visit Jiang’s Star and fight the Sung.

The Sung can be a source for future adventures and game mechanics. Here are a few ideas of how we can develop them further:

Mission Arc: I’d love to create a mission arc with the Sung as the principal antagonist. Perhaps there is an “underground railroad” helping to free slaves and bring them to safety in the Commonwealth. But the Sung have infiltrated the group and will stop at nothing to shut it down.

Alternatively, maybe we can create a mission arc in which you help the Sung (or a faction of the Sung). Slaves are supposed to be just an unconscious node in a vast grid, but sometimes their consciousness leaks through and the slave becomes lucid inside the Celestial Grid. One slave becomes a Deva and seeks to liberate all slaves, replacing them with vat-grown neural networks. But conservative elements oppose this evolution and prepare to wage war to stop it.

More Programs: The Sung cyberdeck and its programs are a unique mechanic in the game. It would be great to expand on this and give the player a viable chance to use programs as a combat strategy. This might be similar to (and synergistic with) the CDM shard programs in Eternity Port.

Other Cyber Realms: Speaking of Eternity Port, is there a connection between the CDM’s virtual reality (grayspace) and the Sung’s Celestial Grid? Have any CDM denizens been to the Celestial Grid? Have any Devas visited Eternity Port? What about Luminous? What about the Dreaming Horde? It might be interesting to clarify the relationship between them.

What do you think of the new Jiang’s Star? Do you have any interesting mission ideas for the Sung? Let me know in the comments here, or write to me: transcendence@kronosaur.com.

You can buy Transcendence here on Steam or download a free version on our site[transcendence.kronosaur.com]. If you’re really brave you can download the development version and/or contribute to the code on GitHub[github.com].

Subscribe to our newsletter on Substack to get weekly updates on the game delivered to your inbox: https://transcendence.substack.com/

I’ve been working on improving the Eridani System. As the first system in the game, Eridani needs to be exciting, memorable, and an enticement to play the rest of the game. In short, a lot is riding on it, and I don’t think we’re there yet. In this post I’ll talk about my approach in redesigning Eridani and give you a sneak peek at the result.

Think of the Eridani System as the pilot of a TV series. We have some characters: the Pilgrim, of course; Benedict; the Raisu station master. But what’s the plot? What’s the story arc? Originally I thought Benedict’s missions, culminating in the rescue of Fiona, would be the main story arc. But that’s not a complete story. It’s only the beginning of an ongoing story.

Instead, I think the Raisu Station mission is the main story. If nothing else, it has a beginning, middle, and end. Raisu Station has been taken over by Centauri Warlords (beginning). When the Pilgrim destroys some Centauri stations, the Raisu stationmaster protests—she fears the warlords will punish Raisu. But the Pilgrim’s success convinces her to confront her fears and she tells the Pilgrim about the warlord leader, Arco Vaughn (middle). With the help of the stationmaster’s missile launcher, the Pilgrim hunts down Arco Vaughn and frees Raisu Station from warlord control (end).

This story is a good start, but it has a couple of weaknesses. First, it’s too short and doesn’t give us much opportunity to get to know the characters. Second, it offers no real choice for the player to affect the outcome.

In the new version I’m expanding the story and adding two different possible endings.

After killing Arco Vaughn, the player returns to Raisu Station and learns that the warlords have vowed revenge. Now the Pilgrim must defend the station against a concentrated attack.

The Raisu stationmaster decides that the only way to guarantee peace is to eliminate the Centauri settlement at the edge of the system. Now the player has to choose whether to help her or refuse.

One of the core elements of Transcendence is its moral ambiguity and complexity. I’m not going to claim any great philosophical insight, but I hope the game presents a more complex picture than just good vs. evil.

The revelation in the Huari dream sequence is a good example. Similarly, the player’s choice to either save or destroy the CSC Antarctica demonstrates that there is no single right answer.

The player’s choice to either destroy or save the Centauri settlement serves multiple purposes. It adds a choice with game-effects: one choice gives you free refueling and armor repair; the other choice gives you access to Centauri items. And just as important, it adds role-playing choices for the player: Do you want to play the hard-hearted realist who knows freedom is bought with blood? Or do you want to be the optimist who gives peace a chance?

The new Eridani storyline will be released with version 1.9 Beta 3, but until then you can watch a playthrough below:

This year we've been working on a major release, and we've got a beta version for you all to try out.

Version 1.9 is designed to bring in new players by improving the initial experience, and cleaning up some of the original game mechanics. The result is a much more accessible and enjoyable game.

The beta version is accessible by selecting the NEXT branch on the Betas tab.

Here is a partial list of changes:

• Nears Stars Branch: The entire Near Stars region, including Sol, is now accessible from Stars of the Pilgrim (the core adventure).
  
  
• Difficulty Levels: When starting a game you can specify a difficulty level. At the easiest level (Story Mode) the player deals 10× damage and receives 1/10th as much damage as normal.
  
  
• Support for WASD Controls: When customizing the keyboard layout you can now specify WASD controls.
  
  
• Mining Improvements: Install a Miner's Cargo Hold to keep track of which asteroid you've mined. We've also added several new kinds of mining weapons.
  
  
• Salvage Autons: When autons are destroyed you can salvage the wreckage and repair them, which allows you to get more use out of them.
  
  
• Improved Game Mechanics: We've cleaned up some of the original game mechanics to make them more interesting. For example, donating to the Sisters will allow you to request fuel and repairs later.
  
  
• Improved UI: We've made improvements to many UI systems, including the long-range scanner, item enhancement, dock services UI, etc.
  
  
• Sung Capital at Jiang's Star: We've completely rebuilt the Jiang's Star system; it now contains the capital of the Sung Slavers.
  
  
• New Playable Ships: New ship classes, like the Helgoland, can now be purchased at shipyards.
  
  
• More Missions: We've added more mining missions, Ferian missions, and Commonwealth militia missions.
  
  
• Station Shops Sell Identified Items: Commodities Exchange no longer sells unidentified items.
  
  
• New Images: Updated and improved images for many ships and stations.

Kronosaur Productions is excited and relieved to announce the immediate release of Transcendence 1.8, the greatest version of our epic-scale indie space opera. This release contains major new mechanics, graphical improvements, and hundreds of stability and quality fixes.

The ability for the player to change ships existed in previous version, and several mods made use of it. In version 1.8 we've added ship brokers that sell ships to the player, either to replace their own ship or that of their wingmen.

In addition, we've introduced three new playable ship classes:

• The EI200 is an older, though larger, version of the EI500 freighter. With 500 tons of cargo space standard, this ship is the ultimate trading vessel.
  
  
• The ubiquitous Centurion is also available for purchase. This heavy gunship supports massive armor and heavy weapons, and comes in a wide variety of load-outs.
  
  
• The new Minotaur-class corvette is the ultimate combat ship: 6 armor segments, 8 all-purpose device slots, and a linked omnidirectional cannon. This ship will serve you well—if you can afford it.

Ship brokers are available at Commonwealth dry docks, Commonwealth metropolises, Commonwealth fortresses, and at the Fleet base of Point Juno.

Version 1.8 adds a new trade-off between armor mass and speed. Depending on your ship class, certain heavy armors will reduce your maximum speed. This adds another dimension for play style as you decide to either optimize for a fast, lightly-armored ship or a slower but heavily armored ship.

In addition, different ship classes are optimized for either light or heavy armor. The Sapphire class, for example, loses a couple of points of speed with heavy armor, but a heavy gunship like the Manticore is unaffected.

Another revamped mechanic is trading. In 1.8, prices of trading goods vary more significantly across star system. For example, systems with lots of mines will pay less for ore, while systems with lots of populated stations might pay more for food and luxuries.

A new trading computer option—which is built in to the EI500 freighter—gives you pricing information and suggestions for where to get the best price for your goods.

This latest version adds news images for over two dozen ships and stations. We've increased the detail level and scale for many old stations. Below are some examples of redone Marauder stations:

As always, the new version adds API enhancements for modders, including (finally) PNG image support. Many of the new API changes are being used to support The Vault of the Galaxy, but many others have been added by request.

In addition, we've fixed over 400 bugs, which greatly improves the stability of the game.

Thanks to everyone who submitted bug reports and who contributed to this release!

Every year at this time I talk about what we accomplished the year before and what to look forward in the new year:

http://multiverse.kronosaur.com/news.hexm?id=2039

Thanks to everyone who supported the game in 2018!