[p]Hello Everyone![/p][p]Update 9 is now available on Meta Quest, Steam, and Pico, and it’s a huge step forward for community content and progression:[/p][p]You can now build campaigns, earn trophies, complete daily missions, and add narration to your maps, plus a lot more![/p][p]Community Campaigns[/p][p]A new way for map makers to link maps and build their own campaigns! In this beta, you can try out the core system and share your feedback on features you’d like to see.[/p][p]Map makers can now create a campaign, name it, and add maps to it before making it public.[/p][p]For players, the Top Rated List has been replaced with the new Campaigns list. This follows our usage analysis of the Create Game lists, an area already in our sights, which showed that Top Rated was rarely used. Campaigns now take its place, giving you a dedicated space where player made campaigns are listed and ready to explore.[/p][p]Text-to-Speech Implementation[/p][p]With the introduction of Community Campaigns, we felt a new way to deliver narration was needed.[/p][p]We’ve added a Text-to-Speech system with multiple voices to choose from. Your map description can now be narrated automatically.[/p][p]We’ve also included a new asset called Voice Volume, which allows map makers to place narrative lines and custom texts directly in the world with its own configurations![/p][p]Trophies[/p][p]As teased, Trophies are making their way to your ships! These stylish displays showcase your most prestigious Accolades, fully visible for friends, allies, and even rivals to admire.[/p][p]Two dedicated trophy spots are now available in your Ship’s lobby area, pick your favorites and show them off![/p][p]There are 16 trophies in this release, with the possibility of more in the future. Here’s a preview of a few of them:[/p][p]New Accolades[/p][p]With the introduction of Trophies, we’ve added six new Accolades:[/p]

• [p]Map maker: Get Diamond rank with 5 of your maps[/p]
• [p]Veteran Guardian: Complete 200 maps![/p]
• [p]The Bug Killer!: Kill 1,000,000 bugs![/p]
• [p]Halloween Event: Log in during the Halloween event![/p]
• [p]Summer Event: Log in during the Summer event![/p]
• [p]Winter Event: Log in during the Winter event![/p]

[p]Missions System[/p][p]We’ve added a new mission system to the game. Main and Daily Missions are now accessible from a new panel on the left side of the main menu.[/p][p]Main Missions are designed to guide players through the early stages of the campaign, introducing key mechanics while granting bonus Crystals, XP, and Research Points.[/p][p]Daily Missions assign one random mission every day, which must be completed within 24 hours.[/p][p]There are currently 43 missions in the pool.[/p][p]Each completed Daily Mission grants:[/p]

• [p]15 Research Points[/p]
• [p]5% of your current level XP requirement[/p]

[p]We’re very excited about this feature and will be closely monitoring how players interact with it so we can expand and improve it in future updates.[/p][p]Legacy Skin Equalization[/p][p]We’ve added two new female skins as part of our ongoing effort to equalize all male and female versions. Due to the legacy backlog, we can’t update every skin in a single patch, so two new skins will be added in each update until full parity is reached.[/p]

• [p]Added Snow and Forest female skins, earned at Galaxy Rewards 1 and 2.[/p]

[p]SAM, Tank, and Mech Skin Tech[/p][p]You can now unlock cosmetic skins for your SAM, Tank, and Mech units by researching a new technology in the tech tree.[/p][p]A selection of new skins is now available and can be unlocked using Crystals.[/p][p]Additionally, we’ve added 3 optional cosmetic packs (each priced at $4.99) for those who wish to go the extra mile in supporting our development team:[/p]

• [p]Guardicorn Unit Pack 2[/p]
• [p]Brown Rebel Unit Pack 2[/p]
• [p]Blue Rebel Unit Pack 2[/p]

[p]Map Report System[/p][p]We’ve added a new system to report public maps. You’ll find the option inside the More Info section of any game. Reports do not affect ratings or map list placement — they simply help us review and address issues more efficiently.[/p][p]Block User Improvement[/p][p]We’ve improved the blocking system to make it more reliable. Blocking a user now persists until manually removed from the Social menu, and you’ll receive a warning before joining a match if a blocked player is present. Additionally, blocked players can no longer join games hosted by someone who has blocked them.[/p][p]Key Beacon[/p][p]Key behavior has been refined for better clarity and consistency. When keys are dropped from a belt with the player death, they now spawn a visible beacon above them. This beacon is only visible to the key holder and remains active until the keys are recovered, helping prevent lost objectives and confusion during combat.[/p][p]NEW[/p]

• [p]Added a new dropdown widget to the game.[/p]
• [p]Added feedback messages when saving and publishing maps.[/p]
• [p]Adjusted the tag size in maps.[/p]
• [p]Added scrolling to the mission description and Start menus to prevent text overflow.[/p]
• [p]Added a two-step verification when generating terrain to avoid accidental loss of previous settings.[/p]
• [p]Added a beacon on top of the Active Nest in Thermogen, Zephyr Temple, and Zephyr Core to better guide players in this mode.[/p]
• [p]Added a new on-screen notification prompting players to spawn units during the campaign.[/p]
• [p]Added the Teleport Tutorial video to the Planetary Shield campaign map.[/p]
• [p]Added an extend button to the keyboard for writing longer text, such as map descriptions.[/p]
• [p]Added a reminder to the player during the Campaign to spawn units via notification and voice alert.[/p]
• [p]Changed the AI sphere to a miner in the Snow protect Mission.[/p]
• [p]QoL improvement to the Map Editor description field: expandable text area + cursor movement.[/p]
• [p]Changed the default difficulty from Advanced to Normal in the introduction mission selection.[/p]
• [p]Added 3 new Calm music tracks:Patrol Route After the Storm Federation at Rest[/p]
• [p]Added 3 new Combat music tracks:Holding The Line Critical Breach Into the Swarm[/p]
• [p]Added 4 new Skyboxes[/p]

[p]Major Issues[/p]

• [p]Fixed a major issue that caused maps to get stuck loading at 10% in certain situations.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a major issue that prevented maps from saving correctly, resulting in lost progress.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a major issue causing games to end prematurely in the Elimination campaign maps when killing a nest in the first few seconds.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a major issue in the Elimination campaign maps where the game could end prematurely in the second and third stages.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a major issue where the map editor loading process could get stuck while loading terrain.[/p]

[p]Fixes[/p]

• [p]Fixed an issue that prevented your ship configuration from replicating to other players in lobbies.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where certain text boxes allowed more characters than intended, crashing the game.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a collision issue with two assets from the Ancient pack where the stairs could lose collision.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue preventing dropships and hoverbikes from shooting through fog volumes.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue preventing the teleport dropbox from spawning in the Thermogen campaign map.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where three crystal deposits in Zephyr Temple could not be mined.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue preventing clients from activating bases in Domination games from the Campaign.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where solo Campaign bases were not synchronized between host and clients.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where all bases were marked as A to the host.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where grouped objects could not be deleted unless moved first.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue with the localization of your rank if the player was more than level 21.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a localization issue where several Campaign map names did not match:Snow Caves is now Frozen Caves Protect is now Called Canyon[/p]

[p]That’s it for this update, Guardians![/p][p]Now it’s your turn:[/p]

• [p]Create a Campaign[/p]
• [p]Try the new narration tools[/p]
• [p]Show off your Trophies[/p]
• [p]Play and rate Community Campaigns[/p]
• [p]Try out the new Mission System[/p]

[p]If you build something cool, share it in Discord. If you find issues or have ideas, tell us. If you break something… definitely tell us.[/p][p]We’ll be actively watching your campaigns, maps, and feedback to shape the next updates.[/p][p]See you on the Frontlines, and keep up the bug killing![/p][p]VirtualAge Games Team[/p]