In hope of defending your settlements against threats, both human and alien, you have enlisted as a pilot with the Freerunners.
Beta 8.0 introduces new items, missions, and enemies, and marks the launch of sales. The freely playable demo, for Windows or Mac, includes several tiers of mission hubs and an open roamable galaxy filled with surprises.
Many existing items were tuned for increased nastiness when in the hands of the player. Mission flow was improved, in the areas of continuity and reduced round-trips between turn-ins.
AI units had a bit of brain tuneup, and will now select targets faster and smarter than ever. Extremely large NPC ships received major upgrades to health and weapons, and now wield a highly destructive array of seven autonomously targeting guns. Enemies and friendlies have a new assortment of nasty tricks up their sleeves, thanks to many items which were modified to be usable by NPCs.
Lots of tuning all around -- Loot drops and vendor items were heavily redistributed, mass:health:thrust ratios for all ships were revisited for sanity, as were formulas for damage resolution and XP gain.
Many units now drop "bounty items", which may be turned in at friendly stations for a reward of credits and additional chance of random loot.
During its remaining beta phase, Zigfrak can be purchased for US$7, a 50% discount off the release price. Registering will open a higher level cap, increased shipyard capacity, and access to more missions.
To celebrate its final beta series, Zigfrak is running a screenshot and video competition until mid-December. This could be an easy way for you to score a very cool shirt and free license key!
The game manual was updated, and is now bundled with the download.
Get Zigfrak for Windows or Mac at Zigfrak.com
