Heat Signature gets a huge birthday update and is 40 percent off this weekend

Procedurally generated top-down space game Heat Signature has received a huge update to mark one year since its release. These include changes to your starting characters, enemy AI, user interface, and new enemy types. The game is also 40 percent off until October 4. 

Here are the highlights of a huge list of changes, then. Character traits are new to the game. When you pick a character at the start of a Heat Signature run, each has two random traits. One might be a bonus to the recovery time of a weapon, if it's a positive trait, and you might only have ten minutes to live if it's a negative trait. If you don't like the selection of starting characters, you can re-roll for some new ones with different traits by highlighting them and hitting the F button. Traits give the game some optional difficulty modifiers. 

The game's AI has also been upgraded. Guards will travel in pairs, covering each other when there's enough of them around, and patrol areas of a ship that are more likely to be the player's target (where loot is stored, for example). Four new enemies have been added to the game, called contractors, who are aimed at players ready for for a real challenge. One can provide protective shields for all surrounding guards until they're killed, for example, and another, called the Tracker, will locate your character on a ship and put a rifle scope on them. 

Other additions include a daily challenge mode and a slew of quality of life upgrades. Developer Tom Francis breaks everything in this update down in handy, granular detail here. 

Steven reviewed Heat Signature last year. "By making excellent use of its procedurally generated world and wacky gadgets, Heat Signature is a mission worth taking."

Full disclosure: developer Tom Francis used to work for PC Gamer up until 2013. I didn't work with him, but I've met him a few times since.