Hardspace: Shipbreaker is adding a new mode with no time limit

(Image credit: Blackbird Interactive)

Hardspace: Shipbreaker, the game about cutting up derelict spaceships for spare parts, entered Steam Early Access last month. While it's gone over well with players for the most part, there's been a lot of feedback in one specific respect: the time limit.

Slicing up a ship is a delicate, methodical process where a lot can go wrong, and not everyone loves the ticking clock hovering over your 15-minute work shifts. A common request made to developer Blackbird Interactive during Early Access has been to take away the timer on work shifts.

That request has been heard loud and clear, and Hardspace: Shipbreaker will be adding a new difficulty mode called Open Shift. The mode has no time limit for your shifts: cut away as long as you like because your shift will only end when you enter your habitat. There's still a timer, but it counts up, not down, so you can keep track of your time spent instead of experiencing a ticking clock.

Additionally in Open Shift, your space suit will remain oxygenated unless it's damaged and springs a leak. This part of the mode, I have to say, feels like it's overbalancing a bit too much toward an easier experience. I don't care for the shift timer, but at the same time I like the draining oxygen part—it adds a little tension from time to time. I suspect I'm not alone, and the next request from players will be an option to choose between infinite oxygen and draining oxygen in Open Shift mode. We'll see!

That's not the only change coming in this update. Players have also requested the ability to remap their keyboard controls, and that's being added as well, in stages: first with a configurable .ini file, and later with a proper in-game menu option.

No specific word on when this new update will arrive—Blackbird says it's coming soon.

Chris started playing PC games in the 1980s, started writing about them in the early 2000s, and (finally) started getting paid to write about them in the late 2000s. Following a few years as a regular freelancer, PC Gamer hired him in 2014, probably so he'd stop emailing them asking for more work. Chris has a love-hate relationship with survival games and an unhealthy fascination with the inner lives of NPCs. He's also a fan of offbeat simulation games, mods, and ignoring storylines in RPGs so he can make up his own.