How does the shop work?

Question

I don't really understand how the shop/upgrade system works in Really Big Sky. For example, Wideband, the first item, seems like a one-time purchase item, as it allows you to fire 2 shots at 45 degree angles.

However, when I go to purchase it, 20 points are taken away from my total there, and the cost in star bits goes up to move further across the band. Do I have to completely purchase the entire bar before I receive the upgrade? Or are further purchases just upgrading the potency of that item?

Can someone explain how this is supposed to work? Also, do the star bits I don't use carry over, or do I lose them? I've currently been trying to upgrade as much as I can when I get there based on the assumption that I lose them if I don't. Is this the case, or should I be saving them?

Answer 1

As you already suspected, you're improving the stat a little, upgrade by upgrade. Each upgrade level of a stat costs more than the previous level.

There are no one-time upgrades that go from inactive to active when you fill the bar. The Wideband shot might seem like that, but what you're actually buying is increased frequency of that shot (and possibly, potency, but I can't really tell).

Try paying attention to the projectiles you shoot during the initial lull to observe those upgrades in action. They don't really do that much at all, at least initially.

Unspent star bits are saved, of course.