Hello Starchasers! Did you expect an update? A mainline update? I certainly didn't, not at first, but I met with the other members of our development team (pictured below) and we discussed the matter at length.
We've reached the point now where the only remaining thing before our 1.0 launch (barring content reactivation and a shitload of bugfixes) is voice acting. The game is now, totally, in a feature complete state, and that includes everything for multiplayer!
So, with that in mind I'd like to start expanding the range of people playing multiplayer, primarily to see just how badly it'll explode, as well as stress test the overhead of our master server and all that nonsense. Think of it like putting a fat black cat on a plastic train track: I'm trying to see just how much mass it can take before it all collapses.
So, for those who missed it, this update brings forth a TON of new features, including multiplayer, freeplay, expanded mod support, new animations, new bits on stations, new dialogue, pets, rebalances and much much much much more! Bare in mind that, while plenty has been tested and works (including server browsers, NPC and random missions, etc), you should still expect various bugs. It's an early access game for a reason, and I'm one guy working on this. Despite expectations, I can't be omnipresent.
But anyway, multiplayer! Multiplayer!
There's a lot in this patch, so be prepared for a changelog that's the size of a CVS pharmacy receipt, let's get into it!
Changelog is as follows:
NEW FEATURES
Multiplayer functionality restored.
The game will now remember any direct connection and server connection settings.
Freeplay has now been added to the game: This is a singleplayer mode that is basically an offline version of multiplayer: Same campaign, same ability to customize your character. You can choose a freeplay session from the New Game button on the title screen.
Added ambient noises across all stations for things like panels, terminals, vents, ships. You know, the stuff you’d expect to make noises.
Races, factions, loadouts, name generation rules, and encounters can now be modified.
The player can create new vanityitems, player house items, and campaign records.
MasterObjectSubReferences can be instantiated and can now include a wider variety of objects.
Modding globals can now affect train travel prices and abyssdrive points, abyssdrive time, self destruct damage, battleship respawn times, cash payouts for data collection, additional level up scalings, prewarm ranges for ships that spawn mid-fight, AI orbit and flee distances, and more.
Mods can now load custom fonts.
Mods can now load custom menu textures.
Mods can now replace any string in the game with any other string.
Mods can now add and access (if they include new code) new global game setting values.
Added new contextual requirements for modders, including being able to detect a player’s current game state (IE login, on a station, in space), and the current state of the game’s loading screens.
Added pets to the game! They're rare housing decorations you can find around the game. You can place as many of them as you want in a house and pet them, but if you place them in your cockpit they'll confer small utility bonuses to your ship.
Added animations for other players when they’re walking around on stations.
Added poses for photomode, for characters when they’re on a space station or planet. Express yourself, with your friends.
Added more initial customization options for Macrovari characters.
Added multiple missing descriptions to various planets, bosses, summons, etc.
Major planets and stations now have regular voiced starport announcements. Yknow. For the immersion.
Added new idle animations for various NPCs on stations.
Hausher ships now laugh their asses off at everything. I would too, honestly.
Added an option to enable shadows on stations and planets, separate from space.
Added adaptive framerates for lower-end computers: the game will automatically adjust some aspects such as shadows if your computer runs too slow, because god knows you’re too cowardly to adjust your graphical settings manually.
CHANGES AND REBALANCES
Crouching now removes you from a chair, and chairs can’t be sat in if someone else is already sitting in them.
System defense battleships will now chase pirate players they’ve detected, attempting to blockade them.
Buffed the Radioactive Expander by greatly increasing the area it affects.
Thrusters and other less-likely equipment can now use ammunition. Why?
Shadow rendering options now disable shadows on stations, which can greatly boost performance.
Shrank the default Vauldwin character to match the size of the rest of the Vauldwin.
Cleaned up some UI stuff to better support modded records with very long names.
Redid some buttons to make it clearer what buttons on the title screen did what.
Rebalanced Scornharbor significantly.
Peerless Casino now shows unavailable game token rewards.
Slitherveils in the Veil can now kill NPCs.
The Curshian Death Cube can now kill NPCs.
Changed some low-graphics coloring to better fit the game’s artstyle.
Added more variation in player undocking locations.
The game now saves jump failure data.
Darkon’s exit gate is now more randomized when jumping to Darkon in a non-collapse scenario.
FIXES
Fixed some collider issues on stations.
Fixed various floating and duplicate NPCs and props on stations.
Fixed issue where the tier 2 Children Heavy Fighter had far more energy regeneration than intended.
Fixed some UI issues during Operation: Catapult.
Fixed some minor UI station UI issues.
Fixed issue where buying an item again would cause issues.
Fixed several customization system UI issues.
Fixed issue where the missile UI would persist on stations.
Fixed some issues with modding loading in new component records.
Fixed issue where volatile commodities (via modding) would stick you in an infinite loop.
Fixed some small errors related to ammunition.
Fixed issue where custom vanity items wouldn’t stay unlocked for the player.
Fixed some loading issues with game settings.
Fixed issues when heading back to the game from the main menu.
Fixed some grammar issues in various chattable NPCs.
Fixed camera clipping issues on stations.
Fixed some doors on stations that weren’t leading anywhere.
Fixed some boss issues when reloading a save.
Fixed looping dialogue on Ackery.
Fixed engine issues with the Corp Freighter line.
Fixed issue where modded tone presets wouldn’t load.
Fixed some camera issues with the game’s cockpit customization stuff.
Fixed issue where new equipment archetypes wouldn’t work.
Fixed issues with Sparkplatform not having very much range for its ambient attacks.
Fixed some crouching related camera issues.
Fixed some issues with storm related processing to better track what region the player is in.
Fixed some save loading issues when mid-mission.
Fixed issues where Lodestone Geode wouldn’t complete and buffed the boss for it.
Fixed issue where several bosses couldn’t be scanned for data.
Fixed some holes on stations. Fixed some duplication errors with the Swabwork random mission.
Fixed housing edit issues.
Fixed pathing issues between Ballden and Macrovari regions.
Fixed issues with docking points being too far out (so no more docking with a station by just flying near it. Get in the port, buddy.
Fixed issue where mods that changed the max level wouldn’t reflect this in the growth UI.
Fixed issue where transferring systems would complete some missions automatically.
Fixed some issues where Swabwork random missions wouldn’t complete.
Fixed several rendering errors in equipment dealers inside of stations inside of nebulas.
Fixed issue where Hardturn’s lost gate wasn’t collapsing properly.
Fixed issue where player worth was calculated incorrectly.
Fixed issue where the autofollow autopilot wouldn’t work for… most everything. It works now. Use it at your own risk.
Fixed various smaller issues relating to NPC spawning code.
Starting with this patch, the nature of the beta branch will change. The mainline branch will start getting regular updates once again, but these will be first pushed to the beta branch before they're checked out for issues and go live. Think of it like a... what the hell do they call it, a PTS branch? It's a PTS branch. If you want the latest features and such, I'd always stay on the beta branch, but if you want the most stable experience, the mainline branch will be your best bet.
