Icons of storage containers a bit redesigned and looks a bit better. Also now different types of containers have different icon according to its type (image above with prev \ new comparison)
Added button in sandbox menu which increases radius of radar so entire region became visible
Crew oxygen consumption reduced from 0.1 to 0.02 per minute
Power consumption of hydroponics no longer so huge (2000), now it requires only 50 and 75 for T1 and T2 version
Added info about speed of production modules in build menu
T2 kinetic cannon properly renamed
Fixes
When you move crew members from ship A to ship B, crew members will instantly occupy its workplaces of ship B
Fixed an issue with asteroids which stuck at 0 content and can't be mined further
Debris which appears near starting point during start of the game now have correct orbital velocity in orbital game mode
NPC cargo ships no longer "dancing" around the same station or flies only between two the same stations
Fixed an issue when you sometimes unable to dock to NPC space station
Officers skills now start working right after you selected it
Multiplayer: You no longer see "+1 Item" message during salvage operation of another player
T1 shipyard parts no longer more massive than T2 version
Default position of "System name" on map no longer overlaps with bottom panel
Default position of "Relative velocity" block no longer overlaps with bottom panel
Fixed internal error related to Discord DLL
Fixed internal error when escape pods launcher placed
Unavailable refined carbon no longer required for crafting of warp coil
Unavailable heavy frame removed from recipes of all modules
Incorrect list of required resources no longer displayed in menu of salvage module and fuel generator
Attempt to grab black box from defeated drone using a grabber no longer should cause physics glitch
As we announced in previous post, in this update we prepared super huge amount of significant changes which improves almost every aspect of the game.
Overall we have worked on gameplay for survival game mode, because despite the fact that playing in sandbox is fun, survival game mode was extremely confusing due large amount of flaws, so we are polished many systems and moved the game to the shape how it should be. There are still some flaws, but this is a huge step forward to the truly polished game with enjoyable gameplay for many hours.
By the way, we have made a new trailer! That is great, because previous one was outdated long time ago and the game already much improved.
Base building now is MUCH MORE convenient, because earlier it was extremely user unfriendly. The process of construction something in survival mode was terrible, but now it should be fixed!
Space bases are now much larger and way more epic than before. Tech tree was improved for quite a lot, overall game progression should feel much more enjoyable.
Extremely inconvenient trading system also was significantly improved and now it should be fun.
Also, the game visually now looks much better!
Note, in this blog post we are trying new format: Pictures now located inside "Change log" block under each item of change log.
Earlier a lot of information was duplicated in the main text and change log, which is not good, so we think that a new way of delivering update logs should be better. Also, some items in change log contains more information about why exactly it was done and what exactly it is. So, for more information read a full change log below.
CHANGE LOG
large Improvements
Completely new NPC space stations which are built from several highly detailed modules. Now it looks much larger and more significant, like cities in space. There are several variations of stations so not all stations look the same. Later more variations will be added. Also, all these modules available in sandbox mode.
Player's own space base now looks much larger. Added new command module for own space station which acts like a core module for player base and should be built in first minutes of gameplay. Production modules also replaced with completely new models of much larger size. Earlier player's space base was too small, that was not correct, so now it is fixed.
Visual effects: Changed color space from gamma to linear, which means more realistic lighting, also it allows to implement better glow effect, especially for weapons and engines.
Visual effects: Improved effects for stars
Visual effects: Improved effects for lasers, engines, shields, explosions
Trading: Completely redesigned trading system, now it should be much more fun and intuitive to use. Now there is a list of special trading commodities for trading between stations. Previous confusing system with a lot of building parts and weird trading rules is gone. Now each station has easy to understand system of supply and demands and obvious trade routes. Trading GUI redesigned, now it more compact and easier to use. Buy \ Sell methods also improved and no longer so inconvenient to use in case if you have many cargo containers.
Crew: Completely new crew system, with the new management of living modules, life support modules, working escape pods launchers, consumption of oxygen and crew requirements for various functional modules, such as engineering modules or mining lasers. Note: New skills system for officers is not completed yet and will be improved later.
Crew: Added possibility to select portrait of captain, its name and name of spaceship before the game started. The spaceships seems alive now, not just a chunk of metal in space.
Crew: Added functional escape pods, like in Sci-Fi movies!
Crew: Added notification about lack of food which will not disappear until supply of food will be restored. The same works for oxygen and life support supply
GUI: Added ship control panel with various control elements for main systems of ship. Earlier it was hard to monitor a status of your shields or control weapons or other systems of the ship. The game interface was like for strategy game, but this is not strategy game, usually you are in control of one ship and you should have a convenient tools to control it, so here it is, a control panel with most often used systems of a ship. We plan to add more control elements on this panel which are frequently used.
GUI: Added weapons groups which allows to much more convenient control on many turrets on the ship. Some may remember that we had similar system earlier, but now it returned with more quality implementation and usability.
Usability: Added a starting window with hints about main aspects of gameplay and instruction how to get started. Of course, interactive tutorial would be better, but it will take longer to implement, so it will be added later, but at this moment this window should be a good temporary solution.
Production: Completely changed recipes and prices for all modules. Everything much cheaper and affordable. Building is no longer so complex and user unfriendly. We get rid of frames, generic components and plates, and replaced it with nice and convenient "Prefabs" - main building component of all modules.
Production: Completely changed distribution of resources in asteroids, now common resources can be found everywhere and rare resources specific to planets, which is have much rare chance to spawn. This makes process of seeking resources much more interesting like it should be in good survival game (like wood and stone everywhere, but iron is rare). Here iron and carbon is a basic materials which can be found everywhere, but advanced resources such as copper, silicon of lithium is much rare.
Production: Generic components and steel plates removed from all recipes because it didn't added interest to the game, just makes crafting less convenient
Production: Added salvage module which allows to recycle broken parts into resources
Ship editor: Now you can place modules for construction and use move tool in much larger radius which now displayed with yellow circle. Previous attempts to place modules within a tiny radius of engineering modules was terribly inconvenient and now it is fixed!
Ship editor: Now you can instantly remove placed modules which were not built yet (contains only 1 part), the part will be returned to inventory. Makes building process much more convenient in cases where you wish to quickly place and remove modules just to check overall shape of a spaceship.
Ship editor: Improved visual model of scaffold frames around unbuild modules. Now it has proper 3D models with correct size.
Ship editor: Added "Auto build" and "Auto salvage modules" modes for engineering modules. You no longer need to select engineering modules and manually click on targets, now you can automatically construct or salvage modules within a radius. Building and looting much more convenient now!
Ship editor: Move Tool in sandbox mode now can be used anywhere (not only near space station). Super useful for creativity!
Now you may find a random hostile drone which protects valuable resources or just located randomly in space. The important aspect of the game is combat, but earlier it was hard to find a proper enemy to test your combat capabilities, now it is fixed. Also, it creates additional challenge for the gameplay, like it should be in any good survival game.
Audio: Now music is changing during combat. It should provide better experience during combat. Later we will add more variations of music and better transitions.
Camera: Now by default right mouse button will pan the camera and middle button will rotate it (because pan is much more often used than rotation). It could be hard to get used to it if you already familiar with previous system, but we recommend trying, the control will be much more convenient. But you may change settings back if you wish.
Camera: Now camera can be rotated by holding space bar + mouse movement
Camera: Now "Rotate as target" mode (Z key) will smoothly follow a rotation of your ship (not instantly)
Physics: Safe collision velocity increased from 5 m\s to 40 m\s, maneuvering and physics now is much more fun because modules no longer explodes even on easy touch, Collisions at high velocity still may cause a significant damage.
Shields: Reworked energy shields. Now it can be activated much faster and overall more obvious and easier to use. It can shift its center position. And also, now it have restoration delay parameter (damage stops regeneration for a few seconds)
Weapons: Weapons now have different damage to hull and shield. Mostly, energy weapons is more effective against shields, while kinetic weapons against hull. New values displayed when you hover cursor over its icon in build menu.
Weapons: Combat lasers now fires with pauses between shoots. It looks better and more tactical for small laser weapons. Mining laser still capable to emit continuous ray. Later, large combat lasers also will be capable to emit continuous ray.
Warp drive: Added small warp drive which is more affordable but does not have interstellar capabilities.
Warp drive: Reworked and improved usability of warp drives. Now it have better interface, can shift its center of warp field and have instant power consumption. Overall now it should be much easier and more intuitive to use.
Redesigned galaxy map, now it looks better and no longer cause FPS drop due better optimization
Significantly redesigned tech tree. Now its unlocking should be more interesting and should provide new interesting capabilities with each research
Small improvements
Now each station has a proper name instead of boring number
Move tool now have hotkey (C button) very useful for quick construction
System map now have "space background" instead of just a boring solid color
Default QE control is inverted (now it is logically correct). It could be hard to get to it if you already familiar with inverted control, so you may just change it back in game settings if you wish.
World: Improved method of placement of NPC stations in aero mode, now it located on proper distance between each other
World: Asteroids now 50% larger (earlier it was too small and not epic enough)
World: Depleted asteroids now splits into chunks only once (instead of 2 times as before) because earlier it was too tedious to gather 4 last chunks, especially in orbital game mode
World: Starting location now can be located only around planets (not moons)
World: Width of asteroid belt now 2 times larger, which makes space less empty
Crafting: Asteroids no longer contains decimal amount of resources, as result, amount of crafting items in your inventory now will be mostly integer which makes it more comfortable to use
Crafting: Now mined ore firstly will be loaded to containers where such ore already stored (to stack items), after that to containers for ore, after that to other containers. Now mining more convenient.
Crafting: Ammo and Rocket fabricator modules removed from the game, now ammo can be produced in regular production modules. It didn't add too much interesting to the game and were just confusing. Standard production module performs its task very well.
Weapon: Light cannons now have 1 second delay between burst fire (overall, burst fire weapons looks better than "constant damage flow" weapons and combat seem more tactical)
Weapon: Energy projectiles no longer can ricochet which seems logical
Weapon: New visual effects for small rockets, now it has proper engine, smoke effect and explosion size
Weapon: Small rocket launcher now fire rockets from left and right barrels alternately, looks very nice
New info when radar selected: Radius
AI: Enemy ships no longer physically transparent, now you can ram into them! Or vice versa
AI: Enemy now will start to attack you if you attacked them from outside of its detection range
Usability: Radar markers now visible at closer range
Usability: Asteroids now marked with colors on radar, now it is much easier to detect an asteroid with required ore, hovering a cursor on each asteroid no longer required!
Usability: Radar range circle no longer hided at low camera angle, only at low zoom level
Usability: Now "Hide GUI" button also will hide gravity and atmosphere circle around planet, better for nice screenshots
Usability: Cargo movement slider no longer have decimal values (it was useless and just not convenient), a bit more comfortable now
Usability: Now you can hover cursor on system map and see which specific resources you can find in this system
Usability: Missing parts for module now can be auto ordered by right or middle mouse button (Ctrl and Alt no longer required)
Usability: Camera movement on RMB no longer stops placement of weapon
Camera: Now default camera angle not 90 degree but a bit inclined (70 degree) which looks better
Added buttons which allows to reduce maximum thrust of all engines on the ship which is useful during docking or similar maneuvers which requires high accuracy
Improved velocity indicator on ship control panel, now it has dynamic velocity bar
Improved audio effect for combat lasers, now should seems more like a real weapon
Radar markers no longer displayed for rockets (it looks better during combat)
Enemies more durable, earlier it was too weak
Black hole disk now looks a bit better (but have incorrect distortion, know issue, will be fixed later)
Rebalanced hit points for mining lasers, engineering modules, engines
Improved readability of on hover tooltips, it no longer transparent and have outline effect
Added description for Food and Foodstuffs to make it clear that only a first one suitable for crew members
Updated localization. Added Turkish, Catalan and Hungarian languages. Thanks for community!
Fixes
Fixed a bug when respawned asteroids had much more radius than it should
Fixed a critical bug which broke the game after several usage of move tool
It is no longer possible to move asteroids and debris using move tool
Fixed impossibility to move modules from one ship to another using move tool
Fixed incorrect behavior of physics after you moved entire ship using move tool
Movement of turret-based weapons using move tool no longer allowed (it is not required; you should move its turret module instead)
Ships which have only one module now have proper moment of inertia (no longer so low, especially for large modules)
Fixed issue with incorrect amount if mined ore in case if you have several cargo containers and one of them already almost full
It no longer possible to insert negative multipliers for planet mass and space density which allowed to brake laws of physics and crash the game
Changing of air density multiplier no longer changes collision damage multiplier as well
Now researches require 100 science data instead of 101 (or similar)
Fixed internal error if you your command module lost during weapon placement
Fixed internal error if hover cursor over heavy cannon
F11 "Hide GUI" button no longer shows main menu after reactivation
Weapons no longer instantly built on turrets and should be finished as other modules
Star in starting system will be always radiate constant energy
Fixed solar panel, now produce much more energy
Laser turn off, when storage full
Explosion effect now have correct velocity in aero mode
Now in asteroid field showing correct model
Rockets now have correct damage against shields
Small rockets no longer change its direction during flight
"List of required resources" of production module now showed for correct ship
Shift+1 hotkey no longer will be activated if "1" pressed without Shift, or vice versa
Fixed incorrect preview of solar panels
The next update will be delayed
Hello!
We planned to release an update at May 19, but after we tested a current result, we are not too happy with its quality.
In previous post we promised that in the next big update the quality of the game will be put on brand new level, and this is true, however at the current state there is still some significant game-design issues and bugs which may ruin an experience from gameplay.
So we need more time to be sure that the new update will be enjoyable. Not sure when it will be ready, maybe a week or a bit more, overall classic "When it will be ready", but we don't want to specify another date which we are not sure about.
Also note that we already updated the price to 20$ as said in previous post. This is because we changed a price 1 day before planned update (price changed not instantly) but on the next day decided to delay an update. So at this moment price already increased but update not released yet.
But if someone will buy the game now and will think that current version of the game is not worth 20$, he may just wait a bit for the next update, so it should not be a big issue. Otherwise, we are sorry for inconvenience. Anyway we guarantee that nearest updates will provide a high level of quality according to price of the game.
For now, you may take a look on one from the new NPC space station which will be available in the next update! (image above)
Thanks for your patience!
Information about upcoming game price change
In the comments to our previous post, other posts, reviews, Discord chat and personal messages, many people suggested us to reconsider and increase a price for the game, and actually they are absolutely right.
We have carefully analyzed prices for many various games in Steam store and it turned out that 11$ is too low of a price to pay for the game like Celestial Command.
So we would like to inform you in advance that when the next big update will be released (It will be released approximately in a week or so), we are going to change the price to 20$.
The next update will be great so it should worth it! We hope that you would all agree with our decision : )
Also, on the image above you may see a window which will appear before the game start, where you would be able to set up your very own character! Exciting, isn't it? We have added some icons for the command officers, that should make the overall look of the space ships more alive.
Some facts about upcoming crew system which will be available in the next update
(not a final version of crew interface)
As you probably noticed, crew system in the current version of the game is very raw and useless. Earlier we thought to implement a new crew system not in the next update (0.89), but in the update after (0.9), however, since we plan to make the next version very polished and enjoyable (we talked about that in previous post) - it would be good if we will implement a new crew system already in the next update, otherwise, current crew system could be very confusing for a new players.
So here is a few facts about upcoming crew system
There will be two types of crew members, "regular crew" with no personality and "command officers", which have names, ranks, experience and skills.
Most functional modules will require a specific number of regular crew member who should operate this module. Insufficient amount of crew members will reduce efficiency of modules.
You may manually rearrange crew members between modules.
There will be several types of regular crew members (engineers, scientists, gunners, soldiers). Each module have specific requirements for specific class of crew members.
Crew living quarters, launchers of escape pods and medical bays will increase morale of a crew which affect efficiency of modules.
Ships may have large amount of regular crew members (more than 100 on board) and just a few command officers.
Life support module and supply of oxygen will be important for crew survival.
Destroying of operated module or living quarters will not kill a crew members inside (they will escape to another section of ships). But destroying of command module will initiate a launch of escape pods, it amount of escape pods is not enough, the rest of the crew will be destroyed (yes, not too realistically, but good enough for gameplay)
Overall, we want to make crew system pretty simple, without movement of crew members in interiors and without personality and complex physical simulation of each crew member.
Celestial Command it is a game about modular space ships, so crew system should not be overcomplicated, but simple and easy to use crew system should add an interesting feeling from the gameplay and make space ships more alive.
Also about amount of crew members, we want to make it less realistic and more like in most Sci-Fi movies, where hundreds of crew members working on board of huge battleships. Of course, in real life, spaceships can be automated, but for the game, it would be epic to have large amount of crew members on board like in Sci-Fi movies of space opera genre.
What do you think? Feel free to express your thought and suggestions.
The next update will put quality of the game to completely new level
Hello!
Usually we are trying to release updates as often us possible, following by logic "As soon as we have a new feature - we should release it", but for the next update we want to use a different approach.
In the comments to our previous post, people suggested us to focus on the big update, instead of a sequence of smaller updates which are not so noticeable - and that is a great idea!
This will be very good for popularity of the game, and more important, for quality of gameplay.
Some people also thought that since the game already 4 years in development and still not very popular - it will not be popular any time soon.
This seems logical, but actually this is not true.
Currently we are working on the various game design tasks and made a conclusion that the game already have large amount of interesting and complex features, however most features just not accessible due wrong game-design solutions, wrong balance of various values or low usability of interface.
So, we are going to solve most of these issues in the next, big update, which should put quality of the game on completely new level.
Overall, the development focused on 3 main directions:
- Construction
- Combat
- Trading
Construction
Building of space ships and stations it is the most important feature of the game, it is very fun to create various ships in sandbox mode, however, surprisingly we realized that creation of ships in non-sandbox game mode is completely not fun. Usability is so much worse due various reasons and we are not happy with how it works in survival game mode, so it should be solved.
In sandbox mode your creativity is not restricted and this is great, but in survival mode, the game just does not allows to do any mistakes.
Everything is too slow, too expensive and seems like the only way to build something in survival mode is to design a ship in sandbox, make a screenshot and use a screenshot as a plan to build that ship in survival mode.
But this is not a way of gameplay which we want.
You should be able to unleash you creativity even in non-sandbox game mode.
In order to do that, we will make just a couple of simple, but very important things:
1.
Move tool will be much more accessible. It can be used not only within area of shipyard, but also in large circle around it, so it will allow to construct not only a ship inside shipyard, but also a space station itself.
Also modules for construction can be placed in much larger radius than radius of engineering module.
Large yellow circle shows a radius where you can easily place or remove modules (but modules still should be finished with engineering module which have smaller radius.
And here large yellow circle shows a radius where you can use "move tool" to quickly design or redesign your ships and space station (like on GIF animation above).
2.
Most modules will be much more cheaper, especially structural and decoration modules. It is not normal that you are forced to mine huge amount of resources just to build a few decoration elements around your space ship or station. Recipes for crafting should create an interest, it should not restrict a creativity.
This seems simple, but turned out it makes construction so much better and more fun.
New scaffold frames around unbuilt modules
Combat
Fighting against other space ships it is the second, very important feature of the game. The problem is - it is basically non existed in sandbox game mode.
Technically the game is capable to provide an amazing space battles between huge ships, but it is almost impossible to encounter during non-sandbox gameplay.
And this is another critical flaw of the game which should be fixed in the next update.
Encounters with enemy ships will be much more often and ships will be much more balanced, as well as access to weapons, ammunition and tools for more convenient repairs between combat encounters.
These changes also will have a dramatically impact of overall quality of the game.
Trading
Trading between space stations it is an interesting way to earn more credits, but we received a lot of feedback from community about trading and how inconvenient it is - and this is completely true, currently it is a way too overcomplicated, both in terms of functionality and user interface.
So, in the next update the trading will be completely redesigned.
A functionality of trading now should be much more obvious and easier to use.
Also we implemented a special type of commodities which is suitable specially for trading between space stations.
Previous version of trading window (so unintuitive)
And this is how new trading window will look (not a final version but close to it)
Besides that, a lot of smaller improvements also will be implemented, each improvements separately seems non significant, but in complex it makes the game so much better. The result should be amazing!
When it will be released?
We are not sure yet. We planning to release the next update within this month, but we want to make it very polished so maybe it will take a bit more time. Anyway, we will keep you informed about development progress.
Also we want to say thanks for everyone who support us on Patreon! You provided a huge help for us in this month, which helps us to develop this big update.
Thanks! ; )
We need your help to keep development safe
Hello!
Approximately a year ago, for some reason our sales of Celestial Command were reduced in several times, as a result, at this moment it is barely enough to cover our monthly expenses for food and bills.
Of course, we are very, very happy that we have a possibility of full time develop the game we love, and receive enough money for basic needs, however, we almost do not have any financial reserves.
It means that at this moment, even a small, insignificant issue may ruin an entire development of Celestial Command which was built for more than 4 years and correctly closer to finished game closer than ever before.
For example, If one of our computers will require a repair, or if fridge in the kitchen will require a repair, or if someone will need a meeting with a dentist, or any similar insignificant situation which will require a bit of additional expenses - we will be out of money, and we will not be able to develop Celestial Command anymore.
You are probably noticing that our updates are frequent, and we are adding a lot with each update by adding more and more features and moving to the goal of finished, polished and super enjoyable game. We are answering on all questions for the community, working during holidays or more than 10 hours per day, and we want to continue to do that without distractions of things like lack of money on basic needs.
We need relatively very little amount of money. Only 1500$ per month if enough for basic needs of our entire team (there are 3 people in our team). This is very little in comparison to average costs of products and salaries in the game development industry, which usually cost a lot more. 1500$ per month it is a tiny amount of money for average game-dev company, but it is very large and important for us.
It would be super disappointing if more than 4 years of development of unique space simulator will be ruined due lack of such a little amount of money.
But you have a possibility to help us with that!
At this moment we sold 25000 copies. If only 2% owners of Celestial Command (500 people) will donate just a 3$ per month (one cup of coffee and hot dog) - it will completely cover a basic needs of our team and we will be able to develop the game even if it will have zero sales.
3$ per month it is almost nothing for most owners of the game, but it will keep development safe. Even the lower amount of money will provide us a huge help, because with the combination of our regular sales it should be enough for basic need too.
If you wish to help us, you can do it on our Patreon page
What is Patreon?
It is popular service where you can provide financial help for creators of various things on per month basis. Just select how much you wish to donate and the money will be automatically transferred to us each month.
It is completely safe, secure and you may abort monthly donations any time.
Also you will receive some cute gifts.
Please read more on our Patreon page:
https://www.patreon.com/celestialcommand
Thanks you! We hope on your help!
Also there is an update version 0.8831 with some critical bug fixes and nice improvements.
CHANGE LOG
Improvements
Now you may repaint your ship faster by holding left mouse button, also color picking now simpler, just right mouse click instead of Ctrl+LeftClick. Also tips during paint mode now displayed not near a cursor (that was inconvenient)
Ally NPC now much more tolerant to the friendly fire and no longer turned into enemy right after a small damage on them
Speed of research module change from 0.2 to 0.25, power consumption from 300 to 50, so research at the beginning of the game now can be performed with reasonable speed.
Added alternative model for command module (for supporters on Patreon)
Added ability to summon pet drone (for supporters on Patreon)
Fixes
Fixed an issue when a game can't be loaded due index overflow (happened if game world exist for long period of time)
Fixed an issue when asteroid location had more warp gates than it should
Large shipyard modules now works properly
Science reward for missions no longer reset to 0 after save load
Move tool can be used on NPC stations again
Server list no longer appears after you saved a game
Main menu blog timeline no longer appears after you exit from options window which was opened during a game
Message "This faction now hostile to you" no longer spammed
Fixed internal error when double click on any module
Fixed a double amount of shards when asteroid mined with two mining lasers at the same time
Update 0.883 Alpha - New shipyard mechanics. own shipyard, more convenient production, new fuel tanks and more
Hello!
In the previous update we talked about new game design goal where we should focus on "Gather resources, refine it, construct own production base and produce more powerful stuff by yourself" aspect instead of "Complete missions, earn credits and buy new stuff on the market".
So we are continuing to work in that direction.
After we careful tested a crafting gameplay, it turned out extrimely complex, so we implemented a large number of improvements which should make production aspect is much more enjoyable.
Added new, smaller version shipyard, which is not so expensive and affordable to construct at the beginning phase of the game.
You may combine several shipyard modules to make working area larger. It will automatically define a working area and will apply nice spotlight visual effects.
Also we added new type of engineering module which works in combination with shipyard modules. Once it attached to shipyard, it will be able to perform engineering operation within working area of shipyard.
Such shipyard will act as a player base which is affordable and could be built within the first 1-2 hours of gameplay.
Also it have new animation which suits an concept of space shipyard! (see GIF animation on the top)
This should be important improvement for usability of ship construction. Earlier it was very inconvenient to build something because range of starting engineering module is very tiny and even if you will build T2 engineering module, it's range still not large enough, so it was necessary to build several T2 engineering modules, which is much harder due high resource cost. Also it seems illogical because you may think "Hey, I don't need a faster construction, I just want a larger construction area for my improvised shipyard!".
The new approach should fully solve this issue! Now you can build only one engineering module, which is cheap and affordable, and if you need bigger working area for your bigger ship, you may just extend a length of the shipyard scaffolds. Should be much easier to use now! Tell us what you think about it.
Another serious issue of the previous version was "Which parts I need to build for that module? How much ore I need mine for it? All of these recipes and production buttons seems too confusing!"
So we implemented a few things which should solve this issue.
Recipe of module now have icons and much more readable.
Also you may see which resources you already have and now it is clearly visible which parts is missing and should be built.
Another important feature, now you can right click on module icon to automatically order a construction of missing parts in production module on your ship!
Moreover, production window also have similar list of required resources and shows missing elements.
And ore refinery too!
As result, now it should be much more obvious what you need to mine in order to construct desired module, like "I want to build a shipyard, but some parts missing, but I may produce it if I will have some steel and copper and this list in ore refinery window it is an ores I need so lets mine it!"
We are very happy with this solution. We were a bit upset when turned out that craft is too complex and started to thought "Maybe it should be more casual? Just a few resources and modules right from raw ore, like before? It would be not good, we like a complex craft with many resources".
But we came up to this solution and seems like it should solve an issue! It should make crafting easier to use but still keep it deep and complex.
Also we have implemented a new selection effect, which has turned out to be very important due to implementation of larger modules such as new shipyard. It looks much nicer than before.
And also a couple of new fuel tanks!
In the next updates we are going to continue improve such base building gameplay. We will improve balance, usability, implement initial "mini tutorial" which will direct you and explain how to construct your first space base.
Also we will make NPC stations more rare, but significant (now they are everywhere) and also we plan to bring a great improvement in combat aspect soon, in order to make it fun and enjoyable, like it should be in good crafting survival game, but it will be explained in details in further posts.
Thanks!
CHANGE LOG
Large Improvements
Shipyard modules are now functional, it can be assembled to define a shipyard area, after that new special engineering modules can be attached to build ships on the shipyard
Added possibility to quickly add required or missing parts for module to queue list of production module
Added smaller shipyard modules
Added two new fuel tanks
Redesigned info window which shows you amount of required parts for module construction
Now you can use "Move tool" using own shipyard
Various module recipe rebalanced so player own space station \ shipyard now much more accessible at the beginning phase of the game (which is important because we are want to implement base building \ crafting gameplay)
Implemented new method of visualization of selected \ hovered module, now it is displayed with outline effect, which is better than previous "frame effect", especially for large modules such as warp drive and shipyard
Now you can add or remove amount of items in queue of production module by left or right click
Small Improvements
Large modules such as shipyard modules now can be placed in larger radius around your ship (previously it was hard to do because radius of small engineering bay is too small for it)
Updated icons of modules
Radar markers no longer displayed at close range where it is not required, as result it no longer creates visual garbage
Rebalanced thrust of various engines. Now starting ship much more agile, like it supposed to be for starting ship
Damage from collisions a bit reduced, earlier it was too high (but further rebalance is required and will be performed later)
Sandbox window now can be closed by second click on its button
Message "RMB - Show content" now displayed only after you hover cursor on the same container for 1 second, as result it no longer creates visual garbage when you are hovering cursor over your ship
Yellow warning icons above modules now scaled depending on zoom level and no longer creates visual and allows to select modules under it
Small engineering module now have a bit more correct animation when working on large modules such as shipyard
Collision audio effect now a bit more soft and pleasant to hear
Added two additional hydrogen tanks for starting ship
Fixes
Fixed: "Science data required" still shows when research device turned off
Audio volume of NPC engines no longer so loud
Some refined metals no longer can be placed in containers for raw ore
Fixed issue when blue selection frame of modules didn't disappear when you selected another module with move tool
Huge update 0.882 Alpha - New tool for orbital navigation, new looting, salvaging, mining, crafting and base building gameplay!
Hello!
Ship building and production it is the most important aspect of the game, however we realized that production is so complex, unbalanced and inconvenient to use so basically no one use it in the game.
So we decided to focus on this aspect and greatly improve it!
We added a lot of various significant improvements which should make the game much more enjoyable.
Overall, the main idea that game design based on "Complete missions, earn credits and buy new stuff on the market" is much less interesting than game design based on "Gather resources, refine it, construct own production base and produce more powerful stuff by yourself".
So from this update we are going to move the game toward the second variant of game design.
Of course, NPC, trading and missions will not be removed from the game, but importance of these aspects will be reduced in comparison to crafting and base building aspects, especially during initial phase of the game.
Simply put, initial phase of the game should be more like "co-op crafting survival game" and more late games may have some elements of "economical simulator game", but not vise versa (like in previous version of the game)
And we think it is a great plan which should make the game much more enjoyable than before.
And this have a sense, because gameplay like "do missions and buy stuff for credits" is very standard gameplay for many space games, but co-op realistic crafting and survival gameplay in space is much more rare, so this is exactly an aspect which should have a maximum attention in the gameplay.
New tool for orbital navigation
Highly requested tool for better orbital navigation is here!
Navigation in space no longer random. Orbital navigation is much more enjoyable now!
https://youtu.be/o0uO7uPx900
New mining
Now it should be much more enjoyable. Unrealistic and inconvenient sectors of asteroids was removed, So it no longer necessary to fly around an asteroid to mine it completely. New user interface show you what exactly you mining, when it will be done and where gathered materials unloaded
New salvaging
Now engineering modules is capable to automatically salvage debris in range. Salvaging now is much more comfortable and enjoyable to use!
New inventory UI, icons and production capable starting ship
Solved a nasty issue with inventory windows which overlaps entire screen and requires to rearrange windows manually. Now inventories is much easier to manage.
And new starting ship is capable to performs construction operations right from the start of the game. Also now it have proper engines, because flying around using maneuvering engines was weird.
This is initial update which started to move the game toward the new game design. In the nearest updates we will add even more improvements related to this aspect. We have a great plan about how to make the game is much more playable and enjoyable very soon!
Also, check a full change log for more information.
Thanks!
And also, the game is 20% off during Lunar New Year Sale!
Added a special tool which helps to direct your ship on correct trajectory in order to approach to a certain object in orbital mechanics mode!
Implemented a new method of salvaging. Now salvaging of debris performed not with "cargo gate module", but with "engineering module". Robotic arm now able to extract parts from debris, manually on your command or automatically within its radius. This process also requires an energy. Cargo gate no longer functional and just a decoration element.
Significant improvements in mining system. Due various new effects, usability improvements and rebalanced, now a process of mining should be much more interesting and enjoyable than before!
Added salvaging module which allows to recycle broken parts and extract usable materials
Added small refinery, production and fuel generator modules
Starting ship redesigned, now it have engineering, production and refinery module which allows you to salvage debris, repair and construct new modules right from the start
Solar panels now rotating to a star automatically (necessity to rotate it manually didn't added any interesting aspects to gameplay and was just tedious)
Now when you hover cursor over a module in build menu you may see amount of modules which can be built using available parts on the ship or a list of missing parts
Various changes in recipes and resource distribution in asteroids now allows you to build your space station much earlier than before (earlier it was so complex so almost impossible)
Added missing icons for ores and refined ores
Redesigned inventory windows. Solved an issue with inconvenient rendering of large inventory windows for ships with multiple containers
Small Improvements
Added "Show trajectory for active ship" button which makes visualization of trajectory much more convenient. Trajectory now correctly displayed when you switch control between ships or if active ship received damage and lost some modules
In module control panel, texts "true" and "false" replaced with localized "Yes" and "No"
Added special icon to distinguish normal construction items (such as steel plates) from its damaged version
Date in blog time line window in main menu displayed in 09.01.2018 format instead of 9.1.2018
Reduced size of visual effect of large chemical engine, so now it looks more suitable to the size of the engine
Ammo production moved to basic production module
Reduced max thrust of reactive engines (1400->1000 and 3500->2000)
Added description to ore refinery, production module, research module, scanning module and orbital scanner
Optimized rendering of trajectories
Added audio effect for production modules
Scanning module will give a message if there Is no useful data in scanned object
Build menu of production modules a bit redesigned
Locked modules in build menu now completely invisible (instead of just locked with the lock icon)
Default amount of asteroids increased from 100 to 300
Fixes
Space stations no longer physically transparent
Parameters of turrets now properly save loaded
Production modules no longer functional until fully built
Build list of production modules now properly save loaded
Fire debris mode of turrets now works again
Amount of energy in power storage now displayed correctly in case of low values
"Show orbital parameters" button no longer displayed in aerodynamic mode
Removed incorrect "Star server" description of "Display options" button
Preview of module now have more accurate position relative to cursor
Added localization support for scanning module and orbital scanner
Update 0.881 Alpha - Improved saved ships window and important bug fixes
Hello!
Here is a redesigned and improved window of saved ships, which now looks much better, have better usability and much easier to use.
Previous version
New version
Compact mode
Another interesting feature, when you save a ship, preview image will be created from the same point of view and with transparent background, as result, such images looks very nice, especially if shared somewhere with dark background, such as here, on Steam, or in Discord chat.
Also, turned out that some ships, especially a large carriers with several docked ships, especially inside enclosed space, may cause an explosion after this ship will be loaded from save file. Of course, this is a serious issue, and it it fixed in this update.
So now a ships like this could be loaded without any issues! Important fixes for future capital ships.
CHANGE LOG
Improvements
Camera: Improved "Reset pan" button. Camera no longer zoomed close to the ship (it turned out not too comfortable), and rotation now have smooth effect
UI: Prices in trading window now displayed with convenient spaces
Tech Tree: Small redesign of tech tree
Tech Tree: All modules of the starting ship now available for construction right from the start and no longer requires research
Optimization: Ships save loading now a bit faster
Ship Save Loader: Redesigned window of saved ship. More convenient design and usability
Ship Save Loader: Saving a ship no longer freezes a game for 1-2 seconds
Ship Save Loader: Added option to reduce size of ship icons in the saved ships window
Ship Save Loader: Now images of saved ships adjusted automatically and always have the same camera angle and position, also images have transparent background. Various UI elements and planets no longer visible on ship images, as result it creates very nice looking data base of ships. Source images of ships also looks very nice on websites or Discord chat which have dark background
Ship Save Loader: Now it is not necessary to select a ship if you want to save it. If nothing is selected, the currently active ship will be saved
Ship Save Loader: Now you can quickly spawn multiple ships using Shift+Click
Ship Save Loader: Now you can save ships in non-sandbox mode (loading is not available yet, but will be added later)
Ship Save Loader: Now you can rotate camera while placing a ship. Place mode will not be disabled
Ship Save Loader: Added delete confirmation window, so now there is less chance that you will accidentally delete a ship file
Fixes
Fixed serious bug with incorrect loading of docking ports which sometimes may cause an explosion on loading, especially for a large carriers with several docked ships
Fixed serious bug with incorrect loading of links between modules which caused to incorrect link between ships which was located close to each other while save file was created, which sometimes caused an explosion on large carrier ships
Asteroids now properly respawned
Center of Mass and Center of Thrust icons now properly rendered
State of nuclear reactor now properly save loaded
Solved a situation when the game was saved while NPC ship was inside another ship, and after loading it caused an explosion
