Hello!
Finally, it is done! Biggest update ever achieved a state when it can be released!
This update was really big and complex, it took much more time than we expected, so thanks you very much for your patience!
This update has a huge importance for the future of the game, we redesigned half of the game in order to implement a galaxy, but now, potential of the game is huge!
Earlier versions of the game had serious fundamental flaws. Basically, previous version of the game had no future
But now we have so many ideas and possibilities for further development!
Maybe someone skeptical about this new galaxy update and may think that the game became worse, but on the contrary, from now, the game have a possibilities to be better than ever before.
The most important improvement from this update - planets now really feels like a planets, and distances between planets really feels like a huge distances. Earlier ships were able to fly from one planet to another using simple maneuvering engines, this was a huge problem and it was impossible to solve it in previous version of the game, but now it is finally solved. "Feel of distances" now much stronger and this is a great foundation for gameplay which will be focused on exploration of unknown.
Also, due new nature of locations, we have new possibilities to implement many unique events which was not possible before, such as interesting anomalies or quests in distant systems.
If you didn't read a commend section of this post
https://steamcommunity.com/games/CelestialCommand/announcements/detail/3228394392749716885
We will recommend to take a look on it, because we explained some additional interesting facts about this new update and its huge benefits.
Also you may take a look on this post if you missed it
https://steamcommunity.com/games/CelestialCommand/announcements/detail/1575563008254546788
Please note that despite that fact that we worked on this update for a very long time, it still may have serious bugs and also it have a lot of flaws, we did not developer this update to the level of perfection, but we developed it to the state where it is more or less functional and we finally may show it for you.
Also, this update does not make gameplay itself much more enjoyable. We didn't improved quests and trading system yet, but we have a big plans about these aspects. This update it is mostly a foundation for a future updates.
Also, from now we are returning back to our previous frequency of updates, it means that we will try to release new updates as often as possible (1-2 weeks maximum, but we will try even more often). Let's return life in the dev blog! : )
Also, we are prepared a road map of development, the core of the game still incomplete and we have some very interesting ideas which want to share. We will prepare detailed text about these ideas and will share it after several days, it will explain our plans about core functionalities of the game and gameplay features which will be implemented on top of this update to unleash all the benefits which provided by new galaxy system!
For now, let's take a closer looks on some aspects which was implemented!
Stability of physics
Physics now is much more reliable. Trajectories of orbits no longer degrades over time! Trajectories also intact on any game speed, so now, if you put your station on the orbit, you can be sure, it will be on the orbit for many hours (unless something of someone will push it out of orbit).
Also, performance of physics improved in 2-3 times, it means now we may have larger amount of asteroids and debris on the orbit. Debris now have correct collisions and could be dangerous due Kessler effect.
Warp gates
Now we have a warp gates! And this is not just a simple "point to point instant teleportation", these warp gates have interesting mechanics. Your ships should really fly inside a gate (not just somewhere near it) Several objects can be located inside a warp field and warp travel will require some time to travel. You even can move asteroids via warp gates! We think that gates in space, especially with detailed physics it is very cool, hope you will like it too! : )
When the game starts, you don't have any warp drive, but part of galaxy already have net of warp gates. However more than 90% of locations does not have warp gates, so after you will got your first warp drive, you will have a freedom to go where you want and explore distant regions of galaxy.
Note: Currently there is a restriction, only 16 locations can be physically simulated simultaneously and the game could be broken after you jumped to a new system 15 times. This restriction will be solved a bit later.
New backgrounds and lighting
We added a lot of new background with makes visual appearance of the game much interesting! The space no longer grey and boring, now many systems will have its interesting appearance. Don't worry, we realize that too bright colors looks not good in the space, so most times you will encounter more or less dark backgrounds, but sometimes you will encounter very colorful, but still, very nice looking systems.
Since the game released, it had a problem with visual diversity of space, all screenshots were grey and boring, we are really glad that now this issue is finally solved!
In addition to that, we implemented new lighting system, hull of ships now has reflections from background and ambient occlusions effect, it makes graphic much better.
By the way, the new galaxy system allowed us to implement a moons around planets, here is how it looks on the map
You are also can see distant moons when you are on the orbit of planet
New module
Also, thanks for these who sends us a concepts for new modules, we added a new power storage, design based on 3D model from community members Mrmodules-Mauser and Sbimon, thanks!)
Steam Cloud
Now all of yours saved ships and saved worlds automatically saved on Steam Cloud. If you will delete save file, it is also will be deleted from Steam Cloud to, however, save files will be stored even if you deleted game folder or installed the game on another computer.
If you want to disable this feature, you are always can do it from game properties in Steam:
Discord channel now verified
A few days ago, our Discord channel was verified by Discord team, so now you may invite friends using nice looking URL!
https://discordapp.com/invite/celestialcommand
We fixed a lot of bugs, however a lot of them still should be fixed, but you may expect a fixes in nearest time. We will try to avoid such a long updates and will release updates and often as possible.
Within a few days we will publish a news about our road map, we have a lot of ideas which we plan to implement as soon as possible!
Thanks you very much for your patience and support! : )
CHANGE LOG
Major improvements
Completely new world with galaxy map and interstellar travel!
Added a warp gates
Implemented unique mechanics of warp travels via gates and using warp drives. Any physical objects can be moved inside a warp field.
Completely new system of backgrounds and lighting with new reflection effects and 14 new space backgrounds based on 4k textures (owners of 4k monitors should have even better quality)
Significant improvements of performance and stability of gravity and physical objects on orbit due recreation of gravity code which is now much more reliable
Completely fixed critical bug of orbital mode, when all physical objects was pulled out of their orbits during short period of time. Also, trajectory no longer changing when you are changing a game speed. Now trajectory is much more stable on x4 or x8 game speed.
Removed warning message which says that orbital mode is unstable. Now it has stable physics and much better performance, and we are happy with its quality. Button of orbital mode moved to the left side of the window since now it is a main and recommended game mode. Hooray!
Added Ambient Occlusion effects which significantly increases visual quality of ships
Steam Cloud implemented
Improvements
Small asteroids now much more massive and no longer feels like it made from a foam plastic
Now camera movement is limited in some radius, is solves an issue when camera moved too far away from the ship and it is hard to return it back
Planets now 2-3 times bigger
In aerodynamic mode planet no longer located below 0 level. Now planets located on the same level as a ships (the same as in orbital mode)
Orbital mode and aerodynamic mode now have the same type of the world (except physics)
Added new module: 2x1 power storage (design based on 3D model from community members Mrmodules-Mauser and Sbimon, thanks!)
Debris now save loaded
Added tool to display gravitational acceleration at the position of cursor (on the right edge of the screen under "eye" icon)
Radius of radar now the same in both game modes (orbital and aerodynamic)
Radius of radar hidden when camera view have low angle (so now you will have a better view when camera new a ship)
Thrust of all engines increased in 2.5 times. Ships now much more agile. Thrust now the same in both modes.
Added tool tip "Place weapon on turret" when you are going to place a weapon
Pieces of debris will no longer fly through other objects but will collide correctly
Transition from circle / ellipse to parabola / hyperbola trajectory now looks smoother
Notification panel no longer spams you with "new mission available" messages
Ship direction indicator now appears only when camera too far from the ship (not so close as before)
Space station on the low orbit now located on higher orbit so tidal forces during docking procedure no longer so strong
Planetary systems with black hole may contain only ice or moon type planets and gas giants
Solar panels is not working in systems with black hole
Added game time clock to the top-left corner of the screen
Added customizable hotkeys for time scale up and down
Added sandbox option to reveal all systems on the galaxy map
Main menu now have dark background and improved star effect
Now it is easier to dock with space station in tutorial because station located on high orbit
Now when you will teleport your own ship using sandbox tool, the camera will be automatically returned to default position, it is more convenient
Fixes
Now when you construct new module in empty space, the new module will inherit a velocity of your ship
Now ships which has been saved in aerodynamic mode can be properly loaded in the orbital mechanics mode
Now rockets ejected from rocket launcher with the correct velocity despite FPS or a time scale value
Fixed incorrect description of power "total output" value
Fixed incorrect thrust value for engines when game settings thrust factor not 1
Tool tip "A / D - Rotate module preview" now depends on assigned hotkeys in game settings
Apoapsis and periapsis icons no longer visible on parabola or hyperbola trajectory
Fixed a gap in line of parabola and hyperbola trajectory
Fixed small mistake in 3d model of power storage
Orbit trajectory of space stations and warp gates no longer shivers
Orbital parameters window no longer shows incorrect values for parabola or hyperbola trajectory
UI pointer in tutorial now always points at center of the element (not its corner)
Credits no longer will be spent when you are trying to buy new command module on existed ship
Now you can sell power storages even if it is not empty
Interval of auto save no longer depends on game speed
Removed useless power connector from warp drive
Several pictures of upcoming update
Hello!
Sorry for a really long time without news from us.
But don't worry! The game is not abandoned at all, we are actively working on the biggest update which will bring a lot of new features and possibilities!
When it will be released? We are still not sure, however we already may say that work completed at 80-90%. Almost half of the game was rewritten and most features is not worked because the game was in half-disassembled condition, however we already testing save load and multiplayer functionality and it is more or less working. Hooray!
The reason why there was no news from us - we are worried that people will not understand why we are going to remove "interplanetary orbital transfer" feature from the game if we will not show why it is necessary and what a great features it allows to implement. So first, we want to be sure that you will like a new update.
You know, we are worried about this feature too, we are love, orbital mechanics, realism and we are playing in own game. It is hard to imagine a result of a big update before it is complete. We know that it is important for the future of Celestial Command, we just wasn't 100% sure. But now, when the update is almost done, we are played it and now we are sure - the new version of the game will be much more better!
This update will add so much potential for the game, galaxy map opens many new gameplay possibilities! But we will talk about it in the future posts. We will explain why it was necessary to implement such significant changes, its great potential and will show a road-map for a nearest updates which will fully implement a new possibles opened by galaxy map.
Currently we are working on some important features such as network of warp gates, UI and also bug-fixes. The game have a lot of bugs which was accumulated during such long period of development, besides that, the technology which allows to implement a galaxy is quite complex, but it is not a problem, we will manage it.
New ambient occlusion effect on \ off
And we are really glad that you are waiting a new update with patience. Thanks you very much!
Big improvements are coming, Galaxy map!
Hello!
If you have been following the development process for a long time you would know that despite the game already 3 years in development, we are still ready to make big and fundamental improvements if it will be necessary for the quality of the game. This happened with 3D graphics and another core features.
And now we are going to make another big change in the gameplay.
Some time ago we started to feel that there is something fundamentally wrong with the Celestial Command. And after we analyzed several another space games, we realized a simple fact:
Almost every space game have any kind of "global map" or "galaxy map" and possibility to travel from one system to another! (Actually we didn't found any successful, space game without this feature)
And this is something which also should be in Celestial Command.
Importance of galaxy map for a space game is completely reasonable
Any open world game should have something which may be called "diversity of environment". For example, if we are talking about not a space game, for example a game about character / car / sail ship / plane etc. - such game may have only single location ("jump gates" is not required) because diversity of environment created by different biomes and landscape (snow, grasslands, mountains, oceans, desert etc.). As result, you may travel between different locations and it will be fun to explore the world.
But if we are talking about space game, there is no landscape in the space, because space, you know, quite empty. Diversity of environment should be created by different types of stars, planets, nebula, backgrounds, black holes.
Such things can't be put into single planetary system (because one planetary system may have only one background and a star).
The single planetary system in space game will feels empty despite its actual size.
This is why galaxy map is required and it is essential aspect of most space games.
So, we are going to implement a galaxy map!
On the image in this post you may see a prototype of galaxy map which contains 200 stars.
How it will work? There will be galaxy map to travel between stars and also "system map" to travel between star, planets, moons and some locations in asteroid field or deep space.
In exchange, size of location will be reduced and each location will have only 1 central object (planet \ moon \ star). However, size of planets will be increased in several times. Movement between planets will be possible only using warp drives and jump gates.
Despite the fact that size of location will be reduced, entire game world will feels much larger due the possibility to jump between systems.
New types of stars will be added. Including binary stars and blackholes. Plus, a lot of new backgrounds will be added. Each planetary system may have its own background, which will significantly increase a visual diversity.
What about orbital mechanics?
Don't worry, it still will be here. Asteroids, debris, space stations and ships will be on orbit of central object (star, planet, moon). By the way. Moons will be added.
However you will not be able to travel between planets using only engines and orbital maneuver. It will be possible only using jump drive or jump gate.
Someone can be upset about this fact, but make note that currently "interplanetary maneuver" looks very weird due tiny size of the system and do not bring too much fun for the gameplay.
So we think that it is acceptable price for a possibility to explore the galaxy. The most fun part of orbital mechanics in CC, it is an objects around planets and this aspect will be intact (or even better) because planets will be a bit bigger. Besides that, it will allows us to fix some critical bugs with physics and improve overall performance.
Also it will be possible to rotate planets and moons around their central object. As result, price of jump between planets may depends on distance between them.
By the way, we are also started to working on implementation of tech tree and more advanced AI which is also two essential features which should be in the Celestial Command, but firstly we will implement a galaxy map.
We will try to implement this new feature as soon as possible, it should take not too much time. We will keep you informed.
And Happy New Year!
Update 0.832 Alpha - Completely new power system and 25% off during winter sale
Hello!
For a long time, resource connectors had some fundamental flaws. Power connectors is not intuitive and hard to use. People said us a lot about this and we are thinking about how to improve it.
So now we decided to completely redesign this system.
Resources connectors for fuel and building materials still intact, but power system is completely changed.
Now power systems works more like a real electricity. Almost all electrical devices was redesigned, so most of them can work even if you have not enough power, but efficiency also will be reduced.
Also, it is no longer necessary to have power storage on the ship. Electrical devices now can take energy right from the power sources.
All power consumers can be turned on / off in order to control power level.
Power storages now have limited speed of charge / discharge.
Also we added nice graph which displays energy consumption and production.
Rendering of radius circle of radar is greatly improved. If you have many ships with radars and no longer will looks like a bunch or chaotic circles.
Also you can disable radar circles, markers and HP bars
CHANGE LOG
Improvements
Completely new power system with much better functionality, usability and performance
Power monitor is fixed and improved. Added a graph which represents power production and consumption levels
Turrets now requires power in order to rotate
Added possibility to turn on \ off any electrical module from the power net
Most devices which consumes power now have different mechanics. They can work at insufficient level of power with lower efficiency.
Changed mechanics of energy shield. Now it have different recharge rate based on power level
Radar may work with insufficient power supply, but it will provide lower radius
Lasers now have different effectivity based on power level
Circles which represents radar range now combined with each other and no longer displays inner segments which greatly improves usability and comfort of radars
Space stations now have holiday appearance
Added possibility to switch on / off displaying of various GUI elements, such as: HP bars, radar markers, radar range
Magenta icons of radar no longer will appears over your own ships (these icons is useless for own ships)
Space stations and big ships will no longer became invisible as soon as at least one of their module exited your radar range. They will became invisible when they center of mass exited radar range
Fixes
Fixed a bug with invisible ship inside a range of your radar which appears in some cases after you built a new module
Button "Duplicate ship" removed from sandbox menu because it caused a lot of bugs with the new ship. Instead of that, in order to duplicate a ship, you should use save load menu which is much more reliable.
Center of Mass and Center of Thrust icons no longer remains visible after active ship is destroyed
Now you can move the camera by middle mouse button after active ship is destroyed
On off state of mining laser now correctly saved and loaded
Power monitor now shows correct values
Update 0.831 Alpha - Hotfix and 20% off during Autumn sale!
Just a quick update with some important fixes.
Besides that, Autumn sale launched today! Celestial Command now 20% off during sale.
Improvements
List of random planets for background of main menu a bit changed
Now in Chinese, Japanese and Korean localizations, symbols should have correct, bigger size (let us know if it is still unreadable somewhere) (Known issue: After you selected a language, you need to restart the game in order to apply correct size of symbols)
Fixes
Fixed an impossibility to change a language
Fixed an "Error" text instead of name of Engineering module Mk2
Fixed "Button" text instead of resolution menu in game options
Fixed a bug when actual build radius of shipyard is smaller than visible radius of yellow circle
Update 0.83 Alpha - New engineering module, fixes and 3 years of development
Greetings!
It is already 3 years since the first version of Celestial Command was released in Steam!
Many interesting things was added during the year.
When we started a development, we planned to finish the game much earlier, but since it is our first project and the project is technically very complex and unusual, this will take more time than we expected.
We are always learning, finding new methods and technologies, implementing the best one.
We are continuing to develop the project and listen a community, your reports and suggestions is really helpful and allows us to achieve such results! Thanks you!
In this post we explained our thoughts about engineering modules and realistic robotic arms.
But current engineering module is too small and also looks not exactly as we want.
So we added a new module which is much more functional and looks better.
New main menu. Now each time when you start the game, you will see a beautiful planet (picked randomly)
A small bonus for those who would like to check out how the game looked 3 years ago. We added a possibility to launch the most first version of Celestial Command released in Steam.
In order to do that, open properties of Celestial Command, Beta tab and select "old version".
If you are interested, check this out. We was surprised how much the game changed during 3 years!
Added new engineering module with larger range of reach
Added new starting ship which have center of mass in the geometric center of the ship, so it will flight straightforward when your press W and will not require additional setup with engines
Added new background of the main menu (previous one caused a bug with save load in orbital mode)
Improved glow effect for star
] GUI of Warp drive destination point is a bit improved
Radius of shipyard increased from 30 to 40 in order to allow to construct a ship when you docked to the docking port
Default construction ship in sandbox mode now have new engineering module
Audio
Added random pitch deviation for explosion sound in order to diverse sound effect of mass ship explosions
Added new audio effect for heavy cannon (now it really sounds like a heavy cannon)
Changed sound of module and rocket explosion to more low frequency audio effect
AI
AI torrents (of pirates) no longer attacks invulnerable NPC stations
AI turrets no longer opens fire before turret will be aligned with the target
AI turrets no longer stop fire when targeted not in the exact center of a target
If a ship have several rocket launchers, it will fire with 0.5 second interval (not simultaneously)
Rockets
Torpedoes now have 2 seconds arm time, so they will not explode near your own ship
Changed sound of rocket starting engine
Disabled particle collisions for smoke trail of rockets, that improves performance and removed
incorrect rendering of trail
Rockets now have less powerful engine and no longer so overpowered
Improved explosion visual effect of rockets
Engine visual effects of rocket now have smaller size
You no longer can target rockets into your own ships
Fixes
Fixed an impossibility to load a game (orbital mode) from the in-game menu
Fixed a situation with invisible ships in range of your radar
Fixed "trail of sparks" of laser impact visual effect
Now you can set destination for warp drive in aerodynamic mode as intended
Now you can focus camera on the star
NPC stations now can be selected even outside of radar range
Now you can select module objective of mission even if it is outside of radar range
Camera sensitivity no longer depends on FPS or game speed
Update 0.823 Alpha - Important fixes of multiplayer, radar and tutorial
In this update we fixed some important bugs with radar, so a ships no longer will suddenly disappear right in range of your radar.
Besides that, stability of multiplayer now should be a bit better.
New options for world generator:
Maybe size of the changelog is not very impressive, most time was spent on analysis of magic bugs with a radars and improvements of core, and now this important feature should work as intended.
We will try to add more interesting features in the next updates.
Oh, and by the way! Celestial Command is 20% off until 1 November.
CHANGE LOG
Improvements
World: Added 4 new options for "generate world" window (amount of small asteroids, big asteroids, presence of pirates and NPC stations). It can be used to create a world with less amount of objects or almost an empty world in order to increase a performance
Network: When new client connecting to multiplayer game, the game will be paused and other users will see correspondent message (this should solve a various desync problems)
Network: Added notification on client side, when client lost connection to the server
Network: Added possibility to set server password (and now this feature works correctly)
GUI: Yellow circles in tutorial now have the same animation speed on any game speed
Fixes
Fixed broken tutorial (it was accidentally broken at previous update)
Fixed important bug when some ships became invisible even inside a range of your radars
Invisible modules, debris and asteroids no longer can be highlighter or selected by cursor
Invisible engines no longer have visible visual effect and audio effect
When someone built a module to its invisible ship (which outside of range of your radar) the new module also will be invisible
Update 0.822 Alpha - Improvements of turrets and multiplayer fixes
Multiplayer available in the game for a long time, but due large amount of bugs and flaws it was practically unusable.
So now we are decided finally to make it fully stable.
There is quite a lot of work, so it will require several updates in order to achieve this goal.
Interesting fact, there is so much job because we ignored a multiplayer for a while, and many single player features just not adapted for the multiplayer. This fact confirms a necessarily to work on multiplayer right now, otherwise, later the multiplayer feature will be even more complex to complete.
And also a new feature, now you can specify target for turret using right click
Besides that, we believe that stable multiplayer will be capable to bring more popularity for the game.
So now we want to adapt 100% of single player feature for a multiplayer, and after that, every new feature will be developed both for single and multiplayer.
Note, quests and trading still not adapted for multiplayer, because we are still not sure how it should work in the single player. But we will work on it in the next few updates.
CHANGE LOG
Improvements
Added possibility to specify a target for each turret individually
Added visualization of target of turrets
Improved algorithms of target prediction for turrets, now turrets capable to track a modules of the ship which rotates
Fixes
Reputation value now correctly loaded for connected user
Now you will see "Connecting" window when trying to connect to server from server list
Fixed an error on client side when module destroyed by collision
Connected users now will see proper rotations of turrets and rate of fire of weapons
Eject button of storage container now properly synced in multiplayer
Rocket fabricator now have correct input connectors
Asteroids in aerodynamic mode now contains all types of resources
Production modules now correctly works in multiplayer
Reputation reward when pirate was destroyed now correctly displayed for client (not for server)
When new module unlocked, client will see correct message
All users in multiplayer no longer will reset camera when one of them respawned on a new ship
Clients now should be able to spawn a starting ship on a high ping
Cargo containers now should be properly synced between users
Clients now can properly repair modules on NPC stations
Projectiles and its damage now should work correctly on client side
Update 0.821 Alpha - Multiplayer fixes
We received a reports about server crash when someone trying to connect to server, so this update should fix it.
Usually our game and Unity engine is never crashed, but when it happens, the cause can be hard to find, so it took some time, but now should be okay.
CHANGE LOG
Improvements
In aerodynamic mode stations located closer to the center of sector, as result, enemy ships will not attack you right from the start of the game.
Significant optimization of various systems, especially in multiplayer
Updated localization (thanks for all volunteers for fast help with localization)
Fixes
Fixed crash in multiplayer
Various fixes of synchronization in multiplayer
Asteroid GUI no longer displayed for big static asteroids
Fixed incorrect short sound effect from mining laser
Big update 0.82 Alpha - Robotic arms, ammo production, bases, gas collection, fixed orbits, shadows, module info, warning icons
Hello!
This update took more time than usual, but it brings a big number of important improvements and changes, and we finally ready to show the result!
Engineering drones replaced with robotic arms
Sometimes, people asked us about drones. Mining drones, combat drones etc. But we answered that drones does not fit the concept of this game. Let's explain it in more details.
Drones haves several conceptual problems:
They do not consume fuel, but they have engines. This is a bit unrealistic.
But the most important, drones can't be damaged or destroyed, because they are flying above the main ship (different Z level), and this is incorrect. Enemy should be able to shot down the drones if they are trying to damages its ship.
It means that we should add another type of "anti-drone" weapons which will attack everything in radius like in tower-defense games. Also it will require to implement another systems for drones hitpoints, AI, or even storage if we are talking about mining drones.
As result, it will turn into completely new game about drones which will be built on top of existed ship about spaceships. And this is absolutely incorrect, because we already have all of such systems, storages, AI, damage control etc.
So according to our vision of game concept, engineering drones should looks like actual a small space ships with engineering equipment.
And this is what we done. Engineering module now is much smaller, no longer have "yellow drones" but equipped with robotic arms, which performs engineering tasks in small radius around itself.
In our opinion it is much more interesting and also realistic.
So now it consumes only power, and should not require a fuel, it is more logical now. We trying to recreate something like a real robotic arm on ISS, which called CANADARM:
Or something similar to industrial robots on real factories:
Robotic arms is more beautiful during construction, and also it requires to build special engineering ships, which can be docked to main ship and perform engineering tasks when it will be needed!
Later we will add more various of engineering modules, with smaller and bigger arms and different radius, which will allows to build impressive space shipyards!
Warning icons
Added new very convenient notifications system, so you no longer will wandering why your engineering may don't want build something. Why engines does not works, and what situation with the food on the ship.
Production modules
Another problem which was solved: "some resources can be obtained only via trading". And this is incorrect. Accord out vision of the game, everything should be craftable with help of NPC traders.
So we added production modules for ammo, rockets and gas collector which allows to gather xenon from planets!
Home bases
When we started to work on new production modules, we realized another problem, production modules is too small.
In most open world survival games, users should build own "base" or "house" where you should bring resources, repair and upgrade something. So we are want to implement something similar.
So all production modules now it much more bigger and massive. It still can be moved using engines, which allows you to have movable base, which is very nice feature. But it will require much more fuel, so it will encourage you to build own space station as a base.
Info about modules in build list
This old flaw of the game finally fixed. Now you can explore characteristics of modules right in the build menu, without necessarily to build modules. It makes planning a much more convenient.
Advanced shadows
We added special technology of shadows, which implemented as screen space post-effect, as result it is capable to displays shadows for even the smallest details on the ship. The result is very nice! Looks at the difference before and after:
100% stable NPC stations in orbital mode
Yes! Stations no longer will fall on planet. Completely. Now stations located on fixed orbit. It required some research, but we managed to do it. By the way, aerodynamic mode helped to find a solution for orbital mode : )
Implementation of this technology allows new possibilities for orbital mode. We are started working on jump gates and experimental orbital assistant, but update already too big, so it will be added later.
Besides that, now when we are improved such important core features, we are going to continue to work on bugfixes.
CHANGE LOG
Improvements
Added screen-space shadows effect which provides shadows for a small details at close range, which significantly improves overall quality of graphics!
Now you can see characteristics of modules right in the build menu. Also this window is a bit redesigned (added yellow frame for better visibility)
Now, in orbital mode, NPC space stations and big asteroids located on fixed orbits! It means nothing can move them. Stations no longer will fall on planet and always will be 100% stable!
Added large asteroids in orbital mode (they are on fixed orbits and can be moved)
Completely new engineering module instead of previous one. Drones completely replaced with robotic arms, which is much more realistic and suits the game concept.
New module: Ammo fabricator (produces ammo for cannons)
New module: Rocket fabricator (produces ammo for rocket launchers)
New module: Gas collector which allows to gather xenon from the planets
Fuel fabricator now is much more massive
All production modules now have "cycle time", so it produce result once per N seconds
All production modes now can be toggle on and off
New module: Structural part which is useful to fit to these new production modules
Model of small command module is redesigned, so now it looks better if something placed in front of it
Added system of warning icons (for engineering module, engines, all types of weapons, power generator, solar panel, all production modules), which will inform you about lack of resources, wrong connections or something else. Which makes ship management much more convenient!
When your crew is out of food, you will see an icon above module, which will disappear once food will be supplied
Collisions from damage decreased in 5 times (modules no longer will explode even on light touch)
Added new build frames (but it is temporary and will be improved later)
Small improvements
Added "Hide all" button for appearing notifications
Engineering module no longer can repair or deconstruct itself, it should be done by another module
Cargo gate module moved to "Production" category
Production rate of fuel generator changed from 1.1 to 6
Masses of some modules rounded to more nice looking values
Icons of modules in build menu is re-renderered with different light preset
Power generator now is togglable
Power generator no longer consumes uranium when power storage is full
Power generator a bit redesigned in order to fix visual gaps between neighbor modules
Amount of resources in asteroids increased in 10 times (it was impossible to gather enough ice)
Fixes
Fixed laser impact visual effect (sparks) in orbital mode
Now you can properly grab static asteroids with grabber
You no longer can sell turrets with attached weapon or storages with content (you will see a warning when you will try to do it)
Window with info of module no longer will flicker when you move cursor from one icon to another (in build menu)
Engines with "auto mode" off now will properly ignore WASD and stabilizer and can be controlled only by user defined hotkeys
You no longer receive small amount of resources when engineering bay deconstructed a module which was placed but was not constructed
Ion engines no longer able to work while their power connector is not connected
Modules which was built in sandbox mode no longer can be instantly deconstructed in non-sandbox mode
Planets no longer can be selected in main menu
In orbital mode, when game is loaded, camera focused on your ship (not on planet)
Fixed blocked control after game was saved from menu
Mounting points no longer should be broken after you detached a module during pause
