Deep Space Battle Simulator cover
Deep Space Battle Simulator screenshot
PC Steam
Genre: Strategy, Indie

Deep Space Battle Simulator

Update #20: Ship movement improvements, keybinding and mouse fixes and more!
Due to issues with the new capital ship movement, the last Update #19 was reverted to make sure the game was in a playable state and the issues were resolved on the beta branch of the game. Since everything looks fine now, all changes from Update #19 are added back to the game with this update.

Another issue that only affected players that installed the game for the first time in the last few weeks was a weird bug that caused the players mouse to be inverted, resulting in nearly unusable controls. This issue has now been fixed completely. If you have any other issues with the keybindings please try the new "Reset keybinds" option, or contact me.

The Barsk Security Guard got buffed a bit after a recent nerf that was a bit too much, its base HP are now 300 instead of 200. There are also some collision fixes, especially for smaller fighters, and after a recent buff that made them too strong, mines now deal around 20% less damage, and Bombers only come with 8 instead of 12 mines. There are also fixes for repairing not working correctly on Linux and some achievements and steam stats not updating correctly.

Full changelog:
- REWORKED: smaller fighter movement system once again to a much more reliable system
- REWORKED: capital ship movement systems once again to a much more reliable system
- IMPROVED: capital ship collision lag reduced
- IMPROVED: added more realistic acceleration to the capital ship
- BUFFED: increased small fighter laser speed by 50% to make it easier to hit things that go very fast
- BUFFED: increased Barsk Security Guard HP from 200 to 300
- CHANGED: reduced mine damage to 6-60 (before: 10-80) and reduced amount of mines inside the Bomber to 8 (before: 12)
- FIXED: some smaller fighter bugs
- FIXED: players that are not on your ship sometimes appearing on the map (on the right or left edge of the map)
- FIXED: adjusted fighter description speed and damage bars to adjust for the recent changes
-FIXED: keybinding issues resulting in new players having an inverted mouse in some cases

Update #19: Reworked ship movement, fighter changes and lots of improvements
The movement system the game used before this update features nearly instant acceleration for the capital ship and the smaller fighters, making them feel very responsive but at the same time very unrealistic. Another issue was a sometimes inaccurate collision system, that led to huge lag spikes on bigger collisions. I completely reworked the movement and collision systems, so now they should feel a lot more realistic, with better collision response, basically no lag on capital ship collisions, and a much more believable acceleration. To compensate for the lag of instant acceleration, the smaller fighters now can fly up to 80% faster, and they also have a new little warning system that alerts you if an enemy fighter is close to you and aiming in your direction.

There were also some balancing changes you can read further below in full detail, a new "Reset Keybinds" option was added, and lots of bugs fixed, most notable a bug that led to players falling through the floor and a bug that led to the energy of some parts of the ship being set to values far too high.


Full changelog:
-REWORKED: smaller fighter movement system, more realistic acceleration, better collision response
-REWORKED: capital ship movement system, more realistic acceleration, less buggy collision and no more lag on collisions
-ADDED: alert in smaller fighters if there is an enemy fighter close behind you
-ADDED: "reset keybinds" option
-ADDED: B1/B2 droids and Barsk Security Guards now shoot enemy Fireo Droids
-ADDED: Tactical Droid AI will now try to chase your capital ship if it gets too far away
-ADDED: ability for engineers to repair broken doors
-CHANGED: broken door effect now consists of sparks instead of flames
-CHANGED: changed "Auto Pilot" key when controlling the capital ship from the ShootKey (default: LMBT) to the look around key (default: ALT)
-CHANGED: updated the "enemy capital ship" icon in smaller fighters
-CHANGED: lower respawn time on higher life support energy values, but higher respawn time on lower values
-BUFFED: smaller fighters top speed increased by 80%
-BUFFED: mines from the "Bomber" fighter now deal 10-80 damage based on proximity (before: 5-60 damage)
-NERFED: Bomber now holds only 8 mines instead of 12
-NERFED: Barsk Security Guard HP lowered from 400 to 200, still takes no damage if you hit his energy shield
-FIXED: a few hangar doors bugs
-FIXED: reworked energy system to prevent a few bugs
-FIXED: tutorial not progressing after shooting the engine
-FIXED: respawn time display in the energy controls UI now correctly takes damage to the bridge into consideration
-FIXED: bottom turret bars not having the correct colors in the selection screen
-FIXED: Tactical Droid AI can now longer dodge super lasers if their engine is disabled
-FIXED: collision issues after sitting in one of the chairs on the bridge, which could lead to falling through the floor
-FIXED: capital ship still moving after its engine was disabled if you keep holding the movement keys
-FIXED: "Repair Droid" option still displaying on the Barsk Security Guard, even though you cant repair it

Update #18: Headshot multipler and bugfixes
As an addition to the recent gun changes, this update introduces a new headshot multiplier for players, hitting your opponent in the head now results in 50% more damage dealt. To keep the time to kill somewhat the same, the overall damage dealt to players was reduced by 20%, so it will take a bit longer to kill players if you only hit body shots, but you can kill them much faster if you aim for their head.

There are also some bugs fixes related to capital ships sometimes still being able to manouver with broken engines, the new revolver being held upside down in third person, and issues with control inputs like looking around, especially for controllers


Full changelog:
-ADDED: headshot multiplier (1.5x)
-CHANGED: removed all weapons damage by 20% to compensate for the new headshot multiplier
-FIXED: revolver being held wrong for other players
-FIXED: quick comm menu displaying wrong message when inside the enemy ship
-FIXED: possible bug that allowed capital ships to keep flying with a disabled engine
-FIXED: potential fixes for looking around not working, especially for controllers

Update #17: Gun system rework, classes changes, Captain improvements and more!
One of the biggest issues with the way the games gun system before was that it only supported the player having one equipment piece at once before, so the player had to drop his weapon if he wanted to pick up a fire extinguisher for example. This resulted in a player being left defenseless if he equipped the fire extinguisher, and lots of default pistols just lying around. The better weapons in the gun lockers were quickly swapped by the players, leaving the gun lockers only with the less useful standard pistols. This update allows players to equip tools without having to drop their weapons, and adds class-specific starting weapons, so you only need to swap your weapon with one from the gun lockers if you want to swap from a close-quarter shotgun to a more versatile rifle for example. There is also a new weapon, the revolver, and brand new animations for all weapons, as well as lots of changes to existing weapons you can find below in the full changelog.






Another common complaint was that some players kept swapping upgrades and turrets their teammates chose for their own preferred choice, much to the displeasure of their teammates. The system where everyone could choose everything was something that works amazingly well if all team members communicate, and allows everyone to take part in the ship customization progress, but it can be ruined by a single less communicative player. I attempted to fix it by giving the Captain of a team the ability to basically have the last work in choosing upgrades, but that did not go far enough with players still being able to sabotage their team with their turret and fighter picks. Now, Captains can choose to prevent any changes from their team, if he feels there is not enough communication. This is disabled by default and can be enabled or disabled again by the Captain of each team.



There also is a new system that kicks players that are AFK for too long, and lots of improvement for keycards, controllers, the server browser and smaller fighters as well as the usual bugfixes.


Full changelog:
-ADDED: reworked weapon system so you can pick up tools like the fire extinguisher without having to swap it for your weapon
-ADDED: ability to drop tools like the fire extinguisher (default key: "G")
-ADDED: Revolver weapon: 60 damage, 75 RPM, 75 DPS
-ADDED: animations to all weapons
-ADDED: ability to change your class ingame, will take effect once the next round starts
-ADDED: AFK kick system (current AFK timer is 10 minutes)
-ADDED: toggle for the Captain to allow/prevent team from making changes to turrets, fighters, and upgrades
-ADDED: dropped keycards from dead players now also can respawn in the crew quarters/cantina so other players can find them again if they dropped at not accessible spots
-ADDED: default weapons for all classes (Crew: pistol, Engineer: shotgun, Ranger: rifle, Pilot: SMG, Officer: revolver)
-ADDED: basic controller support and controller keybind options
-REMOVED: players not being able to sell upgrades when not captain
-BUFFED: Officer now has +20% firerate for manually controlled turrets
-BUFFED: shotgun damage from 5x15 to 5x20
-BUFFED: increased pistol firerate from 75 RPM to 100 RPM and damage from 35 to 40 (43 DPS to 67 DPS)
-BUFFED: Crew class now has +50% firerate for manually controlled turrets (was 20% before)
-NERFED: removed "+20% firerate with pistol" bonus for the Crew class
-CHANGED: added revolver to the gun locker (now holds 5 instead of 4 weapons)
-IMPROVED: keycards dropped by dead players now do not all spawn at the same spot, so it's easier to pick them up
-FIXED: "Repair Droid" option removed from dead Barsk Security Guards
-FIXED: fix for "engine/generator destroyed" alert appearing when enemy engine/generator is broken
-FIXED: mouse being inverted by default
-FIXED: capital ship HP bars at the top of players HUD sometimes having the wrong color
-FIXED: killfeed showing that B1 droid killed somebody when B2 droid killed someone
-FIXED: smaller fighters sometimes spawning inside the capital ship after leaving the hangar
-FIXED: server browser not showing "PvP" tag for PvP servers

Update #16: Captain promotions, AI movement fixes and lots of improvements!
Additionally to the most recent changes to the Captain role, Captains that do not want that role anymore can just walk to another crew member and promote them to Captain, losing the role themselves. Captains now also get correctly displayed on the map.

One of the biggest issue with the AI got fixed, they no longer get stuck when trying to exit the bridge near the elevators, before more and more AI units would get stuck in that spot. The Barsk Security Guard also received an update, it now will have equipment in their team color, making it easier to understand for newer players that it's a friendly crew member.

The scoreboard also received some visual improvements and now will display the class of each player. There are also some fixes for the game modes of player-hosted servers not displaying correctly in the server browser, key-locked doors closing again after being shot open, the intruder alert system and a few minor bugfixes for the in-game map.


Full changelog:
-ADDED: Captain can now give his rank to other teammates
-ADDED: class info to the scoreboard
-ADDED: Barsk Security Guard now has different colors, depending on the team he is in
-CHANGED: Barsk Security Guard now has unique sounds instead of making the same sounds as the B1 Droid
-IMPROVED: scoreboard UI looks a bit cleaner now
-FIXED: Military Shuttle map icon having 2 shuttles instead of one
-FIXED: some intruder alert bugs
-FIXED: player hosted server not displaying the correct game mode in the server browser sometimes
-FIXED: key-locked doors sometimes closing again after being shot open
-FIXED: Captains name not showing on the map
-FIXED: AI getting stuck in some places

Update #15: Captain changes, Officer buffs and lots of bugfixes
While most of the newly released class system seems to work fine, the "Officer" class feels a bit weak, and the system that chooses the Captain of a ship was a bit inconsistent, so this update tackles these issues by buffing the "Officer" class, giving it 30% damage resistance while on their own bridge, and by making it clearer who will become Captain. Now every ship will be guaranteed to have a Captain, the "Officer" class will still be preferred when selecting the Captain, but if there are no players with that class, another player will be chosen. The Captain now also has a unique icon and color on the map, as well as a unique model in-game.

There were also a few bugs like showing the wrong map or having incorrect UI popups that you need to repair your engine even if it wasn't damaged, these resulted in an issue where the game would get confused about which capital ship you were on in that moment, these issues are all fixed now. Additionally, a few other minor bugs were fixed like fireo droids not showing on the map.


Full changelog:
-ADDED: Captain now has his own map icon and color
-ADDED: Captain now has a unique model with golden shoulder plates so he is easier to identify
-BUFFED: Officer class now takes 30% less damage while on his bridge
-BUFFED: Captain now takes 20% less damage while on his bridge
-IMPROVED: if there are no Officers in a team, a random other player will become the Captain, so every team always has a Captain
-IMPROVED: if a Captain quits the game, another player of his team will be assigned Captain
-IMPROVED: if a player joins a team that has no Captain, he will become the Captain
-FIXED: fixed fireo droids not showing on the map
-FIXED: map staying the map for the enemy ship after dying and respawning on your own ship
-FIXED: sometimes getting "Generator/Engine repair" UI on-screen if the enemy generator/engine was destroyed and not yours

Update #14: Class system, server improvements and more!
The biggest new feature in this update is a much-requested class system. You can choose between Crew Member, Engineer, Ranger, Pilot, and Officer in the main menu. Each class has unique advantages, boosted stats or abilities, the most unique one is the Officer class. Each team now has a Captain, the Captain gets chosen from one of the Officers. The Captain can kick players out of their bridge stations and is the only one who can un-purchase upgrades in the upgrade selection menu, to prevent chaos in the selection phase with players selling the upgrades other players chose to add their own. Currently, you can only select a new class from the main menu, to prevent players from switching classes mid-round to get an advantage, expect a better system for in-game class-changing soon.

Repairs now take 4 seconds instead of being instant, the Crew and Engineer class can repair much faster, taking 3 or only 1 second respectively. There are also some improvements to the server browser, server hosting, the new in-game map and lots of improvements for the AI.



Full changelog:
-ADDED: class system with 5 different classes, each with unique perks and abilities
-ADDED: random Officer becomes Captain at the start of each round, or if he joined and there is no Captain yet
-ADDED: panel, engine, and generator repairs now take 4 seconds instead of being instant
-ADDED: floor above the engine room to the map
-ADDED: true offline mode to the game host options (no one can join you, not listed in the server browser, works even if Steam is down)
-ADDED: server browser now displays if the server is a PvP or PvE/coop server, and displays the AI difficulty
-IMPROVED: interact UI now shows an icon of the key you need to press
-IMPROVED: lots of map improvements
-FIXED: B2/Barsk spawning in the ceiling if spawning lots of them at once
-FIXED: some bridge stations bugs
-FIXED: some AI pathfinding issues
-FIXED: sweepo droids not showing on the map

Update #13: Minimap, Radar Table and AI improvements and more!
This update adds a ship interior map to the game, that you can open with the "M" key by default. It will display the location of yourself, your teammates, your droids, enemy droids, fighters in your hangars and things that need repairs as well as possible targets if you are in the enemy ship. Every teammate will have a unique color, so you can easily see where each one of your teammates is currently located.



There are also lots of AI improvements, a Sweepo droid joined the crew of the Tactical Droid, which can now also shoot Fireo pods at your ship! The Barsk Security Guard upgrade also received much-needed fixes regarding its movement which did not work well before, and can now also repair generators and engines to make it more useful.

A few bugs with the radar table have been fixed, and the fighter models on the radar table now have class-specific models, so you can distinguish a "Bomber" from an "Interceptor" fighter for example. There will now be logs again that get created inside your games folder to assist with tracking down bugs and fixing player-specific issues. A few issues with the hangar numbers have been fixed, and the engine will now have smoke coming out of it when disabled, so it's easier to understand when it is broken and when it's still working.


Full changelog:
- ADDED: ship interior map (default key: "M") that displays the location of yourself, your teammates, your droids, enemy droids, fighters in your hangars and things that need repairs
- ADDED: smoke effect for a disabled engine (so it is clearer it is disabled)
- ADDED: AI Tactical Droid now has a Sweepo Droid in his crew
- ADDED: AI Tactical Droid now will spawn Fireo Pods as well (does not increase its launch frequency, just replaces some torpedo/B2 pod launches)
- ADDED: fighter models at the radar table now have fighter class-specific looks (bomber looks different to stealth fighter for example)
- ADDED: game logs system for players
- ADDED: fighter models at the radar table now have fighter class-specific looks (bomber looks different to stealth fighter for example)
- ADDED: game logs system for players
- CHANGED: quick callouts menu default key from "M" to "N"
- BUFFED: Barsk Security Guard can now repair generators and engines like the B1 droid
- FIXED: Barsk Security Guard not walking correctly
- FIXED: potential fix for fire extinguisher foam sometimes being invisible for other players
- FIXED: tutorial telling you to go to "Hangar 1" instead of "Hangar 3"
- FIXED: multiple radar table bugs
- FIXED: hangar numbers making no sense

Update #12: Fireo Droids, AI improvements and more!
This update introduces a new upgrade, the Fireo droid. Costing 200$ each, they look similar to their less aggressive predecessor, the Sweepo droid. Unlike the fire-fighting Sweepo droids, the new Fireo droid will set the interiors of enemy ships on fire, if it survives the flight to it.

There are multiple fixes for fire and fire extinguisher in this update as well, and you can now get a bit closer to fires before being damaged, allowing you to extinguish them without hurting yourself if you are careful, of course. The AI-controlled units like droids now will try to avoid each other, preventing them from gettings stuck in each other, and there are some collision improvements for smaller props that the AI got stuck in before.

I also fixed some issues with dedicated server configs, and added a new "aidifficulty" config variable, that can be set to a value between 1 and 6, with 1 setting the difficulty to "Easy", while 6 sets it to "Impossible".

Full changelog:
-ADDED: "Fireo" upgrade, gets shot at the enemy ship and will try to start fires inside their ship
-ADDED: "aidifficulty" option for server configs, sets difficulty (1=easy to 6=impossible)
-IMPROVED: AI collision avoidance
-IMPROVED: AI/players no longer get stuck on smaller props
-IMPROVED: bridge screen quality
-IMPROVED: fire damage system now is a lot more accurate for players and has a smaller damage zone
-FIXED: being able to use the fire extinguisher without having it pulled out
-FIXED: server always having the bot disabled if "disablebot" was added to config, even when false
-FIXED: multiple other fire/extinguisher bugs

Update #11: Mine changes, upgrade menu improvements and more fixes!
This update brings a much-requested change to the "Bomber" small fighter, the mines it drops now fall downwards (relative to the bombers location/rotation of course), making it easier to execute bombing runs on the enemy capital ships for example. While working on the new mines, I also decreased their size a bit and fixed a few bugs with them like their explosions not playing a sound sometimes.

Another change you will notice is the upgrade purchasing menu will feel more responsive now, and if you purchased the same upgrade multiple times, it will display a multiplier on the upgrade instead of having the same upgrade added to the "purchased upgrades" list multiple times, making it look a lot cleaner.



There also was a bug with the AI getting stuck behind doors after the doors were in lockdown mode and opened again, which is now fixed.

Full changelog:
-ADDED: mines now fall downwards (relative to the bombers location/rotation), to make bombing easier
-CHANGED: decreased mine size
-CHANGED: updated "Bomber" small fighter description to reflect the other changes
-IMPROVED: made upgrade purchasing more responsive
-IMPROVED: choosing the same upgrade multiple times now displays "3x" for example instead of having 3 different entries in the chosen upgrades UI
-FIXED: AI getting stuck on doors that were locked down and opened again
-FIXED: mine explosions sometimes having no sounds
Newer posts Older posts