Galactic Crew II
The game is out now!
I already announced last fall that there won't be any major updates coming any more. I wanted to let a few months pass to see, if there are any bug reports coming in or if there are any issues left. After no bug reports where brought to my attention, it is now time for the game's final release.
In the past months, a lot changed in my private life, too. Included in these changes is a new job position that I enjoy a lot, but my contract is very restrictive regarding any development activities outside my job. Originally, I had the idea of release new updates with new content every few months, but for the reasons I just mentioned, I have to conclude the development of Galactic Crew II.
I want to thank everyone who bought and enjoyed the game in the past years and I also want to thank everyone again who bought the first Galactic Crew and got this title for free.
I do not know what the future brings, but I hope to see you all again in the future and I am excited being part of this crew.
Kind regards, Benjamin
Dev Log #40: The Fall update is here!
The summer is over and it is for another update!
Highscores
The calculation of highscores when you loose / end a game has changes and is less money-focused than before. In addition, when you play with online connection, you can share the highscores with others! See how well you did in comparison to the rest of the community. You do not have to play in the persistent universe, you just need to be online.
New rooms
There is a new room available in dungeons. I won't spoiler what type of room it is, but you should keep an eye open because there is something really valuable hidden there! There are also five new rooms for your spaceship that you can retrofit to at any space station or shipyard! Upgrading to a Tier II Cockpit improves the shield recharge rate (if any) or your spaceship while a Tier III cockpit also improves the damage of your combat drones. The Tier II botanical garden produces the same amount of food, but it produces alien spices instead of medical supplies. The alien spices can be used at any crafting station to craft buff food. A Tier II drone hangar provides four drone slots instead of two enabling more room space for other rooms while using the full potential of your drones. And don't forget to check out the automatic repair station! While manned, all pieces of equipment are auto-repaired in 20 second intervals.
Loot crates
During the development of Galactic Crew II, I added looting space pirates on enemy ships and your ships, but there was not much of an incentive to board the enemy ship, if your weapon turrets were good enough. So, I completed a feature request that several players requested: random loot crates. There is a chance for up to one loot crate for each storage room on the enemy ship. That means, the bigger the enemy ship, the better the potential loot. In order to grab it, simply teleport someone from your crew to the ship and use the item. The reward is purely random. There is a chance of getting a small amount of crefits, but you can also get almost any item there is randing from simple chunks of meat to epic weapon turret crates. I wanted to make it rewarding but not mandatory. I hope that you will like it.
Extended help dialog
I started creating a help window early on in the Early Access phase. Whenever I noticed that someone struggles with a certain topic, I added content to it. This summer, I got several e-mails and questions here in the forum about certain content, so I added brief descriptions of these topics.
New equipment
When you defeat enemy NPCs or use the crafting station, you are going to find new pieces of equipment to manufacture and loot that provide nice boosts to your stats!
But wait, there is more...
I also added a lot of new props for planets and designed several dozen of new assets that should enrich your planetary explorations.
The price of higher Tier rooms when retrofitting your spaceship has been increased.
Still searching for crashes
I haven't got any crash reports recently. If you encounter any crashes, please follow the guide below. It would help me to find the source of the crashes that some of you reported.
If you are someone who encountered these crashes and want to help me, please follow the guide below.
- Download a tool called Procdump from Microsoft right here. This tool supports a wide range of possibilities to analyze application behaviour. For legal reasons, I can't include it in the game's download since I would not be allowed to re-distribute it. But you can find the download link at the top of the linked website.
- Start Galactic Crew II.
- Open a command line prompt. You can do this by pressing the Windows key on your keyboard, enter "cmd" (without quotation marks) and press Enter.
- Enter the following bold text into the command prompt and press Enter. procdump.exe -e 1 "Galactic Crew 2.exe"
- Play Galactic Crew II until the game crashes. When a crash happens, you should find a Dump File in the installation directory of the game. Please make this crash Dump File available to me in some way (e-mail, link to a cloud, etc.)
In this crash dump file I should see the exact location in the code where the crash happens and hopefully an indicator why it happened.
The next months
So far, I am currently not working on any new content. I hope to get crash reports to find the source for the mysterious crashes some of you encounter and I wait for Valve to enable native support for .NET Desktop dependency. Apart from that, the development of Galactic Crew II is completed. There might be content updates in the future, but I don't want to make any promises as of now. I have big changes in my life coming up and I might conclude my video game development for now. I will still be around for bug fixes, support and balancing issues, of course.
Kindest regards, Benjamin
Dev Log #39: Search for crashes
I wanted to post this dev log earlier this week, but I got sick. So, please excuse the delay.
Since Galactic Crew II was released as Early Access title, I get reports of games crashes that happen at apparently random times. Although I invested over a hundred hours playtesting, writing more Unit Tests and analyzing code, I still have not found the source of this issue and I have never encountered this issue myself. I want to solve it, but I need your help to do so.
If you are someone who encountered these crashes and want to help me, please follow the guide below.
- Download a tool called Procdump from Microsoft right here. This tool supports a wide range of possibilities to analyze application behaviour. For legal reasons, I can't include it in the game's download since I would not be allowed to re-distribute it. But you can find the download link at the top of the linked website.
- Start Galactic Crew II.
- Open a command line prompt. You can do this by pressing the Windows key on your keyboard, enter "cmd" (without quotation marks) and press Enter.
- Enter the following bold text into the command prompt and press Enter. procdump.exe -e 1 "Galactic Crew 2.exe"
- Play Galactic Crew II until the game crashes. When a crash happens, you should find a Dump File in the installation directory of the game. Please make this crash Dump File available to me in some way (e-mail, link to a cloud, etc.)
In this crash dump file I should see the exact location in the code where the crash happens and hopefully an indicator why it happened.
Your help is greatly appreciated.
Kind regards, Benjamin
Dev Log #38: Lootable crates and more help
One new features, I wanted to talk about are lootable crates in spaceships. During the development of Galactic Crew II, I added looting space pirates on enemy ships and your ships, but there was not much of an incentive to board the enemy ship, if your weapon turrets were good enough. So, I completed a feature request that several players requested: random loot crates. There is a chance for up to one loot crate for each storage room on the enemy ship. That means, the bigger the enemy ship, the better the potential loot. In order to grab it, simply teleport someone from your crew to the ship and use the item. The reward is purely random. There is a chance of getting a small amount of crefits, but you can also get almost any item there is randing from simple chunks of meat to epic weapon turret crates. I wanted to make it rewarding but not mandatory. I hope that you will like it.
I started creating a help window early on in the Early Access phase. Whenever I noticed that someone struggles with a certain topic, I added content to it. This summer, I got several e-mails and questions here in the forum about certain content, so I added brief descriptions of these topics.
Kind regards, Benjamin
Dev Log #37: Fall update is coming soon
There was no major update this summer as announced this spring. I did not stop the development altogether, I just did not develop every day. However, I have created a nice bundle of new features most of which are completed. Today, I want to give you a broad overview while going into detail over the course of the next weeks.
Expanding existing content
The game has a wide variety of components and features and I built in a generic way so that I can add new content to most parts of the game. There will be new dungeon rooms, spaceship upgrades, crafting recipes, items, equipable jewelry, etc. I also want to write new missions and I am currently working on a bunch of new planetary content. When you visit a planet, the content is generated using a set of pre-created assets from an asset pool. The more assets I (or you with the level editor) add, the more variety your planetary explorations have,
Twitch integration
In case you want to play this game on stream, your viewers will have the opportunity to influence your space journey by voting for random event.
Global highscores
The way highscores are being calculated has been better balanced reducing the influence of your credit score to the highscore. If you have an activated online mode you can see the global highscores after losing a game and your highscore is shared with others - if you are good enough. It does not matter if you use the persistent universe, activating the online mode is enough.
Lootable crates on enemy ships
Several players requested to have a bigger incentive to board enemy ships. You will now have loot crates randomly distributed on enemy ships. If you open them, there can be anything from 40 credits to epic heavy weapon turrets.
Overall improvements
I am working constantly on improving existing code. Main focus this time was the server code.
.NET 6 Desktop requirement
As I announced in a dev log very early this year, I moved the game and its engine to .NET 6. When you publish a game on Steam, you can select the .NET version that your game needs (if any). However, Steam has not yet offered support for .NET 6. This means, player might not be able to start the game, if they don't have .NET 6 Desktop installed. With the coming update, there will be an option when launching the game to check for the requirements. I hope players who struggle starting the game will use this option to see what component they are missing. I really hope, Steam adds .NET 6 support soon.
Mysterious random crashes
Several players reported random crashes every few minutes when playing the game. While developing the features mentioned above, I tested everything very thoroughly and let the game run idle for two days and I could not reproduce any crashes. Please know that I am working on it, but I have no idea how to reproduce and solve this issue yet.
Kind regards, Benjamin
Dev Log #36: Release of online features!
The beta version of the latest update was available for three weeks and as I could see in the online logs, many of your were testing it out and there were no bug reports of any kind. Therefore, it is time to make the latest beta update available on the main branch for everyone. Below, you find the same patch notes as for the beta release.
Online features
In order to use the online features, click on the new "Online" button in the main menu and select the top-most option. If you want to auto-send any error logs, please select the second option, too. Now, the red "Offline" test on the left side of the main menu should switch to a green "Online". You should also see this switch when you start the game in the future.
Next, when you start a new game, you have the new option to start in a persistent universe. You share this universe with any other player who decided to play online. The benefits and rules for this role are a mix of the pre-existing roles. You play without threat, but you have to explore the galaxy. Since this galaxy is shared, all players will find the same planets and systems, but everyone starts at a random location in it!
Planetary outposts behave in the same way as in singleplayer games with two major exceptions. First, you can visit other player outposts when you discover them and second, you can create a communication relay in space around your outpost. This feature is only available in the persistent universe and enables you to create sell contracts when you are the owner or purchase goods and items from the owner, if you are a visitor. It basically serves as a trade platform between players.
Weapon and mining turret upgrades
With this update, you can create upgrades for weapon turrets and mining turrets. You need specific gemstones in order to craft them in your outpost's workshop or in your spaceship using a item processor. They work like the firearm upgrades that are already available.
Advanced officer careers
You can have up to three officer's quarters in your ship and you can have up to one officer per officer's quarters. Nothing is going to change here, but you have now the option to upgrade your officer to one of two different advanced classes once they reach level 10.
Depending on your choice, you will get a bonus to one of your officer class skills. This bonus stacks with any ranks you put into this skill before.
Skill overview
A new skill overview in the bottom right corner shows you all non-default skill modifiers.
In this instance, the healing modifier is 1.26, meaning that you heal 26% more than an unskilled crewman (or woman or robot).
New planetary content
I have added over a dozen new maps for different scenarios. They are automatical in the pool for new planets for you to explore and you can also use them to design your own content in the level editor.
I invested quite some time in making new assets for planets. The bigger the asset pool the more unique are the planets you are visiting. Below are three examples of over 30 new assets that will be new.
Buff Food
You are now able to gather more natural resources when you visit dungeons and planets including different types of spices and mushrooms as well as the already available types of meat. Combine them at an item processor or workshop to make delicious new buff foods.
These buff foods last until you quit a game or eat another food!
New items
There are many more new items including new pieces of jewelry that boost your skills! Find them by looting your enemies or craft them yourself.
Improvements
- A text in the crew overview shows the profession and specialization of the selected crew member
- There are now buttons to filter your crafting recipes in crafting dialogs
- Added new option to show names of your characters
- Firearms with added modules sell for more credits
- If you are in a system with a mission, the location in this mission now shows "Current system"
Dev Log #35: Beta release of online features!
I am excited to announce that the latest update has became available sooner than expected! I spent the last weeks testing the current build and I just uploaded it to the test branch. That means, it won't be automatically available for you, but the update is public for testing. If you want to beta test the Online update, right-click on Galactic Crew II in your Steam library, select "Properties..." from the context menu and choose "Test" as branch on the "Beta" tab. Now, the game should update itself and you are good to go. The update will leave Beta state and become a regular update in a couple of weeks if no major bugs are found or any found bugs have been resolved. Here is the content of the latest update.
Online features
In order to use the online features, click on the new "Online" button in the main menu and select the top-most option. If you want to auto-send any error logs, please select the second option, too. Now, the red "Offline" test on the left side of the main menu should switch to a green "Online". You should also see this switch when you start the game in the future.
Next, when you start a new game, you have the new option to start in a persistent universe. You share this universe with any other player who decided to play online. The benefits and rules for this role are a mix of the pre-existing roles. You play without threat, but you have to explore the galaxy. Since this galaxy is shared, all players will find the same planets and systems, but everyone starts at a random location in it!
Planetary outposts behave in the same way as in singleplayer games with two major exceptions. First, you can visit other player outposts when you discover them and second, you can create a communication relay in space around your outpost. This feature is only available in the persistent universe and enables you to create sell contracts when you are the owner or purchase goods and items from the owner, if you are a visitor. It basically serves as a trade platform between players.
Weapon and mining turret upgrades
With this update, you can create upgrades for weapon turrets and mining turrets. You need specific gemstones in order to craft them in your outpost's workshop or in your spaceship using a item processor. They work like the firearm upgrades that are already available.
Advanced officer careers
You can have up to three officer's quarters in your ship and you can have up to one officer per officer's quarters. Nothing is going to change here, but you have now the option to upgrade your officer to one of two different advanced classes once they reach level 10.
Depending on your choice, you will get a bonus to one of your officer class skills. This bonus stacks with any ranks you put into this skill before.
Skill overview
A new skill overview in the bottom right corner shows you all non-default skill modifiers.
In this instance, the healing modifier is 1.26, meaning that you heal 26% more than an unskilled crewman (or woman or robot).
New planetary content
I have added over a dozen new maps for different scenarios. They are automatical in the pool for new planets for you to explore and you can also use them to design your own content in the level editor.
I invested quite some time in making new assets for planets. The bigger the asset pool the more unique are the planets you are visiting. Below are three examples of over 30 new assets that will be new.
Buff Food
You are now able to gather more natural resources when you visit dungeons and planets including different types of spices and mushrooms as well as the already available types of meat. Combine them at an item processor or workshop to make delicious new buff foods.
These buff foods last until you quit a game or eat another food!
New items
There are many more new items including new pieces of jewelry that boost your skills! Find them by looting your enemies or craft them yourself.
Improvements
- A text in the crew overview shows the profession and specialization of the selected crew member
- There are now buttons to filter your crafting recipes in crafting dialogs
- Added new option to show names of your characters
- Firearms with added modules sell for more credits
- If you are in a system with a mission, the location in this mission now shows "Current system"
Dev Log #34: More planetary content
The development of the upcoming update is going very well. The servers have been rented, software has been deployed and the development of the new online features can now be easily tested on the actual game servers. The hardware infrastructure is done.
Meanwhile, I was also working on new content for the game. An ongoing process until the update's release in late May is the development of new planetary content. The way the game works is that when you land on a planet, all suitable assets for this planets are taken and a random subset of these assets are scattered over the map. This way, each planet is unique. However, there are two limitations: the maps on which the assets are placed and the number of assets.
I have added over a dozen new maps for different scenarios. They are automatical in the pool for new planets for you to explore and you can also use them to design your own content in the level editor.
I invested quite some time in making new assets for planets. The bigger the asset pool the more unique are the planets you are visiting. Below are three examples of over 30 new assets that will be new.
Kind regards, Benjamin aka GameDevAlien
Dev Log #33: Advanced officer careers
Two weeks have passed and I want to keep you updated on the game's development.
I am currently investing time into the server infrastructure. Since you will all have the option to play in a shared universe, I want to make sure that everything runs smoothly. It will take some time until everything (server, data bases, network, etc.) has been fully set up but I made good progress so far. The dedicated servers are already rented for over a year in advance.
Advanced officer careers
You can have up to three officer's quarters in your ship and you can have up to one officer per officer's quarters. Nothing is going to change here, but you have now the option to upgrade your officer to one of two different advanced classes once they reach level 10.
Depending on your choice, you will get a bonus to one of your officer class skills. This bonus stacks with any ranks you put into this skill before.
Skill overview
A new skill overview in the bottom right corner shows you all non-default skill modifiers.
In this instance, the healing modifier is 1.26, meaning that you heal 26% more than an unskilled crewman (or woman or robot).
Future development
I think it will take me until mid May to fully complete this update. Especially the client-server infrastructure will take some time. As I have announced in previous dev logs, I will take a break from game development this summer. I am working constantly on this game for three years now and I need a fresh mind. The game will most likely be officially released in summer. I added more than I promised in the Early Access notes and I think the game is on a good path. That being said, I am not going to stop providing updates. I think I will provide more free content in the future, but I need a break this summer.
Kind regards, Benjamin
Dev Log #32: Weapon turret upgrades
While I work on the multiplayer infrastructure, I am also working on features that are available for all players. In this dev log, I want to introduce you to weapon turret upgrades.
There are already weapon upgrades for firearms that you can get by disassembling looted weapons. With the upcoming update, you can also craft upgrades for your ship's weapon turrets and mining turrets!
You can craft these upgrades at any item processor or colony workshop using items that are already available in-game like diamonds and sapphires as well as loot items that will be newly introduced such as other types of gemstone.
Kind regards, Benjamin