Hello folks,
before the upcoming biiiig content upgrade (introducing Level 4 and new PVE missions), we dealt with the problem to get into the game.
We are aware that due to the complexity it is sometimes hard for newcomers to know what they *can* do and what they *should* do. So here's the update:
Interactive Tutorial
There's a completely new and playable tutorial, which guides the player through ship building, block erasing/building and setting up a basic economy. It explains the controls and how to get ressources and how to process these into buildable items and blocks via the foundry.
Did you know?
This is the text you'll find in the chat every few minutes. These hints randomly provide players with detail information they might not have known before and explain more advanced features than the tutorial.
Video tutorial screens
You already knew these. They are spawned in the main base and provide context related information about game mechanics, to either explain or recap information from the tutorial.
Help texts/windows
Every building has a [?] icon, which -when clicked- explains the purpose of that building and how to use it. This makes advanced buildings like the docking bay or the research lab easier to use.
Furthermore, the controls of the ship designer and more information about the currently selected module are displayed at the sides of the ship designer. This targets issues we've recognized when watching people using the ship designer for the first time.
We hope this helps players to get into the game and understand the mechanics and complexity better. :-)
This is the last preparation update before the announced big content upgrade. Stay tuned for more information :-)
Destroy your ships!
Hey there!
Big patch day was yesterday, but this is worth another news:
A small but pretty much wished feature from the community, the possibility to destroy built ships, has been implemented with today's update.
Just open the ship list (button on the left, or L-button) and use the new button. It will remove the ship instantly and permanently.
With the new Hangar feature coming with level 4, there will be more options to get rid of old ships, by recycling them or doing research on them.
Also we did a few improvements on the handling of dialogs and the Esc key in that context. Handling should be more intuitive now.
Cheers and have fun!
v0.9.13.6079 - Balancing patch
Hey guys,
today we uploaded a little balancing patch as preparation for the upcoming big upgrades. The following things have been changed:
* Aspects research (to increase world tech level) in general is now cheaper.
* Level 2 docking bays will now be served by level 2 merchants, if a level 2 jump portal is around. Level 3 merchants will visit level 3 docking bays via level 3 jump portals, and so on.
* Merchants in general buy/sell more items. Higher level merchants have higher load capacities and buy/sell more items than lower level ones.
* Merchants of all three trade races offer a bigger bandwidth of trade goods. If you want to know, which demands will be fulfilled by the merchants of all thre races, visit our wiki:
http://wiki.galactineers.net/index.php?title=HowToPlay:Races
Roadmap:
* The development of level 4 is complete! All ship modules have been created (you can already find some level 4 ships in the workshop!), level 4 merchants are included, and the new Hangar feature is implemented.
* There are just a few tiny "ease of handling" features and some minor bugfixes for the level 4 stuff on the to do list.
* Last but not least, we'll be completing the "Rosinante" PVE mission, together with some more API extensions. Cooperative PVE missions can also be played alone if the number of total ships in the mission allows it. That way we will provide the "Rosinante" mission as a 2-player cooperative mission, but also for single player instances.
Have fun! :-)
Galactineers API - How to create, script and debug PVE missions
Hey guys,
prior to the release of the next PVE mission, we upgraded the Galactineers API once again (because we use it ourselves to create our missions :-) ) and added an option to run and debug your mission script directly from Visual Studio while playing it in Galactineers.
For that purpose, you can install our new Galactineers Visual Studio Add-in, which provides a project template, automatic PHP variable generation from map and shipdefinition files, and the possibility to run/debug your script in a special Galactineers instance.
Here's a detailed YouTube video on how to create, script and debug PVE missions:
We hope to see cool user missions in the workshop soon, because they're so easy to create :-)
Happy coding!
EDIT 15/08/2016:
With the latest update, we added two more things:
a) cooperative multiplayer PVE missions with less than 8 player ships in total can now also be played alone in singleplayer mode. The number of ship slots will be adapted automatically. Example: If a mission is a 2-player mission with 3 ships per player, the mission will be available in singleplayer mode as well, with 6 ships for player 1. This way people who play singleplayer only, can play these missions as well and unlock their precious ship modules and loot.
b) For missions installed on the server, which do not have a space object (e.g. station, base, etc.) installed, which contains a PVE spot with the corresponding ID, Galactineers will generate a proxy asteroid with a corresponding mission ID and a sign with the mission's name. That way you can find (and play) your custom (or downloaded) missions on each map you play, even if no corresponding station or base is installed.
v0.9.13.6059 bugfix build / Level 4 coming soon
Hey guys,
today we're releasing a bugfix build which fixes several issues and crash causes reported by the community. Thanks for all the emails and messages to help to make this game better! :-)
We're working on a big content update, which is planned to be released in the upcoming weeks. It will unlock world level 4 including all level 4 buildings, and of course, the level 4 ship designer with tons of new modules!
Level 4 will also introduce the new Hangar feature, which allows to build carriers which can carry other ships of lower levels.
We also plan to release the next 2-player-coop PVE mission. It's called "Rosinante" and you'll need to work together to escort a big human trading ship to its location while battling Harv's fighters and bases. Stay tuned!
Cheers
Chris
v0.9.13.6011 bugfix + improvement build
Hey guys,
today we deployed a bugfix and improvement build, which you get via the auto updater with Steam.
Several issues with the foundry and research lab have been fixed:
* Synchronization problems with material multiplication slots and foundry ingredient slots, while a production was in progress
* Lost material with material multiplication slots, while a production was in progress
* Wrong display of produced amount in multiplication slots
* Display of progress bars in foundry recipes and research lab multiplications
* Unclickable item slots in the research lab
The harvester sound bug has been fixed.
Also (as this confused some people), the required amount of ingredients for a recipe in the foundry is now displayed inside the item slot.
Cheers and have fun!
Attention, Windows 10 users! New update available
Hello guys,
today we release a new update for Galactineers, which is available via auto-update through Steam.
WINDOWS 10 PERFORMANCE We know, some rare cases of Windows 10 update installations caused major lags and freezes in the game. We have found one issue to the problem and added a new setting to the game:
If you were affected by major lagging and freezes in Galactineers, try to disable this setting. Any feedback from Windows 10 players are much appreciated.
OTHER THINGS IN THE UPDATE The research lab now consumes energy as well, and the foundry can be the target of transmitter connections.
This updates also fixes a lot of bugs which have been reported in the last weeks. Also, there are some small improvements in the UI and handling.
This is not a big feature release, but a nessecary update before we deploy the next major content upgrade, which will introduce Level 4. You can now already use Level 4 buildings in the editor already, while the game is not unlocked for Level 4 yet.
Transmitter System! Now!
Hey guys,
due to an injury in the 3d modelling department we swapped the order of features we're implementing, so here's a really BIG one: the Transmitter system
The transmitter system allows you to connect buildings to automatically transport items from a production source to a receiver. That way you can -for example- automatically connect mining towers or solar panels to a local storage.
Also, buildings like the factory, docking bay or jump portals require energy supply. The transmitter system also allows you to connect powerblocks to these buildings to supply them with energy.
Transmitters can be purchased in the new Automation Lab building (level 1). Transmitters automatically connect to buildings next to them, but you can also (dis)connect them manually to buildings and other transmitters.
Have fun with the feature :-)
PS: Of course, this build includes many bugfixes reported by you all guys, thanks for your activer feedback! :-)
The Copper & Reach patch
Hey guys,
if you relaunch the Steam client, you'll see a new update for the game coming in. The most important thing we did was refactoring the components to be able to use a different graphics profile ("Reach") without losing visual quality. The performance of some graphics devices should increase visibly. Other small performance improvements have been integrated as well.
In preparation to the upcoming feature "energy supply for buildings" (and bases), a new resource has been added to the game: Copper.
It comes as an ore block and can be dug via the mining towers (like gold, coal, etc.). The copper nugget (item) can then be processed into copper blocks (also available in the ship designer and the editor!), and is required to craft Powerblocks and cables.
The next update will be a bigger content patch, containing the first Level 4 elements and -hopefully- the first cooperative PVE mission.
Cheers
API + Editor Upgrade
Hey guys!
The beta testing has been very successful, we could eleminate some bugs and increase performance significantly thanks to the testers who played online and offline. I'd like to thank everyone for their effort, we're really glad to release a stable and performant version :-)
Today I'm uploading one of the last builds before the Early Access release. It will contain lots of new features for the PVE mission scripting:
1. The editor now allows you to place regions. This was only possible by script before. Regions can be used for triggers and to add/remove obstacles and blocks inside a PVE mission:
2. The API has been extended by a ton of new functions to control your mission progress, amongst others:
SetShipOwner - changes the owner of a ship inside the instance.
RemoveShip - removes (or destroys) a ship inside the instance.
AddBlock/RemoveBlock - adds or removes (or destroys) a single block inside the instance.
AddObstacles - adds obstacles (e.g. walls/asteroid belts) inside a given region
RemoveObstacles - removes (or destroys) everything inside a region
