Hey everyone! With the autumn sale underway we wanted to make sure everyone is up to speed with the community forums. Update 6 is almost ready to go, let's take a look at what's already in the beta branch:
New Targeting/Lockon System: Targets in the center of the screen are now automatically selected (box reticle), you can still use the target button to lock your current target (circle reticle) or long press to target lock the nearest preferred enemy for your current ship.
New Turret Aiming System: We replaced the old world space reticles with a single center screen aim point. Your turrets will set their range to the distance of your current target so you can focus on blasting.
Improved accuracy of AI turrets and target leading HUD when using autocannon weapons.
New options and menu fixes: Fixed a number of gameplay sliders resetting when quitting the menu, added sensitivity options and relative mouse settings.
Added Anti-Aliasing mode options to video settings.
Added permanent world space tags to make defending Refinery's easier.
Formatted lobby UI to be easier to read and prevent clipping in ultrawide.
A bunch of smaller gameplay fixes.
Added 'fire until empty' value to beam weapon modding.
Here's the roadmap moving forward:
Update 6 should be ready in the next week or two, we're still working on a few bugs and a new carrier dedicated to providing repair ships.
The current number of locations in the internal build is up to 24, so we're ready to start implementing infinite survival mode in Update 7 which will also be expanding the NPC roster and mission content. Right now we're shooting for late December.
We're looking at replacing the refinery donate system with a fleet level up system. Earning money for the fleet would level up the Mothership, each level would provide a refinery, carrier, or other bonus that would respawn if destroyed.
We've been working on a new flight system for fighters and an in HUD radar in the beta branch but both still have significant issues to work out. Depending on how these two wildcards shake out we may shuffle the update schedule around but both of these are important features we want to finish before we leave Early Access next year.
As always thanks for your support and we'll see you in the forums!
Update 5: New Worlds, Missions, Mod Support, and complete AI overhaul
After an extended beta period we're proud to announce that Update 5 is now available, here are the highlights:
Mod Support You can now modify the stats of every ship and weapon in the game, we will be expanding mod functionality in future updates but our hope is that many of you will take the opportunity to help shape the gameplay of Lost Fleet as we continue through Early Access.
To use mods there are 2 new buttons in the lobby menu, 'Generate Mod Files' will create text files in your Lost Fleet\Lost Fleet_Data\mods directory, 'Load Mods' will load any changes you make to those files into your current game session. if you're playing multiplayer make sure you both load the same mod files to ensure compatibility.
A complete AI overhaul: Strikecraft are much more effective individually and behave more like humans when in groups. Bomber spam should be less effective now, and much more easily countered.
Expanded Campaign Stages 2-7 now have random alternate worlds with new side objectives. We'll be expanding on these in the future with the goal of making each campaign playthrough a unique experience.
Computer Player Slot Control: We've added the ability to add and remove computer players, income is split between players (AI or human) and the Mothership will auto balance team size with extra miners.
UI Updates: We've added help text for each Ship, Weapon and Ability in the game. Background work has also been done for mission scripting and in game dialogue that will enable us to do a proper tutorial and make it much more clear where to put your attention during battle.
Flight Improvements: Another iteration of the flight model for ships as well as weapon improvements to make fighters much more responsive.
Performance Improvements and more: Detailed update notes are over in the beta discussion thread
Once again we'd like to thank everyone that has supported us and provided feedback throughout Early Access, moving forward we'll be continuing the weekly back and forth format from the beta in the Feedback Megathread, enjoy!
Update 5: Beta Release
Update 5 is now available in the Beta Branch, to access:right click on Lost Fleet in your Steam library and go to Properties-> Betas -> Beta Participation dropdown -> "testing update 5 test"
Apologies for taking longer than expected, the good news is we've managed to complete a few extra features as well as lay the groundwork for most of our future content. Going forward updates should come at a more even pace.
We've been gathering feedback over in the forums, if you want to help shape development be sure to drop by and offer your feedback!
Update Notes:
5 New Alternate Maps for Stages 2-7: We'll be expanding on these in the future with the goal of making each campaign playthrough a unique experience.
Major update to Fighter AI: Strike craft are much more effective individually and behave more like humans when in groups. Bomber spam should be less effective now, and much more easily countered.
Moddable Ship Stats: the lobby now 2 new buttons, "generate mod files" and "load mod files". .json files are imported and exported from steamapps>common>Lost Fleet>Lost Fleet_Data>mods
Computer Player Slot Control: The Campaign is still balanced around 6 players for now, but we've added the ability to add and remove computer players.
UI Updates: We've added help text for each Ship, Weapon and Ability in the game. Background work has also been done for mission scripting and in game dialogue that will enable us to do a proper tutorial and make it much more clear where to put your attention.
Another iteration of the flight model for ships as well as weapon improvements to make fighters much more responsive, the Boxer and Dragon bomber especially get a lot of work on their primary weapons.
New Pulse Laser for Hornet, Raven & Ranger: uses cursor to aim instead of auto aim
Improved Autocannon for Freebee, Sabre and Capital Ship turrets, more responsive, higher rate of fire and more performant.
New Mission System: Still a work in progress, stages now have side objectives that can provide bonuses or penalties. We'll be expanding these as we go with the goal of providing interesting challenges that make each run unique.
New NPCs
Update 5 Progress Report
Update 5 is almost here! We've spent the last three months laying the groundwork for a much more repayable campaign with new ships, worlds, side objectives and reworked weapons, lets take a look at what's inside:
New Maps: Stages 2-5 now have random alternate worlds, a big part of our work the past two months has been making it easier to add new content. Expect the campaign to get much more variety in each run as we add new stages and missions throughout the year.
Side Objectives: Each stage now has randomized events and side objectives. Some of these will grant bonuses, others may make your mission harder if they aren't completed. Our intention is to provide interesting challenges that make each run unique, getting the balance just right will be a challenge but we think they'll make a big difference in replayability.
Ship Stat Modding: You can now mod the health and movement attributes of ships using .json files. We'll be working on moddable weapon, ability and world stats in the future, but the ability to mod in entirely new ships is probably out of scope.
Computer Player Slot Control: Previously the game would fill with computer players on match start so that each team would have an even six. This helped with scaling the difficulty but there wasn't any UI feedback outside the tab/score screen. You can add or remove bots now, and we're working on more UI feedback so it doesn't just look like ships are randomly appearing in the campaign.
Ship Improvements: Another iteration of the flight model for ships as well as improvements to weapons to make fighters much more responsive, the Boxer and Dragon bomber especially get a lot of work on their primary weapons.
UI Improvements: We've added help text for each ship, weapon and ability in the game. Background work has also been done for mission scripting and in game dialogue that will enable us to do a proper tutorial and make it much more clear where to put your attention.
Update 5 will be hitting the beta branch next month, thanks again to everyone who's support in Early Access has made all this possible!
Update 4: Ship Commands, Rebindable keys, Controller support
It's here! The long awaited ship command system is ready as well as a complete revamp of the input system. Here are the details:
New Input System Rebindable keys and controller support is here with improvements to mouse steering as well. The new default setting adjusts the virtual stick size to your monitor's height and the flight model has been updated to increase angular drag when your stick is within the deadzone. We'll continue to make improvements to ship handling throughout early access from your feedback.
Command and Control You can now give commands in the tactical map! Attack, Defend, and Mine orders will allow you to micro to your heart's content. Assemble strike teams of bombers and escort them with wings of fighters, split your miners for max efficiency, set a permanent guard to the mothership and its refinery's. We'll be adding extra functionality in the future to make selecting ships and giving orders easier with a controller.
Economy Changes Resource Asteroids now give varying yields at different rates, this allows us to tweak the economy towards an income curve with a more gradual pace. Resource Asteroids will be getting updated art to reflect their new stats very soon. We're also experimenting with increasing the number of Mules spawned by each Refinery while increasing the respawn time to give miner raiding a greater payoff.
The Future Our next big focus will be on content, the goal is to completely revamp the Campaign with replayability in mind. New objectives, roguelike elements, ships, enemies and new worlds to explore are all in the works. Expect some experimental builds to start appearing in the test branch late January/early February.
Smaller changes we're looking at include:
Reworked target select
New tutorial text, weapon/ability descriptions and icons
Camera shortcuts to make jumping between ships easier
Better warnings for when critical ships under attack
Improved projectile collisions
End of match stats
Netcode improvements for smoother skirmish matches
Improvements
Rewired Input System: Custom controls and controller support
Improvements to mouse steering, virtual stick will now auto size based on screen height
Added toggle option for flight assist under the Gameplay tab
Ship Command System: Attack, Defend and Mining commands
You can set RTS style control groups in the sensor screen
Orders given to Refineries are now passed on to their Mules
Removed personal income bonus to make piloting Mules less of an obligation
Resource Asteroids now have varying collection rates and yields
Increased number of Mules per Refinery from 2 to 4, increased respawn time to
Added ship sell animation
Improvements to AI decision making and target selection, ability use now factors in distance
Reimplemented Leviathan Bio Missiles, fear them
Fixes
AI will now empty their mules before upgrading to a new ship
Fixed sensor screen camera losing alignment with spectate camera
Improved Ultrawide UI formatting
Fixed some projectiles culling when out of sight of the host
Fixed Capital Ship AI collision avoidance false positive
Fixed ship counter getting stuck on after map transition
Thanks to everyone on the forums who helped get this update out the door, enjoy the holidays!
Update 3: Turrets
This week's update focuses on the camera system that drives turret aiming, combined with improvements to the aiming reticle capital ships should now be a lot more fun to play. Here are the details:
Improvements:
Improved camera system for turrets: Turret cameras are smoother and adjust your view point when obstructed.
Improved zoom ability: zoom is now instant, position/rotation stays in sync with other cameras
Upgraded most ships to set point of aim reticle at the distance to current target.
New option to use the virtual stick horizontal axis for Roll and A/D for Yaw (for those of you that preferred Elite Dangerous controls)
Zeus sniper now has separate angular drag value while aiming
You can now press 'z' to swap cameras in map view
Changed Talon missile weapon to new lock on system
Fixes:
Fixed stage lights interacting with tactical map holograms (ice stage was washed out).
Fixed an out of range index error related to turret systems.
Fixed exploit that allowed Red team players to make a ton of money selling ships in campaign mode (thanks PantsAdvanced)
Fixed AI Sabre being unable to fire (thanks Ouch Crab)
Fixed Boxer weapon particle and sound effects not playing reliably, AI engagement distance improved
Increased Zeus boost force
Increased Hammerhead tac reload frequency from 4 to 1.5
Reduced Boxer damage per pellet from 2 to 1 now that it is firing all its projectiles
Slightly reduced projectile passthrough leeway time (most projectiles have a fraction of a second before they can collide with anything to prevent physics weirdness)
Update 2: Sabre Heavy Fighter
Hey everyone! Patch notes are at the bottom, but here are the highlights:
Sabre Heavy Fighter The Sabre has been part of our testbed for improvements to smaller ship combat, and you can expect a number of improvements to trickle down to all the other ships in the coming weeks.
Specifically the Sabre fills a critical gap as a dogfighter that doesn't rely on auto-aim for it's primary weapon. It features a new missile lock-on mechanic that will be coming to the Talon in the next patch and an improved distance-based aiming reticle that should greatly improve capital ship aiming in the near future.
Tactical Map Fleet management features have been highly requested, and the ability to give basic orders, request healing, and AI improvements to take the load off the player in singleplayer are coming. In the meantime you can now press 'm' to bring up a mothership focused view of the battlefield, this screen will be going through a number of iterations before we're done with it but we hope it'll help make sense of the fray.
New Buy Menu The buy menu has been overhauled with new art, animations and sound. The old menu wasn't able to provide feedback when navigated with a controller, so this is a big step forward on that front. Improvements in the future will include illustrated descriptions for the weapons and abilities on each ship, so stay tuned.
Camera Improvements Improvements to flight experience are an ongoing process, we've tweaked the camera system for all of the smaller ships to make them feel more dynamic. Head over to the Steam Forums and let us know if you think things are improved and especially if you have specific ideas on changes you think still need to be made.
More to come Moving forward our highest priority is getting out rebindable keys and full controller support, this will be a multi-week process so expect regular content updates as we chip away at it. We'd like to thank each of you who has decided to support us in Early Access and encourage all of you to hit up the forums with any ideas you have for how to make the game better, if you have a cool idea for a ship we want to hear about it . Thanks again!
Update notes:
Added Sabre heavy fighter
Pressing 'm' now brings up the new Tactical Map
New art, sound and animations for buy menu
Mule miners now auto target the nearest resources when you take control
Fixed target UI getting stuck when taking over a ship that already had a target
Fixed sync issues for late joiners
Disabled shadow casting for lowest graphics setting
Ice Ships freed in Stage 4 will no longer be deleted going to Stage 5 (thanks Banana)
Disabled self destruct debug command
Fixes to Refinery thrusters not firing/updating
Computer players in campaign mode will now upgrade their ship even if they are in combat
Escape menu now pauses the game in singleplayer
Adjustments to the cameras for all strikecraft, expect additional refinements in the future
Increased flak damage from 3 to 4
Increased Talon health from 68 to 70
Reduced cost of Raven, Talon and Boxer from 200 to 100
Reduced Zeus cost from 450 to 400
1st Update: Fighter Movement
Our first update to Lost Fleet is focused on ship handling, many of you have had issues with steering and we've reworked both the way drag is applied to your motion as well as the thrust values for every single fighter. Be assured that we'll keep working on this until it's right, and we make a point to read and respond to as much of your feedback as possible.
Here are todays update notes:
Separated the drag values for fighter craft so that steering and aiming are much less punishing
Thruster vertical and horizontal torque power adjusted for all fighters to match
Reduced mining bonus from 34 to 20
Added player resource collector bonus to Mule description (resources income is split among players, anyone piloting a mule gets a personal 20% bonus to the resources they collect)
Zeus health increased from 175 to 200
Computer Players no longer buy refineries if no resources remain on the map
Updated tab menu formatting for player cards, kill counter shouldn’t be cut off anymore
Boss enemy wreckage no longer despawns before map change
Enemy shipyards now have an effect to indicate they are building enemy ships, spawn time increased from 90 to 100, armor increased to from 0 to 1
Cursor is now confined to the game screen
Fixed Deadzone, Virtual Stick Size and Orbital Cam Speed sliders
Updated repair ship tooltip to let players know they can use ‘t’ to find the nearest ship in need of repairs
Lost Fleet Uncloaking into Early Access
We're excited to announce the launch of Lost Fleet into Early Access! Lets talk about our plans and how you can help shape development.
EA Release Trailer
Learning to Play We'll be rolling out a Guide as well as additional in game tutorial content as quick as we can, in the meantime for those of you wanting to see the game we recommend the excellent Wanderbots.
Early Access Plans We're a small 2 man team so choosing where our Early Access time is spent will be critical, here's what we're looking at right now:
Expanding the roster of Ships: There are 21 playable ships right now + 2 more coming in the next few weeks. We'll be looking closely for feedback on designs you'd like to see added to the game as well as ways we can improve our current lineup.
New Modes: We've already started work on a limitless survival mode in which you hold out against an endless wave of enemies from the campaign. If you have an idea for a game type you'd like to see, hit the Community Discussions and let us know! (also we want to do gun game but with ships)
New Areas and Bosses will be coming, expect some teaser soon.
Controller Support, HOTAS and the Deck: Fans of flight games are passionate about their controls so we hope you'll bear with us as we work to get support out for each of these. Support for Steam Deck will have to be unofficial for now but I'll be spending some spare time with my Deck getting it running as well as I can.
We'll be running some Skirmish Events to test the hard limit for max number of players. We want to see how many players we can get into a skirmish match before we set any in-game limits.
Thank you! Finally a big thank you to everyone supporting us, we couldn't do this without you and we're very excited for what comes next!
