Satellite Command
Permanent Price Drop! Satellite Command now £6.99!
We have reduced the price of Satellite Command permanently to £6.99! A massive 30% off of our previous retail price!
We also have our first major update coming out soon, which features a brand new series of playlists with different difficulty settings, plenty of bugfixes, a new Sandbox mode, and an interactive tutorial!
We should be pushing the patch live within the next couple of weeks! If you guys are enjoying the game so far, it would help us out a lot to leave a review on the store page!
Thanks!
- TJ
v1.0.4 Live! Release Notes
I'm pleased to announce that our second hotfix is now live, and if you restart steam you should automatically update to v1.0.4.
This a minor hotfix that fixes a recurring crash-to-desktop caused by Dead Satellite missions, and also improves keybinding support. We are now moving on to our much larger January Patch!
- NEW: Modifier key support for rebinding
You can now use modifier keys properly when setting up keybindings. Some of the default keybindings have changed to reflect this:
- Hibernate All: Ctrl + H
- Wake All: Ctrl + J
- Hibernate All: Ctrl + H
- NEW: Keybind for Hibernation / Wake Toggle
You can now hibernate or wake just the currently selected satellite with the 'H' key by default. This is exposed for rebinding should you want to change keys.
- Bugfixes
- Fixed an issue where Dead Satellite missions would crash the game to desktop on success or failure.
- Fixed an issue where Dead Satellites would be extremely hard to move with the KLAS tool. They now have the 'MODERATE' mass setting.
- Fixed an issue where keyboard input would stop working when closing the options panel during a rebind.
- Fixed an issue where action bindings with modifier keys would replace axis bindings.
- Fixed an issue where older save games (v1.0-1.0.2) would restore the ISS to a retrograde orbit, but the docking torus would be prograde. ISS is now always restored to a prograde orbit.
- Fixed an issue where Dead Satellite missions would crash the game to desktop on success or failure.
Thanks to community members Striker, Das (KSA), Explosif.be and Cédric Timmerman for providing detailed information that helped solve some of these bugs!
- TJ
Second Hotfix (v1.0.4) coming this Friday!
We're back after the Christmas break, and getting busy with the first major patch for the game with some interesting new features and options!
In the meantime we're still releasing hotfixes for bugs as and when we find them, with some smaller features here and there.
Our second hotfix will be out tomorrow, which includes some fixes for a couple of crashes and some minor useability issues. The following has so far been greenlit for the hotfix:
[List]<*>Bugfix: Dead Satellite contracts consistently crashing the game on success / failure.
<*>Bugfix: Dead Satellite's being incredibly tough to de-orbit when loaded from a save game.
<*>Bugfix: All keyboard input being ignored when the options menu is closed while rebinding a key.
<*>NEW: Proper support for keybindings with modifier keys (Ctrl, Shift, Alt, Cmd etc.)
<*>NEW: Keybinding for toggling Hibernation / Wake on the current Satellite only.
We've also made a couple of internal changes to our piracy protection for this hotfix, but this is all automated and shouldn't affect anything.
Modifier Keybindings
Happy New Year to all of our players!
- TJ
Hotfix Now Live! Release Notes
I'm pleased to announce that as per our earlier announcement, our first hotfix is now live! This hotfix includes a significant rebalance of the game, along with some minor UI/UX improvements and bugfixes. The key focus of this hotfix was to reduce frustration with the balance and waiting times.
Please note it will take a few minutes for Steam servers to populate with the latest build, and you will have to close and re-launch steam to get the update. While you wait, check out our release notes!
- Satellite Values Rebalanced:
Substantial changes have been made to Satellite overheating and power consumption. We have also reduced the randomisation of orbital debris damage. We will be expanding on the damage system in a future patch.
We have also tightened up the Tier 0 targeting computer slightly, but note that you should still research the higher tiers to reduce 'springyness'.
Timers- Wake-Up Time REDUCED to 6 Seconds.(70% faster)
- Tool-Swap Time REDUCED to 10 Seconds. (33% faster)
- AutoDock/Undock Time REDUCED to 30 Seconds. (50% faster)
- Time-Between-Damage Randomisation Difference REDUCED by 50%.
- Time-Between-Damage Timers DOUBLED.
Resource Use- Base Heat Generation REDUCED (0.075 > 0.035)
- Hibernation Heat Reduction INCREASED (-0.225 > -0.275)
- Overcharge Heat Generation REDUCED (1.25 > 0.35)
- Tool-Use Heat Generation REDUCED (0.825 > 0.625)
- Tool-Use Power Consumption REDUCED (-1.45 > -1.2)
Target Alignment- Tier 0 Tension INCREASED (35 > 45)
- Tier 0 Damping INCREASED (-0.2 > -0.6)
- Tier 2 Tension INCREASED (75 > 85)
- Tier 2 Damping INCREASED (-1.25 > -1.35)
- Wake-Up Time REDUCED to 6 Seconds.(70% faster)
- Contract Timers Rebalanced
In order to shift gameplay more equally towards contract management, and to prevent the above changes making the game too easy - all contracts other than Dead Satellite and Orbit contracts have had their timers reduced by 20%.
- Balance Increase
When starting a new game, starting balance has been increased to 350,000 Credits - so you have enough to get started earlier!
- Normalized Debris Masses
Although this was not indicated to the player in any way, all Orbital Debris (and Satellites) have a 'Mass' that affects the strength of the KLAS tool. The differences between these masses has now been reduced for more consistency, until we have a way to communicate the mass of the object to the player.
Generally speaking, Debris / Dead Sat missions will now be much easier. Dead Satellites now use the 'MODERATE' mass instead of 'HEAVY'.
- Tutorial / Mission Completion Freezes Gameplay
When completing a mission and following a tutorial, gameplay is now always paused. The contract completion widget must expand before pausing the game.
- Space Station Changes
- We now plot 128 points for the Space Station instead of 64 to reduce artefacts on the orbit spline.
- The Space Station is now in a PROGRADE orbit. You will need to start a new game to see this change applied. Note that Station orbit makes no difference to docking.
- We now plot 128 points for the Space Station instead of 64 to reduce artefacts on the orbit spline.
- UI/UX Updates
- NEW: Underlined the currently selected satellite at the bottom of the screen.
- NEW: Panel Efficiency is now indicated by a small indicator for each Satellite at the bottom of the screen. It will also change colour depending on the solar state.
- Red = Overcharging
- Green = Charging
- Orange = Charging off & Efficiency > 0.0
- Gray = Charging off
- Red = Overcharging
- NEW: Satellite Icons in the world now show the Satellite name and it's current task. This is part of an ongoing task to highlight which Satellite Widget corresponds to the which Satellite in the world.
- Opening Research & Mission Browser no longer closes the open command panel.
- NEW: Experimental Camera Rotation. We have replaced the old 'Auto Cam' option (it was useless anyway) with a new 'Maintain Camera Rotation' option in the Gameplay Options. Turning this on will force the camera to maintain it's direction when switching between satellites, which may be useful when assessing line-of-sight to mission targets.
This is an experimental feature and may introduce clipping through the Earth, which we will look to fix in the January patch.
- NEW: News Widget on Main Menu. If we have any major announcements to make, they will now be displayed via a pop-up window in the main menu. At this time, there are no major announcements to make!
- NEW: Underlined the currently selected satellite at the bottom of the screen.
- Bugfixes
- Potential fix for the game launching in VR mode / Steam VR. This was caused by packaging the game with various VR plugins still enabled. Please let us know if this update has not fixed the issue!
- Fixed an issue where restoring a satellite from a save game that was thrusting, would create an isolated thrust looping sound.
- Fixed an issue where a Satellite that was scheduled for docking would not cleanup the docking state for all Satellites if destroyed early.
- Potential fix for the game launching in VR mode / Steam VR. This was caused by packaging the game with various VR plugins still enabled. Please let us know if this update has not fixed the issue!
Post-Release - Upcoming Improvements!
So it's been just over 2 days since our release and we're already getting a lot of feedback from you guys. Some of it we expected (in relation to difficulty, lack of tutorial etc) - but some was also unexpected! We believe in innovation, and took some big risks with the design of the game, but rest assured that we are nowhere near done with this title just yet!
Stormtide is a 2-man dev team, with only one full-time developer (myself), so we're stretched pretty thin most of the time - but we're looking at putting out a small hotfix by the end of the week that addresses some of the initial gameplay troubles.
Some of these items will take longer to implement - so will be available in a patch towards the end of January. We have divided these changes / fixes up into two categories - a December Hotfix and a January Patch.
- Pausing During Tutorial & Mission Completion - Hotfix
Although 90% of our prompt / short tutorials DO pause the game, there are a few that we feel made more sense without the game paused. We have had some strong opposition to this, and so as of this patch ALL tutorial windows will pause our time management - meaning Satellite state and mission timers will be frozen during any tutorial.
We will also pause the game during mission completion stage. This is an oversight on our part, but don't forget you can view and read all of your missions in the Catalog on the main menu! The long-term aim of the game is to unlock all of the Catalog items to gold level!
- Tutorial Improvements - Patch
This will not be included in this weeks patch, but we're looking at designing a new interactive tutorial that walks you through the first couple of missions, and docking. Our short prompt tutorials are clearly not enough to get people into the swing of the game.
- UI / UX Improvements - Hotfix
Some small tweaks to the UI will be made for the first hotfix to display additional information with ease. We're sticking to our compact UI because it makes much more sense as you become more adept at the game and learn the keybindings (and we don't want our pretty graphics covered in UI!), but we can certainly make some information easier to see.
These changes are on-going, but some will make it into this weeks hotfix.
- Video Tutorials - Post-January Patch
Satellite Command is a tough game to tutorialise without giving away all the gameplay. We want our players to discover how to play on their own, but that gamble we took currently isn't working out.
Nobody likes to read large blocks of text, so instead we'll be creating a video gameplay series that will introduce players to the game. These will be linked and watchable with the game open. This way, you have the option to have the gameplay explained to you - or to work it out by yourself.
- Easy & Hard Modes - Patch
This may take more than a week to implement so for the meantime we'll be addressing some balance issues and the length of certain timers, but in the long-term we're going to look at implementing a more forgiving 'easy' mode for newcomers, and a more difficult 'hard' mode. The key differences will be that 'easy' mode will be a more casual experience, and will not count towards your leaderboard scores.
'Hard' mode will essentially become our 'ranked' mode, which will count towards leaderboard scoring and have a more difficult balance. This ensures that seasoned players still have a challenge, while newcomers can enjoy a more relaxed game.
- Overheating / Hibernation Rebalance - Hotfix
We will be reducing the amount of heat generated by the spacecraft, particularly when idle and during tool use. Overheating management through hibernation is part of the gameplay, but seems to confuse players when they only have one Satellite at the beginning of the game. Until we implement our new gameplay modes, we will be reducing this to prevent frustration.
- Reduce Wake-Up Time - Hotfix
We will be reducing the amount of time it takes to wake the Satellite significantly. Waking exists as a punishment for using Time-Warp - but currently takes far too long.
- Disable Auto-Wake - Hotfix
Auto-Waking occurs when a Satellite is able to come out of safe mode. We will change this so that the satellite just switches straight into hibernation mode, rather than waking up. This is more useful for later games where the player has multiple Satellites.
- Targeting System Damping - Hotfix
The targetting system in the early game is extremely loose by design (you must RESEARCH more accurate target tracking) - but clearly at the moment it is far too loose. We will be adjusting this to make the initial tracking a bit tighter. Don't forget to assist the Targeting with the WASD keys, and (once researched) by using the Gyro.
- Bugfixes - Hotfix & Patch
We will always be releasing hotfixes to fix bugs. I will be adding a known-issues list to the Technical Support forum shortly to let you know what we're aware of and working on.
January & Beyond
We are commited to making Satellite Command a success to the best of our capabilities - and post-janaury we will be taking a look at some new more in-depth features to improve and add depth to the gameplay. Although we have added and changed a huge amount of content since the mobile edition - we know that the PC edition still needs much more.
Additional gameplay and new content will be part of this plan - and we will post as soon as we have any teasers or more information. In the meantime, we thank those who remain invested in us and look forward to the future!
Also, if you are enjoying the game be sure to leave us a review! It helps us a lot!
Satellite Command Available Now!
I'm genuinely thrilled to announce that Satellite Command is now available! You can buy the game directly through Steam, Green Man Gaming and very soon Humble and Amazon.
We can't wait to see what you think!
Satellite Command has been through many different stages in it's life cycle already. What initially started out as an experience for a visitor attraction center at Goonhilly Earth Station here in Cornwall, has now become a PC Strategy / Simulation Game that we're really proud of!
I've created a Technical Support sub-forum for any issues, so head over there if you find anything you think we should know about!
Cheers and have fun!
- TJ
Launch Trailer!
Only one day left until Launch, we're hitting the button at 5:00pm GMT!
In the meantime, why not get your snacks and enjoy the launch trailer!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNQ5yikI-O0
Can't wait to see what you all think!
- TJ
Release Date Announced! 16/12/16
We've just announced and published our release date, 16th of December 2016!
Two weeks from today Satellite Command will be available for download on Steam, Humble, Amazon and Green Man Gaming.
Satellite Command is a realistic astrophysics simulation game. Complete contracts with real data, take control and launch ever more powerful Satellites, research advanced technology and build your Space Agency and discover more about the wonders of the universe!
We're really looking forward to release! We hope to be sending out review keys for our first release candidate tonight, so you may see you YouTube footage soon along with our Launch Trailer!
Cheers!
- TJ
New Screenshots!
I've just updated the store page with a refined description and some of the latest in-game screenshots!
We're working on a launch trailer right now, and putting final touches on the game itself. We're looking at release within the next couple of weeks tops!
Cheers!
- TJ