We are full steam ahead (excuse the pun) on Alpha 9 and wanted to reach out and update you on our status and what we are working on.
So far we have added quite a few new and fun things. First we have made lots of different ships for you to choose when you start the game, each with their own strengths and weakenesses. We will continue to add new equipment into the game that will make these differences more profound and allow you to really customize your own ship
The next thing we have done is reworked our mouse cursor interface. We have had a lot of complaints about things not feel quite "solid" and a little bit muddy. We have added outlines and much more feedback for each item that you can interact with and things should feel much more solid.
We are also reworking our entire mission system from the ground up. We have added what we call "encounters" - these are ships and other surprises that appear on empty nodes. These mini adventures can range from strange dereliect vessels, ships in need of repairs and ships that have contracted a disease for you to cure with your doctors.
And speaking of disease - we have contracted a bunch! Crew can now get sick with Midorian Mumps, get a case of space flu or watch that zombie bite slowly grow and not have any idea what the outcome will be. Your doctors will have the ability to cure these diseases with some diseases requiring higher crew levels to treat.
We also have added crew missions. These are small missions you can complete in order to earn more loyalty with your crew. Each crew member will want things around the galaxy based on their race, class and personality type. Got an Antorian cadet? He's probably gonna want an Antorian bed.
We have also added in new cargo bays for each ship that spawn the correct cargo so that you don't always know what is going to be on each ship you run into based on the template.
Scanners have also been added and will reveal fog of war of other ships, allowing you to plan your strategies accordingly.
The other big thing we are focused on is the AI of your crew, civilians, shop owners and enemies. We are completely overhauling our system and here is why:
This is our current AI and, as you can see, it's a bit of a mess. This is the product of a lot of ideas that were abandoned, things that didn't work as originally concieved and over-engineering simple things like crew desires.
The bottom line is our current AI is totally unmanageable - and we are fixing it. This will be the biggest delay as to releasing Alpha 9. It's one of those features that just takes as long as it takes and really can't be done half way. We anticpate having everything ready to go around mid-April and there should be a ton of new stuff for you to try out with your crew on your adventures across the galaxy!
Can't wait to show more!
Cheers,
Warballoon
Alpha 8.22 Released!
Greetings Star Commanders!
Quick fix for the empty Space Station/Ghost Ships bugs many of you are having. 8.22 is live right now and should address those issues!
NOTES
Fixed a bug where maps would save with an improper character, thus causing them to be unable to load.
Fixed a bug where the Crew GUI would sometimes double load characters
Alpha 9 Test should be out this week on the beta branch with some of the brand new features we are working on including crew missions, encounters, ship selection and some other cool stuff!
Cheers,
Warballoon
A Welcome to New Captains and Alpha 9
Greetings Star Commanders,
Over the last week we have seen a GIANT influx of new players.
Thanks and Welcome
First, we wanted to first thank you for purchasing the game and supporting development. We know Early Access titles are a bit of a leap of faith and that they can be frustrating experiences at times. All we can say is that you have put your faith and money into a dedicated group here at Warballoon and we will do our best to make the game as great as we possibly can.
Second, we wanted to send our appreciation for the feedback and activity on the forums. We read every single comment, idea, bug report and review and do our best to address and react while staying on point with our design schedule and goals.
Third we wanted to outline the direction we are heading for Alpha 9!
Alpha 9
For Alpha 8 we were very focused on one thing: bugs. This meant a huge list of improvements but no real new content. That will change with the next update.
For Alpha 9, we are focused firstly on AI. Our AI has been tweaked, twirled and bended since our first Alpha with very few holistic updates. We wanted to keep the system flexible and able to test new features and, as a result, it has become a jumbled unpredictable mess. With Alpha 9 we intend to remedy this.
We will be totally gutting the current crew and enemy AI systems and replace it with something that is much more reflective of the current state of the game. A large portion of the bugs reported with Galaxies right now are AI related - enemies not attacking, crew not eating at regular times, things locking up, unclear objectives, enemy ships not returning fire or acting strange - these are all a result of a system that is desperate need of an update. To be frank you won't see a lot of new features, per se, but what you WILL see is exactly what you would expect to see: your crew behaving consistently, enemies making intelligent decisions, ships working in predictable ways and some surprises that should make sense logically but also challenge you and your crew.
Secondly, we will be completely gutting the current mission system and rewriting it. Similar with behavior, our mission system is a remnant of lots of different ideas from lots of different Alphas and is in need of a large re-write in order to better fit where the game is going. This will include 4 major areas:
1. Encounters
These will be one-time events occurring at nodes across the galaxy. An example would be a derelict ship floating in space. You can decide to destroy it with your ship weapons, beam a crew over to explore it for loot (or zombies...) or just leave it and move on. This should keep the game flowing much better with a lot more for you to do as Captain.
2. Crew Missions
Crew will now have some needs that they would like to see met, giving you the Captain the opportunity to earn loyalty. Basic tasks would be "I want a bed" or "We need a shower" and, as your crew got higher in level and rank, would get more complex like "I want a piece of Antorian Art" or "I want to visit an Trilax strip club." The goal here is to both connect you with your crew and give you smaller tasks to accomplish while bringing peace (or death) to the galaxy.
3. Mini-Missions
These are events with existing NPC ships. This would include things like "Our ship is damaged, please bring your engineers over to repair it" or "We have a disease, can your doctors please help cure us!" These will be opportunities to earn or lose loyalty with individual characters and factions while also putting your resources and crew in jeopardy.
4. Major Missions
These will be faction changing events that help forge your allies and your enemies. Things like building a Nav Buoy in Trilax Space for the Antorian Empire or Killing 5 Midorian Freighters. These will be clear decision points for you on how the galaxy should be shaped and who you want to support.
We will also be issuing patches and addressing as many bugs as we possibly can along the way. We always try and do both at the same time which is why we have picked the two systems most likely to cause bugs (AI and Missions) as our focus for new features.
We hope you are all enjoying the game and we highly encourage you to engage with us in the forums, on facebook and on Twitter - whatever your social media leaning is. We love getting feedback from our community and truly do take as much into account as possible.
So glad to have so many new Captains in our ranks! Lot's more to come!
Cheers,
Warballoon
Alpha 8.21 Released
Quick update Star Commanders!
We just released a hotfix that addresses some nasty bugs with ships getting stuck when you travel, merging ships etc.
The game should be very stable and ready to go!
Cheers,
Warballoon
Alpha 8.1 Patch Released
Greetings Star Commanders!
Quick patch for you today. We are already starting on Alpha 9, gutting our character behavior tree and building it back up along with adding in new missions, ship systems and lot's of fun surprises.
We wanted to address some of the issues coming up with Alpha 8. Patch notes below:
Fixes
Fixed duplicate crew when you save the game with your crew off of your ship
Added more food and a starter shop to every space station
Medics are now healing correctly
Eating is much quieter
Fixed medic particles getting stuck on
Teleporter particles cleaned up
Can now teleport crew properly after purchasing a new ship
More to come soon!
Cheers,
Warballoon
Alpha 8: Bugathon Released!
Alpha 8 Is Finally Here!
Greetings Star Commanders!
We have released Star Command Galaxies Alpha 8 and it is by far our best release yet. So what’s new? What’s the focus? Bugs of course! This update has more bug fixes than all of our other releases combined. We spent all month just going through and fixing up crashes, save bugs, quirks and weird stuff that was happening in the game. TO BE CLEAR there are likely some bugs left and some new ones we made along the way but the game should be MUCH more stable and a lot more fun.
Our patch notes should give you an idea of the breadth of fixes we have addressed. We highly encourage you to try it out. It’s not perfect but it should be a much clearer vision of where we are going with the game.
Improvements
LOYALTY: Rewrote all of loyalty so that the captains will react according to their proper loyalty level
LOYALTY: Mouseover on loyalty for each character displays the reasons they do or do not like you
ONELINERS: Added new feature where characters will update you about mission status and their intentions
GAMETIPS: Added in Gametips for game concepts
Changes
UNITY5: Switched game to Unity5
CREWDOCK: Quick select numbers displayed next to crew members. You can press each corresponding key to select a crew member.
MOUSE: Now shows teleport and steal icons when you are using those actions
Station owners are now a part of the Hierarchy tree
Made Hierarchy tree a vertical layout so your standing is clearer
Compressed all species onto one page on Hierarchy tree
Revised hierarchy menu to better display how races feel about each other
DISTRESS MISSIONS: Only receive distress missions if you have high loyalty or more with ship
WARP JUMP: Completely rewritten to be more stable and efficient
WARP JUMP: New jump sequence implemented
MISSION REWARDS: Improved mission rewards menu
TELEPORTER: Esc/Right Click cancels teleport
SHIP LEAVING: Crew automatically return to ship when ships are leaving
SHIPCOMBAT/DISTRESS MISSIONS: Mission will fail if you leave the area
FOG OF WAR: Completely revised - each ship now has its own fog of war map
Mission targets should be at their displayed location
Added Bounty missions
Added in Crew Warnings where crew will tell you if there is an issue on your ship
STEALING disabled for the time being - objects can now be scrapped
Beds now give limited HP when crew rest
Added in intruder alert
Added mission hover bubble above the appropriate node
Limited active missions to 3 + Distress
Space station lights are improved
Shortcut keys added to mouseovers
Fixes
FIXED: Saves are MUCH more solid and reliable but they will continue to get work
FIXED: Ship not returning to 100% health after repairing all damage
FIXED: Placing stolen items locking up the game
FIXED: Black screen of death at Space Station arrival
FIXED: Placing duplicate items removes the previously placed item
FIXED: Could not switch out of Red/Yellow Alert
FIXED: Options menu blocks clicks
FIXED: Game saves crew HP
FIXED: Mission target not being the correct one for ShipCombat
FIXED: Multiple mission indicators on map for Trade
COMBAT: Enemy invaders acquiring targets much better
COMBAT: Crew reacting to enemies much more consistently
FIXED: Repair particles staying stuck on objects being repaired
FIXED: Heal particles not appearing
FIXED: Engineers repair AoE much more solid and reliable
FIXED: Placement tiles not appearing when placing an object
PARTICLES: Sparks revised and much more efficient
FOG OF WAR: Ship no longer fades to black during warp
FIXED: Windows appearing in front of characters
FIXED: Beam weapons not being blocked by shields
CREWDOCK: Sorts correctly
UI: Lifebar no longer reflecting opponent's HP in character orbit
NAV UI: Game is now pausing in nav
NAV UI: Time controls staying on/highlighted in each state
UI: "Navigation" still no longer getting stuck on mouseover
FIXED: Travel circle animation getting stuck
GAME GUI: Damage rounded at first decimal
FIXED: NPC’s dying on Antorian stations from radiation
FIXED: Antorian space station missing a door
FIXED: Crew phaser being spawned in space
MAPS: Lights on the Falchion
GENERAL GAMEPLAY: Asteroids no longer moving when game is paused
NAV UI: Correct space station images on nav map
LOYALTY: Ships will now correctly attack the proper ships
FIXED: Characters getting stuck in space after buying new ship
STATIONS: All ships can no longer enter red alert at stations
STARTING NODE: Now safe (no other races/pirates will spawn there)
PIRATES: Will avoid space stations (no more suicide runs)
DISTRESS MISSIONS: Timer disappears when you arrive to distress missions
WARP JUMP: Crew no longer disconnect from their station during jump
WARP JUMP: Camera jumping fixed
GUI: Stations use species frames
MISSION INDICATOR: Changes when mission is complete or failed
MISSION FAIL POPUP: When leaving an area to fail a mission a menu will popup informing player
MISSION OPTIMIZATION: LUA sets up which missions each job profession works
ASSETS: Potential fix to messed up sprites appearing on characters
ASSETS: Fixed missing midorian sprite sheets
AI: Enemies no longer stop moving when they teleport to your ship
All objects and weapon LUA’s revised for game balances, errors and missing data
NAVMAP: Ships are being displayed on the edges of the nodes correctly
Music starting at 0 volume
ShipPurchase not working correctly
Carter notices not coming in at correct times
Added in giver faction to mission indicator
FIXED: Targeting allowed weapons to be fired before battery requirement
FIXED: Distress missions not completing
FIXED: Crew loyalty pulling from personal loyalty after mission complete
FIXED: Freighters threatening the player
FIXED: Crew shader
FIXED: NPC’s and crew will try and avoid food and scrap instead of walking through them (unless trapped)
FIXED: Crew walking through walls when they decide their own path
FIXED: Enemies trigger animations
FIXED: Enemies shooting after death
FIXED: Garbled text on text popup
FIXED: Crew details now displays proper information
FIXED: Hover icons getting stuck behind crew members
FIXED: Multiple purple icons on trade locations
FIXED: Footsteps getting stuck on loop
FIXED: Sounds are again in 3D
FIXED: Clicking on GUI while teleporter is on no longer teleports your crew
FIXED: Hid some loyalty items that shouldn’t have been showing
FIXED: Shield status not getting saved
FIXED: Shields not appearing
FIXED: Shields on a ship when the first start even if they haven’t charged them
FIXED: Mouseover on crew hire not giving the right info
FIXED: Null reference after going to main menu and starting a new game
FIXED: Null reference when station was unloading and trying to reveal FoW
FIXED: Null reference when arriving at station and there was a conflict with stores
FIXED: Loyalty adding hidden values to crew loyalty
FIXED: Mission bubbles are now orange on nav map
FIXED: Mission bubbles no longer animating
FIXED: Rapid fire exploit
Alpha 7.52 (BETA BRANCH)
Greetings Star Commanders,
Quick update as we get ready for Alpha 8 release. Just some null reference fixes and some tweaks.
IMPORTANT: If you run into any errors while running the game PLEASE post the very first one that you get. Every other error after the first one is likely a cascading/domino effect and very difficult to diagnose and fix.. If you do receive an error, please take a screenshot, save the game and then load. From there take a screenshot of the first error you get after that. Again, subsequent errors are likely stemming from the first.
To get on the betatesting branch go to your library, right click on Star Command Galaxies, go to properties, click on the "Betas" tab and select the "betatesting" branch. The game will auto-update!
Patch notes below:
FIXED: Flickering GUI issue with Unity 5.3.1 (damn you Unity!!!)
FIXED: Null reference after going to main menu and starting a new game
FIXED: Null reference when station was unloading and trying to reveal FoW
FIXED: Null reference when arriving at station and there was a conflict with stores
FIXED: Loyalty adding hidden values to crew loyalty
FIXED: Mission bubbles are now orange on nav map
FIXED: Mission bubbles no longer animating
FIXED: Rapid fire exploit
Known Issues:
Enemy logic is going to be getting an entire rewrite and will be released post Alpha 8. It will be large and a patch for Alpha 8. After that enemies will be much more intelligent and not do odd things like beam aboard your ship and just stand still.
Crew getting out of beds too early
Objects becoming characters
When packing/converting an object to scrap sometimes crew will get stuck
Characters occupying the same tile
Save corruptions (please post all first errors!)
Cheers,
Warballoon
Alpha 7.5 (BETA BRANCH)
Greetings Star Commanders!
We are wrapping up on Alpha 8 and have a new version for you. Some more bug fixes and a new bug submission area set up on the forums.
IMPORTANT: If you run into any errors while running the game PLEASE post the very first one that you get. Every other error after the first one is likely a cascading/domino effect and very difficult to diagnose and fix.. If you do receive an error, please take a screenshot, save the game and then load. From there take a screenshot of the first error you get after that. Again, subsequent errors are likely stemming from the first.
To get on the betatesting branch go to your library, right click on Star Command Galaxies, go to properties, click on the "Betas" tab and select the "betatesting" branch. The game will auto-update!
Patch notes below:
FIXED: Enemies trigger animations
FIXED: Enemies shooting after death
FIXED: Garbled text on text popup
FIXED: Crew details now displays proper information
FIXED: Hover icons getting stuck behind crew members
FIXED: Multiple purple icons on trade locations
FIXED: Footsteps getting stuck on loop
FIXED: Sounds are again in 3D
FIXED: Clicking on GUI while teleporter is on no longer teleports your crew
FIXED: Hid some loyalty items that shouldn’t have been showing
FIXED: Shield status not getting saved
FIXED: Shields not appearing
FIXED: Shields on a ship when the first start even if they haven’t charged them
FIXED: Mouseover on crew hire not giving the right info
Beds now give limited HP when crew rest
Revised hierarchy menu to better display how races feel about each other
Added in intruder alert
Added mission hover bubble above the appropriate node
Limited active missions to 3 + Distress
Tons of null reference error fixes
Known Issues (fixed next week):
Enemy logic is going to be getting an entire rewrite and will be released post Alpha 8. It will be large and a patch for Alpha 8. After that enemies will be much more intelligent and not do odd things like beam aboard your ship and just stand still.
Save corruptions (please post all first errors!)
Loyalty penalties not registering correctly on game load
Cheers,
Warballoon
We're Looking for Mission and Event Ideas!
Greetings Star Commanders!
For Alpha 9 we will be focused on continuing to polish the Star Command Galaxies experience and a big part of that will be new Missions and Events.
Missions will become much larger, story driven elements. Events, on the other hand, will be common things that appear in the galaxy, like derelict ships or zombie attacks.
To find out more about Missions and Events and to submit your own ideas click on the link below:
