This is the official 5.0 Update I've been harping on about for over a year!
What's New?
There are a lot of new features and improvements in this major update, when compared to the previous version (4.6.5D is still available in under Properties>Betas if you want to continue your current game).
I cannot list all the new features, but here are a few big ones:
Ship interior:
Your spaceship has a few extra areas. The storage room is no longer just a door, but an actual room you can go in. In it, you will find your storage locker as well as a sleeping pod. Using the sleeping pod will restore your health, try it!
There is also a proper hangar for your landing craft.
Finally, an airlock allows you to actually dock with the mothership...
The Mothership Altair:
Now when you visit the mothership, you can enter and interact with the people, buy goods from several shops, and have a cup of coffee at the Cygnus Lounge (now serving Starbux Coffee), or at either of two Starbux Coffee locations.
Shops will have specific items in stock, for greater reliability in terms of getting repair kits, ammo and other reusables.
More Surface Features:
More unique features will present themselves on planet surfaces, offering emergent gameplay and challenges.
Tornadoes can spawn on some planets, presenting a different kind of environmental danger.
Meteors will occasionally fall on some worlds, depending on certain conditions. These pose a danger, but it is rare that one would actually fall on or near a person...
Planets now have a temperature range. Day and night will differ from one planet to another, depending on atmospheric conditions. On planets with no atmosphere, the change from day to night can be extreme. Planets with a vaporous atmosphere will have more consistent temperatures etc...
Caves also have a different temperature than the planet's surface. Usually caves will be cooler, but on some occasion, the hot core of a planet may warm up its interior. In general, cave temperatures will usually be easier for the player to withstand than those on the surface.
There are so many other features, it's tough to try to list them all here. If you really want to know everything that's changed, go ahead and play the game. Or you can read through the last year or so of updates.
About the Interactive Guide:
The interactive guide is working, but I am calling it a "beta" because it has some known issues. It will guide you through the opening sequence, and explain the interface for new players. If you use it, I recommend doing what it says, and only what it says. Try to avoid experimentation until the guide lets you know it is finished.
Also, I would suggest playing through the whole guide in one sitting if possible. Saving and returning to the guide at the wrong point can cause issues. I plan to revisit the guide in the next few days, to make sure it is more robust.
About Version 5.0:
Version 5.0 represents the full feature list of Star Explorers. I am uploading it now for two main reasons. First, I am fairly confident that it is more stable than the previous 4.6.5D version (especially after the game breaking planet landing freeze bug was fixed this morning). Also, with the recent Realms Deep conference, I wanted to make sure that new players have the best experience possible.
While the game now has the full set of features I have had in mind (with one or two exceptions) I make no claims that it will be a completely bug free experience. So, while I have no current plans to continue adding new features to the game, I do plan to continue supporting it and fixing any outstanding problems. If there is one thing I have learned through the many years of working on Star Explorers, it's that I am definitely not qualified to have made this game. So I offer my sincere apologies to anyone who was not satisfied with the experience.
Testing Branch Updated to Version 5.0 - again
Of course, I am totally ready to update to version 5.0, and of course the game is getting a ton of additional exposure thanks to Realms Deep ... and of course a major game breaking bug is discovered on the eve of battle!
Well, the good news is that I believe I have really found the source of the bug. It looks like it effected players of the testing branch the first time they land on a planet IF they are running through the interactive guide (perfect place right?).
What would happen is that when landing the game would hang as it was trying to load the planet. Then, to add insult to injury, when attempting to reload the game, it would place your ship near the orbited planet, but forget to put it in orbit, so your ship would end up crashing into the planet.
I was able to reproduce the bug thanks to a helpful player (who probably hates me now). Once i could see exactly where it happened, it was obvious what was happening, and I was able to create a workaround that allows the planet to be loaded properly.
As recently planned, I will be updating the default branch to the latest version, and stamping the 5.0 label on it.
I'll be here all day, so let me know if you find anything else!
EDIT: I have updated again (at 2:30) with a very minor change. The interactive guide option now has the "BETA" label slapped on it. It works overall, but has introduced some issues. If you do use it, my recommendation would be to follow what it says, and don't do anything it doesn't tell you to do if possible. You should also prepare to finish the guide in one sitting. Issues have shown up when players save and return to the game, or do things they are not instructed to do. I plan to look more carefully at the guide in the next few days, and hopefully will be able to make it more stable.
Testing Branch Updated to Version 5.0
With the Realms Deep event starting, I realized I should have the best and most stable version of the game up. With this realization, I have decided that the current testing branch is fundamentally done, and represents my best effort towards what was meant to be version 5.0.
So some time tomorrow I will be updating the main/default branch and announcing that Version 5.0 is ready.
I plan to be doing some last minute testing and updating graphics and such, so if you discover any game breaking bugs, please let me know.
Testing Branch Updated to Pre-Release Version 0.7.1
I had to fix a couple things and I also added a few more small features.
Cave Temperatures Fixed
These were not working as planned. If the planet temperature was between 200 and 400 Kelvin, the cave temperatures would not be calculated correctly, and would have been set to 0. Now cave temperatures should correspond correctly with surface temperatures.
High and Low Temperature Data
Now your ship computer will display the low and high temperature for a planet. This will show both at the helm of your ship, as well as in the star chart.
Warning Message
Now the ship computer should take a planet's high and low temperatures into account when issuing a warning about "surface hazards."
Realms Deep 2021
Also, don't forget that Realms Deep is in less than four days! Watch the new Star Explorers trailer at it's world premiere this weekend. There are also supposed to be some other games being showcased too :)
Testing Branch Updated to Pre-Release Version 0.7.0
Planet temperatures have received an overhaul, thanks to some great feedback from players.
I tried to make it a bit more logical, though it could hardly be considered scientifically accurate. Here's what has changed:
Night Time:
At night planet temperatures will drop. How much will depend on what type of planet it is. If it is a planet with a "normal" atmosphere, then the temperature will cool down by about half. There are some other variables at play here, but that's the rough idea.
Planets with a vaporous atmosphere will only get a little cooler at night, most of the heat being retained in the dense moisture.
Planets with no atmosphere will get extremely cold at night, so be prepared to experience some interesting changes to gameplay.
Caves:
Caves will also adjust the temperature. On cold planets (less than 200 Kelvin) the temperature will actually increase, thanks to the warmth of the planet's inner workings.
On other planets (above 200 Kelvin) the temperature will drop, but not by that much, keeping it at a minimum of 200.
Tutorial:
I was also able to address some issues with the tutorial. You will no longer be able to exit the console before going into orbit around a planet, as this caused strange issues with the tutorial window.
Also, when landing on your very first planet, I have made sure to make it day-time, so new players are not left in the dark.
Star Explorers Testing Branch Updated to Pre-Release Version 0.6.9
I was able to resolve the issue where the mining station would not appear on an Acknexium planet. So now mining stations seem to be fully operational!
Acknexium mining operations can only start after you have secured a sample from the planet in question. A team will be sent down to the surface, where they construct the station, and they will remain there to manage Acknexium extraction. The advanced mining techniques do not otherwise alter the planet in any way.
Here's me hanging out at a mining station with some of the guys...
I have also added a mining generator sound effect, to add some ambiance to this important part of the Star Explorers experience. But you will have to venture forth and find some Acknexium if you want to hear that.
Star Explorers at Realms Deep 2021
I am once again honored to have been invited to showcase my games at Realms Deep. Star Explorers is approaching the official 5.0 release. I will be talking to the folks at Realms Deep about the development of this game, and what's planned going forward. Learn more about Realms Deep, and all the other amazing games they are showcasing here...
https://www.realmsdeep.game/
Star Explorers Testing Branch Updated to Pre-Release Version 0.6.8
A strange problem with liquids on planet surfaces has been fixed. Somehow the water/wave shader stopped working at certain distances, causing the liquid to turn into a flat color.
Here's what it may have looked like:
I found out that I had foolishly set a distance on whether shaders would be drawn or not. This caused the water shader to turn off at a certain distance from the center of the map, where the water model's origin was. Turning this limit off fixed the problem.
However, in the process of figuring this out, I was able to address a similar but unrelated issue. The water model also had a strange way of reflecting light, causing it to brighten up significantly when the player approached the center of the planet map. This actually looked very similar to the image above, though one could still see the water ripples in this case, and the color would stay roughly the same (though brighter).
I assumed this was the problem being experienced, and tweaked the way liquids respond to light. The result is a much more stable water shader that should not brighten up in unusual ways, nor disappear completely. Enjoy!
Star Explorers Testing Branch Updated to Pre-Release Version 0.6.7
Hostile Miners:
I am finding some more issues with miners. If you shot at an alien the miners would react as threatened, and aim their guns at you. This should no longer happen. But if you attack them, they should respond like neutral or hostile aliens.
Alien Types:
I have allowed alien animals to appear on the same planets as humanoid aliens. I think this should be more interesting than having just one or the other. Currently, animal type aliens and humanoid aliens should ignore each other, but I am thinking of including some kinds of interactions in the near future.
I fixed a couple bugs:
In the last update, Acknexium miners did not display their names. The inventory wormhole item was not working with ship storage upgrades, so you could only see the first storage slot when using the wormhole from a planet or cave.
Problem found:
I was informed that the water shader for planet surface liquids would stop working. I have been able to reproduce this problem, but so far unable to fix it. I will be looking at why this is the case in the near future.
Star Explorers Testing Branch Updated to Pre-Release Version 0.6.6
Liquid surfaces on planets were getting strange lighting issues. I have modified the material I use, so this should not happen anymore. However, the liquids are now looking a bit darker than they should. I may still modify this a bit.
Mining stations will now appear closer to the center of the map. Previously, mining stations appeared right by the player's landing spot. However this was causing some weird issues with NPC disappearing. I've moved them to the center of the map to avoid this issue - rather than actually fixing the problem :)
Miner dialogue has been updated with new statements. They are no longer going to repeat the same info as NPCs on the mothership, but will offer their own unique perspective to the player.
Dialogue repeat issue - previously, NPCs could repeat themselves in the dialogue window. This has been resolved for new NPCs, but existing, reloaded NPCs may still have this issue.
