Star Traders! We are back once again with yet another fantastic update for everyone's favorite space trading game that is called Star Traders. With Update #362, we've added some new art, finished up the arc of work on Cloaking components and chased down bugs and QoL issues reported by the community.
Thanks to every captain for playing and sharing the game with a review!
Want to help shape our next game?
So many of our updates for Star Traders are based on feedback from you all. But there are limits to what we can do in a game 6 years after its release. Our new tactical heist RPG, Cyber Knights: Flashpoint, is evolving fast in Early Access, with plenty of room for content ideas and shifts in gameplay based on what early players are finding fun.
We're always loving the chance to roll out some new artwork, so we dug deep in the archives and found these 4 Contacts who have been waiting to roll their dice and see if they can climb to the top of the grav heap. Welcome 4 new contact faces!
Further Work on Cloaking
This week we found and fixed several bugs we created last week with our changes to the cloaking system. We've updated all of the effected code, and now cloaking bonuses and rolls are correctly applied across the entire spectrum of ship encounters. Xenos, Jyeeta, Bounty Hunters, mysterious Voidships, etc -- they're all now correctly effected by cloaking.
We have also increased by maximum Cloaking to 65% -- stacking those components is hard and we want to give a strong, but balanced, result. This is only a 5% total change and based on our current evaluation, we don't expect it to rise gain.
Mutiny Weight Reduction
With further analysis, we've followed up our previous reduction in Mutiny weights by reducing it again by 3%. This is the wrap up for a fix we started a few weeks ago and helps manage the Mutiny rates. We all know it is "fun" to have a Mutiny, but it is not fun to have 4 while you are turning to get to a nearby port :D
Initiative rebalance
We have recently introduced some new components that add Ship Combat Initiative, which is responsible for determining which attacks and weapons go first. Some bugs crept in related to player builds with very high (more than +10) Initiative. If you were seeing the opposite effect for very high Initiative builds - that you're suddenly going last!?!? - we have a fix for you!
Contact Network's Bonus
Fixed an issue where Contact Network card was only introducing the main Contact with a Reputation Bonus, instead of giving a Rep bonus to the entire network. This is a boon to the card as you will now learn about multiple Contacts and have a head start with some of them.
While testing this out, we also found a very rare case in which the Contact's links were all remote and would not be introduced correctly. That is now fixed too!
v3.4.19 - #362: Cloaking Arc Wrap
- Added 4 new Contact faces - New Component: Cloaked Launch Bay - Increased maximum Cloaking effect to 65% - Fixed Cloaking interactions with Era-specific encounter tables - Reduced chance of Mutiny during Low Morale events by additional 3% - Fixed bugs caused by large Ship Combat Initiative Scores - Buffed and fixed "Uncover Contact Network" (+5 Explorer Card)
Update #361: Full Circle
Star Traders! Many welcomes to our esteemed Captains, old and new. Whether you are an experienced Star Trader or new to plying the Void we at Trese Brothers appreciate you playing our game. This week's update is a mix of good and bad news. First, the good news: we've added new exciting components for Cloaking builds and ... we've finished testing the latest Terrox Xeno ship. Let's dig in as we keep balancing out the new cloaking rules, improved rules for transporting xeno artifacts and more.
If you're enjoying the continued stream of updates, improvements and more please take a moment to leave a review!
Want to help shape our next game?
So many of our updates for Star Traders are based on feedback from you all. But there are limits to what we can do in a game 6 years after its release. Our new tactical heist RPG, Cyber Knights: Flashpoint, is evolving fast in Early Access, with plenty of room for content ideas and shifts in gameplay based on what early players are finding fun.
We have added new large slot Cargo Holds that are competitive with standard cargo holds and provide cloaking and Escape bonuses for ship encounters and combat. These new holds are very useful for Merchants attempting to avoid interdiction, or Smugglers looking to avoid everyone and help provide new paths for your ship to achieve high cloaking without sacrificing all your smaller slots.
Based on player feedback we've also buffed a few more components by adding Cloaking capabilities. This update rebalanced two Goltha Scanners which are unlocked by the Goltha Tech storyline.
Finally, we've improved the display of Cloaking in the ship status screen so that your rates of cloaking / ship encounter evasion are easier to spot and know.
Dangerous Cargo
Our analysis of the results of recent Cloaking upgrades and player feedback pointed us towards a necessary shift some of othe other encounter rate rules. This week we're releasing a balancing update that further increases the Xeno encounter rate boost when your ship's cargo hold caontains Xeno Artifacts.
Shipper beware - it is as if these artifacts have a way of drawing the xeno from the void. Carrying large numbers of Xeno artifacts is now more dangerous than ever before.
Terrox Deathspear
And back to the bad news: we've finished testing on the newest Terrox Xeno ship, the Terrox Deathspear. This ship was previously very rare but is now ready to go and has been bumped up in the mix to be more common. It is still at around 50% of the occurrence rate of the other standard Terrox ships, so it is still a bit more rare but no longer vanishingly so.
v3.4.17 - #361: Full Circle - 11/20/2024
- Warning: Xeno Encounter Rate Boost from Xeno Artifacts Increased! - New Components: Cloaked Cargo Holds, Comp Level 4 to 8 added - Refactors and adds Cloaking to Quad-Goltha Scanner, Redlight Goltha Scanner - Fixes Ship Counters / Cloaking Displays in Ship Status - Balance adjustments for newest Xeno ship, increased encounter rate
Update #360: Cloaking Tech
Star Traders! First let's send out a welcome to all the new captains who have joined during this 50% off sale and second let's celebrate with an awesome update. Here we are, hitting Update #360 on your favorite space trading and political simulation game, Star Traders: Frontiers. This update focuses on some big changes to the Cloaking system which allows you to reduce ship encounters, upgrades and adds new ship components related to cloaking and a new variation of the Goltha tech that can be unlocked through the Goltha Development story vignette. We've also tweaked some ship builds and prices from the startport and tweaked the chance of Mutiny when Morale is low.
Want more Trese Brothers sci-fi?
We always love seeing how many of you have pieced together the lore of Star Traders from the stories within, and enjoy the flavor of this universe your Captain is a part of. In our next game, we’re telling a very different sci-fi story but with the same depth we bring to all our worlds. Check out the dark-future feel of our upcoming cyberpunk heist RPG where we've just released the new Gunslinger class and snag it on 34% off or wishlist it today! https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/
Cloaking Tech
Update #360 update centers around changing the limits in place in the ship cloaking system available to any captain today. The goal of these changes is to expand the options for your captain's ship builds and to make to make Cloaking more competitive with Skip Off the Void and high Escape bonus builds. To achieve this end, we've raised the limit on Cloaking up to 60% (which is a direct percentage of reduction on all ship encounters), from a 25% limit previously.
To provide more build options on how to get your cloaking so high, we have reworked all of the Sig Dampeners and Signal Veil components to provide more Cloaking. Also, we have added 4 new Signal Void Field components that take a medium slot to give additional options to pile on the cloaking abilities. If you have completed the Goltha Development story vignette, then a new Redlance Goltha Veil is available in Rychart starports across the galaxy. While the Goltha tech isn't all about Cloaking, it is a side benefit so this was a good time to introduce an additional option.
Ships with maximum Cloaking feel very different to operate now and we're excited to hear your feedback about these changes and make further adjustments over the coming weeks. Our goal is to position cloaking components such that they're viable for both early and late game builds.
Venerable Heavylift
Our last release added a new (ancient) ship design to Star Traders: Frontiers - the Degla Heavylift. our captains have had a chance to look it over and we've received some helpful messages and feedback on our Discord. Update #360 update pushes the best of those ideas into the game and revises the weapon and component loadout of the ship with a focus on making it a highly survival large cargo carrier.
Political Simulator
In not-as-exciting-but-still-great news we did some optimization on the political simulator (Conflicts, Rumors, Contact actions, Contact Link Events, etc) and speeding it up means we can run it slightly more often without negatively impacting ship travel on the map. This will provide even more procedurally generated drama for players to exploit for profit.
Mutiny Chances
We recently completed an analysis of Mutiny events in Star Traders games and noticed that a surprising percentage of mutiny events occur when the player is very close to the planet for a resupply. We have adjusted the chance of mutiny down by 10% in the crew simulator -- meaning they will tolerate low morale slightly longer before declaring an actual mutiny. Hopefully this patch lets you land in time to avoid any unpleasantness with your crew. Good luck!
v3.4.13 - Cloaking Tech - 11/12/2024
- Improved effects of Cloaking, increased maximum Cloaking effect to 60% (from 25%) - Increased amount of Cloaking provided by Sig Dampeners and Signal Veil - New Component: Signal Void Field, Levels 1-4 now available - New Vignette Component, Redlance Goltha Veil - Replaced Degla Heavylift weapon loadout based on feedback - Increased ship sale price for Wolfpack Interceptor + Voracious Class - New optimization of political simulator allows it to run 25% more often - Chance of Mutiny during Low Morale events reduced by 10%
BIG Map November 2024 Community Challenge
Hello, Captains. It’s time for another STF challenge. This is the Really BIG map challenge! Back in August, we asked how will you play on the smallest of maps with the least sectors? This time around we are offering up a 70 quadrant, standard density map for you to tackle. Some of the quadrants require many, many jumps to reach.
Just like the August challenge, this challenge only has one "rule:" that you play on the specific map seed for this challenge. Otherwise, you can play whatever professions, ships, rules, and styles you would like. Our Discord community suggested that this challenge could be good giving some of the newer fast ships a go!
The map seed for this challenge is: st-v02-70-6-94116976
Some ideas for what we’d love to see:
Screenshots of your ship, your crew
Descriptions of your strategies approaching a huge map with significant distance between some quadrants and how they are different from your 'normal' strategies
Tell us about the challenges your faced
Any other creative ways you want to share to tell us about your adventures: memes, interpretive dance, gifs, etc
No matter what you choose to share, please include one screenshot of your journey!
We’ve opened up a discussion here on Steam in the General Discussion forum for aIl of your posts. If you post on the discord, post in the #big_map_challenge channel found in the STF category.
Good luck and have fun, Captains!
Update #359: Venerable Heavylift
Star Traders! What you say? Another update? No, impossible. Not from these lazy bones. We'll its true - your favorite 2D space trading RPG has done it again - Update #359 has arrived with new fun things for Captains of any vintage, old and new, to explore. Update #359 includes a new Mass 9000 ship, a new Armored Cargo Hold 3, boosts to some Explorer cards appearance rates, and a sweeping set of fixes on components from community reports.
Want to help shape our next game?
So many of our updates for Star Traders are based on feedback from you all. But there are limits to what we can do in a game 6 years after its release. Our new tactical heist RPG, Cyber Knights: Flashpoint, is roaring along in the second half of its Early Access but we are using the same formula to listen, discuss and improve the game straight from community feedback. There is still plenty of room for content ideas and shifts in gameplay based on what early players are finding fun. For example, we're actively soliciting Talent ideas for the new Gunslinger class that is coming and some of the best are going straight into the game.
With Update #359, we have word of a brand new super-massive hull that is being constructed in De Valtos starports across the galaxy. The Degla Megalift is the ship for all your cargo hauling needs. Equipped with a massive fuel tank and an even larger cargo hold the Degla Heavylift is a big brother of the Degla Megalift. Boasting 12 small, 11 medium and 7 large slots, the Degla is a new super-massive class ship to configure, trick out and see how it compares to your other super-massive hulls. We can't wait to see how you kit out your Heavylift.
Both Degla architecture ships have a long and storied history, first appearing in Star Traders classic in 2014. Now both the Megalift and Heavylift have recurred in Star Traders: Frontiers in the years 2018 and 2024.
New Armored Cargo Hold 3
The new Armored Cargo Hoid 3 fills a gap in the progression and helps build out your heavily defended cargo transports.
Zendu Relic Boost
Based on our stats, the Zendu Relic cards were not appearing often enough so we have further increased the weighting chance that they will appear in a hand of Explorer cards. Good luck, relic hunters - the way is dangerous and road is long, but if you survive the rewards are sweet.
We've also increased the drop rate for Contact Network (which uncovered a Contact and all of their positive and negatively linked Contacts).
Component Improvements and Rebalance
We've made some component and ship fixes based on your excellent feedback. We've improved Battle Prow 8 to add +3 Ship Weapon Initiative to help you get the first shots. We 've also adjusted the Armored Bulkheads 6 stats to ensure that they fit within the progression. We've corrected the loadouts on the Allistar Huntress (which had too many starting officer cabins). And we've also resolved a number of odd bugs with Large Hangers, including one that granted over 240 Medical Rating for some of these components (!??!).
v3.4.11 - #359: Venerable Heavylift - 10/26/2024
- New Ship: "Degla Heavylift" (9000M Heavy Transport) - New Component: Armored Cargo Hold 3 - Further increased drop rate for "Zendu Relic" Explorer card - Increased drop rate for Uncover Contact Network (1 Contact + All Links) - Battle Prow 8 now adds +3 Ship Weapon Initiative - Further fixes for logging issues with ship component damage - Fixes for "Alistar Huntress" component loadouts - Fixes for Large Hanger and high Medical Ratings - Fixes for Large Hanger ship combat buffs - Fixes for Armored Bulkheads 6
Update #358: Huntress Grand
Star Traders, captains and travelers of the void - we are back again with another Star Traders: Frontiers update. This one took a while to finish -- more complicated than it sounds fixing some of the weirder bugs that were reported this week. Ahhh, STF, the gift (that you paid for) that keeps on giving (us more and more bugs.)
We're excited to keep this update train rolling and wanted to extend a hearty Thank you! to everyone who has posted a review or "badged up" to the Supporter Badge. You help us keep developing this lovely void simulation RPG ;)
Ultra Carrier 9000M
Update #358 sees a new ultra carrier hull being constructed at Moklumnue starports around the quadrants, the Alistar Huntress. The Huntress joins the rare 9000 Mass category, bringing the number of these ships to 5. We are planning to release two more soon -- a 9000M heavy hauler transport, and a 9000M high durability battlecruiser to provide a foil for one of the all-time most popular ships, the Sword Battlecruiser.
The Alistar Huntress stands out within the super heavy category with the best in class Armor, middle of the road base Shields, Hull Points second only to the Cautela Titan, matched for best in class Base Fuel, 7 officers, 42 crew, 6 max craft and a component allocation of 16 small, 9 medium and 7 large.
3 New Defensive Components
Update #358 also includes significant component expansions for ship components that can round out a defensive ship build, adding more options for Radiation and Void resistance as well as Armor and Shielding. These categories haven't seen expansions in some time, so these are considered prototypes and will likely see some balancing buffs or nerfs in the coming patches. For now, and until we complete the balance passes, the Enemy Ship Architect is prohibited from using these new components in hostile ship builds until they are verified.
New Explorer Card: Contact Network
We have added a new card to the Explorer game, and fixed some existing ones. The new card is a +5 draw that, if picked, provides a Reputation-positive introduction to a Contact -- and all of that Contact's Links. This card has proven to be pretty powerful, as it can establish an entire mission and RTG network in a single pull.
In addition, we fixed some bugs with how Experience was allocated on the Zendu Revelations card and increased the drop rates on the Zendu Relic cards, which were not appearing in hands at the rate we intended due to some unexpected math oddities.
Other Bug Fixes!
In ship combat, you all reported some issues where the wrong component could be listed in the log -- this applied to both damage and repair talents and some small craft combat log messages. The error was strictly in the display code, but still glad to see it fixed. It explains occasional reports that a component was listed as damaged during battle but then later would be found undamaged.
Enemy Ship Warning!
We also gave the enemy shpip builder 2 new ships. Big ones. With lots of guns. Enjoy!
While rare the Bounty Hunter enemies may now come after you in the Alistar Huntress and the Military Office enemies may be at the helm of a Shizari Huntress.
v3.4.9 - #358: Huntress Grand - 10/11/2024
- New Ship: "Alistar Huntress" (9000M Heavy Carrier) - New Component: Hull Plating 6 (Void + Rad) - New Component: Armored Bulkheads 6 (Armor + Void) - New Component: Reinforced Structures 6 (Shield + Rad) - Increased drop rate for "Zendu Relic" Explorer card - New Explorer Card: Uncover Contact Network (1 Contact + All Links) - Fixes for Ship Combat Buffs that Repair Components, Improved Logging - Fixed some issues with Ship Component sort in Starport - Fixed some logging issues for Victory Talents that damage Ship Components - Warning: Bounty Hunter AI can (rare) proc "Alistar Huntress" - Warning: Military AI can (rare) proc "Shizari Huntress" - Fixed Reported Bugs
Update #357: Faces of the Void
Star Traders - welcome all new captains to the void! We've been pushing new art updates in thanks for all the captains who jumped on the Supporter's Badge DLC recently. Unfortunately, one of the types of new artwork - Contact faces - is one we haven't done in a long time and we botched it just a little bit. In a small fraction of games, you could end up with a hung Contact list. We decided the only want to fix this was with more artwork!
Thanks to everyone who has joined us on this crazy journey, and enjoy this small, art-heavy update!
+4 Contact Faces
We're excited to add 4 more Contact faces to the game, matching yesterday's +4 for a big +8 in variety. These interesting, odd, and fashionable gravs live their lives on the known worlds of the void. They are power players, criminals, princes and more. It is always exciting to come back to this catalog and add more depth!
Fixed 2 Bugs
We fixed a bug that could cause your Contact list to refuse to open (thanks Update #356!) and also an old bug that could cause some variations of the Plague Era storyline to hang.
Battle Prow Prices
The 3 new Battle Prows from #356 also had a minor issue of their price being the same regardless of level. This is now resolved with this patch.
It is a short one, but we hope the artwork sweetened it!
v3.4.7 - #357: Faces of the Void - 10/6/2024
- New Art! Added art for 4 new Contact characters - Fixed bug that could prevent contact list from opening - Fixed bug with dialog in Plague Era that could crash at end of Era mission - Fixed same price for Battle Prow 6, 7, 8
Update #356: Hall of Memories
Welcome all new Turn-based RPG Fest captains! The void, the spice hall, and great adventure waits. Also the xeno are waiting. So let's get updating before they catch up to us. Update #56 includes new artwork, new Battle Prow ship components, improvements to Hangar Bays and an important fix for xeno ship encounters as well as balance changes to the Terrox Deathspear.
Cyber Knights: Flashpoint is in Turn-based RPG Fest too!
If you haven’t checked it out in a bit, our new game Cyber Knights: Flashpoint is evolving fast in Early Access with Update #150 recently going live. For Turn-based RPG Fest, we released a batch of stories that are filling out the Treaty '31 Era (you know Eras, Star Traders!!!) in which a new megacorporation joins the New Boston charter and "comes to town".
We wanted to send out special thanks to all of our amazing captains who have "badged up" and purchased the Supporter Badge DLC with some new and exciting artwork. We already released some new planetary environments in the last update, but this time we've come back to hit Zenrin Prime with a special city background as well as add a cool "underwater wreck" artboard for oceanic wild zones.
Also, we've added 4 new classic looks for your grav Contacts. We're excited to come back to expanding this catalog a bit after such a long break - it is also fun to see such new and interesting faces as you land across the quadrants and meet its power players.
Beastly Battle Prow 6, 7 and 8
Rolling off the line in true beast mode, these Battle Prows boast major bonuses to boarding operations and craft defense as well as major Armor bonuses. These advanced versions of the less Battle Prows sell for a major penny, so they'll often be late career upgrades for boarding heavy, close range combat ships.
Hangar Bay Improvements
We've continued to adjust and buff the meta around Hangar bays as a useful part of your ship stats in addition to holding craft. Stronger hangar bays - of which you need a couple - make larger carriers more powerful and more viable. With this update we've improved the Large Hangar Bay as well as its Shielded and Reinforced variations to grant additional defense bonus, bonuses against attack enemy craft and heightened armor.
The Alta Mesa Warhawk Hangar Bay joins in the boost with its own bonuses to Craft Defense and ship defense as well.
The variations in hangar bays can help you puzzle together the right results you want out of the stats from these bays as you build out a ship that might have to dedicate 4+ component slots to them in order to support your fleet.
Xeno Ship Crashes / Fails
For all those players hitting issues where a xeno ship would be encountered and then the Fight button in the ship encounter screen would lead to a black screen or a crash, we've resolve the issue now! Apologies for the bug and you can fight xeno again.
Deathspear Xeno Balance
The Terrox Deathspear has received some balance changes to ensure it is different and exciting enough of a combatant in ship. With Update #356, we have reduced its Ship Hull by 10% (300 pts) and increased its base Armor by +2. You can carve through the Deathspear a little faster now assuming you can reduce or work around the armor!
v3.4.5 - #356: Hall of Memories - 10/4/2024
- New Art! New planetary image added -- new Zenrin Prime specific art, Hall of Memories - New Art! New planetary image added -- new Oceanic wild zone shows crashed ship - New Art! Added art for 4 new Contact characters - New Ship Components: Battle Prow 6-8; optimized for close range boarding and cover for craft - Buffs for Large Hangar Bay (Normal, Shielded, Reinforced) now grants Ship Defense, Craft Attack, Armor - Warhawk Hangar Bay now grants Craft Defense, Craft Offense and Ship Defense - Fixed issue with xeno ship fights ending in black screen or crash - Reduced Terrox Deathspear Xeno Ship Hull Points by 10% (-300) - Increased Terrox Deathspear Base Armor by +2
Update #355: Jungle Moon, Zendu Relic
The Summer of Star Traders is coming to a close but fear not - this begins the long, cold, dark of winter. Expect the worst -- freezing blasts of content, new ships flying like icy daggers, a veritable blizzard of new stuff for Star Traders. So, take the captains' chair, buckle up, get a warm space suit and let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. Whatever Autumn, move over for the Winter of Star Traders!
Supporter's Badge DLC ($5)
First up, let us extra a huge THANK YOU to all the captains who have "badged up" to the new Supporters Badge DLC. We knew you liked the updates, but wow! Let's keep it rolling.
Since it is our first and only DLC for Star Traders: Frontiers, we're going to keep talking about it in the next few updates so that players who didn't see the original post can catch the news - we've added a $5 DLC to Star Traders: Frontiers.
This DLC contains no additional game content, it only supports the many years of free content and features added to the base game since release. The Supporter DLC adds a small Supporter's Badge graphic to your main menu and ship status screen; no in-game effects, locked content or features, it's purely a way to support our studio and the future of Star Traders if you desire to do so.
Since Star Traders: Frontier’s full launch in 2018, we’ve been thrilled to keep the game growing with an ongoing stream of free content updates, more than 250 of them over 6 years (not counting the 90 updates in EA). We’ve often been asked about expansions or paid DLC content, but we believed making content available for free to everyone who bought the game is the better way to do it.
Now, with the game having more than twice (in some areas three times) as much content as it did at launch, some have suggested that we raise the price, but we don’t think that makes sense for keeping the Star Traders community growing.
New Planetary Artwork
First, the exciting stuff -- thanks to everyone who is carrying a Supporter Badge -- this update includes new artwork for planetary landings. This update brings 3 new custom-made art boards to add variety to Jungle outposts, Molten Urban and Desert wilds. These art boards will show up for all players immediately when installing v3.4.3, no map regeneration is required. Trese Brothers -- always backwards compatible!
Zendu Relics in Exploration
Second, a new rare card that drops unique (one per game) S-tier relic gear. This new card appears in the Explorer game deck, most often on high danger worlds. This card, if drawn, will grant Experience, Traits and of course, a piece of Relic Gear. There are two groups with 4 unique pieces of gear each. Each of the 8 gear pieces will ever only appear once per Captain.
While we were adding these new pieces of gear, we discovered a rounding error that was causing a meaningful % of Relics to never drop in most saved games. While adding the new card we also fixed the existing Explorer card that grants Relics so that the entire range of intended rewards is available.
This adds about 20 relics that were not dropping back into the catalogs. Enjoy!
Ship Crippling Effects
This patch rolls up a number of balance adjustments we've been testing in ship combat for the past few weeks. All together they adjust Crippling Effects to increase their variation from each other and to make them each more impactful on ship combat.
Be warned -- these more deadly effects can hit both your opponents and your own ship equally. Double check that your crew is ready with enough ship combat effect purging Talents to clear these if you get them.
This is the first of several balance adjustments for ship combat aimed at adding more variety to some elements that were too similar to others. For example, Electrical Fires and Hull Venting are now substantially different when compared. Depending on if you're trying to cook crew or burn out weapons, one or the other will be a better choice.
So get out there Captain and enjoy the last rays of this year's summer sun. Grab a cup of hot spice, take in some new planetary vistas and go relic hunting in the latest Star Traders: Frontiers update.
- New Art! 3 New planetary images added -- new Jungle Moon, Molten City and Desert Waste - New ultra-rare, ultra-powerful "Zendu Relic" Explorer card and 8 new pieces of unique gear - Revised Crippling Effects -- 'Bomb' can now cause Secondary Explosions, 'Rocket' can now trigger cause Engine Failure - Secondary Explosions (caused by Bomb and Missile) crippling effect received a damage boost - System Blackout (caused by Energy Weapons) crippling effect now reduces Reactor Points by -2 (-1 previously) - Crew Panic (caused by Mass Drivers) crippling effect now includes -10 Escape penalty - Electrical Fires now cause +25% more component damage over time, and -10% less crew damage - Venting Hull now causes +25% more crew damage over time, and -10% less component damage - Fixed issue preventing certain types of gear (about 20) from dropping as relics
Update #354: Exo-Scout Profession and Supporter's Badge DLC
Captains, welcome back from the void. Come sit a while in the spice hall and listen to the stories we have today - of Exo-Scouts and explorers, salvagers and supporters of the grand factions.
With Update #354, we've added the all new Exo-Scout profession to the game. And after 6 years, we're releasing our first ever DLC - a totally-optional, no-content-gated $5 Supporter's Badge.
Supporter's Badge DLC ($5)
This DLC contains no additional game content, it only supports the many years of free content and features added to the base game since release. The Supporter DLC adds a small Supporter's Badge graphic to your main menu and ship status screen; no in-game effects, locked content or features, it's purely a way to support our studio and the future of Star Traders if you desire to do so.
Since Star Traders: Frontier’s full launch in 2018, we’ve been thrilled to keep the game growing with an ongoing stream of free content updates, more than 250 of them over 6 years (not counting the 90 updates in EA). We’ve often been asked about expansions or paid DLC content, but we believed making content available for free to everyone who bought the game is the better way to do it.
Now, with the game having more than twice (in some areas three times) as much content as it did at launch, some have suggested that we raise the price, but we don’t think that makes sense for keeping the Star Traders community growing.
Instead, we’re launching this Supporters DLC to give those who want to support our studio a way to do so, if you find it worth it for all the extra content that’s been added to the game since full launch:
RELIC Expansion - all new Orbital Salvage Op and the Scavenger Job and Profession
TERROX Expansion - new xeno ships, components, and crew jobs
INTERDICTION Expansion - added carrier ship types, 3 types of craft and matching Wing Jobs
HIGHFALL Expansion - late game Era determines the direction of the coalition with Dissension or Consolidation story arcs
BROOD Expansion - all new late game Era with new and terrifying Jyeeta alien species
CATALYST Expansion - all new Scientific Intel system, Scientist Job and Profession
TEMPLAR Expansion - crossover storyline with unique NPCs and weapons added
CARTOGRAPHER Expansion - map seed v2 improving all map generation, allowing for larger and smaller maps, new default map
MODS Expansion - added official mod support for the game, including all-unlocks mod version & Steam Workshop support
Many more new ships, gear, crew jobs, cosmetics, professions, traits, ship components, story vignettes, planet art, modding support, and more across hundreds of other updates.
^and this was last updated in January 2023; we've just kept adding since then lol.
If you like the way we do things here at Trese Brothers, and want to support the future of the Star Traders series, this DLC offers a way to show that support.
Whether you're a new captain or you've ridden out 300+ updates since Early Access with us on this crazy journey, thank you for your support in all of its many forms - hanging out with us in Discord, posting on reddit or in the Steam forums, sending in bug reports and new suggestions or leaving a review.
We're looking forward to bringing you more Star Traders.
We are thrilled to roll out a new profession - the Exo-Scout who boasts an ancient Star Traders charter, hailing from the days when the quadrants were yet to be founded and the Templar were signing charters themselves to bring more Star Traders into the space-faring fold.
The Exo-Scout is a great profession for their focus and two-fold versatility: they can be kitted out to be a very adaptable crew combatant or a leader in Exploration-heavy career. Or both. Or stand toe-to-toe with xeno. Or die horribly standing on the toes of the xeno ... It all depends on how you do it, captain.
Adding new professions opens up totally new paths to play for both systems and role-playing purposes and we can't wait to see what you do with the Exo-Scout - tell us your stories!
Better Trait Generators
Traits are generated for characters based on their homeworld, faction and job. We've improved the options that can be rolled up for Exo-Scouts and Blade Masters with Update #354, giving them a few more options to pull from which can make them more exciting recruits or additions to the crew.
Conflict-Linked Mission Expirations
Missions linked to Conflicts always have the risk that the Conflict expires. In some cases, the game has not been handling the expiration of the Conflict with the best grace, and instead of printing a message about "intel from ERROR" which wasn't very helpful. We've cleaned up a number of these misprints with a more helpful message.
Double Landing UI Bug
We fixed one series of clicks or keystrokes you could make that would result in you getting hit (or maybe you think of it as a bonus?) with a double Landing on a planet. Once you've landed, you're counted as landed and do not get another landing event unless you move or play a round of an Orbital Op. This bug could cause a landing event without either of these circumstances being true.
v3.4.1 - 9/17/2024
- New Profession: Exo-Scout (Leads exploration and crew combat from the back line) - Updated starting Trait generators to support Blade Master & Exo Scout - Fixed several issues with Conflict-linked Missions after the Conflict expired - Fixed a UI issue that could cause a double landing - Fixed typos for the Blade Master profession's Traits
