We have a second smaller update today that fixes a few critical issues. Crews, Territory Hubs and horse camera issues have all been fixed. This update also brings major changes to FPS view with various improvements. Aside from that a dozen other good fixes and additions.
Work continues on Part II of the Colossal update – that we are expecting later next week, ~7-10 days away. Unfortunately, part two of this update will come with a full progress wipe. This will be a necessary wipe as we are switching to a completely new SQL database. This move finally allows us to fix all issues with missing items, vehicles e.t.c. It also opens up possibility of MMO like super high population limits. And finally, this switch guarantees that we will not need to wipe progress in the future.
Meanwhile, lets take a look at today`s Update 28-2
CRITICAL BUG FIXES
All issues with creating new crews have now been fixes
Major rework of FPS camera view, much better and shows body more
In FPS view interaction with objects e.t.c now looks significantly better
Fixed issues with territory hubs purchases not saving
Fixed major issue with getting on a horse and camera not moving
VARIOUS CHANGES AND ADDITIONS
Sawing objects will now hide outline while sawing
No longer show object outline once interaction with object has begun
Fixed sawing log FX not showing properly
Harvesting plants now has visual effects and branches fall off
All rocks in-game are now breakcable, including crystals, nox rocks e.t.c
Fix for delete character not removing claim slots.
various fixes and changes in the way a crew is created
Removed the notification when getting in a vehicle
Updated - The Follow Up
Hey Everyone,
We have a smaller follow up update today that fixes some of the last remaining issues. Specifically Claims have been fixed, together with a couple of dozen other bugs. We are still working on a solution to Crew creation not working and expect this by Wednesday latest. Sorry for the delay.
Work continues on Part II of the Colossal update – that we are expecting later next week, ~7-10 days away. Unfortunately, part two of this update will come with a full progress wipe. This will be a necessary wipe as we are switching to a completely new SQL database. This move finally allows us to fix all issues with missing items, vehicles e.t.c. It also opens up possibility of MMO like super high population limits. And finally, this switch guarantees that we will not need to wipe progress in the future.
Meanwhile, lets take a look at today`s Update 28
CRITICAL BUG FIXES
Fixed major issue with new Claim placing 2kms underground
Fixed rock breaking debris damaging and even killing players
VARIOUS CHANGES AND ADDITIONS
Reworked rocks breaking after completely mined.
Added breakable helium rocks
Fixed Nox rocks sounding like wood when mined
New health bar for base parts.
Adjusted collisions of some Tigon trees that player could walk into
Improved the visual of the roads on beta prairie
Fixed white terrain by the roads on beta prairie
Prologue mission vehicle won't show two waypoints.
Fixed rare bugs with health bar duplicating
Fixed collisions issues at the hamlet village by Clayton town
Implemented new health bar system in all remaining objects, like shields
Some fixes to how visibility of navpoints and health bars is calculated
Update 27 - Colossal Update Part 1
Hey Everyone
We are happy to present part one of our two-part Major Stars End update. We`ll follow up with part two within a week.
Unfortunately, part two of this update will come with a full progress wipe. This will be a necessary wipe as we are switching to a completely new SQL database. This move finally allows us to fix all issues with missing items, vehicles e.t.c. It also opens up possibility of MMO like super high population limits. And finally, this switch guarantees that we will not need to wipe progress in the future.
But for now – lets take a look at what today`s colossal update brings. To name some of the bigger changes: We have reworked and improved resources gathering. Crafting was reworked from the ground up with new crating queues, search functions and a lot more. Beta Prairie planet design is now complete with a lot of updates and improvements. Water and underwater exploration is now also complete. Dozen of worst game breaking bugs in game has been finally fixed. On top of this we have fixed and improved over a hundred other things around the game.
And so lets take a look at Update 27:
MAJOR NEW FEATURES – CRAFTING
Crafting Queue added, that can hold 7 items with unlimited stacks.
Items shift along in the queue when complete, with separate progress bars
Crafting Queue sits on the HUD and can be moved and re-positioned
Crafting Queue applied to all types of crafting including refineries
Crafting search and sorting added. Type in key words to sort crafting by element, material e.t.c
Typing in exact search name to locate specific crafting recipe
Toggle crafting search on and off, with clearing results
MAJOR NEW FEATURES – PVP AREAS & REFUELING STATIONS
Territory Hubs are now Refueling Stations, and just one of several territory types
Refueling Stations are used to refuel your vehicle. Will be essential to produce large space vehicles
PVE phased out and replaced with PVPVE (PVE with PVP Areas), other PVE mechanics remain in place, unless in PVP area
When you enter a PVP Area a red skull will show on the top right of the screen beside the compass.
All of space is a PVP Area but System Stations, Orbital Stations and the Titan are PVE.
Fixed a major game crash and other issues when crafting inside a moving vehicle or Ferry
MAJOR NEW FEATURES – RESOURCES
Redesigned loot found on AI creatures and Mechs to give at least something all the time
Mechs and Orphans now give huge amount of loot all the time and worth the effort to kill
All gathering now comes with new visual effects – like sparks, saw dust, rock debris e.t.c
When gathering minerals, the rock will collapse into debris once resources are exhausted
Logs, broken down rocks e.t.c will slowly sink into the ground after of disappearing
Trees now show a health bar when using an axe to show progress
Tigon trees now harvest-able
MAJOR NEW FEATURES – WATER & UNDERWATER
Brand new Animations for swimming in water
Fixed water appearing bugged when flying above it in a spaceship
Major performance improvements to all areas of water
Underwater is now much brighter
Fixed all issues with swimming on surface in FPS mode
Removed waves and fixed issues with player constantly being covered by water
Lowered sun reflective quality on water to extremely low
A lot of other improvement to the visual look of water
MAJOR NEW FEATURES – OTHER
Mute chat button added inside the chat window
Graphical options are now controlling view distance sliders
Adjusted foliage visibility distances for max, med, low settings.
Crafting, melee and other interactions now use updated sound system
Reworked the gun sound manager to allow hearing shots at a much longer distance
Redesigned the look of the health bar across all uses
Redesigned chat – to always allow player to type, without having to click the chat again
CRITICAL BUG FIXES – VEHICLES
Fixed an issue with vehicles disappearing when stored on a claim
Fixed all issues with passengers getting stuck inside a vehicle
Fixed issue with trying to enter vehicle again after relog not always working
Fixed various duping issues with vehicles parked on the claim Fixed inactive button delay in vehicles when trying to press buttons
Fixed a bunch of issues related to getting out of a vehicle
CRITICAL BUG FIXES – OTHER
Major performance improvements in busy areas like Clayton city
Performance improvement across the entire game
Fixed newly placed claim sometimes falling through the ground
Fixed all issues with joining and creating Crews
Ladders are working again, resolved various clashes with player buoyancy
Fixed Issue with outlaw being set from picking up base components
Fixed all issues with outlaw system not starting correctly on killing a new player
Outlaws can now be killed in PVPVE anywhere in the world
Fixed an issue with outlaw markers not turning off, after outlaw has been killed
Fixed player getting locked if the weapon breaks while zooming in.
VARIOUS CHANGES AND ADDITIONS
Fixed item info popups getting in the way while dragging a window
When a weapon breaks, its ammo will go back to the inventory.
Various ad signs will no longer be visible through all the fog
Adjustments to camera clipping to prevent weird movement when using pickaxe near an object
Fixed AIs sometimes moving in place due to not detecting ground.
Fix for global loot not storing items correctly.
Likely fix for flashlight error on use
Fixed Prologue issues with some quests remaining while completing them
Fixed issues with players sometimes appearing with their weapons floating or in wrong positions.
Visual adjustments to Alderman Rack.
Fixed an issue when deleting a player where they would not be removed from clan
Fixed an issue when deleting a player where the clan would not delete if the player is an owner
Carpets temporarily disabled from crafting and buying until issues resolved
Changed up spawn points locations on Beta Prairie to more balanced locations
Bow will spend integrity after each use
Non-stackable items won't be stacked in containers
Health bar added to Shield generators in Territories
Generator health tripled – as was way too weak before
Limited claim description to 40 characters, to avoid super long descriptions
Various optimization to makeshift claim laser effect to be much better visible
Removed turning off ignition text when getting off a horse
LEVEL DESIGN
New apartment buildings in Clayton that has been abandoned and presents looting opportunities
Terrain around Clayton has been smoothed and polished – might affect players bases
Clayton Outpost and Solomans Outpost moved much closer to the rest of the shire
Reblanced and polished Titan stating ship – it now has much less containers for player to loot
Redberry Spaceport fixed ferry landing pads and removed containers across landing platforms
Fixed issues with Redberry outpost being super bright
Various improvements to Beta Prairie beach area
Cassius moon various fixes for spawning – not players spawn correctly
Major Update Next Week (Available in Beta now)
Hey Everyone,
We are glad to say that our biggest updated to date is almost ready! After nearly 3 weeks of work we are getting ready to release this update later next week. This updates comes with an impressive list of new features, but most importantly it fixes majority of the bugs that were left in-game.
You can already see parts of the new update by playing Stars End in the beta mode.
We`ll follow up with full update change log early next week,
Also please keep in mind that in the near future we might have a full wipe. If it comes to that - there will be no way around it - as we are switching to a completely new SQL database. This move finally allows us to fix all issues with missing items, vehicles e.t.c. It also opens up possibility of MMO like super high population limits. And finally this switch guarantees that we will not need to wipe progress in the future.
Update 26 - Crafting Queue
Hey Everyone,
With today`s update we got to add the number one player requested feature – crafting queue. Now players can queue as many crating projects as they like, with up to six types, but unlimited quantity per crafting run. This also applies to the Refineries. Additional polish with Craft All button is to be added soon. This update also comes with more bug fixing across the board.
Please keep in mind that we are preparing to switch to a brand-new database. This will once and for all get rid of all the issues of disappearing vehicles, items and so on. This new database will also make sure we never have to wipe servers again. We expect this update to be ready within a week. However – this time around there`s absolutely no way we can avoid a server wipe. We`ll keep you posted, and thanks for your understanding.
And so presenting Update 26:
Major Additions and Critical Fixes
Crafting Queue added
Crafting Queue Can hold 7 items with unlimited stacks
Crafting Queue can dragged around the HUD
Fixes and Additions
Adjustments to camera clipping to prevent weird movement when using pickaxe near an object.
Fixed some broken materials in Exchange
Implemented fog to the shader that's used for ads and signs. Now they will blend correctly into the environment when far from them
Non-stackable items won't be stacked in containers
Update 25 - Great Performance Boost
Hey Everyone,
The big performance update is here, as we finally complete work on this. You can expect a major increase with at least double sometimes triple the frames rates across all environments. This update also fixes few more annoying issues across the board like moon-walking NPCs and more.
We continue with a major update on Wednesday next week that will add crafting queue and several other new features. We are also switching to a brand new database - that will once and for all fix all the issues with missing this or that. However - there might be a wipe coming up with this update. If so this will be "A wipe to end all wipes" as with a new database we can guarantee no more wipes in the future, due to it`s design.
Meanwhile, lets take a look at the patch notes, but this time around they are quite short, as no point to list 100s of "Worked on X, to improve performance by Y%"
Major Additions and Critical Fixes
FINAL MAJOR VISUAL PERFORMANCE BOOST
Fixes and Additions
Fixed NPCs sometimes not playing walking animations while walking.
Fixed issue with water looking different at different distances
Fixed issues with layout and no collision for the large Mercantile Tower in Clayton
Fixed a bug with rain that could continue as player flies into space
Update 24 - No More Lag
Hey Everyone,
Today`s update is all about performance. Our goal is to have Stars End run at perfect 60 FPS for most players across all environments, planets and stations, and today`s update is a good step towards it. For example on space station and Clayton city FPS improvements will be especially noticeable. We are expecting one more performance related update later next week that should make things run even better.
This update also includes the last of the base repairing and damage system, which is now complete. And also some good level design updates around Clayton, and final water bugs have been fixed.
We`ll continue with a very important update later this week - finally adding crafting ques, continuous crafting e.t.c.
Meanwhile, lets take a look at the patch notes, but this time around they are quite short, as no point to list 100s of "Worked on X, to improve performance by Y%"
Major Additions and Critical Fixes
MAJOR VISUAL PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS
Fixes and Additions
Particles now collide with water, so it no longer rains underwater
Fixed all remaining issues with repair hammer.
Fixed Landing Pad damage/repair issues.
Fixed Wood Shack roof damage/repair issues.
Fixed some issues with concrete, metal and wood ceilings and added additional health bars to the bottom.
New intersection (gas station area revamp) outside of Clayton
Update 23 - Spawning in Vehicles & Base Repair
Hey Everyone,
And we continue with another important update today, with a few critical fixes and some new features. With this update you can finally log out while in a moving space and ground vehicle and be back inside once you log back in. This fixes all the issues with getting stuck under a vehicle or in space.
We have also fully fixed and polished repair hammer, so you can finally repair your base now. Keep in mind that some building blocks like ceiling, foundation and landing pads can`t be fixed yet, but this will be fixed by Monday.
We also started on the big performance update, and are working towards eradicating all the performance problems by Monday.
As always, thanks for your support, and we can finally say we are back on track after the bad month we had with so many things being broken due to huge back-end updates we had to do.
And so lets take a look at Update # 23:
Major Additions and Critical Fixes
Repair hammer now fully works, restoring 10% health per hit
Fixed Territory Hubs resetting all progress on reload
Hopefully fixed all issues with vehicles sometimes disappearing
Rewrote respawning back in a vehicle, player will never be left in space or stuck again
Player will spawn inside the space vehicle when logging out or crashing
Fixed for outlaw rewards not being granted
Claim laser beams are now seen from afar and look much better
First part of performance improvements across the board – performance will be finally fixed in the next update
Fixes and Additions
Implemented the physics material system to bullet and melee hits
Buildings and stations with full hitpoints no longer show hitpoints bar
Fixed an issue where repairing a component could damage it instead of repairing
Stopped blood FX playing on certain components when repairing or damaging them
Fix for repairing health going over max health amount
Mech when hit now show damage FX instead of blood FX
Some fixes to bullet collision detection
Bullets no longer interact with each other
Fixed lag spike when Mechs fire machine guys
Optimized NPC collision detection.
NPCs that walk around will now also stop sometime and then resume walking
Fluid NPC animation transitions for NPC when they stop and resume walking.
Update 22 - The Follow Up
Hey Everyone,
Following the major 21st update earlier this week, there are a few loose ends that we need to clean up. We expect Stars End to be in great shape by next week, once we fix leftover bugs and bring performance back to the previous levels.
To get things started our 22nd update is here to help improve things and fix some of the worse player reported issues.There are also a few good new features in this update. We`ll continue with another update on Monday that should help fix the rest of the issues and performance.
And so lets take a look at Update # 22:
Major Additions and Critical Fixes
You can now fill empty bottles near any body of water – lake, ocean et.c
Implemented three NAV point visibility modes: only important, all visible, all hidden. Also show notification indicating current mode.
Fixed issue with falling through base on spawn and getting stuck
First steps in improving overall visual performance after update 21
Worked on improving major FPS drops after update 21
Fixed other issues when spawning inside the base and getting stuck
Fixes and Additions
Base health bars only show if they have lost health
Fixed issues that caused some claim components to disappear after update 21
Iron & Tarphite mine now has a lot more rocks, and each rock holds more resources
Added ramp to Wood Shack building
Fixed vehicles not swimming on solo servers
Greatly reduced waves
Fixed a lot of visual glitches in water due to wave size
Fixed player not going up above water while swimming
Polished SFX for swimming, horse swimming and vehicles on water
Increased loot chances of Oraphant - players never get empty loot for killing one
Update 21 - The Crew & Water is LIVE!
Hey Everyone,
After two weeks in beta, our biggest update so far is ready! Also now that with huge update is done, we are back to weekly update schedule.
So lets jump in it and talk about what`s new.
First of all, introducing an all new Clan system – renamed to Crews. Aside from fixing the bugs of the old system, this new system gives a lot more options - different rankings, kicking members, seeing online status and a lot more. More options to customize your Crew is coming soon.
The second major change is Degrading Claims and Base Raiding. All base components now show a health bar, and can be destroyed by any weapon. In addition all base components degrade over time and need to be repaired. Empty Makeshift Claims without a base will degrade in 1 week. All other base components degrade over a month, taking a little damage every 3 days. We will be balancing and improving both systems based on players feedback.
Last but not least the new water and swimming system is finally complete. With beautiful new lake and ocean water, and swimming both over and underwater. All the vehicles and horse is now amphibious as well. This finally opens way for us to start implementing water base construction, rafts, as well as under water exploration mining and gathering.
This update also fixes majority of really bad bugs that we had in the last build, that has really put a stop on many of you enjoying the game. Sorry it took us this long to release this update, but solution required rewriting a lot of outdated systems.
Important about Reclaim System It`s time to clean up the game worlds from hundreds of abandoned claims and vehicles all over the system. To do this we set an March 10th deadline, two weeks from now - during which you will need to approach your claims and vehicle, and press F key when prompted. This is a one time process, and not something you`ll need to do in the future. The vehicle and claims that were not re-claimed during the two weeks will be removed (March 10th will be the day we clean the servers from un re-claimed vehicles and claims.
And so lets take a look at Update # 21:
Major Additions and Critical Fixes
RECLAIM SYSTEM - all existing vehicles and claims must be reclaimed during the next two weeks - approach and follow prompt to reclaim. Otherwise these claims and vehicles will be removed in two weeks.
New Clans system - named Crew, fixes all the bugs of the original system
Crews show all the members online status, including last login if offline
Added several ranks for the Crews - from Commander to Recruit
Anyone in the Crew can recruit new members
Ower and Commander in the Crew can promote or kick players
Add Social player list - can be clicked in the Chat
Added a way to incite players to Crews from the Social player list
Claims without any building components will decay in 7 days
All base components degrade over a month, taking a little damage every 3 days
All base components now display a health bar when standing close to them
All base components can now be destroyed by using any weapon
Added repair hammer to repair damaged or decaying base components
Completely reworked player interaction with objects or characters in TPS mode
Base item dupe exploit bug is fixed
Completely redesigned water with amazing visuals and effects, including waves
Added underwater corals, terrain and other props - not gatherable yet
Major improvements to swimming both by character and vehicles
Underwater exploration, mining and gathering is ready to be added to the game
Completely new character swimming animations
New Han-held Radar with new art, and new functionality - detects AI, players and outlaws
Fixes and Additions
Fixed all issues when interacting with dead creatures and not being able to select the body
Fixed falling through the planet when dismounting a horse
Fixed not being able to get back into vehicle of exiting on top of water
Fully redesigned Area 22 part of Clayton
Arrows now show impact and blood animation when hitting creatures
Fixed major issue with elevator pushing player out into space - it`s instant kill now
Added spacesuit vendors with space suit display props over entire star system
Added dedicated place items mode that fixes a number of issues when playing base components
System Map is now part of the main in-game menu
Fixed closing Clans window by using Tab key not working
Fixed issue opening options in the menu
Tab Menu header now sits above all windows
Fixed issue with moving in the System Map
Steam ID is now required for progressing past the game menu
Removed navpoint tooltips from Titan and moved it to later in Prologue
There will no longer be Bears or Trawlers near player spawn points
Fixed issue with interaction prompt appearing and then disappearing a second later
Added tooltip near Winter Quest in Prologue about spacesuits and jetpacks
Moved the 4th package of Winter quest nearer to the 1st one resolving number of issues Renamed JansonOrbitalMission to TigonOrbitalMission.
Improved NOVA mining laser beam art
Cancelling placing an item shouldn't open the Esc menu.
Improved the look of Water Walls with new designs
Reworked free Workshop from water walls and other locations
Fixed issue with wood shack window shutter not being able to place
Balancing Adjustments
Most AI creatures are now as aggressive now, get agroed in close proximity
Fuel Consumption of regular flight fuel for SpacesShips lowered by 30%
Change Iron refinery to produce2 iron ore for 1 iron and not 3 iron ore
Changed Concrete refinery to product 1 concrete for 4 rocks and not 5 rocks
Item Economy updated from changes to crafting components, repricing 80 items
