We have a festive update for you today, with Christmas theme added to the Clayton town on Beta Prairie, complete with lootable presents, festive holiday clothing and more. Today`s update also comes with two dozen important fixes and improvements – including NOVAs mining beams, vehicle weapons balancing, major memory and load time optimization and more.
We would like to wish everyone great Holiday season ahead, and we`ll continue with the next major updates just before or after New Years.
And so presenting Update # 13
Major Additions and Critical Fixes
Xmas has arrived at Clayton Football Ground
For a limited time only come and grab your Christmas gifts – Candy Cane and more
Festive Holiday clothing is now available from a new vendor in Clayton Town
Find the components available in the park to craft your own Christmas Cake and share it around
Mining beams is not added by default to claimed NOVAs, allowing mining in space
Fixes and Additions
Bug fixed which prevented custom Robe colours from showing.
Adjusted vehicle weapons damage and other stats
Wood short wall can now be picked up
Made it so you cannot place claims around many different structures.
Removed Mercantile Fighter from Vendor
Major optimization to memory use
Optimization to how quickly players load into the game world
Added waypoint to the Mc Derrick's Locker mission.
Fixed some invisible objects in Clayton.
Character creation menu: sliders have an increased clicking area, Tab switches between name and surname.
Fixed some invisible objects during the intro.
Update # 12 - Survival Tutorial
Hey Everyone,
We have a major update for you today. Aside from fixing two dozen bugs and adding various quality of life improvement, this update includes a second tutorial that covers first few hours of Survival gameplay. This is essential to help new players get into the game and learn the basics. It could also be useful for our current players. Tutorial goes all the way from crafting a pickaxe, to setting up a base, and asteroid mining. This update also redesigns how space vehicle weapons and mining works. There are actual weapons or mining lasers that go into space vehicle weapon slots now.
Note: Please keep in mind that NOVA now requires a mining beam to operate. It can be crafted or purchased at Land Vehicles merchant on BP or Space Stations. We will change this tomorrow, so that NOVA will come with pre-installed mining beam.
The team continues work at full speed, and you can expect our 13th update before New Years
Thanks for your continuous support, and wishing everyone amazing holiday season ahead!
And so presenting Update # 12
Major Additions and Critical Fixes
Add new survival tutorial covering up to 4 hours of gameplay
New survival tutorial covers topics from basic gathering a crafting to setting up a claim and mining asteroids
Fixed asteroid mining not working
Fixes last instances where chat would break GUI
Space Vehicles weapons and mining beam slots added
Space vehicles can now damage each other and everything else
Redesigned character creation menu - though only GUI is changed for now to allow for future upgrades
Fixes and Additions
Fix for /tell sending black chat lines.
Health/DMG balance to Vehicles (WIP)
Fix for Outlaw treating noob status backwards.
Animation improvements with unaramed combat stance [
-Add new powers for Moderators, muting players, new tags, ability to move vehicles and more Fixed ship weapons not making damage, and unified bullet spawning code a bit.
Claimable Nova comes with a VehicleMiningBeam already in the loadout
makeshift claims now can only be opened by the owner of the claim (not clan)
objects placed in that claim can still be placed and interacted with by the original clan, picking the claim up and resetting it down with a new clan name will remove those permissions.
Claim owner now required for deleting a claim, not the clan owner which was being used by clan owners to exploit max Claim counts
Deleting a character now resets the claims owned.
Fixed character not properly reset after clicking on Delete Player button.
Fixed clothes not being set in character creation menu.
Fixed various issues when deleting a player in the character menu.
Fixed bugs with invisible text in the character creation menu
Rocks in Tigon are now minable
Fixed character not appearing after going back to main menu and returning to character creation menu.
When an item breaks, it shows a notification.
The grass that is being stepped on won't be moved by the wind.
Vehicle fuel can no longer go over 100%
Added messages notifying if the tank is full or if it doesn't have enough room for a full fuel cell.
Updated # 11 - Improvements and Fixes
Hey Everyone,
We are working towards a goal of getting rid of all the major bugs in-game by January. And our 11th update is a good step forward in this direction. This updates solves couple of dozen issues reported by players, as well as adds several quality of life improvements - like interaction with objects. We also expanded the durability system and fixed all related issues.With this update we also looked into rebalancing early game – to make it much easier to get started and acquire basic survival gear.
Team continues work at full speed, and you can expect our 12th update by Friday.
Thanks for your continuous support.
And so presenting Update # 11
Critical Bug Fixes
Fix for Chat window causing client to lock
Fixed all issues related to items integrity
Fixed rare issues with claims getting reset on server restart
Fixes and Additions
Added Range Weapon Durability
Fixed Nails Credit Exploit
Minerals will remove their waypoint after finished harvesting them.
Removed bottom branches from BP Trees improving their look
Increased interaction distance with all containers and NPCs
Fixed jackets and coats making players neck invisible
Fix missing waypoints in Tarphite mine
Fixed issues when mining Helium rocks in Helium mine, or Tarphite in Tarphite Mine
Moderators now shown in chat and have more community mode tools at their disposal
Makeshift Bow no longer uses SMG graphics when dropped
Fixed Font Issue that broke Makeshift SMG Ammo
Fix for vehicle components as item integrity is set to 0 when in vehicle slots.
Fix for Splitting stack loses integrity value and items delete on relog
Can't create items with 0 Integrity by mistake
Fixed rare bug with integrity taking on values under 0, or over 100
Fixed rare bug with item count going into negative.
Fixed incorrectly showing insufficient funds message when buying some items
Sleeping Bag - Reduced required crafting materials
Wood Arrow - Increased the number crafted
BowDrill - Reduced required crafting materials
Updated # 10 - Bug Hunting is Live!
Hey Everyone,
With our 10th update we took a step back from adding new features, and concentrated on fixing dozens of bugs and issues – from player reported bugs, to exploits, and some quality of life improvements. This update also introduces durability for items, so after extensive use they will eventually break down.
Also this week we are we are switching to two worldwide super servers instead of regional servers. As our main servers how have expanded player capacity, and since player population is quite low - we are glad to do this, instead of the future. One server will be PvE, and one PvP, with good performance, and without much latency from players playing across the globe.
Unfortunately it will cause some players in EU and CH servers to loose their progress. Everyone playing on NA servers will have progress carry on. We could only copy progress from one server, and had to pick the most busy one. We are extremely sorry for this, but this is part of early access, and will help have more players playing per server.
Thanks for your continuous support, and you can find full update details on our Steam page.
And so presenting Update # 10
Critical Bug Fixes
Durability added to items - on average 500 hits for melee weapons before it breaks down
Fixed the missing waypoint in death loots
Fixed all instances of not being bale to open death loot
Fixed major issue with main menu not showing cursor when returning to main menu from the game
Player Health can no longer go under 0 or over 1000
Fixed issue with some Prologue items not getting removed, or coming back to the inventory
Fixed issues with Prologue Horse and Frigate not removing on completing Prologue objectives
Fixed weapons and guns firing when looting containers
Container names not being loaded for new players entering an area is now fixed
Can no longer interact with vehicles while doing another action like harvesting.
Fixed broken text in several locations in the UI
Chat can no longer be open while inventory and other menus to fix a number of bugs
Several bow changes and upgrades to greatly improve bow
New bow jump animation to avoid bow getting in the way of the camera in FPS mode
Fixed sprinting with a bow in FPS mode with no arrow loaded
Various adjustments to bow and camera positions in FPS and TPS modes
Removed various debugs from showing when cutting down trees
Added a "Select a language" text in the first language selection screen, to be less confusing.
Fixed issue when throwing grenades – will not use up and remove the grenade
Spaceport waypoints for Beta Prairie and Tigon visible from space.
Friend and outlaw waypoints nav points are always visible
Updated wanted star
Player name and noob status should always be visible.
Solomans and Gregadoo shields fixed at entry points
Fixed a bug with equipping an invalid piece of clothing
Exploit Fixes
Exploit fixed with unlimited tree logs
Exploit fixed with logging out while dead
Inventory can no longer be accessed when dead – was exploitable
Fixed a number of exploits when player dies
Fixed exploit with entering 0 items values
Balancing Changes
Major PvE change - player bases can`t take damage in PVE anymore
Completely reworked weapon damage for all weapons and ammo types
Reduced Nova fuel consumption rate – can fly for much longer now
Adjusted ferry speeds from Titan to Tigon Orbital
Increased durability of Base Wood/Metal Doors and Wood Containers
Can no longer place claims around important areas on Nox
Update # 9 & Major Sale Event
Hey Everyone,
Major Sale Event Stars End has been released 6 weeks ago, and following a lot of polish and updates of the past weeks, the time has finally came to increase the player population. So today we are starting our first promotion on Stars End, with a massive 33% off discount for next few days.
We hope to see you on the battlefield, and if you are following the game - we hope you`ll take advantage of this offer - it`ll be the best deal on Stars End until ~Q2 2020.
Major Update # 9 The Major Update # 9 is finally here! This massive update not only eradicates last game breaking issues, but also brings balance to PvP and player relations. To solve griefing we introduced the new Outlaw System. Outlaw system will seem familiar - as it`s similar to the one used by game like Grand Theft Auto, with 5 Wanted levels. Griefers and new player hunters will get Wanted status - with PvP Bounty on their heads. They will also be attacked by Mech polish law enforcement with more and more pressure depending on their transgressions. PvP is still encouraged, and it`s still possible (and even fun) to play as an Outlaw. As always - we will closely listen to your feedback on this new system, and balance it out based on our players feedback.
In addition this update comes with dozens of improvements and new features, including new chat, new player status, major engine update to new Unity and plenty of visual improvements as well.
We hope you enjoy the new update - and we`ll have another major update 10 ready for you later this week.
And so - lets take a look at Update # 9:
Major New Features
Major game engine update from early Unity to the latest 2018 Unity build – resolve a lot of bugs, improves performance, stability and visuals
Outlaw system - Killing a 'new player' or 3 regular players will make you an outlaw, with up to 5 Wanted stars
Bounty system - Outlaws have a red waypoint which is visible by all players, with bounty of 200 credits+
Noob System – New players get Noob status for 2 hours in tutorial, or 30 minutes for new character. Outlaw and Noob system is in place to protect new players from getting killed
New Chat system – including multiple channels, new layout, clan and whisper system
New Chat commands - /tell firstName lastName or click on player name, also /clan myMessage
Cleaned up game world from all the illegally placed claims
Clean up the game world to fix all the broken claims and territory claims
Major improvements to some of the GUI – new colours, better scaling and much more
Fixes and Improvements
Hopefully fixed server rebooting so sever would always come back after a crash
Fixed various bugs with deleting claims
Fixed issues when equipping grenades in various situations.
Fixed a bunch of broken invisible trees in Clayton.
Replaced all foliage in Clayton to use Nested prefabs.
Reduced volume on running and spacesuit breathing sounds.
Fixes various issues with camera clipping walls and floor in TPS mode
Fixed TPS camera being too zoomed in in some areas.
Added waypoints to Tutorial ferry ships
Adjusted speed in ferry flight from tigon orbital to New Raleigh to be a lot faster
Updated missions waypoints to be bigger and better visible
When player is gathering and performing an action and looks away that action stops
Fixed some floating polygons in Titan and geometry improvements around the bridge
Added new voiceline when boarding Ferry
Balancing Changes
Maximum of 3 claims allowed per player per planet
Bears are now give a lot more Hide when slaughtered
Completely rebalanced weapons – including prices, all damage and materials
Significantly increased the chance to find Empty Bottles when looting
Prologue alderman now rewards 50 Wood Arrows instead of 30
Update # 8 - Major Update in Live!
Hey Everyone,
We would like to thank you guys for your patience as we were working on resolving last remaining issues and major exploits. With today`s major update and Update 9 next week we worked on the most common player complains about the game. And we continue work base don your feedback - expect the game to be in great shape by the end of the month – bringing you a good gameplay experience without game breaking bugs, or player exploits.
And so - after a week of beta testing major update # 8 is now live! This major update includes nearly 65 fixes, improvements and new features, fixing most of the remaining major bugs and complaints, as well as addressing exploits and griefing. Outlaw system will be added in the 9th update.
WORK BASED ON PLAYER REQUESTS & FEEDBACK A bit part of this update was based on player`s feedback, suggestions and major annoyances with the game. We`ll continue to work in this direction with the upcoming 9th update as well. Here`s a summary list of what was done:
Corrected a number of vehicle related issues. This greatly helps improve server stability and performance, reducing number of crashes and other server issues.
Added a vehicle hijacking system for PvP servers based on player request. System only effects PvP servers.
Fixed the issue that allowed players to delete territory hub claims but could not pickup personal claims.
Enhanced wood containers so that only members of the originating claim can access them on PvE servers. This was widely requested, and is part of our commitment into making PvE experience about enjoyable teamwork.
A massive update and rebuild to the character system for improved performance and visual acuity.
Streamlined and improved Tutorial Mission to reduce player issues with mission performance.
Loot rebalanced as requested to increase difficulty and improve long term game play – players will no longer find high end items. A lot of new items, and items are not different depending on the loot container.
We softened the breathing sounds when wearing a spacesuit at player request.
Improved the character creation system as part of our overall updating and preparation for the Unity update to 2019 version.
Fixed some localization issues. Thanks for those who helped us find these translation problems.
Fixed the Grazer hack and improved performance and damage, as this was widely reported.
Thanks for your continuous support, read on for the full update details.
Presenting - Update # 8 (0.72)
MAJOR UPDATES AND FEATURES
New character system – rewritten from the ground up – very large backend project fixing a number of issues and clearing way for future updates
New vehicle system – rewritten from the ground up – very large backend project fixing a number of issues and clearing way for future updates
Hijackable vehicles added - PowerCells required to hack a locked vehicle. 12 for spaceship, 7 for Rover, 4 for Quad Bike, 5 for Nova. Hijacking the vehicle will make you and your clan the new owner of the vehicle.
Reworked player interaction with objects and containers - fixed all the issues with being unable to interact with containers with certain camera angles or TPS mode, and add a targeting dot.
SERVER STABILITY AND PERFORMANCE
Changed the way server restarts work if server crashes, should hopefully get servers to come online within a minute of crashing
Fixed a major sever crash when several vehicles were in use
Vehicle rigs are only loaded when the player is within 2km of the vehicle – improving server performance
Vehicle elements are now saved into a vehicle rig – improving vehicle server performance 50x
Major improvement to how vehicles are handled by the game, greatly improving server stability and performance
Picking up items and removing other items improved to fix network delay
MAJOR FIXES AND IMPROVEMENTS
Makeshift and territory claims fixes to avoid being able to claim ownership on a makeshift claim ever again
Vehicles now save their position constantly, to avoid vehicle continuing to move as player logs out or crashes
World array now contains clan names in vehicle data – fixing issues with missing vehicles
Locked vehicles can now be accessed clan wide if the player is in a clan, otherwise it can be access by the owning player only.
Entering a vehicle now has an extra call to make sure the vehicle is destroyed, to avoid duplication
Issue with landmines not destroying is resolved.
Vehicles now allow access for the vehicle owner if a clan is created after the fact
Several issue with vehicle at startup is resolved
An extra check added to prevent additional vehicle bugs that were bugging out vehicles on dedicated server
Fixed various issues when deleting a character, and certain progress being carried over to the new character.
Fixed various bug when deleting claims
Fixed a bunch of errors and bugs when using air vehicles that lead to extra server load
Clan name now updated for a vehicle on vehicle entry + exit, fixing a number of problems of clan not being able to access vehicles
Fixed an issue where territory claims could be deleted and makeshift claims could not.
Clan owners can delete a Makeshift claim within that clan
Nav points are now not shown on default. Only players Claim and Quest points are shown on defaut
Reworked all the Ferries to travel much faster
Horses now remember the amount of stamina after getting off them. Also fixed some inconsistencies where stamina value was being handled as a float in some places and an int in some others.
PVE SERVER CHANGES
Wood Containers Clan Only for PVE Server – fixing a number of exploits and players abusing other players
Death loot containers on PVE can only be opened by the owned player – mixing a number of player abuses
Hijacking vehicles now only works on PvP servers and not part of PvE gameplay
MAJOR BALANCING CHANGES
Removed high end items from container and world loot
Lowered credit gain from crafting and selling from 10% to 5%
Rebalanced item costs for all items, making it a bit more expensive
Rebalanced crafting receipts – in general it`s 1.5x harder now
Lowered number of items for some loot types
Fixed a number of crafting exploits
Adjusted drop rates for world items to be 1.5x harder
Grazer – now does damage to players in PvP
Alderman Rack now gives bow and 50 arrows instead of a shotgun
Placement radius around mines increased by 70 meters to avoid players placing claims there
MISC CHANGES AND FIXES
Reduced size of some unnecessarily huge textures – reducing RAM usage
Grazer - fixed ray detection being wrong and colliding with the player itself, and even damaging it.
Grazer - fixed and improved hit effects, range, and performance drain
Grazer - fixed a number of bugs when changing weapon while using it
Reduced running breath volume by 16db
Update # 8 - Major Update available in Beta Version
Hey Everyone,
We would like to thank you guys for your patience as we were working on resolving last remaining issues and major exploits. With today`s major update and Update 9 next week we worked on the most common player complains about the game. And we continue work base don your feedback - expect the game to be in great shape by the end of the month – bringing you a good gameplay experience without game breaking bugs, or player exploits.
Also with today`s update we are changing our approach to patches. From now on new major updates will be available in a beta mode for a few days, before going live to the main build. This will help us avoid introducing new bugs with the major updates.
And so - major update # 8 is now available in the Beta mode. This major update includes nearly 50 fixes, improvements and new features, fixing most of the remaining major bugs and complaints, as well as addressing exploits and griefing. Outlaw system will be enabled by Monday to bring some order to the PvP chaos.
Update will go live on Tuesday, but Beta is available already. You can access it by right clicking on Stars End in the Steam library, selecting Properties, and then Beta tab. There are now two dedicated Beta servers that will always be available with no progress resets.
Basically if you like you can completely switch to Beta servers - they`ll be available 24/7 and always get the new updates first. P.S. Keep in mind as a one time thing, there will be a beta server wipe in the next 24 hours (we`ll be switching servers to more powerful once) But it`s a one time thing. This will not effect live servers in any way.
TO BE ENABLED BY MONDAY We have a second part of this update, that will be added to the beta build by Monday, and made available to everyone as update goes live on Tuesday.
Outlaw system – players griefing other players, or killing noobs, will get an Outlaw status, with 5 possible Wanted levels. Outlaw status lowers over time
Outlaws will have a nav point visible to other players and a credits bounty on them – both will increase with wanted level. With higher wanted level – Mechs will shoot on sight, and some merchants will become unavailable
Noob system – will gives some protection to players playing Prologue, or just starting Survival game - Players who will mess or kill players with Noob status will get an Outlaw status with higher Wanted level
WORK BASED ON PLAYER REQUESTS & FEEDBACK A bit part of this update was based on player`s feedback, suggestions and major annoyances with the game. We`ll continue to work in this direction with the upcoming 9th update as well. Here`s a summary list of what was done:
Corrected a number of vehicle related issues. This greatly helps improve server stability and performance, reducing number of crashes and other server issues.
Added a vehicle hijacking system for PvP servers based on player request. System only effects PvP servers.
Fixed the issue that allowed players to delete territory hub claims but could not pickup personal claims.
Enhanced wood containers so that only members of the originating claim can access them on PvE servers. This was widely requested, and is part of our commitment into making PvE experience about enjoyable teamwork.
A massive update and rebuild to the character system for improved performance and visual acuity.
Streamlined and improved Tutorial Mission to reduce player issues with mission performance.
Loot rebalanced as requested to increase difficulty and improve long term game play – players will no longer find high end items.
We softened the breathing sounds when wearing a spacesuit at player request.
Improved the character creation system as part of our overall updating and preparation for the Unity update to 2019 version.
Fixed some localization issues. Thanks for those who helped us find these translation problems.
Fixed the Grazer hack and improved performance and damage, as this was widely reported.
Thanks for your continuous support, read on for the full update details.
Presenting - Update # 8 (0.72)
MAJOR UPDATES AND FEATURES
New character system – rewritten from the ground up – very large backend project fixing a number of issues and clearing way for future updates
New vehicle system – rewritten from the ground up – very large backend project fixing a number of issues and clearing way for future updates
Hijackable vehicles added - PowerCells required to hack a locked vehicle. 12 for spaceship, 7 for Rover, 4 for Quad Bike, 5 for Nova. Hijacking the vehicle will make you and your clan the new owner of the vehicle.
SERVER STABILITY AND PERFORMANCE
Changed the way server restarts work if server crashes, should hopefully get servers to come online within a minute of crashing
Fixed a major sever crash when several vehicles were in use
Vehicle rigs are only loaded when the player is within 2km of the vehicle – improving server performance
Vehicle elements are now saved into a vehicle rig – improving vehicle server performance 50x
Major improvement to how vehicles are handled by the game, greatly improving server stability and performance
Picking up items and removing other items improved to fix network delay
MAJOR FIXES AND IMPROVEMENTS
Makeshift and territory claims fixes to avoid being able to claim ownership on a makeshift claim ever again
Vehicles now save their position constantly, to avoid vehicle continuing to move as player logs out or crashes
World array now contains clan names in vehicle data – fixing issues with missing vehicles
Locked vehicles can now be accessed clan wide if the player is in a clan, otherwise it can be access by the owning player only.
Entering a vehicle now has an extra call to make sure the vehicle is destroyed, to avoid duplication
Issue with landmines not destroying is resolved.
Vehicles now allow access for the vehicle owner if a clan is created after the fact
Several issue with vehicle at startup is resolved
An extra check added to prevent additional vehicle bugs that were bugging out vehicles on dedicated server
Fixed various issues when deleting a character, and certain progress being carried over to the new character.
Fixed various bug when deleting claims
Fixed a bunch of errors and bugs when using air vehicles that lead to extra server load
Clan name now updated for a vehicle on vehicle entry + exit, fixing a number of problems of clan not being able to access vehicles
Fixed an issue where territory claims could be deleted and makeshift claims could not.
Clan owners can delete a Makeshift claim within that clan
PVE SERVER CHANGES
Wood Containers Clan Only for PVE Server – fixing a number of exploits and players abusing other players
Death loot containers on PVE can only be opened by the owned player – mixing a number of player abuses
Hijacking vehicles now only works on PvP servers and not part of PvE gameplay
MAJOR BALANCING CHANGES
Removed high end items from container and world loot
Lowered credit gain from crafting and selling from 10% to 5%
Rebalanced item costs for all items, making it a bit more expensive
Rebalanced crafting receipts – in general it`s 1.5x harder now
Lowered number of items for some loot types
Fixed a number of crafting exploits
Adjusted drop rates for world items to be 1.5x harder
Grazer – now does damage to players in PvP
Alderman Rack now gives bow and 50 arrows instead of a shotgun
Placement radius around mines increased by 70 meters to avoid players placing claims there
MISC CHANGES AND FIXES
Reduced size of some unnecessarily huge textures – reducing RAM usage
Grazer - fixed ray detection being wrong and colliding with the player itself, and even damaging it.
Grazer - fixed and improved hit effects, range, and performance drain
Grazer - fixed a number of bugs when changing weapon while using it
Reduced running breath volume by 16db
Update 8 Preview
Hey Everyone,
The team is busy working on the biggest update we had so far... and ETA is Thursday next week.
We wanted to share details of this update with you so that you know what`s coming. There are two parts to this update – some major behind the scenes projects, and some big gameplay changes. So lets go over the changes in some detail here:
Server stability and reworked vehicle code – several days of work went into completely reworking the vehicle code that in turn will greatly improve server stability and fix last vehicle bugs
Resolving last instances of server crashing and rebooting – things are getting better, but with this update we really hope to fully resolve occasional server restarts
Hacking to steal vehicles – it will be possible to steal vehicles by hacking their security, consumes Power Cells. This will probably will only be allowed on PvP servers.
Outlaw system – players griefing other players, or killing noobs, will get an Outlaw status, with 5 possible Wanted levels. Outlaw status lowers over time
Outlaws will have a nav point visible to other players and a credits bounty on them – both will increase with wanted level. With higher wanted level – Mechs will shoot on sight, and some merchants will become unavailable
Noob system – will gives some protection to players playing Prologue, or just starting Survival game - Players who will mess or kill players with Noob status will get an Outlaw status with higher Wanted level
PvE servers will get additional protection – for example it`ll be impossible to steal from other player containers
Reworked looting system balance – no more high-tier items, and average loot is reduced by 65% – increasing the difficulty
Reworked crafting system balance – on average progression will get 50% harder
Reworked tutorial that`s designed not to give Tutorial players unfair advantages like space suit, shotgun or jetpack. So for example player will be give Bow and Arrows on Tigon. It won`t be possible to fly the spaceship to explore the space. And other changes to make Prologue more streamlined and not exploitable or OP
First part of new character update – most of these updates are not visible to players but are improving character system, and there will be some difference visually. We had to get through this to complete all the non-art related work on the big upcoming character update.
Updating Unity from 2017 to 2019 – this was held back due to needed to complete the character update. This will fix a number of bugs and performance issues, as well as allow us to improve game`s visuals more, and fix a number of rare start up bugs on older video cards and fix some rare crashes.
Two dozen of other bug and exploit fixes across the board
PvE servers get additional protection – for example it`ll be impossible to steal from other player containers
So as you can see we have a major update in the works, and while we would like to apologize for the delay – extra time is needed to complete this update correctly. Wishing everyone a great weekend ahead, and we can`t wait to share this update with you next week.
Update # 7 - First Milestone
Hey Everyone,
Before we jump to the big event today - we would like to thank all of our players who supported us during the turbulent, yet fun two weeks since Stars End went live on October 14th. For our small team this was a first experience releasing a game of this complexity and scale - and we are glad that in 16 days after launch we have finally reached our first milestone goal.
With today`s update we can confidently say that majority of the game breaking issues has been resolved. Now we are ready to start new phase of development – polishing and improving smaller issues and player experience across the board. And there`s still a lot of work in this department before we can finally get to improving graphics, characters and adding new content after that. Same time we will be able to fix smaller issues a lot faster now - as all the major server and networking update hurdles are out of the way.
As part of today`s update we are switching to 6 super-servers, half PvP, half PvE, capable of supporting 250 players each for now. We expect to push this further in the future.
Unfortunately we had to do a full on wipe; but we have to agree – wipe was badly needed. This was necessary due to switching to super servers, clearing the world after all the previous dupes and exploits have been fixed e.t.c. We do not expect another wipe for a very long time.
Keep in mind that while player population is low now, we will start major advertisement and promo events in the first week of December to boost the player population greatly. Meanwhile we still need 4 more weeks before Stars End is ready for this type of larger player pop.
During this time we`ll continue with 1-2 updates per week, fixing last remaining bugs, starting to polish things here and there, and expand the playable planets.
Please keep in mind - this was a HUGE update, so we won`t be surprised if something new will pop-up, but we`ll monitor the situation and if so - have a hot fix ready on the same day.
Thanks for your continuous support!
And so - presenting our first milestone - Update # 7 (0.70)
New Features & Major Fixes
Switching to 6 super servers with 250 limit – to be expanded in the future
Super servers split evenly around the globe with half PvP, half PvE
Total wipe on all servers – must be also performed on dedicated servers
Complete rewrite of all network code behind claims and territory
Fixed over 20 issues and bugs related to claims and territories
Server and networking performance is increased several fold
Fixes and Additions
Improved server stability and resolved some rare causes of server crashing
Corrected some server issues when riding the Ferry.
Changed Nova controls to act more like a normal ship
Landing Pad completely reworked – has a terminal, and allows custom placement of vehicle
Moved crafted ship spawn from landing pad to player inventory
Issues with claims disappearing or being inaccessible resolved
Wild horses no longer show a saddle
Fixed falling through terrain when spawning on a claim with a base
Fixed Spacesuit set not working properly - invisible suit and shadow issues
Fixed makeshift suit not working at all
Claims no longer invisible during placement
Window and Door placement nodes separated
Improvements in stuck command. It now also searches vertically for a suitable place.
Implemented saving last used server settings - for solo/personal/dedicated
Corrected some animation issues and optimized game graphics
Misc and Balance Changes
Corrected inventory duplication on death exploit
Adjusted player when standing, crouching and proning – making it impossible to look through walls - wall view exploit
Fixed several vehicle exploits
Fixed an issue where base components could be picked up with ignition key while in a vehicle
Ground tiller rotation resolved
Can no longer make a base inside a territory hub
Ground tillers can only be placed on terrain
Watch Towers can now be picked up
Fixed an issue where the territory claim could be deleted
Fixed range of territory claims to 300m, preventing personal claims from overlapping or being placed inside territory claims.
Fixed issue with territory guardian attacking current owner.
Fixed requirement to destroy Guardian mech(s) in order to set a territory claim.
Major Update Tomorrow!
Hey Everyone,
As you might have heard we are doing the "big move" tomorrow.
Major Update To start things off we are releasing our biggest updated so far - that includes major rewrites of the server and claims code; we also have fixed the last of the game breaking bugs. Some quality of life improvements in this update as well - like new NOVA controls and much more.
Switching to super servers Same time we will be migrating to the new servers, going from 17 small servers that could barely function with 40 players online to 6 super-servers, that for now can comfortably support 250 players each, but that will be expanded in the near future. Half the servers will be PvP, half PvE, and they will cover the world nicely - with 2 in Asia, 2 in Europe and 2 in US.
Wipe ...there`s no way around this - due to complexity of this update, and changing to bigger servers - we need to perform a wipe. But lets face it - it`s BADLY needed. Previous duping issues and exploit left many players with millions of credits, and the game world is also quite corrupted from the days when land claims could be placed anywhere.
After tomorrow we don`t expect another wipe for a long time!
Getting Stars End ready for prime time Keep in mind that while player population is low now, we will start major advertisement and promo events in the first week of December to boost the player population greatly. Meanwhile we still need 4 more weeks before Stars End is ready for this type of larger player pop.
During this time we`ll continue with 1-2 updates per week, fixing last remaining bugs, starting to polish things here and there, and expand the playable planets.
And finally - we just want to reassure you, that after tomorrow`s update all the issues that been plaguing the game for the past couple of weeks - like disappearing claims, spawning inside you base floor, missing vehicles e.t.c - should all be a thing of the past.
However - this is a HUGE update we are doing tomorrow, so I won`t be surprised if something new will pop-up, but we`ll monitor the situation and if so - have a hot fix ready on the same day.
Thanks for your support, your reviews and bug reports! We could not have gotten through the first 2 weeks without your help!
